(Credit: Cole Kan/PCMAG/Asus/Dell/MSI)
AI once again dominated the conversation at Computex, but it also pushed the industry’s biggest players to bring their A-game to Taipei. The result was one of the most compelling hardware shows in years.
Some companies took especially bold swings. Dell’s new lower-cost XPS 13 all but challenged Apple’s MacBook Neo to a duel, bringing the premium XPS experience to a dramatically lower price point.
Even more significant was Nvidia’s long-awaited entry into the PC processor market with RTX Spark, a powerful new Arm-powered system-on-a-chip designed for advanced local AI development, gaming, and content creation.
Both announcements have the potential to reshape the PC industry, albeit in very different ways.
We sent some of our best to cover Computex live from the ground in Taipei, sorting through dozens of announcements, demos, and product launches. After seeing the latest laptops, desktops, monitors, and components firsthand, we’ve narrowed the field to those that impressed us most. These 15 products are the best of Computex 2026.—Joe Osborne
Best Consumer Laptop
Dell XPS 13
(Credit: Wesley Ott)Apple's MacBook Neo declared war on the budget laptop market, and Dell has proved to be the tip of the spear for the PC world's response. It has overhauled its 13-inch XPS 13, turning its premium laptop more affordable. Dell somehow anticipated nearly all of the Neo's shortcomings, meeting each with a better alternative. Too heavy for you? The XPS 13 is half a pound lighter than the Neo. Want a bigger screen, and with touch controls? The XPS 13 has both. Bummed by the Neo's lack of a backlit keyboard? Dell says, "Step right up." That's quite a list of advantages for just another $100 in list price, at $699.99 for the base model. Of course, we still need to know whether Intel's “Wildcat Lake” Core Series 3 chip can keep up with Apple's retrofitted A18 Pro iPhone chip in testing. Expect to see the XPS 13 online and in stores before the end of June. —J.O.
Best Business Laptop
Acer TravelMate P6 14 AI
(Credit: Rene Ramos)Acer's TravelMate P6 14 AI stands out as an exceptional work laptop, combining elite processing power with a feathery design. Weighing just 2.1 pounds, thanks to its carbon-fiber and magnesium-aluminum chassis—noticeably lighter than even the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon—it still feels substantial in your hand. This Copilot+ PC features Intel "Panther Lake" processing and an impressively rigid flex-free build. It also presents professional-grade display options, including a 3K OLED or a glare-reducing IPS screen with excellent sunlight readability. It also has unique hardware security that alerts IT if someone opens the chassis. Complete with a 71-watt-hour battery promising a 30-hour lifespan, it’s set up to be a top-tier choice for mobile professionals. Acer has yet to reveal price or availability for this one. —Brian Westover
Best Creator Laptop
Microsoft Surface Laptop Ultra
(Credit: John Burek)Microsoft's Surface Laptop Ultra bridges the gap between thin ultraportables and heavy workstations, delivering a powerhouse system tailored for local AI processing, along with media and visual content creation. As a flagship of the Nvidia RTX Spark family, it features a "Grace Blackwell" chip that unites a 20-core Arm processor, up to 128GB of unified memory, and (so Nvidia claims) GeForce RTX 5070-level graphics firepower. This hardware advances Windows on Arm compatibility through enhanced Prism emulation for legacy apps and expanded gaming support. The laptop's centerpiece is a stunning 15-inch mini-LED PixelSense Ultra touch screen with a 3:2 aspect ratio, 2,000 nits of peak brightness, and professional color coverage. The laptop's rounded out by essential creator touches like an SD card slot and high-performance cooling. We’ll learn about pricing closer to its fall 2026 debut. —B.W.
Best 2-in-1 Laptop
Acer Swift Spin 14 AI
(Credit: Rene Ramos)Acer's Swift Spin 14 AI merges the lightweight portability of the Swift series with the versatile 360-degree folding design of Acer's Spin range. It presents two distinct high-performance AI configurations: a silver-white model equipped with Intel Core Ultra Series 3 (Panther Lake) silicon, and a cobalt-blue model powered by Snapdragon X2 Elite or Plus processors that have massive 80 TOPS NPUs. This zero-compromise hybrid caters heavily to creative workflows, featuring a smooth 14-inch 1200p IPS touch screen with a 120Hz refresh rate. A bundled stylus enables easy sketching, and the adaptable form factor is perfect for note-taking and on-the-go productivity. It's due out in August; Acer has yet to share pricing. —B.W.
Best Gaming Laptop
Asus ROG Strix Scar 18
(Credit: Wesley Ott; Dillon Lopez)The most exciting gaming laptop of the show is undoubtedly the Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 (G815). Asus equipped this big-screen bad boy with Nvidia's GeForce RTX 5080, running at its maximum 175 watts, and paired it with one of Intel's brand-new “Arrow Lake Refresh” mobile processors. But this laptop isn't all mega-muscle, it looks super-slick, with a 240Hz, 1600p, mini-LED display that will put those graphics to work. A nice touch: Extreme Low Motion Blur (ELMB), uses backlighting zones to make text more legible.
We're really taken with the band of RGB LEDs wrapping the bottom of the laptop's chassis. Their light bounces off whatever the laptop is sitting on, creating a The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift aesthetic. The Scar 18 also features toolless upgrade access to the memory and storage slots, making good on its extreme size. We don't know how much this one will cost or when to expect it, but let's just say: Start saving now. —J.O.
Best Gaming Handheld
MSI Claw 8 EX AI+
(Credit: John Burek)Intel has a new chip, the Arc G3 Extreme, specifically for PC gaming handhelds, and MSI’s new Claw revision, the Claw 8 EX AI+, looks like its best initial implementation. In our hands-on time, the 2026 Claw impressed us more than competing handhelds from Acer and Asus that also launched at Computex. That's thanks in part to the new processor, which should propel it far ahead of earlier alternatives. Acer's Predator Atlas 8 also runs the G3 Extreme, but MSI's redesign sets it apart.
The Claw chassis is now more comfortable to hold, with smaller grips, and the sticks, triggers, and buttons have been reworked for more satisfying feedback. This model won’t be cheap, but it might be the best of its kind to date. It’s due out before the end of June. —J.O.
Best Gaming Desktop
MSI MEG Vision X2 AI
(Credit: John Burek)The top gaming desktop of the show was an easy pick, because MSI not only created an ace gaming tower but enhanced it with AI in ways that are genuinely interesting. MSI notes that the MEG Vision X2 AI will have Core Ultra processors and up to an RTX 5090, but the real draw: A holographic AI “LuckyClaw” agent (powered by OpenClaw) is built into the case and responds to voice commands. We’re already excited. Using voice interaction, LuckyClaw will allow for hands-free access to performance profiles, monitor settings (on MSI monitors), and RGB lighting controls. MSI will update LuckyClaw with new skills over time, so it should only grow more useful for years of ownership. Will it cost a fortune? Probably, but you already knew that. MSI has yet to share a release date for this one. —J.O.
Best Productivity Desktop
ASRock Mars 340
(Credit: John Burek)For a sweet, little AI-ready desktop, we really like the plucky ASRock Mars 340, a mini PC outfitted with the laptop-grade AMD Ryzen AI 5 340 processor. Built on the "Zen 5" architecture and XDNA 2, it's a zippy little guy, with 50 TOPS of NPU performance for using Copilot+ tools. And it's roughly the size of a paperback book, small enough to tuck out of sight or just keep the clutter off your desk.
You can configure it with up to 128GB of memory and two SSDs, along with an M.2 slot designated for a Wi-Fi/Bluetooth module. More than that, the port selection is awesome for what ASRock has managed to cram onto the front and back of this tiny 0.7-liter chassis. You get a generous eight USB ports (highlighted by a front-facing USB4), a full-size SD card reader, gigabit Ethernet, and an ultra-versatile display setup that somehow pairs a legacy VGA D-Sub right alongside an 8K-capable HDMI 2.1 port. Oh, and did we mention it can run on just USB-C power? —B.W.
Best Monitor
Alienware 39 5K OLED (AW3926QW)
(Credit: John Burek)Alienware has never been one to shy away from bold moves, and sure enough, it arrived at Computex with the world’s first 39-inch 5K OLED gaming monitor, and boy, does it look great. That's thanks in part to a panel featuring RGB stripe technology and tandem OLED, allowing the display to reach higher brightness levels without sacrificing color accuracy or OLED-typical deep blacks. RGB stripe does this by stacking independent layers of red, green, and blue, potentially delivering up to 1,300 nits of peak brightness.
The bleeding-edge tech adds up to one eye-catching gaming monitor, with VESA DisplayHDR True Black 500 support, Dolby Vision certification, and a “dual mode” setting that displays a full 5K (5,120-by-2,880-pixel) resolution at 165Hz and an FHD (1,920-by-1,080-pixel) resolution at 330Hz. We expect this massive monitor to arrive sometime this fall. —Zackery Cuevas
Best Processor
Nvidia RTX Spark
(Credit: John Burek)The RTX Spark is a powerful integrated chip that's equipped with 20 Arm-based Nvidia "Grace" CPU cores and a 6,144-CUDA-core Nvidia "Blackwell" RTX GPU. This chip targets AI software developers seeking to run large AI models locally. (As an aside, gaming and creative work look to be additional strengths of this AI-first platform.) It’s an impressive piece of silicon that stands to shake up much of the PC industry once it lands this fall, though we don’t know the price of any of the RTX Spark laptops yet. —Michael Justin Allen Sexton
Best Graphics Card
Asus ROG Astral RTX 5090 Edition 20
(Credit: Wesley Ott)This graphics card is among the most tricked-out we’ve ever seen. Asus’ 20th-anniversary GPU is absolutely massive, filling four PCI Express card positions on your rear I/O panel. An exceedingly thick heatsink takes up most of this space, with four fans that work to cool the RTX 5090 graphics chip and its supporting circuitry.
In addition to the common 12VHPWR power connection, the card also has a BTF power adapter for use with Asus rear-connector Back to the Future motherboards. Both can simultaneously deliver up to 900 watts of power to the graphics card, leaving plenty of room for overclocking. A stylish curved OLED panel on the corner of the card makes it even more appealing and customizable. Price and release information aren’t available, but start saving now. —M.J.A.S.
Best Motherboard
Asus ROG Crosshair 2006
(Credit: John Burek)Asus’ ROG Crosshair motherboard line is officially 20 years old this year, and the company is celebrating with a new motherboard inspired by the original 2006 Crosshair. High-end gaming motherboards in 2006 typically used a lot of exposed copper to cool various components and give the board a premium metal aesthetic. Asus has taken that design language and combined it with the latest trends to create a motherboard that delivers the best of both worlds.
You get that distinctive copper aesthetic, which we'd love to see a return to, but it also has modern easy-release PCI Express slots and a customizable OLED panel. The motherboard supports the latest AMD AM5 processors, and the board’s X870E chipset provides extensive overclocking support. No price or release date just yet. —M.J.A.S.
Best PC Case
Thermaltake Capo X
(Credit: John Burek)Thermaltake’s innovative Capo X case makes it possible for you to build two full PCs inside a single desktop case. The case can hold two motherboards up to MicroATX, enabling you to build two PCs into this chassis. Thermaltake made room for two power supplies, one for each system, as well as plenty of room for large coolers and graphics cards. While this may seem unconventional, for people who share an office or a game room, or a couple, this could make a lot of sense and save space. Streamers might also thrill to the idea of one PC for gaming, and one for streaming. —M.J.A.S.
Best PC Power or Cooling Product
Noctua NL-LC1 AIO Cooler
(Credit: John Burek)Noctua is one of the most revered names in the PC cooling business, but up until now, it has stuck to producing fans and air coolers. At Computex, the company finally launched its first-ever liquid CPU cooler, the NL-LC1. The radiator is lined with Noctua’s usual high-quality fans, and the water block has been specially designed with three layers of soundproofing to create an exceedingly quiet pump mechanism. The cooler also supports an optional 80mm auxiliary fan to cool components around the CPU socket. Noctua has created 240mm, 360mm, and 420mm versions of this cooler to support the most popular form factors. —M.J.A.S.
Best Prototype
Gigabyte X870E Aorus Infinity Next
(Credit: John Burek)Gigabyte looked to the stars for inspiration for its X870E Aorus Infinity Next motherboard. With extensive 3D-printed metal cooling modules on its key components, the hardware is definitely unique-looking, with its honeycomb and "gyroid" patterns. Plus, the board is massively overbuilt, with 64 power phases and a rigid, super-weighty feel. The top-tier thermal design and high-end power hardware will thrill wealthy overclockers who look to push AMD’s AM5 processors to their limits. No pricing yet, but Gigabyte says the board may cost as much as $3,000 to manufacture alone. Gulp. —M.J.A.S.