Custom PC Issue 228

GAMEPAD GROUP TEST 9 PC GAME CONTROLLERS REVIEWED
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Welcome
Custom PC Issue 228
/ FROM THE EDITOR
Innovation central
ustom PC has been a fan of mini-ITX ever since the old
C days, when the first mini motherboards based on

weedy VIA EPIA CPUs were being snapped up by
EDITORIAL
EDITOR
DESIGN
criticalmedia.co.uk
HEAD OF DESIGN
Ben Hardwidge
modders – there’s one built into a model car in our very first issue Lee Allen
[email protected]
in 2003, and I also really like this month’s Readers’ drives scratch DESIGNERS
build (see p110), which is based on an even smaller motherboard FEATURES EDITOR
Ty Logan, Sam Ribbits, Olivia Mitchell
Edward Chester
design from ASRock. [email protected] COMMERCIAL &
Having limitations forces you to innovate, and while there’s ADVERTISING
MODDING EDITOR
still plenty of innovation going on in the ATX PC space, it’s in the Antony Leather ADVERTISING
mini-ITX arena where you see all the really interesting ideas. Charlotte Milligan
GAMES EDITOR
Take a look at our mini-ITX motherboard Labs on p36 and you’ll [email protected]
Rick Lane +44 (0)7725 368887
see all sorts of new ideas, from stacked PCB arrangements to M.2
CONTRIBUTORS DISTRIBUTION
ports on the backs of motherboards and vertical add-on boards
Gareth Halfacree, James Gorbold, Seymour Distribution Ltd
to provide SATA ports. Packing all the gear needed by the average Mike Jennings, Phil Hartup, 2 East Poultry Ave,
PC enthusiast onto a 170 x 170mm PCB requires some serious Richard Swinburne, Stuart Andrews, London EC1A 9PT
thinking, and that makes for some refreshing ideas. Tracy King +44 (0)207 429 4000
There’s also a huge variety of mini-ITX cases available in tall, PRODUCTION EDITOR
SUBSCRIPTIONS
short, wide and narrow designs. Squeezing a fully featured PC Julie Birrell
Unit 6 The Enterprise Centre
with a graphics card into the volume of a shoebox (or less) isn’t PHOTOGRAPHY Kelvin Lane, Manor Royal,
Crawley, West Sussex, RH10 9PE
easy, particularly when it comes to cooling. Antony Leather, Brian O’Halloran,
Phone
While this makes for some really interesting ideas, however, Gareth Halfacree
01293 312182
it can be a bit of a minefield to navigate, particularly if you’re PUBLISHING Email
new to the field. Your choice of case will also affect your choice of PUBLISHING DIRECTOR [email protected]
cooling and hardware, and the case you think looks best may well Russell Barnes Website
not have all the features you want. [email protected] custompc.co.uk/subscribe
That’s why we’ve accompanied this month’s mini-ITX

motherboard Labs with a full feature (see p74). It takes you
ISSUE 228 This magazine is printed on paper sourced from
through the various different case designs and the hardware you sustainable forests. The printer operates an
can use with them, while also showing you how to build a killer environmental management system which has been
assessed as conforming to ISO 14001.
gaming PC in Phanteks’ gorgeous Evolv Shift XT chassis. Custom PC magazine is published by Raspberry Pi
You’ll be surprised what you can achieve in such a small case if Ltd, Maurice Wilkes Building, St. John’s Innovation
Park, Cowley Road, Cambridge, CB4 0DS. The
you follow our guide. A full-sized graphics card and top-end CPU publisher, editor, and contributors accept no
responsibility in respect of any omissions or errors
isn’t out of the question, and neither is liquid cooling. If your only relating to goods, products or services referred to or
expansion card is a GPU, and you don’t have a large stack of hard advertised. ISSN: 1740-7443.
drives, there’s no reason why your next PC can’t be a dinky mini-
ISSUE 228
ITX rig that has all the performance you could want. SUBSCRIBERS
EDITION DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME The information in this
magazine is given in good faith. Raspberry Pi Ltd
cannot accept any responsibility for loss, disruption
EDITOR or damage to your data or your computer that may
occur as a result of following or attempting to follow
Ben Hardwidge advice given in the magazine. If things do go wrong,
take a break.
[email protected]
@custompcmag
3
C U STO M P C / ISSUE 228
Contents Welcome to Issue 228
Highlights
08 Ludicrous speed COVER

SSD storage is set to hit 12GB/ STORY
sec soon, but Richard Swinburne P74
ponders what real-world benefits
this performance will provide for
most users.
Gaming myths
10
Tracy King explores the pervasive
misconceptions about games and
gaming that continue to be levelled at
the industry.
Backforce One
18
Using a different manufacturer to Gamepad Labs
50 Which GPU should I buy?
90
many of its rivals, the Backforce PC gaming isn’t all about using Ben Hardwidge delves into the
One brings some fresh ideas to the a keyboard and mouse. Edward current graphics card market, now
gaming chair space. Chester puts nine of the latest that prices are normalising, to find out
gamepads to the test. where your money is now best spent.
Roccat Burst Pro Air
20
Roccat’s latest wireless gaming The Stanley Parable:
71 Hobby tech
94
mouse packs in plenty of features for Ultra Deluxe Gareth Halfacree reviews the tiny
its price. A second remake of a decade-old Panic Playdate games console,
game shouldn’t be this exciting, but revisits the MNT Reform laptop and
Austrian Audio PG16
21 The Stanley Parable is just that good. explores the history of Commodore
and PB17 in his latest book review.
A relatively new name in high-end Build a mini PC
74
audio, Austrian Audio’s gaming and Find out all the information you 102 Spray-paint your PC case
business headsets offer accurate need to know in order to build a Learn how to add a professional-
sound and a sleek design. magnificent micro machine without looking paint job to your PC in Antony
sacrificing performance. We take Leather’s latest modding guide.
Asus ROG Zephyrus M16
22 you through the hardware, and give
With its relatively slim, lightweight you a full guide to building a mini PC 108 Retro tech
and stylish chassis, Asus’ latest large based on Phanteks' great-looking Stuart Andrews looks back at the
gaming laptop punches well above Evolv Shift XT chassis. fascinating story of how the CPU that
its weight. started the PC revolution, the Intel
Inside FSR 2
86 8086, came to be created.
Mini-ITX motherboard Labs
36 AMD has reworked its FidelityFX
Find the mightiest motherboard for Super Resolution upscaling Readers’ drives
110
your mini PC build as Antony Leather technology to look and perform Built completely from scratch, Jean
puts ten of the latest mini-ITX better than ever but is it a true rival Roberto De lacovo talks us through
motherboards through their paces. to DLSS yet? creating his tiny circular PC.
4
Cover guide Regulars Reviewed
CASES
39
PRODUCTS
3 From the editor
74 50
14
Kolink Observatory Z
Mesh ARGB
REVIEWED
8 Richard Swinburne 16
NZXT H7 Flow
GAMING CHAIRS
GAMEPAD GROUP TEST 9 PC GAME CONTROLLERS REVIEWED
10 Tracy King 18 Backforce One
GAMING MICE
ISSUE 228 / SEPTEMBER 2022 MINI-ITX MOTHERBOARD LABS / MINI-ITX BUILD GUIDE / GAMEPAD GROUP TEST / AMD FSR 2 / GPU BUYERS GUIDE / HOW TO SPRAY-PAINT YOUR PC CASE
THE BEST-SELLING MAG FOR PC HARDWARE, OVERCLOCKING, GAMING & MODDING / ISSUE 228 12 Incoming 20 Roccat Burst Pro Air
BUILD A GAMING HEADSETS
MINI PC
30 Custom kit 21 Austrian Audio PG16 and PB17
GAMING LAPTOPS
34 How we test 22 Asus Zephyrus M16 GU603ZW
CREATE A KILLER GAMING PC IN A TINY PACKAGE PC SYSTEMS
FIT A FULL-SIZE GRAPHICS CARD
60 Elite products 26 CyberPower Hydro-X Infinity RTX
FOLLOW OUR FULL BUILD GUIDE
LEARN OUR EXPERT TIPS 28 CCL Horizon 5 Intel RTX 3080 Gaming PC
CHOOSE YOUR CASE
MINI-ITX
MOTHERBOARDS
66 Inverse look Custom kit
PRICES FROM £140 TO £373
30 Samsung T7 Shield
INTEL AND AMD OPTIONS
72 Reality check
10 30 ARCTIC Breeze
BOARDS
REVIEWED!
30 Litetour Desk Cord Organisers
94 Hobby tech 31 Cooler Master Connect Stand
31 Boompods Soundclip
99 For the win
SEPTEMBER 2022 / £5.99
HOW TO SPRAY-PAINT YOUR CASE

001_CPC#228_Cover final.indd 1 21/06/2022 15:12
Mini-ITX motherboard Labs
100 Customised PC 37 ASRock B550 Phantom Gaming-ITX/ax
36 102 38 ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX TB3
102 How to guides 39 Asus ROG Strix B550-I Gaming
40 Asus ROG Strix X570-I Gaming
20 108 Retro tech 41 Gigabyte B550I Aorus Pro AX
42 Gigabyte X570-I Aorus Pro WiFi
44 MSI MPG B550I Gaming Edge MAX WiFi
110 Readers’ drives
45 Asus ROG Strix Z690-I Gaming WiFi
46 Gigabyte B660I Aorus Pro DDR4
114 James Gorbold 47 Gigabyte Z690I Aorus Ultra Plus
Gamepad Labs
50 51 Logitech F310
110 52 Microsoft Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2
53 Microsoft Xbox Wireless Controller
54 MSI Force GC20 V2
55 PowerA Spectra Infinity Xbox Series X
56 Razer Wolverine V2 Chroma
57 Scuf Instinct Pro
58 Sony DualSense
59 Thrustmaster Dual Analog 4
36 Games
67 King Arthur: Knight’s Tale
71 68 Dorfromantik
70 Galactic Civilizations 4
71 The Stanley Parable Ultra Deluxe
72 Cosmonious High
Hobby tech
94 Panic Playdate
98 From Vultures to Vampires
5
OPINION
RICHARD SWINBURNE / VIEW FROM TAIWAN
PCI-E 5 SSDS ARE COMING

Storage speeds will soon hit 12GB/sec, but Richard Swinburne
asks if you’ll be able to notice the difference
t Computex this year, Phison showed the first PCI-E 5 technologies, such as spin-torque (STT), ReRAM or other phase-
A SSD controller in action on an upcoming Asus ROG
X670E Hero motherboard with an AMD Ryzen
change storage products aren’t materialising either. It’s a bit
frustrating that five years later, standard SSDs still haven’t
7000-series CPU. Phison’s new E26 SSD controller recorded a caught up with Optane in some essential metrics. That might
whopping 12.5GB/sec sequential read speed, and a sequential soon change though.
write speed a smidge over 10GB/sec. When compared to the At its recent investor day conference, Micron announced a
peak ~7GB/sec sequential speeds of the fastest PCI-E 4 SSDs, new 232-layer 1Tb TLC 3D NAND chip. In comparison, the most
it’s clearly a huge upgrade. advanced 3D NAND today has a maximum count of ~160-176
The SSD was connected directly to the CPU for maximum layers. Micron noted that its new 3D NAND uses a combination
performance, but you won’t need to buy the most expensive of external and internal controllers for data storage. Micron
X670E chipset to get a PCI-E 5 SSD socket. AMD has committed clarified that it’s building a micro SSD controller into the
to having at least one PCI-E 5 M.2 socket on all its motherboard NAND chip itself, offloading low-level functions, such as wear
chipsets, whether it’s X670E, X670 or even the levelling and garbage collection, from the main
mainstream B650. These next-gen SSDs will also SSD controller, freeing the latter to focus on user-
be bigger than their predecessors – PCI-E 5 SSDs Its new 3D NAND centric work.
will measure 25mm wide (2580), instead of the uses external and Micron explained that its design uses a wide
22mm (2280) used now. bus inside each NAND chip, so it could efficiently
Apacer and Zadak have announced SSDs internal controllers handle its own operations and external requests,
using the Phison E26 controller for later this year, while the bus between the NAND and the main
which gives us a good insight into availability. Those brands SSD controller is now narrower, owing to the reduced traffic.
aren’t typically a first choice on most people’s shopping lists, This reduces request latency, which boosts overall performance,
but Phison should supply the chip to other partners as well. and it improves power efficiency, because the data self-
Phison’s demo did let slip one area with no performance management never leaves the NAND chip. At a time when even
gains, however. Its 4K single-queue-depth result – a typical PCI-E 4 SSD controllers are frequently temperature throttling
workload for a home/gaming PC – was just 62MB/sec, which under heavy load, this is a very welcome design change.
is pretty much the same as an average PCI-E 3 SSD. It remains The Phison demo did use Micron TLC NAND, but not the
to be seen if real-world speed will see a boost, but it’s unlikely new 232-layer variety. It’s also unknown whether Phison’s
to be as revolutionary as the headline numbers suggest. controller can use Micron’s new NAND either, given that the
For example, a 1st-gen Intel Optane 900p drive, which E26 controller is already heading into production, and Micron’s
launched in 2017, might only produce 2.5GB/sec sequential latest 3D NAND has only just been announced. However,
speeds, but its 4K single-queue-depth performance is around this may be addressable in firmware updates, or perhaps
220MB/sec – over 3.5x faster than the new PCI-E 5 drives. Sadly, 2nd-generation PCI-5 SSDs will demonstrate better real-world
we won’t see another Optane drive out of Intel, and alternative results beyond the headline numbers.
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 @ricswi
8
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cclonline.com · amazon.co.uk
OPINION
T R ACY K I N G / SCEPTICAL ANALYSIS
MYTHS AND LEGENDS

Tracy King takes on some of the pernicious myths about gaming,
from addiction to games causing depression and violence
omeone recently asked me if I’d ever written a short Nobody says a grand master is addicted to chess, because
S guide to gaming myths, the sort of thing you could
show to naysayers and fearmongers. I’ve tackled
chess is seen as intellectually stimulating, but it is just a game
that has a different cultural history to, say, Starcraft. If I bet on
each of these topics at length in previous columns, whenever the outcome of chess, or play a chess variant where I pay for
there has been new studies or evidence, but here are some the chance of an upgraded rook, some gambling psychology
handy quick talking points. might apply and my risk of developing a compulsion from
First up is the most common myth: that video games which I can’t walk away could increase. But currently there is
cause violence. This one is dangerous because it distracts no consensus on even the definition of video game addiction,
from looking for the actual causes of shootings. Gaming is or how to diagnose it.
the most popular hobby, so yes, you will probably get some The third myth is that gaming causes depression. Nobody
overlap with the ‘commits violent crime’ population. This is knows for sure what ‘causes’ depression, but it’s not plausible
also true of, say, people who read Harry Potter, but no one is to claim that someone without mental health issues can
claiming Voldemort causes violence. develop them simply from playing games, any more than
The teenage killer population is so tiny, and they could from binge-watching Netflix.
the gamer population so large, you’ll get overlap There is some evidence that gaming actually
just as you do for film and TV (‘video nasties’ Currently the science improves mental health, because it can be social
were blamed for violence before games). You says that games do and fun, but people experiencing depression may
could just as easily argue that because 99.99 per also retreat into virtual worlds as a distraction
cent of gamers do not shoot up schools, gaming
not cause violence (this has happened to me and I credit gaming
actually has a positive influence. with helping, not exacerbating).
But what does the evidence say? It’s difficult to study It may be reasonable to say that depressed people game
because, again, the population of killers is very small, but more, but it’s less reasonable to say people who game more
currently the science says that games do not cause violence. become depressed.
Nor is there good reason to think they do, when there are so Currently, the evidence says games don’t cause depression,
many other factors in the lives of killers. but staying up all night gaming (or reading, watching TV
The next myth is that games are addictive. This one is or listening to music), or lying on the sofa all day avoiding
a bit more complicated than it used to be, because of loot exercise might not be helping if you’re already low.
crates. Gambling addiction is real, and gambling is heavily Games get blamed for personal problems and societal
regulated because of it. Certain aspects of some games, such ills because games are still relatively new and are perceived
as loot crates, could be considered psychologically similar as mainly for young people. Once that’s no longer true
to gambling (and some countries are beginning to regulate (gaming rigs in retirement homes are coming to a future
them as such), but that is not the same as saying video near you!), the bogeyman will disappear and a new one
games are addictive. will take its place.
Gamer and science enthusiast Tracy King dissects the evidence and statistics behind popular media stories surrounding tech and gaming @tkingdot
10
get
in the
4K
Ultra HD UltraWideColor Adaptive Sync
I N CO M I N G / NEWS
Incoming
THERMALTAKE UNVEILS MID-SIZED TOWER
8PACK
LAUNCHES Thermaltake has just revealed a new mid-
sized flavour of its glass-fronted Tower
TOP-END chassis design, fitting in between the massive

Tower 900 and the mini-ITX Tower 100. Like
MINI PC the other Tower models, the Tower 500 shifts
around the interior from the usual case design,
OCUK’s resident expert overclocker so that the motherboard is directly facing the
8Pack has put his name to a new front of the case, with 4mm tempered glass
top-end small form factor PC, which windows on the front and sides providing an
features custom water-cooling gear unobstructed view of the insides.
and high-end components. As standard, The right-hand side panel can also be
the Meteoroid MK2 features a Ryzen flipped 180 degrees, so you get mesh next
9 5900X and a GeForce RTX 3080 Ti, to the area by the motherboard rather than
along with an Asus ROG Crosshair VIII glass, with room to mount a 360mm radiator.
Impact mini-DTX motherboard, 64GB of An optional 3.9in LCD panel kit can be fitted to
3600MHz DDR4 memory and 5GB of the bottom front of the Tower 500, providing
solid state storage. information such as real-time system data, or
Meanwhile, the water-cooling system you can customise it with your own GIFs.
comprises a pair of 360mm radiators The Tower 500 is available in black and
and custom distribution plates, complete white options, which are available for £199 inc
with 8Pack branding. The water-cooled VAT from scan.co.uk now.
graphics card has also been shifted so
that it sits under a Plexiglas window in
the top of the chassis, giving you a view
of the coolant flowing through it.
CHERRY RELEASES ULTRA
All the gear is housed in an acrylic
chassis, which Overclockers says has
LOW-PROFILE TACTILE SWITCH
been custom designed in-house, Mechanical keyboard switch maker Cherry sound as it actuates, but still gives you a
although it’s clearly been influenced is adding a new model to its line-up of low- tangible feeling of actuation as you press
by Parvum’s acrylic case designs. Not profile key switches. The new Ultra Low the key. The new ULP Tactile has a total
surprisingly, it doesn’t come cheap, with Profile (ULP) Tactile is designed to offer a travel of 1.8mm, with the switching point
the standard spec coming in at £7,800 similar feel to the company’s full-sized MX sitting at 0.8mm.
inc VAT. For more information, visit Brown switches, but in a low-profile form Meanwhile, either RGB or single-
custompc.co.uk/Meteoroid that can be used in laptop keyboards and colour LEDs are mounted directly under
slim desktop designs. the switch, with Cherry saying it evenly
Unlike the already released ULP Click, illuminates the keycap, with options for
the ULP Tactile doesn’t make a clicking programmable per-key lighting.
12
CORSAIR DDR5
HITS 6600MHz
Rumour control
OUR ROUNDUP OF THE LATEST UNCONFIRMED TECH GOSSIP.
Corsair has introduced a new top TAKE THESE STORIES WITH THE APPROPRIATE PINCH OF SALT
speed to its Dominator Platinum RGB
offerings, with 6600MHz kits now INTEL RAPTOR LAKE HITS 6GHZ
joining the parade. The high-speed Twitter tech gossiper @OneRaichu claims that one of Intel’s forthcoming 13th-gen ‘Raptor
modules have 32-39-39-76 timings Lake’ CPUs may have a top turbo frequency of 6GHz. The rumour followed an update
and all the usual benefits of Corsair’s to Intel’s Extreme Tuning Utility on 21 June, which added support for some new features
Dominator Platinum RGB design, under the heading ‘Future Platform(s) Support'.
including 12 individually addressable The list included ‘per-core OC TVB,’ ‘package OC TVB’ and ‘Efficient TVB’, with TVB
Capellix LEDs. The 6600MHz standing for Thermal Velocity Boost – Intel’s tech that speeds up all a CPU’s cores when
memory is available in 32GB (2 x thermal headroom is available.
16GB) and 64GB (2 x 32GB) kits, with
prices starting at £395 inc VAT from RTX 4000-SERIES SPECS LEAK
corsair.com for the former. Apparently leaked specs of Nvidia’s forthcoming GeForce RTX 4000-series GPUs have
been shared by regular tech Twitter leaker @kopite7kimi. He claims that the RTX 4090
will be based on the AD102-300 GPU, and will come with 16,384 FP32 CUDA cores, a
386-bit memory interface and 24GB of GDDR6X memory.
Meanwhile, he says the RTX 4080 will be based on the AD103-300 chip,
with 10,240 CUDA cores and 16GB of memory and a 256-bit memory
interface. Finally, he claims that the RTX 4070 will be based on the
AD104-275 chip, and will feature 7,168 CUDA cores and come
with 10GB of GDDR6 memory.
13
R E V I E WS / CASES
Reviews
AT X C A S E
tom P
KOLINK OBSERVATORY us
C
Z MESH ARGB /£120 inc VAT
PP
D
ROV E
A
SUPPLIER overclockers.co.uk
tom P
us
A
s an up-and-coming manufacturer that’s looking
c
C
to muscle in with long-time players, Kolink has
been getting progressively better at making cases.
It’s a strong supporter of mini-ITX, so you might want to take
IT
CU
a look at its mini cases if you liked this month’s feature and
ST
group test, but we’re focusing on ATX here with the
Observatory Z Mesh ARGB.
OM K
At £120 inc VAT, it’s up against a number of cases offering
good airflow and RGB lighting costing noticeably less money, tom P
such as the Cooler Master MasterBox 500 at around £100, us
c
while Antec’s recent options such as the NZX700 cost even

less money. Thankfully, Kolink has dialled up the Observatory
A
EXT
Z Mesh ARGB’s credentials

TR
SPEC to help justify the extra outlay, Rglass side window, which lacks any tinted coating. The fans
Dimensions (mm)
245 x 465 x 495 (W x D x H)
including the addition of four PWM have U L threaded behind the motherboard tray,
E MtheirEcables
1,500rpm 120mm digital RGB fans but you’ll need to hook them up to the included controller
Material in the package, as well as a multi- yourself. The actual 4-pin fan cables will need to be
Steel, plastic, glass
channel lighting controller. tom P
connected to your motherboard, though, as the hub only
Available colours
Black
The controller can hook up us
deals with lighting.
c
to a USB 2 header to provide In terms of size, the case’s width of 24.5cm means it’s
Weight
9.7kg software control too, but if you’d quite chunky, even though both the depth and height are
E
PRE
rather avoid that, you can control well under 50cm. However, this does open up the interior,
AD
Front panel
Power, reset, 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, 2 x USB the lighting using buttons on the Menabling it to offer some serious hardware support. There’s
3, 2 x USB 2, stereo, mic, LED control
Drive bays
front panel or any 3-pin RGB IUM GR
space in the front for 360mm or 420mm radiators, equating
controller, including 3-pin headers to three 120mm or 140mm fans, as well as 280mm or
5 x 2.5in/4 x 3.5in
on your motherboard. The quality 360mm models in the roof, or two 140mm fans or three
Form factor(s)
of the lighting is often a place tom P
120mm models. This is excellent for a case of this size
us
E-ATX, ATX, micro-ATX
Cooling where cheaper gear suffers, but and price.
c
3 x 120mm/3 x 140mm front fan mounts (3 we were suitably impressed by There’s a good deal of clearance in the roof and front
x 120mm fans included), 1 x 120mm/140mm the vibrancy and accuracy of the section too, with room in the latter behind the fans to easily
rear fan mount (120mm fan included), 3 x
Kolink’s colours, which diffuse house 60mm-thick radiators. As well as ample radiator
AL
PR
120/2 x 140mm roof fan mounts (fans not

included) through the semi-opaque fan support, the case can also house E-ATX motherboards,
FE
SSIO
N
O
CPU cooler clearance blades via the central hub, as well and sports 180mm of CPU cooler clearance and 380mm of
180mm as the outer ring. graphics card clearance, with a support included to help large
Maximum graphics card length They also look particularly cards from sagging. One minor niggle is that the rear vents
380mm
bright when viewed through the are simply small horizontal cut-outs, rather than a highly
14
T E M P E R AT U R E R E S U LTS
CPU DELTA T
Antec DF700 Flux 47°C

Cooler Master MasterBox 500 47°C
Fractal Design Meshify 2 47°C
NZXT H510 Flow 47°C
Kolink Observatory Z Mesh ARGB 48°C
Antec NX700 48°C
Corsair 5000D Airflow 48°C
SaharaGaming P44M 48°C
Fractal Design Meshify 2 Compact 50°C
0 20 40 60 80
Lower is better
GPU DELTA T

Cooler Master MasterBox 500 42°C
Antec NX700 43°C Performance GREENWICH
Antec DF700 Flux 43°C The Kolink’s fans proved to be extremely quiet at full speed, OBSERVATORY
0 20 40 60 80 and if anything, we’d have liked to see a few more hundred + Good cooling
Lower is better
RPM on offer from them to create a little extra cooling + Excellent water-
cooling support
headroom. Despite having four fans, the temperatures didn’t
quite match the best results we’ve seen, but with all the + Reasonable price
efficient hexagonal pattern, which may impact on airflow, cases in the graphs having similar mesh designs with several
even if it does look quite eye-catching. included fans, the results were very close. TOILET ROLL
The case feels well made too, and definitely more The Observatory Z Mesh ARGB managed a CPU delta T TELESCOPE
premium than Antec’s recent efforts. They were solid of 48°C, which was noticeably cooler than the Fractal Design - Not many other
stand-out features
enough, but the Kolink Observatory Z Mesh ARGB weighs Meshify 2 Compact, but the louder, more powerful fans in
3kg more than the Antec DF700 Flux, for example, despite the Antec DF700 Flux managed to knock an extra degree - Panels are tough
to remove
having a similar size, which gives you an idea of the additional off at 47°C. The GPU delta T of 42°C was slightly better than
materials involved. However, the glass side and front panel the Antec case, but the Fractal Design Meshify 2 Compact
- Could do
with more
proved to be extremely stiff when removing them for the and Corsair 5000D Airflow were slightly cooler. Either way, powerful fans
first time, so be prepared to heave them open. there’s not much in it.
Once inside, you’ll find that the roof has a magnetic dust COOLING
filter to prevent detritus falling into the case, with another
catering for the PSU. However, the front mesh acts as its own
Conclusion
This is a solid and highly flexible case in terms of both air
25/30
filter, meaning you need to pull off the front panel in order to and water cooling. The RGB fans look fantastic and they’re FEATURES
get at the fan mounts too.
There’s a generous count of four hard disk mounts as
quiet as well. The only issue is that there aren’t really any
stand-out features, such as the removable roof with the
15/20
well – they’re spread across the rear of the motherboard tray Fractal Design Meshify 2 Compact, or the Antec DF700 DESIGN
and the storage tray under the PSU cover. Alternatively, you
could store up to five 2.5in drives in these mounts too. The
Flux’s superb value. However, if you want a capable case for
a high-end system that looks great out of the box, but costs
25/30
case’s width means there’s plenty of clearance between the just £120, the Kolink Observatory Z Mesh ARGB absolutely VALUE
motherboard tray and side panel too, plus there are lengthy
Velcro ties included to gather cables together.
does the job.
ANTONY LEATHER
17/20
Meanwhile, the front panel offers loads of connections, OVERALL SCORE
82%
including four Type-A USB ports, two of which are USB 3,
plus a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port as well. There are power VERDICT
and reset buttons, audio jacks and a button to control the Kolink continues to improve its case designs, with this
RGB lighting on this panel too. affordable, flexible and capable case.
15
R E V I E WS / CASES
AT X C A S E
NZXT H7 FLOW / £120 inc VAT
FLOW CHART hile NZXT has been dipping its toes into the
+ Good cooling
+ Excellent water-
W pools of peripherals and motherboards
recently, it’s better known for its cases and
tom P
cooling support its ATX line-up has just received a refresh recently us
+ Reasonable price with a trio of new models. The range caters for three
c
C
different markets, with the two cheaper models
offering high-airflow or closed-panel designs, while
FLOW TEST
the top-end model offers all-glass panels, as well
- Not many other PP
ROV E D
A
stand-out features as software control. We’re looking at the high-airflow

- Fans are quiet but model this month, which is the £120 H7 Flow.
underpowered It comes in either black or white, and it’s reasonably
- No microphone compact, measuring 50cm tall and 48cm deep, while its
tom P
3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port and a single audio jack output for a
port width of 23cm enables the case to offer 185mm of CPU us
headset. However, that means there’s no microphone input,
c
cooler clearance. The graphics card clearance stands at so you’ll need to use your motherboard or sound card’s own
400mm, but while there’s no vertical input or a USB headset in order to be able to talk to people.
SPEC GPU mount in the case, NZXT’s recent The H7 Flow’s exterior is otherwise unblemished, while the
IT
flurry of launches included a universal H7 Elite and H7 have extra vents in their side panel to boost
CU
Dimensions (mm)
ST
OM K
230 x 480 x 505 (W x D x H) vertical mount, and with three PCI-E cooling, due to them lacking a vented front panel.
Material slots to shift dual-slot GPUs away from Out of the box, the three cases’ fan arrangements differ
Steel, plastic, glass
the side panel, it’s probably a better too, with the H7 and H7 Flow offering front and rear 120mm
Available colours
option than a fixed mount anyway.
tom P
fans that spin up to 1,200rpm, while the H7 Elite includes
us
Black, white
As its name suggests, the H7 Flow four larger 140mm fans. The roof and front fan mounts can
Weight
c
10.05kg also has a large mesh on its front panel house up to 360mm radiators, with the front section also
Front panel and in the roof section, so it’s geared able to house up to three 140mm fans, and with space for
A
EXT
Power, 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, 2 x USB towards offering high airflow with low 60mm-thick radiators, making it an excellent case for water-
TR
3, stereo
fan speeds. There are a few useful cooling systems or AIO liquid coolers.
Drive bays RE L
2 x 2.5in/3.5in, 4 x 2.5in
features on the case’s exterior, such
as tool-free side, front and roof panels
ME U
If you’re looking to add a bunch of hard disks, sadly there’s
just the basic two 3.5in mounts in a removable cage in the
Form factor(s)
E-ATX (up to 272mm) ATX, micro-ATX that simply pop into place. There’s also base of the case, which can also be used for 2.5in SSDs, in
Cooling a removable front fan mount, which
tom P
addition to four dedicated mounts for the latter behind the
3 x 120mm/3 x 140mm front fan
mounts (1 x 120mm fan included), 1 x
you can detach in order to fix fans and us
motherboard tray and on top of the PSU cover.
c
radiators to it, rather than having to do The H7 Flow also offers decent cable-routing options. If you
120mm/140mm rear fan mount (120mm
fan included), 3 x 120/2 x 140mm roof it awkwardly inside the case. There are detest cable ties and prefer large Velcro straps then you’re in
E
PRE
fan mounts (fans not included) dust filters all around the interior too, luck, as the H7 Flow has two large cable runs equipped with
AD
with the roof part sitting under the main Velcro ties to secure the usual cables, such as the 24-pin ATX
CPU cooler clearance
M
185mm
Maximum graphics card length
panel and held in place using magnets. IUM GR
connector, PCI-E cables and any other wires at the front of
Meanwhile, the front panel is a basic your case. There are Velcro ties at the top and to the rear edge
400mm
affair, with a pair of USB 3 ports, a USB of the motherboard tray too, and the positions of cable-routing
tom P
16
us
c
C
P
Antec NX700 48°C
0 20 40 60 80
Lower is better
T E M P E R AT U R E R E S U LTS
CPU DELTA T GPU DELTA T
Antec DF700 Flux 47°C Corsair 5000D Airflow 41°C
Cooler Master MasterBox 500 47°C Fractal Design Meshify 2 Compact 41°C
Fractal Design Meshify 2 47°C NZXT H7 Flow 42°C
NZXT H510 Flow 47°C Cooler Master MasterBox 500 42°C
NZXT H7 Flow 48°C Corsair 5000D Airflow 42°C
Antec NX700 48°C Fractal Design Meshify 2 42°C
Corsair 5000D Airflow 48°C Kolink Observatory Z Mesh ARGB 42°C
Kolink Observatory Z Mesh ARGB 48°C NZXT H510 Flow 42°C
SaharaGaming P44M 48°C SaharaGaming P44M 42°C
Fractal Design Meshify 2 Compact 50°C Antec NX700 43°C
0 20 40 60 80 Antec DF700 Flux 43°C

Lower is better
0 20 40 60 80
Lower is better
GPU DELTA T

holes
Fractalhave been
Design well
Meshify considered. There’s a routing hole
2 Compact 41°C at the quiet, even with the fans at full speed. The CPU delta T of
top of the motherboard tray that runs for around 10in42°C
NZXT H7 Flow
to cater 48°C was on par with the Antec NX700 and Corsair 5000D
for motherboards that have
Cooler Master MasterBox 500
sockets in various places, such as
42°C
Airflow, while the Antec DF700 Flux, Fractal Design Meshify
most AMD Threadripper TRX40 models. 2 and Cooler Master MasterBox 500 were a little cooler.
However, it’s a shame the case doesn’t have full E-ATX However, the NZXT was a couple of degrees cooler than the
support, with the width limit set at 272mm. The main holes at Fractal Design Meshify 2 Compact.
the front of the case have a large cover to hide them as well. The GPU delta T sat at 42°C after our testing, which again
Overall, it’s an easy case to keep tidy, with plenty of stowage is in the middle of the results and lacks the clout of cases
SaharaGaming P44M
for excess cables, lots of anchor points and cable ties. 42°CBuild such as the Corsair 5000D Airflow, while just pipping the
quality is also excellent throughout, with minimal panel
Antec NX700 43°Cgaps Antec DF700 Flux and Antec NX700 to the post, albeit by just
and all the parts fitting
Antec snugly
DF700 Flux together. 43°C a single degree.
0 20 40 60 80
Performance Conclusion
Lower is better
With the fans peaking at a speed of 1,200rpm, they’re not At a price of £120 inc VAT, the NZXT H7 Flow is well priced
particularly powerful, so it wasn’t a surprise to see the H7 given what’s on offer, which is just as well, as the competition
Flow return middling results with the CPU and GPU delta is fierce. The Fractal Design Meshify 2 Compact sports a
temperatures. However, the flip side is that it’s extremely similar specification and a removable roof section that helps
to set it apart, but with slightly reduced radiator and storage
support, and lower CPU cooler clearance. Corsair’s 5000D
Airflow costs £20 more, but does offer an even better basis
for a water-cooled PC, although it doesn’t include more fans COOLING
or storage mounts.
Overall, then, the H7 Flow is an attractive, well-priced
25/30
case with good cooling and massive potential for expansion FEATURES
in terms of both air cooling and water cooling. We’d have
liked to see full E-ATX motherboard support, although the
15/20
272mm width limit does cater for most large PCBs. The DESIGN
lack of a microphone front panel jack, and limited room for
hard drives, may be an issue for some people, but not if
26/30
you’re using a USB headset and SSDS. It also lacks stand- VALUE
out features compared with the competition, but this is
otherwise a great case for the money.
18/20
ANTONY LEATHER OVERALL SCORE
VERDICT
An excellent, attractive ATX case that’s also well priced.
84%
17
R E V I E WS / CHAIRS
GAMING CHAIR
BACKFORCE ONE /€553 inc VAT (~£471 inc VAT)
SUPPLIER backforce.gg
T
BACKED UP he latest gaming chair to find its way into our lab is edge, so it doesn’t
a little different from the norm. Rather than clearly dig into the
+ Good seat padding
being made by the exact same company but underside of your
+ Solid build quality rebadged, as is the case with some prominent chair legs. Many gaming
+ Pleasant manufacturers, the Backforce uses a different manufacturer chairs get even this
fabric finish
to most of these brands and has quite a few features that set basic feature wrong.
it apart from their chairs. The chair also
BACKED DOWN The overall aesthetic is familiar though. The seat is offers height
- L ack of reminiscent of the racing/bucket seat styling seen on many adjustment and a
adjustability
gaming chairs, with an integrated headrest, high shoulder recline feature. The tension of the latter can be adjusted via a
- Insufficient supports and a seat with raised sides. knob on the right, and the chair can be locked in position by a
lumbar support
We tested the ‘OG’ all-black version, so the styling is knob on the left side. It’s not the slickest, most easy-to-reach
- Stiff castors muted, but other options add coloured highlights to the system but it works okay.
shoulder fins, headrest, slashes in the lower back padding Meanwhile, the recline feature doesn’t offer a particularly
and various other areas of the seat. relaxing and supportive position – the seat doesn’t tilt enough
The OG version is also all-fabric, whereas other colour along with the back – but it works without having to rest your
versions incorporate some faux leather elements. You can feet on a footrest to keep them held up, which is more than
also add custom-stitched, Velcro-attached patches to the can be said for some gaming chairs.
tops of the shoulder fins, for showing off your gamer tag. Overall build quality is very good, with the whole chair
Around the back of the seat, it uses a fixed hard plastic being very sturdy, and the base and gas lift not wobbling at all.
shell that means there’s no adjustment for lumbar support or The castors are a bit stiff though – you won’t win any office
the headrest, as is common with gaming chairs. There’s also chair races riding this steed.
a sunken circle in the plastic, just below the headrest. Here,
you can add an included RGB-illuminated module that again Conclusion
lets you add your gamer branding to the back of the chair. It’s good to see a new face and genuinely different design in
The general lack of adjustment in the seat means that, the gaming chair space, but the Backforce One still suffers
despite being rated for sitters of between 4ft 11in and 6ft from several of the same problems
3in, as a 6ft 2in tester, I found it didn’t really fit my frame. In that blight its competitors. Namely, COMFORT
particular, the lack of lumbar support meant I was forced into
a slightly hunched position, while the diagonal-patterned
comfort levels are relatively poor
for the high price, and there’s not
15/25
shoulder padding section prodded into the top of my back. enough adjustability where it matters, DESIGN
The armrests also didn’t rise far enough to meet my arms,
or reach over the desktop while in a normal sitting position.
particularly regarding lumbar support.
The build quality of the Backforce One
18/25
I resorted to adding a cushion behind my lower back for is excellent, though, plus there are FEATURES
more lumbar support, but this then exposed the lack of seat
length adjustment.
lots of different colour options and it’s
considerably more comfortable than
22/25
Our 5ft 2in tester had more luck, with the headrest aligning some gaming chairs. VALUE
better, the seat proving sufficiently deep and the armrests
providing good support – the padding on them is softer
EDWARD CHESTER 18/25
than on several gaming chairs too. Backforce also offers OVERALL SCORE
the One Plus, which includes seat depth adjustment, and
73%
VERDICT
upholstered, more adjustable armrests. A solid gaming chair, but many
One universal positive is the seat padding, which is conventional office chairs offer
sufficiently soft and supportive, and rolls off on the front better comfort for the price.
18
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R E V I E WS / PERIPHERALS
GAMING MOUSE
ROCCAT BURST
PRO AIR/£80 inc VAT
SUPPLIER amazon.co.uk
T
BURSTING he new Roccat Burst Pro Air takes the small and
WITH JOY lightweight design of the Burst Pro and adds a
+ Excellent overall wireless connection. It also includes a translucent
performance
body packed with RGB lighting, a stated 100-hour battery
+ Plenty of features life, water resistance, Nvidia Reflex compatibility and a
+ Wired and 19,000 DPI sensor, putting this rodent right at the forefront of
wireless modes mouse technology.
For all its features, though, it’s the design of this mouse There are no additional buttons, but the standard buttons
FULL TO that’s likely to tempt or dissuade most users – as is often the all fall easily to hand and have a precise, light action, plus
BURSTING case with gaming mice, given the subjective nature of mouse the switches are rated to last 100 million clicks. Likewise,
- Not all that light shape and styling. In particular, it’s this mouse’s narrow- the scroll wheel is light, with a very grippy rubber cover
- Slightly odd shape fronted, flared rear shape that will make or break it. and distinct scrolling notches, for precise control in games.
When using a fingertip grip, we found our fingers tended Meanwhile, the underside has a slider for switching the
- Divisive styling
to slide slightly towards the narrow front and down the sides. mouse between standard wireless mode, Bluetooth and
Not only did we find this made for a less secure grip than turning off the mouse. Alongside this is a profile button and
mice shapes that guide your fingers into a central divot (via a a useful storage space for holding the wireless dongle.
front that flares out slightly), but this design also makes the Tracking performance from the company’s Owl-Eye 19K
Burst Pro Air slightly back heavy. The whole mouse isn’t that optical sensor is flawless, as is the wireless performance.
light by today’s standards either at 81g. Plenty of wireless Nvidia’s Reflex technology uses software optimisation to
alternatives dip well below 70g these days. reduce overall system latency between clicking a mouse
What’s more, the shape of the rear doesn’t have particular button and seeing the result on-screen. It doesn’t make for
advantages for other grip styles. Claw grip suffers from a revolutionary change to gaming performance, and it only
the same issues as fingertip grip, while there’s not enough works with certain games, but it’s one more flag in the cap
overall bulk to make for a relaxed palm grip. The size and of this mouse.
shape of the mouse works a little better for DESIGN
SPEC
Weight
smaller hands, but while many companies are now
embracing producing two sizes of flagship mouse,
Conclusion
The Roccat Burst Pro Air’s style and
12/20
81g there’s only one size of the Burst Pro Air. shape is less appealing to us than FEATURES
Dimensions (mm)
58 x 120 x 38 (W x D x H)
Another potentially contentious design decision
is the styling and the RGB lighting. The whole
those of several competitors, but
these are highly subjective factors.
18/20
Sensor central top section of the mouse is translucent and Otherwise, the Burst Pro Air delivers in PERFORMANCE
Roccat Owl-Eye 19K (based
on the PixArt PAW3370)
backlit by several RGB zones. It’s an impressive
display, but it strays some distance from the sleeker
spades, with excellent performance,
great battery life and some useful extra
28/30
optical, 19,000 DPI, 50G
acceleration, 400 IPS designs favoured by many mice and mice users. features, all for a decent price. VALUE
Buttons
6 (left, right, middle,
Elsewhere, though, the Burst Pro Air consistently
impresses. Up front is a USB Type-C socket for
EDWARD CHESTER 22/30
forward, back, DPI) charging the mouse, plus you can also run the OVERALL SCORE
Cable mouse via its lightweight USB cable. Up top, the
80%
1.8m, lightweight braided VERDICT
selection of buttons is typical, with left, right, middle, A potentially divisive design, but the
Extras back and forward buttons, plus a top-mounted Burst Pro Air otherwise offers excellent
RGB lighting
DPI button. overall performance and decent value.
20
GAMING HEADSET
AUSTRIAN AUDIO
PG16 AND PB17/£130 inc VAT
SUPPLIER game.com
A
VIENNA ustrian Audio is a relatively new entrant to the
professional audio space, founded by former AKG
+ Smart styling
engineers after that company closed its original
+ Excellent Austrian facilities. The new brand has now entered the
sound quality
headset space with the introduction of the PB17 business
+ Light, compact headset and PG16 gaming headset.
design
The two headsets are physically identical, other than
+ Decent value
the grey (pictured) or red highlights on each one, plus the
PG16 comes with a licence for the company’s spatial audio the right earcup, while the microphone is on the left earcup,
THIS MEANS
NOTHING software. Like Razer’s equivalent software, it uses THX also makes for a confusing break with convention. An
TO ME Spatial Audio technology to provide virtual surround sound on-headset volume control would have been handy too.
- Not the most for your stereo headphones. As we’ve come to expect from Meanwhile, the microphone is on a rotating and
comfortable THX Spatial Audio software, it works very well. bendable arm but isn’t removable. Its quality is adequate
- Cable too short The design is minimalist, with no RGB lighting or much for chat but not for professional recording. The integral
- No volume in the way of extra features. The slim headband has a foam wind blocker is a welcome addition though.
control memory foam-padded central section, with telescoping Where this headset really shines is in the sonic
arms for fit adjustment, plus they fold inwards to make the performance of its headphones. Overall detail is superb,
headset more compact for transporting – a fabric bag is reproducing every subtle in-game footstep or musical
included for carrying them. intricacy. The reasonably flat sound profile also ensures
The earcups spin on the ends of the arms and can pivot there’s no exaggerated bass or treble, providing a realistic
in and out too. They have a closed-back design with deep presentation. The headset can produce those tones, but
memory foam padding. The whole headset weighs 265g, they’re not forced on you. This results in a less bombastic
which is fairly light – the Corsair Virtuoso, for instance, sound than some headsets, but if you’re after detail and
weighs 100g more. accuracy, it delivers in spades. The closed-back design also
SPEC This overall combination should blocks out external noise well.
Dimensions (mm) offer decent comfort, but we
205 x 180 x 80 (W x D x H) encountered a couple of issues. The Conclusion
Weight first is that the earcup padding pushed A clear sound profile makes these headsets excellent
265g
a little harder on the arms of our for those seeking accuracy in their
Audio config
Stereo and virtual surround
glasses than some alternatives. The music listening and clarity in the DESIGN
Headphone frequency range
12Hz-24kHz
exact effect will depend on the arm
design of your glasses, but we noticed
reproduction of in-game details.
The smart-looking, compact and
16/20
Sensitivity/sound pressure level a relatively quick onset of discomfort. folding design also makes them FEATURES
113dB
Mic frequency response
Despite this, the overall fit is a touch
loose too, putting more weight on the
practical to move around. However,
the cable is a bit short for desk use,
14/20
Not stated
narrow headband than usual, further there’s no volume control, comfort SOUND QUALITY
Mic sensitivity
Not stated causing slight comfort issues with
longer use. It’s far from a bad showing,
isn’t the best and the highly detailed
presentation won’t suit those who
32/40
Cable
1.4m (3.5mm combi jack to but it’s not the most comfortable prefer a bassier tone. VALUE
3.5mm combi jack)
Battery life
headset we’ve used.
We also found the 1.4m detachable
EDWARD CHESTER
16/20
N/A
cable to be a bit short for desk use. OVERALL SCORE
Extras
It’s only just long enough to reach
78%
3.5mm combi jack to 2 x 3.5mm VERDICT
jack adaptor (for separate mic and on-desk audio devices, and would Excellent clarity and decent value,
headphone), spatial audio software struggle to reach around the back of but there are a few comfort and
for the PG16, cloth carry bag
many PCs. Having the cable plug into practicality issues.
21
R E V I E WS / LAPTOPS
G A M I N G L A P TO P
ASUS ROG ZEPHYRUS

M16 GU603ZW /£2,499 inc VAT
SUPPLIER laptopsdirect.co.uk
This specification will sate most gamers, but there

are some areas where the M16 is found wanting. The
Scar has 2.5Gbps Ethernet and an HDMI 2.1
output, for example, as well as a firmer,
crisper keyboard with per-key RGB
LEDs rather than single-zone lighting.
Also, while the M16 has a 165Hz display, the Scar runs
its 15.6in panel at 240Hz. The model we’ve reviewed
(GU603ZW-K8015W) costs £2,499 too, which makes it
T
he Zephyrus M16 is the latest laptop to bridge £100 pricier than the Scar.
the gap between conventional 15.6in portables
and huge 17.3in machines. This Asus laptop gets PERFORMANCE
off to a great start with a mature, robust aluminium The M16’s RTX 3070 Ti is a good mainstream chip, but
chassis, and its 2kg weight and 20mm thickness its power limit holds it back. At 1080p, the M16 delivered
significantly undercut the Asus ROG Strix Scar 15. decent 99th percentile frame rates of 44fps and 48fps
Impressively, it’s no wider either. in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and Cyberpunk 2077
The slim design still houses meaty components. respectively, but those figures declined to 34fps and
There’s a GeForce RTX 3070 Ti, with its 8GB 30fps at the laptop’s 2,560 x 1,600 native resolution.
SPEC of memory and 5,888 CUDA cores, albeit You’ll get noticeable slowdown at this resolution
CPU with a 100W power limit that hits 120W with unless you compromise on graphics settings. More
2.5GHz Intel Core i9-12900H Dynamic Boost. Those are decent figures, but evidence on the M16’s limited pace comes from Metro
Memory they pale next to the 125W and 150W settings Exodus – the M16’s 2,560 x 1,600 average of 38fps
32GB 4800MHz DDR5
of the chunkier Asus Scar 15. The M16 also improved to 45fps with High ray tracing and DLSS
Graphics
Nvidia GeForce RTX
has a Core i9-12900H CPU alongside 32GB of enabled, but you’ll need to really hack down the settings
3070 Ti 8GB 4800MHz DDR5 memory and a 2TB SSD with to achieve a consistent 60fps frame rate. The situation
Screen rapid read and write speeds of 7,035MB/sec was better in Doom Eternal, where the M16 averaged
16in 2,560 x 1,600 IPS 165Hz and 5,108MB/sec. In those latter two areas, 218fps and 149fps at its two resolutions – this machine
Storage the M16 doubles the Scar’s capacities. can definitely cope with less demanding games at high
2TB Samsung PM9A1 M.2 SSD
That’s good hardware for such a slim frame rates.
Networking
Gigabit Ethernet, dual-band
laptop, and the M16 is decent in other practical There’s clear air between the M16 and the Scar, though,
802.11ax Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.2 areas. The keyboard’s buttons are solid, fast which shows the compromise involved with buying
Weight and have 1.7mm of travel. Its trackpad is fine a slim gaming laptop. The Scar delivered 1080p 99th
2kg as well, but any gamer should use a USB percentile results of 52fps and 57fps in Assassin’s Creed,
Ports mouse instead. for example.
1 x Thunderbolt 4/USB
Type-C/DisplayPort, 1 x On the right-hand edge, the M16 has a This is no surprise given the GPU’s power draw
USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, 2 x full-sized USB 3.2 Gen 2 port and a microSD performance. In the M16’s default Balanced mode, the
USB 3.2 Gen 2, 1 x audio, 1 card reader, while on the left-hand side, GPU used 80W, but deploying Turbo mode saw that
x HDMI 2b, 1 x microSD
you’ll find another USB port, Type-C port figure rise to between 100W and 110W. In that mode, the
Dimensions (mm)
355 x 243 x 20 (W x D x H) and Thunderbolt 4 sockets and an HDMI 2b M16’s 2,560 x 1,600 Metro Exodus average jumped from
Operating system output. You can also get connected via Gigabit 38fps to 46fps, and its Doom Eternal score improved
Windows 10 Home 64-bit Ethernet, dual-band 802.11ax Wi-Fi and from 149fps to 166fps. There are gains to be made here,
Warranty Bluetooth 5.2. The M16 also has a webcam even if those scores still can’t match the Scar.
One year parts and with Windows Hello support, which the We observed a similar situation in application
labour return to base
Scar omitted. benchmarks. The M16’s overall RealBench system score
22
ZEUS CRONUS B E N C H M A R K R E S U LTS
+ Slick, sleek design - Too hot and often too loud DOOM ETERNAL
1,920 x 1,080, Vulkan, Ultra Nightmare settings
+ High-quality, - Thicker rivals are

65,048
high-
resolution 165Hz display comfortably faster Asus ROG Zephyrus M16 GU603ZW 136fps 218fps
+ Crisp, fast keyboard - Better value 0 100 200 300 400

available elsewhere 2,560 x 1,600, Vulkan, Ultra Nightmare settings
+ Decent mainstream
gaming performance GIMP IMAGE
Asus ROG Zephyrus M16 GU603ZW 85fps 149fps EDITING
0 100 200 300 400
of 262,476 shows it’s quick enough to handle mainstream ASSASSIN’S CREED VALHALLA
752,023
1,920 x 1,080, Ultra High settings, High anti-aliasing
content creation, editing and multi-tasking, but the Scar
scored 291,826 with the same CPU. In the M16’s Balanced Asus ROG Zephyrus M16 GU603ZW 44fps 69fps
mode, the CPU’s P-Cores topped out at 2.4GHz in a 0 30 60 90 120
multi-threaded benchmark and in a single-threaded 2,560 x 1,600, Ultra High settings, High anti-aliasing
HANDBRAKE H.264
test, they hovered between 4.3GHz and 4.6GHz, with Asus ROG Zephyrus M16 GU603ZW 34fps 51fps
VIDEO ENCODING
neither speed close to the chip’s theoretical peaks. 0 30 60 90 120
Using the Turbo mode saw the rig’s overall score only
204,954
CYBERPUNK 2077
improve to 268,646. 1,920 x 1,080, Ultra preset, no ray tracing
That Turbo mode does deliver a bit of extra Asus ROG Zephyrus M16 GU603ZW 48fps 58fps
performance, but the downside is noise and heat. In Turbo 0 30 60 90 120
mode, when running games or tough single-threaded 2,560 x 1,600, Ultra preset, no ray tracing HEAVY MULTI-
TASKING
workloads, the M16 is louder than most laptops, the Asus ROG Zephyrus M16 GU603ZW 30fps 34fps
processor nearly hit 100°C before throttling and the metal 0 30 60 90 120
262,476
around the keyboard became too hot to touch. The M16 METRO EXODUS
produced moderate noise in its Balanced mode, but the 1,920 x 1,080, Ultra settings, High RT, PhysX off, HairWorks off
exterior exhibited similarly overwhelming heat. Not Asus ROG Zephyrus M16 GU603ZW 31fps 55fps
surprisingly, the larger Scar was cooler and quieter. 0 30 60 90 120 SYSTEM
If the heat and noise do become unbearable, the M16’s 2,560 x 1,600, Ultra settings, High RT, PhysX off, HairWorks off SCORE
Silent mode is decent – it runs games at speeds that hover Asus ROG Zephyrus M16 GU603ZW 24fps 38fps
between 40fps and 60fps while keeping down noise 0 30 60 90 120
levels down. Arguably, though, that negates the point of
99th percentile Average
a high-end gaming laptop entirely.
The M16 was inconsistent in battery tests too.
Its gaming lifespan of one hour, six minutes is
underwhelming, but it did last an excellent eight hours punch. The delta E of 2.43 is good, the display renders
when playing a movie and four hours during a work test. almost 100 per cent of the sRGB and DCI-P3 gamuts, and
Those latter scores are decent, but you’ll want to stay the 165Hz refresh rate is fine for mainstream gaming. The
connected to the mains for any gaming. speakers are great too – they sound loud and balanced,
On the plus side, the display is excellent. The 16:10 with serviceable bass.
aspect ratio and 2,560 x 1,600 resolution deliver crisp
imagery and extra vertical room when compared with CONCLUSION PERFORMANCE
16:9 rivals, and the contrast ratio of 1,221:1 combines with
a peak brightness of 476cd/m² for superb vibrancy and
That 16in display is great, and elsewhere the Zephyrus
supplies solid mainstream performance in a slim, light
20/25
design with a satisying keyboard and good connection DESIGN
options. There’s no denying that the slim chassis creates
issues though. The M16 is hotter, louder and slower than
19/25
the chunkier 15.6in Scar – and it’s pricier too. If you’d HARDWARE
prefer a svelte gaming laptop, you’ll have to accept
those compromises, but your money will go further
22/25
on a machine with a chunkier chassis that allows the VALUE
components to breathe. 19/25
MIKE JENNINGS
OVERALL SCORE
VERDICT
This slim, light and smart laptop has decent pace and a
great screen, but it’s hot and loud in operation.
80%
23
R E V I E WS / PC SYSTEMS
INTEL Z690 GAMING PC
CYBERPOWER HYDRO-X us
tom P
INFINITY RTX /£4,699
C
inc VAT
SUPPLIER custompc.co.uk/CPHX
PP
D
ROV E
A
C
yberPower’s Hydro-X Infinity RTX has a massive
tom P
price tag of £4,699, which is about as expensive
as PCs get before you head into dream PC
us
C
territory, and that’s no wonder when you consider the
components. This machine pairs a beefy Intel Core
i9-12900KS CPU with an overclocked Nvidia GeForce RTX
IT
CU
ST
OM K
3090 Ti GPU.
The MSI-made graphics card runs its boost clock at
1920MHz rather than the conventional 1860MHz, and
the GPU packs 10,752 stream processors and 24GB of
tom P
GDDR6X memory. Meanwhile, Intel’s top-of-the-line
Alder Lake chip has eight Hyper-Threaded P-Cores that
c us
C
theoretically peak at 5.4GHz, or 5.5GHz with Thermal
A
EXT
Velocity Boost.
TR
SPEC The rest of the hardware is suitably
CPU muscular, with 32GB of dual-channel RE L
3.4GHz Intel Core i9-12900KS DDR5 memory running at 4800MHz ME U
Motherboard and a 2TB Kingston Fury Renegade
MSI MAG Z690 Tomahawk WiFi
PCI-E 4 SSD with impressive read this price range. Scan’s £4,899 3XS Torrent Ti used an
tom P
us
Memory
32GB Corsair Vengeance 4800MHz DDR5
and write speeds of 7,106MB/sec RTX 3090 Ti and a marginally slower i9-12900K, but it
and 6,801MB/sec. It’s all powered by had 64GB of 5200MHz DDR5 memory. It had a better
c
Graphics
MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Ti 24GB an MSI MPG A850GF, which is a fully motherboard too, but it only had an air cooler on the CPU,
E
PRE
Storage modular 80 Plus Gold PSU with an compared with the CyberPower’s brilliant hard-tube
AD
2TB Kingston Fury Renegade M.2 SSD 850W power rating – no issues there. custom water-cooling system.
M
IUM GR
Networking Meanwhile, the serious-looking That’s a highly potent cooling system for just the CPU,
2.5Gbps Ethernet, dual-band
802.11ax Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.2
MSI MAG Z690 Tomahawk but our tests have shown the Core i9-12900KS to be a
Case
motherboard sports huge black toasty customer, and this custom loop will be able to cool
Corsair 7000D heatsinks and no RGB LEDs. It has it properly. The GPU isn’t water-cooled, but on the plus
tom P
Cooling
CPU: 2 x Corsair Hydro-X XR7 360mm
three 16x PCI-E slots, one of which
supports PCI-E 5, and three of its
us
side, that means you can easily upgrade the graphics
card at a later date. CyberPower has also added RGB LED
c
radiators, Corsair Hydro XD5 RGB

pump/reservoir, Corsair Hydro XC5 four M.2 slots use PCI-E 4. The lighting strips, and the machine’s eight case fans glow with
waterblock, 7 x 120mm fans; GPU: 3 PCB also serves up decent Realtek coloured illumination – the interior looks fantastic.
AL
PR
x 90mm fans; rear: 1 x 120mm fan ALC4080 audio, while networking All this gear is housed in a Corsair 7000D Airflow chassis.
Ports comes from 2.5Gbps Ethernet and FE
It measures 600mm tall and 550mm deep, so it’s huge,
SSIO
N
O
Front: 4 x USB 3.1, 1 x USB 3.2 Gen

1 Type-C, 1 x audio; rear: 1 x USB dual-band 802.11ax Wi-Fi. The rear and it has impeccable build quality and mature looks. Both
3.2 Gen 2x2 Type-C, 3 x USB 3.2 I/O panel is solid too, with a USB 3.2 the side panels are hinged, the roof and front panels pop
Gen 2, 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 1, 2 x USB Gen 2x2 Type-C port that rattles free, and CyberPower has kept the interior tidy.
2, 1 x optical S/PDIF, 5 x audio
along at 20Gbps, and there are three You get a decent warranty as well, with two years of
Operating system
Windows 11 Home 64-bit USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports and four the all-important parts and labour cover, plus a further
Warranty slower ports. three years labour only, including six months of collect
Two years parts and labour, plus three CyberPower’s rig has an imposing and return service. The Scan is better here, though,
years labour only. Six months collect specification, but this isn’t the offering three years of parts and labour cover, and a year
and return, then return to base
only recent system we’ve seen in of on-site repairs.
26
HERCULES HYDRA B E N C H M A R K R E S U LTS
+ Awesome water- - CPU still can’t hit peak speed DOOM ETERNAL
cooling system
- Very high price
+ Superb content
creation performance
+ Fast in games
- Noticeable fan noise CyberPower Hydro-X Infinity RTX
0 150
285fps
300
434fps
450 600 82,455

CyberPower Hydro-X Infinity RTX 165fps 264fps GIMP IMAGE
EDITING
0 150 300 450 600
PERFORMANCE ASSASSIN’S CREED VALHALLA
With its huge cooling system and top-end CPU, 2,560 x 1,440, Ultra High settings, High AA
CyberPower’s PC overhauled the Scan in application

benchmarks. The i9-12900KS scored 82,455 in our image
editing test, which stresses single-threaded performance,
CyberPower Hydro-X Infinity RTX
0
3,840 x 2,160, Ultra High settings, High AA
30
72fps
60 90
98fps
120 1,165,921
and 1,165,921 in our heavily multi-threaded Handbrake CyberPower Hydro-X Infinity RTX 52fps 68fps
HANDBRAKE H.264
benchmark – a 12.5 per cent improvement on the Scan in 0 30 60 90 120 VIDEO ENCODING
CYBERPUNK 2077
the first test and a 5.5 per cent gain in the second. 2,560 x 1,440, Ultra preset, no ray tracing
That said, even this monster cooling system couldn’t
enable the CPU to get beyond 5.2GHz in our benchmarks,
and it still peaked at 77°C during stress tests, which is right
CyberPower Hydro-X Infinity RTX
0
3,840 x 2,160, Ultra preset, no ray tracing
30 60
76fps 87fps
90 120
376,472
at this CPU’s thermal limit. Also, while the CyberPower is CyberPower Hydro-X Infinity RTX 42fps 46fps
HEAVY MULTI-
never ruinously noisy, it’s consistently audible when idle, 0 30 60 90 120 TASKING
and it’s louder in gaming and multi-threaded tests. If you METRO EXODUS
2,560 x 1,440, Ultra, HairWorks off, Advanced PhysX off, High RT
play loud music, use a headset or have your PC hidden
away behind a desk, it’s not an issue, but this system isn’t
416,627
CyberPower Hydro-X Infinity RTX 60fps 101fps
0 30 60 90 120
suitable for near-silent working conditions. Scan’s PC 3,840 x 2,160, Ultra, HairWorks off, Advanced PhysX off, High RT
might not have the sheer CPU grunt or high-powered
CyberPower Hydro-X Infinity RTX 41fps 62fps
cooling system, but it’s quieter. SYSTEM
0 30 60 90 120 SCORE
Where this PC does excel, though, is in games. In our
4K Assassin’s Creed Valhalla benchmark, the Hydro-X
returned a 99th percentile of 52fps with an average of
68fps, and its 264fps average in Doom Eternal at 4K is
superb – you can easily play undemanding games at 4K ray tracing, and it will be even quicker with DLSS enabled.
on monitors with high refresh rates. The only game where the CyberPower struggled at 4K
There’s room to enable ray tracing at 4K too, with the was Cyberpunk 2077 but, to be fair, all systems struggle
CyberPower averaging 62fps in Metro Exodus with High with this test, and you’ll be able to get it running if you drop
the settings a little. Comparatively, the CyberPower was
marginally slower than the Scan in many tests, but only
by a couple of frames per second here and there.
CONCLUSION
CyberPower’s Hydro-X Infinity RTX offers sensational PERFORMANCE
application and gaming speed, along with a great-looking
water-cooling system. Given the cost of the latter, and
25/25
the superior CPU, it’s a better buy than the pricier Scan. FEATURES
The only disappointments are that even a custom water-
cooling loop with two radiators can’t free up the toasty
23/25
Core i9-12900KS to hit its peak boost clock, and it’s also FEATURES
a bit noisy. The price is also astronomical, of course, but
buying the very fastest components always demands a
23/25
premium, and CyberPower has housed them in a well- VALUE
built, good-looking and very fast machine. 19/25
MIKE JENNINGS
OVERALL SCORE
VERDICT
Fantastic performance and an awesome water-cooling
system, but you pay a premium for these top-line components.
90%
27
R E V I E WS / PC SYSTEMS
INTEL Z690 GAMING PC
CCL HORIZON 5 INTEL

RTX 3080 GAMING
PC/£1,889 inc VAT
SUPPLIER custompc.co.uk/CCL3080
C
CL’s Horizon 5 Intel RTX 3080 Gaming PC
uses Nvidia’s veteran Ampere GPU, but
there’s still plenty to like about the aging
10GB GeForce RTX 3080 – it packs an impressive
tom P
8,704 stream processors into its core. What’s more,
in this machine, the MSI card overclocks the boost
us
C
core from 1710MHz to 1740MHz.
Alongside that GPU Intel’s mid-range Core
i5-12600K Alder Lake CPU, featuring six Hyper-
PP
D
ROV E
Threaded P-Cores with a top boost speed of 4.9GHz,
A
along with four energy-efficient E-Cores. That’s
a perfectly decent CPU for gaming, and CCL has also
specced up 16GB of 3200MHz DDR4 memory and a 1TB SSD. It’s all housed in a Lian Li Lancool II chassis, which is sturdy
tom P
SPEC
The drive in our test system is a WD Blue
SN750 with mid-range read and write
us
and solid, and this Snow edition includes striking white panels.
Two hinged panels on each side of the case make internal
C
CPU speeds, but at retail, CCL has swapped in access easy, and throughout the chassis, you’ll find room for
3.7GHz Intel Core i5-12600K a Samsung 980 that will be a bit faster. three hard disks and four 2.5in drives. Extra shrouds around
Motherboard Meanwhile, the reassuringly familiar the back hide cables, and CCL’s building is consistently tidy.
IT
Asus TUF Gaming Z690-Plus WiFi D4 CU
ST
OM K
Corsair RM750x power supply delivers The radiator for the Corsair Hydro H100x CPU cooler
Memory
80 Plus Gold certification and modular sits in the roof and doesn’t impede the motherboard, while
16GB Corsair Vengeance RGB
Pro SL 3200MHz DDR4 design, and CCL offers one of the best the case’s three intake fans sit in a removable bracket, so
warranties you’ll find from any British they can easily be swapped for different cooling hardware.
Graphics
tom P
MSI GeForce RTX 3080 10GB
Storage
builder, with three years of on-site
service covering both parts and labour.
us
There’s room for larger graphics cards to be installed, and the
bottom of the motherboard is easily accessible. Meanwhile,
c
C
1TB WD Blue SN570 M.2 SSD, 2TB You get a half-decent motherboard buttons on top of the chassis alter the RGB LEDs, and the
Seagate Barracuda hard disk A
EXT
too, which includes Intel’s top-end top-mounted I/O panel includes a Type-C connection. The
Networking
TR
2.5Gbps Ethernet, dual-band Z790 chipset. Its primary 16x PCI-E only absence here is fan control, which you’ll find on Lian Li’s
802.11ax Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.2 slot supports PCI-E 5, and you Performance version. RE L
Case get an impressive trio of 2.5Gbps ME U
Gaze around the market and CCL’s machine offers good
Lian Li Lancool II Mesh RGB Snow Edition Ethernet, dual-band 802.11ax value. You won’t get an equivalent specification from Chillblast,
Cooling Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.2. The board PC Specialist, Ebuyer or Wired2Fire without spending north of
CPU: Corsair Hydro Series H100x with 2 x
tom P
120mm fans; GPU: 3 x 90mm fans; front:
3 x 120mm fans; rear: 1 x 120mm fan
has a generous total of four M.2
connectors, all with PCI-E 4 support,
us
£2,000. Scan and Gladiator offer PCs with the RTX 3080 and
Core i7 CPUs for £1,899, but they both have weaker cases and
c
Ports and elsewhere, this unassuming PCB CPU coolers, and Scan’s rig has an entry-level motherboard.
Front: 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 1, 1 x audio; rear: 1
E
PRE
has a Thunderbolt header and a great

x USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 Type-C, 1 x USB 3.2
AD
Gen 1 Type-C, 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 2, 4 x USB rear I/O panel. There’s a super-fast PERFORMANCE
M
3.2 Gen 1, 1 x optical S/PDIF, 5 x audio
Operating system
USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 Type-C connector
here, alongside seven other, slower IUM GR
The GeForce RTX 3080 makes this sub-£2,000 PC great for
gaming at 2,560 x 1,440. It didn’t drop below a 99th percentile
Windows 11 Home 64-bit ports. You’ll need a pricier board for of 60fps in Cyberpunk 2077 and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla,
Warranty DDR5 support, but this is an excellent and it only dropped down to 57fps in the former at the Medium
Three years parts and labour on-site tom P
mainstream motherboard.
us
ray-tracing preset with DLSS enabled. Its average of 85fps
c
28
AL
PR
O
B E N C H M A R K R E S U LTS ZERO DAWN
+ Great 2,560 x
1,440 gaming
67,707 778,744
performance
+ Versatile case
+ Excellent warranty
GIMP IMAGE HANDBRAKE H.264
EDITING VIDEO ENCODING
ZERO HOPE
- CPU slower
301,340 295,722 than usual
- Lacks consistent
4K gaming ability
HEAVY MULTI- SYSTEM
TASKING SCORE
DOOM ETERNAL
CCL Horizon 5 221fps 350fps
0 100 200 300 400

CCL Horizon 5 132fps 204ps
0 100 200 300 400

ASSASSIN’S CREED VALHALLA
2,560 x 1,440, Ultra High settings, High AA
Meanwhile, the Core i5-12600K is adept with everyday
CCL Horizon 5 62fps 85fps workloads, including multi-threaded content creation, and
0 30 60 90 120 it won’t bottleneck games. Its RealBench system score of
3,840 x 2,160, Ultra High settings, High AA 295,722 comfortably outpaces similarly priced machines
CCL Horizon 5 43fps 57fps we’ve seen based on AMD Ryzen 5 5600X and Ryzen 7
0 30 60 90 120 5700X chips.
CYBERPUNK 2077 The CCL’s only underwhelming result was a comparatively
sluggish 67,707 in the image editing test, which stresses
single-threaded performance, but the CCL clearly has enough
0 30 60 90 120
CPU power to handle games.
The relatively modest CPU also ensures that the CCL is a
decent thermal performer. The Horizon 5 is never loud – even
0 30 60 90 120
during the trickiest stress tests, this rig’s fan noise was modest.
METRO EXODUS
The GPU delta T of 48°C is great, and the CPU’s peak of 38°C is
similarly impressive. During all-core tests, the processor ran at
0 30 60 90 120
its expected speed of 4.5GHz, but it never got beyond 4.7GHz
in single-threaded benchmarks (it should hit 4.9GHz), which
partly explains its slightly poor image editing result.
0 30 60 90 120
PERFORMANCE
CONCLUSION
CCL’s system supplies solid performance inside an attractive,
21/25
accessible chassis. It offers great value for the gaming DESIGN
in Metro Exodus with High ray tracing is a great result too.

performance on offer, and it has a top-notch warranty. If you’d
like more processing power, you can find Core i7 machines
21/25
Meanwhile, the 350fps average in Doom Eternal shows that elsewhere at this price, but not with this level of GPU power, HARDWARE
this machine has plenty of power for playing undemanding
games on monitors at high refresh rates.
and if you want more gaming power, you’ll have to spend
significantly more money. If you’re looking for the fastest
21/25
It’s not so strong at 4K, where you really benefit from gaming performance you can get for under two grand, CCL’s VALUE
stepping up to the much pricier GeForce RTX 3080 Ti – the
CCL dropped down to a clunky 28-32fps in Cyberpunk 2077
system is a well-balanced mid-market choice.
MIKE JENNINGS
24/25
and Metro Exodus, although it still maintained decent pace OVERALL SCORE
87%
in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and a great 204fps average in
Doom Eternal. You’ll be able to play some games at 4K on this VERDICT
machine, but you’ll need to drop the graphics settings to run CCL’s Horizon 5 offers great gaming performance for the
demanding games at this resolution. price, and it’s bolstered by a superb warranty.
29
R E V I E WS / CUSTOM KIT
Custom kit
Phil Hartup checks out the latest gadgets, gizmos and geek toys
tom P
us
C
PP
D
ROV E
A
SAMSUNG T7 SHIELD /£252.97 inc VAT (2TB); £137.98 inc VAT (1TB)
SUPPLIER scan.co.uk tom P
us
C
The Samsung T7 Shield is another solid entry in the field of
external SSDs using USB 3.2 Gen 2 to combine previously
IT
CU
unthinkable speeds with resilient cases. The case has a ST
rounded rectangular shape with grooves down the sides, as OM K
well as a lightly rubbery surface that makes it comfy to carry and
tom P
easy to grip.
In the case of the T7 Shield, unless you’re hovering over a
us
C
particularly deep pool or up a very high ladder, dropping it won’t
A
EXT
matter anyway, as it has an IP65 rating against dust and water, and drive without being
TR
RE
UL
can endure a 3m drop. monstered by loading times.
A sequential read speed of 1,090MB/sec and write speed of It’s on the cheaper side for a drive of this type, andM
it’sEvery cheerful
1,039MB/sec are exactly what you would expect for a drive of this as well – this is a fast and tough-as-nails external SSD.
tom P
type (and even faster than Samsung’s claims), so you can throw
us
your files on it at great speed, or even use it as a portable games Greased Lightning
C
E
PRE
AD
ARCTIC BREEZE / £14.17 inc VAT LITETOUR DESK CORDM
IUM GR
SUPPLIER amazon.co.uk ORGANISERS/ £7.99 tom
inc VAT
us P
The ARCTIC Breeze is a USB desk fan that features the same kind of
c
C
92mm fan you usually expect to see inside a PC. The construction is solid,
AL
PR
there’s a heavy base and you get a 1.8m cable, so you can The evolution of the humble cable tie continues apace with a new
plug it in reasonably far away. Meanwhile, the fan incarnation by LiteTour. These cable ties have a flatF base
E S Swith
I O a strip of
N
O
itself sits atop a bendy metal neck, which allows double-sided tape to anchor them to any given surface; they then use a
you to aim it where you like. There’s no guard, plastic loop with a ladder-like design to lock the cables in place onto the
though, so watch those fingers and stray cables. base. This style of loop offers an immediate and very helpful advantage
Power is controlled with a dial on the base, over regular cable ties, which is that they can be adjusted back and forth,
and at the lowest setting of 800rpm, the and even reopened once locked, without damaging them.
Breeze is very quiet, to the extent that the sound Locking the loop with the wires in place can be fiddly compared with
is barely audible over an air-cooled PC, sounding like a regular cable tie, though, and you’ll want to tie up the cables first, then
just another instrument in the orchestra. At full power, attach the base to the solid surface, as doing it the other way round
it reaches 1,800rpm and is loud enough to be irritating. gets fiddly. For fastidious folks, each of the 50 cable ties is also
Somewhere in the middle is fine. In terms of pushing air numbered from one to ten, so if you want your
around, the Breeze does a surprisingly good job for its cables to be tidied in order, you can put
size. It’s not substantial enough to cool a whole your cable ties in order, so your
room, but it’s good enough for a desk. order is in order.
Easy Breezy Fast Fastidious
30
COOLER MASTER CONNECT STAND / £24.99 inc VAT
The Connect Stand is a handy cooling platform for networking onto the mesh on top of it. Stability is provided by square rubber feet
devices that may benefit from more cooling power than they get that keep it in place.
as standard. The Connect Stand itself is an open-ended stand that For some people, such a stand may seem entirely unnecessary,
measures 74mm high, 295mm long and 170mm wide. It mounts one but if you’ve ever felt a top-end router or cable modem while it’s
of Cooler Master’s 120mm Sickleflow Reverse Edition fans in the top, working like a serf through a pitiless summer, you’ll know that such
and you then place whatever device you want a device could potentially benefit from some extra cooling power,
particularly if it’s shut away in a cupboard with restricted airflow.
You place the device you want to cool on top of the stand, plug in
the USB cable that powers the fan (which thoughtfully has a pass-
through port on the back, so it doesn’t use up a USB port), and then
your device gets the benefit of being lifted off the surface and getting
a cool breeze up through its underbelly. The fan is quiet, outputting
22dBA at 1,200rpm, and does the job well. Most networking devices
won’t need this extra cooling, but if you have a high-powered router
in a location with restricted airflow, this little stand provides some
extra airflow without making a racket.
Hot Cool
BOOMPODS SOUNDCLIP /£24.99 inc VAT
The Soundclip from Boompods is an answer to the question: ‘No

really, are you sure you haven’t attached a Bluetooth speaker to
everything?’ In a world of suction cups, magnets (and, of course,
feet) being used to keep Bluetooth speakers in place, the Soundclip
uses a big rubbery loop on its back. Boompods calls it a clip, but it’s
more like a belt loop. Either way, it works, insofar as it lets you loop
the Soundclip onto any object that can accommodate it.
The unit itself is a round, curved speaker, with a comfy pebble
shape. It weighs a featherweight 153g, but packs enough battery
capacity for seven hours of run-time. As well as a speaker, the use. The silicon strap that forms the clip covers the micro-USB
Soundclip also functions as an Amazon Alexa compatible device, port that’s used for charging, and also helps to provide an IPX6
and can be connected to your home network with an app for waterproof rating. It’s a handy mobile alternative to an Echo Dot.
remote use, as well as making and receiving phone calls. The
sound quality is good, clear and punchy enough for general Clip Loop
Seen something worthy of appearing in Custom Kit? Send your suggestions to [email protected]
31
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33
R E V I E WS / HOW WE TEST
How we test
MOTHERBOARDS MONITORS
TEST PROCESSORS We test image quality with an X-Rite
Angle-right Intel LGA1700 Intel Core i5-12600K iDisplay Pro colorimeter and
Angle-right Intel LGA1700 mini-ITX Intel Core i7-12700K DisplayCal software to check colour
Angle-right AMD AM4 AMD Ryzen 9 5900X accuracy, contrast and gamma, while assessing more subjective
details such as pixel density and viewing angles by eye. For
Common test hardware between our test rigs includes a WD Red gaming, we test a monitor’s response time with an Open Source
SN750 SSD, plus a WD Black SN850 SSD to test the speed of M.2 Response Time Tester, and use Blur Busters’ ghosting UFO test to
ports, and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070. We use 16GB (2 x 8GB) check the sharpness of a display in high-speed motion.
of Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 3466MHz DDR4 RAM, or 32GB (2
x 16GB) of Corsair 5200MHz Dominator Platinum DDR5 RAM.
All CPUs are cooled by a Corsair Hydro-X water-cooling loop
with two XR5 240mm radiators, an XD3 RGB reservoir and an
XC7 RGB waterblock. We test with our RealBench suite and Far
Cry 6 on Windows 11. We also test each board’s M.2 ports, and
record the noise level and dynamic range of integrated audio CPU COOLERS
using RightMark Audio Analyzer.
We use CoreTemp to measure the CPU temperature, before
subtracting the ambient air temperature from this figure to give
us a delta T result, which enables us to test in a lab that isn’t
PROCESSORS temperature controlled. We use Prime95’s smallest FFT test
with AVX instructions disabled to load the CPU and take the
TEST MOTHERBOARDS temperature reading after ten minutes.
Angle-right Intel LGA1700 For the Intel LGA1200 system, we take an average reading
Asus ROG Maximus Z690 Apex across all eight cores, and for the LGA1700 system, we take an
Angle-right Intel LGA1200 MSI MEG Z490 Ace average reading across both the P-Cores and E-Cores. AMD’s
Angle-right AMD AM4 APU MSI MPG Gaming B550 Carbon WiFi CPUs only report a single temperature reading, rather than per-
Angle-right AMD AM4 MSI MEG X570 Unify core readings, so we list what’s reported in CoreTemp.
Common gear includes a 2TB Samsung 970 Evo SSD and TEST KIT
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 FE graphics card. For LGA1700 CPUs, Fractal Design Meshify C case, 16GB of Corsair Vengeance RGB
we use 32GB (2 x 16GB) of Kingston Fury 5200MHz DDR5 Pro memory, 256GB Samsung 960 Evo SSD, Corsair CM550 PSU.
RAM and a Thermaltake Toughliquid Ultra 360 CPU cooler. For
other systems, we use 16GB (2 x 8GB) of Corsair Vengeance INTEL LGA1700
RGB Pro 3466MHz RAM and a Corsair Hydro-X water-cooling Intel Core i9-12900K at stock speed, Asus ROG Maximus Z690
loop, with two XR5 240mm radiators, an XD3 RGB reservoir Apex motherboard.
and an XC7 RGB waterblock.
We use the latest version of Windows 11 with security INTEL LGA1200
updates, plus the latest BIOS versions and drivers. We record Intel Core i9-11900K at stock speed with Adaptive Boost
results at stock and overclocked speeds, and tests include our enabled, MSI MEG Z590 Ace motherboard.
RealBench suite, Cinebench, Far Cry 6 and Dirt 5.
For games, we record the 99th percentile and average frame AMD AM4
rates either using the game’s built-in benchmark or Nvidia Ryzen 7 5800X overclocked to 4.6GHz with 1.25V vcore, or
FrameView. Finally, we note the idle and load power draw of the Ryzen 5 5600X overclocked to 4.6GHz with 1.25V vcore on low-
whole system, using Prime95’s smallfft test with AVX disabled. profile coolers, MSI MEG X570 Unify motherboard.
34
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cards on the performance they u Some products are gloriously over the top. They
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outstanding if you have money to spend.
also consider the efficacy and
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GPU’s support for new gaming features, such as ray tracing. ustom P
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the average of those results. We test at 1,920 x 1,080, 2,560 x MIUM GR features without an over-the-top price.
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TEST KIT These products might not be appropriate for a
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RGB Pro SL 3600MHz DDR4 memory, Asus ROG Strix B550-E FESSIO workstation tasks.
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Cyberpunk 2077 Tested at the Ultra quality preset and Medium ROV E
ray tracing preset if the GPU supports it. We run a custom tom
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benchmark involving a 60-minute repeatable drive around Night us CUSTOM KIT
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City, and record the 99th percentile and average frame rates For those gadgets and gizmos that really
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from Nvidia FrameView. ST impress us, or that we can’t live without,

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resolution scaling set to 100 per cent. We run the game’s built-in
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level of the campaign, and record the 99th percentile and M

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Metro Exodus Tested at Ultra settings with no ray tracing and

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both Advanced PhysX and HairWorks disabled. We then test it ES SI H.264 VIDEO ENCODING
again with High ray tracing if the GPU supports it. We run the Our heavily multi-threaded Handbrake H.264 video encoding
game’s built-in benchmark, and report the 99th percentile and test takes full advantage of many CPU cores, pushing them to
average frame rates. 100 per cent load.
POWER CONSUMPTION LUXMARK OPENCL

We run Metro Exodus at This LuxRender-based test shows a GPU’s compute
Ultra settings with High performance. As this is a niche area, the result from this test
ray tracing at 2,560 x has just a quarter of the weighting of the other tests in the
1,440, and measure the final system score.
power consumption of our
whole graphics test rig at the HEAVY MULTI-TASKING
mains, recording the peak This test plays a full-screen 1080p video, while running a
power draw. Handbrake H.264 video encode in the background.
35
L A B S T E ST / MINI-ITX MOTHERBOARDS
L A B S T E ST
Little mix
Antony Leather tests ten of the latest mini-ITX motherboards, for both
Intel and AMD platforms, to find the best options for building a mini PC
How we test
T
his month we’re taking a look at ten mini-ITX boards, installation to test the speed of M.2 ports, rather than an empty SSD,
catering for current Intel and AMD CPUs at a range of so all the results are comparable.
budgets. We have boards based on Intel’s B660 and Z690 We use the latest motherboard BIOS versions, plus Windows
chipsets for Intel’s 12th-gen CPUs, as well as ones that use AMD’s and driver updates. All the motherboards are tested on a Barrow
B550 and X570 chipsets, which are compatible with AMD’s Zen 3 Rhopilema test bench with full custom water-cooling systems,
Ryzen 5000-series CPUs. including two 240mm radiators and a Laing DDC pump to eliminate
We’ve tweaked out test gear this month to focus on using powerful any cooling bottlenecks.
CPUs at stock speed, rather than overclocking them. We’re using We’ll be looking at VRM and M.2 temperatures, as well as
Intel’s Core i7-12700K and AMD’s Ryzen 9 5900X, which don’t yield motherboard layouts, features and performance. To test M.2 heatsink
significant performance benefits with manual overclocking, and doing performance, we run back-to-back runs of CrystalDiskMark’s entire
it increases CPU heat and causes VRMs to run much hotter too. Both battery of tests to record the peak M.2 temperature. We also use
of these hot spots are a bad idea in a mini-ITX system, which is why RightMark’s Audio Analyzer software to measure the dynamic range,
we’ve instead focused on stock speed results. noise level and total harmonic distortion of the on-board audio. Other
Apart from the two CPUs, our test kit includes an Nvidia RTX 3070 tests include our RealBench suite of performance benchmarks, Far
Founders Edition graphics card, and 16GB of 3466MHz Corsair Cry 6, Cinebench R23’s single and multi-threaded tests and total
Vengeance RGB Pro RAM, or 32GB of Corsair 5200MHz Dominator system power consumption measured at the wall.
Platinum DDR5 memory for DDR5-enabled motherboards. Finally, our scores are based on a weighted calculation, including
As some of the motherboards in this month's Labs test only have performance, features and value, with the overall score being the
one M.2 slot, we’ve used a WD Black SN850 SSD with a Windows 11 sum of those three values.
Contents
Angle-right ASRock B550 Phantom Gaming-ITX/ax /p37 Angle-right MSI MPG B550I Gaming Edge MAX WiFi / p44
Angle-right ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX TB3 / p38 Angle-right Asus ROG Strix Z690-I Gaming WiFi / p45
Angle-right Asus ROG Strix B550-I Gaming / p39 Angle-right Gigabyte B660I Aorus Pro DDR4 / p46
Angle-right Asus ROG Strix X570-I Gaming / p40 Angle-right Gigabyte Z690I Aorus Ultra Plus / p47
Angle-right Gigabyte B550I Aorus Pro AX / p41 Angle-right Results graphs / p48
Angle-right Gigabyte X570-I Aorus Pro WiFi / p42
36
A M D B 5 5 0 M OT H E R B OA R D
ASROCK B550 PHANTOM

GAMING-ITX/ax/£200 inc VAT
SUPPLIER scan.co.uk
A
MD’s B550 chipset is two years old header and Type-C port on
now, but its longevity means the the rear I/O panel too. Its
likes of the ASRock B550 Phantom X570-based bigger sibling
Gaming-ITX/ax are still doing the rounds. As a might sport Thunderbolt
board we first reviewed back in 2020, it hasn’t 3, but it lacks a Type-C
fallen in price much, still stubbornly staying header, and other boards
around the £200 mark, maybe shedding a on test cut back one or
tenner or two over that time. Thankfully, there both ports to slower and
are now plenty of options when it comes to less powerful baseline
Socket AM4 with mini-ITX, but let’s see how USB 3 speeds too. It
the Phantom Gaming fares now. comes up a little short on
It gets off to a good start with its wide the number of Type-A
open CPU socket area, which means cooler ports, though, with just five
compatibility is far better than some other in total, although they’re all
boards on test – even the large pump sections at least USB 3 or faster.
and mounting brackets included with the There are just three
ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II and NZXT Kraken audio ports on this rear
PHANTOM PHANTOM
coolers fitted fine. Meanwhile, the 8-phase panel, with no optical output, but you do at TOLLBOOTH MENACE
power delivery system is cooled by a large least get Realtek’s ALC1220 codec, unlike - Few USB ports
+ USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C
heatsink on the I/O shroud, but this still saw some other boards. You get the usual 4 SATA port and header
- Poor EFI and software
VRM temperatures measured at a peak of 6Gbps ports too, all of which are right-angled + Modern feature set - More expensive
55°C with our Ryzen 9 5900X under load, to the PCB. Unlike this board’s more expensive
sibling, it also provides 802.11ax Wi-Fi, 2.5
+ Spacious CPU than competition
which was one of the warmer results on test. socket area
ASRock has managed to shoehorn USB 3.2 Gigabit networking and a pair of M.2 ports. The
Gen 2 compatibility into the board’s Type-C PCI-E 4 M.2 port on the top side of the board is
equipped with a heatsink, which kept our SSD motherboards on test this month. However,
SPEC to a reasonable temperature of 60°C, while while it has a solid feature set, other
Chipset AMD B550 the one underneath the PCB is left to fend for manufacturers’ B550 boards we’ve tested
itself, while also being limited to PCI-E 3. are better in a few ways, either being cheaper,
CPU socket AMD Socket AM4
Performance in our benchmarks didn’t providing more features or offering better
Memory support 2 slots: max 64GB DDR4 (up to yield any shortfalls or benefits over the rest of EFIs and software. As a result, unless you find
5400MHz)
the field, and the ASRock coped well with the this board in a cracking deal as Socket AM5
Expansion slots One 16x PCI-E 4 mighty Ryzen 9 5900X. Audio performance approaches, it’s best to give it a miss.
Sound 8-channel Realtek ALC1220 was decent, with a noise level of -101dBA and
dynamic range of 101dBA. On the downside,
Networking 1 x Intel 2.5 Gigabit LAN, Intel
802.11ax Wi-Fi
ASRock’s software and EFI are rather clunky VERDICT
and feel very dated – it’s a shame they’re not A solid enough effort, but it lacks the
Cooling Three 4-pin fan headers, VRM heatsink,
up to the standard of the board itself. features needed to justify its current price.
M.2 heatsink
Ports 4 x SATA 6Gbps, 1 x M.2 PCI-E 4, 1 x M.2 Conclusion PERFORMANCE FEATURES OVERALL SCORE
31/35 23/35
79%
PCI-E 3, 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, 1 x USB 3.2
Unless you’re desperate to get Thunderbolt
Gen 2 Type-C, 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C header,
DisplayPort, HDMI, 3 x USB 3, 3 x surround audio out support on your mini system, the B550
VALUE
Phantom Gaming-ITX/ax is definitely the
Dimensions (mm) 170 x 170
better of the ASRock Socket AM4 mini-ITX 25/30
37
A M D X 5 7 0 M OT H E R B OA R D
ASROCK X570 PHANTOM

GAMING-ITX/TB3/£250 inc VAT
A
vailable since the launch of AMD’s SSD’s temperature rocket to
Zen 2 CPUs, the ASRock X570 nearly 80°C in under a minute,
Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 is quite so we suggest adding a third-
old in the grand scheme of the Socket AM4 party heatsink or opting for a
timeline, and it’s painfully obvious that this cooler-running PCI-E 3 model.
motherboard hasn’t aged well either. The CPU socket areas is
Compared with the Asus ROG Strix X570-I also unusual, as ASRock opted
Gaming, it’s lacking in a number of features. For to have Intel mounting holes
a high-end board that costs £250, it only has rather than Socket AM4 ones,
one M.2 port, for example, and it’s only in order to accommodate
equipped with four USB ports too. the 10-phase power delivery
Admittedly, the X570 Phantom Gaming- system. This at least means
ITX/TB3 is the only B550 or X570 mini-ITX that AIO liquid cooler
motherboard on test to feature Thunderbolt compatibility is reasonable, even if ARCTIC’s was decent across the board, and the ASRock
support, so it’s likely ASRock assumed you’d Liquid Freezer II pump still can’t fit. handled our Ryzen 9 5900X well. Its standout
be using fancy hubs and other Thunderbolt However, the towering VRM and chipset result was the audio, though, with its Realtek
peripherals instead of USB ports. The early heatsinks mean that clearance for low-profile ALC1220 codec offering a noise level of
X570 boards that came on the market, air coolers is abysmal. In addition, the noise -109dBA and dynamic range of 109dBA.
including this one, also lacked features we take from the chipset heatsink fan can become quite
for granted now, such as Type-C headers, so audible and, unlike the Asus ROG Strix X570-I Conclusion
you’re out of luck if your case has a USB Type-C Gaming, there’s no monoblock available While it might look dashing and different, the
port on its front panel. for it that removes the fan. The VRMs were ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3
There’s no M.2 heatsink either, with the single relatively cool at 56°C, but the Asus board was is left wanting in a number of areas, which is
M.2 port located on the rear of the PCB instead. noticeably cooler. a shame, as its smart design, Thunderbolt
As such, it wasn’t surprising to see our PCI-E 4 The ASRock’s fan also spun up noticeably support and good audio quality are the makings
under high loads, although in games and less of a decent motherboard. Sadly, with just one
SPEC demanding tasks, it didn’t really make much M.2 port, a tiny amount of USB Type-A ports
Chipset AMD X570 noise. For your own case fans, there are three and poor air cooler compatibility, there are
4-pin headers, which is typical of most mini-ITX plenty of better options this month, with both
boards. There’s also RGB lighting arranged in the Asus ROG Strix B550-I Gaming and MSI
Memory support 2 slots: max 64GB DDR4 (up to a strip on the underside of the PCI-E slot, plus MPG B550I Gaming Edge WiFi offering better
4533MHz)
3-pin and 4-pin RGB headers too. packages for less money.
Expansion slots One 16x PCI-E 4 Meanwhile, ASRock’s EFI and software
Sound 8-channel Realtek ALC1220 are very basic, but combined they do allow
you to take control of your fans and carry out VERDICT
Networking 1 x Intel Gigabit LAN, Intel 802.11ax
Wi-Fi
overclocking relatively easily. Performance A typically outlandish ASRock design
with a unique layout, but there are too
many shortcomings.
VRM fan, M.2 heatsink THUNDERBOLT VERY VERY
AND LIGHTNING FRIGHTENING
Ports 4 x SATA 6Gbps, 1 x M.2 PCI-E 4, 2 x USB PERFORMANCE FEATURES
+ Thunderbolt support - Only one M.2 port OVERALL SCORE
28/35 17/35
64%
3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Thunderbolt
3/Type-C, 2 x USB 3, DisplayPort, HDMI, 3 x + Smart design - Only four rear Type-A
surround audio out USB ports
+ Reasonable AIO liquid VALUE
- No modern EFI fan
Dimensions (mm) 170 x 170 cooler compatibility
control suite 19/30
38
ASUS ROG STRIX B550-I us

tom P
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GAMING/£180 inc VAT
SUPPLIER cclonline.com PP
D
ROV E
A
tom P
W us
ith a £20 price reduction since we from the ROG Strix
first reviewed it a while ago, the Asus X570-I Gaming.
C
ROG Strix B550-I Gaming is now One feature
even more attractive, especially as it’s now that’s sadly lacking
£120 cheaper than its X570 sibling too. This on that board is a
IT
CU
board give you an 8+2 power phase design Type-C header
ST
and the same aesthetics as the Asus ROG on the PCB, OM K
Strix X570-I Gaming, but there’s no snazzy which weren’t
RGB lighting and there’s only one fan rather included with
tom P
us
than two helping to cool the VRMs. many X570
There’s a pair of M.2 ports as well, but only motherboards.
C
the top one supports PCI-E 4, with a second Thankfully, you
PCI-E 3 connector located on the underside of get one here, but
A
EXT
the PCB. The M.2 temperature with our PCI-E it only supports
TR
4 SSD was just 54°C under load, which was USB 3, and isn’t a RE L
the second lowest on test, although the VRM high-speed option, ME U
temperature was measured at 57°C with our unlike the full-fat USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C of 106dBA being second only to the ASRock
IR probe; while well away from any throttling port on the rear I/O panel. The USB Type-A X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX TB3 and Asus
tom P
us
issues, this was 10°C warmer than the result port count is pitiful too, though, at just four, ROG Strix X570-I Gaming.
which will mean plenty of owners heading to
C
Amazon to look for USB hubs. Conclusion
AGED GRACEFULLY FOSSILISED On the plus side, this board uses the Realtek With the B550 chipset being released a
E
+ Great VRM and - Only four USB ports ALC S1220A codec, which offers decent
PRE
AD
M.2 cooling while after X570, the Asus ROG Strix B550-I
- Only three fan headers performance and you also get 802.11ax M
Gaming has the edge in some areas over the
+ Reasonable price - No on-board Wi-Fi and 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet, with the latter IUM GR
pricier Asus ROG Strix X570-I Gaming. It has
+ Excellent EFI RGB lighting
trumping the standard Gigabit networking on a USB Type-C header, which is common in
the pricier Asus board too. cases these days, and an improved layout with
tom P
us
SPEC It also has a rare feature in the form of a its SATA ports all on the edges of the PCB. Its
Chipset AMD B550 thermal probe input, which allows you to set VRM fan was quieter too, but best of all is that
c
C
the input temperature for fan speed control to it costs £120 less. If you’re on a tight budget,
your thermal probe’s reading in the EFI, or in this is the mini AM4 board to buy, but it’s worth
AL
Memory support 2 slots: max 64GB DDR4 (up to

PR
Asus’ software. saving for the Asus ROG Strix X570-I Gaming,
5100MHz)
This is particularly useful if you use a coolant as it has more USB ports, cooling-running
FE
SSIO
N
O
Expansion slots One 16x PCI-E 4 probe and control your radiator fans using components and attractive RGB lighting.
Sound 8-channel SupremeFX S1220A the coolant temperature rather than the
CPU temperature, which helps to cut noise
802.11ax Wi-Fi
levels. This feature has been removed form VERDICT
Asus’ Z690 offering this month too. You get A decent B550 board for a good price,
the usual four SATA 6Gbps ports as well, but although it’s now showing its age a little.
VRM fan, M.2 heatsink
sadly only a run-of-the-mill total of three
Ports 4 x SATA 6Gbps, 1 x M.2 PCI-E 4, 1 x M.2 fan headers. PERFORMANCE FEATURES OVERALL SCORE
32/35 28/35
89%
PCI-E 3, 3 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-A, 1 x USB 3.1 Gen
Performance in games and content creation
2 Type-C, 1 x USB 2, 1 x USB 3 Type-C header,
DisplayPort, HDMI, 2 x surround audio out was on par with the rest of the field, but the
audio performance was a cut above, with the
VALUE
noise level of -105dBA and dynamic range 29/30
39
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EXT
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ME U
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A M D X 5 7 0 M OT H E R B OA R D us
C
ASUS ROG STRIX X570-I
E
PRE
GAMING/£288
AD
M
inc VAT
IUM GR
SUPPLIER cclonline.com
tom P
us
C
W
hile those with deep pockets might use a USB 3 header to
be tempted by the Asus ROG power a Type-C port. Still,
AL
PR
Crosshair VIII Impact if their case it’s a bitter pill to swallow
could squeeze a longer mini-DTX at nearly £300, especially FE
SSIO
N
O
motherboard into its innards, the Asus ROG as other cheaper boards
Strix X570-I Gaming is your best bet for a have them. We can’t deny
premium motherboard that sticks within the its looks, though, and
170 x 170mm confines of mini-ITX. Despite its with an RGB-enabled
age, you still won’t see much change from M.2 heatsink, it’s a very
£300 if you buy this top-end mini board. attractive board for sure.
Its total of ten power phases are cooled That M.2 heatsink covering
by a huge array of heatsinks and fans, which the top PCI-E 4 M.2 port
also run down to the M.2 port and chipset, and isn’t just for show either, as it kept our SSD temperature if you use a coolant probe, which
there’s a decent amount of clearance around below a peak of 52°C. is very handy. However, we’d like to see
the CPU socket area. However, the fans can There’s a second M.2 PCI-E 4 port on the Asus improving the sensitivity when switching
ramp up their speeds in warm environments underside of the PCB as well, which is the to other inputs for fan control, as they can
and become audible, and sadly, there’s no main reason to opt for this board over the be clunky.
way to control them. The Asus did offer the ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX TB3. The
lowest VRM temperature on test of just 47°C, rear I/O panel is far busier than on the Asus Conclusion
but it’s no wonder that EK offers a monoblock B550 board as well, with seven Type-A ports, With ample cooling, decent CPU socket
for the board that allows you to remove the three of which support USB 3.2 Gen 2, as does clearance and most modern features, the
fans completely. the USB Type-C port here. Asus ROG Strix X570-I Gaming remains an
Another issue is the lack of a USB Type-C There’s no 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet, though, excellent choice for an AMD Ryzen mini-ITX
header, which is common on X570 boards, so you’ll have to make do with just one PC. Its main shortcomings are simply due
although some cases do offer the ability to Gigabit network port, although you do at to age, which means its competitors suffer
least get 802.11ax Wi-Fi and Realtek S1220A the same issues, such as a lack of a Type-C
SPEC audio. The performance from the audio was header, below-average networking and a
Chipset AMD X570 excellent with a dynamic range of 107dBA need for fans to cool the chipset and VRMs.
and noise level of -106dBA, although this Asus will no doubt be the company to beat
board didn’t really set itself apart from the with Socket AM5, but if you’re sticking with
Memory support 2 slots: max 64GB DDR4 (up to cheaper competition in our gaming or content Socket AM4, this is the premium option to buy
4800MHz)
creation benchmarks. unless you need a USB Type-C header.
Expansion slots One 16x PCI-E 4 Like its ROG Strix B550-based sibling, the
Sound 8-channel ROG SupremeFX S1220 board sports a thermal probe input, allowing
you to control your radiator fans using coolant VERDICT
Networking 1 x Intel Gigabit LAN, Intel 802.11ax
Wi-Fi Still the Socket AMD mini-ITX king, although
it’s showing its age now.
Cooling Three 4-pin fan headers, VRM heatsink, KING KONG KING PRAWN
M.2 heatsink, thermal probe header
+ Attractive RGB lighting - No way to control PERFORMANCE FEATURES
chipset fans OVERALL SCORE
+ Excellent design 33/35 32/35
90%
Ports 4 x SATA 6Gbps, 2 x M.2 PCI-E 4, 3 x USB 3.2
Gen 2 Type-A, 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, 3 x USB and cooling - No USB
3, HDMI, DisplayPort, 3 x audio jacks Type-C header
+ Plenty of features VALUE
- Expensive
25/30
40
GIGABYTE B550I
AORUS PRO AX/£167 inc VAT
SUPPLIER scan.co.uk
ground too, with just five of SPEC

them, but there are boards Chipset AMD B550
with fewer this month so we
can’t be too harsh.
Arguably, the best feature Memory support 2 slots: max 64GB DDR4 (up to
4800MHz)
of this board is the wide-
T
he Gigabyte B550I Aorus Pro AX open CPU socket area. Unlike Gigabyte’s B660 Expansion slots One 16x PCI-E 4
costs around £30 less than it did at offering this month, there’s no heatsink at the Sound 8-channel Realtek ALC1220
launch, but can it now offer the allure top, and every cooler we tested fitted fine,
of the more expensive boards on test, or has including ARCTIC’s Liquid Freezer II with its
802.11ax Wi-Fi
Gigabyte cut too many features from the list? huge mounting plates. As you’d expect from
Let’s start with the M.2 heatsink, which is a vast a B550 motherboard, you get 802.11ax Wi-Fi Cooling Three 4-pin fan headers, VRM heatsink,
M.2 heatsink
improvement on the non-contact design of and 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet as well as Realtek ALC
Gigabyte’s X570 board (see p42), but the large 1220 audio. There’s the full complement of four Ports 4 x SATA 6Gbps, 1 x M.2 PCI-E 4, 1 x M.3
top heatsink doesn’t actually make contact SATA 6Gbps ports too, as well as HDMI and
2 Type-C, 4 x USB 3, 2 x HDMI, DisplayPort, 3 x
with the SSD. Instead, there’s a smaller DisplayPort outputs should you want to use an surround audio out
heatsink beneath it. APU with on-board graphics.
Quite why Gigabyte separated the two is Meanwhile, a handy feature is Q-Flash
beyond us, as its Z690 board (see p47) has just Plus, which is Gigabyte’s answer to USB BIOS
has one big slab that offers excellent cooling Flashback, allowing you to update the EFI Conclusion
via your case’s airflow. Still, the peak M.2 SSD without having a compatible CPU. This could be Even though the Gigabyte X570-I Aorus Pro
temperature of 58°C was decent. The VRMs useful if you end up with a second-hand model WiFi is cheaper, we’d still take the B550I Aorus
were also kept chilly. With an 8-phase power that has an old BIOS, and you have a shiny new Pro AX over it. It offers better VRM and M.2
delivery, they were kept at a peak of 51°C, which Ryzen 7 5800X3D it doesn’t support. cooling as well as faster networking and more
was the second coolest result on test. Audio performance was good, with a fan headers too. In this price range, it’s a toss-
The Gigabyte has three fan headers, albeit noise level of -103dBA and dynamic range up between Gigabyte, Asus and MSI’s B550
with one being a tiny proprietary port that of 103dBA. There wasn’t much difference in motherboards, depending on your priorities,
requires an included adaptor to connect to a the performance results between all these and this is a great board if you have a really
fan. Gigabyte’s fan control section in the EFI and boards in our benchmarks, but the Gigabyte limited budget.
it’s software are excellent too, with plenty of did managed to top the charts in Cinebench
adjustments available, although the software and Far Cry 6, and it’s on par with the rest of
is a bit clunky for overclocking and other tasks. the field. VERDICT
Sadly, there’s no USB Type-C header on A solid B550 mini-ITX motherboard that
the motherboard, which is a shame given that doesn’t shed too many features for the price.
CHILLED OUT HOT TEMPERED
all the other B550 boards on test this month
include one. + Good VRM and - Heatsink design PERFORMANCE FEATURES
M.2 cooling could be better OVERALL SCORE
32/35 26/35
86%
The rear I/O panel at least offers a USB 3.2
+ Good software and - Could do with more
Gen 2 Type-C port, but it’s a shame the board EFI-based fan control USB ports
VALUE
can’t cater for cases that have full Type-C - No USB
+ Spacious CPU socket
support. Type-A ports are a bit thin on the Type-C header 28/30
41
A M D X 5 7 0 M OT H E R B OA R D
GIGABYTE
X570-I AORUS
PRO WIFI/£140 inc VAT
SUPPLIER cclonline.com
W
hen you spot an X570 motherboard also shaved a few
retailing for significantly less degrees off the VRM
money than its B550 counterpart, temperature. While
you know something isn’t quite right and our this board can handle
initial misgivings about the Gigabyte X570-I high-end CPUs, you’ll
Aorus Pro WiFi have been proved correct – need to rein in your
this is a board that hasn’t stood the test of SSD’s spec and avoid
time particularly well. Its design is in stark any high-speed PCI-E
contrast to that of Gigabyte’s own excellent 4 drives that are likely
Z690 motherboard on test this month too, to get too toasty in the
and even Gigabyte’s own B550I Aorus Pro tight confines of a mini-
AX. Still, at £140, it could be a bit of a bargain, ITX chassis.
especially with the inclusion of AMD’s top- Despite having some
end X570 chipset. of the best fan control software we’ve seen, and audio ports for the Realtek ALC1220
Our main issue with this board the first as well as an excellent EFI fan control suite, audio. However, the Ethernet connection
time we reviewed it was the lack of a heatsink Gigabyte also seems to have forgotten is only Gigabit rather than 2.5 Gigabit. The
making contact with an SSD in the top M.2 that you actually need to have fan headers audio performance was good, though, with
slot. There’s a small fan above it blowing to power your fans too. This board has just a dynamic range of 103dBA and noise level of
onto the chipset heatsink below, but this two of them, which is going to mean buying -103dBA, and benchmark results elsewhere
simply isn’t doesn’t have enough power to splitter cables if you have to contend with were on par with the competition as well.
effectively cool a hot-running SSD. more than two fans.
Our PCI-E 4 test SSD quickly topped 70°C The number of Type-A USB ports is also Conclusion
in our stress test in this board, for example, low compared with the competition, with five If you can manage with just two fan headers,
compared to a peak of just 58°C with the instead of the usual seven, although at least five USB ports, poor SSD cooling and a lack of
Gigabyte B550I Aorus Pro AX, which all the ports on this board are either USB 3 a Type-C header, the Gigabyte X570-I Aorus
or USB 3.2 Gen 2. Thankfully, the clearance Pro WiFi might be for you if you’re looking
SPEC around the CPU socket area is excellent, as to save some money. The Gigabyte B550I
Chipset AMD X570 you only need to contend with the M.2 and Aorus Pro AX is better for a little more money,
I/O shroud heatsinks here. while the Asus ROG Strix X570-I Gaming
As with most X570 boards, there’s no represents the best that the X570 chipset can
Memory support 2 slots: max 64GB DDR4 (up to Type-C header on this board, but there is provide in a mini-ITX form factor, albeit for
4400MHz)
a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port on the rear double the price.
Expansion slots One 16x PCI-E 4 I/O panel. This panel is mostly similar to
Sound 8-channel Realtek ALC1220-VB the one on the B550 model, with 802.11ax
Wi-Fi antennae connectors, video outputs VERDICT
Networking 1 x Intel Gigabit LAN, Intel 802.11ac
Wi-Fi A temptingly cheap price for an X570 board,
but there’s a long list of shortcomings.
Cooling Two 4-pin fan headers, VRM heatsink, COMPETITIVELY SUSPICIOUSLY
M.2 fan PRICED CHEAP
- Only two fan headers PERFORMANCE FEATURES
+ Spacious CPU OVERALL SCORE
29/35 21/35
77%
Ports 4 x SATA 6Gbps, 2 x M.2 PCI-E 4, 1 x USB 3.2 socket area
Gen 2 Type-A, 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, 4 x USB - M.2 cooling not
3, 2 x HDMI, 1 x DisplayPort, 2 x surround audio out + Good EFI and software particularly effective
VALUE
- Only five Type-A
Dimensions (mm) 170 x 170 + Decent audio
performance USB ports 27/30
42
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MSI MPG B550I GAMING

EDGE MAX WIFI/£190 inc VAT
SUPPLIER ebuyer.com
W
hen it comes to mini-ITX Gaming Edge MAX
motherboards, MSI is often late to WiFi now includes a
the party, if it even turns up at all. clear-CMOS button
We’re still waiting for its Z690 offering, which on the I/O panel, so if
is set to arrive in the next month or so, but it you do get stuck after
missed the X570 party altogether. Instead, we some overclocking, you
had to make do with the MPG B550I Gaming won’t have a mission on
Edge WiFi, and now the new version, which your hands.
has the word ‘MAX’ in its title. Unlike a number
However, the only differences between of recent mini-ITX
these two boards appear to be that the motherboards, the
newer one ships with a later BIOS version to PCB on display here
support the latest CPUs, while fixing a glaring is spacious, with no
issue with the original, which was a hidden VRM heatsink at the
clear-CMOS header. This was bizarrely top of the board and a
located under the I/O shroud and required low-riding M.2 heatsink
you to remove the motherboard from the at the other end. The
case to access it. Conversely, the MPG B550I heatsink has a fan embedded inside, but want to add some RGB pizzazz, make sure
unlike some boards, you can control its speed you get the right gear.
in the EFI (it otherwise responds to chipset Finally, benchmark results were solid
MAX VECNA temperature). We found it only spun up under across the board. Even the audio results of
+ Good M.2 and - Type-C header is extended heavy loads, but seeing as the peak -103dBA noise level and 103dBA dynamic
VRM cooling only USB 3
temperature was already 62°C, we suggest range were slap bang in the middle of the
+ USB Type-C header - Average number either leaving it alone or setting a constant results this month.
of USB ports
+ Speed-adjustable speed, so there’s at least some airflow.
chipset fan - No 4-pin RGB headers There’s a second M.2 port on the underside Conclusion
of the PCB too, although it only offers PCI-E As an entry level mini-ITX board that covers
SPEC 4 support. Similarly, we were pleased to see all the essentials, the MSI MPG B550I Gaming
Chipset AMD B550 a USB Type-C header on the PCB, although Edge MAX WiFi is a good choice. It could do
it’s only USB 3 rather than USB 3.2 Gen 2. The with some more USB ports, but it also offers
latter is reserved for a lone Type-C port on a couple of extras over the cheaper Gigabyte
Memory support 2 slots: max 64GB DDR4 (up to the rear, which is accompanied by a mediocre B550I Aorus Pro AX. It can’t quite beat the
4600MHz)
total of five Type-A ports. Every other feature Asus ROG Strix B550-I Gaming in this price
Expansion slots One 16x PCI-E 4 is present and correct, though, including 2.5 bracket, but there’s not much in it.
Sound 8-channel Realtek ALC1200 Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11ax Wi-Fi and Realtek
ALC1200 audio, along with the usual count of
802.11ax Wi-Fi
three 4-pin fan headers. VERDICT
Meanwhile, the power delivery comes from A balanced motherboard with nearly all you
eight phases and is cooled by a large topside need to build an affordable mini Ryzen rig.
M.2 heatsink, M.2 fan
heatsink and smaller metal plate on the
Ports 4 x SATA 6Gbps, 1 x M.2 PCI-E 4, 1 x M.2 underside. This did a decent job of cooling the PERFORMANCE FEATURES OVERALL SCORE
32/35 28/35
88%
VRMs, which peaked at 54°C, so there’s plenty
2 Type-C, 1 x USB 3 Type-C header, 2 x USB 3, 2 x
USB 2, HDMI, 3 x surround audio out of headroom here. There’s no RGB lighting as
standard, but you do get a 3-pin RGB header.
VALUE
There’s no 4-pin header, though, so if you 28/30
44
P
C
IT
CU
ST
OM K
tom P
us
C
A
EXT
I N T E L Z 6 9 0 M OT H E R B OA R D
TR
RE
ME U
L
ASUS ROG STRIX Z690-I
c
us
tom P GAMING WIFI/£373 inc VAT
C
SUPPLIER scan.co.uk
E
PRE
M
IUM GR AD heatsink, along with a
second heatsink at the top
SPEC
Chipset AMD X570
linked by a heatpipe. With a
VRM temperature of 51°C CPU socket AMD Socket AM4
tom P after dealing with our Core Memory support 2 slots: max 64GB DDR4 (up to
us i7-12700K at full load for ten 4400MHz)
c
minutes, it was the coolest Expansion slots One 16x PCI-E 4

Intel board on test, so it will
Sound 8-channel Realtek ALC1220-VB
have no issues dealing with
AL
PR
O
ur initial review of the Asus ROG Strix a Core i9-12900K either. Networking 1 x Intel Gigabit LAN, Intel 802.11ac
FE
SSIO
N
O
Z690-I Gaming WiFi was glowing, Move around the back and, you’ll find a rear Wi-Fi
as it sported a mighty feature set I/O panel with a reasonable count of seven Cooling Two 4-pin fan headers, VRM heatsink,
and an imposing PCB crammed with even Type-A USB ports, two of which are USB 3.2 M.2 fan
more goodies than previous generations. Gen 2. There’s also a clear-CMOS button, 2.5
Ports 4 x SATA 6Gbps, 2 x M.2 PCI-E 4, 1 x USB 3.2
However, it still won’t leave you with much Gigabit Ethernet port and aerial mounts for Gen 2 Type-A, 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, 4 x USB
change from £400, so can it still justify that the 802.11ax Wi-Fi. Audio is provided by Asus’ 3, 2 x HDMI, 1 x DisplayPort, 2 x surround audio out
price in the face of cheaper competition? Supreme FX 7.1 system which is based on
Its triple-stacked array of M.2 ports and Realtek’s ALC4080 codec, and the board’s
audio circuitry is built into a heatsink system three minijacks cater for line-out, microphone
that passively cools both of its PCI-E 4 M.2 and line-in functions. Liquid II cooler was unable to fit, and using
ports, with our PCI-E 4 SSD maxing out at You may have spotted a vertical PCB in the NZXT’s hefty Kraken Z53 required us to use
54°C, and this idea has been copied to some photo too. This is where Asus has located low-profile memory too. However, smaller
extent by Gigabyte with its Z690I Aorus Ultra the four SATA 6Gbps ports, along with RGB cooler blocks from Corsair and EK fitted fine.
Plus. The Gigabyte board trumps the Asus in headers and even the front panel connectors.
a couple areas too, with more fan headers and If you want to remove it, there’s a second Conclusion
on-board RGB lighting, plus both boards offer power button header on the PCB. Sadly, It might be pricey, but if money is no object
USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C ports and headers. though, the extra paraphernalia has resulted and you must have the best Z690 mini-ITX
The Asus board is the only one to offer full in Asus ditching the thermal probe header, board you can buy, the Asus ROG Strix Z690-I
Thunderbolt 4 support, though, and with a which was useful for controlling fan speeds Gaming WiFi ticks nearly every box ,and its
pair of ports on the back too. This does push according to coolant temperature in custom added premium features ultimately justify its
up the price tag, but it enables you to add water-cooling loops. high price.
Thunderbolt devices such as hubs and 10 The Realtek ALC4080-based audio
Gigabit network controllers. performed excellently, with a dynamic
Meanwhile, the 11-phase power circuitry range of 118dBA and noise level of -118dBA, VERDICT
is cooled by a large fan-assisted I/O shroud alleviating your inability to add a discrete PCI-E One or two small niggles, but this is ultimately
sound card. Its audio was better than the a fantastic mini Z690 motherboard.
Gigabyte Z690I Aorus Ultra Plus too, and the
ROG RAG Asus topped all of the Intel benchmark charts PERFORMANCE FEATURES
- No thermal OVERALL SCORE
+ Attractive design
33/35 34/35
88%
probe input
apart from Cinebench, albeit by small margins.
+ Excellent M.2 and Adding coolers to the board can prove
VRM cooling - Cramped PCB a challenge, though, as the CPU socket is
VALUE
+ Innovative layout - Expensive cramped. This meant out ARCTIC Freezer 21/30
45
I N T E L B 6 6 0 M OT H E R B OA R D
tom P
us
GIGABYTE B660I AORUS
C
PRO DDR4/£200 inc VAT
PP
D
ROV E
A
SUPPLIER scan.co.uk
tom P
us
O
verclocking Intel’s 12th-gen CPUs boards this month, it also
doesn’t always yield decent gains, includes a generous
C
particularly at the high end, so if you count of seven Type-A
plan on running one at stock speed, you don’t USB boards and a USB
need to fork out for a Z690 motherboard. The 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port on
IT
CU
ST
OM K
Gigabyte B660I Aorus Pro DDR4 costs the I/O panel. However,
significantly less than its Z690 siblings, and it you don’t get a full-fat
uses DDR4 memory, cutting down the price Type-C header – the one
of building a total system compared with on this board only offers
tom P
using DDR5.
It’s also equipped with a decent array of
USB 3 credentials, rather
than the higher speed and
us
C
features despite its price. There’s a large power of USB 3.2 Gen 2 or
A
EXT
M.2 heatsink, which kept our PCI-E 4 SSD to Gen 2x2.
TR
a peak temperature of 60°C and well away Another shortcoming
from throttling. The heatsink is attached via is the lack of M.2 ports. There's a single PCI-E RE L
on the ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II 240 RGB, so
a heatpipe to a large aluminium I/O heatsink 4 M.2 port, but you’ll need to reach for SATA ME U
you’ll need to opt for a cooler with a smaller
shroud and a further heatsink at the top of devices and the included four SATA 6Gbps mounting mechanism, such as the EK’s ALC
the board too. The VRM temperature was still ports for more storage capacity. Thankfully, AIO liquid coolers.
tom P
a little toasty, though, with our ten-minute
load test seeing our Core i7-12700K drive the
networking is solid, with 802.11ax Wi-Fi
and Intel 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet supported. Conclusion
us
c
C
temperature to 67°C. Performance was mostly on par with The Gigabyte B660I Aorus Pro DDR4 offers
E
PRE
There’s a standard total of three 4-pin fan the other boards on test, but the Realtek a reasonable feature set, and includes ample
AD
headers too, two of which require the use ALC897 audio was a little below the standard cooling for your M.2 SSD and VRMs. It’s more
M
of adaptors included in the box, as Gigabyte
has miniaturised them on the PCB to save
presented by the other two Intel boards,
with a dynamic range of 95dBA vs 100dBA
IUM GR
than up to the task of dealing with a high-end
CPU, even under extended loads. A second
space. Impressively for one of the cheaper and 118dBA for the more expensive boards. M.2 port, USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C header and
The video encoding and Cinebench multi- a more spacious CPU socket would be the
tom P
SPEC threaded results were a tad lower too, but not
by a concerning margin. integrated audio too.
us
icing on the cake, and we’d like to see better
c
Chipset Intel B660

However, the board’s layout did pose some However, if you’re on a tight budget, it’s still
CPU socket Intel LGA1700
issues from a cooling point of view, mainly a solid base for a 12th-gen Intel mini-ITX PC if
AL
PR
Memory support 2 slots: max 64GB DDR4 (up to due to the close proximity of the M.2 heatsink you don’t plan to overclock your CPU.
5333MHz)
and top VRM heatsink to the CPU socket. The FE
SSIO
N
O
Expansion slots One 16x PCI-E 4 area was too small to accommodate large
Sound 8-channel Realtek ALC897 AIO liquid cooler pump sections, such as that VERDICT
A couple of niggles, but this is still a good
Networking 1 x Intel 2.5 Gigabit LAN, 802.11ax
Wi-Fi choice if you want a solid sub-£200 mini-ITX
BUSY CROWDED
board for Intel’s 12th-gen CPUs.
Cooling Three 4-pin fan headers, VRM heatsinks + Attractive design - Only one M.2 port
Ports 4 x SATA 6Gbps, 1 x M.2 PCI-E 4, 2 x USB 3.2 + Effective M.2 and - Cramped CPU PERFORMANCE FEATURES OVERALL SCORE
VRM cooling
29/35 22/35
80%
Gen 2 Type-A, 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, 3 x USB socket area
3, 2 x USB 2. 1 x USB 3 Type-C header, DisplayPort,
HDMI, 3 x surround audio out
+ Decent number of - Type-C header
USB ports is only USB 3 VALUE
Dimensions (mm) 170 x 170 + Reasonable price 29/30
46
ST
OM
tom P
us
C
A
EXT
TR
RE L
I N T E L Z 6 9 0 M OT H E R B OA R D ME U
GIGABYTE Z690I AORUS tom P
us
ULTRA PLUS/£280
C
inc VAT
E
PRE
SUPPLIER box.co.uk
AD
M
IUM GR
A
s its predecessor has now been but our PCI-E 4 SSD was kept
recalled, the Gigabyte Z690I Aorus at 51°C under load, which was
Ultra Plus is now the company’s even cooler than the Asus ROG tom P
flagship Z690 board for mini PCs. It gets off Strix Z690-I Gaming WiFi. us
C
to a good start price-wise, as it costs nearly If you look just above the
£100 less than the Asus ROG Strix Z690-I 16x PCI-E 5 graphics slot,
Gaming WiFi, and comes in both DDR4 and you’ll see that the top PCB
AL
PR
DDR5 flavours. in the aforementioned stack
FE
SSIO
N
O
Gigabyte has gone for a double-stacked also sports a Reset button,
PCB and heatsink array for its M.2 SSDs, 3-pin RGB header and a small
which is a far cry from the poor effort with its proprietary port for one of
X570 sibling this month. The large heatsink several 4-pin fan headers, with
on top makes direct contact with the M.2 SSD adaptors for these included in
beneath, which benefits from an underside the box. This brings the total
thermal pad, cooling both sides. number of fan headers to four.
There’s a second M.2 port beneath this Less impressive is the number
arrangement, although only the top side is of SATA 6Gbps ports, though,
cooled with a heatsink. It’s worth noting that with Gigabyte cutting these to two, although Audio performance was good, if not
neither port supports SATA-based M.2 SSDs, to be fair, it's rare that there are more storage spectacular, from the Realtek ALC4080 codec,
mounts in most mini-ITX cases anyway. with a dynamic range of 95dBA and noise
Sadly, there’s no Thunderbolt support, level of -99dBA. It also managed to edge
STACK OF PCBS STACK OF
LAUNDRY which is present on the Asus board. You do out the other two Intel boards on test in Far
+ Four fan headers get a super-fast USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 Type-C Cry 6’s 99th percentile frame rate, and both
- No Thunderbolt
+ Excellent M.2 and support port on the I/O panel, though, and a Gen 2 Cinebench tests, albeit not by much.
VRM cooling
- Cramped CPU Type-C header on the PCB, so it’s slightly more
+ Reasonable price socket area forward-thinking than its B660-based sibling. Conclusion
- Only two SATA ports As you’d expect at this price, you also get It might not have the lavish feature set of the
802.11ax Wi-Fi and 2.5 Gigabit LAN. Asus ROG Strix Z690-I Gaming WiFi, but the
SPEC However, the board has a slightly odd audio Gigabyte Z690I Aorus Ultra Plus packs a punch
Chipset Intel Z690 arrangement, with just a single output and and will leave you with change from £300. Just
input jacks on the rear I/O panel. Meanwhile, beware that it only has two SATA ports, lacks
CPU socket Intel LGA1700
the front panel audio connector is tucked away Thunderbolt and has a slightly cramped CPU
Memory support 2 slots: max 64GB DDR5 (up to under the I/O shroud, and connects to your socket area.
6400MHz)
case’s cable using a cable of its own.
Expansion slots One 16x PCI-E 5 Meanwhile, the VRMs have 13 power
Sound 8-channel Realtek ALC4080 phases and the heatpipe-linked heatsinks VERDICT
kept them to a maximum temperature of 51°C A well-featured sub-£300 motherboard for
Networking 1 x Intel 2.5 Gigabit LAN, 802.11ax
Wi-Fi with our Core i7-12700K under full load for ten Intel’s latest CPUs, as long as you’re aware
minutes. Socket clearance was slightly better of its limits.
Cooling Four 4-pin fan headers, VRM heatsinks
than average too, and we managed to slot
Ports 2 x SATA 6Gbps, 2 x M.2 PCI-E 4, 3 x USB an NZXT Kraken Z53 pump section into the PERFORMANCE FEATURES OVERALL SCORE
33/35 29/35
89%
3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 Type-C,
area, albeit using low-profile DDR5 memory.
4 x USB 3, 2 x USB 2, 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C
header, DisplayPort, HDMI, 1 x audio out We’d suggest using a cooler with a smaller
waterblock/pump unit, though, such as those
VALUE
from Corsair or EK. 27/30
47
MINI-ITX MOTHERBOARDS BENCHMARK RESULTS

AMD SOCKET AM4
GIMP IMAGE EDITING M.2 SPEED MB/SEC
CrystalDiskMark, sequential 32-queue depth
Asus ROG Strix X570-I Gaming 69,227
ASRock B550 Phantom Gaming-ITX/ax 68,898 ASRock B550 Phantom Gaming-ITX/ax 5,359 7,005
Gigabyte B550I Aorus Pro AX 68,666 Asus ROG Strix X570-I Gaming 5,322 6,994
ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX TB3 68,651 Gigabyte X570-I Aorus Pro WiFi 5,390 6,994
Asus ROG Strix B550-I Gaming 68,559 ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX TB3 5,371 6,992
Gigabyte X570-I Aorus Pro WiFi 68,139 Asus ROG Strix B550-I Gaming 5,319 6,979
MSI MPG B550I Gaming Edge MAX WiFi 67,449 Gigabyte B550I Aorus Pro AX 5,341 6,925
MSI MPG B550I Gaming Edge MAX WiFi 5,366 6,925

0 20,000 40,000 60,000 80,000 100,000
0 2,000 4,000 6,000 7,000 8,000
HANDBRAKE H.264 VIDEO ENCODING Write Read
Gigabyte X570-I Aorus Pro WiFi 990,416

FAR CRY 6 FPS
Asus ROG Strix B550-I Gaming 984,721 1,920 x 1,080, Ultra settings
MSI MPG B550I Gaming Edge MAX WiFi 973,684
Gigabyte B550I Aorus Pro AX 971,160 ASRock B550 Phantom Gaming-ITX/ax 93fps 128fps
Asus ROG Strix X570-I Gaming 971,002 Gigabyte B550I Aorus Pro AX 96fps 127fps
ASRock B550 Phantom Gaming-ITX/ax 970,845 ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX TB3 94fps 127fps
ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX TB3 970,688 Asus ROG Strix B550-I Gaming 93fps 127fps
MSI MPG B550I Gaming Edge MAX WiFi 92fps 127fps

0 200,000 400,000 600,000 800,000 1,000,000
Gigabyte X570-I Aorus Pro WiFi 95fps 126fps
HEAVY MULTITASKING Asus ROG Strix X570-I Gaming 93fps 126fps
ASRock B550 Phantom Gaming-ITX/ax 369,642 0 40 80 100 120 140
Asus ROG Strix X570-I Gaming 360,406 99th percentile Average
ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX TB3 359,889

Gigabyte X570-I Aorus Pro WiFi 352,546 AUDIO NOISE LEVEL DBA
RightMark Audio Analyzer 24-bit, 192kHz
Asus ROG Strix B550-I Gaming 351,710
MSI MPG B550I Gaming Edge MAX WiFi 351,596 ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX TB3 -108.6
Gigabyte B550I Aorus Pro AX 349,086 Asus ROG Strix X570-I Gaming -106
0 100,000 200,000 300,000 400,000 500,000 Asus ROG Strix B550-I Gaming -105
MSI MPG B550I Gaming Edge MAX WiFi -103
SYSTEM SCORE Gigabyte X570-I Aorus Pro WiFi -102.5
Gigabyte B550I Aorus Pro AX -102
ASRock B550 Phantom Gaming-ITX/ax -101.3
ASRock B550 Phantom Gaming-ITX/ax 359,808
Asus ROG Strix B550-I Gaming 358,709 0 -50 -100 -150 -200 -250
Lower is better
Asus ROG Strix X570-I Gaming 357,621
MSI MPG B550I Gaming Edge MAX WiFi 357,269 AUDIO DYNAMIC RANGE DBA
Gigabyte B550I Aorus Pro AX 354,690 ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX TB3 108.6
Asus ROG Strix X570-I Gaming 107
0 100,000 200,000 300,000 400,000 500,000
Asus ROG Strix B550-I Gaming 106
MSI MPG B550I Gaming Edge MAX WiFi 103.4
CINEBENCH R23 MULTITHREADED
ASRock B550 Phantom Gaming-ITX/ax 102.2
Asus ROG Strix X570-I Gaming 22,901 Gigabyte X570-I Aorus Pro WiFi 102.6
Asus ROG Strix B550-I Gaming 22,879 Gigabyte B550I Aorus Pro AX 101.9
Gigabyte B550I Aorus Pro AX 22,879 0 50 100 150 200 250
ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX TB3 22,741 AUDIO TOTAL HARMONIC DISTORTION PER CENT
ASRock B550 Phantom Gaming-ITX/ax 22,712 RightMark Audio Analyzer 24-bit, 192kHz

ASRock B550 Phantom Gaming-ITX/ax 0.0017
0 10,000 20,000 30,000 ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX TB3 0.0017
Gigabyte X570-I Aorus Pro WiFi 0.0019
CINEBENCH R23 SINGLETHREADED
Gigabyte B550I Aorus Pro AX 0.0029
Gigabyte B550I Aorus Pro AX 1,601 Asus ROG Strix B550-I Gaming 0.003
Gigabyte X570-I Aorus Pro WiFi 1,595 Asus ROG Strix X570-I Gaming 0.004
Asus ROG Strix X570-I Gaming 1,572 MSI MPG B550I Gaming Edge MAX WiFi 0.0046
Asus ROG Strix B550-I Gaming 1,569 0 0.0010 0.0020 0.0030 0.0040 0.0050
MSI MPG B550I Gaming Edge MAX WiFi 1,569 Lower is better
ASRock B550 Phantom Gaming-ITX/ax 1,561

VRM TEMPERATURE °C
ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX TB3 1,559
Asus ROG Strix X570-I Gaming 47
0 1,000 2,000 3,000
Gigabyte B550I Aorus Pro AX 51
TOTAL SYSTEM POWER CONSUMPTION WATTS Gigabyte X570-I Aorus Pro WiFi 54
Stock speed, Windows desktop / Prime95 smallFFT
MSI MPG B550I Gaming Edge MAX WiFi 54
ASRock B550 Phantom Gaming-ITX/ax 69 287 ASRock B550 Phantom Gaming-ITX/ax 55
Asus ROG Strix B550-I Gaming 70 293 ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX TB3 56
ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX TB3 65 295 Asus ROG Strix B550-I Gaming 57
Gigabyte X570-I Aorus Pro WiFi 60 299 0 25 50 75 100

Asus ROG Strix X570-I Gaming 71 309 Lower is better
Gigabyte B550I Aorus Pro AX 63 318

LOWEST M.2 TEMPERATURE °C
MSI MPG B550I Gaming Edge MAX WiFi 60 322 Asus ROG Strix X570-I Gaming 52
0 100 200 300 400 Asus ROG Strix B550-I Gaming 54

Lower is better Gigabyte B550I Aorus Pro AX 58
Idle Load
ASRock B550 Phantom Gaming-ITX/ax 60
Gigabyte X570-I Aorus Pro WiFi 74
ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX TB3 76
0 25 50 75 100
Lower is better
48
0 100 200 300 400 Asus ROG Strix B550-I Gaming 54
Lower is better Gigabyte B550I Aorus Pro AX 58
Idle Load
ASRock B550 Phantom Gaming-ITX/ax 60
Gigabyte X570-I Aorus Pro WiFi 74
ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX TB3 76
0 25 50 75 100
Lower is better
MINI-ITX MOTHERBOARDS BENCHMARK RESULTS

INTEL LGA1700
GIMP IMAGE EDITING AUDIO NOISE LEVEL DBA
Asus ROG Strix Z690-I Gaming WiFi 78,682
Gigabyte B660I Aorus Pro DDR4 78,187 Asus ROG Strix Z690-I Gaming WiFi -118
Gigabyte Z690I Aorus Ultra Plus 77,544 Gigabyte Z690I Aorus Ultra Plus -99
0 20,000 40,000 60,000 80,000 100,000 Gigabyte B660I Aorus Pro DDR4 -94
0 -50 -100 -150

HANDBRAKE H.264 VIDEO ENCODING
Lower is better
Asus ROG Strix Z690-I Gaming WiFi 962,582 AUDIO DYNAMIC RANGE DBA
Gigabyte Z690I Aorus Ultra Plus 961,655
Gigabyte B660I Aorus Pro DDR4 948,342

Asus ROG Strix Z690-I Gaming WiFi 118
0 300,000 600,000 900,000 1,200,000 1,500,000 Gigabyte Z690I Aorus Ultra Plus 100
Gigabyte B660I Aorus Pro DDR4 95

HEAVY MULTITASKING
0 50 100 150
Gigabyte Z690I Aorus Ultra Plus 350,462 AUDIO TOTAL HARMONIC DISTORTION PER CENT
0 100,000 200,000 300,000 400,000 500,000 Gigabyte B660I Aorus Pro DDR4 0.002
Asus ROG Strix Z690-I Gaming WiFi 0.0025

SYSTEM SCORE
Gigabyte Z690I Aorus Ultra Plust 0.0033
0 0.0025 0.005 0.0075 0.01
Gigabyte Z690I Aorus Ultra Plus 355,861 Lower is better
TOTAL SYSTEM POWER CONSUMPTION WATTS
0 100,000 200,000 300,000 400,000 500,000
Stock speed, Windows desktop / Prime95 smallFFT
CINEBENCH R23 MULTITHREADED Asus ROG Strix Z690-I Gaming WiFi 75 331
Gigabyte Z690I Aorus Ultra Plus 58 339

Gigabyte Z690I Aorus Ultra Plus 22,931
Gigabyte B660I Aorus Pro DDR4 89 351
0 100 200 300 400
Idle Load Lower is better
0 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000
CINEBENCH R23 SINGLETHREADED VRM TEMPERATURE °C
Gigabyte Z690I Aorus Ultra Plus 1,945 Asus ROG Strix Z690-I Gaming WiFi 49
Gigabyte B660I Aorus Pro DDR4 1,940 Gigabyte Z690I Aorus Ultra Plus 51
Asus ROG Strix Z690-I Gaming WiFi 1,939 Gigabyte B660I Aorus Pro DDR4 67
0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 0 25 50 75 100

Lower is better
M.2 SPEED MB/SEC LOWEST M.2 TEMPERATURE °C

CrystalDiskMark, 32-queue depth
Gigabyte Z690I Aorus Ultra Plus 51
Asus ROG Strix Z690-I Gaming WiFi 5,343 6,985 Asus ROG Strix Z690-I Gaming WiFi 54
Gigabyte B660I Aorus Pro DDR4 5,370 6,960 Gigabyte B660I Aorus Pro DDR4 60
Gigabyte Z690I Aorus Ultra Plus 5,342 6,952 0 25 50 75 100

Lower is better
0 2,500 5,000 7,500 10,000
Write Read
FAR CRY 6 FPS

1,920 x 1,080, Ultra settings
Asus ROG Strix Z690-I Gaming WiFi 100 136
Gigabyte Z690I Aorus Ultra Plus 103 135
Gigabyte B660I Aorus Pro DDR4 99 132
0 50 100 150 200

49
L A B S T E ST / GAMEPADS
GAME PADS
L A B S T E ST
Get a grip
A keyboard and mouse isn’t the only option for gaming on your
PC, and you’ll want a gamepad for some titles such as Elden Ring.
Edward Chester puts nine gamepads to the test
How we test
T
he trusty mouse and keyboard combo has long been the go-to PC, as you may need to buy a Bluetooth adaptor. Controllers that use
choice for gaming on PCs, but they’re not ideal for every game. Bluetooth can also be used with mobile devices.
Whether you need the analogue control that’s ideal for racing Another consideration is the style of controller, with the main divide
games and flight sims, or just want a more comfortable lounge-gaming being between the shape and control layout of Xbox 360/One/X
experience, a gamepad is often a better choice. controllers and PlayStation DualShock/DualSense controllers. The
There are plenty of options, with all the official controllers for the major former are bulkier, and the left thumbstick is positioned above the D-pad,
games consoles being supported to some degree on PCs, plus there are while the latter tend to be smaller with two analogue sticks in the middle.
many third-party options too. However, not all controllers are created It’s largely personal preference as to which layout you may prefer.
equal, so there’s plenty to consider. Beyond these core feature differences, there are plenty of other
For a start, one feature that we consider essential, and that the likes factors to consider. Build quality is a huge one, with premium controllers
of the Nintendo Switch Pro controller lacks, is analogue triggers. They’re often feeling better-made than their cheaper counterparts, and including
needed for accurately controlling features such as accelerating and more precise-feeling controls – the analogue sticks can especially suffer
braking in racing games, and have many other uses too. It’s for this in cheaper controllers. Extra features, such as additional buttons and
reason we’ve omitted this otherwise solid controller from this test. switches for different modes, can come in useful too.
The second biggest distinction between some controllers is whether We tested our gamepads across a variety of games, concentrating on
they’re wired or wireless. Wireless options are more expensive, and you racing games, flight sims and first person shooters, to see how the most
may need to jump through a few hoops to get them working on your sensitive parts of the controllers – the analogue controls – held up.
Contents
Angle-right Logitech F310 /p51 Angle-right Razer Wolverine V2 Chroma / p56
Angle-right Microsoft Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 / p52 Angle-right Scuf Instinct Pro / p57
Angle-right Microsoft Xbox Wireless Controller / p53 Angle-right Sony DualSense / p58
Angle-right MSI Force GC20 V2 / p54 Angle-right Thrustmaster Dual Analog 4 / p59
Angle-right PowerA Spectra Infinity Xbox Series X / p55
50
LOGITECH F310/£23 inc VAT
SUPPLIER currys.co.uk
A
s one of the cheapest fully featured of analogue
(analogue triggers and thumbsticks) control is better
gamepads on the market, the than none, but
Logitech F310 understandably lacks the better-quality
finesse of some of the pricier competitors on controllers will
test this month, but still gets the basics done. give you markedly
However, its design certainly leaves no doubt more finesse.
about its low-cost status. The combination of Along with its full complement of digital
the two-tone blue and black shell, its generally and analogue controls, there’s also a switch
lightweight, hollow feel and jewel-like ABXY on the rear for swapping between DirectInput
buttons have a distinct toy-like quality to them. and XInput modes. DirectInput is the older
The lightness comes in part from the fact standard used for games in Windows, with
F18 HORNET
that there are no haptic feedback motors, plus XInput being the more modern version. As
+ Full range of controls - Cheap look
the fact it’s a wired-only controller, so there such, this otherwise basic controller is an for low price
are no batteries adding to its mass. Its cable is ideal choice for those seeking a single basic - Slightly awkward
+ Sony DualShock- shape
also tethered and measures 1.8m long, which controller that they can use with a host of style layout
is ample for desk use but will be a bit short for games old and new. Because of this simple
- Clunky analogue
+ DirectInput and controls
sofa use with a living room PC. switch system, installation is completely XInput modes
This is a robustly built controller, though, plug-and-play too, so there are no driver
with no amount of aggressive gripping and or compatibility hurdles to overcome. It
twisting eliciting the slightest creak or bend. just works. Conclusion
Instead, it’s in the crispness of its buttons and Meanwhile, a button on the front of the The Logitech F310 is a basic controller, with
the smoothness of its analogue controls that controller lets you switch between flight no rumble motors, no wireless mode and
the F310 shows its cheapness. and racing modes. This switches the default a generally cheap quality to its buttons and
For example, the analogue sticks are stiffer assignments of the D-pad and left thumbstick analogue controls. Its shape and colour
than most and take more force to start moving, so that the D-pad controls movement, and the scheme are also distinctly toy-like. However,
making it difficult to use them accurately, thumbstick controls POV for sports mode, and it gets the job done, and its analogue controls
particularly around the crucial central area vice versa for racing mode. are sufficiently fine-grained to make for an
where accurate small movements are so In terms of ergonomics, it’s very improvement for racing games and flight sims
important. The analogue triggers are also reminiscent of older Sony DualShock 3 over a keyboard. Its DirectInput and XInput
quite stiff and have a relatively short throw, controllers, with very small, steeply sloped modes also make it quite versatile. If you’re on
again making accuracy an issue. grips and its two analogue sticks positioned a really tight budget, it does the job, but you’d
The upshot is that the F310 isn’t great for in the middle. It works fine if you’re holding be better off spending just a few more quid.
more demanding analogue control such as the controller in a conventional manner, with
for playing competitive first-person shooters. your thumbs on the sticks/D-pad, and index
They’re an upgrade on keyboard control for and middle fingers on the bumper buttons VERDICT
racing games and flight sims, where any sort and triggers. Cheap and cheerful, there’s a lot to like about
However, it’s far from the most comfortable the Logtiech F310, although there are better
SPEC pad we’ve used. The deep grooves on the bargains to be found.
Weight 295g back into which your fingers nestle make
it awkward for alternative grip styles, such DESIGN FEATURES OVERALL SCORE
12/20 20/30
70%
Connections Tethered USB cable as claw grip, for example. The relatively
Features DirectInput and XInput switch long distance between the top edge of the
controller and the ABXY buttons makes using
PERFORMANCE VALUE
Battery N/A
different grip styles more difficult too. 22/30 16/20
51
MICROSOFT XBOX ELITE WIRELESS

CONTROLLER SERIES 2/£145 inc VAT
SUPPLIER microsoft.com
M
icrosoft’s Xbox Elite Wireless As for those extras,
Controller Series 2 offers an across- the D-pad pops off, so
the-board upgrade over the you can use a round
standard Xbox Wireless Controller. It includes omnidirectional
premium build quality touches, such as a version or a
tom P
us
metal D-pad and rubber grips, and you get conventional
extra buttons in the form of rear paddles. cross-style one.
C
There are also customisation options, The thumbsticks
including swappable D-pad and thumbsticks. also pull off and
Plus, if all that isn’t enough, there’s also a you can opt for
charging dock, carry case and many standard or classic PP
D
ROV E
A
replacement parts included in the box. designs (which differ
In terms of the pad’s overall design, it’s only by their surface
essentially identical to the conventional Xbox finish). Alternatively, you can opt for a dome controller that’s more comfortable to hold
tom P
us
Wireless Controller, so any preference for or a tall stick – in theory, taller sticks are better and considerably more capable than the basic
DualShock-style or Xbox-style controllers, for accuracy, while shorter ones are better for Xbox One controller. In a large part, it still feels
C
in terms of shape and button placement, quick movements. Your mileage may vary, but like an indulgence than an essential upgrade,
applies as usual here. Instead, it’s in the extras the inclusion of these options mean you can but those extra paddle buttons could be a deal
that you’ll notice the difference between the give them a go and see which ones work best maker for some games.
IT
CU ST
Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 and the for you.
standard pad. Meanwhile, the paddles on the underside Conclusion OM K
For a start, while it’s a subtle factor, the magnetically attach to the buttons and provide The Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 is a
clean black and grey colour scheme looks true hair trigger response for your middle and superb-quality, premium gamepad. It delivers
tom P
us
to our eyes just a little bit classier than the ring fingers. It’s a really well implemented just about every upgrade you could imagine
multi-coloured ABXY buttons of a standard system, although the buttons are very easy over a standard Xbox controller. It has more
c
controller. Meanwhile, build quality is

noticeably improved in all areas.
to press, and some gamers may prefer
buttons that require a slightly more solid
C
buttons, offers customisation options, has an
internal battery and it looks great too.
A
EXT
The grips have a textured rubber surface press to activate, such as the ones on the That’s all very nice, but there’s no getting
TR
that provides improved purchase, while the Scuf Instinct Pro (see p57). The latter also RE L
around the price. At £145 inc VAT, it costs
whole device just feels much better-quality offers considerably more colour options than ME U
almost three times the price of the standard
in your hand. The D-pad and additional back the Xbox Elite Wireless Controller, which is controller. If you have plenty of money to
paddles are also made from solid metal, so basically only widely available in black. spend, this is the best wireless PC controller
tom P
us
they have a reassuring heft and a cold, steely A headphone jack is included too, along with you can buy, as long as you don’t want the
feel under your fingers. a profile switch and hair-trigger switches for customisable colour options of the Scuf
c
each trigger. These shorten the throw of the Instinct Pro.

SPEC triggers, making it easier to tap them rapidly.
E
PRE
AD
Weight 435g You also get an internal rechargeable

VERDICT M
IUM GR
battery that’s good for 40 hours of play time.
Connections USB Type-C with 2.7m cable and
The overall result of all these tweaks is a A worthy all-round upgrade over a standard
charging dock
Xbox controller, but it certainly comes at a price.
Features Swappable D-pad (two included) and
stom POVERALL SCORE

thumbsticks (six included), removable rear paddle ELITE ALIGHT
DESIGN FEATURES
+ Great build quality - Very expensive u28/30
18/20
buttons (four paddles included), thumbstick
- Limited colour options
84%
tension adjustment
c
+ Lots of extra buttons

C
Battery Internal rechargeable (40 hours average + Customisable PERFORMANCE VALUE

per charge)
28/30 10/20
AL
+ Rechargeable battery
PR
FE
SSIO
N
O
52
MICROSOFT XBOX WIRELESS
CONTROLLER/£50 inc VAT
N
ow known simply as the Xbox also make almost
Wireless Controller, the official no noise when you
gamepad that ships with Microsoft’s press them, which
latest Xbox Series X and S consoles is is another example
tom P
essentially the same as the Xbox One
controller that came before it. In many ways,
of this controller’s
feel of quality.
us
C
it can be considered the de facto choice for a Another crucial
PC gaming controller thanks to Microsoft’s upgrade over
excellent support for it in Windows. You don’t cheaper controllers
PP
D
have to leap through any of the hoops involved is the inclusion of a
ROV E
A
with hooking a Sony DualSense controller up wireless connection,
to your PC, for instance. with one of the only
Software support aside, though, it’s also major upgrades of this latest iteration being is reminiscent of the original Xbox green.
tom P
just a very good controller. Microsoft has been
steadily honing its controller design and the
the inclusion of a USB Type-C port for wired
connection, instead of the micro-USB port
us
Otherwise, you don’t get any customisation
options, with no removable faceplates,
C
latest update sees almost no change from the that was used before. Moreover, the port can thumbsticks or other features. The range
Xbox One design – the fact that Sony’s latest also be used for charging, as long as you buy of colours available is a considerably better
controller looks more like the Xbox controller a compatible battery pack (£20 inc VAT from showing than the black or white only options
IT
CU
ST
OM K
shape than ever before is testament to the xbox.com). Otherwise, you need to use a pair of the Sony DualSense though.
quality of design. It’s just a very comfortable of AA batteries, which you install by removing
shape to hold in your hand. a compartment on the back. Conclusion
The build quality of this gamepad is The wireless connection is Bluetooth- Microsoft’s de facto standard Xbox controller
tom P
surprisingly good too, considering its relatively
modest price. It’s a solid unit with smooth,
based, so the controller will also connect
to other Bluetooth devices such as mobile
us
remains a great option for PC gamers. Its
design makes it comfortable to hold, its
c
C
reliable control movements and plastics that phones. There’s a dedicated pairing button controls are accurate and its compatibility with
A
EXT
don’t feel cheap, unlike the Logitech F310, on the back for getting it connected to your Windows games is excellent. There are few
Thrustmaster Dual Analog 4 and even the MSI chosen device.
TR
frills here, such as custom colour combos,
RE
Force GC20. The well-dampened triggers Other smaller updates include the addition L
replaceable parts or motion controls, but the
of a Share button on the front face for taking ME U
core experience is top-notch and you get the
screenshots and captures (although you can option of a few different official colour choices
TEXTURED SLIPPERY also reassign it), along with a new circular as well. With solid build quality and a modest
+ Great Windows - Rechargeable battery tom P
compatibility is optional extra hybrid D-pad and a textured surface to the
triggers, bumpers and back surface.
us
price, it’s easy to recommend if your priorities
are ease of use and compatibility.
- Few frills
c
+ Wireless connection
C
The textured surface on the back is

+ Range of colour
E
PRE
options
welcome, but the trigger and bumper surface
AD
changes aren’t game changers – all the other VERDICT

M
IUM GR
gamepads on test make do with triggers with The latest official Microsoft Xbox Wireless
SPEC smooth surfaces and we didn’t find them any controller remains a solid choice for
Weight 232g without batteries (282g with
worse to use. The D-pad change is a welcome PC gaming, with a comfortable design
one, though, providing easier diagonal and great Windows compatibility.
stom P
batteries)
movement than the previous controller, and
Connections USB Type-C and Bluetooth without compromising the clear up/down/ DESIGN u
FEATURES OVERALL SCORE
c
18/20 22/30
82%
Features Charge-over-USB, Share button left/right feel of the cross design.
Microsoft offers its latest controller in five
PERFORMANCE VALUE
AL
Battery AA or rechargeable battery pack (40

PR
colour options of black, white, blue, red and

hours average per charge)
a fluorescent green Electric Volt option, which 26/30 16/20
F ESSIO
N
O
53
MSI FORCE GC20

V2/£27 inc VAT
SUPPLIER ebuyer.com
T
he MSI Force GC20 is a wired on test this month, but they lack that final bit of
alternative to an official wireless crispness that comes with the official options
Xbox controller. For roughly half the (let alone the premium controllers). The metal
price of the real deal, you lose battery power D-pad feels too slippery as well, although the
and a headset connection, but you gain circular alternative is much better.
swappable D-pad covers, rubber grips, Meanwhile, the thumbsticks offer
multiple input modes and a removable cable smooth, accurate movement that’s head and
that also lets you hook up the gamepad to shoulders above the cheaper options on test, feel of the buttons, the big caveat here is that
Android devices. and comparable with the official gamepads. if you’re just after a controller for use with
In terms of basic design, the Force GC20 However the analogue triggers lack the standard PC games, they don’t really add
is a direct spin on the formula for the Xbox smoothness of more premium models. much. In comparison, the PowerA Spectra
360/One controller, with it sporting the same As we mentioned earlier, if you remove Infinity does a far better job of providing
basic shape and button layout. There are the main cable, you can alternatively plug in genuinely useful features for PC/console
some subtle differences though. For starters, a supplied micro-to-micro-USB cable that use, plus it has superior build quality and only
the grips are slightly shorter, more rounded you can then connect to Android phones, costs a few pounds more.
and don’t come to quite such a sharp point as for example. However, given that most new
those of the latest Xbox Series X controller, Android phones are USB Type-C these days, Conclusion
so they feel a little like a hybrid between a you’ll probably need a further adaptor to get The MSI Force GC20 is a decent, low-cost
DualSense and an Xbox controller. connected, making it feel like a Bluetooth wired alternative to an official wireless
The sides also have a patch of grippy controller would be an easier option overall. Xbox controller. It’s well made, with decent
rubber on their outer edge, where the grips The controller can run in four different analogue sticks, and a few extra features
nestle into the meat of your palm. Despite modes, indicated by a row of LEDs on the with the rubber grips and multiple connection
being such a small patch, it’s surprisingly front. The default mode provides standard modes. However, it could do with an update
effective at helping to keep the gamepad XInput signals, or you can switch the to use a USB Type-C cable and it lacks the
secure in your hand. controller to two different DirectInput modes headset connections of some alternatives,
The standard Xbox-style button layout and an Android mode. The two DirectInput which are really handy for sofa gaming. This
feels pleasantly familiar when you start modes allow you to use either the analogue is a solid enough gamepad for the money,
gaming, but the buttons aren’t as good quality stick or D-pad. You also get vibration motors but for just a little extra outlay, the PowerA
as those on the official Microsoft controller. for haptic feedback, which the cheaper Spectra Infinity is a far better bet.
They’re comfortably a step up from the controllers on test don’t include.
Logitech and Thrustmaster budget controllers While these extra features are welcome at
this price, and make up for the disappointing VERDICT
SPEC A clear step up in quality from the very
Weight 205g
cheapest units, but you don’t have to spend
BANG UP TO DATE BANG OUT much more to get an even better experience.
OF ORDER
Connections Wired-only with micro-USB socket, + Decent-quality
2m main cable and 30cm mobile cable included
analogue controls - Lacks finesse of
official options DESIGN FEATURES OVERALL SCORE
+ A few extra features
14/20 22/30
70%
Features Four modes (2 x DirectInput variations, - Dated micro-USB
XInput and Android) + Low price socket
PERFORMANCE VALUE
-
20/30 14/20
No headset
Battery N/A connections
54
POWERA SPECTRA
INFINITY XBOX
SERIES X/£35 inc VAT
P
owerA has been creating fully but you could get used to
licensed Xbox controllers for many this lighter feel with practice.
years, offering colourful designs, Slide the trigger controls on
tom P
extra buttons and generally more choice than the underside over one notch and the trigger us
C
the official controllers, while maintaining travel distance moves from roughly 10mm
impressively low prices. As a case in point, to about 7mm, while sliding the control fully
this Spectra Infinity Xbox Series X controller over results in the trigger travel dropping to
includes three RGB lighting zones, multi-level about 5mm. The latter still isn’t quite what
PP
D
ROV E
A
trigger locks, dual rumble motors, headset we’d called a truly hair trigger feel, but it
input with microphone mute and volume tightens up the response a bit.
control, and extra rear buttons, yet it costs just Also on the underside are the two extra
£35 inc VAT.
Despite packing such a huge number of
buttons, which fall neatly under your middle
fingers when using a conventional grip,
RESPECTED
tom P SUSPECTED
s quality
+ Excellentubuild - Wired only
- Micro-USB rather than
c
C
features into the package for such a low price, but are difficult to reach if you’re using any + Useful extra features
the Spectra Infinity doesn’t want for anything alternative grip. They offer a well-balanced USB Type-C
+ Fantastic value
when it comes to build quality, at least in feel, though, with a small travel distance - Slightest loose-feeling
terms of heft. Despite being a wired-only making for a quick response, but without the triggers
IT
CU
ST
OM K
controller, it weighs the same as a standard hair-trigger feel of the Xbox Elite Series 2
Xbox controller (with batteries) and it feels controller’s paddles.
like it’s built like a tank, with buttons that have Meanwhile, the inclusion of a headset Conclusion
a precise, crisp feel to them too – they’re a far socket is a really useful addition that
tom P
Although we found the analogue triggers
cry from the cheaper-feeling buttons of the elevates this controller far above any of the us
of this controller a little lacking in resistance,
c
Logitech and Thrustmaster options on test cheaper units on test this month, while the and the extra RGB lighting wasn’t quite to
this month. volume/mute control on the front even adds our taste, there’s also a lot we liked about
A
EXT
The thumbsticks feel good too, with a light features that you won’t find on a standard it, especially for the price. It’s packed with
TR
yet smooth resistance. They’re just a touch Xbox controller. features, including extra rear buttons and
lighter in use than those on a standard Xbox Really, then, it’s only the fact that this is a
RE L
headset volume controls, and it’s very well
controller but they still feel relatively easy wired controller (and a heavy one at that) that ME U
built. It’s a touch heavy considering it lacks
to use accurately. The analogue triggers, on puts it at all behind official Xbox units. The wireless, but it’s hard not to be bowled over
the other hand, do feel a bit too light. We find micro-USB socket at the back is sunken so
tom P
by the quality of this controller for this price.
stiffer triggers make it easier to accurately that the provided cable stays firm and secure, us
c
dial in functions such as accelerator control, and the cable’s 3m length is ample for most
C
applications. It would be good to have a USB VERDICT

E
PRE
SPEC Type-C socket instead of micro-USB though. A stunningly low price for the quality and
AD
This specific Spectra Infinity model also features on offer, even if it’s a touch heavy
Weight 282g M
Connections Wired-only with micro-USB socket,
features RGB lighting that surrounds all the IUM GR
and lacks a wireless connection.
buttons and the edge of the controller. It’s a
3m cable included bit much for our liking when it’s in full flow, DESIGN FEATURES OVERALL SCORE
16/20sto26/30
82%
Features Three-zone RGB lighting, three-level but there are masses of other options of
mP
trigger locks, two extra rear buttons this controller available, including plain solid
colour models available in black, red, khaki
u
PERFORMANCE VALUE
c
Battery N/A
green, blue and white, to name just a few. 22/30 18/20
AL
PR
FE 55
SSIO
N
O
RAZER WOLVERINE
V2 CHROMA/£130 inc VAT
SUPPLIER razer.com
W
hile Razer has produced wireless this feature this
gamepads in the past, such as the month though.
DualShock-alike Raiju Tournament The simple vertical stack of one button
Edition (reviewed back in Issue 191), the above the other in the centre of the
reptilian peripheral maker currently only rear feels quite difficult to reach. It’s
offers wired gamepads. Moreover, it only good to have them, and they will work
offers a single model, but which is available well if you have large hands, but other
in two different variants. The Wolverine V2, implementations feel more natural in
then, is an official Xbox licensed controller, your hand.
with the Xbox logo on its front, and it sports Another factor that sets both the
the standard Xbox thumbstick layout. standard Wolverine V2 and the Chroma
However, it actually sports a slightly different version apart from the competition is that it’s certainly not essential to go wireless but
shape from the official controller, and both both pads have Razer’s ‘Mecha-Tactile’ it’s a slight inconvenience, plus the lack of a
versions include quite a few extras. buttons. These feel lighter and more clicky Bluetooth connection means you can’t use it
The standard model (currently £70 inc VAT than typical gamepad buttons, giving a more for mobile gaming.
from currys.co.uk) includes two additional mouse button-like feel. Combine this omission with the limitation
buttons next to the triggers and bumper They do feel precise and crisp in action of only two colour options – black or white –
buttons. It also has a couple of sliders on – although not revolutionary – and Razer and fairly limited options for customisation
the underside for converting the triggers claims a three million activation lifetime, elsewhere, and the Wolverine V2 doesn’t
to a hair trigger mode. Meanwhile, the which is impressive. leap out as great value. The RGB lighting strip
Chroma version on test here adds two extra Back to the shape of the Wolverine, and that wraps around the controller does look
buttons on the underside for your middle it feels a little like a combination of an older great though.
and ring fingers, along with interchangeable Sony DualShock 4 and an Xbox Series
thumbstick caps. X controller. The grips have the same Conclusion
The extra features are very useful, with thicker, rounder ends of the DualShock, as The limitation of being wired-only makes the
the extra bumper buttons being a seemingly compared to the pointy Xbox-style grips. Wolverine V2 Chroma a tough sell given its
obvious addition that few other gamepads Otherwise, it largely feels as comfortable to premium price. Other high-end controllers
have ever included. The hair triggers aren’t use as a standard Xbox controller, and the that include wireless connections, such as
quite as precise as the name suggests – like rubber coating on the grips secures the pad the Microsoft Xbox Elite Series 2 and Scuf
most such modes, they just shorten the well in your hand too. Instinct Pro, feel better made. Still, there’s
throw of the triggers, so the buttons still feel So far so good for the Wolverine V2, but its also a lot to like with this controller, thanks
quite mushy – but they work well enough. main drawback is its wired-only connection. to its extra buttons, comfortable shape and
The extra buttons on the rear are our While a plentiful 3m cable is included in the responsive Mecha-Tactile switches.
least favourite of the implementations of box, for the prices Razer is asking for both
versions, being limited to always using a
SPEC wire is a significant downside. For PC use, VERDICT
Weight 270g A excellent-quality, wired-only gamepad,
but it’s a pricey option.
Connections USB Type-C (3m cable included) ADAMANTIUM SUBORDINATE
CLAWS CLAUSE
Features Hair Trigger Mode with trigger stops, + Good build quality - No wireless DESIGN FEATURES OVERALL SCORE
16/20 24/30
74%
two remappable multi-function buttons, Mecha- connection
+ Plenty of extra buttons
Tactile buttons and D-pad, four rear buttons - Rear buttons
+ Cheaper than awkward to reach PERFORMANCE VALUE
Battery N/A premium wireless
models - Very high price 24/30 10/20
56
tom P
us
C
PP
D
ROV E
A
SCUF INSTINCT tom P
PRO/£200 inc VAT
us
C
SUPPLIER scufgaming.com
IT
CU
ST
OM K
S
cuf Gaming hasn’t been around that
long but it’s revolutionised the
gamepad market in this short time.
tom P
Not only did it bring us the innovation of
paddle switches on the back of gamepads –
us
C
as seen on this example and the Xbox Elite
A
EXT
controller – but it patented them too, meaning
TR
any gamepad that uses rear controls has had
to license the idea from Scuf. No wonder RE L
Corsair snapped up the company a few ME U
years back.
The company’s bread and better, then, is Opt for a standard black colour scheme your middle finger and require a reasonable
tom P
premium gamepads (variants on the latest
Xbox controller, as well as DualShock 4 and
and you’ll get those starting prices, but add
different colour options and the price ramps
us
amount of travel to activate. Comparatively,
the official Elite controller’s buttons sit under
C
DualSense versions) that incorporate rear up. Change the colour of every component your middle and ring fingers and are hair
E
PRE
buttons and many other extras, as well as and you’ll add £49 inc VAT to the price, while triggers. The latter is better for the most
AD
fully customisable colour schemes. The result a further £10 inc VAT will get you the removal efficient control, while the Instinct is a little
M
is the sort of sky-high price you see at the top
of this page.
of vibration – a downgrade in immersion
but potentially useful for professionals not
IUM GR
more forgiving of accidental finger flicks.
In terms of connections, you get wireless
The Instinct (Xbox variant) is available in wanting to be distracted. and wired options, with a USB Type-C port
either Standard (from £170 inc VAT) or Pro The pricing is a bit alarming, even compared at the rear for the latter. Like the official Xbox
tom P
versions (from £200 inc VAT), with both
including four rear paddle buttons – two
with the price of the Xbox Elite controller, but
the cost is largely justified. Build quality is
us
controllers, it uses AA batteries and doesn’t
charge them in-device. Also, bear in mind that
c
C
each per side, for use by the fingers of each superb – despite the various interchangeable The Scuf Reflex is one of the few licensed
hand. They also include a profile switch for elements, there’s not the slightest bit of alternatives to the Sony DualSense, if you
AL
PR
switching between three button-remapping wobble or flex. Small touches such as the prefer that design of gamepad.
configurations, interchangeable thumbsticks magnetic battery cover are great too. FE
SSIO
N
O
and a removable faceplate. The Pro version The design is very much akin to a standard Conclusion
adds switchable triggers to swap between Xbox controller, so in terms of comfort and The Scuf Instinct Pro is certainly expensive,
long-throw analogue mode and hair-trigger grip styles, it reaches the same heights, but even considering its build quality, features and
digital modes and a rubberised grip area. it feels like a serious step up. The Instinct customisation options. As such, it’s hard to
Pro’s rubber grips also make for a really really say it its price is fully justified. However,
secure purchase that’s ideal for situations it categorically does feel every bit like the best
INSTINCTIVE SCUFFED when many of your fingers are engaged gamepad you can buy, and that title comes at
+ Masses of features - Very high price with operating buttons rather than holding a premium.
+ Fantastic build quality the controller.
+ Loads of custom Meanwhile, the usefulness of the rear
colour options
paddles can’t be overstated for certain VERDICT
games. While many gamers resort to using Superb build quality and control accuracy,
SPEC alternative grip styles to efficiently access loads of features and colour options aplenty,
Weight 280g more buttons at once, with four extra buttons for a price.
on the rear, there’s seldom a need to make
Connections USB Type-C and Bluetooth
such compromises, so your thumbs never DESIGN FEATURES OVERALL SCORE
18/20 28/30
84%
Features Four rear paddle buttons, profile switch,
need to leave the thumbsticks.
interchangeable front panels and thumbsticks,
instant triggers The rear button setup is a little different to
the Xbox Elite controller though. Here, the
PERFORMANCE VALUE
Battery AA
rear buttons are most naturally activated by 28/30 10/20
57
R
tom P
L A B S T E ST / GAMEPADS us
C
IT
CU
ST
OM K
tom P
SONY DUALSENSE us
C
/£50 inc VAT
A
EXT
TR
SUPPLIER scan.co.uk RE L
ME U
L
ike the DualShock 4 before it, the Plus, they only
tom P
Sony DualSense immediately
bumps up against a major issue
work in a handful
of games.
us
C
when it comes to use on a (Windows) PC, When they
E
PRE
which is that Sony hasn’t produced official do work, though,
AD
Windows drivers to give the controller full they really do
M
native support. The controller will work if you
just plug it straight into your PC, but instead of
elevate this
controller above
IUM GR
providing support for the modern XInput any other. Each step
system used in modern games, it only offers your character takes in Deathloop, for instance, enough to provide good feedback.
tom P
DirectInput support, as used in older games.
Plenty of games will still support it but many
is accompanied by a gentle haptic buzz that
changes with the terrain or your pace. It
us
Up front is a socket for your headphones,
which is a really useful addition for sofa
C
others won’t. genuinely adds an extra level of immersion. gaming with your PS5 but this doesn’t work
Thankfully, there are two workarounds. Meanwhile, the changing resistance of the on PCs, sadly. A built-in speaker can also
AL
PR
Firstly, you could only play games on Steam. triggers revolutionises the feel of accelerating take over voiceover duties, though, providing
Thanks to Valve adding in native XInput and particularly braking in racing games. FE
a further sense of immersion.
SSIO
N
O
emulation, any games it hosts will work Elsewhere, the evolution of the DualShock A built-in battery means the DualSense
with controllers that still use the DirectInput controller design, from a rather small, is easier to charge than an Xbox controller
system, such as the DualSense. uncomfortable shape to a fuller, rounded too, but changing the battery is a pain. The
The second workaround is to use emulation design akin to that of the Xbox controller, new Xbox controller’s option of AAs or a
software such as DS4windows (custompc. continues with the DualSense. The sides have rechargeable unit is more versatile.
co.uk/DS4Windows) to convert the filled out and are more rounded compared
DirectInput signals to XInput. Just load the with the DualShock 4, the grips taper to a Conclusion
software, run it in the background and it will finer point at the back and the top section The fantastic adaptive triggers and haptic
provide full support for all Windows activities, with the touchpad has grown too. It makes feedback really elevate the DualSense above
even enabling you to use the DualSense’s for a supremely comfortable controller that most other controllers for sheer gaming
touchpad as a normal laptop touchpad, so you surpasses even the latest Xbox controller for immersion. Add in the fantastic comfort levels,
don’t need a separate mouse in a living room general comfort and versatility of grip. superbly accurate controls and a design that
PC setup. Build quality is also excellent, with an works well with a variety of grip styles and you
There’s one final caveat to using this attractive smooth plastic on the top surface have a truly fantastic controller. You have to
controller on a PC, which is that even with full and a lightly speckled pattern on the underside jump through hoops to make it work properly
emulation, the haptic feedback and adaptive for better grip. The controls all feel sturdy on your PC but the results are worth the effort.
triggers (the key additions of this controller and precise too. You don’t get the absolute
over the DualShock 4) only work when crispness of button response you get on
connected via a cable and not via Bluetooth. premium gamepads but they’re distinct VERDICT
Feature-rich, stylish, comfortable, precise
SPEC and decent value. It’s a pain to get working
COMMON SENSE NONSENSE on a PC, but it’s worth the effort.
Weight 280g
+ Fantastic haptic - Requires third-party
Connections USB Type-C and Bluetooth feedback and software to work
adaptive triggers in Windows DESIGN FEATURES OVERALL SCORE
18/20 26/30
86%
Features Touchpad, adaptive triggers, built-in
speaker + Integrated touchpad - No option to
swap battery
Battery Built-in rechargeable, up to 12 hours per + Great build quality PERFORMANCE VALUE
-
26/30 16/20
and comfort Headphone socket
charge doesn’t work on PC
58
THRUSTMASTER
DUAL ANALOG 4/£18 inc VAT
SUPPLIER box.co.uk
W
ith a price of just £18 inc VAT, the The other buttons
Thrustmaster Dual Analog 4 is mostly fare better,
among the cheapest gamepads you with them at least
can buy that still includes two analogue sticks. offering a more
Drop to a lower price and you’ll be confining defined pressing
yourself to controllers with just a D-pad and action than the
ABXY buttons, and that style of gamepad isn’t D-pad. However,
much use for the games that benefit most the bumper buttons
from using a pad for gaming on a PC. annoyingly hinge from
Inevitably, such a low price comes with a the outer edge, rather than their inner edge,
few compromises. For a start, the Dual Analog so it’s not enough to simply tap the outside DUAL WIELDING DUELLING
WEIRDLY
4 lacks analogue triggers. We omitted the edge to activate them. Instead, you have to + Comfortable design
Nintendo Switch Pro controller from our tests reach further, over the hinge point, in order to - Low-quality analogue
+ Very light controls
for the same reason but that’s because it’s press them.
a £60 inc VAT controller that commits the Meanwhile, the all-important analogue + Two analogue sticks - Terrible D-pad buttons
for low price
same sin, whereas an £18 price tag makes thumbsticks are usable, providing a - DirectInput only
it a more acceptable compromise for this basic amount of fine-grained control for
modest option. mimicking steering a car or controlling the
Elsewhere, you also miss out on any flight stick of a plane, but they’re not great have to use a remapping app to make it work
buzzing-motor haptic feedback, making this for more demanding control. Trying to play with more modern games.
a particularly light gamepad at just 132g not a first-person shooter was not fun with
including the cable. The cable itself is also fixed this controller. Conclusion
and measures a modest 1.9m long, so while The overall design is quite compact, With its two analogue sticks, the Thrustmaster
it will easily reach the back of a PC at a desk, it with small hand grips that require you to wrap Dual Analog 4 delivers the bare minimum for
will struggle for living room duty on the sofa. your fingers much further round them than the a gamepad that you might want to use with a
Other issues include the D-pad feeling fuller designs of more premium controllers. PC. However, its lack of analogue triggers, poor
mushy and indistinct. The buttons lack a clear It’s better than the Logitech F310 in D-pad quality and odd bumper button design
click or step when pressed, instead offering a this respect, though, with that controller’s means it struggles to make a convincing case
stiff, linear movement. This makes it very bad particularly short, steep grip design. for itself. You only have to spend £10-£15
for games that require rapid, precise button The modest size, slim shape and button more to get a vastly better experience, so it’s
mashing, such as in beat ‘em ups, or even in layout that has the buttons quite near the well worth saving for a little longer.
complex boss battles. It will just about do the edges also works surprisingly well for
job for adjusting your point of view in a flight alternative grip styles.
sim, though, for instance. Build quality is also perfectly sturdy enough, VERDICT
with no flexing or creaking when stressed. Cheap but not very cheerful, you’re better
SPEC The textured plastic surface also feels quite off spending a touch more to get a much
Weight 132g without cable (243g with cable) good in the hand. It’s certainly not a premium better controller.
feel, but there are no sharp edges or obvious
Connections Tethered USB cable
other such concerns you may have with a very DESIGN FEATURES OVERALL SCORE
12/20 18/30
62%
Features Two analogue sticks, two bumper
cheap unit.
buttons, two digital triggers, D-pad and four action
buttons One final point of caution is that this
controller only supports the older DirectInput
PERFORMANCE VALUE
Battery N/A
system so, as with the Sony DualSense, you’ll 18/30 14/20
59
Elite Core component bundles
Our choice of the best hardware available
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.
8-core system with 1,920 x 1,080 gaming

integrated graphics 6-core CPU, 1080p gaming
Needs an ATX case. We recommend a
8-core CPU, basic gaming 500W 80 Plus power supply. See Issue
Needs a micro-ATX or ATX case. We recommend
224, p76 for an example build guide.
a 450W 80 Plus Bronze power supply. See Issue
218, p76 for an example build guide.
PRICE
COMPONENT NAME SUPPLIER ISSUE
PRICE (inc VAT)
COMPONENT NAME SUPPLIER ISSUE
(inc VAT)
Intel Core #227

CPU cclonline.com £164
i5-12400F p51
AMD Ryzen 7 #218
CPU scan.co.uk £280
5700G p20
ARCTIC #224
CPU COOLER scan.co.uk £20
Freezer i13X p76
AMD Wraith air

#218
CPU COOLER cooler included N/A £0 AMD Radeon #228
with CPU p20 GRAPHICS CARD overclockers.co.uk £360
RX 6600 XT p90
16GB (2 x8
GB) Corsair
AMD Radeon RX #218 Vengeance LPX #224
GRAPHICS CARD Vega 8 integrated N/A £0 MEMORY scan.co.uk £62
p20 DDR4 3200MHz p76
into CPU (CMK16GX4
M2B3200C16)
16GB (2 x 8 GB)
Corsair Gigabyte B660
#224
#218 MOTHERBOARD Gaming X DDR4 scan.co.uk £141
Vengeance LPX p50
MEMORY scan.co.uk £62 (ATX)
Pro 3200MHz p78
(CMK16GX4M
2B3200C16)
1TB WD Blue
#222
STORAGE SN570 scan.co.uk £73
p20
Asus TUF (M.2 NVMe)
B450M-PLUS II #218
MOTHERBOARD awd-it.co.uk £90
(micro-ATX) with p78
BIOS flash
Total £820
500GB WD Blue #222

STORAGE SN570 (M.2 scan.co.uk £44 UPGRADES
NVMe) p20
SWAP Nvidia GeForce #228

GRAPHICS CARD
nvidia.com £469
RTX 3070 p90
Total £476 1TB ADATA XPG

#215
SWAP STORAGE GAMMIX S50 cclonline.com £103
p43
Lite
60
2,560 x 1,440 Mid-range
gaming system gaming
10-core CPU, 2,560 system
x 1,440 gaming and
ray tracing 10-core CPU, smooth 2,560 x 1,440 gaming
Needs an ATX case. We and ray tracing, some 4K gaming
recommend a 550-600W 80 Needs an ATX case with room for a 240mm all-in-one liquid
Plus Bronze power supply. cooler. We recommend a 750W 80 Plus Bronze power supply.
PRICE PRICE
COMPONENT NAME SUPPLIER ISSUE COMPONENT NAME SUPPLIER ISSUE
(inc VAT) (inc VAT)
Intel Core #227 Intel Core #227

CPU cclonline.com £269 CPU cclonline.com £269
i5-12600K p56 i5-12600K p56
ARCTIC Liquid ARCTIC Liquid

Freezer II 240 Freezer II 240 #226
#226
CPU COOLER RGB (240mm scan.co.uk £80 CPU COOLER RGB (240mm scan.co.uk £80
p49 AIO liquid p49
AIO liquid
cooler) cooler)
Nvidia GeForce #228 Nvidia GeForce #228

GRAPHICS CARD nvidia.com £469 GRAPHICS CARD overclockers.co.uk £740
RTX 3070 p90 RTX 3080 10GB p90
16GB (2 x 8GB) 16GB (2 x 8GB)

Corsair Corsair
Vengeance RGB Vengeance RGB #221
#221 MEMORY Pro 3200MHz scan.co.uk £71
MEMORY Pro 3200MHz scan.co.uk £71 p76
DDR4 p76 DDR4
(CMW16GX (CMW16GX
4M2C3200C16) 4M2C3200C16)
MSI MAG Z690 #222

Gigabyte Z690 #222 MOTHERBOARD Tomahawk WiFi scan.co.uk £240
MOTHERBOARD scan.co.uk £200 p48
Gaming X DDR4 p46 DDR4
1TB ADATA XPG 1TB ADATA XPG #215

#215 STORAGE GAMMIX S50 cclonline.com £103
STORAGE GAMMIX S50 cclonline.com £103 p43
Lite p43 Lite
Total £1,503
Total £1,192
UPGRADES
UPGRADES
ADD SECONDARY Western Digital #166

ADD SECONDARY Western Digital #166 ebuyer.com £86
ebuyer.com £86 STORAGE Blue 4TB p54
STORAGE Blue 4TB p54
61
E L I T E / THE BEST KIT
Core component bundles cont …

4K gaming system Content creation
12-core CPU, 4K gaming system
and ray tracing
Needs an ATX case with room for
16-core CPU,
a 360mm all-in-one liquid cooler. 1,920 x 1,080 gaming
We recommend an 850W 80 Needs an E-ATX case with room for a 360mm all-in-one liquid
Plus Gold power supply. cooler. We recommend a 750W 80 Plus Gold power supply.
PRICE PRICE
COMPONENT NAME SUPPLIER ISSUE COMPONENT NAME SUPPLIER ISSUE
(inc VAT) (inc VAT)
Intel Core #227

Intel Core #227 i9-12900K p62
i7-12700K p59
Corsair iCUE
H150i Elite LCD #226
(360mm AIO p78
Corsair iCUE
liquid cooler)
H150i Elite LCD #226
(360mm AIO p78
liquid cooler)
AMD Radeon RX #220
GRAPHICS CARD overclockers.co.uk £360
6600 XT p53
Nvidia GeForce #226 32GB (2 x 16GB)

GRAPHICS CARD nvidia.com £1,050
RTX 3080 Ti p78 Corsair
Dominator #221
MEMORY Platinum RGB scan.co.uk £290
5200MHz DDR5 p76
16GB (2 x 8GB)
(CMT32GX5M2
Corsair
B5200C40)
Vengeance RGB
#226
MEMORY Pro 3200MHz scan.co.uk £71
p78
DDR4
(CMW16GX4M2 MSI MEG Z690 #222
MOTHERBOARD scan.co.uk £520
C3200C16) Unify p50
MSI MAG Z690

#226
MOTHERBOARD Tomahawk WiFi scan.co.uk £240 2TB WD Black #215
p78 STORAGE scan.co.uk £230
DDR4 SN850 p49
STORAGE
2TB WD Black
box.co.uk
#226
£220 Total £2,206
SN770 p78
UPGRADES
Total £2,211 SWAP GRAPHICS Nvidia GeForce #221

CARD
nvidia.com £1,050
RTX 3080 Ti p48
UPGRADES
ADD SECONDARY 4TB Western #166

ADD SECONDARY 4TB Western #166 STORAGE
ebuyer.com £86
ebuyer.com £86 Digital Blue p54
STORAGE Digital Blue p54
62
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.
Mini-ITX Micro-ATX
Motherboards Motherboards
PRICE
CATEGORY NAME SUPPLIER ISSUE PRICE
(inc VAT) CATEGORY NAME SUPPLIER ISSUE
(inc VAT)
Intel Z690 Gigabyte Z690I #228
box.co.uk £280
(LGA1700) Aorus Ultra Plus p46
AMD B450 Asus TUF #218
Intel B660 Gigabyte B660I #228 awd-it.co.uk £80
scan.co.uk £200 (AM4) B450M-PLUS II p76
(LGA1700) Aorus Pro DDR4 p47
Asus ROG Strix #228
AMD X570 (AM4) cclonline.com £288
X570-I Gaming p40
AMD B550 MSI MAG B550M #204
AMD B550 Asus ROG Strix #228 scan.co.uk £130
cclonline.com £180 (AM4) Mortar p42
(AM4) B550-I Gaming p39
Cases Cases
PRICE
CATEGORY NAME SUPPLIER ISSUE PRICE
(inc VAT) CATEGORY NAME SUPPLIER ISSUE
(inc VAT)
Cooler Master
#206
ALL-PURPOSE MasterBox scan.co.uk £100
p18 Kolink Citadel #218
NR200P BUDGET overclockers.co.uk £63
Mesh RGB p26
Ssupd #225
TOWER overclockers.co.uk £100
Meshlicious p51
Fractal Design #225
HIGH AIRFLOW scan.co.uk £120
Torrent Nano p45
Streacom DA2 #214
PREMIUM quietpc.com £203
V2 p51
Other components
CATEGORY
LOW-PROFILE
NAME
Noctua NH-L12S
SUPPLIER
scan.co.uk
ISSUE
#219
PRICE
(inc VAT)
£55
Networking
CPU COOLER p54
SFX POWER Phanteks Revolt #228 PRICE
overclockers.co.uk £130 CATEGORY NAME SUPPLIER ISSUE
SUPPLY SFX 750W p74 (inc VAT)
ATX cases
BUDGET Belkin #216
currys.co.uk £130
ROUTER RT3200-UK p52
Asus #216
ROUTER scan.co.uk £177
RT-AX68U p51
PRICE
CATEGORY NAME SUPPLIER ISSUE
(inc VAT)
Asus ZenWiFi AX #226
Antec DF700 #214 MESH ROUTER amazon.co.uk £266
BUDGET RGB cclonline.com £80 Hybrid XP4 p59
FLUX p26
SUB-£100 Corsair 4000D #222
scan.co.uk £90 TP-Link Archer #196
AIRFLOW Airflow p56 WI-FI ADAPTOR overclockers.co.uk £60
Fractal Design TX3000E p58
#215
COMPACT Meshify 2 scan.co.uk £100
p20
Compact
DUAL-BAY NAS # 200
Fractal Design #212 Synology DS220j box.co.uk £154
HIGH AIRFLOW scan.co.uk £140 BOX p22
Meshify 2 p45
Fractal Design #204
SUB-£150 scan.co.uk £147 DUAL-BAY Synology #174
Define 7 p18 box.co.uk £202
MEDIA NAS BOX DS218play p34
PREMIUM HIGH Fractal Design #225
scan.co.uk £220
AIRFLOW Torrent RGB TG p20
2.5 GIGABIT #212
Corsair iCUE #224 DUAL-BAY QNAP TS-231P3 box.co.uk £240
LUXURY scan.co.uk £350 p25
5000T RGB p22 NAS BOX
63
E L I T E / THE BEST KIT
F = FREESYNC, G = G-SYNC, W = ULTRAWIDE

Monitors
Up to 25in Over 28in
PRICE PRICE
CATEGORY NAME SUPPLIER ISSUE (inc VAT) CATEGORY NAME SUPPLIER ISSUE
(inc VAT)
24IN, 144HZ, IPS, #214
AOC 24G2U cclonline.com £159 31.5IN, 60HZ, VA, iiyama ProLite #205
1,920 X 1,080, F, G p28 scan.co.uk £370
3,840 X 2,160, F XB3288UHSU p43
25IN, 240HZ, IPS, Acer Predator #209
box.co.uk £205 iiyama
1,920 X 1,080, F, G XB253Q p57 32IN, 144HZ, VA, #224
G-Master scan.co.uk £345
25IN, 360HZ, IPS, Asus ROG Swift #212 2,560 X 1,440, F, G p30
ebuyer.com £659 GB3266QSU
1,920 X 1,080, F, G PG259QN p20
32IN, 165HZ, IPS, LG UltraGear #220
overclockers.co.uk £350
2,560 X 1,440, F, G 32GP850 p38
Up to 28in 34IN, 144HZ, IPS,

3,440 X 1,440, W, F
iiyama
G-Master
GB3461WQSU
overclockers.co.uk
#206
p53
£450
PRICE
CATEGORY NAME SUPPLIER ISSUE 34IN, 144HZ, IPS,
(inc VAT) LG UltraGear #206
3,440 X 1,440, W, overclockers.co.uk £650
34GN850 p55
27IN, 144HZ, IPS, #201 F, G
AOC 27G2U overclockers.co.uk £180 38IN, 144HZ, IPS,
1,920 X 1,080, F, G p53 LG UltraGear #208
3,840 X 1,600, W, overclockers.co.uk £1,200
Asus TUF 38GN950 p30
27IN, 240HZ, IPS, #209 F, G, HDR
Gaming ebuyer.com £276
1,920 X 1,080, F, G p60 32IN, 144HZ, IPS,
VG279QM Asus ROG Swift #218
3,840 X 2,160, F, G, scan.co.uk £3,299
27IN, 165HZ, VA, AOC #223 PG32UQX p54
HDR
box.co.uk £249
2,560 X 1,440, F, G CQ27G3SU p45
Non-gaming
27IN, 240HZ, TN, #202
AOC AG273QZ overclockers.co.uk £570
2,560 X 1,440, F, G p27
27IN, 240HZ, IPS, Alienware #212

dell.com £699 PRICE
2,560 X 1,440, F, G AW2721D p21 CATEGORY NAME SUPPLIER ISSUE
(inc VAT)
28IN, 144HZ, IPS, #221 27IN, 75HZ, IPS, #210
AOC U28G2XU amazon.co.uk £569 LG 27QN880 amazon.co.uk £340
3,840 X 2,160, F, G p29 2,560 X 1,440, F p26
Peripherals and audio

Gaming keyboards Gaming mice
NAME SUPPLIER ISSUE PRICE
PRICE CATEGORY
CATEGORY NAME SUPPLIER ISSUE (inc VAT)
(inc VAT)
#226
SteelSeries #221 BUDGET GAMING NZXT Lift scan.co.uk £40
BUDGET TKL currys.co.uk £40 p32
Apex 3 TKL p59
Glorious PC
FIRST-PERSON #215
OPTICAL Asus ROG Strix #209 Gaming Race overclockers.co.uk £50
amazon.co.uk £70 SHOOTER p57
ESPORTS Scope RX p43 Model O
#215
MECHANICAL NZXT Function #226 AMBIDEXTROUS Razer Viper 8K currys.co.uk £50
cclonline.com £100 p59
TKL MiniTKL p32 #225
MULTI-BUTTON Roccat Kone XP roccat.com £80
p60
MECHANICAL Corsair K95 RGB #164
scan.co.uk £180 Razer Viper #217
MMO Platinum p26 WIRELESS currys.co.uk £63
Ultimate p54
PREMIUM TKL Corsair K70 #214 Razer
scan.co.uk £150 PREMIUM #210
MECHANICAL RGB TKL p31 DeathAdder scan.co.uk £96
WIRELESS p28
V2 Pro
PREMIUM Corsair K70 RGB #225 ULTRA Asus TUF #227
overclockers.co.uk £160 overclockers.co.uk £38
MECHANICAL Pro p30 LIGHTWEIGHT Gaming M4 Air p36
PREMIUM Razer PREMIUM
#208 Logitech G Pro X #217
WIRELESS BlackWidow overclockers.co.uk £180 LIGHTWEIGHT currys.co.uk £109
p60 Superlight p52
MECHANICAL V3 Pro WIRELESS
64
Peripherals and audio cont …
Game controllers Gaming headsets
PRICE PRICE
CATEGORY NAME SUPPLIER ISSUE CATEGORY NAME SUPPLIER ISSUE
(inc VAT) (inc VAT)
Logitech G29 #202 #210
RACING WHEEL currys.co.uk £241 BUDGET STEREO Roccat Elo X Stereo scan.co.uk £40
Driving Force p50 p56
BUDGET PowerA Spectra #228 Epos | Sennheiser #210
amazon.co.uk £35 STEREO amazon.co.uk £50
GAMEPAD Infinity Xbox Series X p55 GSP 300 p54
MID-RANGE #228 Corsair Virtuoso #204
Sony DualSense scan.co.uk £50 WIRELESS ebuyer.com £146
GAMEPAD p58 RGB Wireless p50
PREMIUM #228 PREMIUM Razer BlackShark #211
Scuf Instinct Pro scufgaming.co.uk £200 scan.co.uk £162
GAMEPAD p57 WIRELESS V2 Pro p26
BUDGET FLIGHT Logitech Extreme #207
currys.co.uk £36
STICK
FLIGHT STICK
3D Pro Joystick
Thrustmaster
T.16000M FCS scan.co.uk
p52
#207
p56
£115
Speakers
HOTAS PRICE
(inc VAT)
Non-gaming keyboards STEREO Edifier R1280DB

overclockers.
co.uk
#224
p59
£110
PRICE
(inc VAT)
WIRELESS 84-KEY #220
Niz Mini 84 Pro keyboardco.com £165
ELECTRO-CAPACATIVE p29
BUCKLING SPRING #219
Unicomp New Model M keyboardco.com £129
MECHANICAL p26
PCs and laptops

Pre-built PC systems
PRICE
CATEGORY NAME CPU GPU SUPPLIER ISSUE
(inc VAT)
Wired2Fire Ultima Ryzen Integrated AMD Radeon #222
AMD APU PC AMD Ryzen 5 5600G custompc.co.uk/W2F £709
Gamestation RX Vega 7 p36
Wired2Fire Phoenix Intel – #224
BUDGET GAMING Intel Core i5-12400F Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 custompc.co.uk/Phoenix £1,136
Powered by MSI p38
#225
QUIET GAMING Gladiator Nocturnal Intel Core i5-12600K Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 custompc.co.uk/Nocturnal £1,799
p36
CCL Horizon 5 Intel RTX 3080 Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 #228
MID-RANGE GAMING Intel Core i5-12600K custompc.co.uk/CCL3080 £1,899
Gaming PC 10GB p28
PC Specialist Magnus Pro Nvidia GeForce RTX custompc.co.uk/ #225
4K GAMING Intel Core i7-12700K £2,499
K500 3080 Ti MagnusPro p34
WATER-COOLED ULTIMATE CyberPower Hydro-X Nvidia GeForce RTX #228
Intel Core i9-12900KS custompc.co.uk/CPHX £4,699
PERFORMANCE Infinity RTX 3090 Ti p26
Laptops
PRICE
CATEGORY NAME CPU GPU SCREEN SUPPLIER ISSUE
(inc VAT)
Nvidia GeForce RTX 16in, 2,560 x 1,600 IPS custompc.co.uk/ #222
BUDGET GAMING Lenovo Legion 5 Pro AMD Ryzen 7 5800H £1,499
3070 Laptop 165Hz G-Sync Legion5Pro p32
ULTRA PORTABLE Nvidia GeForce RTX 14in 1,920 x 1,080 IPS #220
Razer Blade 14 AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX custompc.co.uk/Blade14 £2,120
GAMING 3070 Laptop 144Hz p40
Asus ROG Strix Scar 15 Nvidia GeForce RTX 15.6in 2,560 x 1,440 custompc.co.uk/ #227
MID-RANGE GAMING Intel Core i9-12900H £2,399
G533ZW 3070 Ti Laptop IPS 240Hz AsusScar15 p40
Nvidia GeForce RTX 17.3in 1,920 x 1,080 IPS custompc.co.uk/ #227
HIGH-SPEED GAMING Alienware x17 R2 Intel Core i7-12700H £3,184
3080 Ti Laptop 360Hz G-Sync AlienwareX17 p38
65
Games
R I C K L A N E / INVERSE LOOK
FIFA FALL OUT

EA’s split from FIFA marks the end of an era, but
its significance is superficial, says Rick Lane
IFA is one of those games that’s so massive it exists includes exclusive partnerships with the Premier League,
F inside its own orbit. Like Minecraft, Fortnite and
League of Legends, you don’t hear it discussed much
LaLiga, Bundesliga, Serie A, the MLS – and more to come.’
In addition, the competition is no longer there. Konami’s
in general games discourse, because it’s always been there. Pro Evolution series has spent at least the past five years
It would be like having a conversation about the sky – it isn’t in a relegation battle, culminating in one of the biggest
going anywhere, so what’s the point? embarrassments in recent video game history. Last year,
Today we’re having a conversation about the sky, Konami ditched the Pro Evolution brand and launched
however, because it appears to have fallen in. After 30 years, ‘eFootball 2022’, which released in such an unfinished state
publisher Electronic Arts has cut ties with FIFA, after the two that it was the worst-reviewed game on Steam for months.
organisations came to loggerheads in negotiations over the FIFA, meanwhile, isn’t perfect by any means, but it’s leaps
renewal of the licence. EA will continue to publish annual and bounds ahead of eFootball, even after a year of updates.
football games, but now under the (awkward) The split is more an indicator of EA’s confidence
name of EA Sports FC. FIFA, meanwhile, intends The split is more than anything else. The company is able to rely
to create its own line of football games. on the strength of its own branding in EA Sports
On the face of it, this is momentous. FIFA has
an indicator of and Ultimate Team – the hugely profitable club-
dominated sports games for three decades, despite EA’s confidence building element of EA’s football games that’s now
frequently offering an inferior play experience as recognisable as FIFA itself.
to Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer. The official branding has The biggest challenge is marketing the name change,
carried the series through many difficult times, making it which EA can presumably do with the money it saves from
fair to ask ‘What is FIFA without, well, FIFA?’. ditching the FIFA licence. It’s likely that EA Sports FC will be
It turns out the answer is ‘quite a lot’. For EA, the main safe in its dominance of sports gaming for the next few years.
advantage of the FIFA licence wasn’t the brand itself, but the The question is whether FIFA’s rival plans are a threat. FIFA
access it provided to all the other official licences for teams, claims it’s ‘engaging with publishers, studios and investors’
cups, leagues, players and so on. Over the years, however, to create a ‘major new simulation football title’ by 2024.
the publisher has built its own relationships with these That’s extremely ambitious, and FIFA’s first stab is unlikely
individual organisations. to match the quality of EA’s output, as Tracy King discussed
As EA said in its statement regarding the split: ‘Our unique in Issue 227. The obvious gambit is to partner with Konami
licensing portfolio of more than 19,000+ players, 700+ teams, and attempt to reverse the fortunes of eFootball under the
100+ stadiums and 30 leagues that we’ve continued to invest FIFA brand. If it would work is debatable, but it would be
in for decades will still be there, uniquely in EA Sports FC. That another fascinating twist in this decades-long rivalry.
Rick Lane is Custom PC’s games editor @Rick_Lane
66
King Arthur: Knight’s Tale / £31.99 inc VAT
DEVELOPER NeoCoreGames/ PUBLISHER NeoCoreGames
T
he most interesting aspect of King Arthur: Knight’s your warriors, wizards and rogues to hide behind. Instead, KNIGHT’S TALE
Tale is that it’s possibly the greyest game ever your units must rely on their armour to protect them. Mordred + Novel armour
mechanic
made. A real-time tactics experience that sees you and other warrior-class units are able to withstand significant
play as Arthur’s nemesis Mordred, it pitches itself as a grim amounts of damage, thereby acting as mobile cover for your + Rebuilding Camelot
is a nice idea
and gruelling dark fantasy take on Arthurian Legend. ranged units.
The game takes place after the mythical Battle of Camlann, Alongside this are a couple of other decent ideas.
KNIGHT’S FAIL
during which Arthur and Mordred kill each other in a duel. In Rebuilding Camelot involves upgrading the castle to unlock
- Visually ugly
Knight’s Tale, both men are returned to life by the Lady of the training and healing facilities for your knights, as well as
Lake, but Arthur’s resurrection goes wrong, turning him into a shops to furnish them with superior equipment. There’s also - Badly written
disfigured monster who blights the land of Albion. The Lady a built-in choice and consequence system that affects your - Sluggish pacing
then turns to Mordred, tasking him with rebuilding Camelot relationship with other members of the Round Table.
and re-establishing the Round Table in order to take down the Sadly, the whole endeavour is undermined by a litany
now evil Arthur. of broader design issues. Stylistically, Knight’s Tale is
Knight’s Tale is strongest in its tactical combat. Unlike most astonishingly dull. NeoCore conflates ‘dark’ with ‘drab’,
tactics games, Knight’s Tale’s battlefields have little cover for painting its world in a sickly blend of greys, browns and greens.
Pacing is also an issue. Every aspect of the game, from
individual actions to the quests themselves, takes too long to
resolve, with NeoCore padding out quest length by making
you repeat every objective three times. Moreover, the entire
first act – around 15 hours in length – sees you fighting bandits
and zombies in an identikit series of swamps. Occasionally, it
sends you to a castle or a village, but they’re still wrapped in
the game’s oppressively dun aesthetic.
What’s more, the story falls completely flat due to a truly
insipid script. Every character is written with the subtlety of
an advertising billboard. The Lady of the Lake, for example, /VERDICT
comes off as a complete idiot rather than a scheming The only
Knight’s Tale
mastermind. Mordred, meanwhile, can be played either as
worth your
a redeemed hero or an enduring villain, but there’s no arc to time is the film
either of those choices. He’s either the noblest knight who with Heath
ever lived, or a bloodthirsty maniac. Ledger in it.
If any one of these problems were fixed, there might
be enough to King Arthur: Knight’s Tale to make it worth OVERALL SCORE
investigating at a discount. As it stands, however, there are
too many better tactics games to make this dismal medieval
slog worth your time.
RICK LANE
48%
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Dorfromantik / £10.99
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DEVELOPER Toukana Interactive / PUBLISHER Toukana Interactive IUM GR
tom P
G
ames can be exciting, spectacular, challenging, It’s essentially a jigsaw puzzle that you make up as you go
complex, frightening, emotional, amusing and us
along. Each game starts by offering you a pile of hexagonal
C
creative, but they’re rarely designed specifically to tiles, representing little chunks of landscape. Taking each tile
be relaxing. By their very nature, they rely on attention and in sequence, you can place them on the board however you
reaction to work. Relaxation, meanwhile, generally doesn’t choose. Ideally, however, you want as many sides of the tile
AL
involve attending or reacting to anything, unless it’s a waiter PR
as possible to match with its surroundings. You want fields
FE
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bringing you another pina colada, or the press of a
O
to connect to fields, forests to forests, buildings to buildings
masseuse’s palm into a particularly tight knot of muscle. and so on. If you can match all six sides of the tile with its
Dorfromantik is different. This light and fluffy blend of surroundings, the game adds an extra tile to your stack,
strategy and puzzling is the closest you’ll get to virtual letting you play for longer.
relaxation without someone giving you a shoulder rub The ultimate goal of Dorfromantik is to get the highest
as you play. It combines a gentle yet surprisingly involved score possible, trying to keep the game going as long as
tile-building game with gorgeous artwork and serene you can by adding extra tiles to your stack. This may seem
audio design. difficult, as placing a perfect tile isn’t easy, but there are
several other factors at play in a round of Dorfromantik.
First, it’s rare you’ll have to match all six sides at once.
Typically, you’ll only need to match two or three sides at
any given time, as most tiles are placed at the edge of the
68
board (which automatically generates additional spaces to
place new tiles). Moreover, alongside gaining single tiles
for perfect placements, you can also earn extra tiles by
completing quests.
There are two kinds of quests in Dorfromantik. There are
standard quests, which task you with clustering together
a certain number of tile objects in an area, such as houses
or trees. Then there are ‘flag’ quests, which require you
to close off an area with non-matching tiles so no further
matches can be made. Completing either of these quest-
types rewards you with five additional tiles, making them the
easiest way to bulk out your tile deck and extend the game.
In this way, what appears to be a simple tile-matching
game gradually evolves into a more elaborate puzzle.
The layers of complexity don’t end there either. You can
also group quests together so that, for example, all of the
trees on the map contribute to one big payoff. But beware!
Although some quests require a minimum number of newly
placed trees, others demand a precise amount, and going
over that number will result in you failing the quest.
Then there’s the shifting nature of the tiles themselves.
Early game tiles tend to be uniform blocks of fields, trees,
houses and so on. However, as the game progresses, a surprise just how much larger your board has become since JIGSAW
single tile can have multiple landscape types on it, meaning you started playing. + Gentle, captivating
you need to think more carefully about where to place it. In It’s remarkable how much pleasure Dorfromantik puzzle design
addition, certain tiles, such as river or railway tiles, can only squeezes out of such simple ideas, although there are a + Gorgeous pastoral
aesthetic
be placed next to other river or railway tiles, limiting your few pieces in its puzzle that don’t fit so well. On some of the
building possibilities in certain areas. busier tiles, it can be hard to discern which type of landscape + Extremely chilled
vibes
This may sound like a lot to think about, but in practice, lies along each edge, for example. Similarly, the highlights
it’s a straightforward set of rules to remember, and for where you should place tiles to close off flag quests are
Dorfromantik carefully guides you through them with a often too subtle, and it’s annoying when you waste a tile HACKSAW
comprehensive tutorial level. Moreover, you quickly learn closing off a flag quest, only to discover there are more gaps - Some minor
UX issues
to intuit where tiles should be placed, which tiles should be you need to fill.
used to contribute to quests, and which should be used to More broadly, there’s a case to be made that the end of - No control over
tile dispensation
provide a perfection bonus by filling gaps in the board. your game is too dependent on luck. You have no choice
Dorfromantik also constantly provides a drip-feed of over which tiles you place, and the game sorts them
rewards. Not only do you get extra tiles for completing randomly. This means a run of bad tiles can end some
quests, but there are also broader challenges tracked across games in a way that feels premature. This isn’t a massive
multiple games, the completing of which earns you brand problem, as the game isn’t about creating one massive map,
new tiles, such as windmills, river boats and castle ruins. but it could also easily be resolved by giving the player a few
These tiles don’t massively alter the game, but they chances to pick specific tiles from the stack.
do broaden your opportunities for placing tiles, and All the above applies specifically to Dorfromantik’s Classic
contribute to the more aesthetic pleasure of creating a mode, but there are several other modes designed for
pastoral landscape. Indeed, it’s common to lose yourself in more tailored experiences. These include Creative mode,
Dorfromantik for long stretches of time, only to notice with which gives you infinite tiles, Quick mode, which challenges
you with getting the highest score out of a small handful /VERDICT
More relaxing
of pieces, and Hard mode, which ups the complexity of
than a long bath,
individual tiles for a sterner puzzling challenge. Dorfromantik is
However you choose to play, Dorfromantik is a delight, a beautiful light
capable of fitting neatly into a lunchtime play session, or strategy puzzler.
eating up entire evenings with its gentle self-perpetuating
jigsaws. What’s more, it only costs just over a tenner, a OVERALL SCORE
bargain price for arguably the best puzzle game of the year,
an essential counterpart to the thrill and bombast of bigger-
budget titles.
RICK LANE
88%
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G A M E S / REVIEWS
GALACTIC CIVILIZATIONS 4/ £39.99 inc VAT
DEVELOPER Stardock/ PUBLISHER Stardock
A
GARDEN s with every other game in the series, Galactic galactic equivalent of motorways. Meanwhile, you no longer
WORLD Civilizations 4 sees you attempting to wrest need to directly manage every planet you colonise. Instead,
+ Visually impressive control of the galaxy as the spacefaring race of you only assume direct control over a planet to which you
+ Lots of variety your choice, through a turn-based mixture of colonisation, assign a governor, letting you prioritise the most resource-
+ Many refined conquest, trade and diplomacy. While it looks superficially abundant planets as Core Worlds. Colonies left ungoverned
systems similar to its predecessors on the surface, however, Stardock will then funnel their resources to the nearest Core World.
has made a bunch of changes to how this new game plays. These changes have varying significance on the game,
LIFELESS ROCK Firstly, victory is no longer bound to a specific condition. but none of them could be described as a killer feature that
- No killer features Instead, every activity you do in the game contributes to make it a must-play game. It lacks a distinctive hook to pull in
- Poor tutorial an umbrella victory condition known as Prestige. This players, such as Stellaris’ focus on questing and storytelling,
means you can dabble in a bit of everything on offer, from or Crusader Kings’ emphasis on character interrelationships.
- Annoying researching new tech to building your interstellar military. There are also a couple of new features that don’t
research system
You can also earn big prestige points by completing specific completely work. The newly added tutorial (in the form of a
story quests, which replace the set campaigns seen in robot known as Space Clippy) is woefully inadequate for a
previous games. This lets you experience the ‘story’ with game this complex. Moreover, the way research gives you a
any race you like. random selection of technologies from which to choose can
Changes have also been made to how planets and the make it difficult to pursue the specific tech you actually want.
galaxy as a whole works. The map is no longer a single That said, nothing in Galactic Civilizations 4 is especially
group of stars, but is split into clusters connected by the broken either. It’s a perfectly adequate and enjoyable
/VERDICT Space 4X game, offering a huge number of interesting
With lots of minor technologies to discover, a robust diplomacy system,
changes but little intriguing colony expansion and development, and loads of
that’s radically
different ship types to build.
new, Galactic
Civilizations 4 It also looks tremendous and features countless races
is a serviceable to play, ranging from evil squirrel pirates to sentient robots
universe simulator. that don’t require food to proliferate. Galactic Civilizations
4 might never go supernova, but this also means it doesn’t
OVERALL SCORE collapse into a black hole that sucks everything around it into
oblivion. Like the space shuttle, it may not be as exciting or
68% innovative as more modern rockets, but it’s a dependable

workhorse nonetheless.
RICK LANE
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THE STANLEY PARABLE:
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ULTRA DELUXE/ £19.99
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IUM GR
DEVELOPER Crows Crows Crows/ PUBLISHER Crows Crows Crows
tom
PARABLE
T
he Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe is an expanded path self-referentially explores the dreaded cash-in
reimagining of 2013’s The Stanley Parable, which expansion pack phenomenon, while another muses on the u+scomedy
A fantastic P
game
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itself was an expanded reimagining of the 2011 treacherous power of nostalgia, and the gulf between critic
mod, The Stanley Parable. If that sounds ridiculous, then and user reviews. One of the funniest paths focuses entirely + Ingeniously
expanded
you’re in the right frame of mind to read a review of this on the humble ‘skip dialogue’ button, transforming a simple
AL
PR
magnificently irreverent comedy caper. quality-of-life feature into an apocalyptic time-hopping epic. + Free bucket
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The premise and overarching structure of Ultra Deluxe Alongside introducing whole new paths, Ultra Deluxe
is broadly the same as the 2013 version. You play a man also adds alternative endings to all existing paths, via a new PARASITE
named Stanley, whose life working in a nondescript office item – the Reassurance Bucket. Equipping this bucket and - Can get repetitive
building is subject to a running commentary by an unseen carrying it through the game changes the story threads
narrator. One fateful day when Stanley’s co-workers of each path, with the narrator switching focus from his
disappear, Stanley takes it upon himself to discover their relationship with Stanley, to Stanley’s relationship with
fate. Coming to a room with a pair of parallel doors, the the bucket.
narrator instructs Stanley to take the left path, whereupon It’s an amusing gag, but it doesn’t quite succeed in
you can choose to follow the narrator’s instructions, or eliminating The Stanley Parable’s biggest problem, which
defy them. is that seeing all the different paths and endings involves /VERDICT
The rest of the game follows this pattern, giving you replaying a lot of the same content. The game tries to tackle The Stanley
Parable’s second
branching choices that lead to increasingly bizarre situations. this issue in other ways too, such as slightly changing the
overhaul is so
The narrator responds to your decisions in wildly different opening area and the narrator’s starting lines every time you good, we can’t
ways, variously acting as your friend, nemesis, business revert to the beginning, but this isn’t quite enough to stave wait for the next
partner, therapist, co-conspirator, victim and so on. Defy him off a creeping sense of repetition. one in 2031.
at one point in the story, and he might try to reconcile with Still, The Stanley Parable more than makes up for this with
you, attempting to create a game more suited to his tastes. its creativity, humour and remarkable ability to seemingly OVERALL SCORE
Defy him at another, and he might simply try to kill you. anticipate every action you can possibly take. It remains one
The Ultra Deluxe version significantly expands the
number of story permutations, all of which are as chaotic,
hilarious and wryly allusive as the original game. One
of the finest comedy games ever made, and the additions in
Ultra Deluxe only make it more enjoyable.
RICK LANE
90%
71
G A M E S / VIRTUAL REALITY
REALITY
CHECK
Rick Lane brings
news of virtual
assassins and has
space school lessons
in this VR roundup
REVIEW
COSMONIOUS HIGH
DEVELOPER Owlchemy Labs / PUBLISHER Owlchemy Labs
Cosmonious High is a VR sandbox with Almost every object in the game’s world In other words, the whole game feels
tonnes of sand, but not enough box. will respond to your actions. If you spray designed for an audience that’s technically
Owlchemy Labs’ colourful VR adventure water at a character’s face, for example, not allowed to play it. Moreover, Owlchemy
sets a new standard for dynamic VR they’ll spit it back out. Liquids can also be already nailed entry-level VR experiences
interactions, but it struggles to structure them placed into beakers, mugs and other vessels, through its previous games, Job Simulator
into entertaining challenges. The result is a and carried around. Indeed, any object and Vacation Simulator. Not only were
game that, while undeniably fun, ultimately or power discovered in one room can be they brilliantly fun, but they also made
squanders its considerable potential. transported to other areas of the school to better use of their built-in systems than
Cosmonious High puts you in the role of help solve puzzles. Cosmonious High.
Prismi, a cheerful alien creature embarking on The problem with Cosmonious High It’s a shame, because Cosmonious High
its first day of space school. The game sees is that those puzzles simply aren’t that has the potential to be one of the best VR
you visiting various classrooms throughout interesting. You’ll use your water powers to games ever made. As an exploration of VR’s
the school, undertaking different activities put out fires, and your size-altering abilities interactive possibilities, it’s unparalleled – no
under the watchful eyestalks of your extra- to unblock passages, but the challenges other VR game is this inventive. But it simply
terrestrial teachers. never extend beyond one or two steps. doesn’t do anything with those inventions,
By far the most impressive aspect Worse, many of the game’s systems are resulting in a fun, but ultimately frivolous
of Cosmonious High is its wide array of barely used at all. All those cool materials missed opportunity.
interactions. At a base level, Prismi can you create in Chemosophy have little practical
conjure multiple powers from its hands, such function whatsoever. LESSON LESSEN
as the ability to shoot water, fire and wind, Combined with the game’s kaleidoscopic + Incredibly interactive - Sorely lacks structure
world
and even a power that lets you alter the size colour scheme, soft-play environment - Juvenile presentation
of objects. designs, and cheerful-verging-on- + Experimentation is fun - Made for an audience
In addition, each classroom brings its own patronising characters, Cosmonious High that can’t play it
myriad abilities. For example, Chemosophy feels overwhelmingly like a game designed
class sees you creating various compounds for small children as an entry-level VR VERDICT OVERALL SCORE
Cosmonious High is a
out of base liquids, producing materials experience. There’s nothing inherently wrong
60%
VR nursery with lots
such as Bouncium, which makes any object with this idea, but VR headsets across the of cool toys but no
springy, and Stickium, which causes items to board aren’t rated as suitable for children real point to any of it.
attach to one another. under 12 years of age.
72
NEWS
ASSASSIN’S
CREED: NEXUS
A build of Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed VR project has
reportedly leaked online, revealing a game called Assassin’s
Creed: Nexus, which will apparently offer a time-hopping
adventure across many different historical periods.
Footage showed an interactive menu framed around the
game’s in-fiction Animus machine, essentially Assassin’s
Creed’s own VR device that lets its characters access
their ‘genetic memories’. The footage also includes a
description of one of the game’s missions, The Sword of
Ezio, which sees Assassin’s Creed II’s protagonist return to
his family home of Monteriggioni to help his sister Claudia
with a problem.
The broader game will apparently see players inhabiting
multiple assassins from across the series. The specific
characters aren’t confirmed, although given the game’s
reported 16 missions, Ubisoft could potentially include all the
major characters from the series, as well as making Nexus a
substantial VR offering.
The game also seems to be mechanically varied. Combat
will be a familiar timing-based affair, with players using
NEWS weapons such as swords, throwing knives, crossbows and
WALLACE AND GROMIT: the series’ signature hidden blade. Other systems include
pickpocketing, lock picking, climbing and, of course, stealth.
THE GRAND GETAWAY Ubisoft hasn’t confirmed or denied the authenticity of the
leak, but one source of the leak, the gaming website Exputer,
Stop-motion icons Wallace and Gromit are coming to has reported credibly on leaks in the past, including a build
Meta Quest 2 next year, in a collaborative project between of the PS5 game Horizon: Forbidden West, which leaked
Aardman, Meta and developer Atlas V. Dubbed a VR several weeks ahead of the game’s debut.
‘experience’, Wallace and Gromit: The Grand Getaway
sees Wigan’s most famous duo off on that most British
of excursions, the summer seaside holiday.
Like all beach holidays in Britain, it’s doomed to go
wrong, as Wallace gets his dates mixed up and must cross
the country in just half an hour, resulting in a calamitous
malfunction of his latest invention, the Auto Caddy.
There’s little specific information about how The Grand
Getaway will play, but the framing of it as an ‘experience’
implies it will be a fairly light affair. What is certain is that
Wallace will be voiced by Ben Whitehead, who replaced
the late Peter Sallis after he retired from the role in 2010.
Aardman’s Managing Director Sean Clark says the
game will combine ‘engaging storytelling with emerging
technologies to offer fans a totally immersive experience’,
adding that ‘for loyal fans of Wallace & Gromit, this will be
real-wish fulfilment territory’.
It’s difficult to know how to feel about seeing Wallace
and Gromit in VR. While we’d never say no to another
Wallace and Gromit adventure, the idea of seeing a life-
sized Wallace is faintly terrifying. In any case, you’ll be able
to traumatise yourself with the sight of a human-sized
plasticine northerner sometime in 2023.
73
F E AT U R E / CUSTOMISATION
BUILD A
MINI PC
THERE’S NEVER BEEN A BETTER TIME TO BUILD A MINI-ITX PC. ANTONY LEATHER GIVES YOU HIS TOP TIPS ON HOW
TO PICK THE BEST HARDWARE AND BUILD THE PERFECT MINI SYSTEM, AND HOW TO PUT IT ALL TOGETHER
W
ith more great compact cases than wasting a lot of desk space. It’s also true that cases have decent water-cooling support
ever before, along with a huge you don’t need to skimp on gaming or content too, allowing you dip your toes into the world
range of CPUs, graphics cards and creation performance when you’re building of AIO liquid coolers or custom water cooling
small SFX PSUs from which to choose, a mini-ITX PC any more. There are plenty of despite not having a massive ATX case.
there’s never been a better time to downsize powerful graphics cards that fit in small cases, This month we’ll not only be showing
your desktop and build yourself a little PC that and many of the latter cater for chunky triple- you how to build a mini-ITX PC from start
can do it all. slot graphics cards too. to finish, but we’ll also be offering our top
If your only expansion card is a single Not only that, but the latest small SFX PSUs tips on choosing the right hardware, taking
graphics card, and you use on-board audio now offer well over 700W of power, which is you through the differing case designs and
or an external audio device, then you’re likely plenty for a high-end system. Most mini-ITX covering both air and water-cooled options.
74
WHY USE MINI-ITX? are more expensive than their full-sized
There are a variety of reasons why people counterparts. This can be true, but not
switch from ATX systems to mini-ITX. The throughout the industry. At the time of writing
key benefit is, of course, the reduction in this feature, the Asus ROG Strix B660-F
volume of a mini-ITX case compared with Gaming WiFi cost £250 inc VAT, while the
an ATX tower. They not only occupy less ROG Strix B600-I Gaming would set you
space, but they also have significantly smaller back £245 inc VAT, for example.
footprints on your desk. This means you Yes, you get more ports with the larger
can reclaim desk or floor space, and without board, but in terms of how much you need to
Even two sandwich-style cases can look completely
sacrificing performance either. If you don’t different, as we can see here with the Phanteks Shift spend to get a ROG Strix motherboard with
need any discrete expansion cards beyond XT and NZXT H1 V2 otherwise similar features, the two boards
your graphics card, there really isn’t any cost the same price. Downsizing in this case
reason why you can’t opt for mini-ITX. been solved with current hardware or have won’t cost you more money, and if you want
Variety is another reason why some vastly improved. to go with mini-ITX, you’ve already made the
enthusiasts prefer mini-ITX. By its nature, The first myth is that you can’t build a decision to live with two DIMM slots and a
it’s a challenging format in terms of case and mini-ITX PC that’s as powerful as an ATX single PCI-E slot anyway.
motherboard design, and for these reasons, PC. This is wrong in nearly every way. All We’ll admit, though, that SFX PSUs
there tends to be far more variation between current mainstream desktop CPUs, and even generally bag you less power for the same
case and motherboard designs than you see Intel’s LGA2066 high-end desktop CPUs, cash, and mini-ITX cases are rarely cheaper
with typical ATX hardware. Motherboards are compatible with at least one mini-ITX than ATX cases in a similar range.
tend to have heatsinks in different locations, motherboard. Even a GeForce RTX 3090
have a wide variety of specifications and Ti card can squeeze into many mini-ITX
some even trade off cooler compatibility, cases, and can be powered by the latest
so they can squeeze more hardware onto SFX PSUs too.
the PCB. There are exceptions, of course. For
Cases are especially varied too, with a example, most mini-ITX cases will struggle
huge array of designs and sizes, ranging from to house large CPU air coolers. Mini-ITX
designs that are friendly to both air and water cases are generally limited to 280mm
cooling, to ones that specifically focus on one radiators or smaller too, simply because
cooling method or the other. Some cases making room for a 360mm radiator would
offer super-small footprints, while others make the case too large. Otherwise, though,
focus on minimising volume. Plus you also a mini-ITX PC can be every bit as powerful as
get the usual mixes of glass, aluminium and an ATX system.
steel panels, and the impact of ventilation and Another myth is that mini-ITX PCs are
airflow design can be particularly pronounced more difficult and time-consuming to build.
Even the largest graphics cards can fit inside
in such a small case. Basically, mini-ITX This can be true in some cases, but recent mini-ITX cases, such as this GeForce RTX 3090
makes PC building interesting and fun, and additions to the mini-ITX scene mean this is Ti installed in a Ssupd Meshlicious
perhaps more of a challenge. largely a non-issue. For example, if you want
an easy mini-ITX ride, working with NZXT’s The NZXT
MINI-ITX MYTH BUSTING H1 V2 is easier than with any other mini case H1 is one of
the easiest
There are plenty of naysayers when it we’ve tested. Its cables are pre-routed,
cases to
comes to mini-ITX systems, but a lot of their its AIO liquid cooler is preinstalled and its use for mini
claims are rooted in the past, and have either included SFX PSU is already installed as well. PC building
Cable tidying can be an issue in some
smaller cases too, but the shorter cable sets
included with SFX PSUs help here, and some
manufacturers even offer extra short cable
kits to cater for situations where the PSU
is planted right next to your hardware. You
can also create your own cables to custom
lengths using companies such as CableMod
(cablemod.com).
It’s easy to forget that mini-ITX is still
a niche form factor, despite its increased
Motherboard designs vary wildly, which in popularity, but another myth that ties into this
turn has an impact on cooler compatibility fact is that mini cases, PSUs and hardware
75
If you’re noise-sensitive then you’ll need

to think about ways to keep the decibels
to a minimum.
LOW-PROFILE CPU COOLERS

The biggest issue mini-ITX system owners
face is cooler compatibility, and not just when
it comes to cases. Motherboard heatsinks
have become larger over the years, in order
PCI-E riser cables are used to connect a
to cope with ever more powerful CPUs and
graphics card to your motherboard’s PCI-E
Make sure your CPU cooler and graphics card slot in sandwich-style cases, or in cases with chipsets. Combine these large heatsinks with
fans will be located near mesh panels vertical graphics card arrangements all the elaborate ways of cramming as much
onto the PCB as possible, such as vertically
BE WARY most ATX cases. In fact, many fall well short stacked audio and M.2 arrangements, and
While there are plenty of unfair mini-ITX of even this height, meaning that in many space around the CPU socket can end up
myths doing the rounds, it’s still not a perfect cases, you’ll need to opt for liquid cooling to being pretty tight.
form factor. In addition to cooler compatibility cope with high-end CPUs, and pay careful The main issue here is with low-profile
and limited hard disk space, which we’ll attention to CPU cooler height limits if you air coolers. The CPU socket on a mini-ITX
discuss in more detail in a moment, there are want to use a low-profile cooler. motherboard sits closer to the memory and
a few issues that anyone taking the plunge Graphics card clearances can vary wildly I/O shield than on ATX motherboards, and
with a small PC needs to consider. between cases too. You’ll need to check while the resulting shorter PCB traces can
Firstly, the limited volume in mini-ITX cases that your chosen case has room for enough be beneficial – for instance, with memory
means that there’s very little margin for error slot brackets if you card uses more than overclocking – it can result in some low-
when it comes to cooling. You need to pay two. Also, the maximum supported length profile CPU coolers not being able to fit.
careful attention to airflow and where your of graphics card can vary, not just between What’s more, compatibility varies between
CPU and GPU coolers will be getting their air cases, but also between the same case’s motherboards, so one low-profile cooler
supply. For this reason, unless you’re water- different configurations. could work on one motherboard, but not on
cooling your hardware, glass panels sat next For instance, the popular Ssupd another, depending on how many heatsinks
to your GPU or CPU coolers are a bad idea, Meshlicious has several internal and other bits and pieces sit around the
which is why most new mini-ITX cases are configurations that can allow for better CPU socket. Thankfully, some CPU cooler
equipped with mesh panels, or at the very water-cooling support, but can drastically
least, have mesh panel options. You’ll need reduce graphics card length limits.
to be prepared to make sure every fan mount Another potential issue is PCI-E riser
is occupied in order to ensure sufficient cables. These are often used in sandwich
airflow too. style cases, where the graphics card sits back
Other issues with cooling include limited to back with the motherboard, linked to the
clearances. Few mini-ITX cases offer support PCI-E slot via a ribbon cable.
for CPU air coolers taller than 150mm, for Unfortunately, many cases that use these
example, which is the starting point for setups only include PCI-E 3 riser cables, and
using one of these if your motherboard and
graphics card are PCI-E 4-enabled can result
in system instability.
You can either upgrade to a PCI-E 4 riser
cable or force your motherboard into PCI-E 3
mode in the BIOS.
Finally, you need to be wary of noise. A
mini-ITX case typically sits on your desk,
while many ATX cases end up on the floor
under your desk. Also, due to their size and
shape, mini-ITX machines often bring their
innards closer to you than an ATX tower, so
you can still access its front I/O ports and
so on. This means that, to your ears, even if An example of the CPU cooler compatibility lottery
is Noctua’s NH-L12S, which fits fine on Gigabyte’s
the same hardware were inside it and every
If you use a short graphics card, the Ssupd X570i Aorus Pro WiFi (top), but doesn’t stand a
Meshlicious can house it horizontally instead of other factor was equal, it would seem to be chance on ASRock’s X570 Phantom Gaming ITX/
vertically, making room in the base for hard disks louder than an ATX case in the same location. TB3 (bottom)
76
Slim fans can squeeze into places full-sized fans can’t
SFX PSUS
Many mini-ITX cases support ATX PSUs;
at first glance, these might seem like an
attractive idea, given it will save you having
Using an M.2 SSD is a great way to cut cable
numbers, as it connects straight to the motherboard, due to it fouling the I/O panel shroud or to invest in a smaller SFX PSU if you already
and 2TB models can now cost under £150 chipset coolers. Reddit and PC forums are have a decent PSU in your ATX system
also a good place to check which coolers are that you can transplant. However, there are
manufacturers, such as Noctua, have made compatible with which boards. The key factor several reasons why doing this is a bad idea.
the effort to see which of its coolers are here is that if you intend to use a low-profile Firstly, space is at a premium in mini-ITX
compatible with specific motherboards. air cooler, you’ll need to make sure it fits your cases, and having a PSU that occupies more
The low-riding NH-L12S, for example, chosen motherboard before buying it. than is necessary will make your life harder.
shows up as not being compatible with any An SFX PSU is significantly smaller than an
of Asus’ recent Intel-based mini-ITX boards, WHAT ABOUT ALL MY ATX model, and your PC will be tidier, cleaner
HARD DISKS? and easier to manage as a result of using it.
In general, mini-ITX cases aren’t great for
those of us that need plenty of hard disks. SHORTENED PSU CABLES
Many cases offer at least one 3.5in mount, Opting for SFX PSUs comes with another
which isn’t bad considering there are usually benefit too. They typically include shorter
just two in many ATX cases these days. cables than ATX power supplies, as you
However, there are plenty of cases that offer simply don’t need lengthy cables in such a
support for two or more hard disks. This is small case. Using an ATX PSU with standard
often as a compromise for other hardware, cables will only result in a huge amount of
but if housing multiple hard disks is a priority slack to tidy away in a case that’s already
then they do exist. suffering from limited cable stowage space.
However, there are good reasons to ditch There are also shortened cable sets
your hard disks, and even 2.5in SSDs too. available for some SFX PSUs, further
The latest M.2 SSDs are not only quicker than reducing slack in particularly small cases.
SATA SSDs and hard drives, but they also
require no cables, making your cable tidying
easier and improving airflow. Flash storage
still isn’t great value for mass storage, but we
spotted several 2TB NVMe SSDs available
for just £140 at the time of going to press,
meaning you could get 4TB for under £300.
The best option for those that need more
storage is to use a NAS box. This will allow
you to add as much storage as you like, but
will also cut noise levels (and heat) from hard
disks’ spinning platters and seeking heads,
Using an SFX PSU (top) will free up a
considerable amount of space compared while also cutting down the number of cables SFX PSUs usually come with shorter cables than
to using an ATX PSU (bottom) cluttering up your mini PC’s interior. their ATX counterparts
77
Small combined pump and reservoir units, such as

EK’s FLT 80, are ideal for water-cooling systems in
mini-ITX cases
means you can mount it vertically to show off

through a glass side panel, or it can just make
your PC quieter in games.
Water cooling can deal with heat more
effectively than air cooling in such tight
confines. Low-profile air coolers, and most
Glass side panels look great, but you need to ensure graphics cards, tend to dump heat into the
there’s enough airflow to deal with the heat which can make the difference between case, relying on its airflow system to get rid of
being able to fit a fan in your mini system or the warm air. Conversely, AIO liquid coolers
CableMod (cablemod.com) is a custom PSU not. They’re available in 120mm and 140mm and custom loops will transport the heat to a
cable manufacturer that offers shorter cables flavours, and can look neater than standard- radiator that can then expel it straight out of
for a variety of PSUs, but its most useful height fans too, although they typically offer the case.
feature is its custom cable service, where you slightly reduced airflow and static pressure. There are plenty of water-cooling
can specify the length of individual cables, so components that are specifically designed
they fit your case and hardware perfectly. CUSTOM WATER COOLING to make your life easier in small form factor
With mini-ITX cases often suffering from systems too. Slim radiators work in much the
SLIM FANS reduced CPU cooler clearance, and glass same was as slim fans, in that they’re thinner
It’s important to use every fan mount in your panels hampering air-cooled graphics cards than standard radiators.
mini-ITX case in order to maximise airflow next to them, water-cooling your mini-ITX Typical radiators are usually around
and get the heat out of the case. This may be hardware can actually be very beneficial. It 30mm thick as a minimum, but slim radiators
tricky in some situations, as some hardware can result in high-end CPUs being cooled are just 20mm thick, shaving a centimetre
configurations will get in the way of fan more effectively, as radiators offer more off their required clearance. Combined with
mounts, while standard-height fans can look cooling capacity than low-profile air coolers. slim fans, you need just 35mm of clearance
unsightly and end up fouling cables. In the case of your graphics card, it also to actually fit an actively cooled radiator into
This is where slim fans come in. They’re
around 10mm thinner than standard fans,
Alphacool’s new line of slim radiators can are Using a slim radiator and slim fan shaves 2cm off the
available in sizes for both 120mm and 140mm fans clearance compared with standard-height models
78
Thunderbolt can be useful for adding
your case, opening up the world of water features to mini-ITX motherboards
cooling to cases that would otherwise have
to be air cooled. Being able to combine a pump and
In addition, they may allow you to install reservoir into one space is also clearly
additional radiators to boost your system’s very advantageous when water-
cooling capacity and reduce noise as a result. cooling a mini-ITX PC, and the likes of
Only two manufacturers make slim radiators EK’s FLT reservoirs and Alphacool’s
– XSPC and Alphacool, and the latter has just Rise Flat models take up barely any
released a range of new models that not only more space than a couple of 120mm fans, Thunderbolt accessories include
include 120mm variants, but 140mm variants and they use powerful DDC or D5 pumps 10 Gigabit Ethernet adaptors
too, giving us the first 280mm slim radiators. mounted to compact reservoirs. EK’s FLT 80
is our pick of the bunch, being the smallest are a couple of options here, including M.2
EK’s new Quantum Velocity 2 combines a pump,
reservoir and waterblock in one unit, making it much combo yet and offering plenty of inlets adaptors such as the Innodisk EGPL-T101,
easier to water-cool any PC and outlets. which can turn an M.2 port into a 10 Gigabit
Another very useful gadget is a combined Ethernet port.
pump, waterblock and reservoir. These However, an easier way to add devices
are rare, but BarrowCH’s LRC 2.0 and EK’s such as this to your mini-ITX PC is with
recently announced Quantum Velocity 2 Thunderbolt. It’s still a rare feature on
Kinetic DDC 4.2 combine all these features mini-ITX motherboards, but thankfully,
into a single unit, meaning you only then have ASRock offers it on its Z690, B550 and
to find a place for your radiators if you’re just X570 Phantom gaming motherboards, and
cooling your CPU, which makes your tube Gigabyte’s Z590i Vision D supports it too.
runs far simpler too. Using a Thunderbolt 3 or 4 hub enables
you to add a host of adaptors and extra ports
THUNDERBOLT SAVES THE DAY to your PC. For example, OWC’s 10 Gigabit
The main drawback of mini-ITX is the lack adaptor plugs straight into a Thunderbolt
of expansion slots. If you’re using a discrete port should you need a networking upgrade.
graphics card then you won’t easily be There are plenty of Thunderbolt-based
able to add a second PCI-E device. There external storage options too.
79
CASE LAYOUT VARIATIONS

There’s a huge variety of mini-ITX case
layouts available, and they all serve different
purposes. It’s important to realise that while
you may find some styles of designs more
attractive than others, the style of case you
choose will have a significant impact on a
case’s ability to house certain hardware,
and can also affect cooling.
Phanteks’ Evolv Shift XT from above
TRADITIONAL LAYOUT
With a graphics card facing the bottom of the panel than in an ATX case, again meaning
case and connected directly to a vertically mesh panels are a good idea for air-cooled
mounted motherboard, traditional layouts systems. AIO liquid coolers and custom
usually offer the best CPU air cooler clearance water cooling loops are often much better
of any mini-ITX design. Popular cases here options than air cooling in these cases,
include the Cooler Master NR200P, which especially for your CPU. The motherboard
offers more than 150mm of CPU cooler is often inverted too. Popular cases here
clearance. The downside is that their radiator include the Lian Li Q58, Raijintek Ophion
support can be limited unless, like the series, and those from Sliger, Geeek and
NR200P, it has a flexible layout with a vertical Dan Cases.
graphics card mount as an option. They Ssupd’s Meshlicious
also tend to be quite wide, with much larger VERTICAL SANDWICH LAYOUT
footprints than some designs. These cases are similar to the standard FLEXIBLE LAYOUTS
sandwich layout, but with the graphics card Due to the above designs being quite
mounted vertically and the motherboard I/O inflexible, focusing on improving one feature
panel usually located in the top or bottom at the expense of another, a popular party
of the case. This style of design can result in trick of many modern mini-ITX cases is to
extremely small case footprints, as well as have multiple layout options. These options
flexible case designs. Popular cases here might allow a graphics card to switch from
include the Phanteks Shift series, Ssupd being directly connected to a motherboard,
Meshlicious and NZXT H1, with some cases to using a riser cable to sit in a different
offering decent water-cooling support, orientation. Or they might be able to use more
thanks to their large mesh panels and the storage devices by boosting the number of
use of small SFX PSUs. 2.5in and 3.5in mounts, or shift hardware
around to make more space for radiators.
For example, the Cooler Master NR200P
Cooler Master’s NR200P comes with a riser cable that allows the
graphics card to sit vertically, clearing space
SANDWICH LAYOUT in the base of the case for a radiator and
With a PCI-E riser cable connecting the allowing additional fans to be fitted in the roof,
motherboard and graphics card, which sit with the option of mounting the radiator in the
back to back, a sandwich layout frees up side of the case too.
space above and below the core components The Ssupd Meshlicious goes even further.
for radiators, and also allows the graphics It supports both ATX and SFX PSUs, and if
card to sit vertically. This means the graphics you use the latter, you can install a graphics
card can be placed close to mesh panels, or card up to four slots wide. It has both vertical
offer a more aesthetically pleasing look from and horizontal graphics card mounts, with the
the side, but using glass panels with this type latter requiring short cards that, combined
of case can negatively impact cooling. with the use of an angled riser cable, clears
CPU cooler height is also very limited, as space for two hard disks to be installed
the motherboard sits far closer to the side NZXT’s H1 V2 beneath it.
80
10 TOP TIPS FOR BUILDING
A BETTER MINI-ITX PC
1 KEEP
CABLES TO A MINIMUM cooling this way will enable you to increase
A fully modular PSU, whether it’s SFX or your system’s capacity to deal with heat and
ATX, is highly recommended to keep cable can also make it quieter.
numbers to a minimum. We also recommend SFX PSUs are considerably smaller than ATX PSUs
using M.2 SSDs rather than 2.5in models 4 PUT
CASE LAYOUT AHEAD
or 3.5in hard disks, as this will cut cable OF AESTHETICS can foul heatsinks, I/O shrouds and other
numbers, potentially improving airflow, Mini-ITX cases are often very specialised, components, so research which coolers are
reducing the clutter in your interior and and with the exception of highly flexible compatible with your motherboard before
making cable tidying easier. models, you should pick the best case for you reach for your wallet.
your hardware. For example, if you don’t want
2 REDDIT
AND FORUMS ARE any form of liquid cooling, but want a high- 7 WATCH
OUT FOR PCI-E 3
YOUR FRIENDS end CPU and GPU, it’s inadvisable to opt for a RISER CABLES
The Internet can be a huge help when sandwich-style case with limited CPU cooler If your motherboard and graphics card are
building a mini-ITX PC. Compatibility clearance, or one that has a glass panel sitting PCI-E 4-compatible then you need to make
with coolers, radiators and graphics right next to your graphics card’s cooler. sure the riser cable included with your case, if
cards isn’t very well documented with it has one, is PCI-E 4 too. If it isn’t, your PC will
many manufacturers, but you may well 5 AVOID
GLASS PANELS suffer stability issues unless you force your
be able to find someone who has tried Glass gives you a great view of your system to operate in PCI-E 3 mode in the EFI.
the same combination of components hardware, but while ATX cases can make
you’re considering and has either failed or do with large front and roof vents to provide 8 USE
AN SFX PSU
been successful. airflow, side ventilation is also extremely Even if your case has ATX PSU compatibility,
The small form factor PC subreddit is important in small cases, in order to lower it’s still worth using an SFX PSU. They save
a great place to start and we can highly internal temperatures and allow vertically valuable space, making the building process
recommend the mini-ITX case list there mounted graphics cards to breathe. Nearly all much easier. They also have shorter cables,
(custompc.co.uk/itx-reddit). mini-ITX cases have mesh panels on at least so you don’t have miles of slack to tidy later.
one side panel, and some manufacturers also
3 CONSIDER
LIQUID OR CUSTOM offer optional mesh panels to replace glass or 9 SLIM
FANS AND RADIATORS CAN
WATER COOLING otherwise solid panels. MAKE A DIFFERENCE
If your dream mini-ITX case has limited CPU If you’ve ever wanted to install a radiator in a
cooler clearance, or airflow-killing glass 6 BEWARE
OF MOTHERBOARD AND tight spot, but found there’s just not enough
panels next to your graphics card, all is not COOLER COMPATIBILITY clearance, slim fans and radiators are really
lost. Liquid cooling can remove the need Low-profile coolers come in all shapes handy. Combining the two can shave up
for masses of airflow, and instead shift the and sizes, and unfortunately many haven’t to 20mm off the total height of a fan and
cooling requirements to a radiator that can be been designed with modern high-end radiator combination, making them far more
positioned in the case’s fan mounts. Boosting mini-ITX motherboards in mind. They amenable to squeezing into small gaps than
normal-sized models.
10 FILL
EVERY FAN MOUNT
A vacant fan mount is heresy in a mini-ITX
case, as it’s vitally important to make use of
all of them to boost airflow. More fans don’t
necessarily mean more noise either. In fact,
shifting more air with several low-spinning
You can occasionally fans sounds quieter than one fan spinning at
install slim fans high speed shifting the same or less airflow. If
and radiators in your hardware makes using standard fans in
places that can’t
accommodate some mounts impossible, slim fans can often
normal-sized enable you to occupy every fan mount in your
models case to maximise airflow.
81
HOW TO BUILD
system that makes overclocking difficult
anyway. As such, we’ve chosen Gigabyte’s
B660I Aorus Pro DDR4 motherboard, which
costs just £200 and uses DDR4 memory,
A KILLER MINI
which is much cheaper than DDR5 memory
and has little impact on performance.
This board will also still enable our
chosen CPU to boost to its full turbo speeds.
However, bear in mind that this board only
GAMING PC
has one M.2 port, so you’ll want to consider an
alternative board if you need more than one
M.2 drive.
CASE
WE TAKE YOU THROUGH THE COMPONENTS NEEDED TO ASSEMBLE A CRACKING Phanteks Evolv Shift XT
2,560 x 1,440 GAMING SYSTEM, AND SHOW YOU HOW TO PUT IT ALL TOGETHER £160 inc VAT
overclockers.co.uk
OUR MINI-ITX
which offers huge gaming and content With decent airflow, support for a 240mm
creation performance, thanks to its eight AIO liquid cooler and achingly good looks,
performance-focused P-Cores and four the Phanteks Evolv Shift XT is a droolworthy
SHOPPING LIST power-efficient E-Cores, but isn’t quite as

power-hungry and hot-running as the top-
mini-ITX case, even if it’s not the smallest or
most flexible mini chassis available.
end Core i9-12900K, which is overkill for Handily, it also has a PCI-E 4 riser cable
CPU most people’s needs anyway. included in the box, so it’s already compatible
Intel Core i7-12700K with the latest motherboards and graphics
£ 377 inc VAT MOTHERBOARD cards without having to force them to run in
cclonline.com Gigabyte B660I Aorus Pro DDR4 PCI-E 3 mode.
£200 inc VAT Alternatively, it’s also well worth
Building a mini-ITX PC doesn’t have to be scan.co.uk considering the Ssupd Meshlicious and
about compromise, but equally there’s Cooler Master NR200P for your mini-ITX
no point opting for overly hot-running Manual overclocking doesn’t benefit the high- build. These cases have more flexible
hardware that’s hard to cool in the confines end CPUs in Intel’s line-up, so there’s little designs than the Phanteks Shift XT, and
of a small case. For this reason, we’ve opted point opting for an expensive motherboard are also water-cooling-friendly, while also
for Intel’s Core i7-12700K Alder Lake CPU, with a Z690 chipset, particularly for a mini offering smaller footprints.
82
CPU COOLER
EK EK-AIO 240 Basic
£83 inc VAT
scan.co.uk
Rather than opt for a low-profile air cooler,

due to the restricted CPU cooler clearance
GRAPHICS CARD looks fabulous, offers stunning performance in the Phanteks Shift XT, we’ve picked an
Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3070 Ti in games at 2,560 x 1,440, has decent ray- AIO liquid cooler with the biggest radiator
Vision OC 8G tracing performance, and can even manage we could fit into this case. The EK-AIO 240
£690 inc VAT smooth frame rates at 4K in some titles, Basic offers enough cooling to keep our Core
scan.co.uk especially with DLSS enabled. i7-12700K in check, and it will get rid of the
heat straight through the case’s roof vent. Its
Our chosen Phanteks Shift XT chassis has POWER SUPPLY compact pump is small enough to fit on even
ample room in its interior to accommodate a Phanteks Revolt SFX 750W 80 the most space-cramped CPU sockets too,
large graphics card, so there’s no need to be Plus Platinum which can’t be said for the ARCTIC LF II 240
restricted to a graphics card with a small PCB £130 inc VAT RGB or NZXT Kraken Z53 RGB.
and single-fan cooler. overclockers.co.uk
In fact, in this situation, it really pays to get SOLID STATE DRIVE
a graphics card with a large cooler, in order to There are plenty of high-power SFX power 2TB WD Black SN770
keep your card’s temperatures in check in the supplies available at the moment, and £170 inc VAT
close confines of a mini-ITX case. we’ve chosen Phanteks’ new 80 Plus ebuyer.com
However, we advise against using an Nvidia Platinum-rated Revolt SFX 750W unit for
Founders Edition RTX 3000-series card our build this month. Our chosen mini-ITX motherboard only
in a mini system, unless you’ve thoroughly It has plenty of connectors, it runs has one M.2 port, so we’ve gone with a 2TB
researched your case’s airflow system, as quietly and its excellent efficiency rating solid state drive, in the form of the WD Black
these cards’ flow-through coolers are often will minimise the contribution of gaming SN770, in order to maximise storage capacity.
at odds with the specialised airflow systems sessions to your electricity bill. Importantly, With its PCI-E 4 interface, it offers blazing
found in mini-ITX cases. it has plenty of power on tap for our chosen sequential read and write speeds of around
We’ve chosen the triple-fan Gigabyte components, as well as some headroom for 5,000MB/sec, and its M.2 interface means it
GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Vision OC 8G, which future upgrades won’t clutter the interior with extra cables.
83
BUILDING THE PC
IF YOU’VE ONLY EVER BUILT ATX PCS BEFORE, DOWNSIZING CAN PRESENT SOME
CHALLENGES. HERE’S OUR STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO BUILDING OUR GAMING PC,
WITH THE ASSUMPTION THAT YOU ALREADY KNOW THE BASICS OF PC BUILDING
7
1 8
4
5
9
2
3
6 10
1 INSTALL
CPU, MEMORY AND 4 REMOVE
CASE PANELS 8 INSTALL
GRAPHICS CARD
COOLER MOUNT The Phanteks Shift XT allows you to remove The graphics card slots neatly into its own
You need to always aim to install as much its exterior panels in order to get better compartment, but needs to slot into the
hardware as possible on a mini-ITX access to the interior. This is especially useful other end of the PCI-E riser cable. Ensure
motherboard before you fit it into your case. for installing the motherboard and AIO liquid the two are properly connected by looking
You’ll have limited room to work once it’s coolers, so do it now. underneath the graphics card.
installed, so fit the CPU, memory and cooler-
mounting components now. 5 INSTALL
MOTHERBOARD 9 FIT
FANS TO RADIATOR
Now install the motherboard into the You want to mount the fans so that they
2 INSTALL M.2 SSD Phanteks Shift XT. Use the screws provided push air through the radiator and out of the
The solid state drive needs to sit under the with the case, lifting the PCI-E riser cable out roof, with the fans positioned as shown. The
motherboard’s heatsink, which will help to of the way for now. screws included with the cooler need to pass
keep it cool. Remove the protective wrap on through the fan mounting tray in the top of the
the thermal pad, fit the SSD and then reinstall 6 CONNECT
FRONT PANEL CABLES case, which is removable, and then through
the heatsink on the motherboard. The front panel header is thankfully easy to the fans before securing to the radiator.
access, so you can leave this alone until the
3 CONNECT
8-PIN EPS CPU motherboard is installed. You only need to 10 SECURE
FAN MOUNT
POWER CABLE deal with the power switch, USB 3 and USB With the radiator installed, replace the fan
Accessing the motherboard’s 8-pin EPS Type-C headers in this case. mount on the roof of the case. It’s a tight
CPU power connector can be tricky once the squeeze for one of the tubes, but there’s
motherboard is installed in the case, so grab 7 CONNECT
PCI-E RISER CABLE a small recess in the motherboard tray that
the cable from the PSU box and plug it into Now connect the PCI-E riser cable to the allows it to fit.
your motherboard now. You’ll then just need motherboard. In this case it’s pre-installed, so
to hook up the other end to your PSU later, you just need to plug it into the PCI-E slot on 11 CONNECT
COOLER CABLES
once the rest of the system is built. the motherboard. The cooler has a single 4-pin PWM
84
RESULTS
11
78,629 924,785 335,828 343,421
GIMP IMAGE HANDBRAKE H.264 HEAVY MULTI- SYSTEM
EDITING VIDEO ENCODING TASKING SCORE
12 ASSASSIN’S CREED: VALHALLA

2,560 x 1,440, Ultra Settings, High AA
CPC mini PC 58fps 79fps

0 30 60 90 120
CYBERPUNK 2077
13 CPC mini PC 58fps 64fps

0 30 60 90 120
WATCH DOGS: LEGION
2,560 x 1,440, Ultra settings
14 CPC mini PC 61fps 74fps

0 30 60 90 120
cable providing power to the pump and 99th percentile Average
fans, so attach this to the CPU header on
your motherboard. TOTAL SYSTEM POWER CONSUMPTION
12 INSTALL
PUMP SECTION 109W 439W
CPC mini PC
With the radiator and fans secured, and the
cooler’s cables connected, apply thermal 0 200 400 600
paste to the CPU in a thin cross-shape from Idle Load
corner to corner, and then install the cooler’s
pump/waterblock section. Position it so
that the tubes are under the least amount
of stress, which in this case has the tube
connectors facing the I/O panel. Our mini PC managed to produce a and not completely playing ball with the
RealBench system score of 343,421, pass-through fan on our RTX 3070 Ti GPU.
13 INSTALL
PSU which was actually a tad faster than the The CPU temperature topped out at 81°C
Connect the SATA, PCI-E, 8-pin EPS and same CPU in our 4K gaming PC in Issue with an ambient of 24°C when running
24-pin ATX connectors to the PSU, and fit 226. It also managed a silky-smooth 99th Cinebench R23, so it’s well away from any
it into the case so that the PSU fan faces percentile frame rate of 58fps at 2,560 thermal throttling and you’ll see much
towards the side panel. x 1,440 in Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, the lower temperatures than this in games.
same in Cyberpunk 2077 and 61fps in Finally, the peak power consumption
14 CONNECT
POWER CABLES Watch Dogs: Legion. in games was 439W, so there’s plenty
Connect the power cables to the The peak GPU temperature of 72°C of headroom for upgrades and, as this
motherboard, graphics card and, finally, the was a tad on the warm side compared figure represents less than 60 per cent of
SATA connector for the case’s RGB lighting with an ATX case, but that’s mostly due to our PSU’s maximum output, the PSU fan
if you’re using it. the case having a sandwich-style design doesn’t spin up too much either.
85
85
F E AT U R E / DEEP DIVE
INSIDE
AMD FIDELITYFX
SUPER RESOLUTION 2
AMD HAS REWORKED ITS FSR UPSCALING TECHNOLOGY, BRINGING IMPROVED IMAGE
QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE IN ORDER TO COMPETE WITH NVIDIA’S DLSS.
EDWARD CHESTER TESTS OUT THE NEW TECHNOLOGY
ith the visual demands of modern That’s the theory of resolution scaling, but not just the visual information from the current
W games getting ever greater, and
screen resolutions going ever
there are many different techniques. For a long
while, most of them offered fairly poor image
rendered frame to upscale the image – known
as spatial scaling – but also information from
higher, the brute force approach to graphics quality – the step down from running at native past frames.
rendering is becoming less viable for many resolution was very obvious – but the arrival By combining the past frames with object
situations. That’s why in recent years we’ve of Nvidia’s Deep Learning Super Sampling movement data from the game, the renderer
seen a significant increase in the use of (DLSS) changed all that. can essentially add back information that is
resolution scaling (upscaling) to allow games The first iteration of DLSS wasn’t all that lost by initially rendering at a low resolution.
to still show all the latest eye candy, such as ray successful, but DLSS 2 has been a revelation. This use of past data for upscaling is known
tracing, without frame rates plummeting when It offers impressive image quality in many generally as temporal scaling/upscaling.
running on high-resolution screens. instances, and at high quality settings can even DLSS 2 isn’t perfect, as the temporal
improve image quality over running at native comparison can break down if the player
Scaling new heights resolution, thanks to it replacing and doing a moves too quickly. Plus, like any resolution
Resolution scaling is where a game engine better job than the temporal anti-aliasing (TAA) scaling, it works best at high resolutions.
renders the 3D portion of the game at a lower used in many games to smooth out jagged Nonetheless, it’s still a very capable technique.
resolution than the one set in the game, edges. It manages this feat thanks to it using The only major problem is that it’s exclusive to
and stretches that image to fill a higher-
resolution screen, before then applying
post-processing effects – such as film grain,
chromatic aberration and on-screen blood
splatters – and adding the game’s heads up
display (HUD).
It’s basically like running a game at a lower
resolution, but without ending up with a
blocky-looking, oversized HUD and menu
system. And because the latter are generally
only rendered in 2D, they require a fraction of
the processing power of the 3D scene behind
them, despite being rendered at full resolution.
The ability to apply some post-processing
effects at the higher resolution also helps
maintain a sharper-looking image compared
with just running a game at a lower resolution.
Native resolution without AA (left) vs native resolution

with TAA (middle) vs FSR 2 at its Quality setting (right)
86
FSR 1 (left) on Ultra Quality mode looks far worse than
FSR 2 (middle) and DLSS 2 (right) on Quality mode
replaces the need for TAA. The older technique

dealt with the fully rendered frame after
any AA – whether TAA or otherwise – had
already been applied to it, leaving only the very
final post-processing and HUD to be added
after upscaling.
The lack of a reliance on specialised
processing cores, such as Nvidia’s Tensor
cores, exposes the fact that FSR 2 doesn’t rely
on any sort of machine learning to inform its
upscaler. However, even Nvidia has admitted
that DLSS 2 doesn’t really do any machine
learning on the fly – as it did with DLSS 1 – the
Tensor core requirement is mainly down to
Nvidia simply choosing to use them rather than
needing to use them.
Using FSR 2
Nvidia graphics cards, and only RTX cards at algorithm how far every part of the image As with other resolution scaling techniques,
that. All of which has compelled AMD to come has moved. Crucially, though, where DLSS 2 FSR 2 needs to be baked into the game you’re
up with its own resolution scaling technique takes advantage of the Tensor cores in Nvidia’s playing and can’t be enabled via a graphics
called FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR). RTX graphics cards to accelerate the scaling driver. However, given the widespread
process, making it exclusive to those cards, support for FSR 1, we expect FSR 2 to receive a
FSR 1 FSR 2 works on conventional graphics stream similarly speedy uptake. At the time of writing,
AMD’s first attempt to create a rival to DLSS processors, using any GPU architecture. three games have already implemented
wasn’t really a direct competitor, as it didn’t Another key distinction between FSR 2 (and FSR 2 (Deathloop, God of War and Farming
include the temporal comparison of DLSS 2. DLSS) and FSR 1 is that the new technique Simulator 22) and a further 16 games have
Instead, FSR 1 is a spatial scaling technique that operates earlier in the graphics pipeline and support incoming.
first stretches the image then uses an edge-
detection algorithm to selectively sharpen
certain portions of the image.
EACH INITIALLY RENDERED FRAME IS COMPARED
It works surprisingly well, outperforming WITH THE PREVIOUS FRAME AND COMBINED WITH
more basic scaling techniques in some games MOTION VECTOR DATA
we tried. Moreover, it gained significant
traction thanks to it being a completely cross-
platform system that can work on any graphics
card. Over 75 games had implemented it ,or
announced upcoming support for it, between
its June 2021 arrival and the announcement of
FSR 2 in March this year.
Nonetheless, the stage was set for AMD to
come up with an even better technique that
could truly rival DLSS 2, which it’s hoping to
achieve with FSR 2.
FSR 2
FSR 2 is a complete rework of FSR that now
includes a temporal comparison element,
just like DLSS 2. Each initially rendered frame
is compared with the previous frame and
combined with motion vector data to tell the
FSR 1 looks terrible on its Performance mode (left) but

FSR 2 (middle) and DLSS 2 (right) look remarkably good
87
F E AT U R E / DEEP DIVE
Within games that support FSR 2 you’ll This changes the degree to which the upscaler
find there are up to four detail levels available applies a 2D sharpening filter to the final
– Quality, Balanced, Performance and Ultra image. Just the right amount of sharpening
Performance. These will render the game at can be crucial to tighten up the image, but too
an ever-lower starting resolution as you move much and there can be an unnatural quality to
from the highest setting to the lowest. the final image. In Deathloop, the sharpening
The exact resolution will vary depending slider was set to its maximum by default
on the output resolution (the resolution of and we did find it a little aggressive. Turning it
your monitor), so for a 4K screen the Quality down to five out of ten felt a little more natural
setting will render at 2,560 x 1,440, while for a looking but we’ve stuck with the default 10
2,560 x 1,440 screen, the game will render at setting for our test shots.
1,706 x 960. Using the Performance setting,
a 4K screen will render at 1,920 x 1,080 and FSR 2 image quality
the 2,560 x 1,440 screen will render at just We used Deathloop to test FSR 2, as it’s
1,280 x 720. These are almost identical ratios not only the first game to implement the
FSR 2 (top) copes better with fast motion than
FSR 2 COPED SLIGHTLY BETTER THAN DLSS 2 DLSS 2 (bottom) in our tests, with less ghosting and
a crisper image
AT MAINTAINING A SHARP IMAGE AND
MINIMISING GHOSTING Images were captured initially with the
player stood still, then we also tested for any
visual artefacts while moving. We captured
to equivalent DLSS 2 settings, with just the technology, but it also supports DLSS 2, FSR screenshots for the latter while walking
Balanced setting of each tending to differ 1 and has optional TAA for use when gaming forward with a fixed view (see above) and
slightly (sometimes DLSS 2 uses a slightly at native resolution – some games force TAA moving the mouse side to side (see below).
higher render resolution, sometimes FSR 2 is on when gaming at native resolution, which Starting off with a comparison of FSR 1 and
slightly higher). can make some image quality comparison FSR 2, it’s like night and day even at the highest
In general, any upscaling algorithm works tricky. TAA is forced on in this game when using quality setting. The amount of detail FSR 2
best when starting with as high a render FSR 1 though. manages to retain in the arm of the crane in
resolution as possible, so it’s for this reason Our test system included an AMD Ryzen 5 our test shots is so much higher. Meanwhile,
that the FSR 2 Ultra Performance setting 3600X, 16GB of Corsair Dominator 3600MHz the anti-aliasing on the wired fences is
will often not be implemented, and it’s also DDR4 RAM and an Nvidia GeForce RTX much smoother with FSR 2. If both options
why Nvidia recommends the DLSS 2 Ultra 2060. Using the latter card enabled us to test are available, it’s clear which to use from a
Performance mode is only used in conjunction DLSS and FSR on the same card, and it also visual perspective.
with 8K output resolutions. represents a good example of the sort of card Trying the Performance modes reveals
FSR 2 adds one further option with which that could potentially benefit from upscaling a starker difference. The detail in the rocks
users can tinker, which is a sharpness slider. with a game such as Deathloop. At native behind the crane is almost completely lost
resolution with all in-game settings set to with FSR 1 and the fences look a complete
DLSS 2 suffers considerably from horizontal
ghosting, while FSR 2 seems to cope better. Native maximum, it delivered a just-about-playable mess, but with FSR 2 they still look
resolution without TAA is the sharpest though frame rate of 31fps. impressively smooth.
Native resolution Native resolution FSR 1 Quality FSR 2 Quality DLSS 2 Quality
(no TAA) (TAA)
88
Performance comparison the fixed 3,440 x 1,440 resolution of our test
monitor, and our results were interesting. The
Upscaling mode Minimum (fps) Average (fps) Maximum (fps) most striking takeaway was the relatively
modest performance uptick of all the
Native resolution 25 31 33 upscaling modes.
With a starting point of 31fps at native
resolution, the maximum frame rate, we
FSR 1 Ultra Quality 30 34 35
achieved without dropping to a lower
resolution or changing in-game detail settings
FSR 1 Quality 32 37 38 was 40fps using the terrible-looking FSR 1
Performance mode. Meanwhile, FSR 2 and
FSR 1 Balanced 28 39 40 DLSS 2 were all but tied on 37fps and 39fps
using their respective Performance modes.
That’s still a roughly 20 per cent gain in
FSR 1 Performance 32 40 42
frame rate but considering the Performance
modes use a resolution half that of native
FSR 2 Quality 28 34 35 resolution, it’s not quite the performance uplift
for which you might have hoped. However,
FSR 2 Balanced 17 37 38 these are early tests on just one game, and
we fully expect to see greater variance
FSR 2 Performance 29 37 38 in frame rate across different games at
different resolutions.
Looking more closely at how DLSS 2 and
DLSS 2 Quality 28 37 38
FSR 2 compared, there was an average 4.6
per cent higher frame rate for DLSS 2 over
DLSS 2 Balanced 29 37 39 FSR 2. This seems to tally with the fact that
DLSS 2 can take advantage of the otherwise
DLSS 2 Performance 30 39 40 unused Tensor cores in an Nvidia RTX GPU to
accelerate some of the DLSS 2 processing,
DLSS 2 and FSR 2 have very similar performance whereas FSR 2 is taking up more performance
characteristics, but DLSS 2 holds a small lead realistic smoothness. This general impression from the main stream processors.
held up in moving images too, with DLSS 2
Moving on to comparing FSR 2 against better minimising the pixel flicker from the Conclusions
native resolution and there are two key factors fences as you move around. For several years, Nvidia has held a significant
to note. The first is just how little detail you lose These broader points largely held true in advantage over AMD thanks to its DLSS 2
when opting for FSR 2 on its Quality setting. Performance mode too, with both DLSS 2 and technology, but with the arrival of FSR 2 AMD
There are only mere hints of detail loss here FSR 2 looking very similar and both proving finally has an answer to this ‘free performance’
and there, although certainly the aggressive impressive at retaining detail. However, DLSS 2 setting. FSR 2 looks fantastic – almost as good
sharpening algorithm helps to provide the pulled further ahead in its ability to reduce pixel as DLSS 2. Both upscaling techniques can even
illusion of more detail. flicker on fine detail, such as overhead wires offer image quality that’s sometimes better
The second notable factor is the poor and wire fences. than native resolution. Image quality in fast
default TAA implementation in this game. As for our moving gaming tests, we were motion in both techniques suffers from a bit
It fails miserably to retain any detail in the surprised to find FSR 2 coped slightly better of ghosting, but it’s only really of concern for
wire fences and generally softens the image than DLSS 2 at maintaining a sharp image and competitive, faster-paced games.
considerably. Because of this, FSR 2 in Quality minimising ghosting. While there is distortion DLSS 2 is still a little faster than FSR
mode consistently looks better than at native above the edge of the barrier in our test shots 2, but not by much, and the fact FSR 2
resolution when TAA is enabled. Without TAA, with FSR 2, there’s less fully discernible is available for just about any graphics
there are jagged lines everywhere but you do ghosting, whereas the DLSS 2 shot looks card from the past ten years means it’s a
retain that extra sharpness. softer and there are clear ghost images of the technology that can benefit everyone.
When it comes to FSR 2 vs DLSS 2, both barrier above it. FSR 2, DLSS 2 and TAA all lost The fact it also works on Nvidia cards
implementations are very similar. The more significant sharpness compared with native means AMD doesn’t have a compelling
aggressive sharpening filter makes FSR 2 pop resolution with no AA too. argument for gamers buying one of its
a little more but DLSS 2 arguably has a slightly cards over one from team green, but at
more natural-looking, softer presentation. FSR 2 performance least buying an AMD GPU no longer means
DLSS 2 also does a better job with the wire We compared every possible iteration of missing out on such a potentially huge
fences, retaining more detail and a more resolution scaling available in Deathloop for performance-boosting feature.
89
F E AT U R E / ANALYSIS
Which
GRAPHICS CARD
SHOULD I BUY?
Now that GPU prices are starting to bear some semblance to
normality again, Ben Hardwidge takes a look at the current
market to tell you which GPUs should be on your shortlist
1,920 x 1,080 GAMING
I
f you’re only looking to play games at from an etailer now. Before you buy, check the XT, which currently goes for around £250 on
1,920 x 1,080, or you’re simply on a price of the card new – don’t get caught in a eBay. Like the GTX 1660, it doesn’t have any
tight budget, the GPU market is still in bidding war without doing your research – we ray-tracing hardware, but it offers an awesome
a bit of a state. We sorely miss the days when found there was no point in buying any RTX amount of raw shader power for the money.
you could buy a Radeon RX 570 for £150 and cards on eBay at their current prices. Compared with the GTX 1660, for example, it
know it would do the job fine. That doesn’t mean Let’s start with the cheapest entry-level averages 135fps in the same Battlefield V test –
there are no options though – you just need to option that’s worth buying, which is the GeForce that’s 56fps quicker.
be careful.
Of course, this is made harder by the huge THE RADEON RX 5700 XT DOESN’T HAVE ANY RAY-
array of options available, and prices below
the £400 mark are still a bit all over the place.
TRACING HARDWARE, BUT IT OFFERS AN AWESOME
Is it worth buying a second-hand GPU? Is an AMOUNT OF RAW SHADER POWER FOR THE MONEY
RTX 3050 better than an RTX 2060? Is the
GTX 1660 still worth considering? There are GTX 1660 – these currently go for around £150 We also ran some of our new game tests
so many questions, so let’s take them on. on eBay, saving you around £50 on the cost on the Radeon 5700 XT, and it produced some
of buying one new. If you’re on an extremely stunning results for the money. It averaged
Buying second-hand tight budget, this is the bare minimum spec you 253fps in Doom Eternal at 1,920 x 1,080, for
Be very wary if you’re buying second-hand. should consider. example – you could even use this card on a
Firstly, remember that any GPU you buy may The GTX 1660 is based on Nvidia’s last-gen monitor with a high refresh rate. It also averaged
have been pummelled to within an inch of its Turing architecture, so it doesn’t have any of 76fps in Metro Exodus.
life in a cryptocurrency farm. Secondly, a lot of the RT cores for ray tracing, or the Tensor cores That’s 12fps quicker than the GeForce
people are seemingly paying very silly prices for for deep learning, which are found on the RTX- RTX 3060, and for much less money. It even
second-hand cards on eBay, when they could branded Turing GPUs. As such, you won’t be outperforms the GeForce RTX 3060 Ti in
get new cards with a warranty for less money able to run any of the latest gaming features, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. If you just want
such as ray tracing and DLSS. the fastest frame rates for the cheapest price,
You also won’t be able to play the latest and you don’t care about ray tracing, this is the
graphically demanding games at top settings,
but you will be able to comfortably play them
at lower settings, and you’ll be fine in older and
less demanding titles. We ran our old Battlefield
V benchmark at Ultra settings on a GTX 1660,
for example, and it averaged 79fps, which is
absolutely fine.
If you can afford to stretch your second-hand
AMD’s Radeon RX 5700 XT is the second-hand
A second-hand GeForce GTX 1660 is the bare budget a bit further, however, the bargain of the bargain of the moment, but try to find one without
minimum spec you should consider moment is AMD’s last-gen Radeon RX 5700 this reference cooler design
90
The aging GeForce RTX 2060 is cheaper and
faster than the new RTX 3050 at current prices
second-hand card to buy – just make sure you

buy a third-party card with a decent cooler,
rather than a reference design with a noisy
blower-style cooler.
AMD’s Radeon RX 6600 XT
What about the RTX 2060? remains the sub-£400 GPU king
In the midst of a crisis where none of its latest
GPUs could be bought, Nvidia rushed the aging frame rates from this card in the latest our frame rate target (at least a 45fps 99th
GeForce RTX 2060 back out to market, which demanding games, it can cope with it in some percentile and 60fps average) across most of
has created a bit of a confusing situation when less demanding and older titles. For example, our test suite.
it’s up against the new cards. To make matters it averaged 55fps in Battlefield V with High ray At 1,920 x ,1080, it averages 79fps in
worse, there’s also now an 8GB version with tracing enabled. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, even beating the
slightly more CUDA cores than the previous GeForce RTX 3070. It also beats the GeForce
6GB version. However, given that prices of the Enough of the old GPUs already RTX 3060 in our non-ray-traced Cyberpunk
latter now border on the silly (they start from We’ll admit it’s a bit hard to get excited about 2077 test, with a 59fps average compared
£330 inc VAT on scan.co.uk), the 6GB flavour is the prospect of buying a second-hand GPU, or to 58fps. You can even (at a push) enable ray
the one to consider if you’re on a tight budget. a new one based on a last-gen architecture, tracing on it. The 6600 XT produced the same
We’ve tested the RTX 2060 6GB in our so what are your best bets if you want a proper average of 54fps in Metro Exodus as the RTX
current test suite, where it clocked up an brand-new GPU? 3060 with High ray tracing enabled, but its 99th
average of 59fps in Metro Exodus, and it For starters, forget any GPUs at the low end. percentile result of 35fps was faster than the
maintained a 47fps average in this game with The Radeon RX 6500 XT might look tempting, RTX 3060’s 32fps.
High ray tracing enabled too, but only with a with its sub-£200 price tag, but these cards The RTX 3060 has superior ray-tracing
clunky 99th percentile result of 27fps. You can are based on the same Navi 24 chip used in power in newer games such as Cyberpunk
improve these results if you enable DLSS, but AMD’s low-end mobile GPUs. They only come 2077, but that point is largely moot, as it still only
in all honesty, DLSS looks horrible at 1,920 x with 4GB of memory, they have narrow 64-bit averaged 35fps (compared to 22fps for the
1,080 – you’d be better off lowering some of the memory interfaces and they only have 1,024 Radeon RX 6600 XT). You can get a boost by
graphics settings instead. However, you only get stream processors. It speaks volumes that not enabling DLSS on the RTX 3060, but we don’t
6GB of memory, so this GPU won’t even run our a single card manufacturer has been brave recommend using these resolution scaling
Doom Eternal test at top settings. enough to send one to us for review. technologies at 1,920 x 1,080 anyway. The best
Comparatively, the pricier RTX 3050 is The GeForce RTX 3050 is a better option, new card you can buy for under £400 is the
significantly slower in Metro Exodus (48fps, or coming with 8GB of memory, 2,560 CUDA Radeon RX 6600 XT.
40fps with ray tracing). The RTX 2060 is also cores and a 128-bit memory interface. However,
slower than the Radeon RX 5700 XT, but it’s a in our tests the RTX 3050 is outperformed by In summary
decent step up from the GTX 1660 in terms of the cheaper RTX 2060. My budget is very limited
shader power, averaging 110fps in Battlefield With the two new low-end options knocked Second-hand Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660
V. Also, while you can’t get decent ray-tracing out, that brings us to the GeForce RTX 3060 and ~£150 ebay.co.uk
AMD’s Radeon RX 6600 and 6600 XT, with
prices respectively starting from £300, £350 I want fast frame rates on the cheap
and £360 from overclockers.co.uk Second-hand AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT
If you can’t afford to go above beyond £300, ~£250 ebay.co.uk
the Radeon RX 6600 is a decent option. It
even outperforms the pricier RTX 3060 in I want to buy new
Metro Exodus at 1080p without ray tracing, Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 6GB
for example, averaging 66fps. £249 overclockers.co.uk
If you can afford to go a bit further, you’re
choosing between the GeForce RTX 3060 and I’m happy to pay for the best
Radeon RX 6600 XT, and it’s the latter that gets AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT
our vote. It’s the one sub-£400 GPU that hits £360 overclockers.co.uk
91
F E AT U R E / ANALYSIS
2,560 x 1,440 GAMING

If you’re looking to play games at 2,560 x
1,440 then you’ll need a bit more GPU power
in order to churn out all those extra pixels.
Thankfully, the GPU market starts to get much
less cluttered and complicated once you get
beyond the £400 level, and it’s been recently
made much simpler by the fact that several
of Nvidia’s Founders Edition cards are now
actually back in stock at nvidia.com at their
original launch prices.
With a price of £469 inc VAT, the RTX 3070 The RTX 3070 Founders Edition is a
is a no-brainer if you want to go beyond 1080p. no-brainer now that it’s back in stock at £469
It also leaves its little sibling, the RTX 3060 Ti,
in rather a no man’s land. There’s no Founders Otherwise, the RTX 3070 is quicker across 5fps in Metro Exodus with High ray tracing
Edition of the latter available on nvidia.com the board, and it also opens up the gateway and DLSS. That’s not much of a difference
at the moment, and board partner cards at to ray tracing. It averages 63fps in Metro for an extra £90. Still, if you want a bit more
retailers currently start at £470 inc VAT on Exodus at 2,560 x 1,440 with High ray tracing, performance, and you can’t run to the RTX
overclockers.co.uk, so you may as well buy the compared to 47fps for the Radeon RX 6700 3080, the RTX 3070 Ti is still a decent option.
RTX 3070 Founders Edition. XT, and this increases to 71fps if you enable Finally, we come to the ultimate card for
The RTX 3070 is generally around 10 per DLSS, which is worth doing once you hit gaming at this resolution, the RTX 3080.
cent quicker than the RTX 3060 Ti – both 2,560 x 1,440. Sadly, the Founders Edition isn’t in stock
GPUs are based on the same GA104 chip, Until this point, we’d previously been at nvidia.com again, but you can pick up a
but the RTX 3070 has 46 of its streaming recommending Nvidia’s newer GeForce RTX board partner card for £740 inc VAT from
multiprocessors (SMs) enabled, compared 3070 Ti, as the RTX 3070 was either out of overclockers.co.uk. The 10GB version is all
to 38 on the RTX 3060 Ti. This gives it 5,888 stock or overpriced, but the re-establishment you need if you’re gaming at 2,560 x 1,440,
CUDA cores, over the 4,864 in the 3060 Ti, of both GPUs in Founders Edition cards and it’s a killer GPU. It will run Cyberpunk
and it also gives it eight more RT cores for changes this situation. There’s not much 2077 at 80fps with Medium ray tracing and
ray tracing. difference between the RTX 3070 and the DLSS, and it will only drop down to a 63fps
The RTX 3070 is also generally quicker than 3070 Ti, with just an extra two SMs enabled 99th percentile.
AMD’s nearest competition, the Radeon RX on the latter, giving you 256 extra CUDA cores, Add its superb 348fps average in Doom
6700 XT and the new (identical but clocked up) and the Ti card also has GDDR6X memory, Eternal at 2,560 x 1,440 (the RTX 3070 Ti gets
Radeon RX 6750 XT, with the former currently rather than GDDR6. 300fps), and its 90fps average (with a 52fps
starting at £470 inc VAT from overclockers. That spec boost gives you a little more 99th percentile) in Metro Exodus with High ray
co.uk. The exception to this generalisation is performance, but not a great deal – you’re tracing and DLSS, and this is a fantastic GPU if
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, where the Radeons looking at an extra 4fps in Cyberpunk 2077 you can afford it.
have the upper edge, but the RTX 3070 still with Medium ray tracing and DLSS, or an extra
averages over 60fps in this game. In summary
I want to go beyond 1080p
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070
£469 nvidia.com
Give me a bit more power

Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 Ti
£549 nvidia.com
Only the best for sir

Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 10GB
£740 overclockers.co.uk
92
You hit severely diminishing returns once
you get past the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti
4K GAMING
Finally, we come to the pinnacle of gaming AMD’s nearest competitor is the Radeon
resolutions, the mighty pixel space of 3,840 x RX 6950 XT; like all the latest Radeons, this
2,160. There aren’t many graphics cards up to is faster than the equivalent GeForce GPU in
this job. In fact, even the £1,879 GeForce RTX Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, but otherwise the
3090 Ti can’t play Cyberpunk 2077 with Ultra RTX 3080 Ti is faster across the board at 4K.
ray tracing at 4K, even with DLSS enabled. Beyond this point, you get into severely
As we covered in our recent 4K gaming diminishing returns. The RTX 3090 comes
feature (see Issue 226, p78), you get the best with a huge 24GB of memory, but only gives
4K bang for your buck from Nvidia’s GeForce you an extra two SMs, so the performance
RTX 3080 Ti. You can pick up the Founders impact on games is minimal (just 5fps in Metro
Edition for £1,049 from nvidia.com, but board Exodus at 4K with High ray tracing). Prices for
THE GEFORCE RTX 3090 ONLY GIVES YOU AN EXTRA

TWO SMs OVER THE 3080 Ti, SO THE PERFORMANCE
IMPACT ON GAMES IS MINIMAL
partner cards also currently go for the same the RTX 3090 start at £1,518 inc VAT on scan.
price at overclockers.co.uk. Plus, unlike the co.uk – a lot of money for such a small boost.
RTX 3070 Ti, there’s a substantial step up in Likewise, the RTX 3090 Ti gives you
spec between the RTX 3080 and the 3080 Ti. another two SMs on top of the RTX 3090,
It has 80 of its GA102 GPU’s SMs enabled, but costs £1,879 – that’s an extra £830 over
giving it 10,240 CUDA cores, compared to the RTX 3080 Ti, and it’s only 7fps faster in
8,704 in the RTX 3080. Its 384-bit memory Metro Exodus with High ray tracing. Unless you
interface is also wider than the 320-bit literally have money to burn, the RTX 3080 Ti
interface on the RTX 3080, and it has an is the 4K gaming sweet spot.
extra 2GB of GDDR6X memory.
The GeForce RTX 3080 Ti is the minimum- In summary
spec GPU that hits our frame rate target in I want to play games at 4K
Metro Exodus at 4K with high ray tracing Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti
enabled, averaging 74fps with a 47fps 99th £ 1,049 nvidia.com
percentile – that average is 10fps faster than
the result from the standard RTX 3080. Its I love the smell of burning money
227fps average in Doom Eternal at 4K is also Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 Ti
a stunning result. £1,879 nvidia.com
93
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
Hobby tech
The latest tips, tricks and news in the world of computer hobbyism,
from Raspberry Pi, Arduino, and Android to retro computing
REVIEW
Panic Playdate
C
reated through a collaboration However, it’s also smart. The
between games publisher Panic panel uses Sharp’s Memory
and esoteric electronics concern LCD technology, which means it
Teenage Engineering, the Playdate is a draws very little power unless it’s
handheld console. It’s not your usual handheld being actively updated. In fact, the
console either. For starters, the Playdate’s Playdate’s display is always on:
screen is black and white. Not shades of grey, when you’re not playing, it doubles
but a simple 1-bit black and white 2.7in 400 x as a clock – a feature that will be enhanced
The Panic Playdate isn’t your average
240 panel. There’s neither a back nor a front with the planned launch of a desktop dock in handheld device, with its black and
light, meaning it’s usable only in a well-lit room the near future. white display and hand-crank peripheral
or in sunlight – like Nintendo’s original Game Most of the controls on the bright yellow
Boy range. console, which feels pleasingly robust in on the base. Weirdly, there’s also a crank on
hand despite its small size, are standard fare. the right-hand side – a metal and plastic crank,
There’s a 4-way direction pad to the left and with a yellow handle, which hides in a small
two buttons to the right, with an optional flip slot when it’s not in use.
mode to put the screen on the bottom and The crank is, effectively, the console’s main
swap the D-pad to the right and the buttons to selling point. While it might look like a device
the left. There’s also a menu button and a top you’d use to charge the console in some kind
power button with an RGB status LED. of gaming emergency, it’s actually an input
Meanwhile, the single speaker sounds device. The console can tell whether you’re
surprisingly clear, and makes a solid alternative cranking it forwards or backwards and at what
The standard bundle is just the console and a USB to using the 3.5mm headphone jack found speed, while a sensor can also inform the
cable, with the protective case sold separately next to the USB Type-C charging and data port game whether or not it’s docked.
94
NEWS IN BRIEF
Seeed Studio opens UK

warehouse
Hobbyist and embedded electronics
specialist Seeed Studio (seeedstudio.
com) has opened its first warehouse in
the UK, offering dramatically improved
delivery times and reduced costs
compared with products shipped from
its Chinese warehouses.
‘Once you finalise your orders,’ Seeed’s
Serna Liang explains, ‘the purchases
are sent from our UK warehouse and
expected to be received in two to three
working days with about $3-$8 [around
The bundled games range from basic RPGs, such
£2.40-£6.40 ex VAT] shipping fees.’ What you get instead is a ‘season’ of as Casual Birder, to a music-making sequencer
Only a subset of the company’s products games from independent developers – 24
are available from the UK, but Seeed has titles, provided at the rate of two a week for with overnight drain being higher than
indicated the range will grow over time. 12 weeks. The first two, Whitewater Wipeout expected – a problem worsened by the
by Chuhai Labs and Casual Birder by Diego console’s fussiness with USB chargers – the
Garcia, offer a taste of what to expect. They review unit refused to accept a charger that
offer simple graphics, pick-up-and-play works fine with other devices.
gameplay and clever use of the crank. The biggest problem with the Playdate,
In Whitewater Wipeout, the crank controls though, is its price. At $179 US or $199 US
the direction of your surfboard as you perform for the one with the highly recommended
as many tricks as possible; in Casual Birder, the magnetic protective cover (around £145 and
crank manages the focus of your camera as £161 ex VAT respectively), the Playdate isn’t
you try to win a bird-spotting competition and cheap. Landed in the UK, you’ll pay £222
kick the ‘bad birders’ out of the village. inclusive of shipping and VAT – making it more
Not every piece of software in the first expensive than the considerably more capable
Which brings us on to the games. Here, season is technically a game. Boogie Loops, Nintendo Switch Lite.
you’ll need to temper your expectations. one of the titles delivered in your second If you have some cash spare, though, it’s
The console is powered by an STMicro week of Playdate ownership, is a cutesy but an undeniably delightful device – and it’s
STM32 microcontroller with a single Arm surprisingly deep music sequencer with the perfect size for on-the-go gaming. The
Cortex-M7F core running at 180MHz, plus dancing pandas, pizza slices, rabbits and cacti. Playdate is available to pre-order online from
an Espressif ESP32 added for Wi-Fi and You’re not limited to just playing games play.date now.
Bluetooth connections. With just 4GB of non- either. Panic has published a full software
expandable storage, you’re not likely to see a development kit, allowing anyone – even,
Skyrim port any time soon. thanks to the simulator, those who don’t
have a Playdate themselves – to have a crack
at writing their own software. For the less
technically minded, a browser-based game
development environment called Pulp offers
a much lower barrier to entry.
The Playdate community has already
released a number of packages for the
console, ranging from commercial games to
simple tools, such as a DTMF phone dialler,
to a collection of productivity tools with a voice
memo feature that taps into the console’s
on-board microphone.
The console’s compact size makes it ideal The official software, however, still needs The case is overpriced but solidly built, and
for on-the-go gaming some work. The battery life is one concern, keeps the screen safe
95
U P DAT E
MNT Reform
T
he MNT Reform (reviewed in Issue battery boards available for
220) is more than just a laptop. It’s sale as a drop-in upgrade
a project driven by an aggressively for existing Reform laptops
open ethos, and with development that’s – or, given the open nature
both rapid and incremental – so much so that, of the project, you could
less than a year since its first review, there’s also download the design
already been plenty of new activity to report. files and have a crack
MNT Research hasn’t been resting on at producing your own
its laurels since the original chunky, retro- battery board.
style open-source laptop hit the market. In A laptop you can
addition to a previously reported firmware literally make yourself
update designed to work around the issue of was always Hartmann’s
batteries becoming too deeply discharged vision, but few
while the laptop is in a sleep state, company people have actually
founder Lukas F. Hartmann has been attempted it. The kit
investigating a hardware fix. form version of the
The result is a brand-new battery Reform, which is sold at
While component shortages have
board, which includes per-cell monitoring a discount over the pre-assembled units, is delayed shipments, the MNT Reform
in hardware. When the voltage drops popular, but comes with the circuitboards community is growing apace
to a minimum safe level, the batteries already populated. PCB design files are
are completely disconnected from the readily available from MNT Research, From there, the project spiralled. Jacqueline’s
system until they’re recharged – a final and but it’s only in the past few months that finished Reform is a spin on the original
conclusive fix for the problem. someone has proven that they give you design that not only encompasses a brand-
With a traditional laptop, that would be enough information to make your own new keyboard but also swaps out the power
good news only for those who haven’t PCB from scratch. jack on the motherboard for a USB Type-C
purchased their device yet. With the Semi-pseudonymous maker Jacqueline connector with Power Delivery support. It
MNT Reform, though, the modular started off simply wanting to replace was built entirely from scratch using the
approach means that everyone the MNT Reform’s keyboard with board design files released by MNT Research.
can benefit. Once beta- a custom version based
testing is complete, on a split ergonomic
MNT will make the ortholinear layout.
An upgraded battery board will finally put A work-in-progress adapter aims to bring the
an end to deep-discharge problems Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 to the Reform
96
Still in the
prototyping
stage, the
Pocket Reform
brings back
the netbook
form factor
the addition of steel ball bearings for a The community has contributed a range of add-ons
and respins, such as this ergonomic keyboard design
smoother glide.
The company is also well into Arm cores with up to 16GB of RAM or carriers
Others in the community have also been development of a smaller, netbook-like for Raspberry Pi 4 Compute Modules, to
hard at work. There are work-in-progress alternative machine dubbed the Pocket SOMs built around the free and open-source
projects for custom keyboard designs, as Reform. With a clamshell design likely to RISC-V architecture, but none of them has a
well as modifications for stowable external centre around a 7in display, as well as a release date attached. With that said, several
antennas for improved Wi-Fi range. There compact ortholinear keyboard, the Pocket SOMs appear to be in the final stages of
are also alternate operating system efforts, Reform is still in the prototype stage with no development, which is good news for those
including a port of Plan 9 from Bell Labs, a release date yet available. who found the performance of the Reform’s
classic and now open-source distributed On the software front, many highlighted stock SOM disappointing.
operating system first developed in bugs in our original review have been ironed The final update, sadly, is less positive. The
the 1960s. out. A 3rd-generation operating system ongoing component shortages affecting
Moving back to MNT Research itself, image was running through beta at the time the entire electronics industry have resulted
the battery board isn’t the only upgrade in of writing, designed to resolve several issues, in stock problems. Many people who pre-
development. Hartmann and colleagues including the problem of package manager ordered their machine after the original
have also been working on the Reform updates often breaking customisations. It’s crowdfunding campaign are still waiting
Camera, a privacy-focused open-source expected to have launched by the time this for their hardware a year later, and anyone
webcam upgrade. issue hits the shelves. ordering one now is warned to expect a wait
The team has also released robust metal There’s still little news on the promised time of six to nine months.
side panels as alternatives to the thin plastic new system-on-module (SOM) designs, Those not put off by that fact can place
ones that originally shipped with the laptop. however. Occasional teaser images and an order on mntmn.com now, with prices
The trackball has undergone a series of benchmark tests are being shared of SOMs starting at €1,099 (around £930 ex VAT) for
revisions to improve its feel as well, including that offer everything from high-performance the DIY kit version.
NEWS IN BRIEF
Framework Mainboard powers new custom builds
The Framework Mainboard, a single-board computer originally
designed to power the Framework modular laptop, has
begun appearing in impressive community builds, including
the pictured machine based on a circular display. Created by
Penk Chen, designer of the CutiePi tablet, the Mainboard
Terminal (github.com/penk/MainboardTerminal) features
a 5in circular screen and a custom mechanical keyboard.
‘And yes,’ its creator notes, ‘it runs Spacewar!’
Richard Sutherland’s Framedeck (github.com/
brickbots/framedeck), meanwhile, is a portable
machine inspired by the TRS-80 Model 100
and housed in a transparent laser-cut case. The
Framework Mainboard is available to buy from
frame.work now, priced from £399 (inc VAT). Jacqueline’s customised Reform includes a new
keyboard and a revised motherboard with USB
Type-C charging
9797
REVIEW
From Vultures to Vampires
I
n Commodore: The Inside Story although the colour images sprinkled around the
(reviewed in Issue 189), former pages are left unattributed, and subjects were
Commodore UK managing approached for comment and clarification, which
director David Pleasance aimed to tell the tale Pleasance avoided for his original book.
of what happened within the (at the time) It’s also, at times, a little dry. From the off, nearly
immensely successful computer maker to bring four pages are taken up by a cut-and-paste
about its downfall. At least, that was the idea – copy of Commodore’s bankruptcy filing, and a
instead, it served as an outlet for increasingly fair chunk of the rest of the book is taken up by
unbelievable and in no way corroborated regurgitation of technical specifications for every
personal anecdotes, plus a series of considerably Amiga and Amiga-like machine that followed
more enlightening contributed chapters from Commodore’s sales, splits and eventual demise.
the community. Having criticised Pleasance’s original
From Vultures to Vampires: 25 Years of for its anecdotal nature, it feels churlish to
Copyright Chaos and Technology Triumphs ding Dickinson’s follow-up for going in the
Volume One 1995-2004, to give the follow-up opposite direction, but it’s a shame a middle
its full title, is a very different book. Pleasance’s ground between the two styles couldn’t have
name is still on the cover, but there’s another one been found.
beneath it – Trevor Dickinson, who wrote the It’s not all speeds-and-feeds, though, and
foreword in the original book. there are fascinating stories to be found within Originally proposed as a single book, From Vultures
The tonal shift is revealed within the first the book. Examples go from a company’s to Vampires is now two separate volumes
few pages. You’ll find no first-hand accounts of demise after investigations into its direct
trade show orgies or ill-advised drink-driving funding of terrorist activities, to the still ongoing backers to buy the second book at only a slight
adventures; instead, you’ll get a roughly arguments as to which of the various efforts to discount. With unarguable leeway to cut down on
chronological journey through the post- keep the Amiga alive into the 21st century are to the filler, there was almost certainly room to pack
Commodore years, focused almost (but not be considered ‘official’. the whole story into a single book.
quite exclusively) on the fate of the Amiga family There’s a bit of a bait-and-switch to the The book could also have benefited from
of machines. publication strategy, sadly. The title was originally an additional editorial pass. A smattering of
It’s all factual in nature. Quotes both crowdfunded as a single book, before its authors typographical errors break the flow. Sensible
contemporaneous and newly obtained are cited, decided to split it into two volumes, and ask Soccer is attributed to publisher Renegade
rather than the better-known Sensible Software,
which created it, and concepts relating to the
Amiga’s inner workings – such as the ‘2MB chip
RAM barrier’, a ‘planar-to-chunky chip’, and the
concept of ‘retargetable graphics’ – are dropped
into the text without explanation.
Ending on a clear cliffhanger – ‘unfortunately,’
the reader is told, ‘it was about to get much
worse’ – it feels like a book that only those
already deeply entrenched within the Amiga
community will enjoy, although whether they’ll
enjoy it enough to splash out on both volumes
There aren’t too remains to be seen.
many images From Vultures to Vampires Volume One is
inside, but available from blackwells.co.uk now for £24.73
what’s included
(zero-rated for VAT), a discount from its £35
is reproduced
in full colour on recommended retail price. The second volume
glossy paper hasn’t yet been published.
Gareth Halfacree is a keen computer hobbyist, journalist, and author. His work can be found at freelance.halfacree.co.uk @ghalfacree
98
F O R T H E W I N / COMPETITION
WIN
A FRACTAL TORRENT
NANO RGB MINI-ITX CASE
If you’re feeling inspired to get started on building a new mini
system after this issue then you’ll want to enter this month’s
competition, where we have an award-winning Fractal
Design Torrent Nano RGB case up for grabs.
The Torrent Nano RGB is built to maximise cooling
potential straight out of the box. Its main standout features
include an unobstructed base intake, an open front grille
and a Fractal 180mm Prisma AL-18 RGB fan, which has
been custom-made to achieve maximum air cooling while
maintaining controlled noise levels.
Other features include a removable top bezel, along with
routing clips with cable ties, to make for easy installation
and cable management. There’s also a top-mounted
aerodynamic PSU shroud with integrated ARGB effects, and
the case’s lights are all fully controllable by motherboards
that support addressable RGB (5V).
Meanwhile, despite being space-optimised, the Torrent
Nano can hold a three-slot graphics card up to 335mm long,
and its seamless tempered glass panel has a bolt-free, top-
latching mechanism.
SPEC
• Motherboard compatibility Mini-ITX, mini-DTX
• Power supply support ATX, max length 200mm
• CPU clearance 165mm
• Graphics card clearance 335mm, three slots
• Included front fan 180mm Fractal Design Prisma AL-18 RGB
• Total fan mounts 1 x 180mm, 4 x 140mm or 5 x 120mm (with included brackets)
• Front panel 1 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C, 2 x USB 3, audio jack
SUBMIT YOUR ENTRY AT CUSTOMPC.CO.UK/WIN
Competition closes on Friday, 5 August. Prize is offered to participants in the UK aged 13 or over, except employees of the Raspberry Pi Foundation and Raspberry Pi Ltd, 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. If you choose to enter by subscribing to our newsletter, be assured that 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.
99
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
Beware Socket AM5

cooler compatibility
N
ot a lot is known about Socket will remain, giving
AM5 at the moment. We coolers that use
don’t know exact CPU them a free pass
models or core counts, although it for cooling Zen 4
looks like 16 cores may be the limit, at CPUs, the same
least at first, and when I spoke to AMD’s can’t be said of
Robert Hallock recently, he suggested those coolers that
that 3D V-Cache might not appear at require the use of
the launch of AMD’s new socket either, a backplate on the motherboard. Socket AM4 same place, and if the backplate itself
but that we would be seeing it again. EK told me this month that the coolers that use the is physically the same, with the same
standard plastic
However, one point that has been backplate will be fixed to the socket this mounting brackets threads as the one used on current
made clear is that coolers that are time, rather than being detachable, as will be compatible Socket AM4 motherboards.
compatible with AMD’s current Socket with Socket AM4. with Socket AM5 If it is, then there are a number of
AM4 will fit on Socket AM5, and that This is similar to Intel’s LGA2066 coolers that do currently make use
there has been no change in Z-height socket, meaning that the use of custom of the included backplate rather than
for the new CPUs either, unlike Intel’s backplates won’t be possible. This using their own designs.
Alder Lake CPUs. raises some significant problems, as If that’s the case then two out
I have, however, learned from plenty of air coolers, AIO liquid coolers of three situations will be okay.
waterblock manufacturer EK that and waterblocks require the use of a However, it’s highly unlikely that any
Socket AM5 isn’t going to offer cooler custom backplate to secure them to CPU cooler or waterblock that uses
manufacturers and cooler owners an the motherboard. a custom backplate will cleanly fit to
entirely easy ride. While the plastic It remains to be seen if the CPU an integrated backplate on a Socket
brackets on current Socket AM4 boards socket mounting holes will sit in the AM5 motherboard.
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AMD’s new Socket AM5 will apparently use
The fittings for these coolers vary a backplate that’s fixed to the motherboard
significantly, with different screw
lengths and screw threads, so if you’re That said, the similar situation
planning on jumping on the Socket with Intel’s new LGA1700 socket
AM5 bandwagon at launch, and the didn’t result in a smooth transition,
cooler you plan to use has a custom with adaptor kits suffering from
backplate, be prepared for some poor availability at launch, and many
problems on day one. You’d also be manufacturers still not offering them
well advised to check compatibility with or even compatibility information. We’ll
your cooler’s manufacturer nearer the be updating you here with the latest
time, as they’ll probably offer adaptor news as we approach AMD’s Socket
kits if necessary. AM5 launch.
Reduce your bills by undervolting
M
y needs from my main rig and vcores, reducing the voltage or Of course, in some situations,
have changed quite a bit power limit of a CPU can result in messing around with voltages can
over the years. I’ve gone lower load temperatures compared kill any boosting algorithms, as
from massive water-cooled, with stock speed. Even overclocking your motherboard will think you’re
overclocked behemoths that took up the CPU, but reining in the voltage attempting a manual overclock.
half my bedroom, to compact mini- can have benefits, reducing its peak However, the latest boosting
ITX PCs that focus on space saving temperatures under load. technologies from AMD and Intel,
and low noise. The latter always Dialling in these settings with a such as Precision Boost Overdrive
involved custom water cooling, stock speed CPU can bring it within 2 (PBO2) and Intel’s granular per-
though, and that’s not likely to striking distance of smaller coolers core approach, allow you to adjust
change, as I like a quiet PC with too, potentially saving you money or power limits and voltages without
plenty of headroom for beating the allowing you to cool your CPU with a impacting on performance.
heat. However, I don’t tend to do that more modest cooler or even a smaller If you haven’t tinkered with
much overclocking anymore. case. This also applies to graphics undervolting yet and, like me, nearly
As my current system sports cards, where undervolting them can fell off your chair when you looked
a Ryzen 5000-series CPU, have big rewards in terms of reduced at your last electricity bill, it’s worth
overclocking has been rather power consumption and thermals. taking a look. The places to start
pointless too. There’s more benefit With today’s electricity prices are manual undervolting with older
from leaving many CPUs at their showing no signs of falling, AMD CPUs, and using PBO2 and its
stock speed settings, rather than undervolting or reducing your custom voltage curve with current
overclocking them, as their boost CPU’s power limits can save on your AMD CPUs.
frequencies (especially at the higher electricity bill too. It’s possible to Meanwhile, Intel systems can
end), are higher than what you’d shave over 100W of power from your offer plenty of flexibility, with
achieve with a manual all-core PC’s load draw – more if we’re talking motherboard EFIs often containing
overclock. You can tweak individual about a high-end system in situations PL1 (long-term TDP) and PL2 (short-
cores, of course, but this can be that use both the CPU and GPU under term maximum power draw) power
hugely time-consuming. However, heavy load. limit controls.
there is a hidden benefit among all Importantly, undervolting or These all offer quick and easy
those overclocking settings, which is reducing power limits doesn’t always ways to adjust power, and in
the ability to reduce the CPU voltage result in lower performance. Simply turn temperatures and power
compared with stock speed. lowering the voltage that your CPU or consumption, often with little to
This can apply to both stock GPU can use will mean it still adheres no drops in real-world performance.
speed and overclocked situations. to its boosting algorithms, but the You can see a full guide to
With many CPUs pushed to their resulting lower temperature may undervolting your hardware in our
limits with high boost frequencies enable it to boost further. next issue.
Antony Leather is Custom PC’s modding editor @antonyleather
101
M O D D I N G / HOW TO GUIDES
How to
Spray-paint
your case
Antony Leather shows you how to
transform your PC’s look with your 1 / USE PROTECTIVE GEAR
Spray paint gets everywhere, so it’s important to wear old clothes,
own choice of colour and paint effects protective gloves and goggles that enclose your eyes. It’s unlikely the
paint will wash out of clothes and you want to avoid getting it on your
skin as much as possible.
TOTA L P R OJ E C T T I M E / 4 8 H O U R S
S
pray painting offers a fantastic way to customise your PC,
thanks to the huge array of colours and effects available with
today’s acrylic paints. All you need is a small space to work
that’s well ventilated, along with some protective gear, and you can give
your PC a unique colour and finish that’s colour-matched to your
hardware and lighting.
Spray painting can be tricky to get right, though, and there are plenty of
pitfalls that can ruin your day. Thankfully, with a few tips, as well as the
right preparation, you can achieve a great finish even with basic gear. In
this guide, we’ll cover the process from start to finish, including
dismantling and reassembling a case, cleaning and priming the surfaces,
using effects paints, achieving a durable finish, and keeping you and your
surroundings safe and paint-free.
2 / USE A RESPIRATOR
TO O L S YO U ’ L L N E E D When painting small objects in a well-ventilated space, a painting face
mask will suffice, but if you’re spraying your whole case or using a sealed
enclosure to contain paint, you’ll need a respirator. It will allow you to
spend extended periods around paint fumes and protect you for short
periods against premium clear coats too.
Acetone paint cleaner Microfibre cloth
vipgraffitipaint.co.uk Most hardware stores
Drill and 3mm bit
Most hardware stores
Frog Tape Respirator with

Most hardware stores P3 filters
amazon.co.uk
Plastic greenhouse
amazon.co.uk
Rivet gun and rivets 2K clear coat

amazon.co.uk ebay.co.uk
3 / USE SEALED ENCLOSURE
Having a well-ventilated area is important to ensure fumes disperse,
Spray paints, primer but spraying in the open will lead to dust and bugs getting trapped in the
and clear coat paintwork. Using a plastic greenhouse traps paint overspray and allows
vipgraffitipaint.co.uk ventilation, but drastically reduces detritus drifting onto your painted
1,000-grit sandpaper Disposable gloves surfaces, and it allows you to paint in all weathers.
Most hardware stores Most hardware stores
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7 / REMOVE RIVETS
Many cases are riveted together, and you’ll need to drill out these rivets
4 / CLEAN YOUR NOZZLES before proceeding, as it’s far easier and more effective to spray your case
If you’re reusing old spray can nozzles, or finishing up after this guide, use if it’s dismantled. This is an easy job, but you’ll need access to a drill and
acetone or spray nozzle cleaner to remove dried paint. This can hamper 3mm drill bit, along with a rivet gun and replacement rivets.
the spray and cause droplets to form when spraying. After you’re finished
spraying, place the nozzles into a sealable container filled with acetone.
8/ REMOVE SCREWS
If you’re lucky enough to be using a case that screws together, you’re in for a
much easier time. However, take note of the position of each screw, as they
5 / CHOOSE COLOURS AND SURFACES
can differ in length, thread or head type, even on a single model of case.
You can spray just the exterior surfaces of your case, masking the ones
you don’t want to paint, or go all out and coat the whole case. Don’t rush
into this – have a good think about it. Take your time and make sure
you’re happy with both the colour and areas you intend to spray.
6 / CONSIDER PAINT EFFECTS 9 / DISMANTLE CASE

Paint effects range from metallic, which is usually included in many paint You’ll want to remove any drive bays, fans and front panels from the
colours, all the way up to spray-on additives such as marble effects. case so you’re dealing with open sections of the case. Once all the
These can jazz up your case’s exterior compared with plain colours, but it appropriate screws and rivets are removed, detach all the panels, so
can be tricky to work with effects you spray on after the colour coat. they’re free for you to paint.
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10 / REMOVE FIXTURES AND FITTINGS 13 / SAND SURFACES TO PAINT

Any ports, PSU extensions, fan hubs or drive bays in areas you want If your case has rough paint finishes, you’ll need to sand them using
to paint must be removed. These will be held in place with screws 1,000-grit sandpaper first. This will even out any lumps and bumps, while
or rivets. It’s best not to mask over them, as this can be tricky, time- also improving the paint finish. Rinse the area again with water after
consuming and often not very effective with such small parts. you’ve finished sanding.
11 / MASK UP SURFACES 14/ WIPE WITH A CLOTH

If you just want to spray the exterior of your case, or keep certain To aid the drying process after washing and rinsing, wipe down the case
sections paint-free, you’ll need to mask them. Use Frog Tape for this sections with a microfibre cloth. You can also suspend the parts in your
job, attaching white card or paper to the tape cover larger sections. If spray area, but manually drying them will get you ready for painting
you want to create curved mask areas, it’s best to use edging tape. much quicker.
12 / CLEAN SURFACES
Use washing-up liquid and a sponge to clean all the surfaces you plan to 15 / WARM PAINTS
paint, then rinse them thoroughly. This will remove any oils or other grime A trick for spraying in colder months is to warm the paints first. Avoid
that could impact on the paint finish. You’ll want to wear protective gloves placing them in an unheated shed or garage the night before, and place
from now on, in order to prevent oils from getting on your hands. the cans in warm (but not hot water) for five minutes prior to spraying.
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16 / PRACTISE USING PRIMER
Primer is generally cheaper than colour paint or clear coat, so it’s good
for practising your spray technique on a piece of spare cardboard first. 19 / SAND PRIMER
You need to spray 20-30cm away from the surface, moving the can Some primers leave a rough surface, especially in very warm conditions
around 30cm per second over the surface from side to side, working when they dry quickly. If the surface feels very coarse, use 1,000-grit
your way across it. sandpaper to lightly smooth it down once it’s dry.
17 / SUSPEND YOUR SPRAY SURFACES

We advise you to suspend your case parts vertically, so you can spray 20/ TEST COLOUR COAT
all the sides in one go. If they’re sat on a surface, the paint can end up The colour coat will come out of the can differently to the primer, so
sticking the two surfaces together. Fishing wire or electrical wire fed spray a little on some cardboard to practise first. Use the same method
through screw holes will allow you to suspend your panel without as we described for the primer in step 16 – if the paint starts running,
blocking the paint spray. move your hand faster or spray from further away.
21 / APPLY COLOUR COAT

18 / USE PRIMER Using the same method as step 16, cover the entire section with one
Usually grey or white, primer acts to fill in small imperfections on coat, covering the primer completely – then allow it to dry for ten
surfaces, and provide a smooth base to which the colour coat can minutes before applying another coat. Three or four coats are needed
adhere. Apply as many coats as needed to make the original case to build up a solid, even colour over the whole surface. Don’t be afraid
colour no longer visible, then add one more. to apply more coats, as conditions can impact coverage.
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25 / CONSIDER 2K CLEAR COAT

22 / APPLY EFFECTS COAT Standard clear coat can be soft, even when fully hardened, while 2K
You can now apply an effects coat if you want one. We’re using marble clear coat is applied in the same way and offers a more durable finish.
effect spray. It’s essential to practise first, as metallic or marble effects It’s more expensive and is nasty stuff, so you’ll need to cover all skin and
sprays can’t be removed, so it’s important to get it right first time. The eyes, use a P3 filter respirator and only stay near the fumes for a few
marble effect required us to move the can more rapidly than the colour moments to apply it.
coat to create an even finish, using just two passes.
26 / I NSERT NEW RIVETS

To replace rivets you drilled out earlier, you’ll need new ones with
heads the same size as the original case rivet holes, which are usually
3mm. Insert the thin tail of the rivet into a rivet gun, push the large
23 / REMOVE MASKING
head through the case sections and squeeze the trigger until the tail
As soon as you’ve finished spraying, remove the masking. Doing this
snaps off, leaving the rivet head behind.
while the paint is damp, and before you apply clear coat, prevents the
finish from tearing or cracking when you remove the masking. If you
want, you can reapply masking to prevent the clear coat settling on
unwanted areas, but this isn’t essential, as it’s transparent.
24 / APPLY CLEAR COAT 27 / REASSEMBLE CASE

Aim to spray clear coat only onto areas that need it, removing any If your case screws together, go ahead and reassemble it. The gloss
overspray with paint cleaner later. Apply it in generous layers at the from modern clear coats is usually excellent, but you can use standard
same speed and movement as the colour coat and aim for five layers, car polish to buff it if necessary. If you mess up any areas, or need to
allowing coat each to dry for 30 minutes. Finally, leave it to dry for two respray in future, paint remover spray can be used to remove the paint
days somewhere well ventilated before handling it. and clear coat so you can try again.
106
T H AT M A D E
OUT
“The Computers that Made Britain
is one of the best things I’ve read NOW
this year. It’s an incredible story of
eccentrics and oddballs, geniuses and
madmen, and one that will have you
pining for a future that could have been.
It’s utterly astonishing!”
- Stuart Turton, bestselling author
and journalist
Avilable on
Buy online: wfmag.cc/ctmb

R E T R O T E C H / ANALYSIS
Retro tech
INTEL 8086
Stuart Andrews looks at the story behind the
stopgap CPU that helped to start a revolution
A
mazingly, the most important chip in Intel’s history – other manufacturers of early kit microcomputers. To make
the chip that began the whole x86 line – was only matters worse, both Motorola and Zilog were working on new
intended to be a stopgap. In 1976, there were no 16-bit designs, the 68000 and the Z8000 respectively.
personal computers as we know them today, only a range of Intel was working on its own revolutionary 32-bit
specialist scientific tools, industrial devices, mainframes and architecture, dubbed iAPX 432, but had run into some complex
microcomputers, which were slowly trickling down from big challenges. Development of iAPX 432 was taking Intel’s team
corporations and research institutions into the small of engineers much longer than expected. The architecture
business market. spanned across three chips, and the process technology
At this point, Intel was just one of several major players in the required to manufacture them was still years away.
emerging processor market. Its 8-bit 8080 microprocessor What’s more, the instruction set was focused on running
had made the jump from calculators and cash registers to new high-level, object-oriented programming languages
computer terminals and microcomputers, and was the core that weren’t yet mainstream; Intel’s own operating system for
platform for the big OS of the era, CP/M.
It didn’t look
anything special,
However, Intel had some serious competition. Zilog’s
Z80 was effectively an enhanced 8080, running a broadly
It couldn’t merely address
but the 8086
CPU ended up
compatible machine code with some added functions for double the RAM, but a full
founding a mighty processing strings. The Motorola 6800 had similar capabilities
dynasty of CPUs to Intel’s chip, and was beginning to find favour with Altair and 1MB of it
it was being coded entirely in Ada. Concerned that Zilog and
Motorola could eat its market share before iAPX 432 even
launched, Intel needed a new and exciting chip to hold its
competitors at bay.
Intel had followed up the 8080 with its own enhanced
version, the 8085, but this was little more than an 8080
with a couple of extra instructions to reduce its reliance on
external support circuitry. Knowing it needed more, Intel
looked to Steven Morse, a young software engineer who had
just written a critical report on the iAPX 432 processor design,
and asked him to design the instruction set for a new Intel
processor. It had to be 8080-compatible and able to address
at least 128KB of memory – double the maximum 64KB
supported by the 8080.
DESIGNING THE 8086

Morse worked with a small team, including project manager
Bill Pohlman and logic designer Jim McKevitt, to design
and implement the new architecture. He typed specs and
documentation through a text editor on a terminal connected
108
The die of the
original 8086. It the 8086 has always been to help users get their products
was one of the most to market faster using compatible software, peripheral
complex processors components and system support’. It was designed as the
of the time with
heart of ‘a microprocessing family’ with multiple processors
over 29,000
NMOS transistors supporting the CPU. This, in turn, made the 8086 a good fit as
microcomputers evolved into PCs.
A STAR IS BORN
The 8086 was hardly an overnight success. The Z80
continued to cause Intel nightmares, appearing in more
affordable business computers running CP/M. The most
exciting processor in development in the late 1970s wasn’t one
of Intel’s, but Motorola’s 68000, which went on to dominate
the workstation market, and create a new generation of
home and business computers. Comparatively, the 8086
made it into some new microcomputers and terminals, plus
a few more specialist devices, but it wasn’t the market leader.
In March 1979, frustrated by Intel’s working culture, Steven
Morse left the company.
to an Intel mainframe, even creating diagrams from ASCII Then, a few weeks after Morse left, Intel launched a revamp
characters to illustrate how the new CPU would work. of the 8086: the 8088. The new chip was actually weaker;
Meanwhile, Jim McKevitt worked on how data would be half its data pins were removed, so it could only send or receive
passed between the CPU and the supporting chips and 8 bits of data at a time. However, this meant it could work with
the circuitry across the system bus. After the first couple of existing 8-bit support chips designed for the 8080, and it
revisions, Intel brought in a second software engineer, Bruce didn’t need as much complex circuitry to run. Given that the
Ravenal, to help Morse refine the specs. As the project neared 8086 architecture was backwards compatible, and that Intel
completion, the team grew to develop the hardware design, was investing heavily in support, building new versions of
and were able to simulate and test what would become the existing computers and devices around the 8088 became a
core of the x86 instruction set. no-brainer. At this point, Intel found out about a new project
Left pretty much alone by the Intel management to work underway at IBM.
on an architecture Intel saw as having a limited lifespan, Morse In 1980, an Intel field sales engineer, Earl Whetstone, began
and his team had freedom to innovate. The 8086 design had talking to an IBM engineer, Donald Estridge, about a top-secret
some clear advantages over the old 8080. It couldn’t merely project to develop a new kind of computer. Schedules were
address double the RAM, but a full 1MB. Rather than handle tight, meaning IBM needed to work with an existing processor,
8-bit operations, it could manage 16-bit. and Estridge faced a choice between the Zilog Z8000, the
It had a selection of new instructions and features, including Motorola 68000, and Intel’s 8086 and 8088.
features designed to handle strings more efficiently and Whetstone sold Estridge on the technical merits of the
features designed to support high-level programming 8086 architecture and the lengths Intel would go to support it,
languages. It made up for one of the 8080’s biggest shortfalls while IBM’s bean counters realised that the 8800 could help
with hardware support for multiply and divide operations. The them keep costs down. IBM was already familiar with Intel,
8086 design made a coder’s life easier. and was working with a version of Microsoft Basic that ran on
However, Morse also took a new approach to processor the 8080.
design. As he told PC World in a 2008 interview, ‘up until that A version of 86-DOS, sold as part of a Seattle Computer
time, hardware people did all the architectural design, and they Products kit, would become the basis of Microsoft’s MS-DOS.
would put in whatever features they had space for on the chip. The project became the IBM PC 5150, or the original IBM PC,
It didn’t matter whether the feature was useful or not’. and because it used off-the-shelf hardware and Microsoft’s
Instead, Morse looked at what features could be added – software, it became the inspiration for an army of PC clones.
and how they could be designed – in order to make software As they say, the rest is history. Had Intel focused down on
run more efficiently. The 8086 made existing 8080 software iAX 432 and IBM had chosen Motorola, computing may have
run better, and was designed to work more effectively with the gone in a different direction. Intel was smart enough to double
software and programming languages that were emerging, down on x86, moving on to the 286 and 386 CPUs and –
unlike both iAPX 432 and Zilog’s Z8000. eventually – abandoning what was supposed to be its flagship
What’s more, the 8086 was designed to work with line. What’s more, while the x86 architecture has now evolved
additional processors, co-processors and other components beyond all recognition, even today’s mightiest Core CPUs can
as the heart of a computer system. In the foreword to his still run code written for the lowly 8086. It started as a stopgap,
book, The 8086 Primer, Morse talks of how ‘the thrust of but the 8086 has stood the test of time.
109
M O D D I N G / READERS’ DRIVES
Readers’ drives
Piñasphere
Armed with a modified 3D printer,
Jean Roberto De lacovo created
all the parts he needed to make
the chassis for this stunning-
looking scratch build
What inspired you to build
this PC?
Jean: I wanted to see how far I
could get with the design of a SEE THE FULL
computer case. The PROJECT LOG AT
standard that people custompc.co.uk
picture in their /Pinasphere
mind when you talk
about a PC is a boxy
shape – apart from
a few exceptions, with the pinecone/pineapple of the hardware components on
most computer motif for the dome at this time, so I Tinkercad, then I thought that if I
cases are based on a thought this idea would work really didn’t install a GPU, and used an
square shape. well for the waves’ crests too, albeit external PSU, I could try to make
This case had with a lot of tweaking. a split-sphere shape.
/MEET THY MAKER to be unique and The other half of the dome was The first idea was to use a
sophisticated, so after also nature-inspired – it’s based handcrafted metal frame made
Name Jean Roberto
choosing the split on filled honeycombs, and every with 3mm-thick aluminium sheet.
De lacovo
sphere as the main hexagon is complex when you However, I’d also recently done
Age 40 shape, I evolved it view it up close. This complexity some experiments with 3D printing
Occupation Hotel when I learned to play also helps when it comes to making to make a camera rig – during those
receptionist with Blender’s mesh the printing layer lines less visible. experiments, I tested the strength
editing and icosphere The interior has more of a sci-fi of PLA and PETG, and concluded
Location Italy
generation. There are look with lots of polygons. It’s that PETG was strong enough to
Main uses for PC 3D some nature-inspired structurally similar to an aircraft handle the stresses of the case.
modelling,gaming,tablet elements when frame – it’s not a sphere, but a
drawing,video/photo the case is closed, complex icosphere with geometric You used 3D printing for
editing,websurfing while the open-air holes that help with airflow too. the whole build. Tell us all about
Likes Hugs, arts, PCs, configuration has a your process.
fitness, gaming, nature, sci-fi techy look. How did you plan and design Jean: At first it was hard, but it
Star Wars, Marvel, I On the sides you can this build? would now be a much quicker
could go on … I’m also a see these black wavy Jean: Usually I start my work process, I had to start planning it
petrolhead, but I like sporty rings – I wanted them with some quick pencil and paper differently from a usual case mod,
electric vehicles too to look like the waves sketches, but this one started because I wasn’t removing material
Dislikes Bitter tastes, generated when you with a Tinkercad sketch. I was but adding it. I did some tests with
SUVs, racism, sexism drop something in testing various configurations different small projects, so I could
water. I was playing with some 3D mock-ups I made fine-tune the 3D printer settings.
110
The software I used as a slicer for choose the base as the contact
the prints was Ultimaker Cura 4.13, side between parts, as it’s the side
I found it intuitive from the start with which you have less control
and it allowed me to fine-tune my for the finish if you don’t paint
prints. For example, I learned to it afterwards.
set the Z-seam alignment to avoid One key point I learned is that
having a visible line on the prints, getting the parts perfectly clean
and to set the retraction settings with precision cutters takes time
for different situations – you can and patience – make one mistake
basically tailor the settings around and you end up throwing away the
your needs. My workhorse 3D printed part – it happened with an
printer is a Creality Ender 3 Pro, SSD frame I printed. The cleaning
which I’ve modded as it was too and levelling of the printer takes
noisy for me. I’ve added a Creality a bit of time too, but it solves the
Silent Mainboard, plus a 120mm fan majority of problems that can
for the PSU, and I also designed and occur during the printing process
printed the custom fan ducts for the – printing at a slower speed also
printer with PETG, which enables helps to avoid a lot of problems.
me to use a dual 60mm Noctua
fan setup instead of the standard How do all the pieces
40mm fans. fit together?
It also has a direct extruder now Jean: It’s basically a super-
– I had to reduce the retraction a sandwich structure – as with
lot more than expected, because aircraft, some parts are simply
the first prints with the new setup pressed between the fastened
resulted in extruder clogging layers. The parts are shaped so
problems when printing with PETG. that they can only be assembled
In total, Piñasphere is composed the correct way – even if it’s just a
of 27 3D-printed parts. For the different corner or hole, each part
finishing touches, I used precision always has an aspect that helps for
cutters, along with a lighter, positioning. This structure enabled
to remove any excess material me to create a chassis with enough
or stringing. However, once I’d strength, but with minimal infill,
got the filament temperatures so it minimises the weight and the
right, I found that stringing was amount of material used.
extremely limited. I also found I then used stainless steel screws
that the orientation of parts during for fastening – the motherboard
the printing process helped when is secured using M3 screws with
it came to finishing. I purposely 10mm threaded brass inserts – you
111
M O D D I N G / READERS’ DRIVES
tubes and stays hidden under the

cooling tube on the motherboard
side. The Wi-Fi antennae cables are
hidden under the motherboard,
and their connectors on the top of
the motherboard are hidden under
the M.2 SSD so you just can’t see
them. Lastly, the waterblock cables
were laid under the waterblock’s
fastening ‘wings’.
What challenges did the
shape of the build present? Tell us how the airflow
can warm them up with a soldering Jean: Honestly, if you think mostly system works.
iron then press them inside the about the shape and not the Jean: This is one of the parts I like
3D-printed parts. For the rest of the dimensions, it’s relatively easy to the most in my projects. After
fastenings, I threaded the PETG make a PC with an unusual shape going through the radiator, the air
with tools and used button-head – the biggest challenge for me goes through the middle channel,
M5 screws – the threaded sections was leaving enough room inside cooling the 2.5in SSD, then moves
are at least 10mm long. Meanwhile, the case for all the gear to work under the motherboard and
the white domes simply snap into well. Another big challenge was exits from a 5mm gap between
place on the motherboard side, and presented by the two I/O panels – the motherboard and its support
secure with a slight clockwise twist I’d decided that both of them were frame – it flows around almost the
on the radiator side – no tools are going to look like the front panel, whole perimeter.
needed here. placed in a recess of the dome, but But the air isn’t out at this point
I also had to leave some space for – the internal dome then guides it
What tiny motherboard the power cord, and that’s why the to move around the motherboard,
is that? ‘slice’ is so long on that side. so it cools the M.2 modules and
Jean: I used an ASRock X300M-STX motherboard VRM heatsink. There
motherboard. It was one of the What PSU did you use? are also two holes on the side of
smallest motherboards I could find Jean: It’s the external power the radiator, which relieve a bit of
that allowed me to use an AMD supply that ships with the ASRock the counter pressure generated
Ryzen 7 5700G. It can support up Deskmini X300. from the air moving inside the
to 64GB of memory, and it has two It looks like a laptop power middle channel.
M.2 SSD slots and two SATA ports supply, and its output is 120W at
for 2.5in SSDs, so it gives me ample 19V – it’s rather small, so it was
room to upgrade memory and perfect for this PC, as it isn’t a
storage, which will help to keep power-hungry monster.
SYSTEM SPECS
this machine useful in the future,
maybe as an office PC or server. How did you plan the CPU AMD Ryzen 7 5700G
cable routing? GPU Integrated AMD
Jean: All the cables are routed Radeon RX Vega11
inside the middle ring, which also Storage 1TB Samsung 980
forms the main frame – it has lots M.2 SSD, 250GB Samsung
of empty spaces in it for airflow
860 Evo 2.5in SATA SSD
and cable routing. The cables for
Memory 16GB (2 x 8GB)
the power switch, SSD activity LED
and power LED are tucked under Corsair Vengeance 3200MHz
the motherboard, and they then go DDR4 SODIMMs
into the box that acts as hooks for Motherboard ASRock
the domes and also contains the X300 M-STX
power switch. PSU 120W ASRock external PSU
The radiator fan cable is hidden Cooling Cooler Master
by the dome hook under the
MasterLiquid ML120L
radiator – I made a routing canal
V2 AIO liquid cooler
for it – then it goes through the
passage for one of the cooling
112
WIN CORSAIR HYDRO X
WATER-COOLING 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.
Corsair Hydro X Series XD3

RGB Pump/Reservoir C
The Corsair Hydro X Series XD3 RGB Pump/
WORTH
£151
Reservoir Combo features a high-
performance DDC PWM pump,
How did you achieve the you to increase the shared video integrated RGB lighting and in-loop
copper-coloured touches? RAM up to 16GB if you have more temperature sensor to drive even the
Jean: I wanted to add a warm than 32GB of system memory. most compact custom cooling systems.
colour to contrast against the white, It has a high-performance Xylem DDC
and I originally considered using Did you come across PWM pump controlled via PWM to
real copper rings. However, during any difficulties? deliver the perfect flow balance for your loop. There are also
the sketching phase, I wanted to Jean: I think the biggest challenge 16 individually addressable RGB LEDs, which light up the
add more reflective facets than was fine-tuning the printer profile pump head to produce stunning, customisable lighting
you get on rings, so I printed them for every filament. I had to reduce effects to match your build.
with a more complex shape. If I’d the printing errors that would be
had a tonne of time, I could have impossible to hide, as one of my
handcrafted them, but this time I objectives was to make the build Corsair Hydro X Series XC7
wanted to test myself and see what
I could do with just 3D printing,
look good without having to paint
it. I got used to deep-cleaning the
RGB CPU Water Block
so I bought some Giantarm Silk extruder, and I also bought a long The Corsair Hydro X Series XC7
WORTH
Copper Filament and the results stainless steel needle to purge every RGB CPU Water Block combines
£70
didn’t disappoint – they do give a bit of filament residue out of it. premium construction, vivid RGB
premium vibe to the build. lighting and extreme cooling
How long did it take you to performance to become the
What spec did you choose complete this build, from start centrepiece of your water-cooling
and why? to finish? loop. It has a nickel-plated copper
Jean: I wanted it to be able to do Jean: After the learning about 3D cold plate and more than 60 high-
a bit of everything, but 3D editing editing phase, I would say three to efficiency micro-cooling fins, which
was a must-have capability. I also four months. It would definitely efficiently draw heat away from your CPU, lowering operating
wanted the machine to perform take less time if I did it now. temperatures and allowing for maximum overclocks. You
decently at 1080p gaming. With can choose a version for Intel or AMD CPU sockets.
no room for a graphics card, the Are you completely happy
obvious choice was going for the with the end result, or do you wish
best APU I could buy, and that was you’d done some of it differently Corsair Hydro X Series XR5
the AMD Ryzen 7 5700G – I love it;
it’s an excellent performer.
in retrospect?
Jean: I’m absolutely happy – this
240mm Radiator
WORTH
The build has 16GB of memory, was the first time I’d tried building The Corsair Hydro X Series XR5 £55
because I was looking for the a 3D-printed case, and before the 240mm Water Cooling Radiator
hardware during October and final assembly, I wasn’t 100 per cent delivers extreme custom cooling
November, and it was on sale then. sure how it would look. However, performance, with a 30mm radiator
Corsair is a good brand, so I took my after I assembled it all together I thickness and premium copper core. Its
chance and bought it. I’ll upgrade had only one thought – ‘WOW it’s dual 120mm fan mounts on each side are ready for
the RAM in the next few months, solid and looks really cool!’ I really your most ambitious custom cooling build, and its 25
as the ASRock motherboard allows couldn’t be happier. micron-thick cooling fins offer a high thermal transfer rate.
113
OPINION
JA M E S G O R B O L D / HARDWARE ACCELERATED
WHAT HAPPENED
TO OPTANE?
James Gorbold looks back at this innovative memory technology from Intel
D XPoint, later rebranded as Optane, the memory and CPUs. Critically, they didn’t work with entry-level chipsets
3 technology joint developed by Intel and Micron,
created a lot of headlines when it was revealed back
and CPUs, the only part of the market where hard drives were
still commonly used as OS drives.
in 2015. Rightly so in my opinion, as the technology promised Compatibility became even more of an issue from 2017
to solve many of the limitations of both DRAM and NAND, onwards when, after years in the doldrums, AMD made a
delivering much higher density and performance than NAND strong comeback in the market with its Ryzen processors. As
without the cost and volatility of DRAM. these continued to evolve and take market share from Intel, a
However, I think it’s fair to call time on the technology now drive that didn’t work on an AMD platform had a far smaller
and relegate it to the ‘failed idea’ chapter of tech history, as market in which to play. As both a component reseller and
it has indeed failed to deliver on its promise and has more or system integrator, I can tell you that Scan sold diddly squat
less disappeared from the market. A large part of the reason of these caching drives.
for this is that NAND technology has moved on, with much More recently Intel has very publicly divested itself of its
higher density types coming to market, such memory business, selling its NAND division
as QLC, TLC and 3D NAND. The proliferation of wholesale to SK Hynix, which continues to sell
lightning-fast consumer M.2 and enterprise U.2 Scan sold diddly the products under the new Solidigm brand.
NVMe SSDs also took a lot of wind out of the squat of these While Optane wasn’t included in that deal,
sails of Optane. in early 2021 Intel shut down its one and only
The other factors impacting the success caching drives Optane fab, as it apparently had a lot of unsold
of Optane are more business-related, such as stock still to sell.
product positioning, Intel’s position in the CPU market and These will be enterprise Optane products, such as Optane
Intel’s change of strategic direction. Taking these in turn, the DIMMs, but they probably won’t be replaced when sold, as
product positioning of Optane was always a bit muddled. As in a recent interview Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger stated, ‘I never
I’ve already mentioned, the first Optane consumer drives were want to be in memory, you see I’m doing everything I can
made redundant by cheaper and faster M.2 NVMe drives. The to exit our memory businesses.’
second coming of Optane to the consumer market was a range Micron, the other company involved in the development of
of low-capacity drives that were designed to cache frequently 3D XPoint, hasn’t done a huge amount with the technology
used games and applications stored on the hard drive. either, releasing and discontinuing an enterprise SSD family
While these showed some promise, the combination of and little else. With PCI-E 5 NVME SSDs just around the corner
an Optane cache drive and hard drive was more expensive (as Richard Swinburne discusses on p8), I can’t see either
than a SATA SSD, and less flexible to boot. The final nail in Intel or Micron bringing back Optane either. NAND, for now
the coffin for this series of caching drives was their limited at least, will remain the dominant form of data storage for
compatibility – they only worked with select Intel chipsets PCs for practically everything apart from cold archives.
James Gorbold has been building, tweaking and overclocking PCs ever since the 1980s. He now helps Scan Computers to develop new systems.
114
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What is the magazine about?

What is the magazine about?

What types of mini-ITX cases are available?

What types of mini-ITX cases are available?

GAMEPAD GROUP TEST 9 PC GAME CONTROLLERS REVIEWED

SEPTEMBER 2022 / £5.99

HOW TO SPRAY-PAINT YOUR CASE

/ FROM THE EDITOR

C days, when the first mini motherboards based on

That’s why we’ve accompanied this month’s mini-ITX

Contents Welcome to Issue 228

08 Ludicrous speed COVER

BUILD A GAMING HEADSETS

HOW TO SPRAY-PAINT YOUR CASE

RICHARD SWINBURNE / VIEW FROM TAIWAN

PCI-E 5 SSDS ARE COMING

Pure Power series so popular, such as an 80 PLUS® Gold efficiency, the

T R ACY K I N G / SCEPTICAL ANALYSIS

MYTHS AND LEGENDS

TOP-END chassis design, fitting in between the massive

while Antec’s recent options such as the NZX700 cost even

Z Mesh ARGB’s credentials

120/2 x 140mm roof fan mounts (fans not

Antec DF700 Flux 47°C

Corsair 5000D Airflow 41°C

NZXT H7 FLOW / £120 inc VAT

stand-out features as software control. We’re looking at the high-airflow

Antec DF700 Flux 47°C Corsair 5000D Airflow 41°C

Fractal Design Meshify 2 47°C NZXT H7 Flow 42°C

NZXT H510 Flow 47°C Cooler Master MasterBox 500 42°C

NZXT H7 Flow 48°C Corsair 5000D Airflow 42°C

Antec NX700 48°C Fractal Design Meshify 2 42°C

Corsair 5000D Airflow 48°C Kolink Observatory Z Mesh ARGB 42°C

Kolink Observatory Z Mesh ARGB 48°C NZXT H510 Flow 42°C

SaharaGaming P44M 48°C SaharaGaming P44M 42°C

Fractal Design Meshify 2 Compact 50°C Antec NX700 43°C

0 20 40 60 80 Antec DF700 Flux 43°C

Corsair 5000D Airflow 41°C

BACKFORCE ONE /€553 inc VAT (~£471 inc VAT)

ASUS ROG ZEPHYRUS

This specification will sate most gamers, but there

+ High-quality, - Thicker rivals are

+ Crisp, fast keyboard - Better value 0 100 200 300 400

mode, the CPU’s P-Cores topped out at 2.4GHz in a 0 30 60 90 120

INTEL Z690 GAMING PC

radiators, Corsair Hydro XD5 RGB

Front: 4 x USB 3.1, 1 x USB 3.2 Gen

450 600 82,455

CyberPower’s PC overhauled the Scan in application

INTEL Z690 GAMING PC

CCL HORIZON 5 INTEL

has a Thunderbolt header and a great

CCL Horizon 5 221fps 350fps

0 100 200 300 400

CCL Horizon 5 132fps 204ps

0 100 200 300 400

in Metro Exodus with High ray tracing is a great result too.

Easy Breezy Fast Fastidious

BOOMPODS SOUNDCLIP /£24.99 inc VAT

The Soundclip from Boompods is an answer to the question: ‘No

08 Ludicrous speed COVER

+ High-quality, - Thicker rivals are

+ Crisp, fast keyboard - Better value 0 100 200 300 400

CINEBENCH R23 SINGLETHREADED VRM TEMPERATURE °C

M.2 SPEED MB/SEC LOWEST M.2 TEMPERATURE °C

FAR CRY 6 FPS

+ Lots of extra buttons