2004 HAS DRAWN to a close, leaving a year's worth of memorable hardware in its wake. It was a good year for enthusiasts, and we've singled out a handful of products for our Best of 2004 awards. To be eligible for Best of 2004 distinction, a product had to be widely available for a reasonable portion of the year. Paper launches and limited or late-year releases didn't qualify, although you might see some of those products pop up in next year's awards.

Of course, our seal of approval doesn't guarantee perfection. A product didn't have to be flawless to be one of the Best of 2004, it just had to be better than the competition. We're picky here at TR, so while we're gushing over our favorites, expect to see a few flaws highlighted.

Read on as we hand out awards for processors, chipsets, graphics cards, motherboards, sound cards, and more.