Custom PC - UK (2020-07)

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THE BESTSELLING MAG FOR PC HARDWARE, OVERCLOCKING, GAMING & MODDING / ISSUE 202

H O W TO

EXPERIMENT WITH ADVANCED TECHNIQUES FULL GUIDES FOR INTEL AND AMD CPUS MAKE YOUR CPU RUN COOLER LEARN THE THEORY + COVID COVID19 19 RESEARCH R USE YOUR GAMING PC FOR MEDICAL RESEARCH WITH FOLDING@HOME + SOCIAL GAMING PLAY WITH YOUR FRIENDS DURING LOCKDOWN

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Welcome Custom PC Issue 202 / FROM THE EDITOR

Hobbyism@home ith the UK still under lockdown in order to limit the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, we wanted to make this issue little bit different from usual. You’ll still find all the regular reviews, Labs tests and columns, of course, but our features this month are dedicated to ideas for using your existing PC setup at home. For starters, if your PC already has a half-decent CPU-cooling setup, there’s a good chance you’ll be able to overclock your CPU. Our main feature on p72 is all about squeezing every last drop of performance from your processor, without having to upgrade to a new one (although a cooling upgrade may well help, naturally). If you’ve ever considered overclocking your CPU, but don’t know where to start (or you just don’t want to end up accidentally frying your hardware), then this feature tells you all you need to know, from what hardware can be overclocked to the theory and the scenarios where you’ll benefit from overclocking. There are guides to safe voltages and settings for all of Intel and AMD’s current CPU line-ups, plus we’ve also had a chat with Ian ‘8Pack’ Parry about advanced overclocking, if you’re intrigued about experimenting further. It’s not all about overclocking though. This month, we also caught up with the folks at the Folding@home project about its COVID-19 research, and how your CPU and GPU can be a part of it (see p82). We’ve even resurrected our Folding@home stats page on p107, where you can get your name in the mag by folding for our team. Meanwhile, on p88 we’ve explored loads of ways you can use your PC to play with your friends and family online, from firstperson shooters to MMORPGS and pub quizzes, and Rick Lane has provided some of his online gaming recommendations on p88 as well. We hope you enjoy this issue and get some inspiration from our ideas. Stay safe and, if possible, enjoy getting the most out of your PC.

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EDITOR Ben Hardwidge

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EDITOR Ben Hardwidge [email protected]

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ISSUE 202 SPECCY EVOLVED FULL ZX SPECTRUM NEXT REVIEW

OVERCLOCK HOW TO

MAKE YOUR PC FASTER FOR FREE EXPERIMENT WITH ADVANCED TECHN QUES FUL U L GUIDES FOR INTEL AND AMD CPUS MAKE YOUR CPU RUN COOLER LEARN THE THEORY

+ COV D 19 RESEARCH R USE YOUR GAMING PC FOR MED CAL RESEARCH W TH FOLDING@HOME + SOC AL GAM NG PLAY WITH YOUR FRIENDS DURING LOCKDOWN + RACING WHEELS GROUP TEST

HALFLIFE: ALYX OUR VERDICT ON VALVE’S VR SHOOTER

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This magazine is printed on paper sourced from sustainable forests. The printer operates an environmental management system which has been assessed as conforming to ISO 14001. Custom PC magazine is published by Raspberry Pi (Trading) Ltd., Maurice Wilkes Building, St. John’s Innovation Park, Cowley Road, Cambridge, CB4 0DS. The publisher, editor, and contributors accept no responsibility in respect of any omissions or errors relating to goods, products or services referred to or advertised. ISSN: 1740-7443.

DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME The information in this magazine is given in good faith. Raspberry Pi (Trading) Ltd cannot accept any responsibility for loss, disruption or damage to your data or your computer that may occur as a result of following or attempting to follow advice given in the magazine. If things do go wrong, take a break.

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C U S TO M P C / ISSUE 202

Contents Welcome to Issue 202 Highlights 08 Is it Wi-Fi 6 or not? Not all Wi-Fi 6 products are created equal. Richard Swinburne demystifies the spec and certification system.

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The WHO endorses gaming But didn’t it also classify ‘gaming disorder’ as a real, diagnosable condition? Tracy King awaits a revision.

20 ARCTIC Freezer 7 returns Well over a decade ago, ARCTIC’s original Freezer 7 was a big hit, offering a big upgrade from a stock cooler for under £20. Does the latest version still hold up?

28 Ryzen goes mobile Ryzen has taken the desktop world by storm, but can AMD now truly compete with Intel in the mobile world too? We take a look at Asus’ ROG Zephyrus G14 GA401IV laptop, which features AMD’s new 8-core Ryzen 7 4800HS mobile CPU.

38 Mid-range ATX cases We put six of the latest PC chassis through their paces, with prices ranging from £90 to £150.

COVER STORY P72

48 Racing wheels Get the most out of your on-track time by moving from a keyboard to a full-on steering wheel setup. We review four of the latest options.

64 Doom Eternal We give our verdict on id’s latest firstperson demon stomper, and also analyse some of the graphics options.

70 Half-Life: Alyx It’s finally here! It might not be Half-Life 3, but it’s the first official return to City 17 for over a decade. Rick Lane dons his VR headset and gives his judgement.

72 How to overclock

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We show you how to get more performance out of your CPU for free. In our main feature this month, we take you through the theory of overclocking and show you how to overclock the latest Intel and AMD CPUs. We also check in with professional overclocker, 8Pack, about advanced overclocking.

82 Use your PC for

COVID-19 research We catch up with the folks at the Folding@home project to discuss the latest research on the coronavirus pandemic, and how your PC can be a part of it.

88 Remote play Edward Chester explores some of the options to engage with family and friends in the online gaming world.

94 ZX Spectrum Next The iconic 1980s home computer, the ZX Spectrum, gets a modern makeover, with 256-colour graphics, 1MB of RAM, Wi-Fi support and a decent keyboard.

102 Delid your CPU If you have an Intel CPU, particularly an older one, you may well be able to run it much cooler by replacing the thermal paste under the heatspreader. Antony Leather shows you how it’s done.

Reviewed this month Cover guide

Regulars

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PRODUCTS REVIEWED

Reviews COOLING

72

94

SPECCY EVOLVED FULL ZX SPECTRUM NE

REVIEW

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From the editor

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Richard Swinburne

10 Tracy King

THE BESTSELLING MAG FOR PC HA DWARE, OVERCLOCKING, GAMING & MODDING / ISSUE 202

HOW TO

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Incoming

14

Letters

36 Custom kit EXPERIMENT WITH ADVANCED TECHNIQUES

54 How we test

MAKE YOUR CPU RUN COOLER

56 Elite products

LEARN THE THEORY

62 Inverse look

+ COVID COVID19 19 RESEARCH R USE YOUR GAMI PC FOR MEDICAL RESEARCH WITH FOLDING@HOME S

70 Reality check

JULY 2020 / £5.99

HALFLIFE: A YX OUR VERDI T ON VALVE’S VR SHOOTER

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21 24 25

noblechairs ICON Black Edition Asus ROG Strix Scope TKL Deluxe Corsair Dark Core RGB Pro

MONITORS 26 27

Philips Brilliance 439P9H AOC AG273QZ

28 Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 GA401IV

PC SYSTEMS 30 Wired2Fire Blizzard 32

PC Specialist Sabre MK1

Custom kit

+ RACING WHEELS GROUP TEST

48

PERIPHERALS

LAPTOPS

FULL GUIDES FOR INTEL AND AMD CPUS IN

+ SOCIAL GAMING PLAY WIT U F IE DURING LOCKDOWN

16 EKWB EK-AIO 360 D-RGB 18 Corsair H115i RGB Pro XT 20 ARCTIC Freezer 7 X

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94 Hobby tech

36 Atari Vault Bundle 36 Hasakee H6 Mini Drone 36 Fornorm USB Mug Warmer

99 For the win 100 Customised PC 102 How to guides 107 Folding@home 108 Retro tech 110 Readers’ drives 114 James Gorbold

Jirvyuk Cable Holders 37 Lighting Ever Wireless Charger Lamp 37

Mid-range ATX case Labs 39 Corsair iCUE 465X 40 be quiet! 500DX

Lian Li PC-011D 42 NZXT 510 Elite 44 Phanteks Eclipse P600S 46 Thermaltake H550 TG ARGB 41

Racing wheel Labs 49 Fanatec CSL Elite PS4 Starter Kit 50 Logitech G29 Driving Force

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Speedlink Drift O.Z. 52 Thrustmaster TS-XW Racer Sparco P310 51

Games 63 Metro Exodus: Sam’s Story 64 Doom Eternal

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Besiege 68 Lair of the Clockwork God 70 Half-Life: Alyx 67

Hobby tech 94 ZX Spectrum Next Accelerated 96 SEGA Arcade: Pop-Up History 98 Raspberry Pi Imager

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OPINION

RICHARD SWINBURNE / VIEW FROM TAIWAN

WIFI 6, BUT ONLY MAYBE Not all Wi-Fi 6 products are created equal. Richard Swinburne demystifies the spec and certification system f you’re shopping for a new Wi-Fi 6 router, you’ll be Key features, such as the latest WPA 3 security, is rightly surprised to learn that, despite certifications, not all required, while target wait time lets connected devices sleep products offer the same features. ‘Wi-Fi 6’ is the until they’re called upon, improving the power efficiency of marketing name administered by the Wi-Fi Alliance, and it’s every device on the network. Others features, such as OFDMA supposed to make it easy to understand that a product, such as and DL MU-MIMO, which improve the handling of many a router, smartphone or motherboard, offers a guaranteed set devices, are required on both 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands. However, of features. You’d think that two Wi-Fi 6 devices would work currently not every product is released with these mandatory features enabled. For example, the Asus RT-AX88U (Broadcom together at the best speeds with all the bells and whistles enabled, but that’s not the case because some features BCM49408),which is Wi-Fi 6 certified,supports are only optional in the certification list. the optional 160MHz channel bandwidth, but The certification list is only enables mandatory OFDMA in the 5GHz This certification list is separate from the IEEE separate from the IEEE band, not 2.4GHz. 802.11ax specification governed by the IEEE. The 802.11ax specification is public for anyone A certain type of signaling (long signal) is 802.11ax specification to view, but the same isn’t true for the Wi-Fi required to let devices know they’re Wi-Fi 6 6 certification requirements – that list is only capable, but a particular protocol used in beam available to Wi-Fi Alliance (WFA) members. It’s inconvenient forming – which improves performance – is only optional. The rather than insidious.The WFA is a commercial entity that merely reason why it’s optional is the same as the other optional features: exists to regulate the use of its branding through a certification not all products require or are even capable of high performance. program, by making sure Wi-Fi products conform. It’s this tickWi-Fi’s ubiquity is also its Achilles heel. It’s used to connect all box approval method that’s proving inadequate. sorts, from high-end routers and enterprise gear to a million I reached out to a technology company that makes Wi-Fi smart devices with limited capabilities. This blanket optional products and has WFA membership to obtain a copy of the list, regardless of product type, ultimately gives manufacturers too much free rein. certification list, and I’m going to go through it here. Strictly speaking,there’s more,but they dive deep into technical territory While your smartphone would benefit from optional features, that’s beyond this column. such as 160MHz bands, UL MU-MIMO and 1024 QAM, the reality Let’s start with the‘mandatory’items for certification, which is that it has no space for extra antennae and using these include WPA 3 security, target wait time, long symbol (data features would destroy its battery life. However, your home signaling), DL MU-MIMO, UL OFDMA and DL OFDMA. Then router – not restricted in power and size – would absolutely there are the ‘optional’ parts, which include 160MHz channel benefit from all three. The Wi-Fi Alliance needs to segment bandwidth, 1024 QAM, Bluetooth inclusion, UL MU-MIMO, DCM feature requirements by product type to ensure the best (dual sub-carrier modulation) and spatial reuse. There’s also‘no experience with the right product, and not just run a tick-box certification scheme. requirement’to have 2.4 + 5GHz throughput to get certification.

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Richard has worked in tech for over a decade, as a UK journalist, on Asus’ ROG team and now as an industry analyst based in Taiwan

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@ricswi

OPINION

T R ACY K I N G / SCEPTICAL ANALYSIS

THE WHO ENDORSES GAMING But didn’t it also classify ‘gaming disorder’ as a real, diagnosable condition? Tracy King awaits a revision ables are turning. While gaming has been a It’s very clear that gaming is not – as previously implied by the mainstream hobby for decades, it’s never been World Health Organisation – an anti-social activity, but simply officially endorsed by the World Health Organisation a form of entertainment that – unlike TV or books – offers before. Quite the opposite, in fact. I’ve had more than one control. It’s the closest analogue to the real world available.  rant about ‘gaming disorder’ and the WHO’s role in As those of us who challenged the WHO said repeatedly, the overmedicalising and stigmatising games in this column, so benefits of gaming clearly far outweigh any documented harms. this new move is quite a shock. What’s surprising, though, is that now there’s a pandemic, the In 2018, the World Health Organisation declared ‘gaming World Health Organisation seems to agree. disorder’ to be a real, diagnosable condition, despite plenty It’s supporting an industry initiative called #PlayApart of evidence against it, and the pleas of academics for (at the Together, which aims to use gaming not only as an alternative very least) more data before medicalising a hobby. to going outside, but also a way to promote social health As I wrote at the time,‘if someone is obsessed messaging such as handwashing and social with Doctor Who, for example, they are Online gaming is seeing distancing. Firms from Blizzard to Twitch have not given a special diagnosis of Television signed up. Seeing Ray Chambers, the WHO a huge boom as an Disorder. If they lock themselves away to paint ambassador for global strategy, tweet positively miniatures or collect Elvis memorabilia or work alternative to going out about games is surreal. on their train set, they’re not diagnosed with I don’t want to punish the WHO for it, but and seeing friends Hobby Disease’. honestly,youcan’thaveitbothways.Ifprolonged Despite gaming disorder being an extremely gaming really does cause gaming disorder, then dodgy inclusion to the diagnostic manual, the WHO went thee WHO has no business encouraging the population to game, ahead anyway. But that was before a global pandemic locked any more than it should be endorsing alcohol. It would be deeply us all in our homes.  unethical and by its own standards, dangerous. It would commit Children need entertainment all day. The solution? Games. large numbers of people to come out the other side of this Adults need escapism. The solution? Also games. Minecraft is pandemic with a brand-new addiction to video games. educational but also an extremely comforting world in which Clearly the WHO wouldn’t want to do that, so I can only to disappear and – crucially – control, in a time when none conclude that it’s wrong about gaming disorder and it knows it. of us has much control over our real lives. I’ll look out for a revision of the classification. In the meantime, Likewise, online gaming is seeing a huge boom as an hooray, we’re officially sanctioned by the WHO! alternative to going out and seeing friends or family. Rocket We can be gamers without stigma, no longer seen as League or Call of Duty are pub alternatives for everyone now, basement nerds but superheroes here to save the planet from instead of just those of us who were always stay-at-home boredom. Or maybe my imagination has gone a little haywire, gamers. In fact, the industry had its biggest March sales in it’s been a long lockdown. But at least we have games. Stay over a decade.  safe, stay gaming.

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Gamer and science enthusiast Tracy King dissects the evidence and statistics behind popular media stories surrounding tech and gaming

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I N CO M I N G / NEWS

Incoming BUDGET 3RDGEN RYZEN CHIPS INBOUND NOBLECHAIRS TEAMS UP WITH BETHESDA Premium gaming chair maker noblechairs has announced a new collaboration with Bethesda Software, with plans to produce themed chairs based on Bethesda’s game imagery. The first game series to get the chair treatment will be Doom and Fallout, in the second quarter of this year, with more chairs based on other game series due to come later. The company has shared some concept art of the Fallout chair, featuring the iconic blue and yellow colour scheme, as well as Vault Boy and the Vault-Tec logos. Meanwhile, the Doom chair will be based on military green, and feature the Doom logo stitched on the headrest, among other design features. Keep an eye on noblechairs.com for more details in the future. In the meantime, we’ve reviewed the noblechairs ICON Black Edition on p21.

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AMDhasannouncedplanstofilloutits7nm 3rd-genRyzenCPUrangefurther,withtwo newquad-coreZen2CPUsenroute,inthe formoftheRyzen33100and3300X.Both chipswillsupportSimultaneousMultithreading (SMT),meaningtheycanexecuteeight concurrentthreadsfromtheirfourcores.Both chipsalsohavea65Wthermaldesignpower (TDP),alongwith16MBofL3cache,2MBofL2 cacheand256KBofL1cache. Thecheapermodelisthe3100,whichhasa 3.6GHzbasefrequencyanda3.9GHzboost

clock, while the 3300X has a 3.8GHz base clock and boosts to 4.3GHz. Both CPUs are expected to be released on 21 May, and the 3300X is listed on scan.co.uk with a price of £115 inc VAT, with the 3100 coming in at £95 inc VAT. The new chips will also be accompanied by the eagerly anticipated B550 chipset, which is due to turn up in June and offer PCI-E 4 support for new AM4 CPUs for a much cheaper price than existing boards based on the X570 chipset. Look out for reviews of the new CPUs in the next issue of Custom PC.

CRUCIALEXPANDSNVMESSDLINEUP Crucial has announced two new ranges of M.2 NVMe SSDs, which it says aim to ‘give PC and gaming enthusiasts a full range of powerful options’. The new P5 series sits at the top, with respective read and write speeds of 3,400MB/ sec and 3,000MB/sec, and coming in 500GB, 1TB and 2TB capacities and is based on Micron’s

TLC 3D NAND flash memory, with an in-house Micron controller. There will also be a 250GB version, which drops the sequential write speed down to 1,400MB/sec. Meanwhile, the cheaper P2 range comes in capacities from 250GB to 1TB and is ‘built for value-conscious customers looking for a fast, affordable SSD’, with a read speed of up to 2,300MB/sec. The 500GB P2 is available for £63.59 inc VAT from uk.crucial.com, although no pricing has been announced for the P5 range yet. Both products also use the PCI-E 3 interface, rather than the latest PCI-E 4 interface – the latter has provided a significant speed boost for some of the latest NVMe drives from companies such as Corsair and Gigabyte.

GEFORCE GTX1650 GETSGDDR6MEMORY

FRACTAL UNVEILS CELSIUS+ COOLERS

Nvidia has quietly introduced a new version of the GeForce GTX 1650, which uses GDDR6 memory. The GeForce GTX 1650 (G6) is now listed on Nvidia’s website, and has 4GB of 12GHz (effective) GDDR6 memory, giving it an effective memory clock boost of 50 per cent over the 8GHz (effective) GDDR5 memory used by the previous GTX 1650. The two cards are now denoted by a ‘G5’ or ‘G6’ suffix to show the memory they use. They otherwise use the same GPU, with 896 stream processors, but there’s also a change in GPU clock speed, with the G6 boosting to just 1590MHz, compared to 1665MHz on the G5 model. Both cards also have the same 128-bit interface, but the move to GDDR6 on the G6 model provides a massive increase in memory bandwidth over the G5, taking it from 128GB/sec to 192GB/sec.

Fractal Design has announced a new line-up of all-in-one liquid CPU coolers, dubbed the Celsius+ range. The new coolers feature a redesigned waterblock from the old Celsius coolers with ARGB lighting, as well as an upgraded PWM fan hub on the radiator, again with ARGB support. Fractal has aimed to reduce the cabling spaghetti that often comes with RGB coolers too, threading the wiring through the braded sleeves of the rubber tubing. Fractal says the whole system can connect with a single power plug and an (optional) ARGB cable. The Celsius+ is available in 240mm and 360mm flavours, as well as a 280mm model, with a choice of pre-installed Dynamic X2 or Prisma ARGB fans. They’re not cheap though. Prices start from £140inc VAT for the 240mm Dynamic X2 model from scan.co.uk, with the 360mm ARGB version going for £220 inc VAT.

NVIDIA LAUNCHES SUPER MOBILE GPUS Nvidia has brought its mobile GeForce RTX GPU line-up in line with its latest desktop GPUs, adding two new ‘Super’ GPUs to its mobile laptop GPU range, including Max-Q versions. At the top of the range is the GeForce RTX 2080 Super, which has the same 3,072 stream processors as its desktop counterpart (an increase over the 2,944 in the non-Super RTX 2080), although its 8GB of GDDR6 memory runs at 14GHz (effective), rather than the 15.5GHz (effective) speed of the desktop card’s memory. Not surprisingly, clock speeds are also a bit lower than the desktop cards too, with the base clock varying between 735MHz and 1365MHz, with a boost range of 10801560MHz, depending on its implementation. Ray-tracing performance will also be a little lower, with Nvidia quoting performance of 5-7 Giga Rays/sec, compared to eight for the desktop GPU.

Likewise, the mobile RTX 2070 Super has the same 2,560 stream processors as the equivalent desktop chip (increasing from 2,304 in the non-Super RTX 2070), and it also has the same 14GHz (effective) GDDR6 memory speed as the desktop cards. Meanwhile, base clocks varyffrom 930MHz to 1155MHz, with boost clocks going from 1155MHz to 1380MHz. Nvidia says it’s worked with its memory partners to reduce the volttage of its GDDR6 memory further than before, and it’s also toting the secon nd version of its Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) technology, which h uses RTX GPUs’ Tensor cores. Nvidia say ys DLSS2 ‘boosts a game’s performan nce headroom while maximising raytracing settings with increased output resolution and extending battery life by up to 20 per cent’.

Several laptop manufacturers have announced new laptops based on the new Super GPUs, including Gigabyte, Acer, MSI and Razer (pictured).

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F E E D B AC K

Letters Please send us your feedback and correspondence to [email protected] Crunching for a vaccine

When’s the next issue out? JUNE

Issue 203 on sale on Thursday, 11 June

What a mesh

For the first time in years I’m looking at routers (as OpenReach has announced that FTTP will be in my area soon), and your article on the Netgear Orbi (see Issue 201, p30) raised a few questions. Firstly, how much?! Secondly, mesh seems to be the norm these days. My current 802.11n setup uses range extenders, but would you recommend mesh routers over separate range extenders? Thirdly, do all these modern mesh routers support FTTP and have the connections needed for fibre, or would I need some sort of fibre modem that’s networked to a mesh router to get Wi-Fi? ANDREW LEVICK

Ben: I would absolutely recommend a mesh setup over using range extenders, if that’s your current setup. Having a mesh system means you don’t have to keep connecting to different extenders if you move your phone/tablet/laptop around your house, and they also offer much faster and more consistent speeds. I know some range extenders allow you to keep the same SSID as your

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The Orbi AX6000 is amazing, but we’re not quite sure how Netgear came up with the price

Both Rosetta@home and Folding@home (pictured) enable you to use your spare clock cycles for COVID-19 research

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router,soyoudon’thavetoreconnect,but a mesh systemwill generally bemuch fasterandmorereliable. Andyes, thenew Wi-Fi 6 Orbi’spriceis ridiculous.I’m not entirely surehowmuch moneyNetgearthinks people haveto spendona router,but the currentprice makesit a prettyniche product atthe moment,andthat’s a shamebecause Netgear’solder802.11ac RBK50Orbi kitsofferedprettydecentvalue forthe speed onoffer. Anyway,youdon’t need tospendsillymoneyon theOrbi toget a decentsetup– theAsusAiMesh AX6100 kit is aroundhalf theprice andwonour Wi-Fi 6router roundupfromIssue196. To answeryourthirdquestion,yourISP shouldprovide you withaseparate FTTP modem, whichyou canplug intothe WANporton yourmesh router’smaster unit– youdon’tneedtobuy aspecific routerforFTTPbroadband.

I know you’re already well aware of the distributed computing efforts of BOINC and Folding@home, and the global pandemic is impossible to miss at the moment. However, I thought I’d point out to your readers that Rosetta@home on BOINC (boinc.bakerlab.org) is doing work towards COVID-19, as is Folding@home.  If readers have CPU cycles going idle, please consider signing up for Rosetta@home, while pointing your GPUs at Folding@home. Let’s show the world that working together is what humanity does best. Good luck and stay safe. STEVEN CAMPBELL

Ben: We are indeed aware of the work of both Rosetta@home and Folding@home, and you’ll also find a feature about the latter on p82 in this issue, where we talk to the project’s director Greg Bowman about COVID-19 research. We haven’t covered much about Rosetta@home in the past, as we have a top 20 Folding@home team and that’s historically been our focus, but it’s definitely a similarly worthy endeavour. It’s worth using your CPU for Folding@ home too. It doesn’t get you many points, but it can still contribute to vital research, some of which can’t be done on GPUs, as you’ll read in our feature. Whether you use Rosetta@home and/or Folding@home, and whichever team you’re on, I love the fact that PC hobbyists are able to make a real difference here. Sometimes we forget just how much raw computing power we have at our disposal, and it’s brilliant that so many of us are grouping our resources together for a common good.

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here’ss an in here inte tere restiting ba batt ttle le betwe tween en EKW KWB’ B s ne new w EK-AIO 360 D-RGB and Corsair’s H115i RGB Pro XT + (see p18) this month, and both approach premium + Snazzy RGB all-in-one (AIO) liquid cooling differently. EKWB has gone for lighting a 360mm radiator instead of the 280mm model used by Excellent cooling + Corsair, but the EK-AIO 360 D-RGB sticks to the realms of standard AIO liquid coolers with a slim radiator that’s 28mm STORAGE thick and just under 40cm long. This is a far cry from the HEATER company’s monstrous expandable Predator and Phoenix - Disappointing LGA2066 cooling coolers, but it will make it compatible with many more cases. Rather than relying on software to control its fan and - Noisy at full speed - Low pump speeds pump speeds, the EK-AIO 360 D-RGB has separate 4-pin affect performance PWM connectors for both the pump and fans, allowing you to use your motherboard to control them. This means you - Lots of cables don’t need to use software, which some may find pleasing. Thankfully, a 3-way splitter cable is included for the fans to help deal with cable spaghetti, so you just need two headers free on your motherboard to power the three fans and the pump. Thankfully, most modern motherboards have excellent fan control sections in their EFIs, so you should be able to fine-tune the cooler SPEC to your personal needs. The supplied Compatibility EK-Vadar S 120ER D-RGB fans spin at Intel: LGA115x, LGA2066, LGA2011; AMD: Socket AM4, AM3/+, AM2, up to 2,600rpm, so at full speed they’re FM2/+, FM1 noticeably louder than those on the Corsair Radiator size with fans (mm) cooler, which hit 2,000rpm. They should 120 x 395 x 53 (W x D x H) also respond instantly to high CPU loads, Fans unlike the H115i RGB Pro XT’s coolant-based 3 x 120mm response, which was slightly delayed. Stated noise However, many motherboard EFIs can 36dBA also offer a delayed fan response anyway. Quiet at low to medium loads

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At low loa oads ds,, th ds the e EK EK coo oolle ler wa ler wass bli blis bl iss u ly iss ly quiiet et,t but but we did notice that at low pump speeds, just like the Corsair cooler, temperatures were affected, even at idle, so be wary about lowering them too far. At full speed, the pump hits 2,600rpm, and its noise was a little whiny, but this noise was drowned out by the fans anyway. The pump and fans feature RGB lighting, which is bright but diffuse compared with the vivid colours on the Corsair cooler this month, but there’s a lot more on show. There’s no software included to control the lighting, so you’ll need to use a third-party controller, or your motherboard and its software.

T E M P E R AT U R E R E S U LT S AMD SOCKET AM4 DELTA T 41°C

EK AIO 360 D-RGB

43°C

Corsair H115i RGB Pro XT (max speed)

56°C

ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II 240

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INTEL LGA1151 DELTA T 46°C

EK AIO 360 D-RGB

51°C

Corsair H115i RGB Pro XT (max speed)

58°C

ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II 240

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INTEL LGA2066 DELTA T 50°C

EK AIO 360 D-RGB

58°C

Corsair H115i RGB Pro XT (max speed)

65°C

ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II 240

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Performance In our overclocked 8-core Ryzen 7 1700 AM4 test rig, the EK-AIO 360 D-RGB managed the best result on test, with a CPU delta T of 41°C beating the Corsair cooler by 2°C, albeit while making far more noise than both the ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II 240 and the Corsair H115i RGB Pro XT. In our overclocked Core i5-9600K LGA1151 system, the EK AIO 360 D-RGB managed a CPU delta T of 46°C at full speed, matching the Corsair cooler and shaving 7°C off the ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II 240, again with a trade-off in terms of far more noise. The EK cooler is very quiet at low to medium loads, however. We expected this potent performance to continue when dealing with our toughest customer – the Core i9-9980XE, but it was a few degrees off the pace of the Corsair H115i RGB Pro XT here, with the CPU delta T being 4°C warmer than the Corsair at on its Extreme profile, and only 4°C cooler than the Corsair H115i RGB Pro XT on its far quieter Balanced profile. We even reseated the cooler and reapplied thermal paste to make sure the figures were correct, but we got the same result.

Conclusion The EK-AIO 360 D-RGB uses digital addressable lighting, so you’ll need a spare 3-pin RGB header – it’s not compatible with 4-pin headers. This does mean there are further separate cables for the lighting, but while these add to the mess, they can at least be daisy-chained together, so you just need one header to control it all. There are enough fan screws in the box to mount another row of fans should you wish, and every current CPU socket, except Socket TR4 and TR4X, are supported. The cooler uses mounting plates for different sockets, which were a little fiddly to fit, with a backplate included for LGA115x motherboards. If you own an AMD motherboard then you’ll also need to detach its plastic mounting clips, as the cooler mounts directly to the stock AMD backplate. Otherwise, you just need to deal with thumbscrews and springs, so installation is painless. There’s enough length in the braided tubes to mount the radiator in the roof or front of your case too, and the rotating pump fittings mean it’s easy to angle them in the right direction, depending on where you install the radiator. radiator Unlike the Corsair, Corsair you also get a tube of thermal paste, so if you need to reapply it in future as part of an upgrade, you won’t need to buy more.

Apart from a slightly disappointing result in our LGA2066 system, the EKWB EK-AIO 360 D-RGB is a beast of an AIO liquid cooler, outstripping the Corsair H115i RGB Pro XT in our other test systems and offering huge gains over smaller (and cheaper) liquid coolers, such as the ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II 240. It delivers superb cooling, while offering snazzy RGB lighting and very quiet operation at low to medium loads. It’s easy to install, uses a compact 360mm radiator and you get enough thermal paste for several applications. There are some downsides though. The pump doesn’t offer enough grunt to avoid higher CPU temperatures at low speeds, where it’s quietest – you certainly wouldn’t expect this from EKWB’s AM4 own pumps for DIY water cooling. COOLING You also have to deal with a lot of cables, and the fans make a lot of noise at full load. You’ll also need to delve FEATURES into your motherboard’s EFI or install your motherboard’s software to tweak the fan profiles, which won’t be a userDESIGN friendly experience for everybody. Ultimately, though, this is a powerful AIO liquid cooler that looks great and VALUE performs well, and it’s not unreasonably priced for the power on offer either.

39/40 16/20

14/20

ANTONY LEATHER

VERDICT Excellent cooling and quiet operation at low speeds, although it makes a din at full speed.

LGA115x

COOLING

39/40 FEATURES

16/20 DESIGN

14/20 VALUE

14/20 FITTING

Easy OVERALL SCORE

83% LGA2066

COOLING

37/40 FEATURES

16/20 DESIGN

14/20 VALUE

14/20

13/20

FITTING

FITTING

Easy

Easy

OVERALL SCORE

OVERALL SCORE

83% 80% 17

R E V I E WS / COOLING

A L L I N  O N E L I Q U I D C P U CO O L E R

CORSAIR H115I RGB PRO XT/£133

inc VAT

SUPPLIER scan.co.uk

OVERCLOCKED

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ost high-end all-in-one (AIO) liquid coolers won’t leave you with change from £100 these days, + especially RGB-equipped ones. At over £130 inc + Detailed fan and pump control VAT, Corsair’sH115i RGB Pro XT is well on the way to costing + Excellent cooling the same amount as a full custom loop, but we can’t deny that havinga 280mm software-controlled, RGB lighting+ Few cables equipped all-in-one unit is an attractive proposition, especially from a simplicity point of view. OVERCOOKED TheH115iRGB Pro XT is compatible with all current CPU - Quiet profile limits cooling sockets, andit has a redesigned cold plate and micro-skived copper channels. It’s a USB-controlled unit, so you’ll need a - No extra thermal paste spare USB 2 header to hook up to the pump. The pump has two4-pinfanconnectors to power the two ML140 magnetic - Not all cases have 140mm levitation-bearing fans, and as these fans aren’t RGBfan mounts enabled, there aren’t too many cables. The top ofthe pump is the only place you’ll find RGB lighting,andthe 16 LED digitally addressable LEDs can be controlled individually. The lighting effects are extensive andyoucancreate your own effects too, with full control to all16LEDs,which can synchronise with any other Corsair components,with support for some motherboards too. As this is done using software, there are no additional cables for the lighting, which is SPEC great news. Compatibility The fans spin at up to 2,000rpm, which Intel: LGA115x, LGA2066, LGA2011; AMD: Socket AM4, AM3/+, isn’t in the same league as some of Corsair’s AM2/+, FM2/+, FM1, TR4/X 240mm AIO liquid coolers, but their larger Radiator size with fans (mm) size area means they can shift more air, and 137 x 322 x 52 (W x D x H) the radiator has a greater surface area too. Fans This should mean you get decent cooling 2 x 140mm with less noise, although we’ll be paying close Stated noise attention to pump noise too, as this can often 36dBA be the downfall of AIO liquid coolers. Great software

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The installation kit is relatively concise, with socket pins and thumbscrews for all sockets except AM4, where the cooler uses clips that hook up to the stock mounting mechanism. This is very easy to use, but lacks a sturdy four-point mount, which we’ve seen affect cooling in the past. The cooler includes separate mounting plates for AMD and CPU sockets, which slide onto the pump, but installation is painless on each socket. As usual with most AIO liquid coolers, there’s no thermal paste in the box, as this has been preapplied to the cold plate. If you need to upgrade in future, you’ll need to buy some, as this paste only lasts for one installation. Meanwhile, the radiator has a reasonably dense array of fins, but it’s compact and only 27mm thick, so it should fit into most twin 140mm fan mounts. Should you wish to add fans to theothersideoftheradiatorfora push/pull setup then Corsair has alsoincluded also included anextrasetofscrews. an extra setof screws

T E M P E R AT U R E R E S U LT S AMD SOCKET AM4 DELTA T 43°C

Corsair H115i RGB Pro XT (Extreme)

48°C

Corsair H115i RGB Pro XT (Balanced)

55°C

Corsair H115i RGB Pro XT (Quiet) 41°C

EK AIO 360 D-RGB

56°C

ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II 240

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INTEL LGA1151 DELTA T 46°C

Corsair H115i RGB Pro XT (Extreme)

51°C

Corsair H115i RGB Pro XT (Balanced)

58°C

Corsair H115i RGB Pro XT (Quiet) 46°C

EK AIO 360 D-RGB

53°C

ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II 240

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INTEL LGA2066 DELTA T 50°C

Corsair H115i RGB Pro XT (Extreme)

58°C

Corsair H115i RGB Pro XT (Balanced)

65°C

Corsair H115i RGB Pro XT (Quiet) 54°C

EK AIO 360 D-RGB

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100

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100

Lower is better

Then wecome toCorsair’s iCUEsoftware, which isquite polished thesedaysandthe coolerwas detected overUSB instantlyafter installation. Outof thebox, you canselect from Quiet, Balanced andExtremeprofiles,and applythem individually tothepumpandfans.Interestingly, bothareas impactedcoolingability,withtheExtremepumpsetting offering a speed of 2,600rpm anddropping theCPU temperatureby severaldegreescompared tothe1,900rpm Quiet profile onourLGA2066system,withthefansalso runningontheQuietprofile. The H115iRGBProXT’stemperatureinput issettoan internal sourceso, muchlike a DIYwater-coolingsystem, it’s the coolanttemperature,notyourCPUtemperature, that dictatesthepumpand fan speeds. There’sless coolant involvedhere,though,which explains the noticeablyhigher temperatureswhen using the Balanced and Quiet profiles, as the fans and pump takelonger to respond. However, if you createacustom profile, you caninsteadsynchronise the speedstoyourCPUtemperature,orsimplytweakthe responsecurvestoyourliking. Thankfully, the pumponly madea slight whineat full speed, but we recommendoptingfora peak speed somewhere between theBalanced andExtremeprofiles,as theformer was noticeably quieter andonlya degreeor two warmer under load.We also recommend ramping upthespeed alittle quicker too,especiallyonHEDT CPUs.

ten-minute stress test,although thelatterwas stillenoughto beat theARCTICLiquidFreezerII240.However, theEKAIO 360D-RGB was better still,albeit withslightlyhigher noise levels withitsfansandpump atfullspeed. TheEKWBAIO 360D-RGBandH115iRGBProXT managedthesame46°C deltaT whendealingwith our overclockedCore i5-9600K,but theCorsaircooleraddeda hefty12°C underitsQuietprofile, wheretheARCTIC Liquid Freezer II240 was slightlybetter. Finally,inour new overclockedCorei9-9980XEsystem, theH115iRGBProXT wasnoticeablybetterthantheEKWB AIO360D-RGB. Again,though,switchingtotheQuietprofile saw a massive15°C addedto theload temperature.

Conclusion It’sclearthatbothpumpandfanspeedareimportantfactors withtheCorsairH115iRGBProXT,but whileitsQuiet(andto someextentitsBalanced)profilesonly offeredsimilarcooling tothelikesofthemuchcheaperCorsairA500andARCTIC LiquidFreezerII240,ifyouallowtheH115iRGBProXTto stretch its legs with slightly higher speeds,it’sfarmorepowerfuland AM4 veryquietatlowtomediumloads. COOLING Thesameistrueof thesimilarly pricedEKWBAIO 360 D-RGBatlower speeds, whichhasaneven bigger FEATURES radiator, plus RGB fans, and youcan controliteasilyfromyourmotherboard. However, theH115iRGBProXT isa DESIGN superbandpowerfulAIOliquidcooler forthemoney, anditcancopewith overclockedHEDTCPUs.It’sagreat VALUE choiceif you need plentyof cooling power, butaren’tquitereadytojump FITTING intoDIYwatercooling.

37/40 17/20

16/20 15/20

ANTONYLEATHER

Performance We testedtheH115iRGBProXT at allthreespeed profiles,and there’s a significant different between them. This, as we’ve mentioned, was due to both lower pump and fan speeds. For instance, the CPU delta T rose from 43°C to 55°C in our Socket AM4 system between the Extreme and Quiet profiles in our

VERDICT Monstrous cooling at reasonable noise levels, although it comes at a price.

COOLING

38/40 FEATURES

17/20 DESIGN

15/20 VALUE

15/20 FITTING

Easy OVERALL SCORE

85% LGA2066

COOLING

39/40 FEATURES

17/20 DESIGN

16/20 VALUE

15/20 FITTING

Easy

Easy

OVERALL SCORE

OVERALL SCORE

85% 87% 19

R E V I E WS / COOLING

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hen the original ARCTIC Freezer 7 Pro was first doing the rounds, all-in-one liquid coolers didn’t even exist, and even heatpipe-equipped heatsinks were still relatively new. The original cooler was a great bit of kit, though, offering decent cooling for under £20, and enabling people to bin their CPU’s stock cooler and get lower noise levels and better cooling. Today, its replacement still costs the right side of £20, while taking aim at stock coolers and shaving a tenner or two off the price of cheap 120mm heatsinks. It’s still a compact 92mm cooler, though, so while ARCTIC claims it offers 10 per cent more cooling capacity than the original 115W TDP-rated Freezer 7 Pro, you won’t want to pair it with an overclocked Core i9-9900K or Ryzen 9 3950X. However, its height of just 133mm makes it ideal for smaller cases, where you’re otherwise limited to low-profile or AIO liquid coolers that can cost significantly more. Interestingly, ARCTIC has also moved away from three 6mm heatpipes to just two, but they’re now in direct contact with your CPU’s heatspreader. Meanwhile, the 92mm PWM fan features a fluid dynamic bearing and is very quiet indeed, even at its full speed of 2,000rpm. Installation is blissfully simple, as no rear mounting plate is required. For Socket AM4, two clips hook directly onto the standard motherboard mounting arms. A sturdy pushpin-secured bracket is first fitted for LGA115x sockets, but it uses the same clips on the cooler, which are tightened using screws once you’ve hooked them in place. We were up and running in under a minute on both our test systems without a sore finger in sight.

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ARCTIC FOX

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Great value Easy installation Quiet at full speed

ARCTIC ROLL

-

Struggles with some overclocked CPUs

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No extra thermal paste provided

SPEC Compatibility Intel: LGA115x; AMD: Socket AM4, AM3/+, AM2/+, FM2/+, FM1 Heatsink size with fans (mm) 111 x 74 x 133 (W x D x H) Fans 1 x 92mm Stated noise 22.5dBA

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AMD SOCKET AM4 DELTA T 66°C

ARCTIC Freezer 7 X ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II 240

56°C

Corsair A500

57°C

Stock cooler Fail

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LGA1151

COOLING

Thermal paste is pre-applied to the contact plate, which saves time, but means you’ll need to buy more paste should you swap CPUs. The cooler is also compatible with Intel’s upcoming LGA1200 socket. In our LGA1151 system, the Freezer 7 X was 9°C warmer than the Corsair A500 we tested recently, and while this is a big margin, it still just about tamed our overclocked Core i5-9600K for a quarter of the price. Our overclocked 8-core Ryzen 7 1700 presented just as tough a challenge, but again the Freezer 7 X stayed within 10°C of the Corsair cooler. Here, we also strapped the stock Ryzen 7 1700 cooler to our test system and, within a minute, the CPU topped 100°C, while the Freezer 7 X only just topped 90°C after ten minutes. Conclusion Our overclocked test CPUs pushed the Freezer 7 X to its limits, but it coped well. It’s ideal for stock-speed 6-core and 8-core CPUs, and it could cope with overclocked Ryzen 5 CPUs. If you’re looking for a wallet—friendly upgrade that’s quiet and miles better than a stock cooler, and you’re not looking for huge overclocks, the Freezer 7 X is a fantastic choice. ANTONY LEATHER

INTEL LGA1151 DELTA T

53°C

ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II 240

VERDICT

56°C

Corsair A500

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84% AM4

COOLING

30/40 FEATURES

14/20 DESIGN

20/20 VALUE

20/20 FITTING

Easy OVERALL SCORE

65°C

ARCTIC Freezer 7 X

30/40

100 Lower is better

Excellent value and decent cooling – a great, affordable upgrade over a stock cooler.

84%

GAMING CHAIR

SUPPLIER overclockers.co.uk

he question of whether to go for full leather or other materials, when buying a gaming chair, is a tricky one. Leather can be uninvitingly cold one day, and hot and sticky the next, yet it’s tough and wipe-clean, making it a practical option. Leather is also usually much more expensive than alternative materials. As for faux leathers, a lot look and feel very different from the real thing, with an often coarse texture that’s decidedly less premium than the real deal. Could you make a material that combines the best of both worlds? The folks at noblechairs seem to think so. The company has developed a faux leather that it claims not only looks and feels like real leather, but offers better airflow, comfort and durability. The hybrid vinyl-based material is supposed to be breathable and reduce that sticky feeling you can get with leather on warm days. In the flesh, apart from its matt surface having less sheen than leather, as well as a little more texture, the material feels indistinguishable from noblechairs leather-clad model. The new material is available across all of the company’s chairs, including the ICON sample it sent us. The rest of the chair, though, is mostly the same as before. You get fully adjustable arm rests, with soft padded tops although, as with previous noblechairs designs, we’d prefer the arm rests to be a little softer. They can be adjusted horizontally in two directions, as well as up and down. However, while the ICON is the smallest chair in the range, if you’re a small to medium-sized person, the arms can’t be adjusted inwards quite far enough to allow for full support when typing. I had to adjust the angle of my arms a bit to compensate, and eventually got used to it, but we’d like to see some alterations here in the future.

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b The rest of the chair is superb, though, with an adjustable, upright back and a good range of height adjustment. There’s no integrated lumbar support like you’ll find with the noblechairs Hero, but noblechairs includes cushions for the headrest and lumbar area to boost support, just like most gaming chairs. Building the chair is straightforward, if a little timeconsuming and, due to its weight, you may need a hand. We also recommend building the chair where you intend to use it, as you definitely don’t want to end up carrying it up the stairs. The new material works well in action too. Sitting on this chair was no less comfortable than sitting on a leather chair, and both clothes and skin had far less tendency to get stuck to it in hot weather as well.

Conclusion The noblechairs ICON Black Edition doesn’t offer too many new features over the original design, and there are one or two areas of adjustment that we’d change too – out of the box, it’s geared more towards medium to large people than smaller folks. We love the new material though. While leather is generally the must-have premium material when it comes to chairs, the company’s new vinyl material is a big hit with us. It reduces the cost, and solves several issues with leather, such as its breathability and comfort on warm days. It also looks premium too, and noblechairs offers some droolworthy colours. So, if you fancy a noblechairs gaming throne, but can’t quite stretch to a real leather version, the new Black Edition material is just as good in our eyes. ANTONY LEATHER

HOME ALONE

+ + +

Very comfortable Fully adjustable Great new material

HOME & AWAY

-

Not for small folks Heavy once built Only in black

COMFORT

45/50 FEATURES

22/25 VALUE

21/25 OVERALL SCORE

VERDICT The noblechairs ICON is still one of the best chairs around, and the Black Edition’s new material is cheaper and better than leather to our eyes.

88% 21

R E V I E WS / PERIPHERALS

M E C H A N I C A L G A M I N G K E Y B OA R D

ASUS ROG STRIX SCOPE TKL DELUXE /£149 inc VAT

SUPPLIER overclockers.co.uk

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he ROG Strix Scope is one of the priciest tenkeyless + Excellent mechanical (meaning there’s no numeric switches keypad) designs on the market, setting you back a + Robust, whopping £149 inc VAT, although it does have a mightily compact design ooks the part than nks impressive design. This unit undeniably lo + Great lighting to its brushed aluminium top, bright per-kkey RGB and features nes backlighting and several other lighting zones. DICTATORSHIP That aluminium contributes to the superb build quality, making this unit plenty strong enough to withstand being - Expensive carried to LAN events. Its 365mm width makes it easy to - Weak wrist rest transport too, and the lack of a numpad provides more desk attachment - Heavier than many space for your mouse and mousemat. tenkeyless units The layout has been augmented with smart touches. The function row is doubled up with media keys, with a shortcut function of the Insert key switching between these modes. There’s also a Stealth key, which minimises all your software and mutes audio, and a Game Mode to disable the Windows key. Extra long left-Ctrl and Shift keys are also meant to help with FPS and eSports gaming. This keyboard isn’t flawless, though, despite its high price. Its wrist rest, for example, is a cushioned unit that makes gaming sessions far more comfortable than usual, but its magnetic connection is weak and it blocks the bold band of lighting at the front of the keyboard. The magnetic wrist rest and detachable, braided USB-C cable make transport easier, but there’s no USB pass-through. The Strix Scope TKL isn’t particularly light for a tenkeyless unit either – with the wrist rest it weighs over 1kg. On the inside, this keyboard relies on SPEC familiar CherryMX keyswitches. Our review Connection sample had CherryMX Red switches, which Wired, USB are light and linear, with a modest actuation Cable 1.8m braided, detachable force of 45g. That makes them ideal for fast-paced gaming. In our tests, they were Material Plastic, aluminium excellent, providing a rapid, consistent and crisp action with little resistance. Switch type CherryMX Red, Brown, Blue, The Strix Scope TKL is available with four Speed Silver or Silent Red alternative switch types. The CherryMX Backlighting Blue switch is heavier and makes a physical RGB click while Brown switches offer middling Extras Detachable wrist rest, weight with a tactile bump. Speed Silver and Game Mode, Stealth Mode Silent Red switches are also on offer – the

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fformer has a shorter actuation distance, while the latter is quieter. The only missing feature is hot-swappable switch technology, which has just begun to appear on a handful of keyboards, such as Logitech’s G Pro X. The Asus can also record macros on the fly, and they can be recorded in the ROG Armoury II app. The lighting can be altered here too, with nine effects available alongside custom and static options. The Armoury software can also save five profiles to the keyboard, but there’s no option for customising each key’s function.

Conclusion The Scope TKL Deluxe has loads of advantages. Its strong, compact and modular design makes it great for smaller spaces and frequent transport, and its layout is ideal for FPS and esports gaming. It looks great, with dramatic lighting and a superb aluminium finish. Its CherryMX hardware is reliably excellent, and the Function row switching and Stealth mode options are useful too. The wrist rest doesn’t attach well, and it’s a little heavy for a tenkeyless unit, but those are just minor annoyances rather than dealbreakers. The biggest problem is the price. If you’re on a DESIGN budget, it’s easy to find tenkeyless or even full-sized gaming keyboards with CherryMX hardware for half the FEATURES price. If you want a robust, high-quality tenkeyless unit with loads of features, VALUE though, the Scope is pricey but good.

36/40 32/35

MIKE JENNINGS

20/25

OVERALL SCORE

VERDICT Great performance, design and features in a small package, but it isn’t cheap.

88%

WIRELESS GAMING MOUSE

CORSAIR DARK CORE RGB PRO/£85 inc VAT

SUPPLIER corsair.com

SPEC he first iteration of the Corsair Dark Core impressed with its versatile shape, excellent sensor and decent wireless performance. However, it still relied on older wireless standards that made for a slightly less responsive feel than wired mice or the best wireless alternatives. Now Corsair is back with an updated version that includes the company’s more responsive Slipstream wireless technology, along with a better sensor, a USB Type-C connection and, of course, more RGB! The strange shape, with its two flared-out side sections, 134g weight and profusion of RGB zones don’t make it look particularly appealing for pure gaming performance at first, but looks can be deceiving. Its nearly symmetrical (but not ambidextrous) shape works surprisingly well for a variety of grip styles. The scooped sides provide plenty of purchase; along with the generally modest proportions, these make it work well for fingertip grip. Meanwhile, there’s still enough of a raised middle section to provide a comfortable resting position for people with smaller hands to use a palm grip. Finally, the grippy surface and smooth gradient of the back of the mouse works for claw grip too. The right side of the mouse can be removed, and the larger flared piece can be swapped out for a more conventional shape. However, we were surprised to find we preferred the larger version in use. For buttons, you get the usual five (left, right, middle/ scroll, back, forward) plus two DPI buttons that sit just to the left of the standard left-click button and a profile button behind the scroll wheel. We much prefer this position for DPI buttons over having them buried below your palm/middle finger, as on most mice.

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This positioning generally makes 134g them much more accessible, and Dimensions (mm) it’s easier to precisely hit both the up 127 x 67/89 (main body/edges of bottom flares) x 43 (W x D x H) and down buttons. That said, these particular buttons sit too flush with Sensor 18,000dpi optical custom PixArt PAW3392 the rest of the mouse, so it can be difficult to accurately place them and Buttons 7 (left, right, scroll wheel, back, too easy to accidentally tap them. forward, two DPI, profile) As for all those RGB sections, well, Cable by this point RGB is so ubiquitous 1.8m braided that they elicited little more than a Wireless shrug. This isn’t the slickest-looking Corsair Slipstream mouse anyway and the zones don’t Extras particularly change that situation one RGB lighting, Bluetooth way or the other – it’s no Razer Viper (see Issue 195, p61). Crucially, all the DARK MATTER zones are fully programmable, as are all the buttons, + Versatile shape via Corsair’s decent iCUE software. + Excellent Where this mouse really makes a case for itself – other performance than its surprisingly versatile shape – is its new wireless + Convenient wired/ technology. Corsair Slipstream finally achieves effective wireless operation parity with wired mice thanks to a more efficient signalling method, which can send more smaller packets of data DARK AGES per millisecond than previous standards. Quite simply, we - Not the most stylish were able to properly play competitively with this mouse, which wasn’t possible with the previous version. - Awkward DPI button placement What’s more, you can plug in the new USB Type-C cable to charge and continue gaming at the same time - Rather heavy as charging, plus there’s a Bluetooth connection for easy use with laptops and tablets. Meanwhile, the top-notch DESIGN sensor is less of an upgrade over its predecessor, but it still works flawlessly. FEATURES

16/20

Conclusion

The Corsair Dark Core RGB Pro is a surprising hit, thanks to its universal shape, excellent sensor and wireless performance. Add in the wired/wireless features and long battery life, and you have a very good wireless gaming mouse. It’s heavy but we found this works well with the overall shape of the mouse. EDWARD CHESTER

18/20

PERFORMANCE

25/30 VALUE

23/30 OVERALL SCORE

VERDICT A surprisingly capable gaming mouse for its price, although it’s not without compromise.

82% 25

R E V I E WS / MONITORS

4 3 I N M O N I TO R

PHILIPS BRILLIANCE 439P9H /£867 inc VAT

SUPPLIER reichelt.com

he Philips 439P9H is a mega-wide display with a whopping 43in diagonal and a 3,840 x 1,200 + Colossal display resolution. It’s the same height as 34in ultrawide + KVM with Ethernet displays, but with an extra 10in of width, giving you the + Built-in webcam desktop real estate of two monitors, but without bezels + Software breaking up the image. OSD control It also includes a webcam, which protrudes from the top edge and supports 1080p video for Skype and Zoom calls, ULTRA WHY!? as well as Windows Hello facial recognition. If you’d rather - Relatively low keep yourself private, the camera can be pushed back down resolution for size into the frame of the display, which turns it off. In our testing, - VA panel not our first choice though, the webcam proved a pain to get working, with the for work cumbersome instructions and download options on Philips’ Fussy setup for website making it less than intuitive. some features There are several other appealing features for this multifunction business display though. A built-in KVM unit lets you plug your keyboard, mouse and even Ethernet connection into the display, SPEC then feed the whole lot back to your PC Screen size via a USB Type-C cable. Again, the setup 43in is a bit convoluted but the feature is there. Resolution 3,840 x 1,200 The full list of connection options includes two DisplayPort 1.4 sockets Panel technology VA and one HDMI 2 video input, two USB Maximum refresh rate Type-C 3.2 upstream connections 100Hz (to your computers) and four USB 3.2 Contrast downstream connections (for your 3,000:1 (2,300:1 measured) peripherals), one gigabit Ethernet port Active sync and a headphone out. The included pair Adaptive-Sync of 5W speakers are surprisingly powerful Display inputs too – ample for a video chat meeting. 2 x DisplayPort 1.4, 1 x HDMI 2, 2 x USB C The whole setup looks smart, with the Audio solid metal stand offering height, rotation 2 x 5W, microphone in, headphone out and tilt adjustment, although the height Stand adjustment adjustment doesn’t go that high – the Height, pivot, rotation, tilt maximum height to the top of the screen Extras Webcam, KVM, Ethernet sharing, is 54cm. You’ll find some relatively easySoftware OSD control to-use controls for the on-screen display HDR standard on the underside of the monitor, or you DisplayHDR 400 can install Philips’ SmartControl software,

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which allows you to setup the display from the desktop – a much easier route. Meanwhile, that 3,840 x 1,200 resolution may sound impressive, but typical 34in ultrawide displays have a resolution of 3,440 x 1,440, so we’d expect a display this big to come in at around 4,600 x 1,440. As such, while the image is fine, it’s not super-sharp. The other oddity is the use of a VA panel, rather than IPS. The advantage is a relatively high native contrast of 2,300:1 (according to our measurements), which is double what most IPS displays provide, but has limited benefits for business applications. It also has HDR support via a slightly extended colour gamut, which again isn’t ideal for work. However, you can tone down the colours by opting for the sRGB setting via the SmartControl software. With a 100Hz refresh rate and Adaptive-Sync support, this display is good for noncompetitive gaming, if your graphics card and games can deal with the resolution. Once you’ve selected the sRGB option and turned off HDR, image quality is good, although not outstanding. The colour balance (6,853K colour temperature), gamma (2.4) and colour accuracy (0.25 delta E average) are all close enough to ideal to get by, and viewing angles from the VA panel are good too.

Conclusion Thehuge screen,built-inwebcam and all-in-oneKVM unit with Ethernet connection makesthe439P9Hvery versatilefor work.However, aVApanel wouldn’tbe ourfirstchoicefor business applications, and someof itsextra featuresarealittleawkwardtosetup. EDWARD CHESTER

IMAGE QUALITY

30/40 FEATURES

25/30 VALUE

22/30 OVERALL SCORE

VERDICT A hugely versatile business display with loads of features, although it comes with some caveats.

77%

2 7 I N G A M I N G M O N I TO R

ROV E

or the past few years, the most responsive gaming monitors have used 24.5in 1080p TN panels with 240Hz refresh rates, such as the AOC AGON AG251FZ. However, their relatively small size and resolution means they’re not all that useful for anything other than competitive gaming. Enter the AG273QZ, one of a new generation of displays that has the same blistering 240Hz refresh rate and 0.5ms response time but in a larger 27in screen size and with a higher 2,560 x 1,440 resolution. The key advantage is that you get a much more practical size and resolution for anything else you might do with your PC, plus you can run games at a much higher resolution. However, text on this screen – as on many TN-type LCDs – isn’t anywhere near as crisp and easy to read as on IPS displays, thanks to more noticeable coloured fringing around high-contrast edges. As such, while displays like this get you closer to the ideal of one display for both gaming and work than those older 1080p 240Hz models, an IPS screen offers a better balance of both worlds. Getting back to the rest of this display’s credentials, there’s plenty else here to excite. For a start, it supports FreeSync and G-Sync, so you can get tear and stutter-free gaming with both AMD and Nvidia GPUs. You also get slideout headphone stands on both sides of the frame, and the metal stand and base includes height, GSYNC pivot, rotation and tilt adjustment. + Stunning gaming Connection options are ample too, performance with two DisplayPort 2 sockets and two + Loads of features HDMI 2 ports, as well as microphone-

F

+

Decent value

NSYNC

-

Poor contrast Generally middling image quality Pointless HDR spec

TN displays like this (top) have more noticeable coloured fringing round the edge of text, making it less readable than IPS displays (bottom)

SUPPLIER laptopsdirect.co.uk

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in and headphone-out sockets. There’s 27in a pair of 5W speakers too, and a fourResolution port USB 3.2 hub. 2,560 x 1,440 It even looks reasonably smart, with Panel technology its slim, low-profile bezels and tiptoe TN silver stand. There’s RGB lighting too, Maximum refresh rate with a ring of light on the back and a 240Hz small zone on the underside of the Stated response time bezel. The OSD and its controls are 0.5ms decent too, and you even get a wired Contrast remote for controlling them. 700:1 Image quality is good for a gaming Adaptive sync TN-type display. Colour balance and FreeSync and G-Sync gamma are very close to perfect in Display inputs the factory default setting, so you’ll 2 x DisplayPort 2, 2 x HDMI 2 only need to adjust the brightness to Audio get a decent image. However, contrast 2 x 5W, microphone in, headphone out is underwhelming at just 670:1, Stand adjustment making the display’s HDR credentials Height, pivot, rotation, tilt laughable. Ironically, the sRGB setting Extras OSD remote control that reduces the monitor’s otherwise overly high (125 per cent sRGB) HDR standard DisplayHDR 400 colour gamut improves contrast to 840:1. However, it locks brightness at 380cd/m², which is far too bright. In short, this display isn’t all that great for much beyond its IMAGE QUALITY core competitive gaming focus, but it’s superbly good at this one job. If you simply want a big top-spec gaming display with a higher resolution than older 240Hz 1080p models, GAMING this is a great option.

19/30

29/30

Conclusion Loads of features, a competitive price and fantastic gaming performance make the AG273QZ an excellent choice for competitive gamers seeking a larger, higher-resolution 240Hz display. Its HDR support is pointless though. EDWARD CHESTER

FEATURES

18/20 VALUE

16/20 OVERALL SCORE

VERDICT A fantastic competitive gaming display, although it’s a little limited elsewhere.

82% 27

R E V I E WS / LAPTOPS

G A M I N G L A P TO P

ASUS ROG ZEPHYRUS G14 GA401IV/£1,800 inc VAT

SUPPLIER overclockers.co.uk

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he ROG Zephyrus G14 GA401IV is the first laptop we’ve seen with an AMD Zen 2 processor, and in this machine it’s the high-end Ryzen 9 4900HS. The new chip is an 8-core, 16-thread beast. That’s two more cores than you’ll find in Intel’s Core i7-9750H and the forthcoming Core i7-10750H – the most frequently used Intel chips in gaming laptops. The Ryzen 9 4900HS has a 3GHz base clock, and can turbo boost to 4.3GHz. The Ryzen 9 4900H is faster still, but this HS variant has been SPEC downclocked to aid power consumption. CPU GHz AMD Ryzen 9 4900HS Likewise, the GeForce RTX 2060 GPU Memory in this machine is a Max-Q model. It 16GB 3200MHz DDR4 has 1,920 stream processors, 30 RT Graphics cores and 6GB of memory, but also has Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 Max-Q 6GB reduced clock speeds compared with Screen the full-fat version. Elsewhere, there’s 14in 2,560 x 1,440 IPS 60Hz 16GB of 3200MHz DDR4 memory and Storage a 1TB Intel NVMe SSD. There’s no Gigabit 1TB Intel 660p M.2 SSD Ethernet, but you get Wi-Fi 6. Networking The Zephyrus’ 14in screen makes it Dual-band 802.11ax Wi-Fi compact as well. It weighs just 1.6kg, Weight and measures only 18mm thick. It’s 1.6kg slimmer and lighter than virtually every Ports competing gaming laptop we’ve tested, 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 1, 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C/DisplayPort, 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 and the magnesium-aluminium alloy Type-C, 1 x HDMI, 1 x audio, Bluetooth 5 body balances smart, subtle design with Dimensions (mm) fantastic build quality. 324 x 222 x 18 (W x D x H) Thealuminiumlidis coveredwithtiny Operating system dots, which form aneat pattern on our Windows 10 Home 64-bit review sample.On forthcomingversions, Warranty Asussaysthedotswillemitlightsthatcan Two years parts and labour return to base becustomisedwith patternsand status

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updates. There’s also a fingerprint reader in the power button, and this laptop can be charged either from a mains adaptor or a USB-C port. You get two full-sized USB ports and a second USB-C connector, but no Thunderbolt, card reader or webcam. Meanwhile, the keyboard has white backlighting and extra buttons to activate the microphone, alter volume and open the Asus Armoury app. The arrow keys are separate from the main keys, which makes them easier to use, but there’s no numberpad. The keyboard has n-key rollover too, and the keys are comfortable, consistent and quiet to use, with good travel. The buttons don’t have the crisp snap of mechanical units, but they’re excellent for general gaming use and hours of typing. The trackpad is underwhelming though – the buttons are responsive, but they stick a little when pressed.

Performance In our image editing test, which gauges single-threaded performance, the AMD chip delivered a score of 53,874, which is 1,000-4,000 points ahead of most laptops with Intel’s Core i7-9750H. In our heavily multi-threaded Handbrake test, though, the Ryzen chips’ extra cores enabled the Asus to score 539,441. That’s miles ahead of Intel laptops, which usually score under 400,000. The G14’s overall score of 216,022 is similarly well ahead of equivalent Intel machines. The only way you’ll get a faster laptop is by opting for one with an Intel Core i9 CPU, and those machines are heavy and expensive. Don’t wait for the forthcoming Core i7-10750H either – that chip only provides a modest boost and likely won’t catch this AMD part. The SSD’s sequential read and write speeds of 1,881MB/sec and 1,781MB/sec are also good enough to keep the machine feeling snappy, although they’re a fair way off the performance of the fastest NVMe drives.

B E N C H M A R K R E S U LTS

53,874 539,441 GIMP IMAGE EDITING

HANDBRAKE H.264 VIDEO ENCODING

148,402 216,022 HEAVY MULTITASKING

SYSTEM SCORE

SHADOW OF THE TOMB RAIDER 2,560 x 1,440, Highest Detail, TAA 37fps

Asus ROG Zephyrus G14

0

47fps

30

60

120

60

120

TOTAL WAR: WARHAMMER II 2,560 x 1,440, Ultra Detail, DX11, FXAA 40fps

29fps

Asus ROG Zephyrus G14

0

30

BATTLEFIELD V 2,560 x 1,440, Ultra settings, DX12, High DXR, TAA 20fps

Asus ROG Zephyrus G14

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28fps

30 Minimum

60

120

Average

At the display’s native 2,560 x 1,440 resolution, the RTX 2060 Max-Q delivered a minimum frame rate of 37fps in Shadow of the Tomb Raider, but it dipped below 30fps in our other two games, with scores only recovering in Battlefield V when we enabled DLSS. In order to get the toughest games running smoothly, you’ll have to dial back the graphics settings or reduce the resolution – we tested Battlefield V at 1080p with DLSS and the G14’s minimum then sat at 46fps. The 2,560 x 1,440 adaptive sync display also only has a peak refresh rate of 60Hz. That’s fine for non-competitive gaming, but it’s a little disappointing for esports players in a market full of 144Hz notebooks. A 14in 1080p screen with a higher refresh rate would have been more appropriate for the GPU power on offer, and the target market. Still, the display has excellent colours. The delta E of 2.32 is great, the colour temperature of 6,750K is solid and the panel renders 93 per cent of the sRGB colour gamut at 100 per cent volume. The brightness level of 266cd/m² is a little low, especially for outdoor use, but it’s fine for indoor gaming. It’s joined by a black point of 0.2cd/m², which is impressively deep. The resulting contrast ratio of 1,330:1 is excellent too, delivering vibrancy and punch. Uniformity is also solid – the panel’s backlight deviated by less than 11 per cent. The audio setup, with two tweeters and two woofers, is superb as well, with excellent balance. The high end is crisp,

themid-rangeisdetailed and there’s decent bass. Forgaming andmedia use, thesespeakers arebetter thanmostrivals. TheG14 lastedforjust overtwo hours ingamingtests as well, which isgood longevityfora gaming laptop, andenough toseeyou through adecent session.Ifyou’re workingonthe move,expect around fourhours intougher software and sevenhours if yourun low-endtools with thebrightness reduced.TheG14 neverhad internaltemperature issueseither –itsCPU andGPUdeltaTs of58°Cand49°Care great. TheAsus doesn’teven makemuch noise.It’s near-silent in low-intensity tasks and itonlyproduces modestfannoisein mid-rangegames.Intoughergames, itmakesmorenoise, but it’squieter than thevastmajorityof othergaminglaptops. The wristrestand undersidedo get warm duringprolonged highend gaming use, though, and the air vents eject plenty of hot air – irritating if you’re using a USB mouse.

Conclusion AMD’s new laptop CPU is excellent, enabling amazingly fast mobile performance and strong battery life, even in games. The Asus also has a great-quality screen and decent-sounding speakers in a small, light, smart and sturdy package. The only fly in the ointment is that the Max-Q GPU can’t really keep up with games at the screen’s native resolution. Otherwise, this is one of the best laptops we’ve seen for ages – it’s compact and well designed, and it offers loads of power at a reasonable price. MIKE JENNINGS

RYZEN

+

AMD’s new CPU is brilliant

+ Solid components elsewhere

+

Smart, compact and sturdy design

FALLEN

-

Only a Max-Q GPU Screen could be brighter A little external heat

PERFORMANCE

22/25 DESIGN

23/25 HARDWARE

23/25 VALUE

22/25 OVERALL SCORE

VERDICT

Huge CPU power and great design elsewhere make this mobile Ryzen machine a smart, compact success.

90% 29

R E V I E WS / PC SYSTEMS

AT X G A M I N G P C

WIRED2FIRE BLIZZARD/£2,099

inc VAT

SUPPLIER wired2fire.co.uk

he Wired2Fire Blizzard is one of the most eyecatching PCs we’ve seen recently. As its name suggests, it’s dominated by white components; the Lian-Li case is finished in white, and the cooling hardware, braided power supply cables and graphics card are all white too. Meanwhile, the rest of the cabling is darker and organised discreetly. Combine the white hardware with the enclosure’s huge tempered glass panels, plus the bright RGB fans on the Corsair liquid cooler’s radiator, and you end up with a system that will attract plenty of attention, and without the using a costly and delicate custom water-cooling loop. The shape of the chassis is distinctive as well. The case measures a huge 272mm wide, and almost looks cube-shaped. The SPEC unusual shape is necessary because CPU 3.6GHz Intel Core i9-9900K there’s no PSU shroud – instead, overclocked to 4.9GHz the power supply is hidden in a large Motherboard cavity behind the motherboard. The MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon lack of a PSU shroud and the wealth of Memory tempered glass mean the Blizzard’s 16GB ADATA Gammix Black 3000MHz DDR4 white components are highlighted Graphics through the windows. Palit GeForce RTX 2080 Super There are loads of magnetic dust Storage filters, and the front of the chassis has 500GB WD SN750 M.2 SSD, 2TB a Type-C connection. Build quality is Seagate Barracuda hard drive Networking consistently excellent, although getting Gigabit Ethernet inside is awkward. The roof has to be Case removed before any of the side panels, Lian-Li 011 Dynamic and while the neat cabling at the front Cooling means expansion options are easy to CPU: Corsair Hydro H100i with 2 x 120mm fans; GPU: 2 x 90mm fans reach, the rear is messy, which makes PSU the hard disk bay difficult to access. Kolink Enclave 700W Meanwhile, the Intel Core i9-9900K Ports has eight Hyper-Threaded cores, and Front: 1 x USB 3.1 Type-C, 2 x USB 3, it’s been overclocked from 3.6GHz 2 x audio; rear: 3 x USB 3.1 Gen 2, 1 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C, 2 x USB 2, 1 x to a whopping 4.9GHz on all cores – PS/2, 1 x optical S/PDIF, 5 x audio just 100MHz short of its theoretical Operating system single-core Turbo peak. Elsewhere, Microsoft Windows 10 Home 64-bit there’s 16GB of memory, a 500GB WD Warranty SN750 NVMe SSD and a 2TB hard disk. Two years parts and labour collect and return, plus three years The power supply is a modular Kolink labour only return to base Enclave with an 80 Plus Gold rating.

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Graphics power comes from a Palit Game Rock Premium GeForce RTX 2080 Super card, which improves the GPU boost clock from 1815MHz to 1,860MHz. The MSI motherboard fits the theme too, with a monochromatic black and white colour scheme. Get beyond the bold heatsinks and you’ll find two M.2 ports, vacant memory slots, Realtek ALC1220P audio and Intel Gigabit Ethernet, plus three USB 3.1 ports and a Type-C connection at the rear, although there’s no Wi-Fi. The Blizzard has a good warranty too – it’s a five year labour deal with two years of collect and return parts coverage.

Performance The overclocked CPU is quick, but it’s still a little underwhelming. Its single-threaded image editing score of 65,508 is good – around five thousand points ahead of systems that use a stock-speed AMD Ryzen 7 3800X. However, that result is still a little behind the Ryzen 9 3900X, which can be found in some PCs in this price league. The Blizzard’s Handbrake result of 597,041 beat the AMD Ryzen 7 3800X but couldn’t outpace AMD’s Ryzen 9 chips. The huge overclock and 8-core design means this CPU remains effective in single-threaded applications and most work software – it’s a great all-rounder. The SSD helps too – its read and write speeds of 3,433MB/sec and 2,563MB/ sec are excellent.

B E N C H M A R K R E S U LT S SHADOW OF THE TOMB RAIDER

WIRED

+ + +

Fast gaming performance Attractive looks Quiet operation

FIRED

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CPUgetshotwhenstressed

2,560 x 1,440, Highest Detail, TAA

A bit pricey Messy cabling at rear

The GPU performs similarly well. At 2,560 x 1,440, its minimums ranged between 51fps and 77fps – good speed, but not the best we’ve seen. At 4K, the Blizzard remained playable in some games too – in Shadow of Tomb Raider and Total War: Warhammer II, its minimums sat at playable frame rates of 60fps and 35fps respectively, and in Battlefield V with DLSS enabled, the Blizzard ran at 42fps, although it dropped right down to an unplayable 21fps without DLSS. This PC’s GPU doesn’t get too hot either – its delta E of 51°C is fine. The overclocked processor is a different matter though – its delta T of 77°C means a peak CPU temperature of 100°C. Most of the chip’s cores didn’t reach this point and the Blizzard only hit these temperatures during a CPUintensive stress test, but it’s still concerning. This PC also has no traditional air intake fans, or an exhaust fan for that matter, which may have contributed to the high CPU temperature. Noise levels were generally good though – no matter what the task was, the Blizzard only produced a low, consistent rumble, but without any annoying oscillating fan noise.

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The Blizzard looks fantastic, and it’s a good performer: the overclocked CPU is fast and versatile, and the RTX 2080 Super is reliably quick. Elsewhere, this machine has a wellrounded specification and a good warranty. Dig deeper, though, and this system isn’t infallible. Its overclocked CPU gets very hot under stress tests, and you

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3,840 x 2,160, Highest Detail, TAA

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60

90

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597,041

TOTAL WAR: WARHAMMER II 2,560 x 1,440, Ultra Detail, DX12, FXAA

83fps

62fps

Wired2Fire Blizzard

0

30

60

90

120

90

120

3,840 x 2,160, Ultra Detail, DX12, FXAA

46fps

35fps

Wired2Fire Blizzard

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30

60

BATTLEFIELD V 2,560 x 1,440, Ultra, DX12, High DXR, TAA

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30

60

90

120

60

90

120

3,840 x 2,160, Ultra, DX12, High DXR, TAA

27fps

21fps

Wired2Fire Blizzard

0

30

2,560 x 1,440, Ultra, DX12, High DXR, DLSS

66fps

Wired2Fire Blizzard

30

60

42fps

0

30

78fps

90

120

90

120

Minimum

51fps

60

243,975

Average

can get better value and performance from 3rd-gen Ryzen chips at stock speeds, while getting more cores in the process. The all-core overclock will limit peak performance in some games as well. You can also find RTX 2080 Super systems with more conventional processors for under £2,000 if you shop around, although you may well have to give up on the Blizzard’s good looks. The Blizzard is undoubtedly a stunning-looking system, though, and it has plenty of power for work and play. MIKE JENNINGS

271,332 SYSTEM SCORE

3,840 x 2,160, Ultra, DX12, High DXR, DLSS

Wired2Fire Blizzard

HANDBRAKE H.264 VIDEO ENCODING

HEAVY MULTITASKING

63fps

51fps

Wired2Fire Blizzard

65,508 GIMP IMAGE EDITING

72fps

60fps

Wired2Fire Blizzard

0

Conclusion

97fps

77fps

Wired2Fire Blizzard

237% INTEL PERFORMANCE INDEX

PERFORMANCE

23/25 DESIGN

22/25 HARDWARE

21/25 VALUE

20/25 OVERALL SCORE

VERDICT

A fast, attractive and well-built gaming machine, although the CPU can get hot and it’s a little pricey.

86% 31

R E V I E WS / PC SYSTEMS

BUDGET GAMING PC

PC SPECIALIST SABRE MK1 /£719 inc VAT SUPPLIER pcspecialist.co.uk

SPEC CPU 2.9GHz Intel Core i5-9400F Motherboard Asus TUF B360M-Plus Gaming Memory 8GB Corsair Vengeance 2400MHz DDR4 Graphics Zotac GeForce GTX 1660 Super

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C Specialist’s Sabre MK1 is one of the cheapest gaming systems on the market, which makes it a great entry-level option, but it also means inevitable compromises. This PC uses a GeForce GTX 1660 Super – one of Nvidia’s newest Turing GPUs. It’s designed for 1080p gaming, which means a relatively modest specification that includes 1,408 stream processors and 8GB of memory, but no RT or Tensor cores. The PC Specialist uses a small Zotac model that runs at stock speeds. The GPU is paired with an Intel Core i5-9400F, which has six cores and runs at base and boost speeds of 2.9GHz and 4.1GHz, but it doesn’t have Hyper-Threading. It doesn’t have a great cooler either, being topped with a stock Intel unit. Elsewhere, there’s a basic 256GB SATA SSD and a 1TB hard disk. PC Specialist has also added a wireless card, although it’s a single-band 802.11n, so it’s hardly futureproof. The Corsair CV550 PSU is modest too; it’s not modular and only has an 80 Plus Bronze certification. There’s only 8GB of memory, plus it’s installed in single-channel configuration, so performance will suffer. Not surprisingly, the Asus TUF B360M-Plus Gaming is also a basic motherboard. Positively, it has three spare memory slots and two M.2 connectors, and its Gigabit Ethernet and Realtek ALC887 chipset are fine for most people’s needs – the Core i5-9400F has a locked multiplier, so you can’t overclock it easily anyway. The motherboard also has spare fan headers, an on-board USB 3.1 Gen 1 header and six SATA ports. Elsewhere, there are limitations. It’s a micro-ATX board, which means fewer PCI-E slots – this system only has one

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Storage 256GB PC Specialist branded SATA SSD, 1TB Seagate Barracuda hard drive Networking Single-band 802.11n Wi-Fi, Gigabit Ethernet Case PC Specialist Wraith RGB Cooling CPU: Intel low-profile cooler with 1 x 80mm fan; GPU: 2 x 80mm fans; front: 3 x 120mm fans; rear: 1 x 120mm fan PSU Corsair CV550 550W Ports Front: 1 x USB 3, 2 x USB 2, 2 x audio; rear: 2 x USB 3.1 Gen 2, 1 x USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-C, 2 x USB 2, 1 x PS/2, 3 x audio Operating system Microsoft Windows 10 Home 64-bit Warranty One year parts and labour with first month collect and return, then two years labour only return to base

spare 1x PCI-E slot. At the rear, it has two full-sized USB 3.1 Gen 2 ports and a Type-C connector, but that’s it for fast USB connections on the back. PC Specialist’s own-brand Wraith chassis looks decent though. Its front panel is made from plastic mesh and the three RGB LED intake fans are bright and attractive. It’s not too big either; this ATX chassis measures a reasonable 460mm tall and 210mm wide. There are magnetic dust filters at the top and bottom, a 120mm exhaust fan and a sole USB 3 port on the top, alongside two USB 2 connections.

B E N C H M A R K R E S U LTS

Performance

49,065 307,684 155,960 GIMP IMAGE EDITING

HEAVY MULTITASKING

HANDBRAKE H.264 VIDEO ENCODING

154,341 134.85% SYSTEM SCORE

INTEL PERFORMANCE INDEX

SHADOW OF THE TOMB RAIDER 1,920 x 1,080, Highest Detail, TAA

77fps

58fps

PC Specialist Sabre MK1

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30

60

90

120

90

120

90

120

2,560 x 1,440, Highest Detail, TAA

50fps

38fps

PC Specialist Sabre MK1

0

30

60

TOTAL WAR: WARHAMMER II 1,920 x 1,080, Ultra Detail, DX12

44fps

PC Specialist Sabre MK1

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30

54fps

60

2,560 x 1,440, Ultra Detail, DX12

29fps

PC Specialist Sabre MK1

0

39fps

30

60

90

120

BATTLEFIELD V 1,920 x 1,080, Ultra Detail, DX12

76fps

53fps

PC Specialist Sabre MK1

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60

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120

90

120

2,560 x 1,440, Ultra Detail, DX12

39fps

PC Specialist Sabre MK1

0

30 Minimum

59fps

60 Average

The plastic mesh fascia and metal top panel are sturdy, and the tempered glass side window is strong too. Handily, the latter also sits on hinges and has a fabric tab for easier opening. The front panel is magnetic too, which is a useful touch. The rear side panel is weaker, though, and the PSU shroud feels flimsy. The case also has the odd sharp edge and corner, so be careful. Meanwhile, the interior is basic, with no rubber grommets and a limited number of cable-routing holes, but it’s pretty easy to build inside this machine. There’s loads of room to work, and PC Specialist has kept cables neat, particularly when you consider the lack of a modular PSU. There’s space at the rear for a spare 2.5in drive, but no spare hard disk bay. This system has the usual PC Specialist warranty, which means three years of labour coverage and a year of parts protection, but only one month of collect and return service.

The GTX 1660 Super is a decent GPU for 1080p gaming. In our trio of test titles, it delivered minimums of 44fps orbetter,andthe minimums weren’t faroff 60fpsinShadow of theTomb Raider andBattlefield V. Thatsaid, the Sabre’s (non-ray-traced) BattlefieldV results werea fair way behindwhat weusually expect fromthisGPU. Its 53fpsminimumand 76fps averageat 1080presultsare perfectly playable, butthe GTX1660 Supermanaged a 75fps minimumand96fps averagein ourrecentgraphics cardLabs(see Issue199,p46). Meanwhile, the PC Specialist’s CPU performance is a fair way behind Ryzen 5 3600-based machines, but the Sabre’s overall benchmark result of 154,341 is good enough to handle everyday computing. Similarly, the SSD’s read and write speeds of 528MB/sec and 454MB/sec are nothing special, especially when 250GB NVMe drives can cost under £50 now, but it’s fast enough for conventional use. The big issue here is the Sabre’s single-channel memory. We swapped this rig’s 8GB of 2400MHz memory for two 8GB, 2400MHz DIMMs, and the Sabre’s benchmark score jumped to 159,510. In games, switching to dual-channel memory added 3-5fps to 1080p benchmark results. This upgrade costs under £10, and anyone considering this machine should make that change – it’s surprising that PC Specialist is using single-channel memory by default here. Thermally,thePC Specialistissolid. ItsCPUand GPUdelta Tsof 51°C and50°Care good,with thestock-speed CPUnot pushingthelimits of theIntel stockcooler, and thesystemonly produceda lowrumble duringgaming tests.Thenoisewas muchlouderwith the CPUstressed,butit’s unlikely that this PCwill see thatlevel ofCPUoperation foraprolongedtime.

Conclusion The Sabre MK1 is a solid option for budget 1080p gaming. Its GTX 1660 Super has enough pace to handle the latest games at respectable frame rates, and the rig has a reasonable chassis and a CPU that will cope with everyday computing. The low price does mean compromise though: the motherboard is basic, the SSD is a slow SATA model and the single-channel memory hinders performance. The good news is that, even with a dual-channel memory setup, the Sabre MK1 is still a relatively affordable GTX 1660 Super system. If you do that, this system is ideal if you want to play games at 1080p but don’t have much cash to spend. MIKE JENNINGS

LIGHTSABER

+

Amazinglylow price

+

Solid1080p gamingpace

+

Good-looking chassis

BREADKNIFE

-

8GBsinglechannelmemory SATASSD Basic motherboard

PERFORMANCE

16/25 DESIGN

19/25 HARDWARE

17/25 VALUE

23/25 OVERALL SCORE

VERDICT

Solid 1080p gaming for a reasonable price, but the spec could be significantly improved for not much more money.

75% 33

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R E V I E WS / CUSTOM KIT

Customkit Phil Hartup checks out the latest gadgets, gizmos and geek toys

ATARIVAULTBUNDLE / £24.99

inc ncc VA VAT T

SUPPLIER amazon.co.uk

The Atari Vault Bundle combines a USB Atari 2600-style joystick with a Steam key for the Atari Vault collection of games. The joystick itself is an extremely faithful recreation of that classic style of joystick, which is a mixed blessing because they were often excruciating to use, even when they represented the cutting edge of console technology. The games included with the pack aren’t limited to emulations from the original Atari 2600 anyway, though, so you shouldn’t feel married to the joystick to play them. For example, Pong and Missile Command used a dial controller and trackball respectively, rather than a joystick, when they came out. The games within the Atari Vault

collection are immaculately remade and, even for people who are too young to have nostalgic feelings towards them, are worth a look purely from a historical point of view. Recommending the joystick itself is less clear-cut. On the one hand, if you want authenticity, then the joystick is the way to go for the Atari 2600 games – just bear in mind that the authentic experience in this case is clunkier than a van full of wrenches going over a speed bump. That said, the Atari Vault Bundle is a gem of a collection of vintage games and well worth picking up anyway. Stick in the mud

Joystick

HASAKEEH6MINI DRONE / £19.99

FORNORM USB MUG WARMER/ £6.99

SUPPLIER amazon.co.uk

SUPPLIER amazon.co.uk

The Hasakee H6 is a tiny quadcopter with a six-axis controller, and it manages to offer a ridiculous amount of fun. For such a small drone, it’s not easy to miss, it has lights front and back, and it makes a noise like a miniature crowd with vuvuzelas. That should be terrible in theory, but somehow the Hasakee styles out its looks and noise with ostentatious charm. Flying it is generally easy, but accidents may happen when you’re starting out, so expect it to flip out sometimes. Thankfully, the small mass, safety guards and spare rotors mean its capacity for destruction is limited. The controls are comprehensive, with automatic take-off and landing, as well as an emergency stop and an altitude hold. Charging up via USB gives you around ten minutes of flight time for a half-hour charge. When the power gets low, the Hasakee performs an automatic landing, which looks a little bit like falling out of the air like a stone, so don’t fly it over anything that won’t like being hit by a drone.

Hot drinks are supposed to be hot, and the Fornorm USB mug warmer is supposed to keep them that way. It looks nice enough, and it has a smooth, flat-top surface that can accommodate cups and mugs of different sizes. The Fornorm, being USB powered and of relatively insubstantial design, doesn’t have the chops to keep a cup of tea significantly hotter for any great length of time though. Of course, you don’t want a device throwing out the sort of heat needed to keep a full cup of coffee piping hot on your desk all day, but the Fornorm is ultimately a flawed concept. You’ll stave off your tea getting cold for a few minutes longer than usual, but that’s it, and bear in mind that your hot drink will then take longer to get down to a drinkable temperature in the first place too. Ultimately, you’re just using a USB port for a coaster and messing with your drink timings.

Wasp

A hot mess

inc VAT

36

Hoverfly

inc VAT

The hotness

JIRVYUKCABLE HOLDERS/ £12.99

inc VAT (per 100)

SUPPLIER amazon.co.uk

On its own, a Jirvyuk cable holder is a fairly unassuming plastic clip. It folds over and locks to hold down whatever cable or cables need locking down, with a piece of heavy-duty, double-sided tape on the back enabling you to attach it to any flat surface. What’s really handy about them, though, is that they come in a pack of 100. The intent here isn’t to curtail one or two wayward wires; one pack gives you all you need to lock all your cables anywhere you want. It’s absolute power, expressed via the unusual medium of cable management. They don’t look particularly discreet, and you wouldn’t want to break them out en masse for any situation other than wiring pandemonium, but if wiring pandemonium is your current situation, these clips can fix it. The clips don’t lock shut permanently, so cables can be removed and added easily, and the sheer weight of numbers in the pack gives you scope for trial and error in placement. A simple idea that’s well executed. Clop

Clip

LIGHTINGEVERWIRELESSCHARGERLAMP / £29.99

inc VAT

SUPPLIER amazon.co.uk

The Lighting Ever lamp looks almost comically simple at first. It’s a black metal right-angle device mounted on a simple foot, but it covers all the bases you’d want from a bedside or desk lamp, and with a couple of device-charging options bolted on for good measure. The light uses LEDs and is controlled by a dimmer dial on the base – you hold it down to turn it off and press it to cycle through the different lighting modes. The modes include three variations of the main light. There’s a warm mode suited for a bedside setting, while the others are cool and more clinical for a work setting. All the modes can be adjusted using the dimmer, and there’s also a nightlight mode that uses a different set of LEDs to create a more relaxing glow. The charging pad is on the foot, and there’s a USB port on the back, so you can also plug in a wired charger. The Lighting Ever lamp demonstrates remarkable efficiency with its design, combining a narrow yet versatile lamp on its inconspicuous arm, and repurposing the stand into a charging device – there’s no wasted space here. Fall back

Charge

Seen something worthy of appearing in Custom Kit? Send your suggestions to

[email protected] 37

L A B S T E S T / ATX CASES

L A B S T E ST

Mid-range bargains Antony Leather puts six of the latest mid-range cases through their paces. With prices ranging from £90 to 150

How we test ur case testing method is simple; use real, overclocked hardware in a standard system to see how cases perform in terms of cooling, noise levels, ease of use and build quality. We also take into account styling, any extra features and of course value. We score each case using weighted calculations for their cooling, design, features and value to give an overall score. We’ve updated our test gear to use more modern hardware including an Asus TUF B450M-Plus Gaming motherboard along with a Ryzen 5 1600, overclocked to 3.8GHz using a vcore of 1.365V. We’re also using a Palit GeForce GTX 1660 StormX with an open-air GPU cooler to better represent the majority of modern graphics cards. Its fan speed is limited to 60 per cent in order to keep the test environment as consistent as possible. Our CPU cooler of choice is Thermaltake’s Riing Silent 12 Sync 120mm, but we've limited its fan speed using a 7V resistor cable to put more emphasis on a case’s cooling.

O

We leave each case to warm up for 15 minutes, using Prime95’s smallestFFT test with AVX disabled (mersenneforum.org) to load the CPU and Unigine’s Valley benchmark (unigine.com/products/heaven) to load the GPU. Temperature results were taken from Ryzen Master (amd.com) and GPU-Z (techpowerup.com/gpuz) and we subtract the ambient temperature from the results to give a delta T reading that ensures temperature readings can be taken across several days and varying ambient temperatures. We test cases in their standard configuration with any included fans or fanless, if the case doesn’t include any by default. Adding more fans will obviously improve airflow but cost you more. Where fan controllers are included, we test at the highest and lowest fan speed levels to see what impact the different fan speeds on offer have on cooling.

Contents  be quiet! 500DX /p39

 Phanteks Eclipse P600S / p44

 Corsair iCUE 465X / p40

 Thermaltake H550 TG ARGB / p46

 Lian Li PC-011D / p41

 Results graphs / p47

 NZXT 510 Elite / p42 38

BE QUIET! 500DX

c

C

/£90 incVAT

tom P s u

A

PP

hile it’s better known for coolers and PSUs, be quiet! has been releasing a slow trickle of PC cases over recent years and the 500DX is the latest from a company that usually tries to be a little different with its case designs. The 500DX is maybe not as unique as some of its predecessors, with a fairly standard interior, but it’s the cheapest case on test and still manages to pack a punch when it comes to features. Available in black or white, the case is dominated by a large double mesh at the front and sandwiched between these vents is a twin RGB LED strip. It’s a look that’s innovative and elegant, elevating what would otherwise be a fairly conventional front design. There’s a huge number of pre-programmed lighting effects, with some seriously funky Knight Rider-esque patterns, but if you prefer more control, there’s a 3-pin digital RGB connector to hook the lighting up to your motherboard too. As if this wasn’t enough, the case also has an LED strip in the roof, which looked fantastic dancing over the white interior

W

SPEC Dimensions (mm) 285 x 510 x 501 (W x D x H) Material Steel, plastic, glass Available colours Black, white Weight 7.8kg Front panel Power, 1 x USB 3, 1 x USB 3.1 Type-C, stereo, mic, RGB lighting button Drive bays 1 x 2.5/3.5in, 4 x 2.5in Form factor(s) ATX, Micro-ATX Cooling 3 x 120/2 x 140mm front fan mounts (1 x 140mm fan included), 1 x 120/140mm rear fan mount (1 x 140mm fan included), 2 x 120/1 x 140mm roof fan mounts (fans not included) CPU cooler clearance 190mm Maximum graphics card length 369mm

D

SUPPLIER scan.co.uk

ROV E

of our sample, but we’d imagine it would look a little flat in the black version. Despite leaving you with change from £100, you get a full-fat USB 3.1 Type-C port on the front panel as well as a single USB 3 port. There’s a large magnetic removable filter in the roof too, plus additional filters on the underside and behind that front mesh, although the latter requires the removal of the front panel to get at it. Inside, be quiet! includes three Pure Wings 2 140mm fans, with two of these located in the roof and rear of the case. This will likely offer excellent cooling for CPU air coolers and motherboards, but will result in negative air pressure with the third fan sitting alone in the front of the case. There’s a plentiful 190mm clearance for CPU coolers too. This compares to 165mm for the Thermaltake H550 TG ARGB, for instance, which isn’t enough to house large coolers such as the Corsair A500. If you want to dabble in liquid cooling then there’s space in the front for a slim 360mm or 280mm radiator. A removable drive cage offers a home to either two 3.5in hard disks or a single SSD, with four more 2.5in SSD mounts dotted around the rear of the motherboard tray. Cable tidying isn’t quite on a par with the Phanteks P600S or NZXT 510 Elite, but you get a more lavish arrangement than Thermaltake or Corsair’s offerings this month, with a helping of Velcro ties and a large cable-routing section next to the motherboard. The 500DX was one of the quieter cases on test, but those 140mm fans also did a good job of cooling, with the 50°C CPU delta T being the second best on test. The GPU delta T of 44°C was less impressive, but far from the worst.

COLD BEER

COLD TEA

+ +

Good cooling

-

Snazzy lighting with motherboard control

Only two hard disk mounts

-

Space for large air and liquid coolers

GPU cooling not chart-topping

-

PSU area is a little cramped

+

Conclusion The be quiet! 500DX is a corker of a case. In fact, we’d go as far as saying it looks and feels better than Lian Li’s already fabulous Lancool II. If you want RGB lighting and good cooling, it’s a fantastic choice and only spending more to get the Phanteks P600S will bag you a case with more features or upgrade potential.

VERDICT For the money, the 500DX is unbeatable and cools as well as it looks.

COOLING

FEATURES

27/30

16/20

26/30

19/20

DESIGN

VALUE

OVERALL SCORE

88% 39

L A B S T E S T / ATX CASES

c

inc VAT

tom P us

C

CORSAIR ICUE 465X RGB/£110

A

PP

f you want to maximise your level of RGB this month then the Corsair iCUE 465X RGB is one of a couple of cases that will need to be on your shortlist. With a trio of LL120 RGB fans up front, the case can put on a dazzling light show, made even more snazzy by the full-height tempered glass front panel and super-clean interior with full-length PSU cover. It’s worth mentioning too, that the three fans alone will set you back upwards of £50 if bought separately, so the price tag of around £110 already seems quite reasonable compared with other cases this month. However, peeking inside, it’s clear that the iCUE 465X RGB isn’t in the same league as the likes of the Phanteks Eclipse P600S, which costs just £15 more, and is more comparable with the cheaper Thermaltake H550 TG ARGB. Both have built-in RGB controllers and can connect to your motherboard to control the RGB lighting, with the Thermaltake case also offering a button on the I/O panel to switch lighting modes. The iCUE 465X RGB, on the other hand, connects to a USB header and is

I

SPEC Dimensions (mm) 216 x 467 x 465 (W x D x H) Material Steel, plastic, glass Available colours Black, white Weight 8kg Front panel Power, reset, 2 x USB 3.0, 1 x stereo/mic Drive bays 3 x 2.5/3.5in, 4 x 2.5in Form factor(s) ATX, Micro-ATX Cooling 3 x 120mm/ 2 x 140mm front fan mounts (3 x 120mm fans included), 1 x 120mm rear fan mount (fan not included), 2 x 120mm/1 x 140mm roof fan mounts (fans not included) CPU cooler clearance 170mm Maximum graphics card length 370mm

40

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SUPPLIER scan.co.uk

ROV E

controlled using Co orsair’s iCUE software, which can also control an increasing numberr of hting as motherboards’ ligh memory well as Corsair’s m and peripherals. ple Our white samp looked supremely clean and allowed the lighting to play around the case, and es were the fans themselve nd vibrant. vibrant extremely bright and The front panel is fairly basic, though, and lacks the USB 3.1 Type-C port of many similarly priced cases this month. The side panels don’t have any swing-out hinges either, as on some of Corsair’s more premium cases. Behind the motherboard tray is a pair of dedicated 2.5in SSD mounts, and beneath the PSU cover is a pair of 2.5/3.5in trays for hard disks and SSDs. Cable-routing options are a little limited compared with the competition, with just a smattering of holes and grommets to thread your cables through. There’s no exhaust fan included as standard, and this will hurt the case in the CPU cooling stakes, but there’s plenty of room for expansion, with the roof offering an additional pair of 120mm or single 140mm fan mounts. The front fan mounts support a 360mm or 280mm radiator without losing the hard disk cage, with space for a 240mm radiator in the roof too. The iCUE 465X RGB managed a CPU delta T of 51°C, which was one of the better results on test and 3°C cooler than the Thermaltake H550 TG ARGB. Only the Phanteks Eclipse P600S and NZXT 510 Elite were cooler, but both the NZXT case and iCUE 465X RGB weren't particularly quiet. The GPU delta T of 44°C was again middle of the pack, while the quieter Phanteks Eclipse P600S matched its result.

HOT DOG

HOT WATER

+ +

-

Not as premiumfeeling as the competition

-

Unremarkable interior

+

Good cooling Software-controlled lighting Decent water-cooling support

Modest feature set

Conclusion If you have around £100 to spend on a relatively well-equipped case and you must have RGB lighting, then the Corsair iCUE 465X RGB gets our vote. It’s slightly more premiumfeeling than the Thermaltake H550 TG ARGB, but costs an extra £15 or so. While not the quietest case, it’s still much more pleasant than NZXT’s 510 Elite at full speed.

VERDICT A solid, good-looking mid-range case with a generous helping of RGB lighting.

COOLING

FEATURES

27/30

17/20

23/30

18/20

DESIGN

VALUE

OVERALL SCORE

85%

LIAN LI PC-O11 DYNAMIC/£120

inc VAT

SUPPLIER overclockers.co.uk

I

f you think you’ve seen a similar case to the PC-O11 Dynamic before in these pages, you’d be right. The Razer Edition of Lian Li’s highly popular cube case costs around £40 more, but the basic model without fancy lighting and Razer logos costs just £120, meaning you can plough a few tenners into other hardware while owning the same basic case. Of course, if you’ve heard of the PC-O11 Dynamic already or seen our previous review, you’ll know that it is a little spartan out of the box. While there’s copious amounts of aluminium and tempered glass, making this by far the most premium-feeling case on test,

FRESHLY CUT GRASS

+ + +

Superb water-cooling support Attractive design Three hard disk mounts

SILAGE

-

Poor air-cooling support No fans out of the box Fewer features than similarly priced cases

SPEC Dimensions (mm) 272 x 446 x 444 (W x D x H) Material Steel, plastic, glass Available colours Black Weight 10.1kg Front panel Power,2 x USB 3, 1 x USB 3.1 Type-C, audio jacks Drive bays 3 x 2.5in/3.5in, 3 x 2.5in Form factor(s) Micro-ATX, ATX, E-ATX Cooling 3 x 120mm side fan mounts (fans not included), 3 x 120mm base fan mounts (fans not included), 3 x 120mm roof fan mounts (fans not included) CPU cooler clearance 155mm Maximum graphics card length 420mm

it's devoid of fans. This is a blank canvas as cases go, and while you can clearly air-cool the case, there’s only 155mm CPU cooler clearance, so most tower heatsinks won’t fit. However, the PC-O11 Dynamic makes up for its air-cooled failings with stupendous water-cooling support. While it’s limited to 120mm fans, with most protected by dust filters, it can house no less than three 120mm radiators in the roof, base and side panel, with nine 120mm fan mounts in total. It can also house E-ATX motherboards and no GPU is too large, with 420mm clearance. All this, though, fits into a compact cube chassis that’s just 44cm tall and 45cm deep. The PSU has been flipped on its side and sits in a second chamber behind the motherboard tray. There are three 2.5/3.5in drive mounts as well as three dedicated 2.5in SSD mounts, so there’s plenty of scope for a decent storage array in addition to liquid cooling. As you’d expect at this price, there’s a Type-C USB 3.1 port on the front panel plus a pair of USB 3 ports and inside there are a few cable-routing holes, but surprisingly few other modern conveniences, especially when compared with the fabulous and similarly priced Phanteks P600S. The side panels also take an age to open, you’ll need to be a cabletidying ninja to stop things looking messy and there’s certainly not much flexibility when it comes to cooling either. The large interior helped to limit the damage caused by a lack of stock fans, but the CPU delta T of 55°C was still the highest on test, while the GPU delta T 46°C was even

further in the wrong direction. In short, this isn’t a case in which to put an air-cooled system without adding plenty of fans, but ultimately, it’s not a case for air-cooling, period.

Conclusion The severe CPU cooler height limitation and lack of fans out of the box mean only one thing: the Lian Li PC-O11 Dynamic is primarily focused at liquid-cooled systems. Here, it offers more than any other case on test and by a large margin, plus it gives a better view of your photogenic liquid-cooling system than nearly every other case out there too. It might not score highly overall, but if you want a great case for a liquid-cooled PC, the PC-O11 Dynamic is currently one of the best.

VERDICT A near-perfect case for water-cooled systems but it falls short when it comes to air cooling.

COOLING

FEATURES

25/30

15/20

DESIGN

VALUE

26/30

14/20

OVERALL SCORE

80% 41

L A B S T E ST S T / ATX CASES

ZXT 510 ELITE /£1150 inc VAT SUPPL LIER overclockers.co.uk

he most expensive case on test is NZXT’s 510 Elite, but we’re fairly sure you’ll agree that it also the best-looking case in the Labs too. This stunning PC case is glass-clad on its front and side panels, which sit seamlessly on a lower metal chassis, for a super-clean look. This is complemented by a pair of AER RGB 2 140mm fans that shine vividly through the front glass panel, and can be controlled in both speed and lighting using NZXT’s CAM software, via a free USB 2 header. Also plugged into this is an RGB LED strip in the roof of the case for some added pizzazz inside and you get USB 3.1 Type-C support on the front panel too. The price is certainly high for what is a diminutive case, though, at just 21cm wide and 43cm deep. However, you get further 140mm and 120mm fans, making the 510 Elite one of the best-equipped cases out of the box in terms of cooling potential. Of course, there's one small snag, which is that the case is nearly sealed. The front fans only have a small opening in the base of the case and a slim side vent through which to breath, which is a far cry from the large vents in the likes of the Be Quiet! 500DX and the Phanteks P600S’s open configuration.

T

GOLD

IRON PYRITE

+ +

Good cooling

-

+

Looks fantastic

Software-controlled lighting and fans

42

-

The fans were also very ver noisy at full speed too, despite the case’s lack of vents and even setting the software’s silent mode didn’t improve things when the CPU was under full load, but it was pleasant to sit next to at low to medium speeds, and you can customise the fan response curve in the software. It’s worth noting that if you prefer your motherboard to take control of the fans, they do use standard 3-pin headers rather than proprietary connectors. The compact size means there’s limited liquid-cooling potential, especially for custom loops, but there’s space for a 280mm radiator up front. While we have our concerns over noise and cooling, the 510 Elite scores highly when it comes to features. You get three hard disk mounts, which is one more than several other cases on test in addition to two dedicated 2.5in SSD mounts. Cable routing is also excellent, with channels for cables as well as Velcro straps and an extra-large CPU area cut out. All cables are tidied as standard too and there’s plenty of room for PSUs, even without moving the adjustable drive cage. Despite our concerns over the cooling, the powerful, numerous fans achieved the best results on test, with a CPU delta T of 49°C and GPU delta T of 41°C, with the Phanteks Eclipse P600S a close second. However, the P600S was far quieter despite sitting close in the cooling graphs.

Fans are noisy

Conclusion

Limited space for liquid cooling

If aesthetics are your primary concern, we won’t argue that the 510 Elite is a very pretty case indeed. Its price tag isn't unreasonable given the specification, which

Not enough space for larger air coolers

SPEC Dimensions (mm) 210 x 428 x 460 (W x D x H) Material Steel, plastic, glass Available colours Black, white Weight 7.5kg Front panel Power, reset, 1 x USB 3, 1 x USB 3.1 Type-C 1 x stereo/mic Drive bays 2 x 2.5/3.5in, 2 x 2.5in Form factor(s) ATX, Micro-ATX Cooling 2 x 120mm/ 2 x 140mm front fan mounts (2 x 140mm fans included), 1 x 120mm rear fan mount (fan included), 1 x 120mm/1 x 140mm roof fan mounts (1 x 140mm fan included) CPU cooler clearance 165mm Maximum graphics card length 369mm

includes software fan and lighting control, four premium fans and USB 3.1 Type-C support. However, it's noisy at full speed and cooling trails off quickly at lower speeds. The Phanteks Eclipse P600S is a much better home for a high-end PC, and the be quiet! 500DX costs £60 less and looks dishy too.

VERDICT A stunning case with surprisingly good cooling and features, but it’s expensive, noisy and a little cramped.

COOLING

FEATURES

29/30

16/20

20/30

12/20

DESIGN

VALUE

OVERALL SCORE

77%

L A B S T E S T / ATX CASES

tom P us

M

he venerable Eclipse P600S still flies the flag for Phanteks when it comes to mid-range ATX cases. It offers a similar specification to the Evolv X while costing considerably less, coming in at a little over £100. It’s the biggest case in this month’s Labs test yet only costs a little more than the Lian Li O11 Dynamic and Corsair iCUE 465X, and has a feature set that should be the envy of every other case. Out of the box, it has a pair of removable roof and front section panels allowing you to switch between a cleaner look or more ventilation, with the mesh beneath fashioned from Phanteks’ own fabric, which it claims outperforms traditional perforated metal mesh. On the front section, a flip-up panel reveals a pair of USB 3 ports, Type-C USB 3.1 port and reset button. Both the

T

SPEC Dimensions (mm) 240 x 520 x 510 (W x D x H) Material Steel, tempered glass Available colours Black, white/ black, gunmetal grey Weight 13.5kg Front panel Power, 2 x USB 3, 1 x USB 3.1 Type-C, headphone, mic Drive bays 4 x 3.5in/2.5in, 3 x 2.5 Form factor(s) E-ATX (up to 280mm wide) ATX , micro-ATX, mini-ITX Cooling 3 x 120/140mm front fan mounts (2 x 140mm fans included), 3 x 120mm/2 x 140mm roof fan mounts (fan not included) 1 x 120/140mm rear fan mount (fan included), CPU cooler clearance 190mm Maximum graphics card length 435mm

44

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AD

PRE

SUPPLIER cclonline.com

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inc VAT

C

PHANTEKS ECLIPSE P600S/£125

IUM GR

roof and front panel are removable, with the former giving access to a dust filter as well a removable fan and radiator mount. There’s also a fillport hole for watercooling systems and beneath this sits a miniITX motherboard mount that allows you to install a second system with an optional bracket and PSU cables or one of Phantek’s dual-system PSUs. If you need a mega storage array then the case has the potential to house up to ten hard disks, with four 2.5in/3.5in brackets included, plus room for six more that are sold separately. There's a trio of 2.5in mounts too, so the Eclipse P600S is way out in front if you need more terabytes than your typical gamer. The case uses an innovative cable-tidying system too, with numerous Velcro ties behind the motherboard tray plus sliding cable covers to hide the spaghetti, while both side panels are tool-free and swing out on hinges. The case includes a GPU anti-sag bracket as well as a mount for a vertical PCI-E riser cable, which is sold separately. We also like that the case allows you to move your GPU away from the side panel to improve cooling. It’s very flexible when it comes to cooling too, with 190mm clearance for CPU coolers and space for 360mm radiators in the front or roof, with the former able to handle a monstrous 420mm radiator too. There’s a sizeable hole for using thick radiators in the PSU cover and the case’s size means that mounting a pump or reservoir to the front fan mounts is easy. Finally, all your fans can be hooked up to a PWM hub that in turn can connect to your motherboard to control your fans from a single header.

CHEESECAKE

CHEESY FEET

+ + +

Fantastic features

-

Excellent watercooling support

-

Good cooling

Large Not particularly attractive Many features ae optional extras

With the panels off for best performance, the CPU and GPU delta T’s of 50°C and 44°C were excellent and only the noisy NZXT 510 Elite performed noticeably better, while the Eclipse P600S’s three 140mm fans were whisper-quiet.

Conclusion The Eclipse P600S is still one of the best cases out there and no other in this price range comes close in terms of flexibility, build quality and innovation. Admittedly, some of these features require additional components, but since dual systems are very niche, it’s sensible for Phanteks to exclude these as standard. It might not be the best-looking case on test this month, but this old-timer is still the case we’d choose to house our PC, unless you gave us a bit of extra cash for the Evolv X, of course.

VERDICT Almost unbeatable for £120, but if you want RGB lighting as standard, you should look elsewhere.

COOLING

FEATURES

28/30

19/20

29/30

16/20

DESIGN

VALUE

OVERALL SCORE

92%

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L A B S T E S T / ATX CASE

THERMALTAKE H550 TG ARGB/£93 inc VAT

SUPPLIER cclonline.com

C

osting less than £100, the Thermaltake H550 TG ARGB saves enough over the most expensive cases on test to buy an all-in-one liquid cooler. As such, we were impressed at the solid and good-looking a case that came out of the box. The large metal front panel is cut from aluminium and is edged with single, thin strip of digital RGB lighting for a more restrained take on RGB than the likes of the Corsair iCUE 465X. You also get a digital RGB exhaust fan included in the rear of the case, and both RGB features are connected to a lighting controller. The controller can be tweaked using a button on the front panel or via your motherboard, using the included cables to hook it up. All four major motherboard manufacturers’ RGB software are supported. The downside is that the RGB fan uses a proprietary connector that both powers the lighting from the controller as well as the fan itself. However, the fan is supremely quiet at its fixed speed of 1,000rpm and if anything, we’d have liked to see something a little more powerful.

SPEC Dimensions (mm) 225 x 472 x 441 (W x D x H) Material Steel, plastic, glass Available colours Black/silver Weight 7.65kg Front panel Power, reset, 1 x USB 3, 2 x USB 2, 1 x stereo/mic, RGB button Drive bays 2 x 2.5/3.5in, 2 x 2.5in Form factor(s) Micro-ATX Cooling 3 x 120mm/ 2 x 140mm front fan mounts (fans not included), 1 x 120mm rear fan mount (fan included), 2 x 120/140mm roof fan mounts (fans not included) CPU cooler clearance 165mm Maximum graphics card length 300mm

46

There’s a fullheight tempered glass panel giving a great view of your hardware, but there are no handy hinges or magnets here – just thumb screws. The front panel lacks USB 3.1 Type-C support, which is included on the cheaper be quiet! 500DX, although there are four conventional USB ports, with one of these being USB 3. The roof has a large removable dust filter with additional filters in the base and front section, although the latter is fixed and sits in the side of the panel, which is a little stiff to remove. The slim vent in the side of the case is also the only way for air to enter, so it’s certainly not what you’d call high airflow, especially with just one slowspinning fan to help. You get a vertical GPU mount, but no riser cable (which is to be expected at this price) but cable routing was rather basic compared with the be quiet! 500DX. Our PSU was a snug fit in both cases, but the H550 TG ARGB was especially fiddly thanks to the proximity of a drive cage beneath the PSU cover. Storage-wise, there’s the usual pair of 2.5in/3.5in mounts plus pair of dedicated 2.5in mounts behind the motherboard tray. Cooling can be expanded to a trio of 120mm or pair of 140mm front fans as well as corresponding 360mm or 280mm radiators, with space for another 120mm fan and 240mm radiator in the roof. There are certainly no question marks over build quality, which is solid throughout, but cooling is mediocre, with the CPU (54°C) and GPU (48°C) delta Ts sitting several degrees higher than the other cases with fans. It's easily the quietest case on test though.

SNOWBALL FIGHT

+ + +

Smart looks Very quiet Reasonably priced

AVALANCHE

-

Mediocre cooling Average features Competition is better value

Conclusion There’s a lot to like about the Thermaltake H550 TG ARGB. It’s smart, it uses RGB lighting to complement its features rather than burn your retinas, it’s well made and it's supremely quiet out of the box. It’s not going to cook your hardware, but there are better performers for the same cash that also sport RGB lighting and a fair few more features too. As such, it misses out on an award, but it's still worth considering if you really like its looks and lighting.

VERDICT A decent case that’s attractive and quiet, but you can get more for your money.

COOLING

FEATURES

26/30

13/20

DESIGN

VALUE

24/30

17/20

OVERALL SCORE

80%

CASE LABS TEMPERATURE RESULTS CPU DELTA T °C NZXT 510 Elite (fast)

49°C

be quiet! 500DX

50°C

Phanteks Eclipse P600S (open front)

50°C

NZXT 510 Elite (medium)

50°C

Corsair iCUE 465X

51°C

Phanteks Eclipse P600S

52°C

Thermaltake H550 TG ARGB

54°C

Lian Li PC-011D

55°C

0

25

50

75

100 Lower is better

GPU DELTA T °C NZXT 510 Elite (fast)

41°C

NZXT 510 Elite (medium)

41°C

Corsair iCUE 465X

44°C

be quiet! 500DX

44°C

Phanteks Eclipse P600S (open front)

44°C

Phanteks Eclipse P600S

45°C 46°C

Lian Li PC-011D

48°C

Thermaltake H550 TG ARGB

0

25

50

75

100 Lower is better

This stunning 224-page hardback book not only tells the stories of some of the seminal video games of the 1970s and 1980s, but shows you how to create your own games inspired by them using Python and Pygame Zero, following examples programmed by Raspberry Pi founder Eben Upton.

Available now hsmag.cc/store

L A B S T E S T / RACING WHEELS

L A B S T E ST

Racing ahead Racing games have rarely been this popular, and it’s worth getting a wheel to get the most out of your on-track time. Mike Jennings tests four diverse options

How we test acing games are popular right now, and the current lockdowns in place around the world mean that more and more people are turning to online racing – including professional drivers. It’s tempting to get involved when you see your favourites hitting the track, and it’s worth thinking about getting a wheel if you want to properly enjoy your driving. Upgrading to a wheel has numerous advantages. It’s more immersive thanks to realistic force feedback and more precise steering, and you’ll be able to improve your lap times and be competitive in higher-level events. There are several key areas to examine when looking for racing wheels. On the inside, you’ll want to pay attention to the kinds of motors and force feedback systems that are used. Belt-driven and directdrive wheels offer smoother, more realistic driving and powerful force feedback than gear-driven, for instance, but they’re more expensive. On the outside, it pays to pay attention to a wheel’s rotation level, gear-shift options and wheel diameter – as well as the options that are available for attaching the product to a table or cockpit.

R

Beyond that, it’s important to consider the number and design of the pedals, the wheel’s size, the buttons it includes and whether it has handy extra features, like rev counters. And, if you’re serious, think about the wheel’s ecosystem of accessories and peripherals, and the material used to coat the wheel itself. We’ve reviewed a broad range of racing wheels in this month’s Labs test, going all the way from an entry-level £44 option to models that cost more than £600. They’ve all been tested in the same manner. We’ve used an ADX ARSFBA0117 gaming chair to ensure a good driving position during testing, and we’ve loaded up iRacing, Dirt Rally 2, Assetto Corsa Competizione and Forza Horizon 4 to find out how they all handle track, rally, sim and casual racing games. In addition to in-game testing, we’ve also taken a close look at the build quality of each wheel, examined how easy these devices are to put together, and taken a look at their software applications. We can then present an all-round picture of which wheels are worth your cash.

Contents  Fanatec CSL Elite PS4 Starter Kit /p49

 Speedlink Drift O.Z. / p51

 Logitech G29 Driving Force / p50

 Thrustmaster TS-XW Racer Sparco P310 / p52

48

anatec’s CSL Elite starter kit is significantly cheaper than the Thrustmaster kit we’re looking at in this Labs, but it’s still based on the high-end ClubSport technology used in pricier Fanatec products. On the inside, that means a single-belt brushless servomotor with 6nm of torque. That translates to superb performance with the CSL Elite offering progressive, powerful force-feedback alongside smooth and accurate motion. The Thrustmaster provides 6.4nm of torque, and it feels more aggressive but less smooth. Both wheels are very good and incredibly powerful though – the vast majority of players won’t need to max out the motors. The Fanatec’s servomotor connects to a 970g wheel with a 300mm diameter – so it’s easily big enough to replicate real racing. The wheel is a little smaller and lighter than the Thrustmaster’s Sparco unit, and it sits further forward and at a more vertical angle. Most people won’t be bothered, but the marginal

F

SPEC Force feedback Brushless singlebelt servomotor, 6nm torque Rotation 90-1,080 degrees Pedals Brake, accelerator Materials Aluminium, plastic, leather, suede Wheel diameter 300mm Wheel weight 970g Base & wheel weight 4.82kg Base & wheel dimensions 300 x 350 x 300mm Pedal dimensions 380 x 370 x 224mm Pedal weight 3.2kg Extras Table clamp, Allen keys, wrench, button caps Warranty Two years return to base

E

c

M

AD

SUPPLIER fanatec.com

PRE

/£502 incVAT(priceconvertedfromEuros)

tom P s u

C

FANATEC CSL ELITE PS4 STARTER KIT

IUM GR

position changes may alter comfort levels depending on your driving position. The wheel’s combined leather and suede coating is comfortable and grippy, and it has more buttons than the Thrustmaster. They’re more tactile, and Fanatec even includes replacement caps. The Fanatec wheel has a rev counter and the top of the wheel has a versatile LED display that can show in-game data, change wheel settings and switch between profiles on the fly, so you don’t have to leave your game. Behind the wheel are superb shifter paddles. They’re less clicky and require a little more force than the Thrustmaster’s adjustable shifters but they feel far more robust. The wheel mechanism is contained in a smart, subtly designed shell. It’s smaller and lighter than the Thrustmaster, and its plastic exterior doesn’t hinder build quality. At the rear it has ports for two shifters and a handbrake, while the Thrustmaster unit only has a single shifter port. Fanatec’s CSL Elite pedal kit only includes two pedals, but they’re versatile – their position, strength and sensitivity can all be tweaked, and the set includes interchangeable plates to alter their texture. The pedals are made from aluminium, and they’re stronger than the Thrustmaster pedals, with a smoother, weightier movement. The pedals aren't infallible. If they’re not mounted to anything, they’re liable to tip forwards. And, when it comes to mounting, some drilling may be required – not something you’ll need to do with the Thrustmaster. There’s also no clutch pedal. If you do want a third pedal, you’ll have to buy Fanatec’s Load Cell kit. This includes an upgraded brake pedal with stronger, more realistic resistance, which means you can use the original brake pedal as the clutch. However, the kit costs £123, which puts the Fanatec’s overall price of £625 virtually

ELITE

ELITIST

+

Smooth, powerful driving and feedback

-

An expensive kit and ecosystem

+

Loads of useful features

Building can be fiddly

+

Robust, versatile pedals

-

Only includes two pedals

level with the £630 Thrustmaster. Then again, Fanatec offers a more versatile ecosystem. The CSL wheel base can be used with dozens of wheels, improved pedals and a huge range of shifters and handbrakes.

Conclusion Fanatec is a key player when it comes to high-end sim-racing gear, and that quality and experience has bled down to this relatively affordable bundle. The CSL Elite base and wheel are fantastic, offering smooth, consistent and powerful force feedback, with a touch that’s lighter than the Thrustmaster TS-XW. Fanatec’s kit also has more features and a better ecosystem, and the pedals are very good. This is an excellent upgrade from cheaper wheels, for those seeking their first step into truly high-end racing wheels.

VERDICT A fantastic higher-end racing wheel kit that offers superb performance and features for serious racers.

DESIGN

34/40

FEATURES

34/35

VALUE

21/25

OVERALL SCORE

89% 49

L A B S T E S T / RACING WHEELS

LOGITECH G29 DRIVING FORCE/£269 inc VAT

L

FORCEFUL

WEEDY

+

Comfortable, consistent driving experience

-

8-bit pedals

Decent force feedback

-

Belt-driven wheels are better

+ +

Smart, sensible feature set

Limited upgrade options

SPEC Force feedback Dual helical motor Rotation 40-900 degrees Pedals Clutch, brake, accelerator Materials Plastic, leather Wheel diameter 270mm Wheel weight N/A Base & wheel weight 2.25kg Base & wheel dimensions 270 x 278 x 270mm Pedal dimensions 429 x 311 x 167mm Pedal weight 3.1kg Extras Table clamp Warranty Two years return to base

50

more expensive models,but ng. this is not necessarily a badthin Plenty of gamers may find larger wheels cumbersome, and the G29’s2770mmdiameter is still easily usable for all kinds f smaller size makes it easier tost ethe G29 , tu such as and there's plenty of practicalfeatures, the desk mounts being built intothebody and a cable management cavity. The G29 has more buttons than any of the other wheels on test, including a D-pad, volume rocker and a smart 24-notch dial. You also get gear shifters, which offer a decent clicky and consistent response, albeit a with slightly softer feel compared with more expensive options. The wheel has a smart, comfortable and grippy leather coating. The G29’s lower price does mean internal compromises. The Logitech doesn’t use beltdriven technology – instead, it has a dual-motor system with helical gears. This system means that driving isn’t quite as smooth, with gear notches and more friction both noticeable as the wheel is moved. It’s not enough to prove distracting when you’re in the middle of a qualifying lap, but this wheel has more friction than more expensive, belt-driven options. The G29’s force feedback is powerful and with decent detail and differentiation. Again, though, both of the belt-driven options in the Labs are stronger, with a higher ceiling and smoother, more gradual changes. The Logitech also exhibited weaker feedback when it was centred. The G29 includes a three-pedal deck. The shell is plastic, but build quality is reasonable and there are lots of mounting holes – so it’s easy to install on cockpits. The pedals are made from steel, and all feature progressive resistance. The most notable is the brake pedal, which is actually so resistive, some people will find it too heavy.

PP

A

ogitech’s G29isa hugely popularmidrangewheel,andalthoughits£269 price mayseemhigh compared with entryleveloptions, it’sfar cheaperthan higher-endgear fromthe likes of Fanatecand Thrustmasterwhilestill offering aseriousstep up inperformance. Logitech actually produces twoversions of thiswheel:theG29is forPC andPS4whilethe G920workswithPC and XboxOne.They’re near identical buttheG29 includes morebuttons and a rev counter,soforPCusers it’sthe one toget. TheG29’sPlayStationbrandingmakesthis wheellookalittle immatureincomparisonwith rivals. It’snoticeably smaller,too. Both theplastic bodyandthewheelaremorecompactthan

D

c

SUPPLIER argos.co.uk

C

tom P s u

ROV E

The pedalsthemselves area lit litt w b nd theydon’t h e anyad any adjustment options. If you’re n t notmountingthem,it’salso possibleto lift the pedalunitoffthefloorifyouhammer the brake pedal, which is irritating. The pedals use 8-bit gradation, which means you get 256 levels of movement. That’s fine for those starting out, but serious players will want more granularity. The Fanatec pedals have a 12-bit pedals with more then 4,000 levels of resistance, while Thrustmaster offers 16-bit pedals. There’s not much of an ecosystem to speak of either. You can buy an H-pattern shifter for this wheel, but that’s it.

Conclusion The Logitech G29 is an excellent option for more arcade-like mainstream racing and for people who want to explore the world of sims without breaking the bank, but it doesn’t have the nuance, power or features of more expensive wheels. The only people who will really need the pricier stuff will be playing at the top end of the sim-racing leagues though. For most users, the G29 will do a great job – it has the precision, feedback and features to cope unless you really want to take things to the next level.

VERDICT Consistent performance and some useful features make this an effective mid-range rig.

DESIGN

30/40

FEATURES

VALUE

31/35

23/25

OVERALL SCORE

84%

SPEEDLINK DRIFT O.Z. /£44

inc VAT

SUPPLIER scan.co.uk

he DriftO.Z. is one of the cheapest wheels on themarket,soit’s understandably positioned asan entry-level offering,forgamersseeking totake theirfirststepintotheworldofracingwheels. Asiftolure thoseunlearnedminds,it sports aneye-catching design.Thesofterplastic gripsusedonthe270mm-diameter wheelare finished inbright orange,and there’saring of ridged plastic in the middle that mimics metal. Itsrock bottompriceisn’ttheonlything thatappeals withtheDrift.It’stheonlywheel in the Labswithagearstick, althoughit’s a sequential unitratherthananH-pattern device. Meanwhile,theface of thewheelhasfifteen buttons, includinga D-pad,andtwo useful shoulderbuttons thatsit round the back. Buildqualityofthemainbodyisn’tbadatall, considering it’s entirelyplastic and so cheap. It can’tholdacandle tothelikesof theLogitech, buttheDriftisreasonablysturdy. Startto use theDrift,though,andit becomes clearwhythiswheelcostsjust £44.It attaches to your desk usingsuctioncups rather thana

T

SPEC Forcefeedback Dual motors Rotation 45-180 degrees Pedals Brake, accelerator Materials Plastic

clamp mechanism, so if you have a smooth, clean surface then the suction cups have just enough strength to hold the wheel in place but if the surface isn’t perfect or you get a bit carried away, it easily comes unstuck. Indeed, it’s a system that only works at all because of the almost complete lack of meaningful force feedback – if this wheel was fighting you like the others do, it would always come unstuck. Also, that sequential shifter is wobbly, and the two paddle-shifters on the rear of the wheel feel just as weak. There are problems on the inside too. The Drift only has a maximum rotation of 180 degrees, which is far less than any other wheel here. That doesn’t grant a huge amount of precision and movement – not enough to properly drive cars in any serious racing games. Beyond the 180 degree rotation, the wheel only uses 8-bit movement, so only 256 different positions are available – hardly enough to ensure pinpoint accuracy through corners. The force feedback is also incredibly weak, with hardly any subtlety – it’s often barely noticeable, and there are hardly any differences in how different driving conditions are portrayed. The Drift comes with a small pedal set that has brake and accelerator pedals but no clutch, and the entire unit is made from flimsy plastic. A panel folds out from the underside to provide

TOKYO DRIFT

GLACIAL DRIFT

+ + +

-

Poor rotation and sensitivity

-

Insipid force feedback

Very cheap Lots of buttons Includes a sequential shifter

Uses suction cups

some extra foot support, but it’s too small to make a difference. The pedals themselves are poor. They only have 128 degrees of movement, which is low, and the brake pedal has no resistance – so it doesn’t feel realistic. The software, at least, is straightforward – it has plenty of options and easy menus that allow for testing and customisation.

Conclusion The Drift only has enough precision and ability for casual racing games, perhaps, if you want a wheel for your kids. If you’re even remotely serious about your driving, even in titles that aren’t simulations, then look elsewhere. If you save up some extra cash, a sub-£200 wheel such as the Thrustmaster T150 offers more rotation, better force feedback and adjustable pedals. If money is a concern, we’d also recommend buying a second-hand wheel or sticking with a control pad instead. It’s tempting to see the Speedlink as an affordable entry into racing, but you’d be better off waiting until you can afford a better model.

Wheel diameter 270mm Wheel weight N/A

V ERDICT

Base & wheel weight 1.45kg

Fe ew features and an underwhelming driving xperience make this a bargain to avoid. ex

Base & wheel dimensions 70 x 330 x 275mm Pedal dimensions 230 x 180 x 150mm Pedal weight 0.54kg Extras Gear stick Warranty One year return to base

DESIGN

18/40

FEATURES

VALUE

17/35

20/25

OVERALL SCORE

55% 51

L A B S T E S T / RACING WHEELS

THRUSTMASTER TS-XW RACER SPARCO P310 /£630 inc VAT SUPPLIER box.co.uk

T

his is the most expensive wheel bundle Thrustmaster sells, and it’s the result of a collaboration between the peripheral firm and real racing company Sparco. That means you get a real Sparco wheel on this rig, and it’s a stunner. The 310mm diameter wheel is the largest in the Labs, and it’s the only one that's fully coated with suede. It looks the part, and it feels grippy and comfortable. The wheel isn’t just a little larger than the equivalent on the rival Fanatec – at 1.03kg, the wheel is also slightly heavier. The P310’s wheel is also more angled, and it sits further back. Depending on where you’re installing this rig, it may make the Thrustmaster more comfortable. The base unit is larger, heavier and more eye-catching than Fanatec’s offering too, thanks to its red finish, brushed metal and carbon-fibre. The Thrustmaster uses a brushless servomotor with a dual-belt system and delivers 6.4nm of torque. It provides an excellent driving experience, with strong and versatile force feedback. That force feedback is a little more aggressive than the Fanatec, though, and the Thrustmaster’s driving offers a bit more friction – at low speeds especially, it’s just about possible to feel the notches on the internal belt. When playing games, the extra friction isn't hugely noticeable. It just translates

SPARKLING

+

A very good Sparco racing wheel

+

Powerful, satisfying force feedback

+

Decent, adjustable pedals

52

SPARKED OUT

-

Pricier than Fanatec’s more versatile kit Fewer useful features Noticeable fan noise

to the Thrustmaster wheel feeling a bit heavier and more combative compared with the lighter Fanatec. The aggressive tone is augmented by the Thrustmaster’s fan. Neither the Thrustmaster nor the Fanatec are silent, and a headset or speakers will drown both out, but the TS-XW is louder. Behind the wheel you’ll find two paddleshifters. Handily, they have two positions, so there’s a greater chance they fall into a comfortable position for you. They’re also lighter than those on the Fanatec, but a little flimsier too. The Thrustmaster can’t compete with the Fanatec on features: it doesn’t have a rev counter or an on-wheel display, and it has fewer buttons – and those buttons are more awkward to use. The included T3PA pedals kit does include a clutch, though, so it improves on the Fanatec. The pedals have different height, angle and spacing positions, and they have pre-drilled holes, so they’re easier to attach to cockpits. In use, they’re good – but slightly weaker than Fanatec’s pedals. External build quality isn’t as good either. Also bear in mind that Fanatec’s kit can be augmented with the extra load cell brake, which delivers a better third pedal at no extra cost compared with the Thrustmaster. Thrustmaster’s kit tends to be easier to build than the Fanatec gear, which isn't surprising when Thrustmaster otherwise offers more mainstream hardware. However, the downside to this position is a less interesting ecosystem. The Thrustmaster can be augmented with different wheels, pedals and shifters, but there are fewer options. On the flip side, Thrustmaster’s software is a little better – it has more options for testing different force-feedback scenarios in particular.

SPEC Force feedback Brushless dual-belt servomotor, 6.4nm torque Rotation 270-1,080 degrees Pedals Clutch, brake, accelerator Materials Aluminium, plastic, suede Wheel diameter 310mm Wheel weight 1.03kg Base & wheel weight 5.6kg Base & wheel dimensions 310 x 365 x 310mm Pedal dimensions 335 x 390 x 200mm Pedal weight 2.4kg Extras Table clamp, Allen keys, button stickers Warranty Two years return to base

Conclusion The inclusion of a real Sparco racing wheel adds kudos to this kit, and there’s no denying the quality. The wheel is also joined by a base that offers powerful force feedback and aggressive driving. Elsewhere, the T3PA pedals are very good but not great. The TS-XW is good, but it feels like the Sparco wheel has inflated the price. It’s worth buying if you want an authentic experience, but the Fanatec is a better all-rounder.

VERDICT An excellent wheel and generally good quality elsewhere, but fewer features and a high price put it slightly behind its competition.

DESIGN

FEATURES

33/40

32/35 VALUE

18/25

OVERALL SCORE

83%

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R E V I E WS / HOW WE TEST

How we test MOTHERBOARDS TEST PROCESSORS  Intel LGA1151 Intel Core i9-9900K  Intel LGA2066 Intel Core i9-7900X  AMD AM4 AMD Ryzen 9 3900X  AMD TRX4 AMD Threadripper 3970X Our test gear comprises a GeForce RTX 2070 Super Founders Edition and a 2TB Samsung 970 Pro SSD (or a PCI-E 4 1TB Corsair MP600 SSD on X570 and TRX40 boards). We also use Corsair Vengeance RGB 3466MHz DDR4 RAM – a 16GB dual-channel kit for mainstream systems, and a 32GB quadchannel kit for HEDT systems. We use Custom PC’s own RealBench suite, and Far Cry 5 installed on Windows 10 Home 64-bit to test basic performance. We also test the board’s SATA and M.2 ports, and record the noise level and dynamic range of the integrated audio using RightMark Audio Analyzer. We try to overclock our test CPU to its maximum air-cooled level on each motherboard, and record the performance results.

MONITORS We test image quality with an Xrite iDisplay Pro colorimeter and DisplayCal software to check for colour accuracy, contrast and gamma, while assessing more subjective details such as pixel density and viewing angles by eye. We also run games on them to assess their responsiveness, and to see how well any adaptive sync tech works, and to gauge their performance at high refresh rates.

CPU COOLERS We measure the CPU temperature with CoreTemp, and subtract the ambient air temperature to give a delta T result, enabling us to test in a lab that isn’t temperature controlled. We load the CPU with Prime95’s smallfft test and take the reading after ten minutes.

PROCESSORS TEST MOTHERBOARDS  Intel LGA1151 MSI MEG Z90 ACE  Intel LGA2066 MSI MEG X299 Creation  AMD AM4 Gigabyte X570 Aorus Master  AMD AM4 (APU) MSI X470 Gaming Pro Carbon  AMD TRX4 Asus ROG Zenith II Extreme We otherwise use the same core spec to test each CPU. Our test gear comprises an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Super Founders Edition (or an APU’s integrated GPU for gaming tests) and a 2TB Samsung 970 Pro SSD. We also use Corsair Vengeance RGB 3466MHz DDR4 memory – a 16GB dualchannel kit for mainstream systems, and a 32GB quad-channel kit for HEDT systems. We use Windows 10 Home 64-bit. We use Custom PC’s RealBench suite (see opposite), as well as Cinebench for 3D rendering and Adobe Premiere Pro for video export times. We also use Far Cry New Dawn and Metro Exodus to test gaming performance. Finally, we record the total power draw of the test PC. We run all tests at both stock speed and at the CPU’s highest overclocked frequency.

54

TEST KIT Fractal Design Meshify C case, 3000MHz Corsair Vengeance LPX memory, 256GB Crucial MX100 SSD, be quiet! System Power 9 500W PSU, Windows 10 64-bit. INTEL LGA1151 Intel Core i5-9600K CPU overclocked to 4.8GHz with 1.2V vcore, Asus ROG Strix Z370-E Gaming motherboard. INTEL LGA2066 Intel Core i9-7900X overclocked to 4.2GHz with 1.15V vcore, MSI X299M Gaming Pro Carbon AC motherboard. AMD AM4 AMD Ryzen 7 1700 overclocked to 3.9GHz with 1.425V vcore, MSI X470 Gaming Pro Carbon AC motherboard. AMD TR4 AMD Threadripper 2950X overclocked to 4.1GHz with 1.425V vcore, AMD Threadripper 2990WX overclocked to 4GHz with 1.3375V vcore, ASRock X399M motherboard.

AWARDS

GRAPHICS CARDS

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IUM GR

POWER CONSUMPTION We run Unigine Superposition at 4K Optimized DirectX settings. We measure the power consumption of our whole graphics test rig at the mains during the test, and record the peak power draw. This result is for the whole system, not the graphics card alone.

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Total War: Warhammer II Tested in DirectX 11, as the DirectX 12 beta currently causes stuttering issues on some GPUs. We test at Ultra settings with FXAA, and run the built-in ‘Battle’ benchmark. We record the 99th percentile and average frame rates with FrameView.

SSIO

C

Shadow of the Tomb Raider Tested at the Highest settings preset with TAA. We run the built-in benchmark and record the 99th percentile and average frame rates with FrameView.

Premium Grade products are utterly desirable, offering a superb balance of performance and features without an over-the-top price.

FE

CU

Battlefield V Tested in DirectX 12 at Ultra settings on every card. If a GPU also supports real-time ray tracing, we then test it with DXR enabled on High settings with TAA, and also with DLSS if it’s supported. We run through a one-minute custom benchmark in the ‘Under No Flag’ War Story, recording the 99th percentile and average frame rates with FrameView.

PREMIUM GRADE

These products might not be appropriate for a gaming rig, but they’ll do an ace job at workstation tasks.

A

GAME TESTS Red Dead Redemption 2 Tested at custom high settings. We run the game’s built-in benchmark, and use FrameView to record the end portion, which is based on real gameplay. We report the 99th percentile and average frame rates.

Some products are gloriously over the top. They don’t always offer amazing value, but they’re outstanding if you have money to spend.

PROFESSIONAL

O

TEST KIT Intel Core i7-8700K overclocked to 4.7GHz on all cores, 16GB Corsair Vengeance LED 3000MHz DDR4 memory, Gigabyte Z370 Aorus motherboard, Cooler Master MasterLiquid 240 CPU cooler, Corsair HX750 PSU, Cooler Master MasterCase H500M case, Windows 10 Home 64-bit.

EXTREME ULTRA

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PR

We mainly evaluate graphics cards on the performance they offer for the price. However, we also consider the efficacy and noise of the cooler, as well as the GPU’s support for new gaming features, such as ray tracing. Every graphics card is tested in the same PC, so the results are directly comparable. Each test is run three times, and we report the average of those results. We test graphics cards at 1,920 x 1,080, 2,560 x 1,440 and 3,840 x 2,160, although we omit the latter resolution on cheaper cards that can’t produce playable frame rates at this setting.

OM K

APPROVED Approved products do a great job for the money; they’re the canny purchase for a great PC setup.

CUSTOM KIT For those gadgets and gizmos that really impress us, or that we can’t live without, there’s the Custom Kit award.

CUSTOM PC REALBENCH Our own benchmark suite, co-developed with Asus, is designed to gauge a PC’s performance in several key areas, using open source software.

GIMP IMAGE EDITING We use GIMP to open and edit large images, heavily stressing one CPU core to gauge single-threaded performance. This test responds well to increases in CPU clock speed. HANDBRAKE H.264 VIDEO ENCODING Our heavily multi-threaded Handbrake H.264 video encoding test takes full advantage of many CPU cores, pushing them to 100 per cent load. LUXMARK OPENCL This LuxRender-based test shows a GPU’s compute performance. As this is a niche area, the result from this test has just a quarter of the weighting of the other tests in the final system score. HEAVY MULTITASKING This test plays a full-screen 1080p video, while running a Handbrake H.264 video encode in the background.

55

Elite

Our choice of the best hardware available

Core component bundles The fundamental specifications we recommend for various types of PC. Just add your preferred case and power supply, and double-check there’s room in your case for your chosen components, especially the GPU cooler and graphics card. We’ve largely stopped reviewing power supplies, as the 80 Plus certification scheme has now effectively eliminated unstable PSUs. Instead, we’ve recommended the wattage and minimum 80 Plus certification you should consider for each component bundle. You can then choose whether you want a PSU with modular or captive cables.

Budget system wit s integrated graphics

Budget gaming system

Quad-core CPU, basic gaming g

Needs a micro-ATX case. We recommend a 450W 80 Plus power supply. See Issue 191, p78, for an example build guide.

Quad-core CPU, 1080p gaming

Needs a micro-ATX or ATX case. We recommend a 350W 80 Plus power sup y COMPONENT

NAME

CPU

AMD Ryzen 5 3400G

CPU COOLER

AMD Wraith air cooler included with CPU

GRAPHICS CARD

AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 integrated into CPU

MEMORY

MOTHERBOARD

STORAGE

SUPPLIER

MSI B450M Mortar (micro-ATX)*

500GB WD Blue SN500 (M.2 NVMe)

novatech.co.uk

#194, p20

N/A

#176 p80

N/A

8GB (2 x 4GB) Corsair Vengeance LPX 3000MHz (CMK8GX4M2A 3000C16)

I ISSUE inc VAT

scan.co.uk

overclockers.co.uk

#194 p20

#176 p80

#182 p50

ISSUE

PRICE inc VAT

cclonline.com

#191 p78

£101

ARCTIC Freezer 7 X

scan.co.uk

#202 p20

£18

GRAPHICS CARD

Zotac Gaming GeForce GTX 1660 Super

ebuyer.com

#199 p46

£230

MEMORY

16GB 2 x8 GB) Corsair Vengeance LPX 3000MHz (CMK16GX4 M2A2666C16)

scan.co.uk

#191 p78

£81

MOTHERBOARD

Gigabyte B360M DS3H (micro-ATX)

scan.co.uk

#191 p78

£70

STORAGE

500GB WD Blue SN500 (M.2 NVMe)

ebuyer.com

#191 p78

£70

NAME

CPU

Intel Core i3-8100

CPU COOLER

£135

£0

£0

£45

£90

Total £570 ebuyer.com

#191 p78

£70

UPGRADES

Total £340

*This motherboard may require a BIOS update in order to recognise the new CPU, which can be performed without needing an old CPU, downloading the latest BIOS to a USB flash drive and pressing the Flash BIOS button

56

SUPPLIER

COMPONENT

SWAP GRAPHICS CARD

Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 (1080p gaming with ray tracing and some 2,560 x 1,440 gaming)

ebuyer.com

#199 p50

£310

SWAP STORAGE

Kingston A2000 1TB

scan.co.uk

#196 p30

£155

Entry-level RTX gaming system

Mid-range gaming syst

6-core CPU, 2,560 x 1,440 gaming, real-time ray tracing at 1080p

8-core CPU, 2,560 x 1,440 gaming with real-time ray tracing, and some 4K gaming

Needs an ATX case. We recommend a 550W 80 Plus Bronze power supply. See Issue 201, p76, for an example build guide.

Needs an ATX case with room for a 240mm all-in-one liquid cooler. We recommend a 600W 80 Plus Bronze power supply.

COMPONENT

NAME

SUPPLIER

ISSUE

PRICE inc VAT

CPU

AMD Ryzen 5 3600

scan.co.uk

#195 p16

£170

CPU COOLER

ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II 240

scan.co.uk

#196 p26

£60

GRAPHICS CARD

Zotac GeForce RTX 2060 Super Mini

MEMORY

16GB (2 x 8GB) Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 3466MHz (CMW16GX4 M2C3466C16)

ebuyer.com

scan.co.uk

#199 p53

#201 p76

COMPONENT

NAME

SUPPLIER

ISSUE

PRICE inc VAT

CPU

AMD Ryzen 7 3700X

scan.co.uk

#200 p51

£300

CPU COOLER

ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II 240

scan.co.uk

#196 p26

£60

GRAPHICS CARD

Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Super

scan.co.uk

#193 p16

£521

MEMORY

16GB (2 x 8GB) ADATA XPG Spectrix D60G 3600MHz (AX4U3600 38G17-DT60)

cclonline.com

#199 p57

£143

MOTHERBOARD

Asus ROG Strix X570-E Gaming (ATX)

overclockers.co.uk

#193 p44

£315

STORAGE

1TB Corsair MP600

amazon.co.uk

#193 p26

£232

overclockers.co.uk

#166 p54

£90

scan.co.uk

#185 p82

£120

£400

£128

MOTHERBOARD

MSI B450 Tomahawk Max (ATX)

ebuyer.com

#201 p76

£110

STORAGE

500GB WD Blue SN500 (M.2 NVMe)

ebuyer.com

#191 p78

£70

Total £938

UPGRADES

SWAP GRAPHICS CARD

Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Super (2,560 x 1,440 gaming with real-time ray tracing)

scan.co.uk

#193 p16

£521

Total £1,571

UPGRADES ADD SECONDARY Western Digital STORAGE Blue 4TB

overclockers.co.uk

#166 p54

£90 ADD SECONDARY Western Digital STORAGE Blue 4TB

SWAP STORAGE

Kingston A2000 1TB

scan.co.uk

#196 p30

£155

SWAP CPU COOLER

Corsair H100i RGB Platinum (240mm AIO liquid cooler)

57

E L I T E / THE BEST KIT

Core component bundles cont … 4K gaming system stem

Heavy multi-threading workstation

12-core CPU, 4K gaming with real-time ray-tracing abilities

Serious multi-threaded power, 1080p gaming

Needs an E-ATX case with room for a 240mm all-in-one liquid cooler. We recommend a 650W 80 Plus Gold power supply. COMPONENT

CPU

CPU COOLER

GRAPHICS CARD

MEMORY

MOTHERBOARD

STORAGE

SUPPLIER

NAME

AMD Ryzen 9 3900X

Corsair H100i RGB Platinum (240mm AIO liquid cooler)

Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti

16GB (2 x 8GB) ADATA XPG Spectrix D60G 3600MHz (AX4U3600 38G17-DT60)

MSI Prestige X570 Creation (E-ATX)

1TB Corsair MP600

overclockers.co.uk

scan.co.uk

scan.co.uk

cclonline.com

ISSUE

#200 p51

#175 p20

#189 p20

#199 p57

PRICE inc VAT

Needs an E-ATX case with room for a 240mm all-in-one liquid cooler. We recommend a 750W 80 Plus Gold power supply. SUPPLIER

ISSUE

PRICE inc VAT

AMD Threadripper 3960X

overclockers.co.uk

#197 p18

£1,250

CPU COOLER

Enermax Liqtech II TR4 240 (240mm AIO liquid cooler)

overclockers.co.uk

#186 p44

£110

GRAPHICS CARD

Zotac Gaming GeForce GTX 1660 Super

ebuyer.com

#199 p46

£230

MEMORY

32GB Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB 3466MHz (CMT32GX4 M4C3466C16)

scan.co.uk

#197 p20

£297

MOTHERBOARD

ASRock TRX40 Taichi (E-ATX)

overclockers.co.uk

#198 p44

£470

STORAGE

1TB Corsair MP600

amazon.co.uk

#193 p26

£232

COMPONENT

NAME

CPU £459

£120

£1,054

£143

Total £2,589 overclockers.co.uk

amazon.co.uk

#193 p48

#193 p26

£420

£232

UPGRADES

SWAP GRAPHICS CARD

Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Super (2,560 x 1,440 gaming with ray tracing, and some 4K gaming)

scan.co.uk

#193 p16

£521

SWAP CPU

AMD Threadripper 3970X (32 cores massive multithreaded power)

overclockers.co.uk

#197 p19

£1,890

cclonline.com

#166 p50

£229

Total £2,428 UPGRADES ADD SECONDARY 4TB Western STORAGE Digital Blue

SWAP CPU

58

AMD Ryzen 9 3950X (16 cores)

overclockers.co.uk

#166 p54

£90

overclockers.co.uk

#197 p24

£680

ADD SECONDARY 6TB Seagate STORAGE BarraCuda Pro

Mini PCs Our favourite components for building a micro-ATX or mini-ITX PC. Always double-check how much room is available in your chosen case before buying your components. Some mini-ITX cases don’t have room for large all-in-one liquid coolers, for example, or tall heatsinks. You’ll also need to check that there’s room for your chosen graphics card. We’ve also recommended a small PSU and a low-profile CPU cooler, if your chosen case requires them.

Mini-ITX

Micro-ATX

Motherboards

Motherboards CATEGORY

NAME

SUPPLIER

ISSUE

PRICE inc VAT

£193

Intel Z390 (LGA1151)

Asus ROG Maximus XI Gene

scan.co.uk

#189 p28

£330

#195 p24

£227

AMD X399 (TR4)

ASRock X399M Taichi

scan.co.uk

#179 p28

£318

#198 p20

£290

AMD B450 (AM4)

MSI B450M Mortar

overclockers.co.uk

#182 p50

£90

CATEGORY

NAME

SUPPLIER

ISSUE

PRICE inc VAT

Intel Z390 (LGA1151)

ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming-ITX/ac

scan.co.uk

#185 p50

AMD X570 (AM4 budget)

Gigabyte X570-I Aorus Pro WiFi

overclockers.co.uk

AMD X570 (AM4 mid-range)

Asus ROG Strix X570-I Gaming

overclockers.co.uk

Cases CATEGORY

NAME

MIDRANGE

Phanteks Enthoo Evolv Shift Air

PREMIUM

NZXT H1

SUPPLIER

ISSUE

overclockers.co.uk

#195 p49

scan.co.uk

#201 p24

PRICE inc VAT

NAME

LOWPROFILE

Noctua NH-D9L

CATEGORY

NAME

SUPPLIER

ISSUE

PRICE inc VAT

BUDGET

Fractal Design Focus G Mini

scan.co.uk

#180 p46

£57

MIDRANGE

Fractal Design Define Mini C

scan.co.uk

#161 p26

£75

£95 £299

CPU coolers CATEGORY

Cases

SUPPLIER

ISSUE

PRICE inc VAT

amazon.co.uk

#143 p17

£43

Networking

Power supplies CATEGORY

NAME

SUPPLIER

ISSUE

PRICE inc VAT

800W SFX

SilverStone StriderSX800-LTI

scan.co.uk

#185 p82

£170

ATX Cases CATEGORY

NAME

BUDGET

Phanteks Eclipse P300 Glass

BUDGET QUIET

be quiet! Pure Base 500

SUPPLIER

ISSUE

PRICE inc VAT

overclockers.co.uk

#176 p28

£55

scan.co.uk

#196 p24

£70

#201 p22

SUB£100

Lian Li Lancool II

overclockers.co.uk

MIDRANGE

Phanteks Eclipse P600S

cclonline.com

HIGHEND

NZXT H700i

PREMIUM

Phanteks Enthoo Evolv X

scan.co.uk overclockers.co.uk

#202 p44 #196 p51 #187 p24

£83 £125

CATEGORY

NAME

SUPPLIER

ISSUE

PRICE inc VAT

ROUTER WIFI 6

TP-Link Archer AX6000

ebuyer.com

#196 p57

£272

MESH ROUTER WIFI 5

Netgear Orbi 2-Pack (RBK50)

ebuyer.com

#172 p57

£270

box.co.uk

#196 p54

£349

PREMIUM MESH Asus AiMesh ROUTER WIFI 6 AX6100

WIFI ADAPTOR

TP-Link Archer TX3000E

overclockers.co.uk

#196 p58

£50

SINGLEBAY NAS BOX

Synology DS118

box.co.uk

#174 p34

£142

DUALBAY NAS BOX

Synology DS220j

box.co.uk

# 200, p22

£155

DUALBAY MEDIA NAS BOX

Synology DS218play

box.co.uk

#174 p34

£193

£150 £200

59

E L I T E / THE BEST KIT

Monitors FreeSync

G-Sync

CATEGORY

NAME

24IN BUDGET 1,920 X 1,080

AOC G2460VQ6

24IN MIDRANGE 1,920 X 1,080

AOC C24G1

24IN 240HZ ESPORTS 1,920 X 1,080

AOC AGON AG251FZ

SUPPLIER

ISSUE

PRICE inc VAT

overclockers.co.uk

#174 p52

£129

cclonline.com

#191 p28

£183

#187 p48

£298

box.co.uk

FreeSync and G-Sync CATEGORY

NAME

SUPPLIER

ISSUE

PRICE inc VAT

overclockers.co.uk

#190 p53

£170

AOC 27G2U

cclonline.com

#201 p53

£199

27IN VA 2,560 X 1,440

MSI Optix MAG272CQR

box.co.uk

#201 p28

£349

27IN IPS 2,560 X 1,440

Asus TUF Gaming VG27AQ

overclockers.co.uk

#201 p54

£480

27IN 240HZ ESPORTS 2,560 X 1,440

AOC AG273QZ

laptopsdirect.co.uk

#201 p54

£540

24IN BUDGET 1,920 X 1,080

AOC G2590FX

27IN IPS 1,920 X 1,080

Periph PRICE inc VAT

NAME

SUPPLIER

MEMBRANE

Corsair K55 RGB

game.co.uk

#201 p45

£50

BUDGET MECHANICAL

HyperX Alloy FPS Pro

amazon.co.uk

#201 p46

£62

ebuyer.com

#181 p53

£110

scan.co.uk

#164 p26

scan.co.uk

#193 p56

MECHANICAL MMO

Corsair K95 RGB Platinum

PREMIUM MECHANICAL

Corsair K70 Mk.2 Low Profile

PREMIUM MECHANICAL TENKEYLESS

Asus ROG Strix Scope TKL Deluxe

LUXURY MECHANICAL

Razer Hunstman Elite

60

PRICE inc VAT

amazon.co.uk

#169 p55

£425

ebuyer.com

#155 p48

£620

overclockers.co.uk

#180 p52

£670

Asus ROG Swift PG27UQ

scan.co.uk

#181 p31

£1,849

Asus ROG Swift PG35VQ

scan.co.uk

#198 p58

£2,499

SUPPLIER

ISSUE

PRICE inc VAT

box.com

#194 p30

£310

scan.co.uk

#179 p34

£695

24IN 2,560 X 1,440

AOC AGON AG241QG

27IN 2,560 X 1,440

Asus ROG Swift PG279Q

35IN ULTRAWIDE 3,440 X 1,440

AOC AGON AG352UCG6

27IN 4K PREMIUM 35IN ULTRA WIDE HDR 3,440 X 1,440

Non-gaming CATEGORY

NAME

27IN 4K

AOC U2790PQU

27IN 5,120 X 2,880

Iiyama ProLite XB2779QQS

Gaming mice

CATEGORY

Corsair K68 RGB

ISSUE

NAME

s and audio

Gaming keyboards

MECHANICAL

SUPPLIER

CATEGORY

overclockers.co.uk

#202 p24

box.co.uk

#193 p59

CATEGORY

NAME

SUPPLIER

ISSUE

PRICE inc VAT

BUDGET GAMING

Corsair M55 RGB Pro

currys.co.uk

#200, p24

£35

FIRSTPERSON SHOOTER

SteelSeries Rival 600

box.co.uk

#184 p59

£63

MMO

Razer Naga Trinity

scan.co.uk

#186 p52

£79

WIRELESS

Corsair Dark Core RGB Pro

corsair.com

#202 p25

£85

AMBIDEXTROUS

Razer Lancehead Tournament Edition

currys.co.uk

#177 p53

£60

ULTRA LIGHTWEIGHT

Glorious PC Gaming Race Model O

overclockers.co.uk

#195 p58

£45

£150

£150

£149

£189

Peripherals and audio cont Game controllers CATEGORY

NAME

Logitech G29 Driving Force PREMIUM RACING Fanatec CSL Elite WHEEL PS4 Starter Kit Microsoft Xbox One GAMEPAD Wireless Controller RACING WHEEL

SUPPLIER

Gaming headsetss PRICE inc VAT

ISSUE #202 p50 #202 p49 #191 p56

argos.co.uk fanatec.com argos.co.uk

STEREO

NAME Edifier R1280DB

SUPPLIER

ISSUE

amazon.co.uk

#192 p57

ISSUE

PRICE inc VAT

Sennheiser GSP 300

amazon.co.uk

#194 p56

£90

SURROUND

Asus ROG Centurion

cclonline.com

#163 p49

£216

WIRELESS

SteelSeries Arctis 7

currys.co.uk

#178 p58

£130

PREMIUM WIRELESS

Corsair Virtuoso RGB Wireless SE

overclockers.co.uk

#195 p30

£180

SUPPLIER

ISSUE

PRICE inc VAT

falconcomputers.co.uk

#176 p52

£500

NAME

STEREO

£269 £502 £50

Speakers CATEGORY

SUPPLIER

CATEGORY

PRICE inc VAT £120

PCs and laptops Pre-built PC systems CATEGORY

NAME

CPU

GPU

BUDGET PC WITH INTEGRATED GRAPHICS

Falcon Raptor RX

AMD Ryzen 5 3400G stock speed

AMD Radeon RX Vega 11

SUB£1,000 GAMING

AlphaBeta i5 RTX

Intel Core i5-9600KF stock speed

Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Super

alphabetapc.com

#197 p40

£999

8CORE GAMING

Wired2Fire Predator

AMD Ryzen 7 3700X stock speed

Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 Super

wired2fire.co.uk

#196 p40

£1,312

GEFORCE RTX 2080 SUPER GAMING

Wired2Fire Blizzard

Intel Core i9-9900K overclocked to 4.9GHz

Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Super

wired2fire.co.uk

#202 p30

£2,099

WATERCOOLED MINIITX

Fierce PC Ardent Core

AMD Ryzen 7 3700X stock speed

Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Super

fiercepc.co.uk

#201 p34

£2,399

PREMIUM MINIITX

Corsair One i160

Intel Core i9-9900K stock speed

Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti

corsair.com

#190 p32

£3,250

16CORE GAMING

Scan 3XS Vengeance RTX Ti

AMD Ryzen 9 3950X stock speed

Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti

scan.co.uk

#200 p32

£3,200

WATERCOOLED 16CORE GAMING

Scan 3XS Vengeance RTX Ti Fluid

AMD Ryzen 9 3950X OC to 4.3GHz

Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti

scan.co.uk

#197 p42

£4,499

THEADRIPPER PC

Chillblast Fusion Conqueror

AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X stock speed

Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti

chillblast.com

#199 p32

£7,130

DREAM PC

Scan 3XS Barracuda

Intel Core i9-10980XE OC to 4.3GHz

2 x Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti

scan.co.uk

#145 p58

£13,252

SUPPLIER

ISSUE

PRICE inc VAT

Lapto ops CATEGORY

NAME

CPU

GPU

SCREEN

THIN AND LIGHT GAMING

Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 GA401IV

GAMING

Chillblast Phantom 17

AMD Ryzen 9 4900HS stock speed Intel Core i7-9750H stock speed

Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 Max-Q Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070

14in 2,450 x 1,440 IPS 60Hz 17.3in 1,920 x 1,080 IPS 144Hz

PREMIUM GAMING

Asus ROG Zephyrus S GX701GX

Intel Core i7-9750H stock speed

Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Max-Q

17.3in 1,920 x 1,080 IPS 144Hz G-Sync

overclockers.co.uk chillblast.com amazon.co.uk

#202 p28 #197 p53 #190 p28

£1,800 £1,949 £3,300

61

Games R I C K L A N E / INVERSE LOOK

GAMES FOR THE ISOLATED Stuck at home during the pandemic? Here are Rick’s PC game recommendations to suit every need he past coupleofmonthshavebeentoughforeverybody, Meanwhile,Valve’sexcellentpuzzlegamePortal 2 has recently and it’s likelythenextfewaren’tgoingtobeanyeasier. receivedsplit-screenco-opsupport.Theofficial co-op campaign Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic,many of you is short, but there are hundreds of thousands of user-made will be stuck inside for long periods of time. Perhaps you’re mapsthatcanbefreelydownloaded,someofwhich are actually living alone, or with a partner or flatmate, or with children. better than Valve’s own maps. Perhaps you’ve been furloughed,or laid off,or are self-isolating Ifyouwanttoarrangeavirtualget-togetherwith pals then check with symptoms. out our full feature on p88,but here are my recommendations. All these scenarios pose unique challenges, and everyone is Forgroupsofthree,ApexLegendsandCallofDuty: Warzone are struggling with their own waves of bad news. But if there is a freely available Battle Royale games perfectly suited for trios. silver lining, it’s that there’s plenty of ways to keep ourselves If there are four of you, shoot for either Destiny 2 or Left and those aroundusentertainedwhilestayingindoors.Forthis 4 Dead 2. The former is free, and will keep you occupied for column, I’ve put together a bunch of PC game dozens,ifnothundredsofhours. The latter may recommendations to suit various situations. be quite old now, but it’s still the single-best Portal 2 has recently If you want to lose yourself in another cooperative game ever made – it’s thrilling, world, there are several excellent options. My hilarious and action-packed. If your group is received split-screen first choice would be The Witcher 3. With its larger still, download Planetside 2. This huge co-op support incredible writing,vast fantasy world and oodles online shooter allows for much larger teams. of fascinating quests,it remains the best singleIt’salsofreeandhasrecentlyreceived a massive player RPG five years on from launch. After that,I’d dive into Red update that has rejuvenated its community. Dead Redemption 2, another astoundingly absorbing experience Finally,isolatingwithchildrencan be an enormous challenge, set in the Old West. You also can’t go wrong with the two most particularly if they’re very small. Good games suitable for recent Assassin’s Creed games – Odyssey and Origins. toddlers are especially difficult to find, but there’s a few that But maybe you don’t have the time or space to play games will give you a half-hour’s peace. The first game I ever played on your own, perhaps if you’re living with a flatmate or partner with my daughter was Peggle, a one-button pinball puzzler with one computer between you. In this case, there are several that’s perfect for tots to watch. Othergreatgamestoplaywithalittle one on your lap include ace games designed to be played together on one screen. My personal choice is Divinity: Original Sin and its sequel. These GrowHomeandGrowUp,charming little games about climbing isometric RPGs are designed to be played in local, split-screen andexploration.Lastly,there’sSnake Pass, a cheery and colourful co-op mode,letting you chooseyourowncharactersandapproach puzzlegamewithafascinatingmovement mechanic. Stay safe and game on! the adventure however you like.

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Rick Lane is Custom PC’s games editor

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@Rick_Lane

Metro Exodus: Sam’s Story / £14.99

inc VAT

DEVELOPER 4A Games / PUBLISHER Deep Silver

n the past, Metro Exodus: Sam’s Story would have been a game in itself. This massive expansion to Metro Exodus adds another eight to ten hours of post-apocalypse shooting to the vanilla game. It can’t be faulted on quantity, but quality is a different matter. Sam’s story revolves around the eponymous US Marine side character from Metro Exodus. It takes place after the end of Exodus, and sees Sam striking out on his own as he attempts to find a way back to America. This quest takes him to Vladivostok, Russia’s Easternmost city, where he finds a potential ticket home in the form of a functioning nuclear submarine. However, the sub lacks the fuel rods needed to activate it, which are hidden across the city in the submarine’s former holding pen, the most irradiated part of Vladivostok. The Metro series has always held narrative ambitions rather beyond its capabilities. The first two games muddled through well enough, but Exodus suffered from some scripting problems. Sam’s Story, sadly, worsens the situation, with the plot focused on two Americans for whom Ukrainian developer

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4A games clearly doesn’t know how to write. Their attempt to make small talk about baseball is one of the most cringeworthy bits of in-game dialogue we’ve encountered. This would be less of a problem if Sam’s story wasn’t so insistent on its own narrative, but it’s filled with lengthy sequences that are almost entirely dedicated to dialogue. The introduction alone is almost 40 minutes of gruff-looking men clumsily dispensing the plot. There are lingering flaws from Exodus too, such as characters talking over one another in a way that makes the dialogue even harder to comprehend. Mercifully, the game eventually gets to the survivalist shooting that made the series’ name, and it’s largely as good as ever. Vladivostok provides another huge, Exodus- style level to explore, and it’s one of the most interesting yet. A tsunami has washed away much of the city, transforming what remains into a vast wetland. Looming tower blocks must be accessed by boat, and key institutions such as schools and fire stations have been taken over by bandits, who have developed a cottage industry capturing and selling the local mutants. Sam’s Story features some excellent scripted moments, such as exploring the ferociously radioactive submarine-dock for the fuel rods, and incidental moments, such as hiding inside run-down houses as an irradiated thunderstorm passes overhead. But there are flaws here too. Enemy AI seems to have taken a bullet to the head between this game and Exodus, and there are several boss-fights against a giant bat-creature, none of which is fun to play. If you mainly play Metro for its roentgen-thick atmosphere, Sam’s Story offers a decent chunk more of it, but there’s no getting away from the fact that this is a rough-edged conclusion to 4A’s biggest game. RICK LANE

METRO

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Big t Beautiful

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Badly written Boss fights suck Boneheaded AI

/VERDICT Another stunning post-apocalypse environment to explore, but issues with the writing and broader design result in a stumbling conclusion to Metro Exodus.

OVERALL SCORE

60% 63

G A M E S / REVIEWS

DOOM

+ + +

Bigger levels

Doom Eternal / £49.99

inc VAT

Thrilling combat Fantastic weapon and enemy designs

DOOM 3

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Overemphasis on story

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Unwelcome platforming elements

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Combat complexity occasionally frustrates

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DEVELOPER id Software / PUBLISHER Bethesda

oomEternalpushestheclassicfirst-personshooter seriesfurtherthaneverbefore.Notonlyisitthe biggestDoomgameevermadebysomemargin,but it’salsothemostintense,themostmechanicallydiverseand themostviolent.Atitsbest,it’sthemostthrillingFPSever made.Butcomparedwiththe2016reboot eboot whichhadnigh-perfectpacingand struckadelicatebalancebetwee andnew,DoomEternalisalsoa consistentlyenjoyableexperie Eternal is a sequelto 2016’ Doom,but it doesn’t follow directly from thereboot’s conclusion. Instead,it ta several years later,whe forces of Hell have esc and overrun Earth. O the situation from an space station, the D discovers the inva orchestrated byt and preparesto away from the Themosti differenceb predecess morestory.. DoomSla a newinter knownast

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appointeddefenders of reality with whom the Slayer has a long andfrictionalrelationship. Giventhat2016’s Doom deliberately cut back on story comparedwithDoom3,re-addingplot is an unusual decision, butonethatyoucanmostlyignoreifyou desire. The one areawhereitcausesproblems is the cut-scenes, whichpullyououtofthe first-person perspectiveandbreak the flow of the allexperience. Eternaldoesn’t take eartofthe ehearts ,furious tEternalthat istolentirely ashotgun into upgraded aticfirethat intomulch. byid sleading. eriencethan oundthe performing ionson ophealthencouraged sratherthan nowseveral ontopofit. o

Forstarters,younowhaveashoulder-attached flamethrowerthatignitesenemies,causingthemtodrop armourwhenkilled.Asecondshoulderattachmentisthe grenadelauncher,whichcanfirestandardfragmentation grenades,oricegrenadesthatfreezeenemiesinplace. Alongsidethesenewabilities,mostenemiesalsohave specificweaknesses.Forexample,youcantargetthe Revenant’srocketlaunchersanddisablethem,forcingthemto usemeleeattacks.Weaknessescanalsobespecifictocertain weaponsorabilities.Firingagrenadeintoacacodemon’s mouthwillinstantlystaggerit,openingitupforaglory-kill. Otherenemies,suchasthemancubus,arevulnerabletothe BloodPunch,anew,superpoweredmeleeattackthatcan staggereventhemostpowerfuldemon,aswellasstripping amancubus of its armour. Your range of abilities is much broader than those of Doom, but they’re also more tightly regulated. You can only carry a small amount of ammo for each weapon, so you need to think carefully about which weapons suit which opponent and be prepared to switch between them regularly. Eternal also doubles down on mobility, adding a new dodge mechanic that lets you quickly sidestep an encroaching demon’s attack. Meanwhile, the Super Shotgun’s new ‘meat hook’ lets you use enemies as grappling points, which can be supremely powerful once you get the hang of it. And it’s important that you do get the hang of it, because in full flow, Eternal’s combat is ferocious. The game has roughly twice the number of enemy types as 2016’s Doom, including a whole new class of Super Heavy Demons, such as the robotic Doom Hunter and the enormous Titan.

Often, you’ll be fighting several of these heavy enemies at once, alongside a half-dozen smaller enemies that you basically use as power-ups. It’s also stupendously violent. Not only are the glory kills made messier due to the introduction of the Slayer’s retractable arm blade, but demons now gradually disintegrate while you shoot them, their skeletons and/or robotic innards becoming exposed with every blast. At its height, Doom’s combat is unprecedented in its spectacle and intensity, but this comes at a cost. There are many cogs in Doom’s infernal machine, and a couple of them do more to hinder its operation than facilitate it. Chief among them are enemies such as the Whiplash and the Marauder. The former has an attack that interrupts your movement and makes you very vulnerable, while the latter has to be killed in a specific way that feels antithetical to the rest of the game’s design. The new approach to level design also brings new problems. The levels are much larger than before, with a new emphasis on verticality that brings extensive platforming sections with it. There are some wonderful highlights, such as trudging through the fleshy pink maze of the Super Gore Nest, or leaping between chunks of planet as you attempt to descend to the surface of a semi-destroyed Mars. But for the most part, the platforming feels arbitrary, bringing little to the table other than the opportunity for sudden, cheap deaths. The first-person platforming feels out of place in a Doom game, and it isn’t alone. Some sections see you forced to traverse through purple slime that slows your movement and prevents you from jumping, which again makes little sense in a game fundamentally about moving and jumping. What’s more, the late game randomly introduces underwater swimming puzzles, which add little other than bad memories of being stuck in Tomb Raider games. In the end, Doom Eternal suffers from a problem common in AAA games – being overdesigned. It’s frequently a fantastic game, but there’s a few too many moments where you get stuck on a tricky jumping bit, sideswiped by a cut-scene or wherethecomplexcombatengine stumbles over itself, for it tobe considered a true great. RICK LANE

/VERDICT

A solid sequel to the 2016 reboot, Doom Eternal ups the scale and intensity, but sacrifices pacing in the process.

OVERALL SCORE

80%

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G A M E S / REVIEWS

Low

High

Ultra Nightmare

Doom Eternal / Graphics analysis The game still looks good at Low, but upping the settings adds more detail and sheen to the demon’s shoulder armour, and the water looks better too

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he Doom series has always fought at the cutting edge of visual fidelity, and Eternal is no different. Not only is it one of the best-looking games ever made, but also one of the best-performing. Alongside visual fortitude, optimisation and flexibility were clearly also high priorities for id Software here Eternal has an extensive array of graphics settings, with not three but six base quality modes – Low, Medium, High, Ultra, Nightmare and Ultra Nightmare. Further, there are 13 individual settings that can each be tweaked in those six modes. These include general quality settings such as adjusting the quality of the lights and shadows, and altering the texture-pool size, which has a significant impact on the amount of VRAM used. More specific options include particle and decal quality, as well as the ability to adjust the intensity of volumetric lighting. Beyond textures, two of the more significant impactors on performance are water quality and geometric quality. The former affects both the way water is lit and simulated, while the latter adjusts the amount of detail with which geometry is rendered. Impressively, the difference between playing the game on its lowest and highest settings is relatively small. When it comes to scenery, higher settings enable slightly sharper textures, and more complexity to the way surfaces are lit. The Super Shotgun, for example, has more light-sheen on Ultra Nightmare than on Low. Character models also sport more detail on higher settings. The giant demon being impaled by the Sentinel mech looks considerably more jagged on lower settings compared with high settings. Still, the amount of detail evident on the lowest settings is a powerful demonstration of how id has baked

visual fidelity into the core experience, with several key changes to the engine pipeline during the development of id-Tech 7. Most notably, id has ditched John Carmack’s megatextures technology in favour of high-performance image streaming. Combined with a new occlusion culling system that mercilessly cuts off-screen geometry from the pipeline, Eternal is capable of rendering 80 to 90 million polygons in a single frame. Id-tech 7 also uses the Vulkan API for its rendering and engine tools, enabling faster iteration of in-game objects at a development level. As well as being visually stunning as a basic standard, Eternal also performs brilliantly. Running on a Ryzen 5 3600 and an Nvidia GTX 2080 Super, Eternal can consistently maintain 50-70fps at 4K on Ultra Nightmare settings, making it one of the best games to play at 4K. Running at 1080p on the same settings, frame rates can easily run into the 100s on an RTX 2080 Super. Indeed, Eternal is one of the few games that can take full advantage of monitors with ultra-high refresh rates. It also makes good use of multiple CPU cores, with each of our test CPU’s threads being pushed while running the game. The only black mark against Eternal from a technology standpoint is the lack of support for real-time ray tracing. It’s understandable why id decided against adding it – RTX is extremely performance-intensive and Eternal requires a smooth experience for its hyper-reactive combat to work. Nonetheless, it would have been neat to see how its environments look with real-time lighting and reflections. Still, Eternal has clearly been designed with the PC as a top priority. It’s incredibly detailed, intensely scalable, and one of the best-performing new games we’ve encountered in some time. RICK LANE

PP

DEVELOPER Spiderling Studios/ PUBLISHER Spiderling Studios

esiege allows you to become the medieval equivalent of Back to the Future’s Emmett Brown or Futurama’s Professor Farnsworth. It’s a sandbox in which you build your own siege engines and lay waste to enemy fortifications, although half the fun is watching your wacky contraptions lay waste to themselves. The campaign sees you tasked with conquering four fantasy kingdoms on individual islands. These islands are divided into roughly a dozen individual challenges that require you to build machines to solve them. Each challenge has two distinct phases. The first is the construction phase. Starting out from a single metal block, you use the mouse to hammer out a basic wooden frame that forms the skeleton of your siege engine, before adding wheels, weapons and other items such as armour plates. Once your masterpiece is complete, you press the Play button to enter the action phase, controlling your newfangled death machine with keyboard controls that can be adjusted for each of your inventions. At this point, your siege engine while probably fall apart. The crux of Besiege is its physics engine, which requires you to consider the different forces weighing upon your

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contraption. If a catapult’s ammunition is too heavy for the arm, it might snap without additional bracing support. If your machine is front-loaded with weapons, you’ll need to add ballast to the rear to stop it tipping over. Besiege bears some similarities to Kerbal Space Program, but it’s more immediate and accessible than Squad’s interplanetary epic. Each mission is short and sweet, with most challenges taking between a few minutes and half an hour to complete. Your objectives are always clear, and you don’t have to worry about subsidiary concerns such as funding or resource management. It’s beautifully presented too. The art style brilliantly conveys the miniature-esque structure of the game, presenting each challenge as a little diorama where only the key details are sketched out. Meanwhile, the slapstick humour is enhanced by little animations and sound effects, such as the daft parp of a herald’s horn. While the title implies that you’ll mainly be building catapults, you’ll also need to construct cranes, tanks and even flying machines across the campaign. Sometimes the mission parameters can be overly specific, however. The bounding box that limits your building space can sometimes feel arbitrary, while any mission that requires you to build a flying machine can be frustrating, as they’re difficult to build so they’re functional, but also hard to control in the air. Despite these issues, Besiege offers hours of sandbox fun. Once you’re done with the campaign, the level editor enables you to construct your own challenges, while the multiplayer mode sees players pitting machines against other players in what’s basically pre-industrial Robot Wars. Not bad for a game that costs a smidge over a tenner. RICK LANE

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inc VAT

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Besiege/ £ 11.99

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ROV E

BESIEGE

+ Powerful and

accessible construction tools

+ Substantial and

varied campaign mode

+ Wonderful art style BEWARE

-

Some overly restrictive missions

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Flying machines tough to build and control

/VERDICT Accessible, creative and often hilarious, Besiege smashed through our artery walls and seized our stony hearts.

OVERALL SCORE

85% 67

G A M E S / REVIEWS

Lair of the Clockwork God / £15.49

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DEVELOPER Size Five Games / PUBLISHER Size Five Games

CLOCKWORK GOD

airoftheClockworkGodisagameoftwohalves. There’sBen,adie-hardadventuregameprotagonist + Funny whorefusestodoanythingwithoutfirstlookingatit Clever + andattemptingtotalktoit.There’salsoDan,awannabeindie platformerwhoexploreshisemotionsviathemediumof + Surprisingly touching jumping.Thegamesmartlyreconcilesthesetwodiametrically opposedgaminggenres,whilethrowinginenoughjokesto CLOCKWORK giveahyenahiccups. DOG ClockworkGodseesitstwinprotagonistsBenandDan - Platforming is the lesser of the returningfromajungleexpeditiontofindaflowerthatcures game’s two halves cancer,onlytodiscoverthatLondonhasbeenravagedbyevery singleapocalypsehappeningatonce.Tosavethecityand the planet, they need to activate Earth’s automated defence /VERDICT systems by teaching its AI algorithm how to emote like a human Clockwork God being. This is achieved by entering a series of VR experiences cleverly fuses two designed to amplify specific feelings such as joy, fear and anger. tired genres The premise is strongly influenced by the LucasArts canon, together, resulting and Clockwork God carries it off with amusing aplomb. One in an adventure sequence – Joy – sees Dan gallivanting around a Sonic the to savour. Hedgehog knockoff that’s also a brand tie-in for a local brewery. Meanwhile, Ben ends up stuck in an afterlife for platform game OVERALL SCORE characters (because he refuses to jump), and is stuck in line with a pound-shop Mario and a character whose special ability is absorbing things into his watery body. ‘How did you die?’ Ben asks. ‘Absorbed a sponge,’ replies the character.

87%

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It’sgenuinelyfunnyandwilfullydaft,butthere’sa thick layer ofmechanicalingenuityunderneathittoo.Bothcharacters have entirelyseparatecontrolschemes.Benmovesandinteracts withthegameworldviatraditionalverb-basedadventure gamecontrols(LookAt,TalkToandsoon).Dan,meanwhile, is aregularrun-and-jumpplatformingfellow. Transitioningbetweenthetwoissmoothandseamless, and bothcharactersoftenhavetoworktogethertosolve puzzles. Dan’splatformingupgrades,forexample,havetobe created usingBen’sinventoryitems,whichinturnletDanperform abilitiessuchascarryingBenonhisback.Theonlyreal issue is thatit’sabetteradventuregamethanaplatformer.The latter element is fine, but rather rote, and lacks a little spit and polish on certain platforming sequences. Dan and Ben are also exaggerated versions of the game’s own developers, and the whole experience is about the struggle to maintain relevance in the game industry as you get older. One sequence sees Dan and Ben desperately trying to get into a nightclub, where they then feel enormously uncomfortable, another scene sees an action sequence skid to a halt because Dan has an urgent hospital appointment. It’s these little touches, alongside the humour and clever mechanics, that makes Lair of the Clockwork God more than your average adventure. RICK LANE

3 ISSUES FOR £10

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FREE BOOK custompc.co.uk/freebook „ƚÆŸÏųĜÆåƋŅ‰Ęåa±č{ĜØB±Ïĩ„ޱÏåĵ±č±DŽĜĹåØŅųƚŸƋŅĵ{ţ¥ŅƚčåƋƋĘåĀųŸƋƋĘųååĜŸŸƚåŸüŅųƊŎLjØƋĘåĹŅƚųčųå±Ƌƴ±ĬƚåųŅĬĬĜĹč ŸƚÆŸÏųĜŞƋĜŅűüƋåųƵ±ųÚŸţFĹÏĬƚÚ埱üųååƴŅƚÏĘåųüŅųŅĹåŅüĀƴåü±ĹƋ±ŸƋĜÏÆŅŅĩŸ±Ƌcustompc.co.uk/BookStore ŽUŅĹĬƼţ8ųååÚåĬĜƴåųƼŅĹåƴåųƼƋĘĜĹčţ

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REVIEW

HALFLIFE: ALYX / £46.49 incVAT DEVELOPER Valve / PUBLISHER Valve

eadcrabs have always been the runt of Half-Life’s alien litter. The small and annoying cousin of the facehugger from Alien, Half-Life’s headcrabs might have cost you a few health points when they appeared, but their threat was nothing a welltimed smack from a crowbar couldn’t fix. Yet like so much else about Valve’s venerable shooter series, Half-Life: Alyx transforms the headcrabs. Now, they’re no longer the spindly, almost comical critters you once knew, a pet hat for Doctor Kleiner to show off. They’re 14lb

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of alien flesh leaping at your face. Succeed in dodging one, and it will barrel into whatever is behind you, knocking over crates, chairs and buckets. If it successfully latches on to you, you’ll hear it trying to gnaw at you as you desperately try to tear it from your body. This is a tiny example of how Half-Life is transformed in Alyx. It’s not just ‘Half-Life in VR’, it’s ‘Half-Life made for VR’. Every aspect of it has been designed to maximise VR’s unique qualities, lending unparalleled depth and tactility to the world of City 17. At the same time, Alyx is a true Half-Life game, blending thrilling action with horror and humour through spectacular and inventive set-pieces. Taking place between Half-Life 1 and HalfLife 2, Alyx sees you play a young Alyx Vance five years before she helps Gordon Freeman

to overthrow Earth’s Alien overlords, known as the Combine. In Alyx, the Combine is thoroughly in control, while the rebellion in which Alyx is taking part is only in its nascent stages. The game opens with Alyx stood on a City 17 rooftop, overlooking the city while on recon for the resistance. It’s a dramatic introduction that cleverly demonstrates VR’s ability to represent scale and depth. You get a palpable sense of height and distance, with the game cleverly providing many visual frames of references, such as a pigeon that flutters on the railing beside you while the Citadel tower looms in the foggy distance. It also gives you a proper idea of the capabilities of Valve’s Source 2 engine. Half-Life: Alyx is easily the best-looking VR game ever made, rich in detail and possessing sharp image quality even inside the headset. A brief walk through the city lets you familiarise yourself with the game’s base controls before the game gets serious. Alyx’s father, Eli, is arrested by the Combine’s police force and is taken by train through the city’s Quarantine Zone. Aided by another resistance member named Russell, Alyx devises a plan to intercept the train and get her father back. We won’t discuss much more about the story. However, it’s important to know that, despite being a prequel to Half-Life 2, Alyx’s tale has substantial implications for the Half-Life story as we know it, and radically expands the possibilities of any future Half-Life games that come out. It’s also excellently told, with a sharp

script that manages to blend humour and drama in classic Valve style. The base mechanics of Alyx will be familiar to experienced VR players, from guns that need to be aimed and reloaded by hand, to a pair of devices called Gravity Gloves, which let you pick up objects from a distance. However, all the weapons have been given a typical Valve twist. The Gravity Gloves, for example, require you to flick your hand to spring targeted objects into the air, then manually catch them with your controller’s grip buttons. It adds a layer of dexterity to picking up objects that, once understood, becomes supremely satisfying. Yet what makes Alyx special isn’t its polish or any specific idea, although these elements help. It’s in how the Half-Life universe interrelates with VR. A good example are the Barnacles, giant alien molluscs that dangle from the ceiling and use their long tongues to

pull up food into their giant, toothy mouths. In VR, you can now hand-feed them objects to get those tongues out of the way, from discarded water bottles to grenades. Speaking of grenades, you can use the Gravity Gloves to catch enemy ordnance out of the air, then toss it back before it explodes. Valve also carefully applies VR-specific details to much of Half-Life’s environment design. One level sees you explore an abandoned hotel infested by xenobiology. Much of that alien flora or fauna will react to your touch, from glowing tendrils that retreat from your reach, to strange, bottle-shaped plants that reward you with an alien grenade when you tickle their bellies. Alyx also shows us the intimate workings of Combine technology. Many terminals have to be hacked by manipulating simple yet stunning holographic puzzles, while we see how HalfLife’s iconic health machine runs on the juiced bodies of alien grubs. As VR brings life to Half-Life, Half-Life brings a level of structure, style and narrative depth that VR has lacked for a long time. Each chapter takes place in a distinctive location, and introduces new mechanics, weapons or ideas. The early chapters offer a kind of low-key survival horror, with you exploring sewers and subways prowled by zombies and headcrabs.

Later chapters are more action-centric, with you battling Combine soldiers through industrial districts and antlions rampaging through a deserted zoo. One of the best chapters is simply titled ‘Jeff’, and sees you playing a hugely tense game of cat and mouse against a monster inside a vodka distillery. Here, all the game’s best qualities shine, from scripting and level design to clever use of VR. There’s little question that Alyx is a superb game, but it isn’t perfect. Those hacking puzzles we mentioned showcase VR brilliantly, but they’re overused in the middle of the game and begin to feel arbitrarily obstructive. Meanwhile, some of the Combine enemies are both heavily armoured and carry powerful weapons, which means they can easily pin you down, adding an unwelcome element of frustration to combat. Lastly, while you can use objects in the environment to defend yourself to a limited degree, don’t expect to be whacking headcrabs with hammers or anything. Alyx is very much focused on being a shooter, and melee combat features surprisingly little. Nonetheless, Alyx is a hugely welcome return to game development form for Valve. It’s a proper Half-Life game that offers a whole new perspective on the franchise, both mechanically and narratively. Please don’t make us wait 16 yearsforthenextone,Valve.

HALFLIFE

NO LIFE

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Incredible VR experience

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Some enemies frustrating to fight

+ +

Stunning visuals

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Too many hacking puzzles

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Mostly great combat

Dramatic, well-told story

VERDICT A spectacular VR experience, Half-Life: Alyx redefines the classic shooter series in a whole bunch of ways.

OVERALL SCORE

93% 71

F E AT U R E / CUSTOMISATION

THE ULTIMATE

ANTONY LEATHER INVESTIGATES THE DARK ART OF OVERCLOCKING AND SHOWS YOU HOW TO DO IT

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he modern PC enthusiast scene has always had overclocking at its heart. In fact, overclocking has been around as long or even longer than people have been modding and otherwise upgrading their PCs. A small tweak to a system bus, sometimes even by using jumpers, has progressed into a multifaceted industry of cooling, motherboards, thermal paste and delidding tools that are all designed to make overclocking your CPU easier, safer and more commonplace.

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This is why we at Custom PC love it. Sure, we like our PCs to be cool and quiet, but most of us learned our trade off the back of overclocking and will always look to eke out that extra bit of performance where we can. It’s why we love watercooled PCs too. The extra cooling capacity can allow for the fastest-running, quietest machine possible, all while looking great as well. Overclocking can appear to be a minefield to newcomers, though, with

very different approaches not just between different CPU sockets, but even between CPUs in the same range. It also depends on what you want to get out of it and whether you’re looking to boost gaming or content creation performance or hoping to smash some world records in benchmarks. This month we’ll be delving into all aspects of CPU overclocking, including the theory behind it, as well as the practical steps to do it yourself, with some advice from world record overclocker, Ian ‘8Pack’ Parry.

easy target for overclocking the Intel Core i7-8700K, yet the CPU was only rated to reach 4.7GHz at stock speed and even less than that in all-core boost. However, we’re now seeing 9th-gen and 10th-gen CPUs with stock boost frequencies of over 5GHz. What this means is that there’s often a lot of headroom in a CPU’s frequency anyway. Moreover, if a CPU has been sold as a cheaper model, it will be downclocked even more (to provide clearer product differentiation) yet there’s a good chance it’s still perfectly able to reach the same peak frequencies. In short, cheaper CPUs can often be overclocked so that they perform similarly to more expensive ones, which is one of the great things about overclocking

WHAT IS OVERCLOCKING AND HOW IS IT POSSIBLE? verclocking is possible thanks to two separate factors. Firstly, the way PCs work necessitates that the CPU is essentially controlled by your motherboard. In other words, various multipliers and system bus frequencies, as well as features included within the CPU itself such as Turbo Boost, directly impact your CPUs frequency. Normally, you don’t need to worry about any of this if your PC is operating at stock speed, but if you so desire – and if your particular CPU allows – it’s possible to tweak these settings to increase performance. It’s very similar to tuning your car. By adjusting settings in the engine management system software, it’s possible to boost horsepower and torque. Of course, if your car’s engine isn’t able to handle the extra load or is operating close to its limits, then you could be drastically shortening its lifespan or even end up destroying it immediately. Thankfully, most engines are dialled back for everyday use and so have plenty of headroom, limiting the chances of a failure, and some are even repurposed from a higher-performing model that’s capable of a great deal more power. This brings us to our second point about why overclocking is possible. When CPUs are made, unlike our car engine example, they’re not created equal. Microscopic imperfections that are introduced

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in the semiconductor fabrication facility (fab) when they’re made, mean some CPU dies will either fail to work fully or even at all. In fact, Intel recently told us that they’ve only had one wafer in decades where all the dies ended up in sellable CPUs. The margins for error are so fine with ever smaller manufacturing processes that even miniscule errors can have big impacts. The classic example of this is that an error has made one core of a CPU unusable but the rest work, so the CPU can just be repackaged as a model with fewer cores. Other errors will mean that some chips require higher voltages than others to reach certain frequencies, so they may be downclocked and sold as a slower chip. The ones that make it through unscathed can, of course, be sold as fully enabled top-end models. Take, for example, Intel manufacturing the Core i9-9900K. If the chip has an error, Intel doesn’t just chuck these CPUs in the bin but can repurpose them as cheaper models. If HyperThreading requires too much voltage then it could enter life as a Core i7-9700K. If one or two cores are highly inefficient, it could become a Core i5-9600K. There’s also the fact that CPU designers will create an architecture that can scale much higher in terms of frequencies than is offered at launch. For example, 5GHz was usually an

DOES OVERCLOCKING REALLY GIVE YOU MORE PERFORMANCE FOR FREE? Overclocking your CPU can and will give you more performance. Some CPUs will offer both lightly and heavily multi-threaded performance boosts once overclocked, while others may only offer benefits in the latter if they’re not able to push their single-core boost frequency much higher. Games can also benefit and in our recent CPU Labs test, everything from Intel’s LGA2066 CPUs to AMD’s 3rd-gen Ryzen CPUs saw increases in frame rates once overclocked. However, whether you’d call overclocking a free way to get more performance is debatable.

THE CPU CAN JUST BE REPACKAGED AS A MODEL WITH FEWER CORES

Good-quality cooling is generally required for overclocking, and it can get expensive

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WHAT COOLING DO YOU NEED?

All of AMD and Intel’s ranges of CPUs can be overclocked, but not all within those ranges

It’s almost always the case that an overclocked PC will draw more power, so even though the cost of the PC might be the same, it will be costing more in terms of your electricity bill. It’s also unlikely you’ll be able to use a stock cooler when overclocking and even some low-end aftermarket air coolers might not be up to the task. Most HEDT CPUs with high core counts will require either AIO liquid coolers or custom liquid cooling to cope with overclocking. All told, it’s likely that you’ll need to spend more money when you’re overclocking, either to buy a better cooler or simply on your electricity bill, although the latter is unlikely to be much more than £10 extra a year.

CAN YOU OVERCLOCK ANY CPU? When it comes to meaningful overclocking, the answer is no. AMD has kindly offered overclocking support on all of its Ryzen and Threadripper CPUs and APUs, although you’ll need a B-series or X-series chipset to do so. Intel, on the other hand, has its main overclocking enthusiast CPUs scattered all over its two desktop platforms. All of its X-series HEDT CPUs can be overclocked, but on its mainstream platform, you’ll need to look out for K-series models such as the Core i9-9900K or Core i7-8700K. The most fruitful way to overclock any CPU is using its multiplier, and outside of Intel’s K-series CPUs, all its other mainstream desktop CPUs are multiplier-locked, which is a shame. Large all-in-one coolers such as this NZXT Kraken are great for cooling most overclocked CPUs

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This will vary hugely from CPU to CPU when it comes to overclocking. As we mentioned earlier, with HEDT CPUs such as AMD’s Threadripper and Intel’s Core X-series, their high core counts and the fact that Intel’s h C CPUs are still using a 14nm manufacturing p process, means that while a decent air cooler ccan handle them at stock speed, as soon as y you start overclocking, they generate a huge amount of heat. Water cooling with large radiators is recommended here – air cooling simply will not cut it. For mainstream CPUs, things are much more varied, but at the very least we’d suggest not using the stock cooler your CPU came with. Most Intel K-series CPUs lack these anyway, but AMD’s included coolers are only designed to handle things at stock speed. You might be able to apply a small overclock, especially with

AS YOU’RE APPLYING A FIXED VOLTAGE AND FREQUENCY, THIS CAN LEAD TO HIGHER POWER CONSUMPTION CPUs such as the Ryzen 5 3600, which only has a TDP of 65W, but even a modest cooler upgrade here will offer far more overclocking headroom and much less noise too. Large air coolers or AIO liquid coolers will pay dividends as you move to processors with eight cores and above, and while many mid-range air coolers and 120mm AIO liquid coolers will get the job done, you’ll see much lower noise levels from more capable coolers, even at this end of the scale.

DIFFERENT WAYS TO OVERCLOCK YOUR CPU here were already several ways to overclock CPUs before AMD introduced its newly competitive Zen architecture in 2017, but its arrival brought with it a couple more considerations. Namely, whether to go the manual or automated route.

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MANUAL OVERCLOCKING Both AMD and Intel CPUs can be overclocked manually. This refers to the simplest way of overclocking them, which is to apply a set voltage and increase the CPU’s multiplier so it runs at a specific frequency. There’s nothing wrong with doing this and, as long as you try to reduce the voltage as much as possible rather than entering a single large voltage and leaving it at that, it’s all you need to do to get more performance out of your PC. There are some downsides to manual overclocking though. As you’re applying a fixed voltage and frequency, this can lead to higher power consumption and operating temperatures. You can avoid this with Intel systems to some extent by making sure SpeedStep is enabled, which allows your CPU to lower its frequency and current draw at idle. Overclocking individual cores can also help to lower temperatures and power consumption. For example, in multi-threaded workloads,

may be able to keep up, internally the CPU might not. There can also be voltage leakage and eventually, combined with the heat, your CPU will start to scale poorly with more voltage and eventually you won’t be able to push it any further.

THE EFI

you can set only a small numbers of cores to reach the maximum overclock. Another drawback of manual overclocking particularly affects AMD CPUs. Unlike Intel, AMD runs its CPUs fairly close to their limits at stock speed, and as a result they often don’t overclock very far. Many even fail to hit all-core overclocks that are the same frequency as their stock speed single-core boost frequencies, which can result in a drop in single-core performance. Add in the fact that, like Intel CPUs, AMD’s frequency boosting technologies are disabled when you overclock and you end up with a much more power-hungry CPU for potentially a drop in single-core performance, although multi-core performance generally sees a decent boost. This problem with poorer single or lightly threaded workloads gets worse the higher up the stack you go. The relatively lowly 6-core Ryzen 5 3600 has a stock boost frequency of 4.2GHz but can just about be pushed to overclock all cores to 4.3GHz. Meanwhile, the monstrous 16-core Ryzen 9 3950X has a single-core boost frequency of 4.7GHz, but 4.4GHz is usually the limit for an all-core manual overclock, meaning you lose out on 300MHz. It’s still worth overclocking here if you need maximum multi-threaded performance, though, as most AMD CPUs can reach all-core overclock frequencies far higher than all cores would reach at stock speed. A lot depends on your preferences.

WHY INCREASING VOLTAGE CAN MAKE AN OVERCLOCK MORE STABLE Popular misconceptions are that your CPU might suck more voltage as you increase its frequency like a car might with fuel if you tune its engine. However, this isn’t what’s happening. Transistors in your CPU have a certain state switching speed and increasing the CPU frequency reduces the time it takes for this transition to happen. This wouldn’t be a problem, except the transistors are also responding to voltage changes, which correspond to the ones and zeros of binary language. A high voltage indicates a one and a low voltage a zero. In order to recognise a one, the voltage has to ramp up sufficiently to land within a set voltage range. However, if you overclock your CPU’s frequency, the voltage may not be able to climb quickly enough to reach that high voltage range to represent a one and instead is interpreted as a zero. This will cause an error and is one reason your PC will become unstable when overclocked. By increasing the CPU voltage or vcore, you can help increase the rate at which the switching voltage ramps up, allowing it to respond in time to keep up with the clock frequency. There are limits to how far you can push this though. The first limitation is that increasing the vcore increases the power being pumped into the CPU, resulting in more waste heat, and even though your cooling system

Some of you reading this may remember the traditional BIOS – a blue screen with white or yellow text, where you may have spent hours tweaking settings using keyboard navigation only. This was replaced over a decade ago by the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface, known to enthusiasts as the EFI. This allowed larger hard disks to be used, but also provided a much more user-friendly interface for overclocking and even offered slick, graphical interfaces for controlling fan speeds. In this article, the EFI is your one-stop-shop for overclocking and it’s where you’ll find all the necessary tools for setting frequencies and voltages. To get into your motherboard’s EFI, you need to tap the ‘Del’ key on your keyboard as soon as you see a display on your screen. This will bring up your EFI’s front page and from here you can find the necessary sections to locate the overclocking settings. It’s worth pointing out that plenty of people still refer to the EFI as the BIOS, and even motherboard manufacturers will still offer ‘BIOS’ updates. They’re one and the same thing.

RYZEN MASTER AMD’s Ryzen Master software can’t be used for a 24/7 overclock and it can be a bit of resource hog, but it’s still a useful tool for applying and testing an overclock from the comfort of the desktop, before applying in the EFI for something more permanent. We’ll be using it here to gauge our Ryzen 5 3600 overclock settings and you can download it from amd.com

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MANUAL OVERCLOCK VS PRECISION BOOST OVERDRIVE As we’ve already mentioned, there are two ways to overclock AMD Zen 2-based CPUs. The first is using a manual overclock, where you increase the frequency of all cores at once as well as applying a fixed CPU voltage, also known as vcore. In general, this can give you better multi-threaded performance. The other is to use Precision Boost Overdrive (PBO) in unison with Automatic overclocking. Combined, they allow higher power delivered to the CPU and increased single and allcore boost frequencies, but are highly dependent on your motherboard and cooling and often don’t yield significant benefits. However, they do allow the CPU’s Precision Boost to continue operating, so your CPU will continue to boost to its rated frequencies – especially important for CPUs with boost frequencies above 4.4GHz. This won’t happen with a manual overclock where clock boosting is disabled and your CPU’s cores will only boost to your all-core overclock frequency, which can mean a reduction in lightly threaded performance. This sounds as if PBO is the obvious choice, but it’s not that straightforward. The higher

up AMD’s stack you go, the higher the boost frequencies, so the more you stand to lose from a manual overclock. The Ryzen 5 3600, for example, can reach 4.2GHz on a single core at stock speed and we observed an allcore boost of just below 4GHz. Most 3rd-gen Ryzen CPUs can hit 4.2-4.4GHz on an allcore manual overclock and with our Ryzen 5 3600 at least, manual overclocking gave us a frequency of 4.25GHz. This is a little more than

YOU’LL NEED YOUR CPU TO SIT BELOW 75°C FOR AMD RYZEN AND THREADRIPPER CPUS, AND INTEL HEDT CPUS 250MHz higher than the stock all-core boost and 50MHz higher than the peak single-core boost too, so you’re gaining ground on both, especially in multi-threaded tasks. How does this compare with PBO and Automatic Overclocking though? Well, we maxed out all these settings including adding a 200MHz offset to automatic overclocking and saw a peak boost of 4.225GHz with he Ryzen 5 3600, but the all-core boost didn’t rise much above 4GHz, despite us using a powerful

240mm AIO liquid cooler and increasing the various limits available. The single-core score in Cinebench rose from 467 to 476 but only 50 points was added to the multi-threaded score of 3,450. Manual overclocking, on the other hand, saw that score rise to 3,756 and the single score rose further from 476 to 492, so here, a manual overclock is by far the better option. Each motherboard and CPU is different, though, as will be your own cooling setup so we can’t offer any blanket statements with AMD overclocking. The Threadripper 3960X saw its allcore boost increase by up to 100MHz with PBO while maintaining its 4.5GHz single-core boost, but a manual overclock saw us lose 150MHz of single-core boost, but add 250MHz to the all-core boost. Here, both overclocking methods have their benefits. The Ryzen 9 3950X has a peak boost frequency of 4.7GHz. However, we could only hit 4.35GHz when manually overclocking, meaning you’ll lose a hefty 350MHz of singlecore boost, which could impact lightly threaded applications. On the flip side, the CPU could only hit 3.9GHz all-core boost, so we added 450MHz to that, which saw the Cinebench multi-threaded score rise from 9,188 to 10,184.

HOW TO OVERCLOCK YOUR CPU STEPS FOR ALL OVERCLOCKERS

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APPLY XMP PROFILE

There are several things you need to check inthe EFI toensure therest of your system is running optimally, andcanrampupfansand pumps to deal with the extra heat. Start by applying the XMP profile in the overclocking section. This will set the correct memory speed, timings and voltage, which is especially important for AMD systems.

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SET FAN SPEED CONTROL

Allowyourcoolertoramp up its fans to deal with the heat. In your EFI’sfan controlsection,ensure your cooler’s fans can hit full speed before it reaches your preferred maximum CPU temperature. If you’re using a pump, it will also need to be able to ramp up to full speed well in advance of your CPU getting toasty.

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TORTURE TEST

You need to check your current cooling has enough headroom, sofireup Prime95, select the smallest FFTs torture test, disable all AVX options at the bottomandclick run.This worst-case scenariowill load all cores and threads simultaneously,andgenerate alot of heat.Gameswon’t create this much load,butit’simportanttocheckforextremecasestoo. After ten minutes, you’ll needyourCPUtosit below75°CforAMDRyzen and ThreadripperCPUs,and Intel HEDT CPUswhile Intel’s mainstream CPUs can be pushed to80°C.Ifyou’rehittingtemperatureshigher than that, you need to improving your cooling. Once you’re done overclocking, it’s important to use your usualprogramsin addition to Prime95 to stabilitytest your PC.

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WATCH OUT FOR VDROOP

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STABILITY ISSUES AND BSODS ARE PERFECTLY NORMAL

When your CPU is under load and overclocked, the vcore can fall onsome motherboards. This is perfectly normal, but it can cause instability. You might enter 1.35V, but if you look in CPU-Z, this can fall significantly, which could be enough to crash your system. This is known as vdroop, but you can counteract it with loadline calibration. This applies a slightly higher voltage when the CPU is under load to prevent it from falling too far. Applying a loadline of three or four should be enough to solve issues with the kind of overclocks we’re dealing with here.

BEWARE OF DIMINISHING RETURNS

It’s usuallythe case thatyou’ll needtoramp upthe vcorealmost exponentially to achievehigheroverclocks andeventually theincreases you’ll have to makewon’t be worth the addedheat.Thisworks bothways, though, so once you’vefoundyourmaximumstableoverclock,trydropping the frequency backa bit more and seeing what the lowest stable vcore is. Your ultimate goal isto getyourCPUrunningas cool as possible, soif you can shave 5°C off the loadtemperature by dropping 25MHzandlowering the vcore, then it’sdefinitely worthit.

TOOLS YOU’LL NEED Prime95 (mersenne.org) UsedtoloadyourCPUforheatandstabilitytesting CPU-Z (cpuid.com) Usedto seea realtimereadout ofyourCPU frequency Ryzen Master - AMD CPUs (amd.com) UsedtomonitorAMDCPUfrequency and temperature Core Temp - Intel CPUs (alcpu.com) Used to monitor Intel CPU temperature

When you’re finding the limits with overclocking, your PC will respond by throwing various indicators that you’ve pushed things too far or not applied enough vcore. Your PC may reboot, you might see a blue screen or two, or Windows may freeze, but it’s important to realise that this is perfectly normal when overclocking and is an important part of the process. You’re not damaging your hardware, but simply asking too much of it, so you’ll need to either apply more voltage or rein in your frequency.

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HOW TO OVERCLOCK AMD 3RDGEN RYZEN AND THREADRIPPER CPUS To apply a manual overclock, in Ryzen Master select either profile one or profile two, then click the manual tab at the top. Locate the small box next to the core frequencies that synchronises all core overclock frequencies. That will mean you just need to enter your frequency in one box instead of for every core. Locate the voltage control box and enter 1.4V for Ryzen CPUs and 1.35V for Threadripper CPUs. This should allow most AMD CPUs to reach their limits, but ideally you want a 24/7 vcore of less than 1.35V with AMD’s 7nm CPUs, so consider this a starting point. Now enter 4.1GHz into the CPU frequency boxes. Every 3rd-gen AMD CPU we’ve tested has managed at least 150MHz higher than this, so it’s a good starting point. Click apply and if Ryzen Master needs to restart, allow it to do this and it will open automatically when your system boots. Having applied your overclock, it’s now time to test your CPU temperatures, so fire up Prime95 again and Ryzen Master again. You’ll want things to see temperatures Overclocking can be done either through Ryzen Master software or the EFI

stay below 85°C after ten minutes of torture testing. Now, increase the CPU frequency in 25MHz jumps until you hit stability issues or the temperature tops 85°C. When that happens, back off the CPU frequency by 50MHz. Now you should try reducing the voltage as much as possible, as this can result in huge drops in temperature. We eventually settled on 4.25GHz with our Ryzen 5 3600, as this allowed us to drop the vcore to just 1.35V while the CPU temperature stayed below 75°C. We hit 4.35GHz with the Threadripper 3960X using a vcore of 1.325V. Once you’re happy with your overclock settings, you can enter them into the EFI, so they’re applied whenever you power on your PC. Here you either enter the frequency you want or the multiplier – for example, 42.5 for our Ryzen 5 3600 to hit 4250MHz. You’ll also need to enter the vcore or CPU voltage you’ve found to be stable too. If you want to see how your CPU benefits from PBO then this can be done either from Ryzen Master or the EFI. In the EFI, you’ll need to find the AMD overclocking section, which is sometimes not located in themain overclocking

The CPU ratio can be applied in small increments to provide 50MHz frequency increases

section, but in the advanced section. Select the advanced mode then enter a scalar of x10, enter 200MHz into the frequency override (this is the Automatic Overclocking option) and then under the PBO limits, you can either set this to motherboard or enter your own limits. Ryzen Master offers its own limits too, so you can try these here as well.

HOW TO OVERCLOCK INTEL’S LGA115X CPUS Once you’ve applied the XMP profile for your memory and checked your cooling provides enough headroom, before applying any further settings, it’s worth checking what all-core boost your CPU has at stock speed. Stress-test your CPU and observe the stable frequency it reaches using the task manager or CPU-Z. Once you’ve checked your base reference speed, head to the EFI or you can try your motherboard’s overclocking software to apply overclocking settings from the desktop. The Core i9-9900K reaches 4.7GHz at default clock speeds and most samples can reach

IT DOESN’T JUST STOP AT CPUS You can overclock your memory and graphics card’s core and memory too. Most memory kits can have an extra 133MHz added to their stock frequency without much effort. There are plenty of guides out there on how to overclock your graphics card too and it can have a sizeable impact on game performance.

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Increasing the power limits can help achieve better overclocking on Intel chips

5GHz when overclocked, so 4.8GHz is a good starting frequency to aim for. Enter a CPU Ratio multiplier of x48 and a Ring Ratio of x45. You should be able to use a vcore of 1.3V to achieve the above overclock, and this should result in temperatures that are within the range of most decent air coolers and liquid coolers. To test this, head back to windows and use Prime95, CoreTemp and CPU-Z to monitor your progress. So long as the temperature remains below 85°C after ten minutes, you can increase the CPU multiplier in 100MHz steps. Once you hit the limit on the CPU and your PC becomes unstable, reduce the frequency by 100MHz and then start to reduce the vcore in 0.01V steps, testing in Prime95 for ten minutes each time. If progress isn’t going so well, one thing to try is increasing the power limits in the EFI. These provide a safety net for how much power the CPU can draw, but they can hinder overclocking and it’s fine to max out these as shown. With all our tweaks made, we eventually settled on 1.25V at 5GHz, which saw a peak CPU temperature of 83°C under load.

Once you’ve checked your baseline performance, temps and frequencies, you can jump right into the EFI and get overclocking. To start with, set a CPU multiplier of x41 to give a CPU frequency of 4100MHz and enter a ring ratio multiplier of 30. This is a good starting point and should be within range of large air coolers and liquid cooling. As with the LGA115x chips, you’ll need to increase the power limits too in order to unleash the full potential of your CPU. Feel free to max out these as shown, but note they’re often hidden away in the depths of menus such as CPU features. You need far less vcore than with Intel mainstream CPUs to reach your maximum overclock and heat will quickly become your enemy. It’s likely you won’t need more than 1.2V to get there, so start here and work backwards. Now head back to Windows and test these settings. While we’re not using any AVX workloads to stress-test, if you’ll be encountering them, you’ll need to make sure there are suitable offsets in place to reduce CPU frequency in the EFI. AVX workloads add a huge amount

of heat to the CPU and most EFI’s are already geared up to reduce CPU frequency, but you may want to fine-tune them to your own cooling system. Once you reach the maximum stable CPU frequency at 1.2V, you should begin to rein in the voltage in 0.01V intervals. We settled on 1.15V and 4.5GHz with our Core i9-9980XE, which kept CPU temperatures under load below 85°C.

OTHER WAYS TO OVERCLOCK INTEL CPUS Intel has more granularity when it comes to overclocking and there are several alternative but slightly more complicated ways you might consider for overclocking your CPU. Per-core overclocking allows you to overclock individual cores. This can allow you to get the most out of your CPU, as some cores will overclock further than others. On LGA2066 systems, the best-overclocking cores are usually identified in the EFI too. Intel CPUs also benefit from Adaptive and offset overclocking modes. These allow you to set peak voltages for your CPU to reach depending on the load, which can mean your system consumes less power and runs cooler, especially at low to medium loads. However, they can be fiddly to get right and can apply too much or too little voltage in certain workloads, which is why for this guide we’ve focused on manual overclocks.

HOW TO OVERCLOCK INTEL’S LGA2066 CPUS LGA2066 CPUs can vary wildy when it comes to overclocking and part of the reason for this is that from the 9000-series onwards, Intel reintroduced soldered heatspreaders. As a result, these CPUs ran a bit cooler under load than previous generations, and both 9000-series and 10,000-series CPUs can usually hit all-core frequencies well over 4GHz. However, overclocking them still needs some potent cooling.

Applying per-core overclocking can be the best way to boost Intel CPU performance

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AN INTERVIEW WITH OVERCLOCKING CHAMPION 8PACK ome of us are lucky enough to overclock various systems on a regular basis, but we chatted to someone who does it on a daily basis and in extreme ways too. Ian Parry, better known as 8Pack, is one of the world’s best overclockers and currently builds crazy PCs for Overclockers UK. We caught up with him to get his top tips on other settings you can tweak and opinions on all things overclocking.

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So Ian, what would be your top tips for the various CPU sockets around at the moment when it comes to overclocking? I’d start by setting the XMP profile on the memory in the EFI. Then I’d make sure the board is setting correct voltages and timings for the memory too. I’d also set a degree of loadline calibration, so the voltage doesn’t droop under load and cause instability. On Intel CPUs, I’d max out the CPU and memory current limits, as these can hinder even modest overclocks on some boards. In addition, I’d also max out the power limits. From there, it can often be a case of lowering some voltages to rein in temperatures. On all Intel CPUs I save degrees of heat by tuning down SA and IO voltages. With LGA115x, you can also lower the memory voltage quite a bit, usually to around 1.15-1.25V, especially with 3200MHz kits. Just this change can result in between 5-10°C temperature savings. On LGA115x, I also tune the cache to gain further efficiency. All processors can do a x45 cache ratio, so start at that. Increasing the cache ratio by two or three points is the same as 100MHz on the CPU, so it’s worth doing. For gaming-only systems, I would disable Hyper-Threading too. You can easily save up to 10°C under load and gain an extra 100MHz. If you have a 6-core or 8-core CPU then HyperThreading is probably not even helping in games and can actually result in slower frame rates in some. On LGA115x, you should apply a -3 ratio for AVX workloads. They generate a lot more heat, so you need to make sure your overclock is stable if you deal with them. On LGA2066, you can lower temperatures again by tuning SA, IO and cache voltages. Once you find these in the EFI, and once you have a stable overclock, try to reduce them below their stock settings. For example, 0.92V on the cache voltage still allows for a x28 ratio. On

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Ian ‘8pack’Parry is a professional overclocker and system builder for Overclockers UK

Asus, which is my motherboard of choice on LGA2066, I boot with 1.1V SA and IO but tune the IO down to 0.92V. Doing these small tweaks saves 8-10°C, and don’t forget to apply an AVX offset of minus three or four and even 11 or 12 with AVX512 to reduce its frequency a lot for these workloads. This is even a tweak we do this with customer systems. What about AMD CPUs? On Socket AM4, you need to benchmark and overclock in your specific programs to see if it helps. I’ve found that overclocking rarely helps in lightly threaded applications as the single core boosts are high on AMD CPUs, so you’re usually better off using Precision Boost. However, in multi-threaded applications, you can easily gain 20 per cent performance using a manual overclock. It’s worth looking at the voltages Precision Boost is using too. I find that a manual overclock can lower heat and power consumption in multi-threaded workloads. On Socket AM4, I’ll use around 1.35v maximum, which is often less than PBO, so that can save heat and temperatures under load. On Socket TRX4 and Socket AM4, you can usually save temperatures by tuning SOC voltages and again lowering memory voltages. What about memory overclocking and frequencies? With LGA115x, there’s very little difference above 3200MHz in real-world benchmarks, so adding more heat by increasing voltages isn’t a good idea. In fact, it’s worth lowering the DDR voltage as much as possible. Many 3600MHz kits can

run at much lower voltages anyway. In any event, I’d start by getting the most out of the CPU core. Then I’d tune the cache or Infinity Fabric, and the last thing would be memory. It’s always a balancing act between different types of load, so you need to work out what your priorities are first. That’s how we tune systems for customers. With AMD, 3600MHz, memory is usually the best option, as most CPUs will do this linked with Infinity Fabric. Occasionally I might reduce the ratio to get a higher CPU frequency, but you lose efficiency. Also with AMD, the main things I tweak are loadline calibration to prevent droop on both core and SOC. Also max out the power and current limits where possible, but pushing memory higher using the dividers doesn’t really aid 24/7 or extreme overclocking. In your experience, does spending more on cooling on a home setup scale at all with overclocks? For instance, going from midrange air to high-end air to high-end AIO then DIY liquid cooling? It depends on other limiting factors really. Right now, with soldered heatspreaders, you can get 100-125MHz extra with good water cooling compared with air and of course, it results in a much quieter PC too. The thermal paste Intel used for a while was definitely a limiting factor. With AMD mainstream CPUs, though, not so much. A lot depends on workloads too. If you need good AVX512 performance then on LGA2066, there’s not a chance you can do that with air cooling. This is why the best stability test for anyone’s overclock is an actual workload.

So is there any other software you recommend for stability testing other than actual workloads? At Overclockers UK we use Prime95 with 26.6, 28 and latest version selectable. We also use HCI Memtest, Y- Cruncher, Real Bench, Cinebench, Unigine Heaven, and Valley and Octane. Then rebooter which checks the systems can reboot fine.

what is said is just marketing, but as long as it does a good job and performs well, that’s all I care about. I really wouldn’t get too hung up about that stuff. There are too many other factors and besides, the Asus ROG Zenith II Extreme – it had crazy power delivery, like 92A VRMs – but the ASRock TRX40 Taichi, with much lower specifications, could overclock further.

Have you noticed much difference between board manufacturers when it comes 24/7 overclocks, and how much do a motherboard’s power circuitry and cooling have an impact? Gigabyte boards I find inefficient clock-forclock and not great on memory across almost all of them. MSI doesn’t handle memory particularly well, at least not as well as Asus or ASRock. The VRMs matter a lot with these higher-core count CPUs. Anything above six cores on Intel and eight cores on AMD will likely overclock better on a motherboard with decent power delivery and cooling, and for extreme overclocking it’s essential. I have also noticed that boards with poor VRMs have hotter CPU loads with extended stress testing. I think this is caused by heat soak from the VRMs into the socket. So ASRock and Asus usually get my vote but it depends on the CPU socket. Asus isn’t great on TRX40, whereas ASRock offers some great and more affordable boards there.

How beneficial is using offset/adaptive voltages instead of a fixed voltage or manual overclock for a 24/7 overclock? I always use manual. I’m not into saving a few watts of power and I really don’t get why people get hung up about it. I leave Speedstep and sleep states on, so no more current is being drawn even at full voltage. Offset I don’t particularly like because of its lack of stability, and with certain loads, it doesn’t apply enough, or others too much. I find manual overclocking with a good loadline calibration curve is best. Some people argue that you can extend your CPU’s lifespan by doing offset voltage, but if temperatures, cooling and voltage are safe then I really don’t see this as in issue. We have systems running here with a high manual overclock from seven years back. They’re still running fine and Intel also agreed with me on this.

What are your thoughts on board manufacturers using doublers when it comes to VRMs? Who cares about this if it works well? A lot of

8pack creates extreme PCs such as this £32K OrionX2 that has two PCs in one case

We’ve seen some good results from delidding non-soldered CPUs. Would you recommend delidding to anyone that’s confident enough to do it? I would recommend delidding yes, but only if you’re competent or confident you have the correct technique and tools. Otherwise you can buy pre-tested and delidded CPUs direct from OcUK with a one year warranty. When it comes to overclocking software, do you recommend things like Intel performance maximiser for someone who is maybe not confident or doesn’t have the time to do a manual overclock? Yeah sure, this is a very safe way to gain a decent all-cores overclock, although you still need to set the XMP profile and ideally I would bump the cache

ratio a couple of notches in the BIOS too, as it doesn’t alter that. Can you share any tips on EFIs? The best tip I can give here is that updating your BIOS will not result in identical performance or stability with overclocks. A lot of things can change, so your settings might be stable on one BIOS version but not on another. Loadline calibration can be altered, different voltages for IO and SA are applied, so if you change your BIOS version, you’ll likely need to redo the entire overclock and stability testing. If someone wants to get into overclocking – entering results and competing online – where should they turn? Can this be done with water cooling or do you need something more exotic? I’d highly recommend looking at HWbot. org. You can compete in a very large range of benchmarks, which gain you points for the leagues. They have the benchmarks categorised into CPU, GPU and memory as well as less obvious ones. Overclockers can be competitive on any type of cooling and they most definitely don’t need sub-zero cooling to do well. HWbot has a classification system with the Enthusiast and Apprentice leagues that use ambient cooling and no vendor sponsorships. This allows people to progress through the ranks fairly. The top two leagues Elite and Extreme are no holds barred but I suggest anyone wanting to compete in OC should get a grasp of everything and build up knowledge in the lower leagues first. Do you have a favourite platform/socket for overclocking / which one would you suggest to someone buying new if they wanted to get into overclocking? The really fun, rewarding benchmarks that also teach you most about tweaking and efficiency are best on Intel’s Z-series platforms, so currently Z390. You get the biggest overclocks, get to tweak lots of settings, and deal with great improvements in CPU and game benchmarks plus it costs a lot less than HEDT platforms too. If someone wanted to learn and ask questions, are there any specific forums/Facebook groups you’d suggest they sign up to? The forums at overclockers.co.uk are a good option, particularly if you live in the UK. Hwbot also has a forum and you can also check out Gamers Nexus or Der8auer on YouTube.

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BEN HARDWIDGE TALKS TO PROFESSOR GREG BOWMAN, DIRECTOR OF FOLDINGHOME, ABOUT THE PROJECT’S COVID19 RESEARCH, AND HOW YOU CAN GET INVOLVED he first machine to break the exaflop barrier (that’s one quintillion floating-point operations per second) wasn’t a huge dedicated supercomputer built by a large corporation such as IBM, but a bunch of interconnected of PCs with ordinary CPUs and gaming GPUs. Welcome to the Folding@home project, which is currently undergoing a massive boom in popularity after it started targeting COVID-19 research. It’s effectively the world’s fastest supercomputer, and your PC can be a part of it. ‘It’s estimated that we have more aggregate compute power than the next top 100 supercomputers combined,’ says Dr Greg Bowman, Director of Folding@home and Associate Professor at Washington University School of Medicine. ‘Before the COVID-19 work, we had about 30,000 active volunteers on Folding@home, and something like 100 petaflops of compute horsepower. Since then, we’ve had over 700,000 people download the software, and there are at least a million devices running Folding@home right now. Our

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last estimate was that we’re at 1.5 exaflops of compute power. It’s incredible.’

What is Folding@home? Folding@home is what’s known as a distributed computing network, where colossal computing jobs are broken up into tiny chunks, which are then farmed out to many machines over the Internet, rather than trying to process them on one massive local computer setup. It’s a concept that’s been around for a long time – PC veterans may well remember the (now defunct) SETI@home project, which used your spare CPU clock cycles to help look for extra-terrestrial intelligence. The Folding@home project, which first started nearly 20 years ago, applies the same principle to medical research. When the project started, as its name suggests, its main aim was to simulate how proteins fold. In the most basic terms, a protein starts out as a long string of amino acids, but it can’t perform its biological function, such as an enzyme, until

OUR ‘EASY’ PROBLEMS COULD EASILY TAKE 100 YEARS ON A TYPICAL DESKTOP COMPUTER this string is ‘folded’ into a three-dimensional shape. So far so good, but proteins can also unfold and misfold. As a basic analogy, when you crack open an egg, the proteins will be in their natural runny state, but if you apply heat, the proteins in the egg white will start to unfold. The amino acids that make up the different proteins in the egg white will then mix, causing it to change texture. That’s great for cooking an egg, but proteins changing like this inside a human body can have serious consequences, including diseases such Alzheimer’s. At the beginning, Folding@home was trying to understand ‘how these little molecular

machines spontaneously self-assemble’, says Bowman, but ‘now the focus has really shifted to asking how they function and malfunction, and how we can control that. ‘One of the things that my group is really focusing on is hunting for what we call cryptic pockets. The idea is that experimental structures give you a snapshot of what a protein usually looks like, but there are lots of moving pieces that you don’t get a sense of from these single snapshots. Watching how the atoms in a protein move relative to one another is important because it captures valuable information that’s inaccessible by any other means. Taking the experimental structures as starting points, we can simulate how all the atoms in the protein move.’ The problem is that protein science is enormously complicated. ‘We’re simulating these processes with atomic resolution,’ explains Bowman. ‘These things are sensitive to changing just a few atoms out of many thousands of atoms in a protein, so we really need that level of detail to truly understand them. Simulating how all these atoms in a protein are moving as time progresses is

extremely computationally expensive, and besides our simulation there’s no real way to observe it, say, experimentally.’

Absolute units

Folding@home breaks up these enormously complicated simulations into ‘work units’, which are dished out to computers all over the world running the Folding@home client. Each work unit represents a fraction of an overall protein simulation, enabling simulations to be processed that would otherwise be completely impractical. ‘Our “easy” problems could easily take 100 years on a typical desktop computer,’ says Bowman, ‘and some of the harder problems could take millions of years or longer. The idea is to take these essentially impossible calculations and break them up into lots of small pieces that can be distributed to many computers and run them in parallel on these independent machines.’ Once your CPU or GPU has crunched through the work unit, the result is sent back to Folding@home, and you’re rewarded with points. This points system has led to some

The Folding@home client Viewer lets you see a visualisation of the molecule you’re processing

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The CPU client maxes out nearly every thread on an 8-core (16-thread) Ryzen 7 2700X

friendly rivalry between fellow hobbyists and their teams, which in turn motivates people to improve their folding credentials. It’s a great way to show off the power of your setup, while also contributing to a good cause. ‘We have some benchmarking machines that we use as our standard,’ explains Bowman, ‘And we decide to set the base points based on how long one of these work units takes on our benchmarking machines. We’re then set up to award people based on completing the work – the faster you complete it compared with the benchmarking machines, the more points you get.’

Core blimey

The Custom PC team (35947) has been folding since 2004, so we’ve seen see how the project has changed over the years. When we first started, we all had single-core Athlon XP and Pentium 4 CPUs (and no GPU folding client), and it took a long time to hit 20,000 points, let alone a million. Later, the first dualcore and later quad-core CPUs enabled people to clock up many more points in the same time. Since then, GPUs have taken over in terms of churning out points (more on that later), but CPUs still play a very important part. You can set up your client to fold on both your CPU and GPU, and while that might be inefficient in terms of points per watt, your CPU can still work on valuable research that can’t always be done by your GPU. ‘There are actually some things we can do on CPUs that we can’t do on GPUs,’ says Bowman. ‘With the current pandemic in mind, one of the things we’re doing is what are called “free energy calculations”, where we’re simulating proteins with small molecules that we think might be useful starting points for developing therapeutics, for example.

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‘Using these calculations, we’re able to get a sense of how tightly different small molecules bind to the COVID-19 proteins, and we can then prioritise the tightest binders for subsequent experimental testing. Right now, these calculations are only implemented in our CPU-based code on Folding@home.’ The CPU code also scales exceptionally well to having more cores, as well as extra threads using Intel Hyper-Threading or AMD Simultaneous Multithreading. Open your Windows Task Manager while you’re running the CPU client, and you’ll see every core’s activity box running flat out, whether it’s physical or virtual. You can even fully stress a Threadripper CPU, and there’s room to grow further with more cores. The number of cores that could be used by the CPU client ‘really depends on how big the protein and the surroundings we simulate are’, says Bowman. ‘The bigger systems could easily be running on an order of 100 CPU cores, and making effective use of them. Some of the smaller systems wouldn’t scale that well.’

The Demogorgon opens up

An example of a big system that could run on 100 CPU cores is ‘the simulation of the COVID-19 spike,’ says Bowman. ‘We’ve been

calling it “the Demogorgon” because of this opening motion it does – the opening of the three receptor-binding domains reminded us of the mouth of the Demogorgon from Stranger Things.’ Analysing this opening motion was a key project for Folding@home, as there was no way to observe it using standard experimental techniques. The aim was to understand how the COVID-19 spike protein opens up to bind to a protein called ACE2 on human cells. ‘Specifically, the spike has three receptorbinding domains that directly bind to ACE2,’ Bowman explained on his blog. ‘For the spikeACE2 interaction to form, the spike’s three receptor-binding domains must open up to reveal the binding interface.’

THE BIGGER SYSTEMS COULD EASILY BE RUNNING ON AN ORDER OF 100 CPU CORES The opening motion of the ‘Demogorgon’ COVID-19 spike reveals the ACE2 binding site for interaction with human cells

A visualisation of Diamond’s crystallography technique in action

Developing therapies

A visualisation of the SARS-CoV-2 Mpro protein from Diamond. The company is observing how different chemical compounds bind to it

In the image of the ‘Demogorgon’ spike on this page, each of the three proteins that form the spike has been given a different colour. These three proteins all need to spread apart to open up access to the ACE2 binding site, so that it can interact with the surface of human cells and initiate infection. After the opening motion was visualised, the Folding@home Twitter account explained that Folding@home’s next step was to ‘help figure out where the protein spends the majority of its time using thousands of simulations run by our donors. This kind of information will help to prioritise drug development efforts’.

Helping with prioritisation is one way that Folding@home’s research helps with the development of therapeutics. At the moment, Bowman says Folding@home is collaborating with Diamond (diamond.ac.uk) in the UK, an X-ray beamline company that’s currently using macromolecular crystallography (MX) to study COVID-19. Exploring beamline technology in depth is beyond the scope of this feature, but in basic terms, Diamond’s techniques can enable researchers to observe the shape of biological molecules at atomic resolution experimentally, rather than virtually. If you head to diamond.ac.uk/covid-19.html, you can see a video of how the COVID-19 crystallography setup works. It’s amazing stuff. Hundreds of samples are stored under liquid nitrogen, and each sample in turn is put under a cool gas nozzle rotated in an x-ray beam, while the machine captures 3,600 diffraction images. That data is then processed, forming all the diffraction patterns into a three-dimensional image of the structure. Diamond is observing how different chemical compounds bind to the SARSCoV-2 Mpro protein, and Folding@home can help by narrowing down which chemical compounds to try.

‘Diamond has been solving experimental structures of the COVID-19 proteins and screening for small molecule drugs,’ says Bowman. ‘What we’re trying to do with these free energy calculations I mentioned earlier, is to take large libraries of chemicals that you can either buy or synthesise, and see which ones might be the most useful, based on our simulations. We then help to prioritise them for subsequent experiments by Diamond MX. ‘This is really important, because they could buy a bunch of random chemicals and synthesise a bunch of stuff, but the likelihood that any of it works is low with the finite resources they have. What we can do is help prioritise what to buy or make in order to maximise the chances that they’re useful.’ Finding the binding sites in the first place is also a key part of Folding@home’s research, thanks to the project’s ability to model how proteins move at the atomic level. The Demogorgon opening motion is one example, but there have been recent important developments in other areas too. ‘What we’re able to do with the simulations is watch all these moving parts,’ says Bowman, ‘and often these motions create novel binding sites for small molecule drugs, which you’d never guess were there based on the experimental structure.’

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Folding@home’s research on cryptic pockets, screening small molecules and antibody design could be useful for creating a COVID-19 vaccine

Bowman also gives the example of some recent research into proteins involved with antibiotic resistance, another public health threat at the moment. ‘We found one of these cryptic binding sites and experimentally confirmed that it’s there,’ he says. ‘Then we subsequently computationally designed, and experimentally verified, a couple of small molecules that bind to this pocket and shut the protein down. So those are now interesting starting points for further development.’ Another example is a protein from Ebola virus, which Bowman says ‘has typically been assumed to be undruggable, because if you look at the structural snapshots from experiments, there are no pockets where a small molecule drug is likely to be able to bind tightly, and shut off the protein’s function. But again ,we found one of these cryptic pockets, and we’ve done the experiments to prove that it exists. We were just starting to screen for small molecules when we had to shut down for the stay-at-home workers.’ We ask Bowman if Folding@home’s work could potentially be used in a COVID19 vaccine design. ‘Yes, I think there are opportunities there,’ he replies. ‘We’re also starting to get into a little bit of antibody design, which I think could be useful on the vaccine side.’

GPU folding

If you want your PC to do as much work for Folding@home as possible, you’ll want to enable folding on your GPU. With loads of memory bandwidth and huge banks of tiny stream processors available, graphics cards are ideal for the highly parallel work involved in Folding@home’s simulations.

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‘It’s really this idea that you can perform this one common operation on many different inputs in parallel,’ says Bowman. ‘It matches really well with our simulations, where we essentially want to perform the same calculation on each atom – how it’s being pushed on and pulled on by its neighbours – in parallel as quickly as possible. The GPU folding client has changed over the years. For a long while, you could only fold on ATI (now AMD) GPUs, and then an Nvidia folding client came along that outperformed ATI GPUs. GPU folding involves using a GPU compute application programmers interface (API), in much the same way as gaming graphics uses Vulkan or DirectX. The main APIs for GPU compute are OpenCL and DirectCompute, which run on both AMD and Nvidia GPUs, and CUDA, which only runs on Nvidia GPUs. The current GPU folding client uses OpenCL on both AMD and Nvidia GPUs, but Bowman says there will soon be a version that makes use of Nvidia’s proprietary CUDA API as well. The Folding@home client uses OpenMM (openmm.org), which is a toolkit for molecular simulation. Peter Kenneth Eastman, developer of the Folding@home GPU-based simulation code explains that ‘OpenMM can use either CUDA or OpenCL. It’s supported both for many years. It’s just a matter of creating a Folding@ home core that uses CUDA, which is mostly just a packaging/licensing issue’. At the moment, CUDA gives Nvidia a performance advantage in OpenMM. ‘It’s around 30 per cent faster when using CUDA instead of OpenCL,’ says Eastman. Also, while both AMD and Nvidia GPUs can use OpenCL, the Nvidia ones are usually quicker. ‘In terms of

overall speed, Nvidia processors are around two times faster than similarly priced AMD processors,’ says Eastman, adding, ’I suspect this is more due to deficiencies in AMD’s OpenCL compiler and runtime, rather than the hardware itself.’ That doesn’t mean you need to spend a lot of money on a top-end Nvidia GeForce RTX GPU to get the best folding performance though. AMD GPUs are still much faster than CPUs at folding, and you can also use older Pascal Nvidia GPUs to great effect for folding, as the client doesn’t make use of the RT or Tensor cores found in Nvidia’s RTX Turing chips anyway. ‘It doesn’t use them,’ confirms Eastman. ’We haven’t figured out anything they’re useful for in molecular dynamics.’

Keep folding

The move to COVID-19 research during the current pandemic has brought a lot of attention to Folding@home, as well as loads more computing power. PC Master Race (pcmasterrace.org) has been promoting it hard on Reddit and Twitter, and it’s subsequently been pushed by Nvidia and various component makers. The Custom PC team has been folding since 2004, and we used to regularly feature monthly stats on how the team was doing in the magazine, as well as reporting on various users’ milestones, which we’ve brought back on p107. However, after several years of solid folding work, general interest in our Folding@ home team started to wane a few years ago, particularly during the GPU cryptocurrency mining boom. We’re hoping that we can now get it all going again and help to make a decent contribution towards the project’s COVID-19 research. ‘It’s really exciting to see people coming together over this – joining forces to tackle this shared enemy,’ says Bowman. But he also adds that ‘we’re only in a position to start doing this because we already had this base of 30,000 users who were excited to help with our work on cancer and Alzheimer’s and other diseases. I hope when we finally get this COVID-19 situation under control that people will continue their appreciation for this, and help us to attack these other maladies as well.’ In the same way, we’d also like to give a big ‘thank you’ to everyone who has folded for the Custom PC & bit-tech team (35947) throughout the years.

Get folding

Getting your machine folding is simple. Head to foldingathome.org/start-folding, and download the client. Once it’s installed, you’ll need to set your username and team. The username can be whatever you like, and you can input team number 35947 to fold for the Custom PC & bit-tech team. You can change any of these details in the Web Control tab by clicking on Change Identity in the top left of the Web Control box. If you want your machine to work on COVID-19 research, then select ‘COVID-19’ in the ‘I support research finding’ pull-down menu. You can also select how hard you want your CPU and GPU to work – you can set them to only fold when the machine is idle, or when you’re working too. You can also select Light, Medium or Full. In the Light mode, only the CPU will fold, while the latter two modes see both the CPU and GPU running. Both the Medium and Full settings hammer your hardware pretty hard though. Also, bear in mind that folding will increase your PC’s power consumption. On our Ryzen 7 2700X rig with a GeForce GTX 1070 T, the machine consumed around 70W when idle, but that increased to 214W when folding on the CPU, and around 320W when folding on the GPU as well. If you fold a lot, you’ll see an increase in your electricity bill, so keep an eye on it if you’re on a tight budget. Also, due to the popularity of folding at the moment, it may take a while to get work units to your PC. ‘There are two issues,’ explains Bowman. ‘One is getting more of the physical servers set up, and the other is getting simulations launched on them. These machines act as both a queue of simulations to be run and a repository where we collect all the data that our volunteers generate, so there’s a need for high storage capacity. My group have four machines, each with 100TB of usable space, and we’re filling that up rapidly.’ If you want more control, right click on the multi-coloured molecule icon in the Taskbar and select Advanced Control. From here you can pause work units, set folding to pause if you’re running on battery power and configure advanced settings such as proxy servers. You can also click the Viewer icon to get a visualisation of the molecule being processed. You can discuss folding with other folks on the team, and get more tips and tricks too, at our folding team’s forum on bit-tech (custompc.co.uk/FoldingForum).

Select ‘COVID-19’ in the pull-down menu if you want to prioritise research for the current coronavirus pandemic

Choose your own username, and put 35947 in the Team Number box if you want to fold for the Custom PC & bit-tech team

BEAR IN MIND THAT ENABLING FOLDING ON YOUR MACHINE WILL INCREASE ITS POWER CONSUMPTION 87

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REMOTE WHILE ISOLATION MAY BE HAMPERING CONVENTIONAL SOCIALISING, ONLINE GAMING IS PROVING TO BE A GOOD WAY TO ENGAGE WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS. EDWARD CHESTER EXPLORES SOME OF THE OPTIONS

e may already be several weeks into lockdown, and many of us will have already found umpteen ways to fill that social gap in our lives. However, if your resources are running dry, we’ve come up with a few fun ways to fill your time over the coming pages. Whether you’re after that competitive gaming thrill or just somewhere to hang out with friends, there’s something for everyone.

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FPS / competitive First-person shooters have long been a stalwart of ways to play online with your friends, but if ever there was a time to sync up with a few buddies and dive into the latest team-based options, it’s now. Of course, it’s likely that you’re already well ensconced if you’re into those sorts of games, and if you’re not, it’s probably because they’re just not for you, but regardless, there’s no better time to reignite your enthusiasm or give them another go.

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The two newest big-hitter battle royale games, Apex Legends and Call of Duty Warzone, are particularly good places to start. Both games have excellent collaborative communication and play elements that make it easy to team up with other random players as well as friends. You can use keyboard and mouse clicks to ping locations and track enemies, making it easy to keep each other informed. So, even if you can only muster one extra buddy – or even none – and you don’t have a microphone (or you just prefer to keep quiet), you can still join in a team game. What’s more, if you happen to be matched with some random players with whom you get along, it’s easy to add them to your party and play together again, without the full commitment of becoming friends on Battle.net or Origin.

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DROP INTO A QUIET ZONE AND YOU CAN EASILY SPEND 10-15 MINUTES LOOTING UP, CATCHING UP AND DRIVING AROUND The battle royale game that arguably started it all, Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG), has also recently added the ability to ping locations, making team communication easier if you don’t have a microphone. If you do have a microphone, the pace of gameplay in PUBG can be particularly good if you’re just looking to hang out and chat. Drop into a quiet zone and you can easily spend 10-15 minutes just looting up, catching up and driving around. Even during more intense moments, PUBG is still a relatively quiet game that makes it easy to chat. The same goes for Fortnite, where a quiet area and the need to mine materials means you can easily hang out with your squad for a while before heading into battle. If you’re bored with battle royale games, CoD Warzone also has a different game mode that centres around collecting the most money. Any time you die, you respawn and drop into the game again to carry on the fight. You still get that thrill of close-quarters team fighting on a huge map, but without the alltoo-quick deaths and drop backs to the lobby. The ability to ping locations and objects makes Apex Legends easy to play without a microphone, and with friends and strangers alike

Trying to hit a giant ball with your car in Rocket League creates some frenetic fun for people of all skill sets

Then there’s the host of traditional teambased FPS games, such as Team Fortress, CS:GO, Overwatch and Rainbow Six Siege. If you’ve never given any of them a go, most of them are either free or cheap these days. If FPS games aren’t really your thing, there’s plenty of other competitive game genres. The trick, though, is finding ones that provide that wider social element. If you’re more into cars than carbines, there are several racing games that offer a more social feel than others. The hugely popular Rocket League’s football-aping shenanigans are far from the purest form of racing, but it’s

easy to team up with your friends and have a laugh in this game. What’s more, Rocket League is a particularly fun option for those less experienced in racing games. The utter chaos of trying to hit a giant ball with your car creates some frenetic fun that’s still accessible regardless of your skill set. Along similar lines, there’s the bash-andcrash fun of Wreckfest. This is a straight destruction derby sim with proper soft-body car physics that lets you bash and crash your way to victory. You and your friends just need to jump onto the same server together, and you can enjoy either competing against or sneakily working together with your friends to create as much destruction as possible. Alternatively, although social gaming is the focus here, you can also look upon this time as an opportunity to explore a new type of game or hone your skills in those games with which you’re already familiar. Maybe you’re

Bash and crash your way to victory in Wreckfest

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If you’re bored with battle royale games, but still want large-scale gunplay, Call of Duty: Warzone’s Plunder mode is a fun option

a seasoned FPS player but you’ve never tried an arena shooter, properly trained your aim or learned how to bunny hop. Perhaps you bought a racing wheel and pedal set many moons ago, and it has languished in the cupboard ever since. Relinquish it from its confines and finally learn every twist and turn of Silverstone, or how to left-foot brake. There’s plenty of fun challenges to be found.

Communication skills

Most competitive online games have internal communication systems that let you chat to your teammates but, if you’re playing with friends, it’s often easier to set up your communication system beforehand using separate comms software, such as Discord (discordapp.com) or Teamspeak (teamspeak.com).

Programs such as Discord make it easy to manage voice communications for gaming, and to chat among yourselves

These programs make it easy to set up servers (essentially groups) that you and your friends can join, creating different servers for different sub-groups of friends and having different channels within each server dedicated to different games. Not only does such a system make it easy for you to see what your friends are playing, and decide if you might want to join them, but it also means you can simply join a channel just to chat, even while your friends are playing and there isn’t otherwise room for you to join them. Sticking around for a while is often a good way of encouraging one of your other friends to bow out and let you take a turn too. To make the most of your communications, whether in-game or via separate software, you’ll also want to have a decent audio setup. This is, of course, where gaming headsets come in, as they conveniently incorporate a microphone right into the headset. A couple of our favourites include the Sennheiser GSP 300, which is a good-quality wired stereo unit, and the SteelSeries Arctis 7, which is a wireless surround model. Corsair’s Virtuoso RGB Wireless SE is also a great wireless model if you can afford it. However, if you don’t have a lot of money to spend, you can get away with slapping an aftermarket microphone on a standard set of headphones. ModMic, is a go-to favourite brand for gamers, but there’s also plenty of Amazon and eBay specials that will do the job in a pinch, assuming there’s any stock. Just as with webcams, gaming headset and microphone stocks have been hit hard

The Sennheiser GSP 300 is our basic gaming headset of choice

You don’t need a gaming headset to chat online. A basic phone headset will do the job, or you can upgrade a pair of headphones with a Mod Mic

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Sea of thieves is a hilarious and fun-filled adventure for up to four players

WOW CLASSIC HAS THE SAME BASIC GRAPHICS OF THE ORIGINAL 16-YEAR-OLD GAME SO IT WILL RUN ON JUST ABOUT ANY SPEC as people have settled into lockdown mode and are working from home in large numbers. Have a rummage in your cupboards, though, and you may be able to find that old set of earphones with a built-in microphone that came with your old mobile phone – in trying times, needs must.

Stalwarts such as Stardew Valley are suited to all ages, so the whole family can get in on the act

Divinity: Original Sin can bring together just two players for a more focused campaign, and there’s a split-screen local co-op mode

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Collaborative games Ever heard of World of Warcraft? If there was a time to finally try perhaps the most influential social game of all time, other than The Sims , it’s now. It’s the ultimate open-ended, timekilling game that lets you while away hours on your own or collaborate on colossal missions with dozens of other players. What’s particularly appealing about WoW now is the arrival of WoW Classic, which returns to the most basic, original form of the game, so beginners can get to grips with it more easily. It also has the same basic graphics of the original 16-year-old game, so it will run on just about any spec. Beyond this classic, there are plenty of other games that have a more collaborative bent but still provide plenty of thrills and immersion. As Rick Lane mentions in his column on p62, Divinity: Original Sin and its sequel are fantastic options. This conventional RPG may look broadly similar to MMORPGs such as World of Warcraft, but where the focus of those games is massively multiplayer (as the acronym suggests), Divinity can bring together just two players for a more focused campaign. Sticking to the isometric view theme, if you’re into real-time strategy games, the excellent Red Alert 3, while positively ancient, offers an excellent cooperative campaign

Beginners can get to grips with WoW Classic easily, and you can play it on an old system too

mode for two players. You can play through the whole of the fantastic main campaign with another friend, and the fact that it’s naturally split up into missions means that, once one mission is complete, you can easily take a break for a week before meeting back up to progress to the next one. Another fine mess you can get you and a few friends into is navigating the choppy waters of Sea of Thieves. This cartoonish pirate adventure sees players exploring the islands and oceans of the Caribbean, looking for fights or fun as you please. You’ll need a small crew of up to four players in order to man the sails and rain down cannonfire on other ships you encounter, making the whole adventure a fun way to work as a team to defeat the enemies of the high seas. If you’re looking to set aside competition, and just want somewhere to hang out, there’s plenty of options too. Stalwarts such as Stardew Valley and Minecraft are suited to all ages, so the whole family can get in on the act. Moreover, when it comes to Minecraft, if you have the time and patience, the level of creativity you and your friends can bring to projects is second to none.

Hang out with your friends in avatar form and play a host of virtual games with Rec Room

the drawer and you can also award points for the most amusing. Fibbage is another great example. Each person is asked a series of questions, then the other players are asked to guess their answers. The trick is that players see all the answers, and have to try and pick out the truth. It’s all about coming up with convincing possible answers for other people, while avoiding being fooled by others. You can normally pick up Party Packs of five games for $24.99 US (around £20 ex VAT), but the company currently has several deals putting some party packs at half that price.

If you fancy a little more interactive fun, Rec Room for VR is a great option. Here, you can just hang out with your friends in avatar form and play a host of virtual games, such as paintball and disc golf. You can also explore thousands of player-created rooms and create your own. Players can also highly customise their avatar’s outfit and just have a bit of creative fun, without the daunting blank canvas approach of Minecraft. Although it’s centred around making the most of VR headsets, you don’t need one to play, and it’s a super-relaxing experience that’s easy for anyone to enjoy.

Quiz/puzzle games

While actual pubs have lain dormant for weeks now, pub quizzes are probably more popular than ever. Thanks to easy video conference calling software, such as Google Meet and Zoom, it’s incredibly easy to gather a bunch of friends and acquaintances and run a virtual pub quiz. There are plenty of resources for downloading generic pub quiz questions, making it easy for one person to take on quizmaster duties. Alternatively, you can get

the people taking part to each provide one round of questions, making it even more of a collaborative and fun event. Plus, as it’s all just about fun among friends, you can skip the prizes and official scores. Of course, what’s perhaps best about virtual pub quizzing is that people who don’t drink alcohol, or who just don’t like noisy pubs, get to take part without the social pressure to drink, and you all avoid the drunk in the corner shouting the answers. Or at least, if that person is still around, you can just mute them. While it’s relatively easy to manually create a fun pub quiz, technology can make it easier, and there are a host of social puzzle and quiz apps too. Jackbox Games, for instance, makes loads of games that, although purchased through Steam, can be played through any web browser. Up to eight people can join in (with only one licence required) via a phone or laptop, and you just navigate to the jackbox.tv website and enter the code to start. A couple of examples of the games on offer include Drawful, a drawing game that requires one player to draw a purposefully silly thing, and the other players have to guess what it is. The closest answer gets a tick from

May the fun continue

What this period will hopefully have taught many of us, is that there’s a lot to be said for keeping up with your friends remotely, even when we are eventually allowed outside again, particularly if any of your vulnerable friends and family choose to continue to selfisolate. Plenty of us have good friends that live in different cities or different countries too, and gaming is a great way to socialise with them. Finding the time and money to physically visit people can be tricky, but by dedicating an evening once in a while to check in with your friends is a great way to keep friendships ticking over, and ensuring it isn’t suddenly two years since you last saw your school buddies. Arranging for a group of you to meet up online and hang out also takes the pressure off arranging one-to-one catchups. Inevitably some games – indeed, no doubt many – just won’t be for many people. As examples at Custom PC, I’ve never been won over by WoW, and our editor Ben doesn’t like online first-person shooters either, but there are other social gaming options that appeal to both of us. Whatever your general gaming preferences, you should be able to find a way to remotely involve your friends.

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C U STO M I SAT I O N / HOBBY TECH

G A R E T H H A L FAC R E E ’ S

Hobbytech The latest tips, tricks and news in the world of computer hobbyism, from Raspberry Pi, Arduino, and Android to retro computing REVIEW

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The chassis and keyboard are based on a design by Rick Dickinson, responsible for many of Sinclair’s products

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industrialdesignerRick Dickinson, the ZX SpectrumNextisn’t anARMpowered emulator;it’s a fullyfunctional microcomputerpoweredby aXilinx Spartan-6field-programmablegate array(FPGA).TheFPGA,whicharrives running a soft-coreimplementationof theZ80, is clockable from itsoriginal 3.5MHztoaspeedy28MHz. Thechassisalso houses 1MBof static RAM(SRAM)expandableto2MB,andanedgeconnectorcompatiblewithoriginalSpectrum hardware.Meanwhile,portsforaWi-Fimodule andreal-timeclockarepopulatedonthePlus

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osay theZX Spectrum Next hasbeen alongtimecomingwouldn’tbe an understatement.The initial boardonlydesign of thereimagined 8-bit microcomputerwas reviewed way backin Issue 176, with theexpectation that thefully cased,retail-boxedversionwouldbeswift to follow.Anoptimisticdeliverydeadlineof January 2018came andwent. Now,the hardware isfinally reachingbackers–and it’s fairtosayit’sbeenworththewait. Basedonhardware fromTBBlue andhoused ina SinclairZX Spectrum +3-inspiredhousing, whichwouldprovetobethelast workofnoted

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ZX Spectrum Next Accelerated

It’s taken a couple of years more than planned, but the ZX Spectrum Next is finally here

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and Accelerated models, and there’s a 40-pin header for a Raspberry Pi Zero coprocessor, which is only populated on the top-end Accelerated version. Booting the ZX Spectrum Next from the bundled 1GB microSD card loads a setup screen for the video output on the HDMI and VGA/RGB ports, then a multi-page getting started guide for the NextZXOS operating system. This is designed to get you up and running as quickly as possible, and there’s also a bundled 342page spiral-bound manual, which doubles as a reference guide to both Sinclair BASIC and the new features of the ZX Spectrum Next itself.

The Next supports 9-pin joysticks in both Kempston and Sinclair pin-outs

NetZXOSisimpressive.Basedonasimilar menu system to thePlus-modeloriginal Spectrums, itletsyouquicklybrowsethe contents ofthe microSDcardto loadgames andothersoftwarepackages.Thereare 30 games, numerous demos and a range of utilities bundled as standard, and you can switch to a tape-loading mode for an external cassette deck. It also offers a command-line interface, its own enhanced BASIC programming environment and Sinclair’s original 48K BASIC. There’s a calculator too, and even the option to boot into the classic CP/M operating system, although doing so requires the manual download of some additional software.

NEWS IN BRIEF

Canonical commits to Raspberry Pi support Canonical has confirmed plans to support the Raspberry Pi family of single-board computers across all future releases of Ubuntu Linux. ‘Going forward, new releases of Ubuntu will automatically support the latest Raspberry Pi device models. We will also strive to make Ubuntu available from day one for any new Raspberry Pi model,’ says Canonical’s Galem Kayo. ‘Our future support efforts will be centred around advancing computing education, fostering the digital maker culture, improving developers’ productivity and finally accelerating enterprise innovation.’

All of this is accessed using the membrane keyboard, with the option of using a PS/2 external keyboard. The built-in keyboard, though, is leagues ahead of the quality of the Sinclair and Amstrad original designs, and rightfully so – keyboard tweaks have been the biggest reason for the two-year-plus schedule overshoot. As with the original Spectrum, most games can be played using the keyboard or a joystick. It’s here that another difference between the ZX Spectrum Next and the ‘mini console’ emulators flooding the market makes itself apparent: there’s no support for a USB controller here. Instead, you get two 9-pin ports compatible with either the common Kempston standard – the same used on Atari joysticks and the overwhelming majority of 8-bit home computers and consoles – or the far rarer Sinclair standard. For games that support a mouse, the PS/2 port on the back pulls double duty. The ZX Spectrum Next is capable of running original Spectrum titles, loaded either from tape, disk, Microdrive or through TAP and DSK images stored on the microSD card. It’s compatible with 48K and 128K games, and even has a mode for enabling the timings required to run software designed for Soviet knock-off systems. Fire up some of the software written specifically for the Next, and it’s clear that this is more than a blast from the past. Next software can take advantage of hardware sprite acceleration, widescreen display modes, mouse support and 256-colour graphics modes. This is showcased to particular effect in the bundled platformer Dreamworld Pogie, a

Next-specific games, such as Dreamworld Pogie, really showcase the hardware’s new features

gamethatwhizzesacrossthescreenataspeed to make Sonic the Hedgehog’s 16-bit Mega Drive outings blush. Despite the delays, it’s not entirely finished. A planned menu to allow for up to 32 different cores to be loaded into the FPGA, allowing the ZX Spectrum Next to impersonate any device from an Acorn Atom to a Frogger arcade cabinet, is the most notable unfinished part. At present, only one additional system can be loaded at any time, and doing so is far from straightforward. The only other mark against the Next is the price. Crowdfunded at £175, rising to £215 for the Plus and £230 for the Accelerated (all inc VAT), the Next was already beyond impulsepurchase level. Its second run may cost even more, with pricing on the website listed at £252 for the base model and £327 (both inc VAT) for the Accelerated. A crowdfunder for the next production run is planned, but had not launched at the time of writing; more information is available on specnext.com

The keyboard is miles better than any of Sinclair’s original keyboards

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REVIEW

SEGA Arcade: Pop-Up History here are plenty of books covering vintage computing and gaming. There are also lots of pop-up books, but with the exception of a few gag-gift and extremely adult exceptions, they’re typically aimed at small children looking for 3D dinosaurs or diggers. Pop-up books covering vintage computing and gaming, though, aren’t so common, but that’s the exact gap that Read Only Memory’s hardbound coffee-table tome. SEGA Arcade: Pop-Up History, aims to fill. SEGA Arcade is, as the name implies, a look at coin-operated arcade machines from the company formerly known as Service Games. It’s in no way an exhaustive history, though, in that it covers only six machines: Hang-On, Space Harrier, Out Run, After Burner, Thunder Blade and Power Drift. Arcade buffs may have already spotted the common theme: each of these games had a SEGA Taiken ‘body sensation’ cabinet, where e e racer Hangyou sat in (or sat on, in On’ n a machine that moves around in sponse to the player’s in-game motion. The brainchild of Darren Wall, and iginally created following a owdfunding campaign on ckstarter, SEGA Arcade kes these bulky stems and shrinks

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them into pop-up cardboard shells houssed in and the rear half of the book. Turn the page,a each cabinet appears before you – comp plete with a monitor displaying the game’s title screen or attract mode. odels It’s a neat trick, and the full-colour mo are impressively recreated from their re ealate, the world equivalents. The side art is accura screenshots are surprisingly crisp, and even the control sticks, handlebars, steering wheels and yokes stand out. The models don’t fold at’s out fully without a helping finger, but tha true of almost any pop-up book, including the typically much less complex models placed in kids’ books. aking There’s been some effort to avoid ma SEGA Arcade a one-trick pony too. The of fronthalf of thebookcontains32pagesof back-story,history, conceptsketc s glossy full colour. screenshots,

Each getsatwo a two-column,single-pa column single page write-up fromGuardian columnist Keith Stuar , aningheavilyonaninterviewwithdirector d designerYu Suzuki. Forgameswhere zuki waslessinvolved, suchas Takashi ama’s helicoptercombattitle Thunder Blade, ere’s accordinglyconsiderablyless personal collectionandmoredryhistoricalrecounting, tthat’snottosay there’s nothing of interest be learne

NEWS IN BRIEF

Open ‘Tendo brings back NES hardware

The preface content, though, h does ffeel rather thin. The foreword is printed in large type, and the concept art and screenshots take up only the top half of each page – a transparent attempt to make what would otherwise have been a miserly 16 or so pages into a still thin 32 pages. The screenshots will be rather divisive too. As usual for this type of publication, they’re captured from an emulator, and each screenshot has been passed through a filter that adds scan lines in an effort to simulate how it would have looked on the cathode-ray tube (CRT) displays of the original cabinets. The effect isn’t wholly successful, but arguably better than the blocky pixel-perfect shots that you’d otherwise see. Oddly, though, you get these blocky pixel-perfect shots on the actual cardboard models, with the scan lines nowhere to be seen. If you’rebuyingSEGA Arcadefor the screenshotsor gamehistory,though, you’re certainlyinthe minority. The keysellingpoint isthecardboard models,andtheseare m genuinely impressive.Each one isplaced on a colouredbackdropwith thegame name, genre, responsiblecompany division,boardtype, release yearandthe mechanism employed for the movement. In the

final cornerof eachone you’ll evenfind the cabinet g – 280kg binet’ss ight s an example –plus its ove lldimensio and the size oftheCRTdisplay. It would have been nice, perhaps, to see a few more machines in the book. A particularly noticeable absence is the R360, SEGA’s attempt at taking simulator technology and putting it into the arcade. Typically, although not exclusively, used as a housing for aerial combat game After Burner, the R360 was unique in being able to turn through a full 360-degree sphere, turning the player upside down whenever the in-game aircraft did a loop. Those who remember it in the arcades (well, the people who fancied handing over anything up to £5 for a five-minute go, anyway), will recall how challenging that feature made the already-tricky aircraft carrier landing stage. You can’t accuse SEGA Arcade of not delivering on its promise, though. It claims to offer you six im paper models of o SEGA Taikan arcade cabinets, and it contain ns exactly that.

A project to recreate the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in modern hardware has released a fully functional board design, although it requires original CPU and PPU chips for full functionality. ‘The design is as true to the original board as possible,’ its pseudonymous creator Redherring32 writes, ‘with subtle changes where needed to compensate for outdated/unsourcable parts, as well as some improvements.’ Redherring32 adds that ‘I am not in any way affiliated with Nintendo, I’m just doing this in my free time as a stepping stone into further Reverse Engineering work.’

Treating the editorial section as a bonus, it’s definitely hard to feel short-changed by the £35 (VAT exempt) asking price. However, if you’re in the mood for in-depth analysis or an exhaustive history, you’re better looking elsewhere and leaving SEGA Arcade to those of uswhoneverreally grew out of being yp p p entranced bypop-upbooks.SEGA Arcadeisavailable nowfrom readonlymemory.vg for £35 (VAT exempt) plus postage.

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REVIEW

Raspberry Pi Imager hen the original Raspberry Pi first launched, it gave many people their first experience of embedded hardware. Step one was giving it an operating system, a process that involves loading a series of partitions in formats Windows can’t understand, onto what at the time was a fullsize SD card. Back then, there were only really two options. The Linux and macOS crowd could write a downloaded disk image to the SD card using the dd utility at the command line. Windows users, meanwhile, could use the well-established Win32 Disk Imager. Neither of these are particularly welcoming to less technical folks, however. For these users, the Raspberry Pi Foundation developed NOOBS, the New Out-Of-Box Software, which can be extracted from a downloaded ZIP archive directly onto any FAT32-formatted microSD card. No images, no complexity. Some people still prefer to install an operating system directly, however, particularly if the operating system chosen isn’t available as part of NOOBS. Here, the recommendation has been to use Balena’s cross-platform Etcher (balena.io/etcher), a relatively new tool for flashing operating system images to removable storage, and one which uses an attractive and easy-to-follow graphical user interface.

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The tool includes all the most popular operating systems, not just Raspbian

The Raspberry Pi Imager aims to make installing an OS onto a microSD card as easy as possible

Now, there’s yet another option, and it comes from the Raspberry Pi Foundation itself. The Raspberry Pi Imager is, effectively, the Foundation’s answer to Balena Etcher. Like Etcher, it aims to reduce complexity. Like Etcher, it’s a three-way workflow that asks the user to choose an operating system image, pick a destination storage device and hit Write. Also, again like Etcher, it sensibly excludes large and fixed drives from the list of possible destinations, to reduce the risk of accidentally overwriting your hard drive. The Raspberry Pi Imager isn’t an Etcher clone, however. It takes a lot of its inspiration from NOOBS, including offering the ability to download the latest versions of a range of operating system images automatically. This list includes the recommended Raspbian Linux distribution, in standard form as well as the larger Full and smaller Lite, the home theatre-focused LibreElec, Ubuntu Core and Ubuntu Server, and even an image designed to repair a corrupt boot EEPROM on a Raspberry Pi 4. Simply select the OS, it’s automatically downloaded, and then you can flash as many copies as desired.

For operating systems not included in the list, there’s an option to write any local disk image, and even a tool for formatting existing storage devices to FAT32 ready for NOOBS installation. What there isn’t, surprisingly, given its name, is the ability to clone an existing microSD card or create an image. While it’s billed as an ‘Imager,’ in the present release it’s purely an image writer. There’s one extra feature that the Foundation has, thankfully, included. Once an image is written, a process that stalls at the 99 per cent mark for some considerable time by filling up the operating system’s write cache, it verifies that the image has been written correctly. That’s a step that Etcher also performs by default, although at the cost of extending the run time a little. Despite some minor shortcomings, the Raspberry Pi Imager is a handy tool and, technically, it’s compatible with any other single-board computers if you use the writelocal-image option. It also removes one of the Foundation’s last dependencies on a thirdparty tool, and gives newcomers a smoother introduction to the process. The Raspberry Pi Imager is available to download for Windows, macOS and Linux now from raspberrypi.org/downloads. A version can also be installed in Raspbian, for use with a USB SD card reader, using the command sudo apt install rpi-imager in the terminal.

Gareth Halfacree is a keen computer hobbyist, journalist, and author. His work can be found at freelance.halfacree.co.uk

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@ghalfacree

F O R T H E W I N / COMPETITION

WIN A 34IN IIYAMA GAMING MONITOR We’ve got a brilliant 34in gaming monitor up for grabs this month, thanks to the generous folks at Iiyama. One lucky Custom PC reader will get an Iiyama G-Master GB3461WQSU Red Eagle monitor sent to their home, with a 3,440 x 1,440 resolution and 144Hz refresh rate.

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WORTH

£400

34in IPS panel 144Hz refresh rate FreeSync Premium support 1ms response time 3,440 x 1,440 resolution 2 x HDMI (120Hz) inputs 2 x DisplayPort (144Hz) inputs Stereo 5W speakers USB 3 hub

SUBMIT YOUR ENTRY AT

CUSTOMPC.CO.UK/WIN The 34in Iiyama G-Master GB3461WQSU Red Eagle features a massive 3,440 x 1,440 resolution, which allows gamers to see more of the battlefield without constantly having to switch the view. The IPS panel also offers a 1ms MBR response time and 144Hz refresh rate. Meanwhile, FreeSync Premium support provides dynamic adjusting of the monitor’s vertical refresh rate to the frame rate of the graphics card. However, the real game changer is the low frame rate compensation (LFC), which effectively removes the minimum refresh

rate boundary, putting an end to virtually any tearing or stuttering issues. Covering 100 per cent of the sRGB colour range, the IPS panel provides outstanding colour accuracy and wide viewing angles, guaranteeing high fidelity and vivid battleground scenes. The height of the display is also similar to a 27in 16:9 panel, so it’s still very comfortable to use from a nottoo-big distance, and the screen is equipped with two HDMI and two DisplayPort inputs, plus the ability to display HDR content.

Competition closes on Friday, 12 June. Prize is offered to participants in the UK aged 13 or over, except employees of the Raspberry Pi Foundation, the prize supplier, their families or friends. Winners will be notified by email no more than 30 days after the competition closes. By entering the competition, the winner consents to any publicity generated from the competition, in print and online. Participants agree to receive occasional newsletters from Custom PC magazine. We don’t like spam: participants’ details will remain strictly confidential and won’t be shared with third parties. Prizes are non-negotiable and no cash alternative will be offered. Winners will be contacted by email to arrange delivery. Any winners who have not responded 60 days after the initial email is sent will have their prize revoked.

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MODDING / OPINION

A N TO N Y L E AT H E R ’ S

Customised PC Case mods, tools, techniques, water-cooling gear and everything to do with PC modding

Hands on with Corsair’s XD3 RGB orsair is still relatively new to custom water cooling, but its first Hydro X-series products, from rigid tube fittings to waterblocks and radiators, were a good start. I particularly liked the pre-applied thermal paste and pads on the waterblocks, as well as the XD5 RGB pump/reservoir combo unit. It looked good, it had RGB lighting and the pump could be controlled using your motherboard too. Corsair

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also included two adaptor plates to mount the pump in fan mounts at various angles. It was expensive, but these sorts of inclusions meant you had all the gear in a single kit. However, the XD5 isn’t exactly small, and you’ll struggle to fit it into cases that don’t have plenty of clearance around fan mounts. It’s nearly impossible to fit it into most micro-ATX or mini-ITX cases. However, the latest bit of kit to land in Corsair’s Hydro X arsenal is the smaller

The XD3’s lighting looks superb, but you’ll need a Corsair lighting controller to control it

A temperature probe is included in the box, so you can monitor your coolant temperature

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XD3 RGB pump. It uses a small Laing DDC pump, which is much more compact than the D5 pump used in larger reservoirs. This smaller pump has enabled Corsair to create a very compact pump/reservoir combo unit that’s small enough to fit into space-starved cases, and it’s very flexible when it comes to ports and tube routing as well. The XD3 RGB has two inlets and two outlets. On the front plate, there’s an inlet on the right and an outlet on the left, and you can also use the G1/4in ports on the sides as an inlet (right) and outlet (left). There are further G1/4in ports on the top and bottom, acting as a fill port and temperature probe port

respectively. One of the latter is even included in the box, so you can monitor coolant temperature, and even set your radiator fans respond to it if you have a suitable motherboard or fan controller. The best part of the XD3 RGB, though, is its flexibility. It comes with the same 120mm and 140mm fan mounting plates as its larger sibling, allowing you to mount it on a fan or in a vacant fan mount. It can sit in series next to a fan, or rotate 90 degrees so that its clear top faces the side of your case. If you don’t have a fan mount nearby, which will often be the situation in smaller cases, then Corsair has also provided measurements for mounting

the main bracket directly to your case by drilling mounting holes. The only downside is the price, both of the XD3 (£150 inc VAT), and the iCUE Commander Pro or Lighting Node Pro RGB controller you’ll need to control the lighting. The LEDs sit inside the reservoir, and also around the edge in a ring – it does look good. Overall, I think Corsair has a unique product here. It’s not the smallest pump/res combo unit available, but its flexibility, good looks and feature set make it ideal for installing in smaller cases, such as the Crystal Series 280X RGB.

The XD3 comes with the same 120mm and 140mm fan mounting plates as its larger sibling, the XD5

Hands on with Lian Li’s Strimer Plus Acoupleofyearsagowethoughtwe’d reachedpeakRGB,untilLianLireleased itsStrimer–anRGB-illuminated24-pin ATXextensioncable.Nowthecompany hasuppedtheantefurtherwiththe StrimerPlus–afulldigitalRGBversionof theStrimer.There’snowmorethanjust a24-pinATXconnectortoo,with8-pin GPUand8-pinCPUpowerconnectors joiningtheparty.The formercanbe split to offer 6-pinconnectors aswell. The Strimer Plusisn’t yourtypical cable extension. It comprisesastack of digital RGB strips sandwiched together, each of which sports numerous individually controllable LEDs. The 24-pin model has over 120 LEDs, which are exceptionally bright.

The Strimer Plus isn’t a usual PSU extension cable

The bundled controller can cycle through various effect modes, including a rainbow option

You’ll find the actual power cables on the other side of the RGB LED strips, and they’re all neatly arranged using cable combs. The trick here is to position the LEDs so that they’re pointing upwards, which you’ll need to consider when routing your cables. The Strimer Plus units can be controlled using a bundled controller that can cycle through various effect modes, as well as colours, including the option to have a rainbow effect. Alternatively, you can hook up the unit to an RGB-capable motherboard with the integrated 3-pin digital addressable RGB cable. I have to say that the vibrancy of the colours and brightness of the lights are impressive, but they also dominate your PC’s interior. While I prefer subtler lighting, some of the effects are absolutely stunning. Also, the addition of GPU power cables means that the

Antony Leather is Custom PC’s modding editor

most visible cables in your case can now become vivid, glowing features rather than eyesores. There’s one downside to the Strimer Plus, though, which is its price. The GPU and CPU cable extensions aren’t bundled with the 24-pin extension, which already costs £45 inc VAT. The 8-pin CPU connector will set you back a further £36 inc VAT and the GPU cable another £32 inc VAT. Admittedly, you can definitely get away with not using the CPU connector, since only an inch or two is visible in most cases anyway if you tidy your cables properly. Even then, though, you’re still looking at over £80 for the pair. Unlike many other RGB components, however, the Strimers are so eye-popping that they can easily form the centrepiece of your PC. If lighting is your thing then they certainly deliver the goods.

@antonyleather

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M O D D I N G / HOW TO GUIDES

How to

Delid Intel CPUs Antony Leather shows you how to replace the thermal material under your CPU’s heatspreader to reduce temperatures TOTA L P R OJ E C T T I M E / 2 H O U R S

1 / CHECK YOUR CPU ISN’T SOLDERED Broadwell-E and earlier CPUs have soldered heatspreaders, so attempting to remove the spreader here is dangerous. Make sure your CPU is a 7000-series model, which includes Kaby Lake-X CPUs. For mainstream CPUs, this means any chip between the 3000 and 8000-series – Ivy Bridge through Coffee Lake.

ntel has had a mixed history when it comes to solder and thermal paste. After Sandy Bridge in 2011, Intel’s mainstream desktop CPUs, from Ivy Bridge onwards, lacked solder between the CPU core and heatspreader, using thermal paste instead. Intel then did away with solder momentarily on its HEDT platform too with Skylake-X, before hurriedly adding it back with the likes of the Core i9-9980XE, and sticking to its guns with Cascade Lake-X too. It also added it back with the 9th-gen mainstream CPUs, such as the Core i9-9900K. However, there are still a lot of CPUs out there, perhaps including yours, that would benefit from delidding. This is the process of removing the heatspreader and stock thermal paste, and replacing it with highperformance liquid metal paste. The affects can be dramatic, with much cooler temperatures under load and higher overclocking headroom. We view delidding a soldered CPU as a step too far and a little risky for the gains, but this month we’re showing you how to delid a Skylake-X CPU or oneof Intel’s various mainstream CPUs that lack solder.

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2 / USE DER8AUER DELIDDIEMATE

TO O L S YO U ’ L L N E E D

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High-temperature silicone adhesive ebay.co.uk

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Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut overclockers.co.uk

Mainstream CPUs can be delidded easily with a razor blade, which we’ll cover briefly here, but the safest and easiest way is to use a der8auer Delid-Die-Mate tool. They’re available for both Intel HEDT (bottom) and mainstream CPUs (top) and work brilliantly by dislodging the heatspreader.

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TIM cleaner overclockers.co.uk

3 / GET HIGHPERFORMANCE PASTE

Plastic pick tools ebay.co.uk

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der8auer DelidDie-Mate caseking.com

It’s best to use liquid metal paste, such as Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut, between the CPU and heatspreader, to ensure maximum thermal conductivity. You can use this paste between your CPU and cooler too, as long as the latter doesn’t have an aluminium heatsink, although we recommend using standard thermal paste here to be safe.

4 / CLEAN CPU To start, it’s important to get thermal results for your CPU before delidding, so you can make sure the process has improved your temperatures. Remove your CPU cooler and clean the CPU (as well as the contact area of your CPU cooler) with a lint-free cloth and a cleaning solution, such as ArctiClean or isopropyl alcohol.

7 / OPTION 1  RAZOR BLADE If you want to delid your CPU on a budget, you can use a razor or Stanley knife blade on LGA115x desktop CPUs. By edging and scoring between the heatsink and CPU, you can eventually dislodge the heatsink. Don’t insert the blade more than 2-3mm and be careful not to scratch the CPU substrate.

5 / APPLY THERMAL PASTE It helps to apply fresh thermal paste prior to testing, as you can reduce the impact of comparing old thermal paste with newly applied paste. Go ahead and apply your chosen paste to the CPU and reinstall your cooler.

8 / OPTION 2  DELIDDING TOOL If possible, we recommend using a der8auer Delid-Die-Mate tool, instead of a razor blade. A large arrow in the LGA2066 tool plate will match the gold arrow on the CPU, while the LGA115x tool requires the underside circuitry to line up with a hole in the bottom.

6 / TEST CPU Without a benchmark, you won’t know if your delid has worked as planned. Use Prime95 with AVX instructions disabled to load all your CPU’s cores and threads and allow the CPU to heat up for ten minutes. Record the highest and average core temperatures using a program such as CoreTemp (alcpu.com/CoreTemp).

9 / CHECK SLIDER MOVES FREELY The slider on each tool needs to be able to move freely, so check this is the case before you apply pressure. If it’s stuck or mounted improperly you can damage the tool or your CPU.

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10 / MARK HEATSPREADER POSITION For LGA2066 CPUs, mark the position of the heatspreader in order to see your progress. Due to components around the heatspreader, you can only move it a few millimetres. This mark will also allow you to realign the heatspreader afterwards. For LGA115x CPUs, take a photo of the heatspreader position for future reference.

13 / REMOVE CPU Once you’ve dislodged the heatspreader, wind off the slider and remove the CPU. With LGA2066 CPUs, you may need to prise off the heatspreader with a plastic pick or gently run a razor round the edge to dislodge it.

11 / TIGHTEN SCREW

14 / DETACH HEATSPREADER

Each tool comes with an Allen screw, which you’ll need to insert in order to fully assemble the tool. Tighten this screw with your fingers first to make sure the sliders make contact with the CPU.

Take note of the heatspreader’s orientation on the CPU, then remove it and place both parts down on a flat work surface, with the heatspreader and CPU die facing upwards.

12 / USE ALLEN KEY Use the included Allen key to tighten the screw. With LGA115x CPUs, you’ll dislodge the heatspreader quickly and easily. However, LGA2066 CPUs require the heatspreader to be pushed back and forth a few times before you can dislodge it. Take care to avoid the large black chip on the top side of these CPUs.

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15 / CLEAN HEATSPREADER AND CPU You need to remove the stock thermal paste, which will be plastered over the CPU die and heatspreader. Use a lint-free cloth and either a TIM cleaner or isopropyl alcohol to thoroughly clean them, being as gentle as possible.

16 / SCRUB OFF ADHESIVE There will be old silicone adhesive left on both those areas, and you’ll need to remove it. Use a plastic pick or credit card to scrape it off gently – you only need to remove the larger portions.

19 / RUB ONTO CPU DIE The Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut metal paste we used comes with some handy applicator tools to work the paste into the CPU die’s surface, which takes a few seconds. However, you can use a plastic pick to do this job too.

17 / APPLY NAIL VARNISH

20 / APPLY PASTE TO HEATSPREADER

With LGA2066 CPUs, using metal thermal paste poses a problem, as there are exposed chips positioned around the CPU core. The paste is extremely runny and conductive, so you need to insulate these chips with a thin layer of clear nail varnish.

As the thermal paste needs to be worked into the surface to work, you’ll also need to apply it to the underside of the heatspreader. Apply it so that it lines up with the CPU die, and use the same method to apply a small amount of paste and work it into the surface.

18 / APPLY THERMAL PASTE

21 / WEAR GLOVES

Apply the liquid metal paste in tiny amounts – most tubes come with a small needle applicator to make this job easier. Apply a small dot to the CPU core. If you apply too much, you can draw the syringe back to suck some up.

The next step is applying the silicone adhesive, which can irritate your skin if it comes into contact with it. At this point we recommend putting on a pair of plastic gloves to protect your hands.

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M O D D I N G / HOW TO GUIDES

25 / SECURE CLAMP 22/ APPLY SILICONE ADHESIVE It’s best to secure the heatspreader to the CPU as soon as you’re done with the paste, or it can move around. Use silicone adhesive, applied sparingly to the underside edges of the heatspreader.

Tighten the clamp so it’s finger-tight with a low amount of force – this pressure will ensure any excess adhesive is forced out. You’ll have a few minutes before it starts to set, so if the heatspreader moves, there’s time to loosen the clamp and realign it if necessary.

26 / WIPE OFF EXCESS ADHESIVE Use a cotton bud to remove any excess adhesive from the outside. Run the cotton bud along the join between the heatspreader and the CPU to clear it away.

23 / REPLACE HEATSPREADER With the adhesive applied, carefully lift the heatspreader and place it back onto the CPU in the correct orientation.

27 / RETEST FOR TEMPERATURES 24 / INSERT CPU INTO TOOL The Delid tools include a clamp that can be used to fix the heatspreader and CPU together while the adhesive dries. Carefully lift the CPU and place it in the CPU slot (the correct way around), so it’s seated evenly.

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We found our overclocked Core i9-7900X’s load temperature fell from a toasty peak 104°C and 97°C average after ten minutes at load to a healthier 90°C peak and 87°C average, but the star of the show was our Core i7-8700K, which fell from a peak of 97°C to just 74°C, with the average dropping from 91°C to just 69°C.

CO M M U N I T Y / FOLDING

Folding@home Join our folding team and help medical research ACTIVE USER MILESTONES

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DAILY POINTS AVERAGE

OVERALL SCORE

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WHAT IS FOLDING? Folding@home uses spare CPU and GPU processing cycles for medical research, with a current focus on COVID-19. You can get the client from foldingathome.org/start-folding and our team’s ID is 35947. Once you pass the 20-million-points milestone (we hope to make this lower in future) you’ll get your name in the mag. You can discuss folding with other readers online at the bit-tech.net forums (custompc.co.uk/FoldingForum).

TOP 15 OVERALL

107

R E T R O T E C H / ANALYSIS

Sinclair PC200

Ben Hardwidge takes a look back at his very first PC, the last computer to officially y bear the Sinclair brand efore the beloved Sinclair computer brand was bought out by a fresh and furry-faced Alan Sugar in 1986, Clive Sinclair’s engineers were working on a project to inject new life into the ZX Spectrum, codenamed ‘Loki’. With custom silicon enhancing the graphics and sound of the ZX Spectrum core, and a 7MHz Z80H CPU, it could possibly have rivalled the Atari ST and Commodore Amiga. The ZX Spectrum Next on p94 gives us a glimpse of some of the potential. What actually happened, though, was the Sinclair PC200. The PC200 was Amstrad’s last roll of the black and red Sinclair dice, aiming to build a home business machine with family appeal. It was basically a black, rebadged version of Amstrad’s PC20, with an RF output enabling it to be plugged into a TV, plus a joystick and games bundle. Unlike previous Sinclair machines, it was also IBM PC-compatible. Like the Atari 520ST and Commodore Amiga 500, the whole shebang is shoehorned into the same box as the keyboard. The base unit would set you back £459 inc VAT on its own, while £574 inc VAT would also get you a mono monitor and £689 inc VAT would get you a colour monitor.

B

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Specs PCs weren’t cheap at this time, though, and hitting those prices meant serious compromises. At its core, the Sinclair PC200 was a primitive XT-level IBM PC clone. It had an 8MHz AMD 8086 CPU (marketed as ‘Intel compatible’ rather than AMD), 512KB of RAM, CGA graphics, a 720KB 3.5in floppy drive and no hard drive. I say ‘primitive’, because the specs were considered dreadful even at the time. In 1988, both the 286 and 386 had been out for some time, as had EGA graphics adaptors. You very rarely saw PCs without hard drives at this time either. That would all be fine if you were making a cut-down business machine, but the PC200 was very much not a home games machine, despite its pretences. For starters, the CGA graphics adaptor could only display four colours at 320 x 200, or two colours at 640 x 200. As you may recall from our guide to CGA graphics (see Issue 191, p101), these visuals were pitiful compared with the full-colour graphics on the Amiga and Atari ST. If you wanted to play a racing game, you could forget luxuries such as having a black road, a red car, blue sky and green grass. The sound wasn’t much cop either. While the latest Atari and Amiga machines featured arcade-quality gaming audio, the PC200 had a basic PC speaker beeper (see Issue 196, p112), although the rotary volume control on the side meant you could take down the shrill chirping a notch or two. The

The Sinclair PC200’s black chassis looked smart compared to other PCs at the time, but its innards left little to be desired. Photo by Marcin Wichary (flickr.com/photos/ mwichary)

Rick Dangerous 2 running the default four-colour CGA palette. My eyes!

difference between Xenon 2: Megablast in black and with beepy music on the PC200, compared with full colour with a Bomb the Bass soundtrack on the Atari ST, was pretty stark. To make matters worse, there was no hard drive – you had to boot up the machine with a floppy disk each time you switched it on, resetting the time and date manually yourself. The lack of a hard drive wasn’t a problem for simple games and text-based applications, but it was a severe limitation when it came to running a GUI. The PC200 came with Gem 3, but there was little software available for it. We also had Windows 2.03 running on it, but it was difficult to get the operating system and the software you wanted to run on just one 720KB floppy disk. Large games, such as Sierra’s adventures, also resulted in constant disk swapping.

YOU JUST HAD TO PROP THE OPEN LID AGAINST THE MODEM

Unlike many PCs at the time, a 15-pin joystick connector was included, as well as a half-decent analogue joystick

Upgrades

Like all good PCs, there was potential to upgrade, but few of the routes were really practical. The PC200 came with 512KB of memory, which you could upgrade further if you dared. There were spaces on the PCB to install your own DRAM chips and upgrade to 640KB. Another route was to use a Lotus Intel Microsoft (LIM) card, which mounted extra memory on an expensive ISA expansion card. There were two 8-bit ISA slots at the back of the machine, underneath a flip-up lid. Unlike your usual PC case, though, there was no way to secure the cards in place via backplate screws. In fact, most cards wouldn’t even fit in the case. We added a 2,400bps Amstrad modem to our machine, and you just had to prop the open lid against the modem. There were no extra hard drive bays, or even a spare MFM controller for a hard drive, either. If you wanted a hard drive, you needed a hard card – a kind of Whacky Races contraption that mounted a full mechanical hard drive and controller on an ISA card. With just two slots, you had to choose your upgrades carefully. You couldn’t add EGA graphics, an Ad-Lib sound card, a hard card and upgrade to 640KB of RAM at the

There were two 8-bit ISA slots, but the lid wouldn’t close properly if you installed (most) cards in them

same time. The other expansion options were a parallel and 25-pin serial port on the back, as well as an external floppy drive connector, plus a spare socket for an 8087 maths coprocessor (floating point unit). Meanwhile, at the front was a 9-pin connector for the supplied (black) Amstrad mouse – a horrible contraption with a highly uncomfortable ridge between the buttons, and a standard 15-pin joystick connector. In a rare plus point, the included analogue Sinclair joystick was great – I still have mine and it still works.

Legacy Not surprisingly, the PC200 bombed on release. Quality control problems meant some machines (including our first one) were dead on arrival. Gamers laughed at its sound and graphics, while PC users were unimpressed by its limited specs and upgrade potential. I still have a soft spot for the PC200 though. It was my introduction to the wonderful world of PCs, and getting the most out of it required you to really fiddle about with it. Unlike most PCs at the time, it was also black, rather than beige. There might have been better machines at the time, but I spent hours on it every day. In 2004, I decided to gut my old PC200 and replace the innards with a Pentium 4. I was quite pleased with the result at the time, but in retrospect, I wish I’d kept it as it was. Bizarrely, the PC200’s rarity has now made it a holy grail among Sinclair computer collectors, and they go for good money on eBay. There’s also now a great group on Facebook called the Sinclair PC200 Users Club (facebook.com/groups/ SinclairPC200Users), where people swap tips and tricks for turning the PC200 into a half-decent machine. You can find out how to add CompactFlash storage, which low-profile VGA cards will fit in a slot and enable you to still close the lid, and you can also 3D-print your own expansion slot plate. The last computer to feature the Sinclair brand might have been a compromised PC with a number of quirky flaws, but there’s clearly still a lot of love for it.

109

M O D D I N G / READERS’ DRIVES

Readers’ Drive

Project J3NKN5 Borderlands fan Ivan Cervenak created this unreal-looking PC mod with a load of vinyl wrap, some acrylic paint pens and a needle

/MEET THY MAKER Name Ivan Cervenak Age 40 Occupation Computer technician Location Isle of Anglesey, Wales Main uses for PC It’s my son’s main PC Likes My wife and kids, PC games, honest people, hills, sea, loneliness and conspiracy theories Dislikes Wind, dentists, spinach and alcohol

110

What inspired you to build a Borderlands-themed PC mod, and what do you use it for? Ivan: It was bit of an impulse build really. In June 2015 (yes, really that long ago), I was making some signs for a local carnival and had to order stickyback vinyl for it. The colours the organisers chose were the exact colours of little robot Jimmy J3NKN5 from my favourite game Borderlands 2. The night before that, I was playing Borderlands 2, and this little bot scared the hell out of me when he jumped out of a loot crate. I had a Zalman Z11 case in my shop, which

was damaged in transit and wass just sitting on a shelf. When I had these rolls of vinyl delivered,it ju ust all fell together. I didn’t have a use for that case initially,and this mod just felt like something I needed d to create. When it was finished,I pu ut it on display in my shop. A lot of my customers thought it was made out of cardboard! Now it’s my son’s PC,which he uses every day. What’s special to you abou ut Jimmy J3NKN5? Ivan: It made my son very happy y. The PC doesn’t look real in the photos – it looks like someone’s drawn it. How did you go about recreating the style of Borderlands? Ivan: Back in 2013, I saw a simila ar case mod by CrazyLefty and I’d always admired it. His mod was done with paint and a Sharpie,b but I wanted to do something different. In my case, the whole setup is

wrapped in vinyl. I took everything apart to the very last screw, and removed the drive cage from inside the case, as it was a massive obstruction for airflow. I then cleaned the case and started wrapping it. There was also some existing damage on the case, with a big crack in the window. I didn’t like the window anyway, as it made the case look asymmetrical,

the cel-shaded patterns with an acrylic paint pen. The drive covers are wrapped too, and the mesh effect on them was created with a needle, which involved a good half a day of poking holes in covers! When that was all done, I grabbed a fairly old Lenovo multimedia keyboard, took it apart, cleaned it and wrapped it. I changed the LEDs in the Num Lock, Caps Lock

I wrapped the whole case and DVD drive, cleaned it with alcohol and then started freestyling the cel-shaded patterns so I replaced the window with a new one made from 3mm clear flat acrylic. I also created a stripe of frosted foil across it, which continues into a white stripe on the case itself. I then sanded the sides of that window slightly to make it look weathered. After that, I wrapped the whole case and DVD drive, cleaned it with alcohol and then started freestyling

and Scroll Lock keys to blue ones, and every key is wrapped around the sides with one continuous strip of vinyl. I then recreated the cel-shaded effect on the keyboard in the same way as I did on the case. I also did the same with the mouse, which is a Dragonwar Thor G9, and the monitor, which is a 22in Fujitsu model in white with an articulated stand. 111

M O D D I N G / READERS’ DRIVES

SYSTEM SPECS CPU Intel Core i7-3770K at stock speed GPU Palit GeForce GTX 1660 Super StormX Case Zalman Z11 Storage SanDisk Ultra II 480GB SSD, Seagate 2TB hard disk Memory Corsair Vengeance Pro 2133MHz DDR3 16GB Motherboard ASRock B75 Pro3 PSU be quiet! Straight Power 10 800W Cooling SilverStone Argon AR01 CPU cooler, Stock GPU cooler, 3x 140mm red LED fans + 120mm red LED fan

When I finished the tower, other standard peripherals just didn’t look right next to it How did you make the decals? Ivan: I designed the decals myself in Inkscape,and cut them out with a vinyl cutter. Did you perform any custom modifications to the case? Ivan: Apart from the window,I didn’t perform many physical mods to the case itself. I removed the hard drive cage,and changed all the fans to red LED models in order to get the red glow inside the case. I also removed the case’s little side fans, as they were too loud for my liking, and I changed the colour of the power button’s LED to red. Which were the hardest parts to decorate, and how did you do them? Ivan: The hardest parts were the mouse and keyboard. The mouse was hard because of its outlandish shape, and doing the keyboard was very time-consuming. Of course, 112

I had to dismantle both these parts before I could decorate them as well, which added further complication. We’ve seen the exterior of the PC, but are there any Borderlands goodies on the inside too? Ivan: There’s nothing special inside, sadly. Your theme doesn’t just cover the PC tower, but also the peripherals and monitor. Why did you want to modify all the other bits and pieces too? Ivan: When I finished the tower, other standard peripherals just didn’t look right next to it. I felt like it would be impossible to find any other parts to fit its styling and shape. However, the shapes of that particular keyboard and mouse matched perfectly with the case – it was just the colours that were wrong, so I decided to decorate them to match the case.

WIN CORSAIR HYDRO X WATERCOOLING GEAR To enter your rig for possible inclusion in Readers’ Drives, your build needs to be fully working and, ideally, based in the UK. Simply send us a couple of photos on Twitter (@ CustomPCMag) or Facebook (CPCMagazine), or email low-res ones to [email protected]. Fame isn’t the only prize; you’ll also get your hands on some fabulous prizes, courtesy of Corsair.

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Are you tempted to decorate the keycaps as well? Ivan: I was going to do this, but then I thought it wouldn’t be durable enough for daily use, as all of it would be wrapped. Slightly off topic, but what did you think of Borderlands 3? Ivan: It’s good fun, especially with friends, but Borderlands 2 is still my favourite game. What specs did you choose and why? Ivan: It was made as a shelf showpiece for the shop, so it was empty when I finished the case mod

itself, but it’s now filled with an Ivy Bridge system for my son. How long did it take you to complete this mod, from start to finish? Ivan: It took me about two weeks of working on it after work for around one to two hours each day. Are you completely happy with the end result, or do you wish you’d done some of it differently in retrospect? Ivan: If I could change one aspect of it, I would have used matt vinyl instead of gloss, but that’s basically impossible to change now.

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113

OPINION

JA M E S G O R B O L D / HARDWARE ACCELERATED

KEEPING UP WITH DEMAND James Gorbold gives some insight into how the tech industry has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic o here we are,another month into the ongoing COVIDThe second major issue is that,even if factories were working 19 pandemic, and I thought it might be interesting at full capacity, they simply aren’t geared up for such high demand at this time of year. Normally, late Q2 is one of the to share some insider anecdotes about how this situation is affecting the tech industry. quietest times for the tech industry,but the demand for gaming A significant proportion of Scan’s sales are ecommerce,and it products is now on a parallel with Black Friday,and for weeks shouldn’t be news to you that,like many online retailers,we’ve on end.With the best will in the world,you can’t simply crank seen a massive spike in demand over the last few weeks. The up the fabs and expect new GPUs to appear on the shelves a few days later. The production of most tech gear involves first wave saw companies and universities buying up every dozens of subcontractors working like clockwork together, webcam,headset,laptop and office PC they could find while which simply isn’t happening right now. they restructured their teams to work from home. Remote working isn’t just about client computing though; it also What’s more,many distributors are also extremely reluctant requires massive investment in infrastructure, to hold high volumes of stock in case of a sudden such as servers and VPN configuration, so market slowdown. Fortunately,Scan is large Demand for gaming datacentres have also seen a surge in demand. enough to buy many products direct from More recently,a second wave has emerged manufacturers, but many smaller resellers products is now on a are far more reliant on distributors. as a surge in demand for gaming components parallel with Black Friday and systems. This is an obvious side effect of Within Scan,we’ve continued to evolve our the lockdown, with many other sources of response to coronavirus,adding a status page leisure not being accessible or available now. on the website that’s updated several times a day.As already The massive demand for gaming products is challenging recounted in my column last month, we implemented remote for the PC hardware industry. Firstly, many tech factories and working for the majority of our teammates very early on, but of course, several roles simply aren’t suitable for home their subcontractors are still suffering from the aftereffects working. As a result, to ensure social distancing, we’ve split of the lockdown in parts of China. While every factory I know the warehouse and build teams into multiple shifts. of is now operational, the output of each factory is variable – the best cases are running at around 70 per cent capacity, Since then, we’ve implemented some major changes, and the worst cases at around 30 per cent. including recruiting two full-time healthcare workers to This has had two knock-on effects, firstly on lead time, with ensure we follow the best practice guidelines to mitigate all products taking longer to source. For example, high-end against risk. In addition, to better cope with the surge in motherboards, which normally take around four weeks to sales, we’ve extended the operating warehouse from its usual source, have now extended to around 12 weeks. The second 11-hour cycle to a 24-hour one, and lengthened our customer service contact hours. We’re responding to the crisis as best impact is of course on cost, not only of the components themselves, but also on freight costs into the UK. we can and continuing to evolve as the situation develops.

S

James Gorbold has been building, tweaking and overclocking PCs ever since the 1980s. He now helps Scan Computers to develop new systems.

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