This year has been huge for PC enthusiasts with some amazing product launches happening throughout the year. Perhaps the most notable was the launch of the 3rd Generation AMD Ryzen 3000 series processors in the summer. This new range of processors, based on Zen 2 architecture, was a game changer in terms of value for money.
Another major launch was NVIDIA’s new Turing graphics cards, GeForce RTX series, which feature real-time Ray-Tracing. 2019 was perhaps one of the best years to purchase a graphics card with many price reductions across the board, especially in the mid-range market.
Below we take a look at the most popular PC components of the last 12 months!
Processors
The launch of 3rd Generation AMD Ryzen processors helped AMD finally take the top spot for the most popular CPU brand of 2019. With a huge improvement on performance over their previous generations and fantastic value for money, it is unsurprising that they take the top spot. To our surprise however, a sneaky Intel Core i3-8100 managed to get onto the podium!
Graphics Cards
Last year, in 2018, we saw complete domination by NVIDIA and their GTX 10 series graphics cards, in 2019 things are a little bit different but overall, NVIDIA continues to lead the graphics card market with their vast range of products from low to high end.
However, the price reductions towards the end of the year meant that for once AMD has managed to claim the top spots for the most popular graphics cards sold by CCL this year, the list is as follows:
- AMD Radeon RX 580
- AMD Radeon RX 570
- GeForce RTX 2060
- GeForce RTX 2070 Super
Desktop Memory
The Desktop Memory prices were very volatile in 2017 but started to come down in 2018 and continued to drop in 2019. With AMD being the most popular CPU of 2019 and favouring high memory frequency ranges, it is no surprise that the most popular DDR4 memory kit was the Corsair Vengeance LPX 3000MHz, with 16GB kits being the preferred choice.
- Corsair Vengeance LPX 3000MHz
- Corsair Vengeance LPX 3200MHz
- Corsair Vengeance RGB PRO 3200MHz
Motherboard
Again, influenced by the demand for AMD Ryzen processors, the most popular motherboard was the AMD B450 Socket AM4. Unlike Intel, which more often than not requires a new chipset for every new processor line-up, AMD’s latest releases were compatible with the AM4 socket, although the early B450 chipset models did require a BIOS update to work with the 3rd Generation Ryzen 3000 processors. As a result, the list is again dominated by AMD:
Case
Glass in cases has been a trend for quite some time and, of course, so is the ‘case’ for RGB lighting. In 2019 this trend continued, however, we did see glimpses of functionality creeping back in from major case manufacturers in the form of improved airflow, which is nice. In our list the popular NZXT H500 takes the second spot (below is the updated H510 which has replaced the H500).
Storage
The massive price drops in SSDs meant that more and more people are switching to flash storage than ever before. No longer do you have to wait an eternity to start your PC or load into the next level of the game. Solid State Drives are definitely becoming more main-stream and will also be the next big “feature” of next-gen consoles. This can only be a good thing as game developers will finally be able to optimise their future titles with this in mind.
CPU Cooler
The most popular processors of 2019 (AMD Ryzen, if you haven’t heard) came bundled with their own stock coolers, which were pretty good at their job, however, aftermarket cooling will always provide the best results, especially if you are overclocking.
Power Supply
Power requirements have largely stayed the same from 2018 with a noticeable increase in demand for 650W power supplies. However, 550-500W is still the sweet spot for the majority of builds.
Custom Build of 2019
So here it is, the most popular custom build of 2019! This is a great spec for 1080P 60FPS gaming and allows for plenty of upgrade potential in the future.
| Processor | |
| CPU Cooler | |
| Memory |
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| Graphics Card | |
| Motherboard | |
| Storage |
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| Case | |
| Power Supply | |
This custom PC, at the time of writing, comes to around £620 inc VAT. However, you can also get a CCL Computers custom built system with a 3 Year Collect & Return warranty for slightly less with better core components, such as the Ryzen 7 2700X and an AMD Radeon RX 590 8GB! Check it out below, which would you choose?
