Best Of 2011 - SSD's: Samsung 830 256GB
One of the SSD's *not* based on the Sandforce controller solution, the SATA III Samsung 830 tore through both synthetic and real-world benchmarks in our tests. Not content with blistering speed, the 830 was designed to look like a premium product even though it will be hidden away inside most cases. The bundled software was also a nice addition for those migrating to an SSD for the first time. SSD reviewer David said:
Inside and outside the 830 oozes superior build quality to that of its rivals. The brushed metal exterior looks and feels great. Underneath this cover Samsung branded components deliver the reliability and performance that firm enthusiasts are after.
Our readers obviously agreed with our Gold Award for the Samsung 830, edging out strong competition from the likes of Kingston and OCZ.
Best Of 2011 - Graphics Cards: AMD Radeon HD7970
The inclusion of the HD7970 proved to be controversial, but our rules stipulated that the late 2011 review date merited inclusion. 2011 was choc full of great graphics card releases, but only one was a brand new architecture built on a new process. The 28nm AMD Radeon HD 7970 may only have just made it into our poll with a release date in December, but its sheer performance wasn't to be denied as our readers voted it the run away winner. The Tahiti XT is an overclocking monster which, even at stock, beats its nearest rival handily; furthermore it shows the great steps which AMD are taking in GPGPU.
Honourable Mention - MSI GTX 580 3GB Extreme Lightning
Second in our poll but still well respected by our readers and commentators is this top notch GTX 580 from MSI. This beast of a card had the single-GPU performance lead for a significant portion of the year, and for all intents and purposes was the fastest until stock for the HD7970 became available on Janurary the 9th. With great overclocking support, cooling performance, noise characteristics and the looks to back it up; it was a worthy winner of our Gold Award in July.
Best Of 2011 - Cases: Corsair Obsidian 650D
2011 was a a great year for cases which brought new innovations and immensely strong contenders in all price brackets. What can we say about our readers' winner, the 650D? Corsair performed a minor miracle in shrinking down the 800D's aesthetic to a mid-tower design. Georgeous and excellently well constructed for gamers or office professionals alike, the 650D was a premier addition to the Obsidian range of PC Chassis. We awarded the case our Gold Award with remarkably few downsides, and our readers have agreed with our assessment.
Honourable Mention - Everyone Else
There have been a staggering number of extremely strong cases this year from the likes of BitFenix, NZXT, Lian Li, Cooler Master, Antec and more. It was torturous to narrow the field down to a mere five, never mind the single strongest case, and so we have to congratulate all the chassis manufacturers on their efforts. The first month of 2012 shows a continuing trend of great quality innovative products; next year's awards already look set to be the most competitive yet.
Last Up: the Final Award for a PSU, Thanks and Final Thoughts
