HWM+HardwareZone.com Editor's Choice Tech Awards 2010 - Part 1

Editor's Choice Tech Awards - Computing

Making a comeback in a different format after a hiatus of eight years, the HWM+HardwareZone.com Tech Awards 2010 honors the best in tech products and services of the past year. There are two segments, the awards, which are voted by our subscribers and the Editor's Choice awards, which are awarded by the editorial teams of HWM and HardwareZone.com.

For the Editor's Choice awards, hundreds of products in 32 categories were assessed, with a final list of 150 products nominated as the best in class. These products must be released between December 2008 and November 2009 and all must have undergone our rigorous benchmarking and evaluation. The criteria used include the performance and features of the products, the user-friendliness and the overall value.

Due to the number of categories, we have split this article into two parts - computing and consumer electronics. Today, we'll be looking at the best in computing, so without further ado, let's dive straight to the heart of computing, the processor itself.

Best Mainstream Desktop CPU

When it comes to mainstream desktop processors, we looked at the entire platform cost to find out the value proposition since there's quite a price disparity between AMD and Intel mainstream processors. In other words, we'll be factoring the cost of the motherboard together with the cost of the processor in the evaluation.

Nominees

There are practically two brands out there for x86 desktop processors - AMD and Intel. Based on what these two companies define as their mainstream products, we have identified two nominees:

• AMD Athlon II X4 630
• Intel Core i5-750

And the Winner is

In our benchmark results, from system suites to video rendering and gaming, the Intel Core i5-750 had the upper hand in terms of performance. The inclusion of other features like Intel Turbo Boost along with a clear advantage over the Athlon II in terms of power consumption meant that on two of three major factors, the Core i5-750 was ahead. The lower price of the Athlon II kept it interesting and competitive but in the end, we felt that the Intel Core i5-750 deserved the accolade for its technological edge and performance.

The table below illustrates how the two processors fared in our various criteria, ranging from performance to value. The prices quoted are the figures at the time of the review.

For more details on how we selected our winners, check out the full reviews and articles listed at the References section at the end.

Best High-end Desktop CPU

For this category, we chose the very best processor from the two chip vendors, AMD and Intel. Since Intel holds a substantial performance lead over its rival, it was frankly quite the mis-match, even after we factored in the cost of the entire platform, including the motherboard. However, that's the current state of the competition but we hope that it will be more competitive for the next Tech Awards.

Nominees

• AMD Phenom II X4 965 'Black Edition'
• Intel Core i7-975 Extreme Edition

And the Winner is

As expected, the benchmarks heavily favored the Intel processor, which was also very competitive in terms of power consumption. However, it is extremely expensive at around US$1000. Add the cost of the motherboard and the total platform cost for going Intel is very much higher than the AMD route. There's no doubt that AMD scores highly in value here but is that sufficient?

After all, we're looking at the best 'high-end' processor, so we felt that technology and performance should have a greater say. Intel's HyperThreading and Turbo Boost features all enhance the attractiveness of its top processor, making it quite the monster for those tasks that require raw computing power. This is why we decided that the honor of being the Best High-end Desktop CPU goes to the Intel Core i7-975 Extreme Edition.

For more details on how we selected our winners, check out the full reviews and articles listed at the References section at the end.

Best Mainstream Intel Motherboard (Intel P55)

The most significant chipset development in 2009 was the introduction of Intel's P55 Express chipset, which supported Intel processors using the LGA1156 package. This chipset brought Intel's Nehalem architecture to an affordable, mainstream level for consumers. That's why we have chosen to select the best Intel motherboard of the year from among the numerous P55 motherboards that have passed through our lab.

Nominees

• ASUS P7P55D-E Premium
• DFI P55-T3eH9
• ECS P55H-A
• Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD6
• Intel DP55KG
• MSI P55-GD80

And the Winner is

We have attempted to review the very best representatives of the P55 chipset from each of the major vendors. Nevertheless, prices differed due to the amount of features and components selected and there was an inevitable price variance. Hence, one can find extremely premium boards from major vendors along the more value-oriented models from brands that target the budget-conscious. The ASUS P7P55D-E Premium and the Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD6 stood out for having support for USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gbit/s while the MSI P55-GD80 introduced very interesting proprietary features that struck a balance between casual and enthusiast users. These three boards were the front-runners for their performance and features.

In the end, we found that the ASUS P7P55D-E, despite being the most expensive of the boards here, deserved the top spot by virtue of its proper support and implementation of USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gbit/s. Its feature list was also very comprehensive while performance was competitive with the rest.

For more details on how we selected our winners, check out the full reviews and articles listed at the References section at the end.

Best Mainstream AMD Motherboard (AMD 785G)

AMD did not release any significant updates to its motherboard chipsets in 2009. We did get the AMD 785G, the successor to the popular AMD 780G chipset that brought decent integrated graphics to the table. The AMD 785G builds on this legacy with slightly enhanced graphics that improves support for standards and not surprisingly, like the 780G, we soon saw many offerings from manufacturers in this mainstream segment.

Nominees

• ASUS M4A785TD-M EVO
• ECS A785GM-M
• DFI LANParty BI 785G-M35
• Gigabyte GA-MA785GPM-UD2H
• MSI 785GM-E65

And the Winner is

In our testing, the ASUS M4A785TD-M EVO emerged as the best of the AMD 785G motherboards. It was usually the pacesetter in the benchmarks. It had the lowest temperature measured and its power consumption numbers were in line with the others. The competitive pricing also helped to win us over. Our only concerns were some minor ones about the layout but overall, it triumphed thanks to its quality and performance.

For more details on how we selected our winners, check out the full reviews and articles listed at the References section at the end.

Best DDR3-1600 Memory Triple Channel Kit

DDR3 memory finally found widespread adoption in 2009 and with Intel using a triple-channel architecture in its Nehalem Core i7 processors, we decided that for our sole memory category, we should go with a triple-channel kit. We also chose the DDR3-1600 speed as we felt that it is the middle-ground between enthusiasts looking for overclocking potential and more casual users who just want a decently high speed memory.

Nominees

• Kingston HyperX DDR3 1600MHz Low Latency XMP Ready 3GB Kit
• G.SKILL PI DDR3 PC3-12800 CL8 3GB Kit
• OCZ DDR3 PC3-12800 Intel i7 Triple Channel Kit
• Patriot Extreme Performance Viper Series DDR3 3GB PC3-12800 Low Latency DIMM Kit
• Team Group Xtreem Dark DDR3 PC3-12800 1600MHz CL8 Kit

And the Winner is

When it came to assessing these memory kits, we took note of their performance in benchmarks, which were generally similar, as they all had almost identical memory timings. Voltages too were similar, which meant that overclocking, temperature and prices were our main determinants of who to award our best memory kit accolade to.

It was a tight choice between three very good contenders from Kingston, OCZ and Patriot and you can choose any of them and be assured of their quality. In the end however, the Kingston HyperX DDR3-1600 kit managed to convince us with its excellent temperature readings that were a notch better than the competition. The price was also fair and competitive enough while worldwide availability, warranty and support are one of the best. It may not be the overclocker's choice of memory, but for the more casual or budget conscious user, it's a great choice.

For more details on how we selected our winners, check out the full reviews and articles listed at the References section at the end.

Best Graphics Chip

Life for a graphics chip begins at the top. For the uninitiated, the development of a new graphics card series begins with a powerful chip that forms the top level SKU. Thereafter, lower level SKUs are formed by means of product binning, where chips that cannot perform at the level that the top SKU demands are reused by either disabling non-critical parts that are defective or by reducing its clock speeds. This ensures that a minimum number of parts are wasted.

For ATI, life begins with the mighty Cypress XT, used in the Radeon HD 5870. Chips that didn't fare as well are then used to make the Radeon HD 5850, HD 5770 and HD 5750. In the case of NVIDIA, their ace chip is the GT200 that is found in the GeForce GTX 280 (which was later improved on to give us the GeForce GTX 285). And chips that did not make the cut became the GeForce GTX 275 and GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 SKUs.

Nominees

Hence, the battle of the best graphics chip is between ATI's Radeon 5000 series and NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 200 series.

• ATI Radeon HD 5000 series
• NVIDIA GeForce GTX 200 series

And the Winner is

No matter how you look at it, the new Radeon HD 5000 series is superior to NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 200 series in every way. Now, not only does ATI have the two most powerful single graphics cards in the world, its new cards are also more power efficient. On top of that, the new ATI Radeon HD 5000 series is DirectX 11 compatible, something the GeForce GTX 200 series lacks.

Of course, one could say that it is unfair to compare the two because the Radeon HD 5000 series represents a new generation of cards for ATI, but let's not forget that it was NVIDIA who continuously delayed its next-gen Fermi. Right now, Fermi is slated for a March launch, but if past experiences are anything to go by, we won't be surprised if Fermi is delayed yet again. In any case, for our qualification window, these are the best offered by both camps and the results speak for themselves.

For more details on how we selected our winners, check out the full reviews and articles listed at the References section at the end.

Best High-end ATI Graphics Card

Boasting class-leading performance and power efficiency, the new Radeon HD 5000 series is perhaps ATI's best yet. And amongst the various SKUs, the Radeon HD 5870 is the most impressive.

Powered by the monstrous Cypress XT graphics chip boasting 1600 stream processors, the Radeon HD 5870 is presently the world's fastest single GPU graphics card. It's a lightning-fast graphics card, but while most Radeon HD 5870 cards are equal, some are more equal than others. With that in mind, we attempt to find out which is the best of the best.

Nominees

• ASUS EAH5870
• PowerColor HD 5870
• Sapphire HD 5870 Vapor-X

And the Winner is

It is not unusual that immediately following the launch of a high-end graphics card, what's available to users are reference versions of the card. Of all the three, the ASUS EAH5870 and PowerColor HD 5870 both employ ATI's reference design. ASUS tries to differentiate itself from the competition with its Smart Doctor tweaking utility, but it is the Sapphire HD 5870 Vapor-X that steals the show.

Armed with a custom-designed Vapor-X vapor chamber technology cooler, the Sapphire HD 5870 Vapor-X also comes factory-overclocked. At at time when one Radeon HD 5870 card is no different from the other, the Sapphire HD 5870 Vapor-X is decidedly unique and special.

For more details on how we selected our winners, check out the full reviews and articles listed at the References section at the end.

Best High-end NVIDIA Graphics Card

3D is all the rage these days, thanks to a recent boom in 3D movies. And while ATI's latest Evergreen series of graphics cards is undoubtedly fast and feature-packed, ATI does not have a 3D solution. NVIDIA, on the other hand, offers true 3D gaming by way of its innovative GeForce 3D Vision kit.

Now NVIDIA might be reeling from their inability to push out its next-generation DirectX 11 compatible Fermi cards, but if 3D gaming is what you want, there's still only NVIDIA to turn to. And amongst all of NVIDIA offerings, the GeForce GTX 285 stands tallest and proudest. After all, it was once the fastest single chip graphics card in the world, and even today, it is by no means slow.

On that note, in our hunt for the best high-end GeForce GTX 285 graphics card, we'll be turning our attention towards some of the biggest names in the hardware industry.

Nominees

• ASUS GTX285 Matrix
• Galaxy GeForce GTX 285 OC with AC Edition
• MSI N285GTX SuperPipe OC
• Palit GeForce GTX 285
• Zotac GeForce GTX 285 AMP! Edition

And the Winner is

With so many big names, the competition was indeed intense, but our overall pick of the bunch has to be the impressive Galaxy GeForce GTX 285 OC with AC Edition. In stock form, it might not be as quick as the aggressively factory-overclocked Zotac card, but thanks to its massive cooler, we were able to push it the furthest in our overclocking tests. Additionally, in terms of operating temperatures, it was by far the coolest. But the ultimate deal sweetener is its price. At around S$469, only the Palit card is more affordable, but considering what the Galaxy card offers, we think it is a real steal.

For more details on how we selected our winners, check out the full reviews and articles listed at the References section at the end.

Best 24-inch LCD Monitor

While the 22-inch LCD displays usually take the limelight away from the bigger 24-inch variants, we felt that the trend is moving towards the larger displays that can do full-HD, 1920 x 1080 resolutions, which is why in our monitor category, we have picked the 24-inch version as the battleground for the following four monitors.

Nominees

• BenQ V2400 Eco
• Philips 240B1CB
• Samsung SyncMaster 2494HS
• ViewSonic 2433wm

And the Winner is

With its plain looks and unassuming specs, like a native 1000:1 contrast ratio and typical 5ms response time, we have to admit that Philips' 240B1CB hardly seems like show stealer material. But after experiencing its dexterous joints and steadfast performance on DisplayMate and its execution of HD movies, there was little doubt that this 16:10 panel was able to rise above the competition for our Best LCD monitor accolade.

For more details on how we selected our winners, check out the full reviews and articles listed at the References section at the end.

Best 802.11n Router

With the recent ratification of the 802.11n standard, G-routers are undoubtedly fading into oblivion as consumers herald the arrival of the N-routers for their resounding throughput and longer range. Some work on a single band, whilst others thrive on both 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies, primed for streaming purposes. Whatever their agenda, we have rounded up five MIMO-based routers to see which 802.11n device can offer the best throughput as well as wireless stability.

Nominees

• Aztech HW550
• ASUS RT-N16
• D-Link DIR-685
• Linksys by Cisco WRT320N
• Netgear WNDR3700 RangeMax

And the Winner is

If you're looking for a competent N-router, then the ASUS RT-N16 would probably best fit the bill. Aside from its Gigabit WAN/LAN offerings, the RT-N16 is also crammed with features like UPnP Media Server which lets you share data from USB devices across your network. The ASUS flagship router also came in tops in our performance benchmarks, with a stable average throughput of 70Mbps between the 2m and 10m mark. At S$195, it's a fitting and comprehensive N-router worthy of the crown.

For more details on how we selected our winners, check out the full reviews and articles listed at the References section at the end.

Best 3.5-inch Internal HDD

No amount of hard drive capacity is ever enough in this digital age and for this reason, we chose the top capacity 2TB drives for the best 3.5-inch internal HDD showdown. Only the three leading hard drive manufacturers have the technological prowess to produce these high capacity drives and we've got all of them.

Nominees

• Hitachi Deskstar 7K2000 2TB
• Seagate Barracuda XT 2TB
• Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB

And the Winner is

Seagate came out with an interesting SATA 6Gbps interface drive, the world's first in fact, but it was no better than running on 3Gbps interface. Fortunately it's not expensive. That said, for internal hard drives, performance plays a very big factor and that the WD drive delivered plenty. It might be the most expensive, but it's also the most advanced, well specced and not to mention the speediest of the lot. For enthusiasts who need speed and capacity, the WD Caviar Black 2TB is our recommended choice for the best 3.5-inch internal HDD. Below are a couple of choice benchmarks to represent some of our findings. Take note that we've bolstered the results with many other comparisons such as older drives and even an SSD drive for reference.

For more details on how we selected our winners, check out the full reviews and articles listed at the References section at the end.

Best 2.5-inch Portable External HDD

As data consumption trends rise, data backup trends follow suit too. It's no surprise portable hard drives are a dime a dozen with capacities reaching up to 1TB these days. While capacities are going up, physical designs are getting more compact to pocket these portable drives easier as well. For our comparison to crown the best 2.5-inch portable external HDD, we chose a capacity point that offers the widest variety and the biggest are 500GB drives.

Nominees

• Hitachi Simple Tough
• Iomega eGo Portable 500GB
• Samsung S2-500
• Seagate FreeAgent Go
• Toshiba Portable Drive
• Verbatim Executive Portable
• WD My Passport Essential

And the Winner is

From our suite of performance testing, Verbatim's Executive Portable drive consistently came out as our top performer thanks to its Turbo USB speed feature. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite a portable drive as compared to many other models. Overall features, bundled software, accessories, portability and other physical aspects are equally important for a good portable drive that's supposed to appeal to the masses.

After careful consideration of these various aspects, WD's My Passport Essential was our choice as the best 2.5-inch portable external HDD. Its consistent performance and ultra compact size are really the main highlights of this drive. As usual our selective choice of benchmarks and scoring table are enclosed here for your viewing.

For more details on how we selected our winners, check out the full reviews and articles listed at the References section at the end.

Best Consumer Solid State Drive

Solid State Drives (SSDs) have been around for years but it's only in 2009 when their prices dipped enough for top enthusiasts to consider these small but speedy drives for system/application booting needs. That said, we narrowed the selection of top consumer SSD drives (MLC-flash based) to the largest sub-100GB capacity points where drive price aren't prohibitive yet. All met this criteria except for the Intel drive that came to us in a 160GB variant. This shouldn't pose much of a concern since 80GB varieties are available too and we'll be using its price point for the value quotient of our overall rating.

Nominees

• Kingston SSDNow V+ 64GB
• Intel X25-M (Gen.2) 80GB
• Patriot Torqx 64GB
• OCZ Vertex 60GB

And the Winner is

Intel's renewed X25-M Gen.2 drive came out very well where read performance was concerned, but when both read and write performance is factored in for a balanced overall performance, the Patriot Torqx is our pick for the best consumer solid state drive. Special mention goes to Kingston's SSDNow V+ 64GB drive for its value proposition while maintaining reasonably good performance.

For more details on how we selected our winners, check out the full reviews and articles listed at the References section at the end.

Best AIO Inkjet Printer

When it comes to choosing the best AIO inkjet printer, we narrowed our search to the best models from the major players in 2009 in the S$400 to 500 price range.

Nominees

• Canon MP996
• Epson TX550W
• HP Photosmart Premium Touchsmart C309
• Lexmark Prospect P208

And the Winner is

Each of the printers does certain things well; the Canon MP996 prints photos fast, the Epson TX550W is the fastest document printer and the HP C309 does beautiful photos. But the Lexmark Prospect P208 won us over with its solid all-around performance, with its fast prints and built-in features like an automated document feeder and duplex printing, all for a decent price.

For more details on how we selected our winners, check out the full reviews and articles listed at the References section at the end.

Best MFC Laser Color Printer

We pitted four of the latest MFC color laser printers to find out which printer at the end of the day would serve the consummate small and medium-size business (SMB) setup best. With an MFC printer, one can expect to pay a little more, but at the same time you get in return valuable desktop space, fast print speeds for both B&W and color prints, great print quality and low cost of consumables in the long run.

Nominees

• Canon imageCLASS MF8350Cdn
• Fuji Xerox DocuPrint C1190FS
• Lexmark X544DW
• Samsung CLX-3175FN

And the Winner is

Granted that it's the most expensive printer among the lot but the Canon imageCLASS MF8350Cdn has a huge LCD screen and a wide dashboard that enhance your navigation experience. Additionally, the print quality and speed easily beat the rest. Consumables-wise, it's not the most expensive but it does lean close to it. In terms of performance, it's quiet while printing, which could be a boon for an office environment. Taking all these in consideration, we have to give the award to Canon.

For more details on how we selected our winners, check out the full reviews and articles listed at the References section at the end.

Best AIO Desktop PC

Consumer interest in the All-in-One desktop segment has been picking up, so if you're going to be spending cash on these handy machines, you'll definitely want to know what's our take. We handpicked models with a display size more than 20 inches from the major vendors offering these products.

Nominees

• Acer Aspire AZ5610
• HP TouchSmart 600
• Lenovo A600
• MSI Wind Top AE2220
• Sony VAIO L

And the Winner is

To put it simply, the HP TouchSmart 600 is a product where all its parts add up to a superb whole. Not only did the unit score extremely well in our benchmarks, the unit also easily delivers a polished and refined touch experience thanks to its HP TouchSmart software suite. As a touch based machine, HP has managed to get the software working pretty smoothly with your fingers, and makes the most compelling argument for having touch interaction on your desktops.

For more details on how we selected our winners, check out the full reviews and articles listed at the References section at the end.

References

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