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3
 C U STO M P C / ISSUE 171

Contents Welcome to Issue 171

88 Build the ultimate

Threadripper PC COVERSTORY
Tempted to build a multithreaded P88
monster based on AMD’s new
Threadripper platform, but don’t
know where to start? We’re here to
show you how it’s done. We’ll not
only take you through the basic
process of setting up a Threadripper
system (even installing the CPU is
different from normal), but we’ll also
show you how to water-cool both
the CPU and the graphics card.
The result is a gorgeous-looking
rig that can handle pretty much any
task you throw at it, and it also has
enough cooling power for some
overclocking. Even if you’re not
planning to water-cool your system,
though, you’ll find plenty of useful
information about building and
setting up a Threadripper system,
from start to finish.

Highlights
38 46
10 Show us your guts
Richard Swinburne has some tips for
case makers to help show off your
PC building skills.

12 Child’s play
We need to be sure of the evidence
before limiting our children’s use of
technology, argues Tracy King.
20 18-core CPU
Yes, really. Intel’s latest Core i9 chip
isn’t cheap, but it packs a whopping
total of 18 cores into a single die.
38 Wireless gaming mice
Getting irritated by cable kinks while
gaming? Check out our roundup of
the latest tail-free gaming rodents.
46 Single-bay NAS boxes
Want a NAS system, but can’t
afford several hard drives? We put
several single-bay enclosures
through their paces.
54 DIY games consoles
Gareth Halfacree rounds up four
handheld games console kits for
hobbyists, in order to find out which
ones are worth your cash.
76 Sonic Mania
With 16-bit-style graphics and great
level design, the famous blue
hedgehog’s latest outing is a proper
return to form.
96 Hobby tech
Gareth Halfacree sets up Syncthing
on a Raspberry Pi and tries out the
Haynes Retro Arcade Kit.
104 Modyourwater-cooling pump
From cable mods to pump tops and
new O-rings, Antony Leather shows
you how to tweak your pump.
114 First glimpse of Coffee Lake
James Gorbold shares his opinion of
Intel’s latest mainstream CPUs, and
the accompanying platform.

4
 33
PRODUCTS
102 96 Reviewed REVIEWED
this month
Reviews
MEMORY
19 G.Skill Flare X 16GB 3200MHz

PROCESSOR
20 Intel Core i9-7980XE

MOTHERBOARD
22 ASRock X299 Killer SLI

CASE
110 20 24 Phanteks Evolv Shift

MONITOR
28 Samsung C27HG70

GAMING CHAIR
30 noblechairs ICON

Custom kit
32 Tile Mate
32 ThreeLeaf T200K Laptop Cooler
32 Allocacoc PowerCube
33 DOSS Wireless Bluetooth V4.0
Speaker
54 80 33 KLIM Cool
33 Hapurs 3 in 1 Keyboard Cleaning
Tools

Wireless gaming
mouse Labs
39 Asus ROG Spatha
40 Logitech G403 Prodigy Wireless
41 Logitech G903 Lightspeed
Wireless
42 Razer Lancehead RGB Wireless
44 Roccat Leadr

Regulars Cover guide Single-bay NAS box Labs

47 Buffalo LinkStation 210
8 From the editor 88 20
48 QNAP TS-131P
49 Seagate Personal Cloud
10 Richard Swinburne 50 Synology DS116
12 Tracy King DIY console Labs
14 Incoming 54 Arduboy
55 Creoqode 2048
16 Letters 56 Gamebuino
57 Makerbuino
32 Custom kit
34 How we test PC system reviews
58 CCL Shadow Hawk
64 Elite products 60 Chillblast Fusion Yogsblast
Ultimate
75 Inverse look 62 CyberPower Ultra Threadripper
Xtreme
84 Virtual world
96 Hobby tech Games
76 Sonic Mania
102 Customised PC 78 Absolver
104 How to guides 79 Observer
80 Nidhogg 2
109 Your folding milestones 76
Hobby tech
110 Readers’ drives
98 Haynes Retro Arcade Kit
114 James Gorbold 38 54

5
 OPINION
B E N H A R DW I D G E / FROM THE EDITOR
WHAT YOU NEED
FOR GAMING
Threadripper offers awesome multithreaded power for the money,
but you don’t need it for gaming, says Ben Hardwidge
A
mid all the clamour about 18-core and 16-core CPUs,
Intel has just announced what it describes as its‘best
gaming desktop processor ever’. It doesn’t have 18
cores. It doesn’t even have eight cores. It has six cores, and two
of them aren’t likely to get used in most games. What’s more,
the main reason it’s Intel’s best ever gaming CPU isn’t because
it has six cores,but because one of its cores can boost to 4.7GHz.
Just one of them. That’s how many cores get really stressed by
most games, even today.
Isaythisbecause,whileplentyofenthusiastsknowwhatsort
of spec you need for gaming, the comments I’ve
seen in various PC gaming Facebook groups
recently suggest that many, many people really
The GPU is where you
misunderstand the situation.Threadripper and should allocate your
Skylake-X are marketed heavily at enthusiasts, budget if gaming is
but it’s crucial not to read‘enthusiast’as‘gamer’.
YoucanplaygamesonaThreadrippersystem, your top priority
of course. That’s part of the beauty of this
workstation tech making it to the consumer desktop – you can
build a PC that can do everything, from heavily multithreaded
video encoding and rendering, through to 4K gaming. But you
don’t need it for gaming.
In fact, in many cases a much cheaper Core i7-7700K system
willbefasteringames. Theonlyexceptionsaregamesoptimised
for many cores, such as Ashes of the Singularity, but even now,
these games are few and far between.
The situation will likely change over time, as console tech
catchesupandnewAPIssuchasDirectX12becomemorewidely
used, but it will be a long, long time before you need an 18-core
CPU to play games.
Ben Hardwidge is the editor of Custom PC. He likes PCs, heavy metal, real ale and Warhammer 40,000.
8
It’salsoimportantnottooverstatetheroleoftheCPUinmost
games.It’struethatsingle-coreclockspeedistheprimaryfactor,
butthatdoesn’tmeanyouneedaheavilyoverclockedKabyLake
system to get decent gaming performance. The GPU now
handles so much of the graphics pipeline that the CPU’s role is
really minimal. The difference between a 3.5GHz CPU and a
4.5GHz CPU is only going to be a few frames per second.
The main factor for gaming is the GPU, more than any other
component. Having a CPU with a high clock speed, as well as
fast memory, will give you a small gaming performance boost,
but the GPU is where you should allocate your
budget if gaming is your top priority.
It doesn’t help that, for a long time in the PC’s
history, the CPU was the crucial component for
gaming,and was still a primary factor when the
first3Dacceleratorswereintroduced.Itstillplays
a role in frame setup, as well as handling areas
such as AI (strategy games often use your CPU
more than first-person shooters), but the bottom line is that if
you just want to play games, and don’t use much in the way of
heavilymultithreadedsoftware,youdon’tneedaThreadripper
or a Core i9 CPU.You’ll be much better off buying a cheaper CPU
and putting the spare cash towards a more powerful GPU.
Like many enthusiasts, I use my PC for much more than
gaming, and I love the fact that Threadripper is bringing
huge multithreaded CPU power to desktop PCs. My next PC
upgrade will likely be to a Ryzen 7 or Threadripper system – the
Threadripper rig Antony built this month (see p88) is just
awesome. If I just wanted to build a gaming PC, though, I could
do it for much cheaper.
editor@custompcmag.org.uk @custompcmag
 CCL Shadow Hawk Gaming PC

call: 08000 50 10 10
visit: www.cclonline.com/pc email: pcsales@cclonline.com
find us: CCL Computers Ltd, Inmoor Road, Off Cross Lane, Bradford, BD11 2PS
Prices correct at time of going to publishing (29th September 2017). Images & designs are for illustrative purposes only.
 OPINION
R I C H A R D SW I N B U R N E / VIEW FROM TAIWAN
WINDOW TO
THE SOUL
Your desk setup doesn’t have to hide your PC building talents.
Richard Swinburne has some tips for case makers
I
always read the Custom PC letters pages, and one
letter from a reader in Issue 169 particularly struck
me recently. It was about the design of some desks
forcingyoutoputyourcaseontheleft,andthenbeingunable
to see the efforts of your labour inside the case.It’s a situation
that hits my rant button, as I also like to see my PC’s interior,
but my options are limited, and not just when it comes to
the desk design.
Not everyone wants to put their PC in the same place,after
all.It’snotjustacase(ahem)ofleftorright;some
ofusmustputourPConthefloorinsteadtosave
space.Isimplydon’thaveenoughroomforaPC The graphics card will
on my desk, as my 32in monitor takes up too
much room (I know, cry me a river!), so instead
face upwards, meaning
the PC sits by my knee. you can properly see
One option is to get a case with a window in
the roof, but they’re few and far between. I did
your GPU cooler
haveacasewitharoofwindow15yearsago,but
I had to make it myself. I cut a huge hole in the top of a
Globalwin802,andplacedapieceofacrylicintoitwithrubber
window mounting.
The end result looked like your average bus window, but it
worked. There’s definitely some satisfaction and pride from
performing your own mods, but I don’t have the time any
more and, like many people, I’d rather buy an off-the-shelf
product anyway.
Simply giving you a roof window option would solve this
problem for a lot of enthusiasts,but no one seems to be doing
it. It’s not as if there’s a shortage of case manufacturers, but I
see a lot of the same, rehashed case designs, perhaps adding
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
10
a few tempered glass panels and RGB fans.You can get a case
with a transparent front and sides,butit seems just a step too
far to include a window in the roof as well.
You’d think there might be just one case with an all-glass
design around a metal frame, but even that seems a stretch
toofar.InWinhasmadesomelimited-edition,all-glasscases,
such as the Tou, but they’re super-expensive and rare as
rocking horse poop.
Somecompaniesdooffercasecustomisation.CoolerMaster
offers some customisation options with its
MasterCase series of chassis,but you’re limited
to internal adjustments only. Lian Li also used
to offer a catalogue of extras that included
replacement panels, but I’ve checked and the
companyhassincestoppedofferingthisservice.
I do have a simple solution for case makers to
tackle the left/right desk design issue though
–aflippablemotherboardtrayandglasspanels
on both sides. Removable motherboard trays used to be
regular premium case features anyway – you’d just need to
extendthisfeaturewithawaytosimplyfliptheguiderailand
screw it back in with thumbscrews.
There could be other benefits to this option too. If you flip
theinternalssothatthemotherboardshowsontherightside
then the graphics card will also face upwards, meaning you
can properly see your GPU cooler,or even better,a waterblock
– it would be even easier than using a PCI-E extension cable.
Basically,thiswholesituationwouldbesolvedwithaflippable
motherboard tray and a roof window. Come on case makers,
get on with it.
@Bindibadgi
 OPINION
T R ACY K I N G / SCEPTICAL ANALYSIS
CHILD’S PLAY
We need to be sure of the evidence before we start limiting
our children’s screen time, argues Tracy King
I
t used to be that games made you into a school shooter
or serial killer, but now there’s a subtler bogeyman in
town: bratty kids. No one wants them, everyone hates
them, yet some kids are still really annoying, and apparently it
may be the fault of video games.
Okay,‘bratty’ is a bit unfair. What I’m actually referring to is
the‘socialandemotionaldevelopment’ofchildren,whichevery
single one of us has experienced,probably as a gamer.We were
all kids, we played games, we still do, society hasn’t collapsed.
Someheadlineshaverecentlybeengrabbedbyalongitudinal
study (that’s good – it means studying people
over a really long time), which claims that
too much gaming time makes Jack – if not These technologies
a dull boy – then a boy with behavioural and
attention issues.
are essential for
The study also claims that a small amount of participation in 21st
gaming improves academic performance, but
taking good news at face value is just as much
century society
a problem as assuming bad news is from a
flawed study.
It’s a problem, because the study is funded by the Australian
government and will influence policy and political attitudes
towardsgames.ThisstudywillinfluenceBritishacademicsand
politicians too.
As such, extraordinary care needs to be taken when talking
about potential negative impacts of games,screen time and so
on. These technologies are essential for participation in 21st
century society. If we’re going to start limiting how much our
kids use technology, we need to be damn sure of the evidence.
The study says that more than seven hours per week of
electronic gaming had a negative effect on children’s social and
emotional development aged 8-11 years, but kids who played
electronic games for two to four hours per week showed better
Gamer and science enthusiast Tracy King dissects the evidence and statistics behind popular media stories surrounding tech and gaming
12
literacy and mathematical skills. This information could be
potentiallyusefulif,likeeveryothervideogamestudyI’veseen,
it didn’t commit the silliest error and not properly categorise
game types and genres.
We don’t know if these kids were playing violent games,
puzzlegamesorwhatthosecategoriesmightevenmean(Super
MarioGalaxyisviolent,butalsocute,whileDoomisviolentand
not cute).
I asked Pete Etchells, psychologist and author of the
forthcoming book about games and bad science,Lost In A Good
Game, what he made of the lack of specificity
around genres.
‘This is a really important aspect that’s likely
to have a big impact on their findings,’he says.
‘It’s likely that it’s a limitation of the study – big,
longitudinal studies can be a fantastic source
of information, but for specific questions like
this,often the level of detail required is lacking.
If I play an hour of Minecraft on my own, that
will be a very different experience to playing Splatoon 2 with a
bunch of mates in the same room,or organising a raid online in
World of Warcraft.
‘All these experiences will vary in terms of the amount of
social interaction involved,skill required,focus needed,and we
really have no idea how these sorts of things will impact on
somethinglikeacademicachievement.Weneedtodelvedeeper
intothespecifictypesofgameskidsareplaying,andhowthey’re
playing them,before we can get any clear idea what the effects
are (positive or negative).’
Until researchers start collecting specific (and I mean title-
specific) data about games,we can safely ignore headlines that
make any link between gaming and behaviour, which is good
news for the kids in all of us.
@tkingdot
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 CO M I N G S O O N / NEW KIT
Incoming
We take a look at the latest newly announced products
IntelCoffeeLakeannounced
In what’s been a bumper year for CPU releases, Intel has responded
to the threat from AMD’s Ryzen range by lifting the lid on its latest
mainstream CPU range. Codenamed Coffee Lake, the new CPUs
marks the eighth generation of Intel’s Core architecture. The new
range sees more cores being added to the unlocked K-series chips,
with the arrival of the first quad-core Core i3 CPU and the first 6-core
Core i5 chip.
Meanwhile, the top-end Core i7-8700K CPU will have a single-
core turbo frequency of 4.7GHz – the highest yet. Intel describes the
CPU as its ‘best gaming desktop processor ever’, and it will also offer
up to 40 PCI-E 3 lanes when used with a motherboard based on
Intel’s new Z370 chipset.
Intel also says the new CPUs will overclock to higher levels than
their Kaby Lake predecessors. Per-core overclocking will be
supported, and there will also be real-time memory latency control
and updates to Intel’s Extreme Tuning Utility and Extreme Memory
Profile system.
It’s not all good news though. Despite using the same LGA1151
socket as Kaby Lake and Skylake motherboards, the new CPUs will
require a brand-new Z370 motherboard. There are also concerns in
the industry about product shortages at launch. Our columnist James
Gorbold’s discusses these issues in more depth on p114.
Corsair announces
4600MHz memory
Pushing the limits of DDR4 memory to the max, Corsair has just
announced production of its first 4600MHz Vengeance
LPX kit. Based on Samsung B-die chips, the modules
have latency timings of CL19-26-26-46 and require
1.5V. The memory can also be set to run at
4600MHz via XMP, making the process as
simple as possible. The memory is
available in a black 16GB (2 x
8GB) kit, which is priced
at £525 inc VAT from
www.corsair.com
14
Hydra enthusiast desk case
Overclockers UK has just announced availability of a new desk
chassis from Italian firm Hydra, which can accommodate an
extreme amount of water-cooling gear. According to the etailer,
up to five 360mm radiators and a 480mm radiator can be
fitted into the desk chassis, along with two power supplies.
Meanwhile, a huge tempered glass panel across the top allows
you to lovingly gaze at your PC-building handiwork whenever
you sit at your desk.
Made from 1.5mm aluminium, and featuring a modular
construction, the Hydra Desk is customisable to your needs, and
can be fitted together Ikea-style with the included Allen key. It
can also accommodate up to 28 storage devices. It isn’t cheap
though. If you want to build an all-powerful water-cooled desk
rig with it, you’re looking at £990 inc VAT, and that just gets you
the desk case. The Hydra Desk is available to buy now from
www.overclockers.co.uk
HyperXreleasesnewCloud
Kingston gaming brand HyperX has just launched a new Cloud
headset, following in the footsteps of the acclaimed Cloud and Cloud
2 headsets, which have sat on our Elite list for several years. The new
Cloud Alpha has 50mm drivers and a dual-
chamber design, enabling the bass
frequencies to be tuned separately from
the mid and high-end frequencies.
According to HyperX, the Cloud Alpha
is comfortable to wear for long gaming
sessions, thanks to the use of memory
foam, pliable leatherette and an
expanded headband. The headset
will also feature a detachable cable
with in-line volume and mic-mute
controls. The HyperX Cloud
Alpha is available to buy now
from www.currys.co.uk for
£100 inc VAT.
 F E E D B AC K

Letters
Please send us your feedback and correspondence to
letters@custompcmag.org.uk

Why no Linux? you’re currently likely to need

I really wouldn’t want to scare you
guys (not too much, anyway), but
having just absorbed the contents
of the latest mag (169), I’m worried
that you maybe should really
change the cover name to Custom
(M$ OS games only) PC. If you want
to Truly be a ‘custom’PC mag you
should at least try to mention the
existence of Linus Torvalds.
I built my current PC a couple of
years back, using a guide published
by yourselves, and good it was too.
It has a BitFenix case, mini-ITX
motherboard, Core i5 CPU and so
on. However, I didn’t pay the
customary £100 for the ‘obligatory’
M$ OS. I run Linux Mint (free
download). I haven’t entertained
Mr Gates at all in my humble abode
for years now. Linux Mint XFCE is
more than adequate to run my
X-Plane Flight Sim. It even runs
Kerbal Space Program. I can also
SteamOS had the stay on the ‘command line’if I want,
potential to make and I even ran Skyrim successfully
Linux gaming
mainstream, but
for a while, using WINE on Steam,
it hasn’t really and Linux has some first-person
taken off shooters and other games too.
I also have some Raspberry Pis,
and they mostly use Linux too. The
last column of p97 in Issue 169 had
the only mention of Linux in the
whole mag. Linux talks to Linux
with very few issues, I find.
I know that to run any of your
popular blood-spraying games,
to pay M$ for the privilege,
but I do believe there are
some stirrings in the dark
recesses of the games
industry. Linux is out there
and it could be closer than
you think.
How about it guys? Why
don’t you add a Linux
distribution to your list of
software? Get off your FPS
games seat and try it. Try flying, get
a joystick. Design your own plane
on X-Plane. Try WINE? I would also
like some guidance with issues
such as running Linux on an AMD
platform and so on. What operating
system should I use to run my
Virtual Reality experimental
platform? Apart from M$, that is?
Seriously. Do I have to go buy a
PlayStation? Where can I get the
best VR glasses that run on Linux?
RICHARD ROBINSON

Ben: You know what? I think you may

well have a point. We definitely cover
PEDANTS’ PARADISE Linux on the Raspberry Pi side in Hobby
tech, but it’s been a long time since we
Alphabet soup looked at it on the PC desktop. I was
Usually there are very few errors that are noticeable in Custom PC, hoping that Valve’s SteamOS would
but here’s one! ‘Soups up’is incorrect for the American slang ‘supes kick-start a Linux gaming revolution on
up’. It stems from the 1950s when kids were hot-rodding cars and the PC, and give gamers a genuine
developing what eventually became fuel injection. All the various choice, but it hasn’t really happened.
techniques were referred to as, wait for it, Super Charging, which That said, while I know there’s a
when referring to a vehicle was abbreviated to ‘suped up’. My mom games catalogue for Linux, it isn’t
was born in Pittsburgh PA, so I take a great interest in American anywhere near as extensive as the one
standard and English slang. for Windows. Also, a lot of standard
TAMSIN MC CORMICK industry software doesn’t work on

Ben: Thanks Tamsin, I’d honestly never thought about the etymology of the phrase ‘soups up’, I
think I must have just been thinking ‘mmm, soup’, but I’ve now been on a little research quest. After
consulting several British and American English dictionaries, and etymology guides, I can confirm
WHEN’STHENEXTMAG
that the correct form is indeed ‘soups up’, but the phrase does appear to come from making vehicles COMINGOUT?
Issue 172 of Custom PC
run faster, and the current use was likely influenced by the term ‘supercharge’. The Online
will be on sale on
Etymology Dictionary claims that the firstly use of ‘soups up’ to refer to increasing an engine’s
Thursday, 9 November,
horsepower was first spotted in 1921, and was likely derived from the slang ‘soup’, which at the time
with subscribers receiving
referred to a ‘narcotic injected into horses to make them run faster’. You learn something every day!
it a few days beforehand.

16
 Twitter highlights
Follow us on Twitter at @CustomPCmag
VetonixRBX I might be getting a £450
gaming PC for Xmas, any advice/
suggestions?
Ben: Your best bet is probably to look
second hand in that price range –
yesterday’s mid-range tech is generally
better for gaming than today’s budget-end
kit. If you want to buy new, the very basic
minimum spec you should be considering
for a 1080p gaming rig is a GeForce GTX
1050 Ti, 8GB of RAM and a Pentium
G4560 CPU.
The GPU is really the crucial component
here, and if you’re trying to hit a very tight
budget, you can save some money by going
for non-overclockable components – a
motherboard based on Intel’s B250 chipset
will do the job. The CPU clock speed does
impact gaming performance, but not to
anything like the same degree as the GPU
you buy. If you have to make a compromise
(and hitting a £450 budget will involve a lot
of compromising), do it on any area except
the GPU. If you can run to it, though, I
strongly recommend getting a cheap SSD to
install Windows and games – it will be much
quicker than a hard drive and save a lot of
frustration in terms of loading times.
Jason_R_Wagner Windows I think
it’s time to upgrade my machine …
how about a hard-tubing water cooled mini
ITX tutorial next issue @CustomPCMag?!?
Ben: We’re probably due an extreme mini
PC build feature soon actually – I’d love to
see it done with a Ryzen system. In the
meantime, there’s a water-cooled
Threadripper tutorial on p88!
maximilian_arts Just got my own
32GB kit and 1900X, but noticed
that G.Skill will bring out an AMD version.
Does that RAM kit work in dual channel
right now?
Ben: We’ve actually taken a look at G.Skill’s
AMD-specific FlareX memory on p19, but in
truth, most of the AMD memory issues that
plagued Ryzen at launch are now sorted,
thanks to a healthy dose of EFI updates.
Threadripper also had a much smoother
launch in terms of compatibility than Ryzen,
and works happily with the kits we’ve tried
on it. If you have a dual-channel kit, it should
work fine with your Threadripper CPU – if
in doubt, try updating your motherboard’s
EFI too.
blakbird3 James Gorbold’s article
Winners and losers so true – pity silly
stuff like MS Vista, Win 8 & 8.1 did not get a
brief mention.
Ben: To be fair, we’ve given Windows Vista
and Windows 8 a good kicking over the
years, although you’re right, Windows 8
was a travesty. I can assure you that James
feels the same way about Windows 8 as
you, but his column last month was
particularly focused on the winners and
losers he’s seen in the hardware business
this year, and those Microsoft products are
all years old now.
David52 Johnston I love this time of
month! #qualityread

Linux (such as Adobe Creative Cloud),
and I’d personally rather pay a bit of
money for Microsoft Windows 10 than
having to faff around in WINE. That’s
the main reason we recommend
Windows. Different people have
different computing needs, though, and
I think it’s about time we revisited using
Linux on the desktop. I’ll add it to the
future features list.
You’re screwed
Can I use old screws from laptops
and PCs, and if so, do I need to clean
them or prep them in any way prior
to reuse?
PAUL BALLARD
Ben: Your mileage will vary
highly with laptops, as they
all have different chassis
that fit together with
different screw lengths
and types.
However, one benefit of
the desktop PC is that the
standard screw set hasn’t
changed for decades – in
most cases, you could remove the
motherboard, hard drive and case
screws from a 20-year-old machine,
and use them in a new one.
As the screws will have been
screwed into threads, and not exposed,
they’re unlikely to need any cleaning or
prep too.
CPC REALBENCH
2015
Asus is currently testing a new
version of our RealBench 2015
suite (version 2.45), which
should allow owners of Kaby
Lake, Skylake-X, Ryzen and
Threadripper systems to
The standard
desktop PC screw upload their results to the
set hasn’t changed leaderboard. It’s currently in
for decades beta, but if you own one of the
above systems, and you’d like
to try it out, email editor@
custompcmag.org.uk, and
we’ll send you the details.

Send your feedback and correspondence to letters@custompcmag.org.uk

17
 Reviews
Our in-depth analysis of the latest PC hardware

Reviewed this month

G.Skill Flare X 16GB 3200MHz p19 / Intel Core i9-7980XE p20/ASRock X299 Killer SLI p22
Phanteks Evolv Shift p24/ Samsung C27HG70 p28/noblechairs ICON p30/ Custom kit p32

18

D D R 4 M E M O RY
G.Skill Flare X 16GB 3200MHz/£178
SUPPLIER www.alza.co.uk / MODEL NUMBER F4-3200C14D-16GFX
t’s now seven months since the launch of AMD’s
I Ryzen CPUs, and much has changed in terms of
stability and memory compatibility – all for the
better. Motherboard manufacturers have released several
high-profile BIOS revisions for their AM4 motherboards,
which have improved memory compatibility, so most kits
now work at 3000MHz, and memory manufacturers are
responding well too. One memory company that has offered
excellent support with AM4 motherboards at high
frequencies is G.Skill, and it’s now even making Ryzen-
specific kits, such as the Flare X, which offer lower timings.
G.Skill was already off to a good start with its Trident Z
RGB dual-channel kit, which worked fine on all the AM4
motherboards we tried at its rated 3200MHz frequency, but
it only offered timings of 16-18-18-38. The Flare X kit, which
G.Skill claims has been designed for AMD Ryzen platforms,
cuts these timings to 14-14-14-34. The downside is that,
instead of paying £150 for a fantastic 16GB, dual-channel
RGB-enabled memory kit, the Flare X kit costs £178 for
modules that feature no lighting, only lower timings.
The modules are attractive, though, with some jagged
edges and a jet black design, but it’s clear you’re paying for
the lower timings and the fact that the modules sport
Samsung’s B-die memory chips, which are well-known for
their good compatibility with current AMD motherboards.
The aluminium heatsinks are 3mm shorter than those of the
Trident Z RGB modules, but still not particularly low-profile
with a height of 39mm.
Most memory kits now simply require the XMP profile
to be applied in the EFI on AM4 boards to correctly set the
timings, frequency and voltage, and the Flare X
/SPECIFICATIONS
cooperated with this first time.
While we managed to overclock our 3200MHz
Frequency 3200MHz Trident Z RGB kit to 3333MHz by raising the DDR
Timings 14-14-14-34 voltage to 1.4V in our AMD test system, the Flare X
Voltage 1.35V kit wasn’t able to go any higher. It reached
Height (from base) 39mm 3333MHz, with the same low timings as at
Lighting No 3200MHz. The lower timings gave the Flare X kit a
slight speed boost, with a system score of 163,260
HOWWETEST
PAGE34
incVAT
compared to 162,412. However, this boost doesn’t justify the
extra outlay.
To get an idea of current AM4 memory compatibility, we
tried a few recent kits on one of the pickier boards we’ve
tested in terms of memory compatibility – MSI’s X370
XPower Gaming Titanium.
However, this board was happy with all the 3000MHz and
3200MHz kits we tried with the latest EFI by simply applying
XMP. The only catch concerned a Corsair kit, for which we
needed to switch to the second XMP profile, but that tweak
saw our test machine boot to the Windows desktop at
3200MHz a few moments later.
Conclusion
The need for specific memory kits on Ryzen systems has
reduced since motherboard manufacturers have improved
compatibility via EFI updates. Also, while the Flare X kit does
have the lowest timings we’ve tested for a Samsung B-die
kit at 3200MHz, these timings only offer marginal real-world
gains. The fact that all the kits we tried now appear to work
fine at 3000MHz and above by simply applying the XMP
profile, means we now recommend cheaper kits, such as
the Trident Z RGB, or Corsair’s Vengeance LED, both of which
worked fine at 3200MHz and offer lighting too.
ANTONY LEATHER
PERFORMANCE DESIGN
OVERALL SCORE
81%
27/30 21/25
VALUE
33/45
VERDICT
Stable out of the box at 3200MHz with low timings, but
the need for specific AM4 memory for compatibility has
already passed.
19
 R E V I E WS / NEW KIT

I N T E L LG A 2 0 6 6 P R O C E S S O R

Intel Core i9-7980XE/£1,724 incVAT

SUPPLIER www.overclockers.co.uk

he 2017 CPU war is still raging, with the

T release of the most powerful and
expensive desktop CPU ever – Intel’s
18-core Core i9-7980XE. The Skylake-X range also
expanded downwards, with 12, 14, and 16-core models
stretching up from the Core i9-7900X – the 10-core
CPU that launched Intel’s new high-end desktop
platform in June.
Intel’s new CPUs are quite different from AMD’s
Threadripper chips too, with all the cores held in a
single die – the Core i9 CPUs demonstrate some
stunning engineering on Intel’s part. There’s one
issue with this approach,
though, which is that it’s
We were astounded expensive, requiring a huge
amount of development.
when we reached Comparatively, whereas

4.6GHz and all but AMD essentially combines

two Ryzen 8-core dies
one test was stable to create the 16-core
Threadripper 1950X.
As a result, the Core
i9-7980XE offers two more cores and four
more threads than AMD’s flagship, but costs over £1,700 inc
VAT, whereas the 16-core Threadripper 1950X costs under
£1,000 inc VAT. astounded when we reached 4.6GHz and found that all
Thankfully, the recent gains in the UK’s exchange rate but one test was stable.
mean that, while the CPU’s launch price was $1,999 US, at Sadly, we couldn’t apply enough voltage to get stable at
time of writing, we found it on pre-order this side of the 4.6GHz and had to reduce the frequency to 4.5GHz with a
pond for just £1,724 inc VAT. So while it’s still a wallet- vcore of 1.18V, but even so, this clock speed is only 100MHz
destroying CPU, it’s cheaper than we expected. lower than the clock speed we managed on the Core
It’s also undoubtedly going to be quicker than i9-7900X, which has eight fewer cores.
/SPECIFICATIONS the Threadripper 1950X in heavily Thanks to some lofty turbo boosting, the stock-speed
Frequency 2.6GHz multithreaded software. image editing score of 55,904 was second only to the
Turbo frequency 4.2GHz The Core i9-7980XE’s 18 cores give rise to slightly higher-boosting Core i9-7900X, and only the likes
Core Skylake-X a massive count of 36 threads courtesy of of the Core i7-7700K and Core i7-7740X were able to go
Manufacturing process 14nm Hyper-Threading, while the cache higher. The Threadripper 1950X wasn’t far behind, though,
Number of cores 18 x physical restructuring in all Skylake-X CPUs sees it offer at 50,140.
(36 threads) 24.75MB of L3 cache, but a sizeable 18MB L2 It was in the video encoding test that the Core i9-7980XE
Hyper-Threading Yes cache (1MB per core) too. It also supports Turbo simply battered every other CPU we’ve tested, bettering
Cache 24.75MB L3 cache, Boost MAX 3, which allows two cores to boost the overclocked Threadripper 1950X, even at stock speed.
18MB L2 cache up to 4.4GHz, potentially offering some respite The Core i9-7980X is also the first CPU we’ve tested to
Memory controller Quad- from the lowly 2.6GHz base frequency. achieve a score higher than one million in this test, albeit
channel DDR4, up to
2666MHz All cores can boost to 3.4GHz under load, but when overclocked. This result was 26 per cent faster than
Packaging Intel LGA2066 this clock speed will still hamper the CPU in the Threadripper 1950X, although the latter CPU is
Thermal design power (TDP) lightly threaded applications. The TDP of 165W significantly cheaper.
165W is an indication of just what level of PSU and The multi-tasking test was also a win for the 7980XE,
Features Turbo Boost cooling system you’ll need if you intend to with a 16 per cent advantage over the Core i9-7900X and 19
Technology 2, Turbo Boost overclock this monster too. per cent over the Threadripper 1950X, rising to 28 per cent
Technology MAX 3, Hyper-
Threading FMA3, F16C, SHA, and 41 per cent once all the CPUs were overclocked. Again,
BMI / BMI1 + BMI2, AVX-512, Performance there wasn’t a huge difference at stock speed between the
AVX2, AVX, AES, SSE4a, With so many cores on a single die, the Core CPUs overall, with the Threadripper just 11 per cent behind.
SSE4, SSSE3, SSE3, SSE2,
SSE, MMX i9-7980XE wasn’t expected to achieve much Judging by the Cinebench score, rendering will be the
in terms of overclocking. However, we were Core i9-7980XE’s true forte, with a 12 per cent lead over the

20
 ELITE
NEWENTRY
P64

Threadripper 1950X at stock speed and a massive 30 per
cent lead once overclocked. The Intel chip nearly topped the
AMD CPU by 1,000 points when overclocked, with a score
that nearly doubles that of the Core i9-7900X.
Ashes of the Singularity, meanwhile, seems to benefit
from both clock frequency and more cores. The Core
i9-7900X was faster at stock speed, while the
Threadripper CPU closely matched the 18-core Intel
CPU. Once overclocked, though, the Core i9-7980XE
was again a monster.
The downside to the mammoth overclocked
performance, of course, is power consumption, with the
system drawing over 600W from the wall, which is getting
on for double the power draw of our system with an
overclocked Core i9-7900X and nearly 100W more than
with the overclocked Threadripper 1950X installed.
As with Threadripper, temperatures were the main issue
with overclocking, and custom water cooling as well as
delidding the CPU will likely yield much higher results, as
Intel is using thermal paste rather than solder between the
die and the heatspreader.
Conclusion
The Core i9-7980XE is without doubt the fastest CPU we’ve
tested, sometimes beating AMD’s flagship by up to 30 per
cent, which is more than the core difference would suggest.
It’s also quick in lightly threaded tasks, thanks to its
substantial boosting frequencies.
However, while it could well be worth the cash for some
professional content creators, you can’t overlook the vast
price tag. You’re clearly getting a CPU that, on a core-for-
core basis, is faster than AMD’s Threadripper, plus it’s fast
all the time in games without having to deal with memory
access modes and system reboots. However, it’s still a CPU
that most people are unlikely to need or be able to afford.
Intel has, though, claimed back its performance crown, and
it’s unlikely to be beaten for quite a while.
ANTONY LEATHER

GIM P IM AGE ED IT IN G C I N EBEN C H R1 5

Intel Core i9-7980XE 55,904 63,201 Intel Core i9-7980XE 3,377 4,266

Intel Core i9-7900X 55,629 63,170 Intel Core i9-7900X 2,169 2,476

1950X 50,140 53,200 3,012 3,273

1950X
0
0 16,000 32,000 48,000 64,000 1,250 2,500 3,750 5,000
Stock speed Overclocked
H A N D B R A KE H . 264 V I DE O E NCO DI N G
Intel Core i9-7980XE 840,319 1045,343

Intel Core i9-7900X 645,036 725,095 A S H ES OF T H E S I N GU LA RI T Y: ES C A L A T I ON

1950X
770,239 828,644 42 fps 51 fps
Intel Core i9-7980XE
0 300,000 600,000 900,000 120,0000 56 fps 62 fps

H E A V Y M UL T I -T AS K I N G 44 fps 50 fps
Intel Core i9-7900X
Intel Core i9-7980XE 47 fps 53 fps
236,677 293,350
42 fps 48 fps
Intel Core i9-7900X 204,675 229,195 1950X
44 fps 50 fps
199,412 207,943 0 16 32 48 64
1950X
0 75,000 150,000 225,000 300,000 Stock speed min Stock speed avg
S Y S T E M S C OR E Overclocked min Overclocked avg

Intel Core i9-7980XE 288,554 356,623

Intel Core i9-7900X 230,352 258,546

T OT A L S YS T EM POW ER C ON S U M PT I ON
Idle

259,123 276,208
1950X Intel Core i9-7980XE 85W 290W
0 90,000 180,000 270,000 360,000
Intel Core i9-7900X 69W 87W
Stock speed Overclocked
160W 313W
1950X
SPEED FEATURES
OVERALL SCORE

82%
0

49/50 14/15
80 160 240 320
Load

VALUE Intel Core i9-7980XE 181W 613W

19/35 Intel Core i9-7900X 270W 381W

VERDICT 1950X
161W 522W
A 4.5GHz overclock across 18 cores is a brilliant 0 155 310 465 620
achievement for Intel as it reclaims the desktop Stock speed Overclocked Lower is better
performance crown, but only if you have an
enormous bank account.

21
 R E V I E WS / NEW KIT

X 2 9 9 M OT H E R B OA R D

ASRock X299 Killer SLI/£220 incVAT

SUPPLIER www.morecomputers.com

wning a high-end desktop system is rarely

O cheap, but one advantage of Intel’s X299
high-end desktop platform over AMD’s
equivalent is that motherboards can be bought for
noticeably lower prices. It’s been around for a bit longer,
but they were also a little cheaper to start. Of course,
the much cheaper price of AMD’s CPUs means
that, overall, Threadripper offers better value,
but the price of X299 boards is dropping
further now, as demonstrated by ASRock’s
new X299 Killer SLI, which at just £220 inc
VAT, is the cheapest X299 board we’ve seen.
It’s still a full-fat X299 board, though,
with a trio of M.2 PCI-E ports, all of
It has an attractive which support either SATA or PCI-E
SSDs. That’s one more than MSI’s ASRock’s software is fairly basic, but the key overclocking
PCB and there’s budget-conscious X299 SLI Plus, options are included, and the fan control suite is able to

a minimum of which costs a little more, although

the latter includes a heatsink on one
RGB lighting of the ports.
The ASRock throws another spanner
into MSI’s hopes of dominating the
more affordable price range, though, as the X299 Killer SLI
also includes 802.11ac Wi-Fi.
This feature is also missing from Gigabyte’s X299 Aorus
Gaming 3, which picked up an Approved award in our recent
X299 motherboard Labs test. This feature may be more
useful to many enthusiasts than the MSI board’s on-board
power and reset buttons too, which are sadly missing on the
ASRock, as is an LED POST code display.
We can forgive the lack of a U.2 port, though, as well as a
USB 3.1 header – both also missing on the ASRock board,
but fairly redundant at the moment. In most other areas, the
two boards are very similar. The ASRock
includes four 16x PCI-E slots and a single 1x
/SPECIFICATIONS slot, while the MSI offers three of the former
Chipset Intel X299 and two of the latter. The ASRock board looks
CPU socket Intel LGA2066 better to our tastes too. It has an attractive
Memory support 8 slots: max PCB, a large illuminated PCH heatsink and
128GB DDR3 (up to 4266MHz) there’s a minimum of RGB lighting, but it does
Expansion slots Four 16x PCI-E offer two RGB LED connectors.
3, one 1x PCI-E 3 Other manufacturers offer more power
Sound 8-channel Realtek from their dedicated high-amp pump
ALC1220 headers for custom liquid-cooling pumps,
Networking Intel Gigabit LAN with just 1.5A (or 18W) of power available
Overclocking Base clock from the ASRock. That’s enough for most
90-2000MHz, CPU multiplier
7-80x; max voltages: CPU 2V, Laing DDC pumps but some D5 models may
RAM 2V run out of power. Otherwise, all boxes are
Ports 8 x SATA 6Gbps (X299), ticked. The layout is excellent, you get an
3 x M.2, 1 x USB 3.1 Type-A, 1 x Intel-powered Ethernet port and there’s even
USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C, 4 x USB a clear-CMOS button on the rear I/O panel as
3, 4 x USB 2, 1 x LAN, 5 x
surround audio out, S/PDIF out. well as USB 3.1 Type-A and Type-C ports.
Dimensions (mm) 305 x 244 There’s also an 11-phase digital power
delivery system and eight SATA 6Gbps ports.
tweak fan profile curves for all motherboard fans. However,
the vcore adjustment mirrors whatever is set in the EFI, and
we had to switch from offset to fixed or manual mode to get
access to this feature in the software in Windows. You’re
able to tweak fan curve profiles in both the EFI and software,
but the EFI also allows you to assign either the VRM
temperature input or the CPU temperature to specific fans,
whereas the software is all CPU-based. The EFI itself is still
fairly dated compared with Asus and MSI’s efforts too, but
it’s simple to apply the usual settings, such as vcore and the
XMP profile, as well as flash the BIOS or create your own
overclocking profiles.
Performance
The ASRock was a little slower than the competition in our
Gimp image editing test, but decent multi-tasking and video
encoding scores (which is what counts on an X299 system)
saw it post a respectable system score and 238,461. Power
consumption numbers were right on the money too, and the
slightly higher vcore required to hit 4.6GHz didn’t result in
energy usage levels that would make you fear the next
electricity bill either.
We then managed to get our Core i9-7900X up to
4.6GHz without issue, although we needed to apply a vcore
of 1.21V, whereas the MSI board required only 1.18V. We were
unable to get any higher, as usual, with thermals limiting the
voltage we could apply. The overclock saw the system score
rise to 267,866, which is faster than any result we saw in our
recent X299 motherboard Labs test too. Meanwhile, our
Samsung 960 Evo M.2 SSD offered up read and write
speeds of 2,929MB/sec and 1,745MB/sec, which are similar

22
 ELITE
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P64

1 2 3
3
A large illuminated The trio of M.2 This budget
PCH heatsink PCI-E ports all board even includes
dominates the support SATA or an 802.11ac
bottom of the board PCI-E SSDs Wi-Fi adaptor

to other boards we’ve tested. Finally, RightMark’s Audio

Analyzer reported fairly solid performance from the Realtek
ALC1220 audio system, with noise and dynamic range levels
of -107.1dBA and 107.6dBA – a little behind the rest of the
field we’ve seen, but they’re still great results and you’re
unlikely to notice any difference.

Conclusion 2
While the ASRock X299 Killer SLI is the cheapest X299
motherboard we’ve seen, lowering the cost of owning an
Intel’s Core X series CPU-based system by another note or
two, it does have other merits. It includes Wi-Fi, which many
1
of its similarly priced siblings lack, it doesn’t go overboard on
RGB lighting and it includes a sensible set of features.
There are one or two notable exclusions, due to the
lower price tag, such as power and reset buttons, and a
USB 3.1 header, but they won’t be deal breakers for many your Intel high-end desktop system to a minimal cost, we
people. Otherwise, a solid effort in our benchmarks and can highly recommend the X299 Killer SLI.
hassle-free overclocking mean that, if you want to keep ANTONY LEATHER

C PC RE AL BE N C H 2 01 5
G I MP I MAGE E D IT ING A S HE S O F THE S I N G U L A RI TY
DX12 CPU Benchmark, 1,920 x 1,080, High Settings
ASRock X299
Killer SLI 51,964 62,209 44 fps 50 fps
ASRock X299
Asus ROG Strix Killer SLI
X299-E Gaming 55,629 63,170 43 fps 47 fps

Gigabyte X299 Asus ROG Strix 44 fps 50 fps

54,192 61,335
Aorus Gaming 3 X299-E Gaming 47 fps 53 fps
0 16,000 32,000 48,000 64,000
Gigabyte X299 44 fps 50 fps
HA N DB R A K E H . 2 64 V ID EO ENCOD ING
Aorus Gaming 3 46 fps 53fps
ASRock X299 653,225 746,172
Killer SLI 0 15 30 45 60
Asus ROG Strix 645,036 725,095 Stock speed min Stock speed avg
X299-E Gaming
Overclocked min Overclocked avg
Gigabyte X299 638,644 717,629
AorusGaming 3
0 200,000 400,000 600,000 800,000
HE AV Y MUL TI - TASKING TO TA L S Y S TE M P O W E R C O N S U M P TI O N
Idle
ASRock X299 219,464 233,234
Killer SLI ASRock X299 85W 88W
Killer SLI
Asus ROG Stri 204,675 229,195 Asus ROG Strix
X299-E Gaming 85W 118W
X299-E Gaming
Gigabyte X299 214,285 230,225 Gigabyte X299
Aorus Gaming 3 105W 123W
Aorus Gaming 3
0 65,000 130,000 195,000 260,000 0 35 70 105 140
S YS TE M S C O R E Load
ASRock X299 238,461 267,866 ASRock X299 277W 399W
Killer SLI Killer SLI
Asus ROG Strix 230,352 258,546 Asus ROG Strix 284W 384W
X299-E Gaming X299-E Gaming
Gigabyte X299 233,258 258,393 Gigabyte X299 275W 387W
Aorus Gaming 3 Aorus Gaming 3
0 75,000 150,000 225,000 300,000 0 100 200 300 400
Stock speed Overclocked Stock speed Overclocked Lower is better

PERFORMANCE FEATURES
OVERALL SCORE

88%
33/35 27/35 VERDICT
Great value and performance
VALUE without cutting too many corners;
28/30 even Wi-Fi is included.

23
 R E V I E WS / NEW KIT

MINI-ITX CASE

Phanteks Evolv Shift/£105 incVAT

SUPPLIER www.overclockers.co.uk / MODEL NUMBER PH-ES217E_BK

f you thought you’d stumbled across a stand-

I alone case of Corsair’s superb One Pro PC,
you’d be close, as even Corsair has commented
on how similar Phanteks’ new Evolv Shift mini-ITX case
looks to its swish mini tower case. However, the Shift, and
indeed its more expensive, larger (yet still mini-ITX) Shift X,
are slightly bigger.
We’re focusing on the Shift this month, which is the
smaller of the two cases, standing 47cm tall. However, it’s
all about minimal footprint with both of Phanteks’ new mini
tower cases, as the Shift is just 27cm wide and 17cm deep.
It comes in anthracite grey or satin black colour options, and
sports aluminium and tempered glass
side panels, along with a sturdy black
The motherboard powder-coated chassis. It looks
absolutely gorgeous.
and graphics card The Shift is primarily designed to be

are connected by used with all-in-one (AIO) liquid

coolers, which might initially seem
a PCI-E riser cable strange given its size, but it does make
sense, as the pump and waterblock
units found on these coolers have Besides, the ability to shed unwanted cables is a boon in a
much lower profiles than tower heatsinks. There’s even small case anyway.
space for two AIO coolers in the case – one making use of Surprisingly for a vertical airflow arrangement, there’s
the bottom 120/140mm fan mount and another sitting in no top fan. Instead, the Shift relies on your graphics card’s
one of two 120/140mm fan mounts. However, only 120mm cooler to expel its hot air out the top of the case, while the
radiators are supported, and if you use two of them, they’ll CPU can either be cooled by an AIO liquid cooler or a low-
both be limited to a depth of 27mm. profile air cooler, which will need to be no taller than 82mm.
As standard, there’s one 140mm fan included, mounted Meanwhile, the motherboard and graphics card are
in the side of the case as an exhaust. If you’re looking at connected by way of a PCI-E riser cable, which allows them
water-cooling the case, there’s a lot more room in the larger to both sit vertically behind one another. The graphics card
Shift X, but using an expandable AIO liquid cooler, along can also be rotated, so that either its rear or top sides
with a single 60mm-thick or larger 120mm face the large tempered glass window, while on the
radiator in the base of the Shift, other side, you get a great view of your motherboard.
could work well. The length of Storage-wise, there’s space for two 2.5in SSDs and a
/SPECIFICATIONS the graphics card also single hard disk, but you can also purchase an additional
Dimensions (mm) 170 x 274 dictates the amount 2.5in tray to house up to three SSDs, removing the option
x 470 (W x D x H) of cooling hardware to house a hard disk. Cable routing is often forgotten in
Material Steel, aluminium, you’ll be able to fit in cases as small as the Shift, but Phanteks includes
glass the base, with the plenty of Velcro ties, as well as dedicated cable-
Available colours Black maximum graphics routing holes, to keep clutter to a minimum.
Weight 6.6kg card size being a Installing our own test gear was
Front panel Power, 2 x USB dual-slot card with a straightforward, and made easier by
3, RGB control button
length of 350mm. the fact that both the tempered
Drive bays 1 x 3.5in/2 x 2.5in
It’s certainly a tight glass and the two aluminium
Form factor(s) Mini-ITX
squeeze, but Phanteks has side panels can be removed,
Cooling 2 x 120mm/140
made the most of the leaving you with an empty
front fan mounts (1 x
140mm fan included), 1 x internal space by limiting PSUs frame with which to work.
120/140mm base fan to SFX or SFX-L form factors – The case can also be placed
mount (fan not included) the latter being a slightly longer on its side with the glass panel
CPU cooler clearance version of the dinky SFX form factor. facing upwards, thanks to included
82mm
However, Phanteks told us that rubber feet for the lower panel. There’s
Maximum graphics card
length 350mm you’ll need to use modular PSUs with the some RGB lighting included too, with a
Shift, due to the tight confines of the case. small LED in the roof as well as an additional

24
 HOWWETEST
PAGE34

1 2 3
The tempered glass One 140mm All the panels
panels show both exhaust fan is hook up to a sturdy
your motherboard included, but you’ll black powder-
and graphics card want to add more coated chassis
3
connector for your own LED strip. This lighting can be
controlled using a button on the roof, next to the power
button, while two USB 3 ports lurk on the side of the chassis
behind one the panels.
2
Performance
The included fan proved to be reasonably quiet and, given
that we were using a small low-profile air cooler instead of
a recommended all-in-one liquid cooler, we didn’t expect
fantastic airflow results from the Shift. That’s just as well, as
the CPU delta T of 76°C was 14°C higher than the hottest
mini-ITX result we’ve seen. The GPU delta T was a little 1
more reasonable and was actually lower than the Phanteks
Enthoo Evolv ITX, but still a long way off the better
results we’ve seen. This case isn’t really built for
low-profile CPU air cooling, though, and you’ll
find the cooling will be fine with an AIO liquid
cooler installed.

Conclusion
In spite of the poor thermal results, for which we can’t really
criticise Phanteks anyway, as it recommends a specific
cooling setup using all-in-one liquid coolers,
we absolutely love the Phanteks Shift. It’s
solid, well-made and looks fantastic. It also
actually offers space for a high-end mini-ITX
system, despite its miniscule footprint.
Cable routing is well thought-out, and
there’s even enough room for a hard disk
and SSDs. Cooling isn’t great out of the box,
and isn’t likely to significantly improve unless
you use an all-in-one liquid cooler to cool
your CPU, as Phanteks suggests.
However, it’s also screaming for another
fan in the base to aid GPU cooling, and we
suggest occupying all fan mounts if possible.
The Phanteks Evolv Shift basically gives you
a clean slate of a case that needs some additions to
perform well, and at £105 inc VAT, that’s perhaps a tall ask if
you’re on a tight budget.
However, if you love its looks, and you’re
prepared to buy the cooling gear, you can build
a great-looking, high-end mini-ITX rig with it.
The build quality and materials are certainly
worth the price, and with the addition of some
liquid-cooling components and fans, the Shift
has great potential for a premium mini-ITX
system that will turn plenty of heads, and
possibly even give you some overclocking
headroom. It just scrapes an Approved award
as a result, but only on the proviso that you
have an additional budget available to add
some extra cooling gear.
ANTONY LEATHER

C PU LOAD DELT A T T E M PE R A T U RE GP U L O A D D EL T A T T EM P ER A T UR E
Phanteks Phanteks
Evolv Shift 76°C 56°C
Evolv Shift
Thermaltake Core G3 58 °C Thermaltake Core G3 50°C
Fractal Design Fractal Design
Define Nano S 59°C 47°C
Define Nano S
Fractal Design 51°C Fractal Design
Core 500 Core 500 43°C
NZXT Manta 61°C NZXT Manta 48°C
Phanteks 62°C Phanteks
Evolv ITX Evolv ITX 58°C
0 20 40 60 80 0 15 30 45 60
Lower is better
COOLING FEATURES
OVERALL SCORE

82%
18/30 18/20 VERDICT
A stunning, well thought-out mini-ITX
DESIGN VALUE case, but you’ll need to invest in extra
29/30 17/20 cooling gear to avoid toasty temperatures.

25
 R E V I E WS / NEW KIT

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

Samsung C27HG70/£600 incVAT

SUPPLIER www.overclockers.co.uk

amsung hasn’t really been

S known for its gaming monitors in
the past, but it’s aiming to change
that perception with its latest line-up. With
a slew of new displays that feature high
dynamic range (HDR) support, 144Hz
refresh rates, FreeSync support and
backlight strobing, the company is
throwing everything at its new CHG70
displays. They’re available in two versions:
one with a 27in diagonal, and one 32in
model – we’re looking at the former here.
As well as the above features, the other
striking aspect you notice about this
display is its panel’s curve. This curve
makes for a better experience than a flat
monitor when viewed head on, better
matching the curvature of your eye to suit
the human field of view, although it can
also draw in more reflections. Either way,
the curve and overall design of
this display work really well
You can reduce the together. There are no
premium materials, but the
perceived response elegant stand, and use of

time by enabling simple black and dark metallic plastic

gives the screen a muted but not staid
backlight strobing quality. The subtle blue ring of light on
the back is an attractive touch too.
The stand also offers full
adjustability, though the height adjustment feature is odd.
It uses a pivoting motion that causes the display to shift
backwards and forwards as it moves up and down. This
system also means the arm extends back beyond the rear
of the stand’s base, which in turn makes the
overall footprint of the display very deep.
Most 27in display stands have a depth
below 30cm, but the C27HG70’s stand is
41cm deep. As such, it isn’t ideal if your desk
is narrow and there’s a wall behind it. If this
is a problem, though, you can remove the
stand and use an alternative VESA-
compatible mount instead.
There’s a good range of connections
though. A DisplayPort 1.4 socket and
two HDMI 2 ports mean you have a
trio of HDR-compatible connections,
plus there’s a 2-port USB 3 hub and
headphone pass-through,
although there are no speakers.
The display itself uses a vertical
alignment (VA) LCD panel with a
quantum dot backlight filter system and
a resolution of 2,560 x 1,440, the latter
of which is typical for a 27in monitor. In the past, VA has
generally been the worst LCD tech to use for gaming
displays due to their comparatively slow response times.
However, Samsung has got around this issue in two ways.
For starters, the panel is simply just better than previous
ones; secondly, you can also reduce the perceived response
time by enabling backlight strobing. Doing the latter
momentarily turns off the backlight so that it masks the
artefacts from slow pixel transitions and reduces eye-
tracking motion blur, making for a sharper, more responsive
image. The result is impressively responsive gaming
performance, although sadly, you can’t use FreeSync and
backlight strobing at the same time.
As for HDR, the biggest factor in displaying HDR content
is providing a good enough contrast ratio, although colour
reproduction and brightness also play their part. OLED
displays natively have a decent contrast ratio, but
LCDs generally need to employ
localised backlight control to make
different portions of the image dark
and light enough.
However, Samsung has gone for a
compromise approach by using a VA
panel. The claimed native 3,000:1
contrast ratio of the panel is still some way
off what the HDR10 standard requires, but
it’s also three times the 1,000:1 contrast ratio
of typical TN and IPS panels.

28
 ELITE
NEWENTRY
P64

The display also has localised It delivers right across the board,
dimming zones, but there are just eight with an attractive, solid design, loads
of them, which is all but pointless – the of features, good gaming performance
top-end HDR displays that Acer and and decent image quality, all for a
Asus are releasing next year are set to reasonable price.
include 384 independently controlled If you have an AMD GPU, then
backlight zones. you can also take advantage of its
Overall, though, you can still get a FreeSync support. The Samsung
sense of what an HDR display can achieve, C27HG70 isn’t the very best monitor for
thanks to the Samsung conforming to the either pure gaming performance or image
extended colour gamut also required of HDR. quality, but it’s a fantastic all-round monitor that also
However, with Windows and game support for HDR still handles gaming well.
being in its early stages, HDR is more of a token extra on a EDWARD CHESTER
gaming monitor than a key feature anyway.
Thankfully, the Samsung’s image quality is very
good. Viewing angles, colour fidelity and accuracy – and that
contrast – are all vastly superior to any TN gaming display, IMAGE FEATURES
OVERALL SCORE

85%
and it’s near perfectly calibrated right out the box. However,
there’s a slightly coarse quality to the pixel structure that
42/50 19/20
makes text slightly less readable. Also, there’s a degree of VALUE
oversaturation that means IPS gaming displays still have
some slight advantages.
24/30
VERDICT
Conclusion A mass of features, good image quality and decent
The Samsung C27HG70 might not quite meet the HDR10 gaming performance, plus a competitive price, make
standard, but it’s a fantastic all-rounder, and its contrast ratio the Samsung a great all-rounder.
and colour reproduction are excellent.

EISBAER
CPU AIO Cooler

EISWOLF READY

GPU AIO Cooler

Biggest and strongest

expandable
CPU AIO worldwide

The first Vega AIO cooling

solution worldwide with a
240mm full copper radiator
29
www.alphacool.com info@alphacool.com
 R E V I E WS / NEW KIT

GAMING CHAIR

noblechairs ICON/£520 incVAT

SUPPLIER www.overclockers.co.uk / MODEL NUMBER NBL-ICN-RL-MBG

t’s great to see chair manufactures taking PC

I enthusiast and gamers’ bodies seriously with the
latest gaming chairs and, last month the £180 GT
Omega Racing Pro Racing Office Chair proved you don’t
have to spend a fortune to get great adjustment and
comfort either. However, the daddy of gaming chairs
is still undoubtedly noblechairs; it made the superb
EPIC range and is now back with the ICON series, which
sees noblechairs taking comments about its previous chairs
on board and evolving the design.
You get the same choice of either faux leather or
real leather, with prices in the £300
and £500 range respectively.
There are also three colour options
for the leather version and four for
the faux leather models. The quality is
superb, and the leather model we tried is
well made and luxurious – it’s a true
premium chair.
The ICON’s design is less garish than
that of its predecessor too, with no racing
car-esque shoulder holes, but much of
rest of the design is the same. The key
differences brought by the new series
The design is less include a reformulated foam that offers
more cushioning, and the back has also
garish, with no been redesigned to offer better support. taller people. If you’re shorter than 5ft 8in, you may struggle

racing car-esque The foam was a tad hard on the EPIC

chairs, although it wasn’t uncomfortable
shoulder holes and it also softened over time.
The ICON’s cushioning is noticeably
softer, though, and it allows you to get
used to the chair within minutes and remain comfortable
for hours of constant use. That said, the super-soft padding
on the much cheaper GT Omega Racing Pro Racing Office
Chair is even softer. There’s no creaking or rubbing between
the cushions with the ICON chair though – all the leather is
sewn together neatly with no protruding parts, making it a
much quieter chair than the GT Omega. The base has also
been strengthened by up to 20 per cent, which noblechairs
claims improves durability.
Meanwhile, adjustment is still excellent, with smoother
actions on lots of the controls. There are 4D arm rests that
allow up, down, in, out, forwards and backwards movement,
although the minimum width is still a little too wide for our
liking. Comparatively, the GT Omega Racing Pro Racing
Office Chair allows for a much narrower positioning of the
arms, which better suits long periods of typing. However,
to put your feet flat on the floor without shoes even at the
lowest setting, but if you’re tall, there’s a good 4in of extra
height available that will suit people who are well over 6ft.
The chair sports adjustable tilt too, although it takes a fair bit
of force to tilt the seat back, even on the easiest setting.
Conclusion
The ICON cements noblechairs’ position as a maker of
premium gaming chairs. The quality is excellent throughout,
especially with our leather version. It has the softest arm
rests we’ve experienced, it’s supremely comfortable and
there’s no cushion squeak either. It might be expensive,
but if you can stretch to the price, it’s worth every penny.
ANTONY LEATHER
COMFORT FEATURES VALUE
48/50 22/25 19/25
OVERALL SCORE VERDICT

89%
the arm rests on the ICON are a little softer. Comfortable, quiet, well made
Comfort is a major strong point of the ICON – head and and highly adjustable, the ICON
lumbar support cushions are included, and you can position cements noblechairs’ premium
the back past the vertical mark, so there’s plenty of scope spot in the gaming chair market.
for keeping a good posture. There’s some height
adjustment too, although this chair will be better suited to

30
 R E V I E WS / NEW KIT

CustomKit
Phil Hartup checks out the latest gadgets, gizmos and geek toys
Tile Mate/£23 incVAT

The Tile Mate is a small Bluetooth tracking device that can be

looped onto key rings and, as you‘d expect from the name, is
shaped like a tile. The accompanying app is easy to set up, and has
the expected features of a tracking device, such as an alarm so that
you can find whatever you’ve attached to the Tile, assuming it’s
within Bluetooth range and earshot. You can also flip the settings
around, so if you can find your keys but not your phone, double
pressing the Tile button makes your phone play a tune. In the event
that whatever you’ve attached to the Tile goes on a proper
adventure then the map mode can also help you get
within a range for the local alarm to work. The only
downer is that the battery isn’t replaceable, but
it’s expected to last a year.

SUPPLIER www.thetileapp.com

ThreeLeafT200K
LaptopCooler/£14.99 incVAT
The ThreeLeaf T200k is a combination laptop cooler and angled
stand with illuminated fans, creating an effect that’s both charming
and also rather unnecessary. The cooler boasts four 80mm fans,
and a 120mm spinner in the centre, all powered by a USB. You have a
speed controller for the fans that’s linked to the illumination control,
and one touch of a button can make the fans faster, louder and
brighter, or slower and dimmer as you like.
That’s all good, but as a laptop stand, the T200K feels flimsy and it
doesn’t anchor too well to the surface to which it’s attached, making
it work better in the flat position. Ultimately, it amounts to a cheap
way to put a lot of glowing fans under a laptop, which can be good for
a thin and light gaming laptop that gets too hot, and you get a lot of
cooling for the money. It’s just a shame the stand itself isn’t better.

SUPPLIER www.amazon.co.uk

Allocacoc PowerCube/£17.97 incVAT

The PowerCube is a cube-shaped, four-way mains plug adaptor with
two USB ports and a 3m cable. Relative to a traditional flat four-way
bar, the PowerCube is a significant improvement. It takes up less
space, even chunky plugs won’t obscure the other sockets and the
addition of USB connections is handy for charging phones and
tablets. A clip and double-sided tape are also included, which allow
you to attach the PowerCube to surfaces if needed, although you
sacrifice a socket in the process. It’s hard to get excited about a
four-way extension lead, but the PowerCube has some good
ideas that are well put together.

SUPPLIER www.allocacoc.com

32
 DOSS Wireless Bluetooth V4.0 Speaker/£29.99
This compact speaker goes big on getting the fundamentals right.
The sound quality is good for its size, the design is unobtrusive and
the touch-sensitive controls on the top are clear and very simple to
follow. One standout feature of this simple interface is that the
speaker turns off automatically after a period of inactivity, so you
won’t accidentally drain the battery if you forget to turn it off.
The DOSS has nothing else up its sleeves though. In fact, the
DOSS doesn’t really have sleeves, even on a metaphorical level. It
isn’t waterproof, and we’ve reviewed more portable speakers too.
KLIMCool/£22.90 incVAT
The KLIM Cool is a USB-powered laptop cooler that works as an
extractor, pulling out air through the vent on your laptop in order to
cool it. It has variable fan speeds that range from quiet to quite loud,
and it attaches to the underside of your laptop using tape. Coverage
of the vent is achieved using one of a selection of rubber seals, which
ensures that the KLIM Cool is able
to efficiently remove as much hot
air as possible.
Adding an impromptu
exhaust fan to a laptop is
potentially a good idea,
especially if you have a throttling
gaming laptop, and the KLIM
Cool does work well.
However, it also feels like
an awkward and clunky
implementation of this idea,
being rather blocky (a potential issue if your laptop has vents to the
rear or adjacent to ports) and it’s noisy too.
SUPPLIER www.amazon.co.uk
Seen something worthy of appearing in Custom Kit? Send your suggestions to
incVAT
However, it does include a waterproof bag and boasts a 12-hour
battery time, so it can definitely travel if needed. There’s nothing
fancy here, but if you want a half-decent wireless speaker that will
play for several hours and doesn’t cost the earth, the DOSS does
the job surprisingly well.
SUPPLIER www.amazon.co.uk
Hapurs3in1Keyboard
CleaningTools/£7.49 incVAT
The Hapurs 3 in 1 Cleaning Tools set consists
of a brush, air blower and a wire grabber for
removing keys. The idea is that, between these
three items, you should be able to easily and
effectively clean a keyboard, and it works. The key
grabber works well enough, you hook it onto a key
and then pull it upwards, which is more elegant and
less likely to cause damage than prying up keys with
whatever makeshift lever you might otherwise use.
The brush also works, because it’s a brush – it isn’t easy to get a
brush wrong, and this particular one holds together reasonably well,
so it shouldn’t add more hair than it removes. The air puffer works
pretty well as a duster too; it’s more effort than using a can of air, but
it should last longer. It’s basically a more expensive alternative to
levering off a bunch of keys and shaking the keyboard until the crap
falls out, but paying £7.49 will get you a more professional job and
you’re less likely to damage your keyboard too.
SUPPLIER www.amazon.co.uk
editor@custompcmag.org.uk
33
 R E V I E WS / NEW KIT

Howwetest
PROCESSORS
INTEL LGA1151

+ + + +
Intel Asus ROG Strix 16GB Corsair Vengeance LED 480GB Crucial AMD Radeon R9 390X
LGA1151 CPU Z270F 3200MHz DDR4 M500

INTEL LGA2066

+ + + +
Intel LGA2066 CPU Asus ROG Strix 32GB Corsair Vengeance LED 256GB Crucial Zotac GeForce GTX 1080
X299-E Gaming 3000MHz DDR4 MX100 AMP! Edition

AMD AM4

+ + + +
AMD AM4 CPU Asus ROG Crosshair 16GB Corsair Vengeance LPX 480GB Crucial AMD Radeon R9 390X
VI Hero 3000MHz DDR4 M500

AMD TR4

+ + + +
AMD TR4 CPU Asus ROG Zenith 32GB Corsair 3000MHz 256GB Crucial Zotac GeForce GTX 1080
Extreme Vengeance LED DDR4 MX100 AMP! Edition

TESTS: We use Custom PC RealBench 2015, Cinebench and Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation, installed on Windows 10 Home 64-bit,
and record the power draw of the test PC. These tests cover a broad range of performance characteristics, including image editing,
gaming, video encoding and 3D rendering. We run all tests at stock speed and at the CPU’s highest overclocked frequency.

GRAPHICS CARDS
Graphics cards are mainly evaluated on how fast they are for their price. However, we also consider the efficacy and
quietness of the cooler. Every graphics card is tested in the same PC, so all results are directly comparable.

+ + + + = SCORES

4.4GHz Intel 16GB Corsair Vengeance Asus Maximus VIII Windows 10 The graphics card
Core i5-6600K LED 3000MHz DDR4 Hero 64-bit we’re reviewing

34
 Our benchmark suite,
CUSTOM PC REALBENCH 2015 co-developed with
INTEL REFERENCE AMD REFERENCE Asus, simulates how
people really use PCs
– a higher score is
+ + + + =100% + + + =100% better. You can
download them from
Intel Core 16GB of Corsair 240GB Asus Nvidia AMD 8GB of Corsair 256GB Asus
i7-4790K 2400MHz OCZ Maximus GeForce GTX A10-7850K 2133MHz Plextor A88X-Pro www.asus.com/
DDR3 150 Gene VII 780 3GB DDR3 M5 Pro campaign/Realbench

MOTHERBOARDS The
INTEL LGA1151
Awards
+ + + + EXTREME
Intel Motherboard 16GB Corsair Vengeance 500GB Samsung AMD Radeon R9 ULTRA
Core i7-7700K on test LED 3200MHz DDR4 SSD 960 Evo 390X Some products are
gloriously over the
INTEL LGA2066
top. These items of
excellent overkill
+ + + + + earn our Extreme
Ultra award.
Intel Core Motherboard 32GB Corsair Vengeance 256GB Crucial 500GB Samsung 2 x Asus Strix Radeon
i9-7900X on test LED 3000MHz DDR4 MX100 SSD SSD 960 Evo RX 480 8GB PREMIUM
AMD AM4 GRADE
Premium Grade

+ + + + products are
utterly desirable –
we’d eat nothing
AMD Ryzen 7 Motherboard 16GB Corsair Vengeance 500GB Samsung AMD Radeon R9
1700 on test LPX 3000MHz DDR4 SSD 960 Evo 390X but beans until we
could afford them.
AMD TR4
+ + + + PROFESSIONAL
Products worthy of
the Professional
AMD Threadripper Motherboard 32GB Corsair 3000MHz 500GB Samsung 2 x Asus Strix Radeon
award make you
1920X on test Vengeance LED DDR4 SSD 960 Evo RX 480 8GB
and your business
TESTS: We use Custom PC RealBench 2015 and Ashes of the Singularity installed on Windows 10 appear even more
Home 64-bit, and also test the board’s SATA and M.2 ports. We try to overclock every motherboard
awesome.
by overclocking our test CPU to its maximum air-cooled level.

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

CUSTOM KIT
For those gadgets
TESTS: By using the fast PC detailed on the left, we can be sure that any limitations are due to the and gizmos that
graphics card on test, rather than being CPU limited. We test Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, Doom, Crysis 3, really impress us,
Fallout 4 and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt at their maximum detail settings, in their highest DirectX mode, at or that we can’t
several resolutions. High-end cards should be able to sustain playable frame rates at 2,560 x 1,440, live without,
while 1,920 x 1,080 is more important for mid-range cards; we also test at 3,840 x 2,160 for 4K monitors, there’s the Custom
and try to overclock every graphics card we test to assess the performance impact. Kit award.

35

Wireless
gamingmice
Have wireless gaming mice finally come of age? Edward Chester checks
out some of the latest cable-free gaming rodents
Asus ROG Spatha /p39
Logitech G403 Prodigy Wireless /p40
or many gamers, the absolute
F reliability of a wired gaming
mouse is essential, but if you’re
happy to risk the (very) occasional dropped
connection or slight signal delay then the
convenience of a wireless mouse can’t be
understated. Whether it’s just to avoid the
extra tangle and desk clutter, or to use as
a handy remote when sitting back from your
PC, they’re eminently useful.
Of course, the manufacturers would insist
you never get a dropped connection or
signal delay anyway, and for the most part
that’s true. The latest wireless technologies
are incredibly fast, and in normal operation,
there’s almost no perceptible delay
38
L A B S T E ST
Contents
Logitech G903 Lightspeed Wireless /p41
Razer Lancehead RGB Wireless /p42
Howwetest
between you moving the mouse and seeing
the cursor move. The latest high-end
wireless gaming mice also have ways to
carry on gaming with a wired connection if
the battery runs low, although you may still
have to make that switch mid-game.
All the mice on test this month share the
ability to swap the between a wireless and
wired mode, simply by plugging in the
supplied cable. Meanwhile, one of the main
differentiating factors, aside from design
and button layout, is that some mice have a
mini receiver module that you plug into a
USB port, or onto the end of a cable, while
others also incorporate a charging dock into
the receiver. These docks allow you to just
Roccat Leadr /p44
pop the mouse back on its dock to charge,
without plugging in a cable.
We also have the age-old divide of laser
versus optical sensors. Laser used to be
seen as the natural successor to optical,
but it tends to be a touch less consistent,
particularly on cloth mouse mats, and can
suffer from jitter. Ultimately, it comes down
to personal preference, but for pure gaming,
performance optical gets the nod from us.
We’ve tested each of these mice across
a variety of scenarios, including everyday
desktop use and gaming, both in wired and
wireless modes, looking out for general
ergonomics, tracking performance, signal
reliability and battery life.
Asus ROG Spatha/£130
SUPPLIER www.scan.co.uk
he ROG Spatha is an all-out attempt
I by Asus to create the ultimate
wireless gaming mouse. Just the
sheer mass of extras packed into the box is
impressive. Open it up, and you’ll find the
mouse, a charging dock, a stand for the dock,
a cable for both the mouse and the dock, a
pair of alternative left/right button switches,
a mini torx screwdriver for dismantling the
mouse, a couple of ROG logo stickers and a
neat case to store all those accessories.
The idea behind several of these extras is
that you can customise the mouse. Unscrew
the four screws holding this mouse together
and you can lift off the top and right sections.
You can then have the access required to
swap out the switches, which just push into
place, and Asus provides 3D printing files for
designing your own replacement for the
right-hand side section.
Both switches are made by Omron, and the
installed ones are rated for 20 million clicks
and have an activation force of 60gf (gram
force) while the second set requires a firmer
75gf activation force. However, the second set
is only rated for 1 million clicks.
The features list doesn’t end with the
accessories either. On the mouse itself, you
get six extra buttons over and above your
regular left, right, back, forward and so on.
To the left of the left button, you’ll find two
buttons ready for activation by your index
finger, while another four buttons sit
underneath the back and forward buttons
for activation by your thumb.
It’s impressive stuff, but it all falls down in
the execution of the final product. For a start,
incVAT
whether due to the customisation or the
choice to use a metal framework, the
mouse ends up being huge and heavy.
Weighing in at 179g and measuring 135 x
90 x 43mm, making it far and away the
biggest mouse on test.
This size makes it potentially
awkward enough for many users,
and all those extra buttons under
your thumb don’t leave you with
anywhere to properly grip the
mouse. The only way we found
to do so was to squeeze on the
sharp edge of the chassis right in
front of the mass of buttons, which
wasn’t a particularly practical or
comfortable option.
Of course, your mileage may vary
depending on your hand size, but it seems
unlikely the shape and layout of this mouse
The idea behind even if it did suffer from the usual occasional
several of these extras jittering problems of laser sensors. Despite its
ergonomics, the aesthetic design of the
is that you can mouse has a certain angular appeal and build
quality can’t be faulted, so there’s certainly
customise the mouse plenty of positives here.
However, the whole product ends up being
will find widespread appeal. The quality of a bit of a curate’s egg, and all the extras and
the extra buttons is also questionable, with positives can’t make up for the fact that the
the switches feeling a bit mushy and ROG Spatha is just not an ergonomically well-
indistinct. The main braided cable was designed mouse.
also disappointingly stiff and kinked.
All of which is a shame, as the mouse Conclusion
performs fine. Its wireless connection was Asus has thrown everything including the
fast and reliable and it tracked well enough, kitchen sink into this mouse, but it’s lost sight
of getting the basics right in the process. This
mouse is too large and heavy for the majority
of users, and its mass of extra buttons are
poorly positioned and of middling quality. It’s
a shame, as with a better mouse design, the
Asus ROG Spatha could be a great package.
As it is, its appeal is pretty niche.
PERFORMANCE & DESIGN OVERALL SCORE
72%
28/50
FEATURES VALUE
23/25 21/25
VERDICT
Definitely a try-before-you-buy product,
this mouse has loads of extras, buttons and
customisation options, but it’s ergonomics
are questionable.
39
 L A B S T E ST / WIRELESS GAMING MICE
Logitech G403 Prodigy Wireless/£100
SUPPLIER www.overclockers.co.uk
he Logitech G403, in both its wired
T and wireless forms, was supposed
to be a cut-down, affordable
option for gamers seeking performance
without the frills. However, both mice have
ended up being a little more expensive than
you might expect for a product with such a
description. Nonetheless, thanks to fantastic
core performance, they both remain great
gaming mice.
The G403 Wireless, then, offers a very
basic set of features. It has just six buttons –
left, right, DPI, back, forward and scroll-
wheel-click, and although it has a weights
system, it only provides room for one extra
10g weight. However, this simplicity is partly
what makes this mouse so appealing. Instead
of packing in superfluous features, Logitech
has concentrated on the basics.
As such, the ergonomics are fantastic if
you’re right-handed. It’s compact, yet it also
has a relatively higher central portion and
wide rear that allows for a degree of grip
with the lower section of your hand, while
the two sections of rubber on either side
provide a decent grip for your thumb and little
finger. There’s not much of an overhang at
the top into which to nestle those fingers, but
the grip from the rubber is good enough to
keep it secure.
The overall button layout is also fantastic.
Every single one of the six buttons just sits
exactly where it should, and feels easy to
reach and unobstructed by clutter.
Having the DPI switch as a single button
works surprisingly well too. It’s relatively
40
incVAT
large, so it’s easy to tap it while in the
heat of battle, without fear of missing
or hitting the wrong one out of several
DPI buttons.
Styling, though, isn’t this mouse’s
strong suit. Its simple all-black livery is
inoffensive, but the rather mundane
Logitech logo, single strip of lighting on
the scroll wheel and general lack of flair
means it feels more basic than
beautiful, especially compared with
some of the competition.
The wireless system, meanwhile,
uses the same cable-with-tiny-adaptor
deal as most of the other mice on test
this month.
You can either plug the adaptor
directly into your PC and just have the
cable on standby for charging, or you
can plug the adaptor into the cable
and swap it out when needed –
keeping the adaptor closer might
improve response and reliability.
The cable itself is a plentiful 2.13m
long and braided, plus it’s notably thick
Accurate and incredibly
responsive, it can keep
up with any task you which you can also change. Button
assignments can also be changed and
throw at it macros applied. It works well.
yet supple and arrives completely free of Conclusion
kinks. As such, it’s unlikely to get snagged or The Logitech G403 Wireless nails its remit of
end up pushing around the mouse of delivering all the performance that matters
its own accord. Logitech has also and none of the unnecessary extras. It feels
fitted a 12,000dpi optical great and tracks perfectly; wireless
sensor to the G403, performance is fantastic, and its button
and it’s fantastic. response and layout is perfect. If that’s all that
Accurate and incredibly matters to you then it’s a great buy. Its price of
responsive, it can keep £100 inc VAT might not leap out as a bargain,
up with any task you but the G403 covers all the essentials for the
throw at it. It also cheapest price on test.
doesn’t suffer the
slight drift and jitter
PERFORMANCE & DESIGN OVERALL SCORE
85%
problems of laser sensors.
Install Logitech’s software 45/50
and you can customise the DPI, FEATURES VALUE
polling rate and lighting but not more
advanced settings, such as lift distance.
17/25 23/25
You can choose a single colour for both the VERDICT
wheel and logo too, and adjust brightness. Not an outright bargain, but a truly fantastic core
Alternatively, you can opt for a lighting cycle or experience makes the G403 a great low-cost
breathing effect, the rate and brightness of wireless mouse.

Logitech G903 Lightspeed Wireless/£150
SUPPLIER www.amazon.co.uk
f the G403 Wireless is all about
I keeping it simple, the G903 is
pretty much the polar opposite.
Absolutely festooned with features, this
ambidextrous mouse is less of a pure
performance gaming tool than an attempt
to be the ultimate all-in-one true mouse.
And in many ways it succeeds.
One feature it can’t boast, though, is a
charging dock. It instead uses essentially the
same arrangement as the G403, although
the cable is a little shorter at just 1.83m long.
This lack of a dock was a letdown with the
previous G900, but Logitech has a solution to
the problem this time – you can wirelessly
charge the mouse from a mouse mat.
The PowerPlay mouse mat does cost an
extra £110 inc VAT, but in theory it means you’ll
never have to stop to charge your mouse
again. Sadly, Logitech didn’t provide the
PowerPlay mat for us to test this feature.
Otherwise, the G903 is basically identical to
the G900. As such, it sports the same rather
odd design, with its chopped out mid-section.
Along with its rather token RGB lighting, which
just illuminates the Logitech logo, it makes for
mouse that isn’t particularly attractive.
However, looks can be deceiving, as it’s
surprisingly comfortable to use. It has just the
right amount of bulk at the back to nestle in
the meat of your hand, while the sides are
expertly contoured to provide an easy grip
for your fingertips. In fact, it’s so well
proportioned and balanced that the lack of
any rubber on the sides doesn’t really affect
how secure it feels. This feeling is probably
helped by it being a relatively lightweight
mouse, weighing in at just 110g.
Logitech offers a weights system with the
G903 but, like the G403, it consists of just one
ELITE
NEWENTRY
P64
incVAT
10g weight. Also helping with handling is
arguably the killer feature of this mouse: its
swappable back/forward buttons. As it has
an ambidextrous design, it has to have
buttons on both sides of the mouse, which
can often lead to a compromised layout
that tries to balance accessibility, by
ensuring the other buttons aren’t easily
pressed by your little and ring fingers.
On the G903, though, the buttons can
be removed and replaced with a blank
spacer. This system revolutionises the
usability of the mouse, making it
genuinely comfortable and easy to use
without fear of accidental button presses.
It’s a shame, then, that Logitech has
slightly messed up in other areas. DPI
switching is achieved via an odd two-
button system that sits in the middle of
the mouse, for example. This layout is
made doubly awkward thanks to the
positioning of another extra button in
front of them.
It has just the right
amount of bulk at the
back to nestle in the
meat of your hand
Conclusion
This extra button switches the scroll wheel The Logitech G903 is almost the perfect
between a freewheeling mode and notched wireless gaming mouse. Its ingenious
feedback. It’s great if you love freewheeling ambidextrous design, light weight and
scroll wheels, but for pure gaming mice, a excellent performance means it gets most
lightweight, notched wheel is generally of the basics right.
preferred for scrolling through weapons. Add in the wireless charging mat and it
Here, even in its notched configuration, the becomes even more convincing, if you have
heavy metal wheel can carry too much the money, of course.
momentum and scroll further than desired. However, its heavy scroll wheel,
Your mileage may vary, though, and unattractive looks and odd DPI switching
combined with the otherwise good overall system let it down, particularly at this price. If
layout, ergonomics and button none of those issues is a deal breaker for you,
response, it could quite well be though, the G903 is a great mouse.
the ideal mouse for some
people, especially as the
PERFORMANCE & DESIGN OVERALL SCORE
81%
tracking performance
is also excellent. The 40/50
G903 uses the FEATURES VALUE
same 12,000dpi
optical sensor
22/25 19/25
as the G403 and VERDICT
it performs An odd-looking mouse with a couple of strange
flawlessly, as does design choices, but its core performance can’t
the wireless signal. be faulted and it feels fantastic in your hand.
41
 L A B S T E ST / WIRELESS GAMING MICE
Razer Lancehead RGB Wireless/£140
SUPPLIER www.overclockers.co.uk
he Razer Mamba has been one of
T the most popular wireless gaming
mice for years now, but it was last
updated a couple of years ago. Instead, the
company’s latest wireless offering is the new
Razer Lancehead RGB Wireless. It offers an
ambidextrous design and Razer claims it has
the most advanced wireless connection yet,
but it loses some features too.
The big feature that’s missing is a dock/
wireless receiver in which you can nestle
the mouse to charge it. Instead, you have
to connect the mouse to a micro-USB cable
to charge it. This system works well, and still
allows you to play games while the mouse is
plugged in, but it’s just far less convenient
overall than having a separate dock.
On the plus side, though, the Lancehead
has a feature that the Mamba lacks – an
ambidextrous design. This design will
immediately make the Lancehead far more
appealing for lefties. The overall ergonomics
of the mouse are good whether you’re left or
right-handed too, but there are a few areas
where the Mamba might be preferred if
you’re right-handed. It has a slightly higher
and fatter backside, for example, which
allows you to get more of a grip with the base
of your thumb and little finger, and makes it
better suited for palm-grip users.
The ambidextrous design also means the
Lancehead uses smaller back and forward
buttons so they’re not easily pressed
accidentally by your little finger, but they also
mean they’re less accessible for your thumb.
Nonetheless, the Lancehead is a comfortable
mouse overall. The thick and large slabs of
rubber down the sides provide plenty of grip,
and the contouring is very good for an
ambidextrous design. The balance isn’t ideal
for finger-grip gaming, as the back tends to
fall and drag as you lift and move, but most
wireless mice struggle a similar way.
In terms of features, the Lancehead is
a simple mouse. You get a conventional
42
incVAT
lightweight, notched scroll wheel, a couple
of DPI switches that sit behind this wheel,
and the four back/forward buttons. Flip
the mouse over and it has an on/off
switch, a wireless sync button and a little
door in which you can stow the tiny
wireless adaptor.
As well as the adaptor, you also get
a 2.1m cable and a micro-USB to USB
converter for if you want to plug the
adaptor into the end of the cable. One
annoyance with this mouse, which doesn’t
appear on any of the other mice on test, is
that the micro-USB port on the mouse is
inaccessible for all but the slimmest of
micro-USB cables – finding a spare will
be difficult.
The gunmetal version we’ve
reviewed looks good too, and the
overall vibe is a good balance of flashy
The thick and large
slabs of rubber down
the sides provide
plenty of grip
but not garish, thanks especially to the The mouse also glides smoothly, and at 104g,
RGB lighting that illuminates the scroll it’s impressively lightweight too, although
wheel, Razer logo and lines down either there’s no weights system on offer.
side of the mouse.
Razer has opted for a laser rather than Conclusion
optical sensor here, which rather goes against The Razer Lancehead is a great-performing
the trend in recent high-end gaming mice. wireless mouse that’s sure to have
Some wireless users might prefer the better widespread appeal thanks to its
multi-surface tracking of laser than the ambidextrous design. However, its lack of a
slightly more consistent performance of charging dock makes it seem like poor value
optical, but you can tell the difference, and compared with the Razer Mamba, and the
we find that the consistent reliability of an always-online software and laser sensor
optical sensor is the preferable priority. won’t be to everyone’s taste either. In this
Otherwise, performance is good. Any price league, Logitech’s G903 is a more
lag due to the wireless signal is all but flexible ambidextrous mouse, but the Razer
imperceptible and tracking is very accurate. Lancehead gets a lot right too.
PERFORMANCE & DESIGN OVERALL SCORE
80%
42/50
FEATURES VALUE
20/25 18/25
VERDICT
A good-performing ambidextrous gaming
mouse, although it isn’t without a couple
of issues.
 L A B S T E ST / WIRELESS GAMING MICE

Roccat Leadr/£122 incVAT

SUPPLIER www.scan.co.uk

he Roccat Leadr is another all-out, Nonetheless, with its default

T bells and whistles, kitchen sink of a
mouse, including a mass of buttons
and a fancy charging dock. Perhaps crucially,
though, it’s priced that bit lower than the other
similarly specced-up models on test, making
it the stand-out bargain of the bunch.
The most prominent feature you notice on
this mouse is its dock. Not only is it enormous,
measuring 184 x 122 x 120mm, but it also
stands vertically, giving the impression that
your mouse is a hanging piece of artwork as it
sits there charging. It’s also adorned with five
LEDs that indicate the charging status, and an
illuminated Roccat logo – it isn’t subtle, but it
does look good.
Then there’s the mouse itself, which is
similarly bold in its design and is also
festooned with buttons. Alongside the usual
complement of buttons, there are four more
of them flanking the left and right buttons,
and a left/right tilt switch that sits behind the
scroll wheel. In addition, there’s also a solitary
button that sits on a projection below where
your thumb rests, and above the thumb, you’ll
find an analogue thumb paddle.
The result is a mouse that looks, and at
first feels, like it would be impossible to use
without constantly accidentally knocking
those extra buttons. However, it isn’t that
bad in use, and generally held up well in our
gaming sessions with a little tweaking.
configuration, in Counter-Strike:
Global Offensive, we found the
analogue paddle would get
knocked and switch weapons.
You could disable this paddle, of
course, or any of the buttons for
in-game use, but it’s a bit of a pain
to have to do so.
Otherwise, the overall
ergonomics of the mouse
are decent, thanks to
sensibly scalloped
sections for the thumb
and little/ring fingers,
and a rear that’s sizeable
enough to get some
purchase for palm-grip
users, while not being so big
that it constricts movement
for fingertip-grip users.
However, the lack of rubber on
the sides means it’s not quite as
grippy as some mice, so you have
to hold on a little tighter, which can
be get tiring over longer periods.
As for overall performance, the
PixArt Owl-Eye optical 12,000dpi sensor
works wonders, providing perfectly accurate
and responsive movement. Likewise, the
comprehensive, providing a mass of options
It stands vertically, for customising the mouse’s actions and
performance. It verges on the side of being a
giving the impression little bloated, but it’s largely a pleasure to use.

that your mouse is a Conclusion

hanging piece of art
wireless signal is excellent. We only
experienced a couple of dropouts, and that
was when the battery was running low.
Speaking of the battery, Roccat’s 20-hour
claim was largely borne out in use, with it
easily lasting a day but struggling to last
two full days in a row – a performance
characteristic shared by all the mice on
The Roccat Leadr is a great wireless mouse
for gamers seeking a good balance of
performance, features and price. Its mass of
buttons and proper charging dock means it
has more features than most, and it costs a
fair bit less than the feature-rich competition
too. However, ergonomically, its lack of rubber
sides and overload of buttons means it takes
a while to get used to the Leadr.
PERFORMANCE & DESIGN OVERALL SCORE

84%
test. Also, like the other mice on test, you
can just plug in a micro-USB cable to 38/50
carry on using the Leader even when FEATURES VALUE
the battery has run out.
What’s more, the provided
24/25 22/25
cable has a locking system so VERDICT
that the cable can’t be pulled out Great performance and loads of features for the
accidentally. Meanwhile, Roccat’s money, although it takes a while to get used to
accompanying Swarm software is the Leadr’s ergonomics and mass of buttons.

44
 LABS TEST

L A B S T E ST

NAS effect
Want to add some always-on storage to your network, but don’t have masses
of cash and only need one hard drive? Antony Leather tests four of the latest
single-bay NAS enclosures to see which ones deserve your cash

Contents
Buffalo LinkStation 210 /p47 Seagate Personal Cloud /p49 Results graphs /p52
QNAP TS-131P /p48 Synology DS116 /p50

e’ve included both vacant and
W occupied NAS enclosures in this
month’s group test, depending
on which setup the manufacturer sent for
review, although there will likely be a variety
of setups of some models available. Where
a NAS enclosure is diskless, we set up a 4TB
WD Red hard disk with the enclosure’s
default settings. Otherwise, we used the
hard disk included with the enclosure, which
in both cases this month was a 3TB model.
Howwetest
To test each NAS, we used Intel’s NAS
Performance Toolkit software, which tests
the enclosures in a number of areas. The
video playback test mimics four concurrent
video streams, and is a good indicator of
maximum speed, as well as a NAS box’s
ability to deal with multiple users streaming
media at the same time.
Meanwhile, the file tests deal with large
single file transfers, demonstrating how an
enclosure performs when reading and
writing large files, such as ISOs and videos.
The final test looks at the speed at which
entire directories, containing lots of small
and medium-sized files, can be handled; in
the real world, these might include your
photo collection or office files.
We used a PC with a Kingston HyperX
Predator M.2 PCI-E SSD to ensure there
was no performance bottleneck, while the
PC and NAS enclosures were both attached
to the same 4-port Gigabit switch.

46
Buffalo LinkStation 210 3TB/£103 incVAT

SUPPLIER www.ebuyer.com / MODEL NUMBER LS210D0301-EU

f the Seagate Personal Cloud (see

I p49) seems like good value for 3TB
of network-attached storage then
the Buffalo LinkStation 210 is even cheaper,
retailing for just over £100 despite including a
3TB hard disk in the equation too. It’s around
the same size as the Personal Cloud, and only
a little bigger than the hard disk inside.
However, Buffalo has at least thought of
cooling, with large vents in the base and roof,
along with rubber feet to dampen vibrations
from the hard drive.
It isn’t as quiet as the QNAP and Synology
enclosures on test (see p48 and p50),
though, and you can hear a little hard disk
noise, especially when under load.
Amazingly, despite the chassis costing
barely any more than the 3TB hard disk inside
it, Buffalo has also managed to include a USB
port, but sadly, it only supports USB 2, and
there’s no Wi-Fi dongle or support for a USB
sound device, unlike the QNAP and Synology
enclosures on test.
Meanwhile, the Buffalo’s operating
system is very basic, but you do get some
extras over the Seagate Personal Cloud,
such as a download manager and BitTorrent
client. As you’d expect, there’s also DLNA
support, so your smart TV or console will be
able to stream content from the LinkStation
210, and while the USB port might lack the
speed needed to deal with large amounts of
data, you can use it to share a printer over
your network.
The biggest omissions are media servers, while the Buffalo misses out on some Conclusion
although you wouldn’t really features, it proved to be quicker If you just want a cheap and easy way to
expect them at this price anyway. than the more expensive share your data across a local network then it
There’s no Plex support or Seagate Personal cloud, being doesn’t come much more affordable than the
dedicated photo, video or file twice as fast in the directory Buffalo LinkStation 210, and the download
servers, as you’ll find on the read test and much faster in manager and USB port will likely come in
QNAP and Synology, and many the directory write test too. handy too. Just don’t expect your data to be
of these features are included in It also wasn’t much slower dished out at anywhere near Gigabit speeds,
the slightly more expensive than the QNAP and Synology and you don’t get much in the way of media
Seagate Personal Cloud too. enclosures in the file read and server features either.
Thankfully, you get iTunes server video playback tests, but was
support, and shared folders can noticeably slower when writing
PERFORMANCE FEATURES OVERALL SCORE

80%
also be used to dish out content files, managing only 71MB/sec
over your network. compared to 121MB/sec for the 23/35 28/35
Remote access is possible top-scoring Synology DS116. VALUE
too, but setting it up is a pain and
access is rather limited, with
Its peak speed was 100MB/
sec in the video playback test,
29/30
none of the in-browser or but it only managed to get above VERDICT
in-app playback for content 71MB/sec in this one test – A simple and affordable way too add network
you can perform with the other elsewhere, it was usually a long storage, but it was fairly slow in most of our
devices we’ve tested this way from pushing our Gigabit tests and the competition offers more in the
month. Thankfully, though, network connection. way of media servers.

47
 L A B S T E ST / SINGLE-BAY NAS BOXES

QNAP TS-131P/£168
£168 incVAT

SUPPLIER www.ebuyer.com

ne manufacturer able to bring

O the fight to Synology (see p50) in
terms of OS features is QNAP, and
with 1GB of DDR3 memory and a 1.7GHz dual-
core Alpine AL-212 CPU, the TS-131P and
DS-116 are also evenly matched in terms of
specifications. However, the QNAP NAS has
a few extra features.
Firstly, it has a front-located USB 3 port and
a one-touch copy button, which is more
convenient than reaching around the back to
access the Synology DS116’s rear ports. The
TS-131P has an additional USB 3 port too, and
a removable hard disk tray, which saves you
from removing half the case to install or
remove the hard disk.
The TS-131P’s fan is slightly smaller than
the spinner in the Synology NAS, though, and
was a little louder under full load, although
you’d need to be located within a couple of
feet of the unit to hear it.
Like Synology, QNAP offers all its apps
across all its NAS models, including the
cheaper ones, along with the same operating
system. In this case, the OS is called QTS. You
get the full suite of media servers, which cater
for photos, videos, music and files, plus
surveillance cameras, Internet sharing and
cloud functions. It took less than ten minutes
to set up these apps, and with an array of
mobile apps, or alternatively through a
browser, you’re able to watch videos and
view your other content and files over any It also took a little longer to set up certain Conclusion
Internet connection. features than on the Synology, such as Cloud While Synology’s operating system is a little
Plex is supported, as is access, but it’s unlikely you’d more polished and easier to use in some
iTunes server, and it’s need to do much of this areas, QNAP isn’t far behind, and the TS-131P
possible to create your own setup work too often. offers a vast feature set and plenty of
Dropbox-like cloud too. If you In the Intel NAS automation when it comes to setting up its
want to place the NAS in an performance test, the QNAP various features.
outbuilding or loft, it supports led most of the performance The QNAP TS-131P also includes handy
Wi-Fi dongles as well, so you graphs, edging out the USB ports and a trouble-free setup, so
don’t need to physically Synology NAS in the file read overall, it’s a slightly better buy than the
connect it near your router or and directory read tests by Synology DS116, justifying its higher price tag
use a powerline adaptor. noticeable margins and just if you need a fast, feature-laden single-bay
Like the Synology DS116, claiming the top spot in the NAS enclosure.
the TS-131P also supports video playback test, with a
many external USB sound peak speed in file writing of
PERFORMANCE FEATURES OVERALL SCORE
cards and speakers, allowing 121MB/sec. Its performance

86%
you to connect them straight in the directory read test was 33/35 32/35
to the NAS and use it as a impressive too – good news if VALUE
music server.
Overall, QNAP’s OS is
you’ll be dealing with masses
of photos or file-packed
21/30
good, but some areas felt folders. It proved to be nearly VERDICT
a little clunky and not quite 50 per cent quicker than any Expensive for a single-bay diskless
as visually appealing as other NAS enclosure here in enclosure, but the QNAP is powerful and
Synology’s DSM interface. these directory read tests. loaded with features.

48
 ELITE
NEWENTRY
P64

Seagate Personal Cloud 3TB/£114 incVAT

SUPPLIER www.scan.co.uk / MODEL NUMBER STCR3000200

hile Synology and QNAP have opted

W for feature-rich operating
systems and a vacant
drive bay, the Seagate
Personal Cloud forsakes
some of the bells and
whistles, but is equipped
with a 3TB hard disk.
Seeing as these drives
retail for around £80 on
their own, the Personal
Cloud’s Ethernet and USB
port-equipped enclosure effectively
costs a fraction of the others on test. As with
the Buffalo LinkStation 210, the question is
whether it’s worth saving money by
sacrificing features and speed.
The chassis is extremely compact, and only
a little thicker than the hard disk itself. It’s also
quite attractive, looking a little like the black
The beauty is that you
monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey. Sadly,
you can’t buy the enclosure diskless – only in
need to do very little write test, so it’s clear you’ll be waiting around
a lot if you plan to transfer lots of large files or
3TB, 4TB or 5TB capacities, with our sample to get the basics up packed directories.
sporting a 3TB hard disk, but the beauty is that
you need to do very little to get the basics up and running Conclusion
and running. There’s no cooling fan, though, Despite its simple installation process,
so it’s best left in the open, and it’s also a tad back up data from your PC or smartphone, reasonable set of features and excellent
on the noisy side. Comparatively, the QNAP as well as stream your content. value considering it also includes a 3TB hard
and Synology enclosures help to contain the The list of apps is short, though, as disk, the Seagate Personal Cloud’s slow
decibels thanks to their larger cases. there’s no download manager, BitTorrent speeds in many of our tests are a problem if
Shared folders for music, photos and download support or surveillance server, you regularly read and write lots of data. Even
videos are ready and waiting as soon as you and the features on offer are mostly less the cheaper Buffalo LinkStation 210 is faster
connect the Personal Cloud to your router, capable than the equivalents on the more in this respect. If frequent file dumps are a
and your libraries are accessible using UPnP/ expensive devices. regular activity, you’ll be better off, and less
DLNA compatible devices such as smart TVs. In terms of performance, the Personal frustrated, opting for a more expensive NAS.
It also sports Plex and iTunes servers as well Cloud was mostly able to just about
as Nero’s MediaHome, which works a lot like keep up with the fastest results on test,
PERFORMANCE FEATURES OVERALL SCORE

Plex and allows you to stream your content to
all manner of devices.
Meanwhile, the operating system is fairly
well laid out, but it lacks the desktop feel of
the QNAP and Synology devices, with just a
few simple menus that aren’t particularly
clear. Setting up cloud sharing was also
trickier than on the QNAP and Synology
boxes, but once it’s done, you can upload and
78%
even managing a peak speed of 100MB/sec
in the video playback test, but it was very 20/35 31/35
slow when dealing with large directories. VALUE
It could only muster 7MB/sec and
6MB/sec respectively when reading
27/30
and writing in Intel’s NAS performance VERDICT
directory test, with all other NAS A reasonable ready-to-roll network storage
enclosures offering much faster speeds. device, but it struggles when reading and
It was also less than half as quick in the file writing large amounts of data.

49
 L A B S T E ST / SINGLE-BAY NAS BOXES

Synology DiskStation DS116/£142 incVAT

SUPPLIER www.box.co.uk

s well as making a variety of

A multiple-bay NAS enclosures,
Synology also offers one or two
single-bay units with every generation, and
the most current is the DS116. At £142 inc VAT,
it costs £50 more than the previous single-
bay unit, the DS115, but it steps up the
specifications. The Marvell Armada 385 dual-
core CPU in the DS116 is 1GHz faster than the
Armada 375 in the DS115, and the 1GB of
DDR3 RAM is double the amount found in
the DS115 too.
The newer model also supports larger hard
disks, at 10TB compared to 6TB, and while
you lose an eSATA port, you gain a rear USB 3
port. There are no front USB ports, which are
included on the QNAP TS-131P, but as well as
USB sound cards and Wi-Fi dongles, USB 3
hubs and card readers are supported if you
need easy access to the rear ports. The fan is
larger and slightly quieter than the one in
QNAP’s TS-131P as well, comfortably making
the DS116 the quietest NAS on test, while also
keeping your hard disk cool.
Meanwhile, the latest version of Synology’s
desktop-styled DiskStation Manager is
blissfully easy to use, and includes even
more features than before. However, you’ll
need to install most of them manually using
the one-click installers in Synology’s included
Package Centre.
The DS116 supports Plex media server, as
well as its own video, photo, audio and file
servers, all of which can dish out data across synchronise it between your devices. Conclusion
your local network or the Internet. There’s Meanwhile, the mobile apps enable you to We’ve loved Synology’s NAS boxes for years
also an iTunes server, plus a upload photos and videos and the company’s DSM operating system is
recent addition called USB from your smartphone and still our first choice, all other features aside. It’s
copy, which allows you to watch content from your NAS slick and easy to use and offers a wealth of
configure what happens on the move over Wi-Fi or apps and features. However, while the DS116
when you connect a USB cellular networks. is certainly quick, the QNAP TS-131P is faster
flash drive. You can simply The Synology DS116 didn’t in several tests and also offers more
copy all the data and have the quite rule the roost in the conveniently placed USB ports. If £140 is
NAS delete the copies on the performance tests, but it put your limit, though, and you want the best
drive, create a mirror of the in a very strong showing that NAS operating system available, you won’t
data or only copy modified had the measure of the be disappointed by the Synology DS116.
source files. cheaper NAS enclosures
There are dozens of other on test this month. It was
PERFORMANCE FEATURES OVERALL SCORE
apps too, catering for cloud twice as fast as the Seagate

85%
services such as Dropbox and Personal Cloud in the 31/35 31/35
surveillance servers, anti- directory read and write tests, VALUE
virus, and a superb download
manager that offers
and quicker than the Buffalo
LinkStation 210 in every test
23/30
BitTorrent support with a too. The QNAP TS-131P was VERDICT
comprehensive scheduler. quicker in most tests, though, A superb NAS enclosure with oodles of
It’s also simple to create your especially in the directory features and apps – it’s only let down by
own cloud file server and read and file read tests. mediocre performance in a couple of tests.

50
Advanced design,
for your greatest creations
This Philips UltraWide 34" display will amaze you with its Crystalclear
3440 x 1440 images and brilliant colours. Its fascinating UltraWide display
with height adjustablity gives you a panoramic view of the world.

34" UltraWide curved monitor

349X7FJEW
L A B S T E ST / SINGLE-BAY NAS BOXES

SINGLE-BAY NAS PERFORMANCE RESULTS

All tests conducted with Intel NAS Performance Toolkit
4X VIDEO PLAYBACK (MB/SEC)

QNAP TS-131P 108

Synology DS116 107

Seagate Personal
100
Cloud

Buffalo 99
LinkStation 210

0 30 60 90 120

FILE READ (MB/SEC) FILE WRITE (MB/SEC)

QNAP TS-131P 84 Synology DS116 121

Synology DS116 75 QNAP TS-131P 114

Seagate Personal Buffalo

71 71
Cloud LinkStation 210

Buffalo Seagate Personal

68 55
LinkStation 210 Cloud

0 25 50 75 100 0 35 70 105 140

DIRECTORY READ (MB/SEC) DIRECTORY WRITE (MB/SEC)

QNAP TS-131P 28 Synology DS116 21

Synology DS116 19 QNAP TS-131P 20

Buffalo Buffalo 9
15
LinkStation 210 LinkStation 210

Seagate Personal Seagate Personal

7 6
Cloud Cloud

0 8 16 24 32 0 6 12 18 24

INTERESTED IN
MAGAZINE If so, IPSO, the regulator of magazines and newspapers, is looking for
people to join their Readers’ Advisory Panel. The panel – which will meet

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52 If you are interested, please go to: www.ipso.co.uk/about-ipso/vacancies/

 From Apple to Zeiss,
and everything in between

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DIYconsoles
Gareth Halfacree digs out his soldering iron and puts
four portable games console kits to the test
Arduboy/£48 incVAT
SUPPLIER https://shop.pimoroni.com
here the Creoqode
W 2048 (opposite)
would stretch the
baggiest of ‘parachute pants’
pockets, the Arduboy is by far
the most portable device on
test. No bigger than a stack
of credit cards, the Arduboy
can even slide straight into
your wallet.
Inspired in its appearance by
Nintendo’s classic Game Boy,
the Arduboy arrives entirely
preassembled and ready to go.
A four-way direction pad and
two buttons occupy the
bottom two-thirds of the device,
while the bright single-colour
OLED display panel takes up
the top third.
With a 128 x 64 resolution, the
Arduboy’s single-colour screen
is the most detailed of all the
devices on test, and second
only to the Creoqode 2048 in
brightness. It does, however,
suffer from banding issues, with
horizontal lines typically
extending past their end point as
a highly distracting shadow.
Games are loaded onto the
Arduboy one at a time, just as with the
Creoqode 2048, by loading their source code
into the Arduino IDE.
The games themselves are
written around the Arduboy’s
custom framework, which
makes driving the display,
handling sprites and adding
basic sound effects as simple
as possible.
A major strength of the
Arduboy is its community; the
official forum is host to users
from around the world, many
54
LABS TEST
of whom make the source code for their
games freely available for others to play or
modify. These programs can range from
simple animations to complex,
multi-level puzzle games.
There are weaknesses in the
Arduboy’s design though. That
compact body leaves little room
for a battery, with the device
running flat after around six
hours of playtime – a
disappointment given the small,
energy-efficient OLED display.
The sound capabilities are
also weaker than those of the
competition, with the Arduboy only offering
single-channel beeps and boops, compared
with the Gamebuino and Makerbuino’s
4-channel symphony.
A bigger argument against the Arduboy,
though, is its lack of expandability. Where both
the Gamebuino and Makerbuino offer inter-
integrated circuit (I²C) connection support for
add-on hardware or multiplayer gaming, the
Arduboy is fixed and unchanging.
Although the 16MHz ATmega32U4
microcontroller that powers the device
has unused pins, they’re inaccessible
without cracking open the chassis and
soldering your own wires into place, a
process that also immediately removes the
Arduboy’s pocketability.
Conclusion
If you want to impress your friends with a tiny,
wallet-borne games console, the Arduboy is
the obvious choice. For anyone looking to
learn about programming and electronics,
though, there are better options.
VERDICT OVERALL SCORE
70%
The Arduboy is
impressively small and
has a comparatively
detailed screen, but its
battery life is low, the sound could be better
and it lacks expandability.
/SPECIFICATIONS
CPU16MHzAtmelATmega32U4
Programmemory32KB
Display128x64single-colourOLED
ButtonsSix
AudioSingle-channel
StatedbatterylifeSixhours
StorageSinglegame,internal
Dimensions(mm)53x6x85(WxDxH)
Weight36g
Creoqode 2048/£189
SUPPLIER www.creoqode.com
f you’re in the market for a
I pocket-sized handheld console,
the Creoqode 2048 should
drop right off your list. Measuring nearly
30cm wide and weighing 538g, the 2048
is an absolute beast of a machine, thanks
primarily to a large full-colour LED matrix
display that dominates the front of the device.
Originally designed for digital signage, the
LED matrix has a low resolution – just 64
pixels wide by 32 pixels tall – but it’s
extremely bright. The display, thankfully,
comes pre-assembled. In fact, the kit as a
whole can be assembled almost without
touching a soldering iron, using only the
bundled tools and a cross-head screwdriver.
That ‘almost’ is important though. While the
2048 is indeed designed to be put together
using little more than the simple tools
included in the imposing packaging, the wires
included with the 18650 lithium-ion battery
holder are too thin to support the current draw
of that impressive display. As a result, unless
you solder thicker wires in their place using
the guide provided on Creoqode’s website,
you’ll find the device rebooting when too
many pixels are lit.
incVAT
It’s an oversight that casts a shadow
over what could have been an extremely
impressive device. There’s also a notable lack
of a gaming framework for programming your
own titles, and the examples are weak too.
Couple these shortcomings with the use of
physically impressive, but awkward to push,
anti-vandal-style switches for the buttons,
and the 2048 is likely to prove a source of as
much pain as pleasure.
The battery glitch aside, assembly is
straightforward. The whole build process
takes anywhere between one and three
hours, depending on your experience and
how often you drop the small M2 nuts.
Progress can also be slowed via the pin-by-
pin wiring of the display and instructional
images that rely on the precise orientation of
hard-to-see pieces of transparent acrylic.
If you’re willing to overlook some of these
shortcomings, the 2048 is by far the most
powerful device on test. Based on an
Atmel ATmega2560 microcontroller,
the development board that powers
the 2048 has plenty of spare pins for
expansion, which makes it doubly
confusing that Creoqode left out any
means for the 2048 to produce sound.
Conclusion
It’s the pricing, though, that really does for the
Creoqode 2048. When devices such as the
Gamebuino offer a more established
ecosystem and more features – albeit
without that eye-catching LED display – for
a fifth of the price, the 2048 is a hard device
to recommend.
VERDICT OVERALL SCORE
45%
A comparatively
powerful device, but
some of the included
hardware isn’t up to the
job, and the console is also big, overpriced
and lacking in ecosystem support.
/SPECIFICATIONS
CPU16MHzAtmelATmega2560
Programmemory256KB
Display64x32RGBLEDmatrix
ButtonsSix
AudioNone
StatedbatterylifeFivehours
StorageSinglegame,internal
Dimensions(mm)293x33x108(WxDxH)
Weight538g
55
 L A B S T E ST / DIY CONSOLES

Gamebuino/£35 incVAT

SUPPLIER http://gamebuino.com

he Gamebuino immediately
T distinguishes itself from the
competition by having a micro-SD
card slot. Rather than loading games one at a
time onto its microcontroller ‘brain’, games
are instead stored as precompiled memory
dumps on this flash card, and even the
smallest micro-SD card can hold literally
hundreds of thousands of titles.
The micro-SD slot gives the Gamebuino
the clever ability to switch games on the fly.
Where the Arduboy and Creoqode 2048 are
both limited to holding a single game at a
time, requiring connection to a PC running the
Arduino IDE to switch to another program
remove and replace a few screws to rid the
acrylic casing of its protective film, and you’re
then ready to go. A bundled 128MB micro-SD
card is loaded with games from the
Gamebuino forum, and only needs to be
slotted into place. You then just need to switch
on the Gamebuino to begin playing.
You can also write your own games using
the Gamebuino framework. The framework
includes options for creating game menus
and saving games – the data is written to the
ATMega328P’s EEPROM memory, then
saved to the micro-SD card when you switch
games – plus it provides the ability to create
high-score tables and more.
single-colour 84 x 48 LCD panel is recycled
from old Nokia 3310 and 5510 featurephones,
which gives the Gamebuino some green
points but means you’re near guaranteed to
receive one with at least a few minor scuffs
and scratches.
Conclusion
Despite niggles with the screen quality, the
Gamebuino’s pocket-friendly size and weight
and flexibility make it a bargain for its asking
price of just £35 inc VAT.
VERDICT OVERALL SCORE

when you’re bored, the Gamebuino is far
more flexible: just reset the device, choose a
new game from the file browser and wait a
few seconds for it to be loaded into memory.
Like the Arduboy, the Gamebuino is
supplied preassembled, although you need to
82%
There’s also multiplayer potential, which is Small, light and flexible,
physically achieved by linking two or more the Gamebuino is a
Gamebuinos through the inter-integrated bargain for the money,
circuit (I²C) headers at the top edge. These and the micro-SD card
headers can also be used to add extra stores loads of games. The only niggle is the
hardware, such as microphones, motion recycled Nokia phone screen.
sensors, LEDs or motors.
It’s only when you dive into some of the /SPECIFICATIONS
examples that the power of the Gamebuino CPU16MHzAtmelATmega328P
becomes apparent, however. There are Programmemory32KB
implementations of ray-casting 3D engines, Display84x48single-colourfront-litLCD
4-channel polyphonic synthesisers, MP3 ButtonsSeven
players; even the demo of Conway’s Game of AudioFour-channel
Life has a trick up its sleeve, using a light- Statedbatterylife12hours
dependent resistor to kill off the cells when StorageMultigame,micro-SD
it’s too dark. Dimensions(mm)95x19x49(WxDxH)
The only major annoyance with the Weight57g
Gamebuino comes from its display. The

56
Makerbuino/£35
SUPPLIER http://makerbuino.com
he Makerbuino is, as a glance at its
T picture will reveal, effectively a
Gamebuino in disguise. It takes the
open source design of the original console
and converts it into a kit that you can solder
yourself using easy-to-handle through-hole
components (a preassembled version is also
available for an extra charge). In doing so,
however, the Makerbuino improves on the
original in several areas.
A key enhancement is in the handling of
sound: where the Gamebuino has a preset
volume level and can only output to its built-
in speaker, the Makerbuino has a physical
volume control, and a 3.5mm headphone jack
with a physical mute switch to disable the
rear-facing speaker when the jack is in use.
Another improvement comes in form of the
battery, which has had its capacity doubled
from 300mAh to 600mAh. As a result, you
can expect a rough doubling of runtime, from
an already impressive 12 hours for the
Gamebuino to 24 hours for the Makerbuino.
Not every change is for the better though.
The move to a physical slider for the display
incVAT
front light – as with the Gamebuino, a recycled
Nokia LCD – has cost the Makerbuino the
light-dependent resistor, and programming
the device directly requires the use of a
bundled USB-to-TTL serial adaptor rather
than a simple micro-USB cable.
Direct programming, though, would be an
unusual way to use the Makerbuino. As with
the Gamebuino, games are stored on a
bundled SD card, although it’s a full-sized card
rather than a micro-SD one now. The use of a
full-sized slot makes soldering the slot onto
the board easier for beginners, and you’re free
to switch between the games at any point
without the need for a PC.
Thanks to the use of mostly through-hole
components, the Makerbuino’s assembly
process is straightforward but time-
consuming: expect to spend two to five hours,
depending on your soldering experience. One
particularly tricky part comes when soldering
the lithium-polymer charging circuit to the
main Makerbuino board, which requires you
to use previously cut-off component legs to
create links between the two.
The build process isn’t aided by the
currently rather outdated instructions either.
Despite only recently launching after its
crowdfunding campaign, the Makerbuino has
already gone through a few minor changes,
including the pre-soldering of the battery
connector, but these changes will soon be
addressed in updates to the documentation.
Conclusion
The Makerbuino is time-consuming and
occasionally tricky to assemble, but its feature
set, accessibility, battery life and sound
features, as well as the great selection of
games on offer, easily make it the best pick
of the bunch, especially for the price.
VERDICT OVERALL SCORE
87%
Adding a volume control,
headphone jack and
long-life battery to the
Gamebuino makes the
Makerbuino the best of the bunch, although
you’ll need to assemble it yourself.
/SPECIFICATIONS
CPU16MHzAtmelATmega328p
Programmemory32KB
Display84x48single-colourfront-litLCD
ButtonsSeven
AudioFour-channel
Statedbatterylife24hours
StorageMultigame,micro-SD
Dimensions(mm)139x26x66(WxDxH)
Weight155g
57
 R E V I E WS / NEW KIT

PC system reviews
GAMING PC

CCL Shadow Hawk/£1,950 incVAT

SUPPLIER www.cclonline.com

here’s a lot to be said for taking the time to put

T together an aesthetically pleasing PC. Extra care
in this department will never increase frame rates,
but a good-looking system is bound to draw admiring
glances, while also looking good in your home, and CCL’s
Shadow Hawk is an impressive example of putting together
an attractive system. The rig uses an orange, white and
black theme, and CCL has gone the extra mile: the front of
the Phanteks case is decorated with an angular vinyl
coating, and the main PSU cables are individually threaded
in the relevant colours.
Elsewhere, the RGB LEDs in the Asus Strix graphics card
and motherboard are tuned to glow with a consistent
orange, and CCL has installed Adata RGB memory, setting
the DIMMs to glow with the same colour lighting. There’s an
RGB LED in the front of the case that gives the desk an
orange glow as well.
It’s a smart-looking machine, and those internals can be is all fine at this price, although the 250GB SSD will soon
seen through the Phanteks case’s tempered glass side run out of space with a few of today’s game installs.
panel. The P400S is a high-quality, mid-sized enclosure, Meanwhile, the CCL’s Asus ROG Strix B350-F
with its PSU and a single 3.5in bay sitting beneath a shroud at motherboard has a mix of solid features and a mid-range
the bottom, while two 2.5in drive mounts are found at the chipset. It has the usual beefed-up audio and USB 3.1 ports,
back. The Phanteks is sturdy, with easy access RGB LEDs and steel-reinforced PCI-E slots, and its spare
to the free memory slots and PCI-E slots, and SATA ports are cleverly positioned lower down, so the GPU
/SPECIFICATIONS CCL has done a good job of keeping every cable doesn’t block them. However, AMD’s B350 chipset isn’t the
CPU 3GHz AMD Ryzen 7 tidied. There are fan and lighting controls on top top-tier Ryzen offering, which means it doesn’t support a
1700 overclocked to 3.8GHz of the chassis too. Its only fault is a comparative second Nvidia graphics card and has slightly fewer PCI-E
Motherboard Asus ROG Strix lack of drive storage space. lanes. These issues won’t affect most users, as they’re more
B350-F
CCL’s key gaming component is an Asus applicable to high-end machines, but the PC Specialist
Memory 16GB Adata XPG
Spectrix D40 3000MHz Strix GTX 1080 Ti, which is a great inclusion in a system had an X299-based Asus board with more features.
DDR4 sub-£2,000 PC, and it should have no trouble Finally, the CCL is powered by a Corsair TX750M PSU,
Graphics Asus GeForce GTX running games at 4K. In this rig, CCL has tuned which is a modular unit that has 100W more power than
1080 Ti 11GB
Storage 250GB Samsung
the card to its OC mode, which means the the PC Specialist’s power supply and the same 80 Plus
960 Evo M.2 SSD, 2TB 1480MHz core is overclocked to 1518MHz. Bronze rating. There’s a three year parts and labour warranty
Seagate Barracuda CCL has paired the graphics core with an AMD on this machine too, which is fine, although it’s only a return
hard drive
Case Phanteks Eclipse
Ryzen 7 1700 processor. The lack of an ‘X’ suffix to base deal.
P400S means it doesn’t have the XFR boosting abilities
Cooling CPU: Corsair Hydro of the 1700X, and it its stock speed is 3GHz Performance
H100i V2 with 2 x 120mm rather than 3.5GHz. However, those issues are The overclocked Ryzen processor is solid, but it can’t quite
fans, GPU: 3 x 90mm; rear:
1 x 120mm less important because CCL has overclocked match the stock-speed 8-core chip inside the PC Specialist.
PSU Corsair TX750M 750W the chip to a respectable 3.8GHz. As a point of Its single-core result of 50,360 is around 3,000 points
Ports Front: 2 x USB 3, 2 x comparison, the PC Specialist Vulcan X-03 (see behind Intel, which illustrates that the Skylake-X architecture
audio; rear: 6 x USB 3.1, 2 x
USB 2, 1 x Gigabit Ethernet, Issue 170, p56) costs £150 more, but has a non- is better in single-threaded tasks, and the CCL was around
1 x optical S/PDIF, 5 x audio overclocked Intel Core i7-7820X CPU and a GTX 20,000 points behind in video encoding, so the overclocked
Operating system Microsoft 1080 Ti GPU. 8-core Ryzen part couldn’t compete with the more
Windows 10 Home 64-bit
The Ryzen processor is paired with 16GB of expensive Skylake-X part here.
Warranty Three years parts
and labour return to base 3000MHz memory, a 250GB Samsung 960 The Ryzen 7 chip isn’t slow by any means, but the PC
PCI-E NVMe Evo SSD and a 2TB hard disk, which Specialist machine only costs £150 more and includes a

58
 ELITE
NEWENTRY
P64

1 2 3
The PSU cables and It’s great to see a The Corsair H100i
lighting match the GTX 1080 Ti card in V2 kept the CPU
case’s colours a sub-£2,000 PC delta T at 53°C

more capable processor for heavily multi-threaded

software. The CCL machine has a faster SSD, at least: the
Samsung’s read and write speeds of 3,222MB/sec and
1,504MB/sec are around twice as quick as the Western
Digital drive in the PC Specialist rig, even if the latter offered
1
twice the space.
The overclocked GTX 1080 Ti is reliably quick too. Its
weakest 4K minimum was a 36fps result in Deus Ex, which 2 3
is easily playable, and it was faster in every other test at
3,840 x 2,160. Those results mean that the CCL will play
any game smoothly at 4K with decent settings, and on VR
headsets too.
The CCL pairs its good looks with impressive thermal
performance too – an area where the aforementioned PC
Specialist machine was lacking. The CCL ran with a soft, quiet
fan whirr no matter which stress test we used, and the CPU
and GPU peaked with reasonable delta Ts of 53°C and 58°C
respectively, with the CPU being helped by the 240mm
radiator on the Corsair H100i V2 cooler. Those figures both
beat the PC Specialist, and the CCL is quieter too.

Conclusion That said, the motherboard is middling, and the similarly

CCL’s overclocked AMD processor and tweaked GTX 1080 Ti
deliver solid performance across a wide range of tasks: the
8-core CPU can handle general computing and tougher
multi-threaded work, and the GPU can tackle any gaming
task. The Shadow Hawk certainly looks the part too, with its
attractive colours and careful attention to detail, plus it’s cool
and quiet.
priced PC Specialist Vulcan X-03 offers more CPU power
and a better motherboard. However, it also has a poorer
design, and that’s a major factor when buying a pre-built
system. The CCL is well built, carefully designed and has
great thermal performance. If you want a PC that does it all
for under £2,000, the Shadow Hawk delivers the goods.
MIKE JENNINGS

CP C RE AL BE N CH 2 015
G I MP I MAG E E DI TING F ALLO UT 4
2,560 x 1,440, Ultra Detail, TAA
CCL Shadow Hawk 50,360
0 130,00 26,000 39,000 52,000 CCL Shadow Hawk 76fps 93fps
0 30 60 90 120
HAN DBRAKE H. 26 4 V IDEO ENC ODING
3,840 x 2,160, Ultra Detail, TAA
CCL Shadow Hawk 100000 489,926
CCL Shadow Hawk 37fps 46fps
0 125,000 250,000 375,000 500,000
0 30 60 90 120
HE AVY MUL T I T A S KING

CCL Shadow Hawk 100000 148,287 TH E WITCH ER 3: WILD H UNT

2,560 x 1,440, High Detail, Nvidia HairWorks off
0 40,000 80,000 120,000 160,000
CCL Shadow Hawk 94fps 120fps
S Y ST E M SCORE
0 30 60 90 120
CCL Shadow Hawk 100000 177,801 3,840 x 2,160, High Detail, Nvidia HairWorks off
0 45,000 90,000 135,000 180,000
CCL Shadow Hawk 56fps 68fps
SPEED DESIGN
OVERALL SCORE 0 30 60 90 120

88%
21/25 23/25 D EUS EX : M ANK IND D IVID ED
HARDWARE VALUE 2,560 x 1,440, Very High Detail, DX11

21/25 23/25 CCL Shadow Hawk

0
43fps
30
78fps
60 90 120
VERDICT 3,840 x 2,560, Very High Detail, DX11
Good design and build quality matched with solid CCL Shadow Hawk 36fps 42fps
components. The CCL can cope with multithreaded 0 30 60 90 120
CPU work and 4K gaming for under two grand. Minimum Average

59
 R E V I E WS / NEW KIT

GAMING PC

Chillblast Fusion Yogsblast Ultimate /£2,850 incVAT

SUPPLIER www.chillblast.com

he latest Chillblast Fusion machine has an unusual

T name, but with good reason – it’s the official PC of
the Yogscast, a gaming collective with millions of
followers across YouTube, Twitch and Twitter. The side and
front panels are decorated with the group’s familiar logo.
That isn’t all you get with this machine either – the Yogscast
team has written a guide to content creation that’s already
installed on the machine.
Given that guide, it’s no shock that this machine is
designed for content creation as well as gaming. The key
component is AMD’s Ryzen 7 1800X processor, which has
proven itself in high-end, multi-threaded scenarios with its
eight cores, 16 threads and Zen architecture.
It runs at its stock speed of 3.6GHz, which means a boost
peak of 4GHz. Chillblast hasn’t overclocked the chip because
it says the power demands are too high, and the diminishing
performance returns just aren’t worth it. Some content
creation software can be demanding on memory too, so it’s
good to see 32GB of RAM deployed here.
The storage goes above and beyond what we usually see
in gaming rigs too: the main drive is a Samsung 960 Evo The case has good practical features too. The top has
PCI-E NVMe SSD, but there’s also a Samsung 850 Evo SATA buttons to alter the colour, speed and pattern of the lighting,
SSD for video capture, and two 3TB hard drives in RAID 1 the panels have removable dust filters and the interior is well
configuration to provide 2.72TB of space with mirroring for built and unfussy. The Corsair CPU cooler sits in the roof with
data protection. two 120mm fans, out of the way, and its cooling pipes don’t
There’s also a GeForce GTX 1080 Ti graphics card, and block the memory slots. Meanwhile, a metal shroud covers
Nvidia’s top-end GeForce chip has proved itself capable of the PSU, and the cables are routed well throughout the build,
playing games at 4K with decent settings in with cable ties and a second shroud at the rear. The neat
our tests. Chillblast has used Zotac’s Mini card cabling and smaller graphics card means most of the
/SPECIFICATIONS for this build, which overclocks the core from upgrade paths are accessible too.
CPU 3.6GHz AMD Ryzen 7 1480MHz to 1506MHz. Finally, the Chillblast is protected by two years of parts and
1800X All the gear connects to an MSI X370 labour collect and return coverage, which is great to see, and
Motherboard MSI X370 Gaming Pro Carbon motherboard. It’s a high- you get a further three years of labour cover as well.
Gaming Pro Carbon
Memory 32GB Corsair
end slab of black PCB that offers every feature
Vengeance LPX 3000MHz that we expect on premium products: beefed- Performance
DDR4 up audio and networking, good-looking metal The Ryzen 7 1800X’s performance usually falls between the
Graphics Zotac GeForce GTX
1080 Ti 11GB heatsinks and customisable RGB LEDs are all Core i7-7700K and i7-7820X, but the lack of overclocking
Storage 500GB Samsung 960 present. The MSI offers a spare M.2 slot too, means that it’s unable to open a clear lead over Intel’s silicon.
Evo PCI-E NVMe SSD; 250GB plus numerous free SATA ports and USB 3.1 The Ryzen chip delivered a result of 489,585 in our heavily
Samsung 850 Evo SSD, 2 x 3TB
Seagate Barracuda hard drive support, and it has two empty memory slots multithreaded Handbrake video encoding test; this is around
Case Corsair Crystal 570X RGB and numerous vacant PCI-E slots. 150,000 points ahead of the £2,280 Box Cube Spartacus
Cooling CPU: Corsair Hydro The final component, the Corsair RM750x Nvidia Edition, which had an overclocked Core i7-7700K.
H100i V2 with 2 x 120mm fans, power supply, is excellent: it has ample power, However, the stock-speed Core i7-7820X inside the £2,399
GPU: 2 x 90mm fans; front:
3 x 120mm fans; rear: 1 x a modular design and an 80 Plus Gold CyberPower Infinity Xtreme Titanium scored 575,764.
120mm fan certification. The Crystal 570X chassis also The Chillblast’s overall system score of 178,680 is fine –
PSU Corsair RM750x 750W comes from Corsair. Its side panels are all around 25,000 points ahead of the overclocked i7-7700K
Ports Front: 2 x USB 3, 2 x made of tempered, tinted glass that’s easy to but roughly 30,000 behind the i7-7820X.
audio; rear: 6 x USB 3.1, 2 x USB
2, 1 x PS/2, 1 x Gigabit Ethernet, remove, and its transparent, honeycombed They’re solid benchmark results, and the huge memory
1 x optical S/PDIF, 5 x audio design makes it one of the most distinctive allocation and versatile storage means this machine will
Operating system Microsoft
Windows 10 Home 64-bit and attractive enclosures on the market. The scythe through content-creation applications, games and
Warranty Two years parts and three 120mm intake fans have RGB LEDs, and streaming tools. However, the Chillblast costs £2,850 –
labour collect and return, plus the motherboard’s RGB LEDs show off the much more than its rivals.
three years labour only return
to base same shade. That’s it for lighting though – this Meanwhile, the GTX 1080 Ti remains a reliable force for
machine otherwise stays subtle. gaming on high-resolution screens. At 4K, the Chillblast

60
 1 2 3
The AMD Ryzen 7 A metal shroud The Zotac Mini
1800X CPU runs covers the PSU, and GeForce GTX 1080
at its stock clock cables are routed Ti card handles 4K
speed of 3.6GHz tidily, front and back gaming fine

managed minimums of 36fps in Fallout 4 and Deus Ex:

Mankind Divided, and it ran through The Witcher 3 without
dropping below 55fps.
However, the aforementioned CyberPower matched the 1
Chillblast’s scores in those first two games and was 5fps
faster in The Witcher 3, and the Box delivered quicker
minimums in every test. The Chillblast’s gaming
performance is fine, but the limited clock speed means
there are slightly quicker gaming machines available. 3
On the plus side, the Samsung PCI-E SSD delivered
phenomenal read and write speeds of 3,196MB/sec and
1,753MB/sec. Thermal performance was great, too. The
CPU and GPU delta Ts of 39°C and 60°C are fine, and the 2
noise levels never rose beyond a modest rumble, even
during our toughest stress test. It’s certainly quieter than
most gaming machines we test.

Conclusion
The Chillblast offers consistent quality and performance
that’s geared towards both gaming and content creation
thanks to its 8-core processor, ample memory and
extensive storage. It’s well built, quiet and has a decent
warranty too. The Yogscast branding, multiple SSDs and
extra memory push the price beyond cheaper Intel-based
rivals, though, wedging this machine into a niche. If you have
aspirations to follow the Yogscast route to YouTube and
Twitch success, this official system offers solid performance
in both games and content creation software, but anyone
else can save money by looking elsewhere.
MIKE JENNINGS

C PC REALBENC H 2 0 15
GIM P IM AGE ED IT IN G FALLOUT 4
Chillblast Fusion 2,560 x 1,440, Ultra Detail, TAA
50,056
Yogsblast Ultimate
Chillblast Fusion 76fps 93fps
0 13,000 26,000 39,000 52,000 Yogsblast Ultimate
0 33 66 99 132
HANDBRAK E H. 26 4 VID EO EN CO DI NG 3,840 x 2,160, Ultra Detail, TAA
Chillblast Fusion Chillblast Fusion 36fps 47fps
100000 489,585
Yogsblast Ultimate Yogsblast Ultimate
0 125,000 250,000 375,000 500,000 0 33 66 99 132
T H E W IT CH ER 3: WILD HUNT
LUXM ARK OP EN CL 2,560 x 1,440, High Detail, Nvidia HairWorks off

Chillblast Fusion Chillblast Fusion 70fps 121fps

100000122,999 Yogsblast Ultimate
Yogsblast Ultimate
0 33 66 99 132
0 33,000 66,000 99,000 132,000
3,840 x 2,160, High Detail, Nvidia HairWorks off
HEA VY MULT IT ASK IN G Chillblast Fusion 55fps 68fps
Yogsblast Ultimate
Chillblast Fusion
100000 150,482 0 33 66 99 132
Yogsblast Ultimate
0 40,000 80,000 120,000 160,000 DEUS EX : MA NK IN D DIV ID ED
2,560 x 1,440, Very High Detail, DX11
SYS T EM S C OR E
Chillblast Fusion 64fps 80fps
Chillblast Fusion Yogsblast Ultimate
100000 178,680
Yogsblast Ultimate 0 33 66 99 132
0 45,000 90,000 135,000 180,000 3,840 x 2,560, Very High Detail, DX11
Chillblast Fusion 36fps 44fps
Yogsblast Ultimate
0 33 66 99 132
Minimum Average
SPEED DESIGN
OVERALL SCORE

85%
21/25 23/25 VERDICT
This celeb-branded system offers good
HARDWARE VALUE speed and storage for content creation and
23/25 18/25 gaming, but it’s a little expensive.

61
 R E V I E WS / NEW KIT

GAMING PC

CyberPowerUltraThreadripperXtreme/£3,469 incVAT

SUPPLIER www.cyberpowersystem.co.uk

yberPower’s bombastic-sounding Ultra

C Threadripper Xtreme marks the first time we’ve
seen an AMD Threadripper CPU in a premade
desktop rig, and it’s a beast. It uses the 1950X, which is the
beefiest Threadripper part, costing just under £1,000 inc
VAT on its own. This monster 16-core CPU can also execute
32 concurrent threads, which is a dozen more threads than
the similarly priced Intel Core i9-7900X. Intel makes its own
16-core processor, of course, but the Core i9-7960X costs a
monstrous £1,700 inc VAT.
The 1950X in this machine runs at its stock speed, which
means a base clock of 3.6GHz and a boost pace of 4GHz.
The extreme core count means it’s designed for creative and
power users, and it comes with a new chipset too. The X399
silicon serves up a mighty 64 PCI-E lanes, which means
more room in the bandwidth budget for additional M.2 slots
and graphics cards.
The X399 chipset also sports a new socket. It’s called
TR4 and it’s huge – around twice as large as a conventional
Ryzen CPU. The new chip is chilled by the Corsair Hydro
H100i V2, which is a 240mm all-in-one liquid cooler,
although its contact plate doesn’t cover the whole of the
CPU’s heatspreader.
The huge CPU slots into MSI’s X399 Gaming Pro Carbon unit with little decoration, and there’s no extensive lighting –
AC motherboard, which has two vacant M.2 ports, quad- the interior is dark, brooding and undistracting. The interior is
GPU support, on-board buttons and a mighty count of ten unconventional though. The motherboard sits at the bottom
USB 3.1 ports on the backplate. Elsewhere, it’s crammed of the case, upside-down, which means the graphics card
with features: RGB LEDs, boosted audio, eight runs across the middle of the chassis, with the PSU and
DIMM sockets and steel-surrounded PCI-E storage bays behind a shroud at the top
/SPECIFICATIONS slots. Its backplate also has buttons to update The GPU’s 120mm radiator is attached to the exhaust
CPU 3.6GHz AMD Ryzen and clear the BIOS. CyberPower has installed mount, and the longer Corsair cooler for the CPU takes up
Threadripper 1950X 32GB of DDR4 memory in the Threadripper two 120mm fan mounts at the front. The upside-down
Motherboard MSI X399 Xtreme, which is about right for high-end motherboard orientation makes it easy to reach the board’s
Gaming Pro Carbon AC
Memory 32GB Corsair
productivity tools, and there’s a fast PCI-E free PCI-E slots and M.2 connectors, and the four vacant
Vengeance RGB 3000MHz NVMe 500GB Samsung 960 Evo SSD and DIMM sockets are similarly accessible.
DDR4 a 2TB hard disk. The cable routing is a little inconsistent though: it’s neat
Graphics MSI GeForce GTX
1080 Ti 11GB Meanwhile, the GTX 1080 Ti enables this rig the front, but a mess at the rear. You won’t notice unless you
Storage 500GB Samsung 960 to handle gaming as well as heavily multi- take off the rear panel, and it isn’t a massive issue, but some
Evo SSD, 2TB Seagate threaded software. It comes from MSI’s Sea other manufacturers make an effort to keep the whole
Barracuda hard drive
Hawk range, which means huge cooling: a machine tidy.
Case Corsair Carbide 600C
Black full-sized heatsink is attached to its own Finally, CyberPower offers a decent two years of parts and
Cooling CPU: Corsair Hydro 120mm Corsair Hydro H55 unit and a quiet labour coverage, plus a third year of labour only. It’s good to
H100i V2 with 2 x 120mm fans, fan. CyberPower runs the card in its Gaming see more than a year of parts coverage, but it’s a shame the
GPU: Corsair Hydro H55 with 1 x
120mm fan mode, which means the 1480MHz core is collect and return period only lasts a solitary month.
PSU Corsair RM1000x 1000W overclocked to 1544MHz, while the OC mode
Ports Front: 2 x USB 3, 2 x USB boosts that figure to 1569MHz. Performance
2, 2 x audio; rear: 10 x USB 3.1, 2 CyberPower has also ensured this machine Threadripper is designed for intensive, multi-threaded
x USB 2, 1 x PS/2, 1 x Gigabit
Ethernet, 1 x optical S/PDIF, has more than enough power, deploying a applications, and it delivered in benchmarks. Its video
5 x audio Corsair RM1000x PSU. It’s modular and 80 encoding result of 752,636 is miles ahead of the Core
Operating system Microsoft
Windows 10 Home 64-bit Plus Gold-certified, and it provides more than i9-7900X in the Chillblast Fusion Halcyon, which scored
Warranty Two years parts and enough grunt for this machine and any future 646,183. The stellar encoding score helped the CyberPower
labour, plus one year labour upgrades, including adding multiple GPUs. to a system score of 248,841 – far better than the Core i9 PC.
only. First month collect and
return, then return to base The Corsair Carbide 600C is suitably However, bear in mind that most people don’t need this
no-nonsense too. It’s a large and sturdy black level of multi-threaded power – it’s only really necessary if

62
 ELITE
NEWENTRY
P64

1 2 3
The MSI Sea The Threadripper The motherboard
Hawk GTX 1080 1950X has 16 cores orientation makes
Ti card has its own and can execute 32 it easy to reach the
liquid cooler concurrent threads free PCI-E slots

you’re running high-end productivity tools such as video

editing, CAD or design applications, rather than games and
more conventional office software. We also tried AMD’s
Creator mode, which gave a small boost to the encoding and
multi-tasking tests, but it’s not a game changer. Meanwhile,
the SSD delivered excellent read and write speeds of 3
3,320MB/sec and 1,730MB/sec.
This PC can handle games fine too. The overclocked GTX
1080 Ti never dropped below 36fps in any of our 4K gaming
tests. We also tried AMD’s Threadripper Gaming mode, but
its impact was inconsistent at lower resolutions and 1
negligible at 4K.
The CyberPower’s liquid-cooled components had no 2
thermal issues either. The CPU’s peak delta T of 50°C is
great, and the GPU delta T was just 9°C warmer – another
solid result. The PC was quiet too, with a peak noise level
that’s quieter than most gaming rigs.

Conclusion
This no-nonsense rig makes the most of new technology,
especially if your software can really make use of the
Threadripper 1950X’s 16 cores.
If you use that level of software, this PC offers much rig, a Ryzen or Core i7 system will serve you better for less
better bang per buck than the Intel equivalent. It’s the same money, but if you want a high-end, well-built, classy-looking
situation with the memory, PSU and motherboard – they’re machine that does it all, the CyberPower Ultra Threadripper
all fantastic components, but only the most demanding Xtreme is a cracking multithreaded monster.
users need them. If you just want a general-purpose gaming MIKE JENNINGS

C PC R EALB ENC H 2 0 15
GI MP I MAGE EDI T I N G FALLOUT 4
CyberPower Ultra 2,560 x 1,440, Ultra Detail, TAA
47,738
Threadripper Xtreme
CyberPower Ultra 77fps 91fps
0 12,000 24,000 36,000 48,000 Threadripper Xtreme
0 35 70 105 140
HANDBR AKE H. 2 6 4 V I D E O E N C O D I N G
3,840 x 2,160, Ultra Detail, TAA
CyberPower Ultra
752,636 CyberPower Ultra
Threadripper Xtreme 37fps 47fps
Threadripper Xtreme
0 200,000 400,000 600,000 800,000
0 35 70 105 140
HEAVY MULT I T A S K I N G
CyberPower Ultra
100000 172,359 T H E W IT CH ER 3 : W IL D H U N T
Threadripper Xtreme
2,560 x 1,440, High Detail, Nvidia HairWorks off
0 45,000 90,000 135,000 180,000
SYS T EM S C ORE CyberPower Ultra 63fps 125fps
Threadripper Xtreme
CyberPower Ultra 0 35 70 105 140
100000 248,841
Threadripper Xtreme
0 65,000 130,000 195,000 260,000 3,840 x 2,160, High Detail, Nvidia HairWorks off
CyberPower Ultra 55fps 69fps
Threadripper Xtreme
SPEED DESIGN
OVERALL SCORE

90%
24/25 22/25
0 35 70 105 140

D EU S EX : M A N K IN D D IV ID ED
HARDWARE VALUE 2,560 x 1,440, Very High Detail, DX11

23/25 21/25 CyberPower Ultra

Threadripper Xtreme
0 35
65fps
70
80fps
105 140
VERDICT 3,840 x 2,160, Very High Detail, 0x AA
A monster CPU inside a well-made rig makes the CyberPower Ultra 36fps 44fps
CyberPower Ultra Threadripper Xtreme a formidable Threadripper Xtreme
0 35 70 105 140
machine, but only if you can use its 16 cores. Minimum Average

63
 E L I T E / THE BEST KIT

Elite
Our choice of the best hardware available

Processors
PRICE
TYPE NAME SUPPLIER FEATURED
(inc VAT)

AMD Ryzen 3 1200

QUAD-CORE CPU www.scan.co.uk Issue 169, p20 £98
(AM4)

6-CORE CPU AMD Ryzen 5 1600

www.ebuyer.com Issue 167, p44 £190
(AM4)

8-CORE CPU AMD Ryzen 7 1700

www.ebuyer.com Issue 165, p23 £278
(AM4)

Intel Core i7-7700K

GAMING CPU ww.scan.co.uk Issue 167, p50 £311
(LGA1151)

Intel Core i9-7900X

10-CORE CPU www.overclockers.co.uk Issue 168, p19 £860
(LGA2066)

HEAVY AMD Ryzen

MULTITHREADING Threadripper 1950X www.ebuyer.com Issue 170, p20 £938
CPU (TR4)

NEW
ENTRY EXTREME Intel Core
MULTITHREADING i9-7980XE www.overclockers.co.uk Issue 171, p20 £1,724
CPU (LGA2066)

64
CPUcoolers
TYPE NAME SUPPLIER FEATURED PRICE
(inc VAT)

BUDGET AIR
Raijintek Rhea www.overclockers.co.uk Issue 163, p86 £16
COOLER (LGA115X)

MID-RANGE AIR
COOLER (LGA115X, ARCTIC Freezer 33 www.amazon.co.uk Issue 165, p40 £30
LGA2011, AM4)

SILENT COOLER Nofan CR-95C

www.quietpc.co.uk Issue 160, p84 £116
(LGA115X) IcePipe

LOW-PROFILE AIR
COOLER (LGA115X, Noctua NH-D9L www.quietpc.co.uk Issue 143, p17 £43
LGA2011)

120MM ALL-IN-ONE
LIQUID COOLER ARCTIC Liquid
www.aquatuning.co.uk Issue 166, p88 £63
(LGA115X, LGA2011, Freezer 120
AM4)

240MM ALL-IN-
ONE LIQUID Fractal Design Celsius
www.overclockers.co.uk Issue 167, p25 £100
COOLER (LGA115X, S24
LGA2011, AM4)

280MM ALL-IN-
ONE LIQUID
NZXT Kraken X62 www.overclockers.co.uk Issue 160, p52 £150
COOLER (LGA115X,
LGA2011)

65
E L I T E / THE BEST KIT

Motherboards
LGA1151
TYPE NAME SUPPLIER FEATURED PRICE
(inc VAT)

ATX BUDGET
Asus Prime Z270-P www.overclockers.co.uk Issue 163, p43 £114
Z270

ATX MID-RANGE Asus Strix Z270F

www.scan.co.uk Issue 162, p47 £162
Z270 Gaming

ATX HIGH-END Gigabyte Aorus

www.scan.co.uk Issue 162, p49 £202
Z270 Z270X-Gaming 7

ATX PREMIUM Asus Maximus IX

www.scan.co.uk Issue 164, p20 £323
Z270 Formula

ATX WATER- Asus Maximus IX

www.scan.co.uk Issue 168, p32 £541
COOLING Z270 Extreme

Gigabyte Z270N-
MINI-ITX Z270 www.box.co.uk Issue 166, p26 £153
Gaming 5

MICRO-ATX
Asus ROG Strix
Z270 www.ebuyer.com Issue 163, p22 £178
Z270G Gaming

LGA2066
TYPE NAME SUPPLIER FEATURED PRICE
(inc VAT)

ATX Premium Asus Prime

www.scan.co.uk Issue 168, p52 £389
X299 X299 Deluxe

ATX Mid-range Asus ROG Strix X299-E

www.scan.co.uk Issue 168, p50 £296
X299 Gaming

NEW www.morecomputers.
ENTRY ATX BUDGET
ASRock X299 Killer SLI Issue 171, p22 £220
X299 com

66
66
TR4
PRICE
TYPE NAME SUPPLIER FEATURED
(inc VAT)

ATX MID-RANGE MSI X399 Gaming Issue 170,

www.ebuyer.com £322
X399 Pro Carbon AC p50

ATX PREMIUM Asus ROG Zenith Issue 170,

www.scan.co.uk £510
X399 Extreme p48

AM4
PRICE
TYPE NAME SUPPLIER FEATURED
(inc VAT)

Asus ROG Strix

ATX BUDGET B350 www.overclockers.co.uk Issue 167, p20 £118
B350-F Gaming

Gigabyte
MICRO-ATX
AB350M- www.ebuyer.com Issue 169, p28 £78
BUDGET B350
Gaming 3

Gigabyte AB350N-
MINI-ITX B350 www.cclonline.com Issue 170, p36 £104
Gaming WiFi

Asus Prime X370-

ATX BUDGET X370 www.scan.co.uk Issue 165, p50 £137
Pro

ATX MID-RANGE Gigabyte Aorus

www.overclockers.co.uk Issue 165, p52 £180
X370 AX370-Gaming 5

MSI X370 XPower

ATX PREMIUM X370 www.scan.co.uk Issue 166, p28 £270
Gaming Titanium

67
E L I T E / THE BEST KIT

Memory
PRICE
TYPE NAME SUPPLIER FEATURED
(inc VAT)

8GB Corsair Vengeance LPX

8GB DUAL-CHANNEL
2666MHz DDR4 www.scan.co.uk Issue 163, p86 £79
DDR4
(CMK8GX4M2A2666C16)

16GB Corsair Vengeance LPX

16GB DUAL-CHANNEL
3000MHz DDR4 www.scan.co.uk Issue 166, p90 £143
DDR4
(CMK16GX4M2B3000C15)

16GB G.Skill Trident Z RGB

16GB DUAL-CHANNEL
3200MHz DDR4 www.amazon.co.uk Issue 169, p19 £166
DDR4 RGB
(F4-3200C16D-16GTZR)

32GB G.Skill Trident Z RGB

32GB QUAD-CHANNEL
3200MHz DDR4 www.amazon.co.uk Issue 169, p19 £331
DDR4
(F4-3200C16Q-32GTZR)

Software
PRICE
TYPE NAME SUPPLIER FEATURED
(inc VAT)

Microsoft Windows 10
OPERATING SYSTEM www.scan.co.uk Issue 146, p17 £100
Home Retail USB drive

Graphicscards
PRICE
TYPE NAME SUPPLIER FEATURED
(inc VAT)

JUST 1,920 X 1,080 Zotac GeForce GTX 1050

www.ebuyer.com Issue 163, p86 £136
GAMING Ti 4GB Mini

1,920 X 1,080 AND

Nvidia GeForce
SOME 2,560 x 1,440 www.scan.co.uk Issue 159, p43 £199
GTX 1060 3GB
GAMING

2,560 X 1,440 Nvidia GeForce

www.scan.co.uk Issue 159, p23 £250
GAMING GTX 1060 6GB

SMOOTH 2,560 X Asus Strix GeForce

www.awd-it.co.uk Issue 156, p51 £445
1,440 GAMING GTX 1070 OC

AsusROGStrixGeForce
4K GAMING www.awd-it.co.uk Issue 168, p28 £790
GTX1080TiOC

68
Cases
PRICE
TYPE NAME SUPPLIER FEATURED
(inc VAT)

BUDGET ATX NZXT S340 www.overclockers.co.uk Issue 137, p54 £67

SUB-£100 ATX Phanteks Enthoo

www.overclockers.co.uk Issue 161, p24 £85
PERFORMANCE Pro M Glass

SUB-£100
Fractal Design Define R5 www.scan.co.uk Issue 137, p20 £95
ATX QUIET

SUB-£150 FULL-
Nanoxia Deep Silence 5 www.quietpc.co.uk Issue 144, p50 £143
SIZED ATX QUIET

SUB-£150 FULL-
Phanteks Enthoo Luxe www.awd-it.co.uk Issue 144, p53 £131
SIZED ATX

SUB-£150 MID-
Cooler Master Cosmos SE www.scan.co.uk Issue 144, p41 £70
SIZED ATX

Phanteks Enthoo Evolv

PREMIUM ATX CASE www.overclockers.co.uk Issue 169, p43 £175
ATX Glass

Fractal Design
MINI-ITX TOWER www.scan.co.uk Issue 153, p22 £50
Define Nano S

Fractal Design
MINI-ITX CUBE www.scan.co.uk Issue 150, p20 £50
Core 500

Fractal Design
MICRO-ATX www.scan.co.uk Issue 161, p26 £75
Define Mini C

Casefans
PRICE
TYPE NAME SUPPLIER FEATURED
(inc VAT)

120MM QUIET FAN Corsair SP120 Quiet

www.scan.co.uk Issue 155, p56 £15
(BEST RUN AT 5V) Edition

120MM
PERFORMANCE Thermaltake Pure
www.amazon.co.uk Issue 155, p58 £9
FAN (BEST RUN S 12 LED
AT 12V)

69
E L I T E / THE BEST KIT

Powersupplies
PRICE
TYPE NAME SUPPLIER FEATURED
(inc VAT)

XFX XT Series
BUDGET 400W 400W 80 Plus www.overclockers.co.uk Issue 163, p86 £35
Bronze

MID-RANGE 450W Corsair CX450M www.ebuyer.com Issue 164, p84 £49

EVGA SuperNova
MID-RANGE 550W www.alza.co.uk Issue 146, p50 £89
GS 550W

Super Flower
HIGH-END 550W Leadex Platinum www.overclockers.co.uk Issue 146, p52 £103
550W

MID-RANGE 750W Corsair RM750i www.aria.co.uk Issue 146, p55 £118

Corsair Professional
HIGH-END 1.2KW www.scan.co.uk Issue 111, p40 £340
Series AX1200i

Storage
PRICE
TYPE NAME SUPPLIER FEATURED
(inc VAT)

MAINSTREAM Western Digital

www.overclockers.co.uk Issue 166, p54 £120
HARD DISK Blue 4TB

PERFORMANCE Seagate BarraCuda

www.overclockers.co.uk Issue 166, p50 £235
HARD DISK Pro 6TB

500GB Samsung 850

www.ebuyer.com Issue 158, p44 £150
SATA SSD Evo 500GB

Samsung 850
1TB SATA SSD www.ebuyer.com Issue 141, p51 £298
Evo 1TB

HIGH-
Samsung SSD
PERFORMANCE www.overclockers.co.uk Issue 168, p59 £230
960 Evo 500GB
M.2 SSD

NEW SINGLE-BAY
ENTRY QNAP TS-131P www.ebuyer.com Issue 171, p48 £168
NAS BOX

DUAL-BAY Synology
www.ebuyer.com Issue 154, p28 £155
NAS BOX DS216j

70
Monitors
TYPE NAME SUPPLIER FEATURED PRICE
(inc VAT)

Dell UltraSharp
24IN MONITOR www.laptopsdirect.co.uk Issue 162, p58 £220
U2417H

24IN FREESYNC
ViewSonic XG2401 www.box.co.uk Issue 167, p52 £274
MONITOR

24IN G-SYNC AOC AGON

www.ebuyer.com Issue 169, p55 £430
MONITOR AG241QG

NEW
ENTRY 27IN 2,560 X 1,440 Samsung
www.overclockers.co.uk Issue 171, p28 £600
FREESYNC MONITOR C27HG70

27IN 2,560 X 1,440 Asus ROG

www.scan.co.uk Issue 155, p48 £695
G-SYNC MONITOR Swift PG279Q

27IN 4K FREESYNC ViewSonic

www.amazon.co.uk Issue 157, p26 £551
MONITOR XG2700-4K

27IN 4K G-SYNC Asus ROG Swift

www.overclockers.co.uk Issue 151 , p42 £699
MONITOR PG27AQ

34IN ULTRA-WIDE
Asus ROG Swift
CURVED G-SYNC www.ebuyer.com Issue 157 , p42 £985
PG348Q
MONITOR

Networking
PRICE
TYPE NAME SUPPLIER FEATURED
(inc VAT)

Netgear Nighthawk
ROUTER www.ebuyercom Issue 160, p44 £170
X4S R7800

MULTI-STOREY Netgear Orbi Whole

www.amazon.co.uk Issue 163, p26 £323
HOME ROUTER Home Wi-Fi System

WI-FI ADAPTOR Asus PCE-AC68 www.scan.co.uk Issue 128, p88 £66

PREMIUM Asus ROG Rapture www.overclockers.

Issue 170, p35 £390
ROUTER GT-AC5300 co.uk

71
E L I T E / THE BEST KIT

Peripherals
PRICE
TYPE NAME SUPPLIER FEATURED
(inc VAT)

Cooler Master
MECHANICAL
MasterKeys Pro L www.scan.co.uk Issue 165, p55 £80
GAMING KEYBOARD
White

PREMIUM
Corsair Gaming K70
MECHANICAL www.ebuyer.com Issue 154, p21 £170
RGB Rapidfire
GAMING KEYBOARD

Corsair Gaming K95

MMO KEYBOARD www.scan.co.uk Issue 164, p26 £195
RGB Platinum

BUDGET GAMING Cooler Master

www.box.co.uk Issue 149, 28 £25
MOUSE Xornet II

GAMING MOUSE Corsair Glaive RGB www.overclockers.co.uk Issue 167, p19 £70

AMBIDEXTROUS
Roccat Kova www.box.co.uk Issue 150, 28 £39
GAMING MOUSE

MMO GAMING Corsair Scimitar

www.box.co.uk Issue 164, p24 £75
MOUSE Pro RGB

NEW WIRELESS GAMING Logitech G403

ENTRY www.overclockers.co.uk Issue 171, p40 £100
MOUSE Prodigy Wireless

STEERING WHEEL Logitech G920

www.currys.co.uk Issue 159, p55 £220
AND PEDALS Driving Force

Audio
PRICE
TYPE NAME SUPPLIER FEATURED
(inc VAT)

Asus Strix
PCI-E SOUND CARD www.scan.co.uk Issue 148, p28 £173
Raid DLX

Acoustic
2.1 SPEAKERS www.amazon.co.uk Issue 164, p49 £250
Energy Aego³

Razer
SOUNDBAR www.overclockers.co.uk Issue 142, p57 £200
Leviathan

HyperX
HEADSET www.box.co.uk Issue 142, p46 £80
Cloud II

SURROUND-SOUND Asus ROG

www.cclonline.com Issue 163, p49 £200
HEADSET Centurion

72
Systems
TYPE NAME SUPPLIER FEATURED PRICE
(inc VAT)

SKYLAKE-X PC Scan 3XS Carbon Aura www.scan.co.uk Issue 168, p66 c.£2,750

Scan 3XS Z270

KABY LAKE PC www.scan.co.uk Issue 162, p66 c.£3,000
Vengeance SLI

Scan 3XS
DREAM PC www.scan.co.uk Issue 145, p58 c.£9,499
Barracuda

NEW
ENTRY AMD RYZEN 7 PC CCL Shadow Hawk www.cclonline.com Issue 171, p58 £1,950

NEW THREADRIPPER CyberPower Ultra www.cyberpowersystem.

ENTRY Issue 171, p62 £3,469
PC Threadripper Xtreme co.uk

SUB-£2,000 Palicomp Infantry

www.palicomp.co.uk Issue 165, p64 c.£1,999
GAMING PC Brigadier

MINI-ITX
Corsair One Pro www.scan.co.uk Issue 167, p62 c.£2,200
GAMING PC

WATER-COOLED
PC Specialist LS-Surge www.pcspecialist.co.uk Issue 167, p64 c.£2,799
MINI-ITX PC

PREMIUM MINI- Overclockers

www.overclockers.co.uk Issue 154, p56 c.£3,990
ITX PC 8Pack Asteroid

Scan 3XS Carbon Fluid

PREMIUM PC www.scan.co.uk Issue 170, p58 £4,950
Extreme SLI

WATER-COOLED Overclockers
www.overclockers.co.uk Issue 150, p58 c.£3,414
PC Infin8 Toxicity

HIGH-
Scan 3XS LG17
PERFORMANCE www.scan.co.uk Issue 159, p30 c.£2,550
Carbon Extreme
GAMING LAPTOP

THIN AND LIGHT

Alienware 13 www.alienware.co.uk Issue 168, p32 c.£1,849
GAMING LAPTOP

BUDGET GAMING MSI GE72 7RE

www.saveonlaptops.co.uk Issue 167, p28 c.£1,137
LAPTOP Apache Pro

ULTRABOOK
Razer Blade Stealth www.razerzone.com Issue 167, p36 c.£1,350
LAPTOP

73
 Games

Contents
Inverse look p75 / Sonic Mania p76 / Absolver p78 / Observer p79 / Nidhogg 2 p80 /
The engine room – Falling Everything p82 / Virtual world p84 / Indie corner p86

74
 OPINION

Howwetest
ll our graphics tests are performed
A on a high-end Ivy Bridge system,
which feaics cards in SLI or
CrossFire configurations configurations
We’ve tested each card in four separate
games. Our Battlefield 4 test uses a
60-second sequence from the start of the B E N H A R DW I D G E / FROM THE EDITOR
sin R I C K L A N E / INVERSE LOOK

HEADING HERE
CURING SEQUELITIS
PLEASE
The game industry’s release list doesn’t have to be a
relentless
Standfirst here please flood of
Standfirst sequels,
here pleaseargues Rickhere
Standfirst Laneplease Standfirst
here please Standfirst here please
T
he game industry has always been shameless when Tomb Raider is one of the most recognised brands in the
cashinginonasuccessfulfranchise.Backinthe1980s industry,yetrebootingthatmassivefranchiseturnedouttobe

W
ow,I’d
and 1990s,
betterSierra
make sure
Entertainment
I have an Nvidia
published
card ineight
2014, I a riskier prospect than anticipated. If a game such as Tomb
King’s Quest
thought,
games,
as Iand
watched
goodness
the Witcher
knows how3 PhysX
many
demoMario
last Raider can prove risky, then putting those kinds of resources
games have proprietary
been published
GPU feature
now.would
Lookactually
at the persuade
release list
me intoanew,unknowngameideamustseemliketakingahighly
between
togowithonecompany’sGPUoveranother’ssincethe3dfxdays.
now and Christmas, however, and it’s quite irrational risk from a publisher’s perspective.
astonishing
Graphics cardto see
companies
that nearly
have
everybeen
release
coming
by aup
mainstream
with these Thislevelofriskiswhypublishersseemsooverwhelmingly
unique
publisher selour
is some
ownform
judgment
of sequel.
call, according to your priorities. geared towards producing sequels, not because they want to
What
Youaremayyour
think
priorities
the reason
Ra nosse pre
when.for this sequel overload comes
down to good old-fashioned greed, but the situation is a little
make a profit (although of course they do), but because they
want to avoid a crippling loss. When there are hundreds of
morecomplex.Whereasintheearlydayssequels
just provided a good way of making a profit,
electoribus apideli millionsofdollarsontheline,youwanttomake
the safest bet possible.
these days major publishers are reliant upon tiandam
Id Softwarequatur,
made five Itdoesn’thavetobethiswaythough.Inrecent
sequels to survive.
It comes down to risk. In the 1980s and 1990s,
Commander
occum Keen
estotatur?
years it’s been demonstrated that such vast
amounts of money don’t need to be spent to
games were relatively cheap and quick to make. Cigames
debis vel iliquam
between sam
1990 ensure a game is successful. Minecraft, Rocket
IdSoftware,forexample,madefiveCommander Quidebitis
sam serovides si
and 1991 doloris League and even the recent PlayerUnknown’s
Keen games between 1990 and 1991. But when Battlegroundshaveallmademassiveprofitson
developersbeganpushingreal-time3Dgraphics, utaque volectas comparatively tiny budgets.
boththecostandtimeinvestmentofdevelopmentskyrocketed. Admittedly,these games may be outliers,but there are also
Sticking with id, Wolfenstein 3D took around a year to make, publishers such as Paradox Interactive and Devolver Digital,
Doom 18 months and Quake almost three years. which make healthy profits by financing small to medium-
Nowadays, most mainstream games take four years, sized games such as Shadow Warrior and Pillars of Eternity.
thousands of man-hours and hundreds of millions of dollars These publishers have realised that the game industry
tomake.Asaresult,publisherstendtopublishfarfewergames doesn’t need to be a zero-sum game, where new releases are
than beforehand, because they can’t afford to finance a large either a massive success or an abject failure. There’s room for
number of games. This situation massively increases the risk all kinds of games to be successful; you only need to cater to
tothatpublisheronaper-gamebasis.Asingleflopcanseriously that particular project’s requirements. If more publishers can
damage or even destroy a company’s finances. take this message on board then not only will they have more
It’s why a game such as the 2013 Tomb Raider reboot can sell stable businesses, but we’ll also see a more diverse range of
over three million copies, yet still fail to reach its sales target. gamesbeinggivenahigherprofile,andperhapsthenwemight
It still made a profit,but not as much as Square Enix expected. just see a cure to sequelitis.

Ben Hardwidge is the editor of Custom PC. He likesRick

PCs,Lane
heavy metal, real
is Custom PC’sale and Warhammer
games editor. 40,000. editor@custompcmag.org.uk
@Rick_Lane @custompcmag

75
 G A M E S / REVIEW

Sonic Mania/£14.99 incVAT

DEVELOPER Christian Whitehead, Headcannon, Pagoda West / PUBLISHER Sega / WEBSITE www.sega.com/games/sonicmania

fter 23 years of stumbling around in 3D,
A yelling drunken insults at Mario and
generally making a complete
embarrassment of himself, Sonic has finally found
his groove again. Or rather, a group of enthusiasts
found his groove for him, and taught the washed-up
hedgehog how to dance to it. Sonic Mania is a fan-made
Sonic game officially endorsed and funded by Sega; a love
letter to the blurry blue hedgehog, created by people with a
palpable passion and a keen understanding of what made
Sonic great. It’s part throwback, part remix and part sequel,
and it’s very good indeed.
To make Sonic great again, developers Christian
Whitehead, Headcannon and Pagoda West have gone
OVERALL SCORE
each offering two levels. The first level introduces
you to the new stage, while the second adds a
clever twist. For example, while Act 1 of Green Hill
Zone is fairly strait-laced, Act 2 adds ziplines and
spiked, spinning walkways, while the music is a laid-
back remix of the classic score.
Some of these remixes are truly ingenious. The Chemical
Plant Zone transforms from an imposing maze of blue pipes
and drowning hazards into a multicoloured wonderland of
bouncy, sticky gels, vaguely reminiscent of Portal 2’s
defining mechanic.
Our favourite remix is the terrifying Hydro-City zone.
The first half takes place entirely underwater, forcing you to
survive by gulping down air bubbles, while the second half

90%
right back to basics. Well, the slightly more advanced sees you diving in and out of the water like a dolphin, racing
basics of Sonics 2, 3 and Knuckles, anyway. Mania is a through looping pipes and tubes.
2D, 16-bit-style side scroller where Sonic’s abilities are
limited to running, jumping and rolling. Most of the
bloated Sonic canon has been blasted out of a cannon,
leaving only Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and a few of the more
/ VERDICT notable enemies, such as Dr Robotnik and Metal Sonic.
A sublime mixture
Even the first level is basically a straight rerun of the
of old and new,
Sonic Mania is a Green Hill Zone from the original Sonic the Hedgehog.
joyous reminder of From these newly unearthed foundations, the Mania
the iconic blue team slowly rebuilds Sonic’s confidence, exploring and
hedgehog’s experimenting with classic levels and interspersing
halcyon days.
them with its own designs. There are 13 ‘Zones’ in all,

76
 The way the developers reimagine these classic levels is
delightful, but the highlights of Sonic Mania are undoubtedly
the new stages. The strongest stage is Studiopolis, a vast
neon-purple zone themed around a television studio. Here
you’ll dodge dangling electronic microphones, get zapped
from point to point via satellite, and roll your way through
a giant lottery machine. Another highlight is the Mirage
Saloon Zone, a Western-themed stage inspired by the
Dust Hill Zone that was cut from Sonic 2.
The levels’ size and complexity never ceases to amaze
either. They’re vast, spiralling, criss-crossing, kaleidoscopic
labyrinths, filled with springy platforms and bouncy
bumpers. It’s as if a lorry carrying a truckload of spaghetti
crashed into a pinball arcade, only without the chaos and
screaming. They’re crammed with secrets, hidden
cubbyholes containing elemental shields and useful power-
ups, and ringed portals to special stages where you can
chase Chaos Emeralds and unlock the almighty Super
Sonic. Even the weakest level is built with atomic precision.
It’s tempting to explore every nook and cranny of these
sprawling, bamboozling stages, but doing so would sacrifice
the remarkable flow built into them. The developers
expertly balance the challenge of playing Sonic
with the feel of controlling him. Many of the
springs and accelerators are positioned in such
a way that, for large portions of the level, Sonic
breezes through it, looping loops, scorching
across ceilings and flying through the air.
These sections feel wonderfully liberating,
but you can never completely relax. The end
of the road might reveal a pit of spikes, or a
cluster of robotic enemies where a wrong move
can cost you all those carefully accumulated rings.
The balance of flow and challenge is mostly well
judged, but it isn’t perfect. Some areas, such as the
Flying Battery Zone, can cause you to stagger
more often than is pleasant. Balance can also be
an issue with the end-of-level bosses. Again,
most of these boss sections are enjoyable and
highly inventive, whether you’re racing against a helicopter
and using its own missiles against it, or challenging
Robotnik to a game of Tetris. Some, though, such as the
battle against Metal Sonic, are a little too fiddly to be
completely enjoyable.
It’s almost a shame that Sonic Mania isn’t a true sequel,
rather than spending a significant portion of its time pointing
to old glories and going ‘remember this?!’ Then again,
playing on fond memories lets the developers spring so
many wonderful surprises, following up that first jab of
nostalgia with an uppercut of ‘Bet you didn’t expect this!’ In
this way, the developers also remind us that, despite 20
years of bad or mediocre games, Sonic was once superb,
and these remixes and new levels demonstrate that there’s
still a place for him in the modern gaming pantheon.
RICK LANE
77
 G A M E S / REVIEW

Absolver/£24.99 incVAT

DEVELOPER SloClap / PUBLISHER Devolver Digital / WEBSITE http://absolver.com

bsolver is an intricate multiplayer fighting game

A that makes a half-baked attempt at being grand,
resulting in a lesser game. It casts the player as a
Prospect, a neophyte fighter who must explore the ancient
and decaying world of Adal, challenging other Prospects to
battle in order to become an Absolver – a master fighter.
Not surprisingly, Absolver’s strongest asset it its combat
system. It’s a slick and detailed representation of hand-to-
hand martial arts, distilled into a simple yet flexible control
scheme that includes all the familiar basics – light and
heavy attacks, blocks and dodges. Meanwhile, Absolver’s Sadly, though, both the game’s strongest features are
innovative ‘stance’ system enables your avatar to assume flawed. Adal is stunning, but it’s also cramped and devoid
one of four stances, each of which changes your of context. You can explore the entire game world in a few
starting light and heavy attacks. The game commences hours, and when you finish the game and become an
OVERALL SCORE

60%
with an already healthy roster of moves, but dozens Absolver, there’s little to do but wander already explored
more can be learned and combined to develop your areas, challenging other players to fights, or instructing
own fighting style. them like a virtual sensei. It’s a noble idea, but the natural
Absolver’s other main strength is its shared world. All unreliability of multiplayer games means it’s often tedious.
players explore Adal together, but there’s no distinction Meanwhile, the combat system is blighted by a severe
between friend and foe. Hence, your adventure through case of grind. You can only acquire new moves by learning
/ VERDICT Adal is one of emergent duels and alliances, battling them from other Prospects, either by blocking or parrying
Absolver’s martial other players, or teaming up with them to defeat them. It’s so slow that you’ll be lucky to have unlocked three
arts extravaganza
is undermined by
powerful AI enemies. or four new moves by the game’s ‘end’. Moreover, it means
an abridged It’s a procedural martial arts movie, where the story you can only expand your move-set by sitting back and
structure and a is communicated wordlessly through flowing dances doing nothing, rather than actually playing the game. This
counter-intuitive of death. It’s all elegantly drawn, with lithe combat problem, combined with the undercooked world, means
approach to animations and a beautiful world of paintbrush textures Absolver is ultimately far less interesting than it deserves.
progress.
and rich, syrupy lighting. RICK LANE

78
Observer/£24.99 incVAT
DEVELOPER Bloober Team / PUBLISHER Aspyr / WEBSITE www.observer-game.com
bserver is a horror game dressed up as a
O cyberpunk detective story, which is unfortunate
because it would be much better the other way
around. The year is 2084, and Rutger Hauer voices Dan
Lazarski, a specialist police officer equipped with the ability
to ‘jack’ into people’s minds and explore their memories for
clues. However, it’s a torturous process that has caused
many Observers to go insane; consequently, Observers
are feared and despised throughout the game’s dystopian
society. When we meet Lazarski, he receives a
mysterious message from his estranged son Adam,
OVERALL SCORE
55%
and resolves to investigate.
Initially, Observer shows promise. Its cyberpunk
world is a gorgeous mixture of gaudy neon signage and
crumbling architecture. The majority of the action takes
place in a single apartment block in futuristic Krakow,
where you can explore its semi-open structure. As the
/ VERDICT story unfolds, Lazarski’s main investigation gradually
Observer’s stylish
cyberpunk noir is
expands into a connected web of sub-stories that
spoiled by its involve many of the apartment’s residents.
reliance on The detective side of the game is largely enjoyable,
overlong and with Observer taking notes from games such as
uninspired horror Condemned and Batman: Arkham Asylum. Lazarski
sequences.
has access to two vision modes. One of them highlights
79
technology, such as computers, hard drives and junction
boxes, while the other scans for biological matter – blood,
viscera and so on. You must use both modes to investigate
crime scenes, either locating clues or solving environmental
puzzles such as disabling a security system. Think Columbo
meets Predator, and you’re halfway there.
Lazarski also has the aforementioned mind-jacking
ability, which is where the game begins to fall down. Like
the rest of the game, the memory sequences are explored
in first person. However, the minds you explore are often
fractured and unstable, with rooms and corridors shifting
around behind you, and sometimes changing around you.
These sequences are technically and artistically
impressive, but they simply go on for far too long, and
their visual inventiveness is compromised by a numbing
barrage of jump-scares. Worse, later in the game, you get
lightweight stealth-sections in which you must avoid a
creepy memory-monster. Alongside the jump-scares,
these sections only serve to cheapen what could be a
much weirder and more intriguing kind of horror.
Observer could have been a superb detective game with
a fascinating horror bent, but instead, it’s a mediocre horror
game with some interesting detective elements.
RICK LANE
 G A M E S / REVIEW
Nidhogg 2/£10.99 incVAT
DEVELOPER Messhof/ PUBLISHER Messhof/ WEBSITE http://nidhogggame.com
t’s a peculiar decision to make your sequel uglier
I and more unpredictable than the original game,
but Nidhogg was so slick and precise that
developer Messhof didn’t have much of an alternative
(apart from not making a sequel, of course. Importantly,
though, it works.
The setup is the same as before: two players armed with
rapiers attempt to run each other through as they compete
in an opposing race to either end of the screen. Kill your
opponent and you’ll free up a few seconds to rush
forwards before they respawn. Push them back
OVERALL SCORE
70%
through enough screens, and you’ll be rewarded by
being consumed by a giant worm (hooray!)
The most obvious change is the art style. Whereas
Nidhogg was stripped back and minimalist, Nidhogg 2
is deliberately garish and gross, like an episode of My
Little Pony where the characters contract the norovirus.
/ VERDICT The stickmen fighters of Nidhogg are now bug-eyed
Nidhogg 2 is a fitting
counterpart to the
cartoon characters who gurn and writhe when stabbed,
original. It’s no while the eponymous Nidhogg is a gigantic pulsating
better or worse, beast with bloodshot eyes and rotting teeth.
but it’s different While it takes a while to adjust to the changes, the
enough to justify new art style accentuates the slapstick violence of
its existence.
Nidhogg’s combat, where simple controls and
80
breathless pace combine to form a chaotic ballet of
skilful play and basic luck. It’s further compounded by the
introduction of new weapons. Alongside the rapier, players
can battle with a broadsword, dagger, and longbow.
Each weapon has its own strengths and weaknesses,
and the potential to turn both players into quivering puddles
of laughter. The broadsword, for example, can knock
another player’s weapon from their hand, leaving them
defenceless save for their fists. The longbow lets you kill
your opponent from a distance, but arrows can also be
deflected back at you, with obvious comedic potential.
These new additions don’t so much improve the game
as alter its flavour. Nidhogg 2 tastes different but no less
pleasant than the original. Unfortunately, while it boasts a
similar quality to the first game, it also possesses similar
flaws. The single-player mode is still disappointingly
undercooked, despite the increase in duelling arenas from
four to ten.
Meanwhile, online multiplayer suffers from lag and
connection issues. As a local multiplayer game, though,
Nidhogg 2 is one of the best available, and it can happily be
played alongside the original game for a fun evening of
friendly evisceration.
RICK LANE
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 G A M E S / ANALYSIS

The world is randomly

generated, which can
make controlling the
simulation tricky.

R I C K L A N E / THE ENGINE ROOM

Falling Everything
Rick Lane speaks to the developers of Noita, a fantasy
roguelike in which every pixel is simulated in real time

A
s games have become more
advanced,so too has their
capacity to react. Games
such as Elite Dangerous or
Civilization VI react not only to the
player,but to events that occur
within its own code autonomously
of the player. When this happens,
reaction becomes simulation. In the
extreme,it’s possible to imagine a
game that simulates not just
spaceships moving around a galaxy,
or nation states moving armies,but
also every drop of water,grain of
sand,spark and spot of dust.
That’s essentially Noita’s aim.
Noita is a fantasy roguelike
(dungeon crawler RPG) that sees
players assume the role of a witch
(Noita being the Finnish word for
witch) who traverses a series of
underground caverns,fighting
monsters and dealing with hazards
such as water,lava and flammable
gas. It all sounds typical,except that
every pixel in the game world is
simulated in real time.
Petri Puhlo,one of Nolla Games’
three designers,working on Noita,
explains what this means.‘Every
pixel in the game has a bunch of
physical properties that are stored,
defining the material – its mass and
density,whether it has a rigid body,if
it’s flammable,how much damage it
can take,how breakable it is and so
on,’he says.‘All of that gets simulated
when the game is run,and the
materials interact in very interesting
ways. You can have various different
types of materials – the basic ones
are,of course,various liquids and
sand. We also have lots of gases and
fire,and then we have all kinds of
rigid body objects made out of meat,
wood,glass,ice and these other
materials,and they all interact with
each other.’
It’s an enthralling prospect – a
game where everything in its world
reacts to everything else:the player,
enemies,even other materials.
However,to create such a game
requires a highly specialised engine
that’s taken years to develop.
The Falling Everything engine first
sprouted roots back in 2009,when
Puhlo created a game called Bloody
Zombies for a Canadian game design
competition named Gamma256.‘The
restriction for Gamma256 was that
you had to make a game where the
maximum resolution was,I think,

82

Every pixel on this screen has unique
properties attached to it, and will react to the
player’s spells and abilities
256 x 256,’he says.‘I realised that
one of the benefits of a super-small
resolution is you can use a lot of CPU
power per pixel.’
Developed in just a week,Bloody
Zombies was a simple side-scrolling
shooter with highly detailed liquid
simulation,and the idea of a much
more advanced material-simulation
game grew from there.‘There were
all these things that I wanted to try
that I didn’t have time to do,and one
of them was to have rigid body
things that would interact with the
liquid stuff. I started playing around
with it,and then I started adding
more and more stuff.’
Eventually,Puhlo teamed up with
two other Finnish developers,Olli
Harjola and Arvi Teikari,to create
a full game based around Puhlo’s
engine. However,Bloody Zombies
worked because it had such a low
resolution. Making a full-blown
game would require much higher
resolutions,and an exponentially
larger drain on CPU power.
Expanding the game was a
gradual process that took years.
Puhlo began by creating a game
within a 512 x 512 box.‘Then we
started experimenting,asking what
would happen if we multi-threaded
the world and simulated it in various
chunks,and how much you can push
it that way. It turns out that we can
do quite a lot with that stuff,’he says.
Multi-threading proved to be the
lynchpin in Falling Everything’s pixel
simulation,as it enabled the team to
build a continuous world without
crushing the CPU.‘We don’t really
have an actual resolution for what
we’re simulating around the player,
because the world is generated out of
chunks,and the chunks are saved on
the disk when you’re far enough
from them,’Puhlo says.
Getting the engine functioning
properly was really just the
beginning. Now Nolla had to build a
game with it,which proved equally
challenging. As Nolla’s three-man
team is too small to build the game’s
environments by hand,the team
opted to use random generation to
create the world so that it was
different every time. However,
combining a randomly generated
game world with full pixel
simulation caused its own problems.
‘If there’s a huge lake in the game and
the player drills a hole in it and starts
flooding the world,you’ll get a very
CPU-heavy simulation,’Puhlo says.
The other potential issue is that,in
theory,the player can manipulate
and destroy every pixel in the game,
but the developers needed to ensure
that the player can’t break the game
itself by doing so.The team didn’t
want to compromise on the
The simulation also means that Noita looks
exquisite, with its pixels constantly flowing
and moving
simulation,however,so instead it
limited the player’s own resources.
‘You can’t go too far off to the sides,’
Puhlo explains.‘While you can
destroy everything,even including
the side bits at the moment,it’s just
going to take you too much of your
resources to do that.’
As well as throttling the player’s
power,Nolla also decided that this
power should be a double-edged
sword. For example,you could try to
burn your way through the entire
map,but with all the flammable
material and gas pockets present in
Every part of Noita’s world,there’s a good chance it
Noita’s world can would literally blow up in your face.
be manipulated
and destroyed
‘It will just go everywhere burning
everything,including things you
don’t want to burn,such as yourself.’
Noita is still some way from
completion. Currently,the developer
has six different environments and
dozens of materials that can be
randomly generated into Noita’s
world,but it’s yet to announce a
public release date.
However,the response to the
game’s announcement trailer was
enormously positive,and has
spurred on the team to finish the
game.‘We’re in a better place than
before. We were a bit afraid that no
one would be interested in a pixel
roguelike these days,because there
are lots of them out there,’Puhlo
says.‘So we were really happy that
people were interested in it when we
put out the trailer.’
Noita demonstrates explicitly that
a great game engine isn’t simply
about raw visual fidelity. It can also
help to make your game feel alive.
It’s also a stark demonstration of the
CPU’s dramatic impact in games
when it’s used for more than simply
setting up frames.
83
 G A M E S / ANALYSIS

JOE MARTIN’S

Virtual world
It’s still early days for this generation of VR, yet each manufacturer already
seems to have a unique vision of the platform’s future

F
orgive me if I already sound
like an old man,but back
when I bought my first VR
headset,it all seemed so simple.
VR’s target audience was widely
understood to be early adopters,and
VR was a gaming platform,plain
and simple. Both HTC and Oculus
seemed aligned to this purpose
from the start,with HTC forming
an early alliance with Valve and
Oculus poaching John Carmack
from id Software.
Fast forward to now and VR’s
purpose is a little less clear. VR is still
widely seen as a gaming platform,
but maybe not just a gaming
platform. That’s what happens
when John Carmack’s boss is Mark Facebook Spaces – playing games? No,Valve hasn’t technology mainly as a way to
Zuckerberg and Half-Life 3 takes the you can talk to released a new VR game since The connect people – VR included.
your friends
place of Duke Nukem Forever. Lab. Instead,it’s to create social For Valve,it’s a more unusual
It’s not just an issue about how environments. direction. Social aspects have never
VR is marketed. It’s a matter of the That isn’t at all surprising for been one of Steam’s main strengths,
deeper philosophies at play within Facebook. Its main foray into VR and Valve is still ostensibly a game
each company because,like it or not, proper is Facebook Spaces,which is developer first. Many people had
product development is always a really just an extension of Facebook hoped Valve would be the company
political act in the sense that it Messenger where avatars can chat, that gave VR its killer app in the form
defines what’s available to the play,scribble and share media of a game,such as Half-life 3 or Portal
public and what direction against a variety of backdrops. 3. Instead,it has focused on building
technologies take. The easiest You don’t need me to tell you social functions such as SteamVR
example is the choice of whether a that Facebook is a social media Home,where players can socialise
product should be open source or company,and that it views and complete weekly quests to
not,but it extends to every nuance
of an initial design and every
iteration afterwards.
With that in mind,it’s worth Google Tilt Brush –
looking at the direction in which you can draw
each of the major companies is
pushing VR and,like the merchant
in Resident Evil 4,asking:What are
you selling?

VR for socialising
Over the past 18 months,
Valve and Facebook seem to
have unexpectedly come
around to the same broad idea of
VR’s essential function. Is it for

84

unlock new hats. Speaking of which,
what is it with Valve and hats?
For both Facebook and Valve,VR is
seen mainly as a means for creating
new,shared spaces and filling them
with content.It doesn’t matter if that
content is a Dota 2 match at which
you’re spectating,or a newsfeed
through which you’re flicking;the
underlying function is the same –
and the technology is a backdrop.
VR as a product
But if Facebook and Valve see VR as
a place (be it a public place for
socialising or a private space for
collectible hats),HTC seems to view
it mostly as a product (and one it can
sell). We see this approach in the
way the customisable environments
and mobile-linking services that
launched with the Vive have been
all but forgotten. Instead,HTC is
singularly focused on selling bolt-on
services such as subscriptions to the
Viveport marketplace.
In many ways,it’s the approach
you’d expect from a modern phone
manufacturer. Unlike software
companies Facebook and Valve,HTC
has succeeded by making and
selling actual,physical goods – so it
stands to reason it would apply the
same approach to VR. Valve and
Facebook have spent the past 18
months creating new software;HTC
has spent it creating accessories
such as the Vive Tracker and Deluxe
Audio Headstrap.
Follow Joe on Twitter at
SteamVR Home: you
can collect objects
It’s hard to say whether either
approach has a particular charm.
HTC has supplied a steady trickle of
new products with interesting
potential,yet it’s relied solely on
third parties to realise it. Facebook
and Valve have taken charge of
realising their own vision for what
VR‘should’be – but neither Spaces
nor Home are particularly inspiring.
I’d much rather play Half-Life 3 VR.
More interesting than either of
the competing approaches,however,
@JoeThreepwood for real-time updates of onjects he knocks over while exploring virtual worlds.
is Google’s approach,
which has seen the firm
invested heavily in VR
across all headsets,as
well as developing its
own Cardboard and
Daydream platforms.
It’s also the only
major player in the
VR sector that’s aiming
Google Earth – you at new markets beyond wealthy
can travel early adopters.
For Google,VR seems analogous to
Chrome in that it serves mainly as a
portal to access existing software,
rather than as a place to inhabit or a
product to sell.
Google Earth VR and YouTube’s VR
mode are clear examples,but Tilt
Brush and the recently released
Google Blocks also feel like
extrapolations of Google SketchUp.
Why do I find Google’s approach
more exciting? Because it’s enabling,
active and ripe with potential.
Personally,I find it hard to get
excited about how Facebook Spaces
and SteamVR home will grow in the
future – and HTC seems content to
provide the tools rather than the
masterwork. Google is mixing both
approaches,and still has many
services left to which to connect.
Can you imagine a VR gym that
linked to Google Fit? Or a VR
classroom that draws on Google
Scholar and Google Expedition? I
find them easy to imagine,and if
those ideas ever get released to the
Facebook Spaces –
you can wear grey same high quality as Tilt Brush then
t-shirts? I’ll be a very happy chappy.
85
 G A M E S / ANALYSIS

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et faceaquid qui re vendit fugitis dio. Et qui
ulparup tatection corendis et dolectat.

As Dusk sets on this issue’s games section, we hope you don’t Abandon
Ship too early and Scorn Rick Lane’s latest round-up of indie games

R I C K L A N E / THE ENGINE ROOM

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volest, con repersp erchili quibustrum imus re molupta sequam conserumquo

P
eople don’t talk about
Techland’s Chrome engine
much. Ie only Wild West
Scorn
games on the PC that are worth your Abandon Ship
time.
DEVELOPER Ebb Software / RELEASE 2018 DEVELOPER Fireblade Software / RELEASE Winter 2017
Perhaps the reason for the lack of
cornoth
is aiterations
horror FPS withhad
a unique and unsettling visual bandon Ship is a game about being a Naval captain in an
S A
buzz around have
their own.style. It’s set in a world where the difference between ocean more hostile than the Ebola virus. It takes its cues
synthetic and organic are almost imperceptible, where not from games such as FTL and Sunless Seal. It’s a
only are your enemies made of flesh and bone, but so is the world. procedurally generated, side-scrolling adventure that blends ship
The art design is evidently influenced by H.R. Giger. The rooms and management with random story encounters.
corridors have a creepily, skeletal look reminiscent of the crashed The game’s Age of Sail fantasy world is being slowly conquered
spaceship in Alien. But this framework is with an aesthetic that’s, by a religious cult that worships sea monsters. Unfortunately for you,
well, meaty. The walls and floors are wallpapered with flesh, while these sea monsters are very real, and during your journey, you’ll
even your weapons seem to be semi-living organisms that writhe have to deal with fish-people trying to board your ship, and evade
and pulsate when reloaded. the tentacles of the almighty Kraken.
The developers describe the game world’s structure as ‘dream- You’ll regularly need to fend off this dastardly cult’s vessels in
like’ (although nightmarish would seem more appropriate). It tactical combat scenarios. The combat looks impressively detailed,
comprises several interconnected regions, each differently themed, letting you assign crew members to individuals’ weapons, be they
which the player can explore in a non-linear fashion. Combat will hull-splitting cannons or incendiary mortars. You can even target
obviously feature, but Scorn isn’t an action game. Ebb Software different parts of an enemy ship, aiming to sink it outright, cripple it
hopes to balance battles with exploration and At veri acest,solving.
puzzle omniti When by targeting the sails, or obliterate the crew by aiming at the deck.
fighting does occur, every bullet will count,de enderspis unt, ut
especially given some of Abandon Ship will be a challenging voyage, but only the death of
volestibus maiorep
the monstrosities the developer will pitch against you. Scorn will
ellorio nseque the Captain will result in its end. If your ship sinks, you can await
launch in two parts, the first of which will arrive
occus,next year.
cor senis rescue in a lifeboat, and continue your adventure in a new vessel.

86
Megaton Rainfall
DEVELOPER Pentadimensional Games / RELEASE 27 October, 2017
egaton Rainfall is a first-person superhero game in which
M you must save Earth from alien invasion, by flying from city
to city at ludicrous speeds, destroy flying saucers, hulking
tripods and massive motherships, all while keeping the cities safe
from the carnage. The sense of scale is tantalising.
Its representation of Earth is one-to-one, with semi-procedurally
generated cities separated by vast swathes of countryside. You
can fly between these areas seamlessly, and even beyond the
atmosphere and out of the solar system entirely.
Meanwhile, the aliens’ spaceships are equipped with devastating
heat-rays, while the tripods can peel a skyscraper open like a
banana. Even you are a potential hazard to the city below. Mistime an
energy blast or fly too quickly through a spaceship’s hull, and you
might accidentally destroy a skyscraper, negatively impacting your
reputation. Megaton Rainfall looks spectacular, and the level of
freedom it offers is certainly impressive, but it’s hard to tell how
much variety and grounding its alien-bashing will offer.
The game is scheduled to launch as a timed exclusive on PS4 and
PSVR, after which it will launch on PC around October this year.
Luptae con cus voluptio. Ut et
Dusk parum, sunt harum sit, ut ut
audist aliqui num ius dem qui
DEVELOPER David Szymanski / RELEASE 31 October 2017
usk is a fast-paced, retro-style FPS pitched as Quake’s
D spiritual successor. It’s set in the fictional town of Dusk,
Pennsylvania, where the residents have gone a bit
homicidal, donning canvas hoods, wielding
chainsaws and generally misbehaving. It’s up to
you to discipline these errant children, primarily
through the use of sickles, shotguns and rocket
launchers, naturally.
The game employs 1990s-style visuals and
environment design, with deliberately blocky
graphics and pixellated blood spatter – you even
hold your gun in the centre of the screen. The
game comprises over 33 levels, separated into three chapters, and
includes over a dozen weapons. While Dusk looks promising, we’ve
been recently burned by retro-style shooters. The procedurally
Seven: The Days Long Gone
DEVELOPER IMGN.Pro / RELEASE TBA
even: The Days Long gone is an isometric RPG inspired by
S Thief, putting you in the soft-soled shoes of a master thief
in a large futuristic dystopia. Unlike most isometric games,
it takes place in real time, rather than using point and click movement
and turn-based battles.
Your character is highly agile, able to climb walls and traverse
across rooftops, while the complex stealth system enables you to
sneak through shadows and long grass in order to avoid enemies or
dispatch them quietly. You can even employ magical abilities to turn
invisible and mask the sound of your footsteps.
The developer describes Seven’s game world as ‘beyond post-
apocalyptic’, where technology coexists alongside magic. The
environments are designed by artists who worked on The Witcher 3,
and the footage looks predictably stunning. The only concern is that
combat seems to play a significant role, at least with an equal
weighting to stealth. The developer says it doesn’t want to limit how
the player approaches the game, which may work fine.
However, Thief’s strength was its focus, and without that focus,
Seven may end up being a jack-of-all-trades and a master of none.
generated Strafe made similar promises, but
ultimately proved to be limper than a pack of Rich
tea biscuits left out in the rain. However, Dusk will
benefit from handcrafted levels, and weapons
that sound fantastic, a feature that Strafe sorely lacked. Could Dusk
be the game that reminds us of being young, free and psychopathic?
We’ll find out on Halloween.
87
F E AT U R E / CUSTOMISATION

BUILDA
WATER-COOLED
THREADRIPPERPC
TEMPTED TO BUILD A NEW MULTITHREADED MONSTER BASED ON AMD’S
NEW THREADRIPPER PLATFORM, BUT DON’T KNOW WHERE TO START?
ANTONY LEATHER SHOWS YOU HOW IT’S DONE
88
 f you want to build a PC with
some serious grunt for content
creation or rendering, but that
can also handle 4K gaming, then
there’s some fantastic hardware
out there at the moment. Intel has just
launched its fastest ever desktop CPU, the
Core i9-7980XE (see p20), a beast of a CPU
that sports 18 cores, but it’s also hugely
expensive. In fact, it costs more than twice the
price of AMD’s Threadripper 1950X, which
sports 16 cores and still packs a massive
multi-threaded performance punch.
Threadripper offers much better value for
money, especially as you’re getting not just
the most cores of any AMD CPU, but also the
fastest clock frequencies, as all Threadripper
CPUs can boost to 4.2GHz courtesy of their
XFR feature. In our feature build this month,
we’ll be building a Threadripper system with
all the latest hardware, and we’ll also be
water-cooling the graphics card and
processor to make a truly awesome PC.
Whether you want to know how to build a
Threadripper system, or if you just get some
ideas for water-cooling your hardware, you’ll
want to read through the next few pages.
THREADRIPPER vs CORE i9
While Intel has claimed back its performance
crown, AMD’s Threadripper CPUs still offer
remarkable value. The Threadripper 1950X is
particularly nifty, retailing for just a little more
than Intel’s Core i9-7900X, but trouncing it in
many multi-threaded tests thanks to its
6-core advantage. Intel still has a lead in
some games, but Threadripper offers
enough PCI-E lanes for multi-GPU systems
and next-gen storage, as well as fantastic
multi-threaded performance. There are
some important factors to consider, such
as cooling, which we’ll discuss later, but
generally, plumping for a Threadripper
system will enable you to plough more
money into your graphics card or cooling
system, while getting performance similar
to Intel’s pricier 14 and 16-core CPUs.
THREADRIPPER 1950X
vs 1920X
While Intel looks set to offer nearly ten CPUs
for its X299 platform, AMD has just three
Threadripper chips, only two of which are
really worth considering for a PC with lots of
multi-threaded grunt. The low-end 1900X
only has eight cores, which you can also get
from AMD’s Ryzen 7 1700X for under £300.
It does offer the full 64 PCI-E lanes of the
Threadripper platform, but the 12-core and
16-core models are where Threadripper
really shines.
That leaves us with the Threadripper
1950X and 1920X and, as we saw in our
Threadripper coverage last month, the
12-core CPU is fast, but is outdone in some
areas by the Intel Core i9-7900X, which is
barely £100 more expensive. As a result,
the Threadripper 1950X represents the
Threadripper sweet spot, offering a clear-cut
win over Intel in a like-for-like price battle.
AMD Ryzen Threadripper
1950X / £938 incVAT
SUPPLIER www.ebuyer.com
MOTHERBOARDS
Unlike AMD’s mainstream Ryzen CPUs,
there’s only one chipset that supports
Threadripper, and TR4 motherboards so far
appear to be much more mature than their
mainstream counterparts were at launch.
Having tested models from all four of the
major motherboard manufacturers, we can
confidently recommend any of them, but two
stick out from last month’s group test as
being especially worthy of your cash.
If your wallet is happy to oblige, Asus’ ROG
Zenith Extreme is one of the best and most
feature-packed motherboards we’ve tested
on any platform. It’s dripping with features,
such as 10Gb/sec LAN, a nifty ninth DIMM
slot that can house two M.2 PCI-E SSDs and
loads of other droolworthy features and
accessories. However, with a price tag over
£500 inc VAT, it isn’t cheap. For around £200
less cash, you can get MSI’s excellent X399
Gaming Pro Carbon AC, which still sports a
trio of heatsink-cooled M.2 ports, RGB
lighting and some mean-looking aesthetics.
It’s our pick if you want to save a bit of money,
but still want a PC that will be the envy of your
friends.
MSI X399 Gaming Pro
Carbon AC / £322 incVAT
SUPPLIER www.ebuyer.com
MEMORY
You’ll want a quad-channel memory kit with
four DIMMs to maximise bandwidth for your
Threadripper system. Offering epic lighting
as well as good Ryzen and Threadripper
compatibility, G.Skill’s Trident Z RGB kit is the
obvious choice at the moment, specifically at
3200MHz. Amazingly, at £330 inc VAT, our
32GB kit with 16-18-18-18-38 timings is only
around £30 more expensive than many
more basic kits, making it great value for a
superb-looking addition to your PC. Opting
for higher speeds can be a gamble on an
AMD system at the moment, but this kit
worked fine at 3200MHz with the MSI X399
Gaming Pro Carbon AC.
G.Skill F4-3200C16Q-
32GTZR Trident RGB /
£331 incVAT
SUPPLIER www.amazon.co.uk
GRAPHICS CARD
Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 1080 Ti is the only
single-GPU option that offers comfortable
frame rates at maximum settings in current
games at, making it an easy choice for our PC.
We’ve only opted for a single card for our
build, but there’s clearly scope for adding a
second one. Asus’ monstrous £780 Strix
Gaming GTX 1080 Ti offers wide
compatibility with waterblock manufacturers,
89
 F E AT U R E / CUSTOMISATION
as well as sporting decent cooling out of the
box if you want to forgo water cooling and
stick with an air-cooled GPU.
Asus GeForce GTX 1080 Ti
ROG Strix Gaming /
£750 incVAT
SUPPLIER Scan.co.uk
PSU
AMD X399
systems can be
quite power-
hungry, especially
when they’re overclocked, and you’ll be
looking at a power draw in excess of 600W
if you put both the CPU and GPU under
combined heavy loads. An 850W PSU will
provide plenty of headroom, even if you add
another GPU into the mix. For most content
creation tasks and games, you’ll likely see
lower power consumption than our numbers
anyway. We’ve also opted for a custom black
and white custom cable kit from https://
cablemod.com
Corsair RM850i / £135 incVAT
SUPPLIER www.scan.co.uk
STORAGE
While a solid state drive is an essential part of
a modern enthusiast-orientated PC, at least
to house your OS and games, it’s also worth
stepping up a notch to include an M.2 PCI-E
NVMe SSD rather than your average SATA-
based device. Samsung’s 960 Evo is capable
of speeds over 3,000MB/sec – nearly six
times the speed of the fastest SATA SSDs,
plus it eliminates the need for any drive bays
and unsightly cables, connecting straight to
the motherboard. Get as big a capacity as you
can afford - we suggest 500GB as a starting
point for a high-end system, providing plenty
of space for software, games and content.
500GB Samsung 960 Evo /
£230 incVAT
SUPPLIER www.overclockers.co.uk
TOTAL SYSTEM PRICE: £3,436 INC VAT
90
CASE CPU WATERBLOCK
The winner of our recent XSPC RayStorm Neo /
premium case group £80 incVAT
test, the Enthoo
Evolv ATX Glass
SUPPLIER www.overclockers.co.uk
looks fantastic, and
GPU WATERBLOCK
has everything you
need you build a Phanteks Glacier Glacier
water-cooled PC. G1080 Ti Asus Strix /
We’ll be using a
£125 incVAT
triple 120mm-fan
Supplier www.overclockers.co.uk
radiator, but there’s
space for two radiators in the case, as well as
a dedicated mount for pumps and reservoirs. FITTINGS
It can house ATX and E-ATX motherboards, Phanteks 8 x black 13/10mm
but only up to 264mm wide, which means
that a large board such as the Asus’ ROG
compression fittings and
Zenith Extreme, will overhang the cable- tubing pack / £68 incVAT
routing holes. If you want to use a larger SUPPLIER www.overclockers.co.uk
motherboard, we recommend using the
slightly larger Enthoo Primo case instead, to ANGLED ADAPTORS
make sure you’re not left with a cramped PC.
Phanteks 2 x 45 and
Phanteks Enthoo Evolv ATX 2 x 90-degree angled
Glass / £160 incVAT adaptors / £56 incVAT
SUPPLIER www.overclockers.co.uk SUPPLIER www.overclockers.co.uk
Alphacool 2 x Eiszapfen
WATER COOLING double 45-degree rotatable
Threadripper responds well to water-cooling
hardware, and we’ve found it makes pushing
adaptor / £9 incVAT
the monstrous 1950X to 4GHz just that much SUPPLIER www.aquatuning.co.uk
more comfortable for use as an everyday
overclock. We’ve picked XSPC’s new PUMP AND RESERVOIR
RayStorm Neo Threadripper-specific TR4
waterblock, which is enormous, but covers
EK Water Blocks EK-
the entire Threadripper heatspreader and XRES 140 Revo D5 PWM /
also offers RGB lighting. £124 incVAT
We’ve also chosen Phanteks’ Glacier SUPPLIER www.watercoolinguk.co.uk
waterblock for our Asus ROG Strix GeForce
GTX 1080 Ti graphics card – it looks
RADIATOR
awesome and sports RGB lighting to match
the XSPC waterblock. You can buy Black Ice Nemesis GTS 360 /
waterblocks for most GTX 1080 Ti cards, £63 incVAT
either made by Phanteks or other water- SUPPLIER www.watercoolinguk.co.uk
cooling hardware manufacturers, such as EK.
We’ve also used Phanteks 13/10mm
FANS
fittings and tubing, along with EKWB’s
EK-XRES 140 Revo D5 PWM combined Corsair SP 120 RGB three
pump and reservoir. This unit can also tap into fan kit / £40 incVAT
your motherboard’s PWM fan signal to alter SUPPLIER www.scan.co.uk
its speed for quieter operation at low loads.
For cooling, we’ve used a single Black Ice
Nemesis GTS 360 radiator, along with a COOLANT
single row of Corsair SP120 RGB fans. Mayhems Ultra Pure H20 1L /
Finally, to really allow all the RGB lighting to £5 incVAT
shine, we’ve used clear Mayhems’ Ultra Pure
SUPPLIER www.overclockers.co.uk
H20 coolant.
 BUILDINGTHEPC
INSTALL CPU
Installing a Threadripper CPU is quite an
involved process, but you only have to do it
once, and there are safety features to
prevent you from damaging the CPU socket
pins; the TR4 socket is AMD’s first land grid
array package, where the CPU lacks the
familiar pins of AMD’s previous CPUs. Each
Threadripper CPU is clipped into an orange
tray, which allows it to slide into a hinged tray
on the CPU socket. Once you’ve inserted it,
you can remove the usual black socket cap
that protects the pins, then lower the CPU
into them and click the tray into place 01 .
Finally, a second tray or latch that’s similar
to the usual hold-down latches you find on
Intel motherboards, needs to be screwed
into place 02 . It’s important to tighten and
also unscrew the socket latch screws in a
specific order. When installing the CPU,
secure screw 1 first, before tightening screws
2 and 3 loosely, and then fully tighten each
screw in turn in that same order. AMD
includes a limited torque tool that starts to
01
04
slip once the required torque is applied so
make sure you use it. When opening the
latch, unscrew the screws in reverse order,
so screw 3, then 2, then 1. There’s a lot of
tension and not following these steps will
see the latch fly open.
APPLY THERMAL PASTE
The huge heatspreader on a Threadripper
CPU poses questions, not just of coolers, but
also thermal paste, specifically in the way
you apply it. You’ll clearly need a lot more
than usual, but does the usual cross method
work, or do you need to try another method?
To find out, we used XSPC’s RayStorm Neo
Threadripper-specific waterblock, along with
some ARCTIC MX4 thermal paste.
We applied the usual cross shape from
corner to corner 03 . After clamping down the
waterblock, we removed it to see how well
the thermal paste had spread, and it appears
that this method works fine on socket TR4,
achieving a fairly even spread over the whole
heatspreader 04 . The only downside is that
02
05
this method requires around three times the
amount of paste as other CPUs.
INSTALL WATERBLOCK
After applying your thermal paste (XSPC
includes some paste with the waterblock),
attach the four socket pins, before placing
the waterblock onto the pins and securing it
with the included thumbscrews and springs
05 . XSPC includes two RGB LEDs that slot
into the sides of the waterblock. They aren’t
essential, but they do look fantastic, and
they’re easy to route out of sight, up past the
top heatsink on our MSI X399 Gaming Pro
Carbon AC motherboard 06 . The LEDs
include a colour and lighting mode controller,
and can be powered by a standard 4-pin RGB
LED header.
INSTALL MEMORY
The memory installs in much the same
way as with an Intel X299 system, with slot
numbers 1, 3, 6 and 8 being occupied if you
have four DIMMS to install 07 . If you have a
03
06
91
 F E AT U R E / CUSTOMISATION

07 08 09

10 11 12

larger budget, we highly recommend opting

for a second kit of the G.Skill Trident Z RGB
13 14
memory. Not only will you get loads of
memory, but filling all the slots sees the
DIMMS sit snugly together for a more
seamless lighting display.

INSTALL SSD
The next job on the motherboard is fitting the
M.2 SSD under one of the heatsinks. There
are three slots available, but we’ve opted for
the lowest one, so access to it won’t be
blocked by close proximity to the graphics
card. Remove the heatsink and the layer of
plastic protecting its thermal pad, install the
SSD and then use the included screw to
secure the heatsink into place, clamping
down onto the SSD 08 .
ATTACH FITTINGS
It’s best to install the CPU waterblock fittings
before you install the motherboard in your
case, as it’s then easier to get your fingers
around them properly and apply enough
force to tighten them. Work out if you need to
use any angled adaptors first, and use them
if necessary – we just used normal fittings 09
FIT GPU WATERBLOCK
It’s time to move on to the graphics card.
Start by removing all the screws on the rear
of the PCB, so that you’re able to remove the
cooler 10 . Depending on your card, you may
also need to remove screws on the rear
bracket plate.
The thermal paste on the core can
sometimes make the cooler tricky to
remove, so use a hairdryer for a minute or so
to warm up the rear of the card and loosen
the paste.
The Asus ROG Strix GeForce GTX 1080 Ti
has a very elaborate cooler, and once you’ve
removed the heatsink, you’ll need to remove
a second contraption that mounts on the
memory and VRMs 11 .
Make sure you put all the screws in the
original graphics card box or waterblock box,
so you can reattach the original cooler later if
need be, perhaps if you want to sell your
card. The Phanteks block installation process
allows you to replace the original backplate
of the graphics card though.
The Phanteks waterblock includes
replacement thermal pads for the RAM
modules and power circuitry, so clean the
core and these areas of any residual thermal
paste or pads. Then cut the new pads to size
as needed and apply them to the card’s
modules according to the instructions 12 .
You can now secure the backplate if
you had to remove it, before securing the
waterblock to the PCB. Place the block face
down on a soft surface, such as a kitchen

92
 15
18
21
towel, then lay the PCB over it to line up
with the mounting holes. Install all the
screws, tightening them lightly at first before
using a moderate amount of force to fully
tighten them 13 .
PUT COMPONENTS IN CASE
Now go ahead and install the motherboard
and graphics card in the case 14 . The
graphics card also has RGB lighting, and we
recommend routing these cables first before
securing the graphics card. We found that
they slide neatly between components on
the motherboard and out to one of the
case’s cable-routing holes. The graphics
card may sag a little due to the weight of the
16
19
22
waterblock too. If this sagging annoys you,
www.mncptech.com offers GPU support
arms that can fix the issue.
INSTALL WATER-COOLING GEAR
The Phanteks case offers numerous water-
cooling-friendly features, such as this
removable tray on the PSU cover, which
allows you to install pumps and radiators. Go
ahead and remove this cover, as it will make
installing the reservoir and pump easier 15 .
The case also sports a removable radiator
mount, which offsets the radiator, so it clears
the heatsinks on the motherboard. Install the
radiator and fans on this mount, with the fans
positioned to exhaust hot air out of the case,
17
20
23
but with the radiator attached to the tray.
Make sure to point the fan cables at the rear
of the case, so they can be easily hidden 16 .
The case includes a pump mount that can
be secured to the right of the motherboard
tray, but to use it, you need to remove the
reservoir section from the EK-XRES 140
Revo D5 PWM so that you can tighten the
screws. Thankfully, the locking ring on the
pump makes it easy to reinstall later 17 .
The pump bracket lines up with all four
screw points on the pump itself, and then
secures to the case using two screws that line
up to screwholes in the motherboard tray.
Once you’ve attached the pump section and
pump mount, reinstall the reservoir by
93
 F E AT U R E / CUSTOMISATION
screwing it to the locking ring on the pump 18 .
With all the water-cooling components
installed, go ahead and install the remaining
fittings to the appropriate ports. The GPU
waterblock has two inlets and outlets and
you only need to use one of each. Decide
on how best to route your tubing and install
the fittings, plus blanking ports in the
unused ports 19 .
Now connect all the fittings to the tubing.
The order doesn’t matter, as the reservoir
and pump are a single unit with one inlet and
outlet between them, so it’s just a case of
making the arrangement as neat as possible.
We’ve used a short connection between
the two waterblocks, and then used the
outlet on the radiator to connect to the inlet
on the reservoir 20 .
LEAK-TEST
To leak-test the system, we highly
recommend using the Dr Drop pressure
tester 21 . It works by applying a small
amount of air pressure and seeing if this
pressure falls due to a leak somewhere –
usually a fitting that’s not quite tight enough.
You can connect it using a spare fitting and
some tubing to a vacant port on the graphics
card. Alternatively, add some coolant dye
and wrap each connection in white kitchen
towel, then power on the pump alone,
either using an ATX jumper or Molex power
adaptor, and leave it running overnight – any
leaks will be shown up by dye residue on the
kitchen towel.
ADD COOLANT
The front of the case provides a convenient
hole to fill the reservoir using a filler bottle
(£4.90 inc VAT from www.watercoolinguk.
co.uk). Fill the bottle with your desired
coolant, then squeeze the bottle to transfer
the coolant to the reservoir 22 . Once it’s full,
power on the pump and continue to fill it
while the air is bled from the system. Now
leave the pump on for 24 hours just to make
sure there are no new leaks.
INSTALL POWER SUPPLY
Now go ahead and install the power supply
and connectors 23 . We’ve used Cable Mod
cable combs with our cable kit, as they
straighten out the cables for a neater look.
With the system filled with coolant, connect
the PWM pump connector to the pump
header on your motherboard too.
We’ve also connected the case’s fan hub
to the CPU fan header; we’ve hooked up
our radiator and case fans to this hub so
they can all be adjusted according to the
CPU temperature.
94
FINALSETUP
EFI SETUP
Before we start overclocking, we need to
apply the XMP profile and also configure our
fans and pump. Head to the OC section in the
motherboard’s EFI, and apply the A-XMP
profile 2 24 , which will set the correct
memory frequency and timings. If the PC fails
to boot, reset the CMOS and try raising the
memory voltage to 1.38V 25 . If you still have
no joy, try raising the timings by two notches
on each of the four main settings. Using the
latest 1.50 BIOS, this motherboard worked
first time with the G.Skill Trident Z RGB
3200MHz memory.
In the hardware monitor section, make
sure there are readings for both the pump
and fans. You can then adjust the fan curve
profiles to suit your needs 26 . We’ve set both
the pump and fans to minimum speed until
the CPU reaches 60°C, after which their
speeds start to ramp up.
AMD CHIPSET DRIVERS
AND RYZEN POWER PROFILE
Once you’ve installed Windows 10, allow it to
update any drivers and fixes, and then head
to www.amd.com to grab the latest chipset
drivers for the X399 platform as well as the
latest drivers for the Nvidia graphics card
from www.nvidia.com
The AMD drivers now include a dedicated
Ryzen balanced power profile 27 , as the
standard Windows 10 Balanced profile
results in reduced performance with
Ryzen processors.
However, we recommend opting for
the standard High performance profile,
which will get you the best performance
all the time with just a small increase in
power consumption.
24
RYZEN MASTER AND
OVERCLOCKING
Threadripper has its own version of Ryzen
Master, which you can download from www.
amd.com. It allows you to adjust the memory
access modes for reduced latency and
increased performance in games. We’ve
noticed only small decreases in performance
outside of games if you use the local
memory access mode, but noticeable gains
to frame rates. We recommend setting the
memory access mode to local unless you
see a significant performance drop in some
of your other software. 28
However, if you apply the full-fat game
mode, you’ll also enable the legacy
compatibility mode, which can further
increase game performance, also cuts the
core count in half, so it’s no good if you want
to switch to some rendering or video
encoding work. In addition, some games
perform slower in this mode, such as Ashes
of the Singularity, which makes use of the
additional cores and memory bandwidth.
Likewise, The Witcher 3 is also slightly faster
with legacy compatibility mode disabled.
Sadly, you have to restart your PC every time
you change one of these settings, so
manually applying local access mode is a
happy medium.
Handily, you can apply all the overclocked
settings for the Ryzen Threadripper 1950X
within Ryzen Master and not the EFI, so load
up the program and select a profile at the
bottom of the screen. Now set the vcore to
3.9GHz and the CPU voltage to 1.4V. These
settings should be attainable on most X399
motherboards with the latest BIOS versions.
Now test your CPU temperatures. Ideally,
you want them to be below 80°C under full
25
26 27

29

28

load, so download and install Prime95 26.6 PERFORMANCE performance in image editing, video
from www.mersenneforum.org, run the While overclocking a Threadripper CPU is encoding and Cinebench R15, where the
smallfft test and use Ryzen Master to worth it for multi-threaded content creation, it overclocked CPU was 14 per cent faster.
monitor the temperature. If the system is can end up reducing performance in some The overclocked rig saw gains in all our
stable after ten minutes, increase the CPU tests. AMD’s XFR boost tech can reach game tests, though, with a 7 per cent increase
frequency to 4GHz and test again, then start 4.2GHz across four cores in a Threadripper in the minimum frame rate in The Witcher 3,
to reduce the voltage. We needed just 1.375V CPU, while the other cores run at stock speed, and 8 per cent in Deus Ex: Mankind Divided,
to get to 4GHz, but your mileage may vary. but as our maximum overclock was just although much of this benefit is likely down to
4GHz, you’re then at a 200MHz deficit in the GPU overclock. The power consumption
MSI AFTERBURNER lightly threaded software. This situation also rose significantly with the overclocked
It’s well worth overclocking your graphics resulted in slower scores in our multi-tasking CPU, reaching 489W for the system at load,
card too, as the extra cooling offered by water test when our PC was overclocked, but better compared to 309W at stock speed.
cooling will mean temperatures are far lower.
We’ve increased the base core frequency by
100MHz to 1669MHz, with a boost speed of C PC R EA L B E N CH 2 0 1 5
GIMP IMAGE EDITING A S H E S O F T H E S I N G UL A R I T Y : E S C A L A T I O N
1783MHz, and the memory by 200MHz to CPC Threadripper
50,880 54,214
3,820 x 2,160, High detail, DX12
PC
give an effective frequency of 11.4GHz. 0 16,000 32,000 48,000 64,000
CPC Threadripper 44 fps 50 fps
PC
Apply these settings in MSI Afterburner 45 fps 51 fps
H AN D B R A K E H . 2 6 4 V I D E O E N CO D I N G
20 40 60 80
(free to download from www.msi.com/ CPC Threadripper
774,568 839,554
0
PC T H E W I T C H E R 3 : W I L D H UN T
page/afterburner) 29 , and also increase the 0 225,000 450,000 675,000 900,000 3,820 x 2,160, Ultra detail, Nvidia Hairworks off
power limit and temperature limit settings to H EAV Y M U L T I -T A S K I N G CPC Threadripper 56 fps 62 fps
their maximums. CPC Threadripper
180,936 201,002
PC 60 fps 66 fps
PC
Run through your latest games at these 0 55,000 110,000 165,000 220,000 0 20 40 60 80

settings to test for stability, and also try S Y S T EM S C O R E D E US E X : M A N K I N D D I V I D E D

3,820 x 2,160, Very High Detail, DX12
CPC Threadripper
Unigine Superposition (https://unigine.com) PC 262,434 274,497
CPC Threadripper 36 fps 44 fps
for an extended stress test and watch out for 0 750,00 150,000 225,000 300,000 PC 39 fps 47 fps
graphics glitches. C I N EB EN C H R 1 5
0 20 40 60 80
CPC Threadripper
2,9723,384
These settings make for an easy overclock, PC Stock speed min Stock speed avg
0 900 1,800 2,700 3,600 Overclocked min Overclocked avg
so you may well be able to push your clock
I D L E PO W E R C O N S UM P T I O N L O A D P O W E R CO N S UM P T I O N
speeds higher. Our GPU temperature never CPC Threadripper
140W 145W
CPC Threadripper
309W 489W
PC PC
rose above 51°C, which is 16°C lower than 0 40 80 120 160 0 125 250 375 500
when using the stock cooler. Stock speed Overclocked Stock speed Overclocked

95
 C U STO M I SAT I O N / HOBBY TECH

G A R E T H H A L FAC R E E ’ S

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

T U TO R I A L
Syncthing on Raspberry Pi
Use your Raspberry Pi as a remote backup server

hen cloud backup service CrashPlan abandoned home users, sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
W I took it as an opportunity to save the monthly fee in favour
of a Syncthing setup. To build your own one, you’ll need a
sudo apt install syncthing btrfs-tools -y

Raspberry Pi or other low-power microcomputer, a USB hard drive,
power supply, network cable and 8GB micro-SD card.
1 Plug the USB hard drive into one of the Raspberry Pi’s USB ports
and connect the network cable. Head to www.raspberrypi.org/
downloads and grab the latest Raspbian Lite image, and flash it to
the micro-SD card. You then need to configure it for remote access
by creating a file in the /boot partition called ssh. On Linux, just
eject and reinsert the micro-SD card, then type the following:
sudo touch /media/username/boot/ssh
Replace username with your own username. Eject the micro-SD
card, insert it into the Pi and power it all up.
3 In order to get the most out of your USB hard drive, you can use the
B-Tree File System (the shorthand for which is btrfs, pronounced ‘butter
eff-ess’) with built-in compression. Doing so, however, will wipe all the
data currently on the drive. If you’re sure you want to go ahead and use
btrfs, type:
sudo fdisk -l
Find the device name of your USB hard drive, then use it in the
following command in place of /dev/sdX:
sudo mkfs.btrfs -f -L backupdrive /dev/sdX
When the file system creation is complete, type the following:
lsblk /dev/sdX

2 Give the Pi time to register on the network, then connect via SSH:
ssh pi@raspberrypi.local
Type the following command:
sudo raspi-config
Using the raspi-config tool, change the default password, enlarge the
filesystem and make any other changes you fancy. Save the changes,
allow raspi-config to reboot the Pi, then log back in via SSH using
your new password before typing:
curl -s https://syncthing.net/release-key.txt | A Raspberry
sudo apt-key add - Pi and USB hard
drive can become a
echo “deb https://apt.syncthing.net/ syncthing
handy-dandy remote
stable” | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ backup server using
syncthing.list Syncthing

96

You’ll need to add the Syncthing repository to your Pi before installing it, to
ensure you get the latest version
Once configured, Syncthing will automatically keep your Pi filled with data from
your desktop, laptop or even smartphone
Copy the UUID – the long hexadecimal number – to your clipboard,
then type:
sudo mkdir /media/backupdrive
sudo nano /etc/fstab
Type the following line, replacing uuid with the UUID you
copied earlier:
UUID=uuid /media/backupdrive btrfs
defaults,rw,relatime,user,compress=lzo 0 0
Save the file with Ctrl-O, quit with Ctrl-X, then type:
mount /media/backupdrive
sudo chown pi /media/backupdrive
4 Configure Syncthing to start on boot:
sudo systemctl enable syncthing@pi.service
sudo systemctl start syncthing@pi.service
To enable remote configuration, type:
nano ~/.config/syncthing/config.xml
Find the line starting <gui, find <address, then delete 127.0.0.1
– but nothing else on the line – and replace with 0.0.0.0. Save with
Ctrl-O, quit with Ctrl-X, then type:
sudo systemctl restart syncthing@pi.service
Switch from your SSH client to your web browser and visit http://
raspberrypi.local:8384
5 Before you add your USB drive to Syncthing, set up authentication.
Click on the Actions button, go to Settings, then fill in the GUI
Authentication User and Password boxes.
These entries don’t have to match your username and password for
the Pi, but type carefully because the password won’t be confirmed.
Click Save. Click on Add Folder. Give it the label ‘Backup Drive’, change
This symbol means the command
should all be on one line
With no GUI on your Pi, you’ll need to open Syncthing’s web interface for
external access, at least temporarily
Syncthing’s built-in file versioning will keep snapshots of files as you’re working
on them, allowing you to go back to older versions
the path to /media/backupdrive, then click on Advanced and find the
Versioning section.
By default, Syncthing doesn’t store old versions of files. Change No
File Versioning to Staggered Versioning to save all versions of all files
for up to a year. Click Save.
6 Install Syncthing on the system you’re looking to back up from
https://syncthing.net or your package manager. Load the GUI in your
browser from localhost:8384, then click Add Device. Syncthing will
have found the Pi on your network, so click on its device ID.
Scroll to Compression and change it to All Data to compensate for
a slow WAN. Click Save, then switch back to the Pi Syncthing GUI. A
dialog box will appear saying a new device has requested a connection;
click Add Device, then again switch Compression to All Data. Tick the
box next to Backup Drive to share it with your other Syncthing client,
then click Save.
Switch back to your local Syncthing GUI and wait for a prompt saying
a new folder has been shared; click Add, change the Path to the
directory you want to back up, change the Folder Type to Send Only
and switch File Versioning to Staggered before clicking Save.
7 Your backup system is now complete; any files you put into the
shared folder on your local computer will now be synchronising to the
Raspberry Pi. If you make a change to a file, Syncthing will automatically
send the new version to the Pi; the old version will be timestamped and
stored in a hidden .stversions directory.
Note that changes made on the Pi side won’t be reflected on your
local device. This setup protects your local files from the Pi suddenly
going non-linear and deleting all your data by mistake, but still allows
you to grab your files if your local system goes down.
97
 C U STO M I SAT I O N / HOBBY TECH

REVIEW
Haynes Retro Arcade Kit
hen asked to name a
W company involved in the
world of electronics and
soldering kits, there are a few that
immediately spring to mind, from
mainstream companies such as
Velleman and educational efforts
such as LittleBits, to more specialist
concerns, such as Boldport and
MAKERbuino creator CircuitMess.
One company that definitely
doesn’t appear on the tip of my
tongue is Haynes, a company
more readily associated with car
maintenance manuals. In recent
years, though, the company has
been branching out, with guides
to all sorts of projects from the
Raspberry Pi to fictional spaceships
– and, now, soldering kits.
The Retro Arcade kit is a strong
name for what is, at heart, a bit of a
‘Hello, World’ of gaming – a simplified
The finished machine is functional,
implementation of Atari’s Pong. The but you’re unlikely to be returning
packaging serves as the chassis, while the to it for another go tomorrow
bulk of the kit is taken up by a single-purpose
circuitboard, featuring an ATmega8 manual, but anyone expecting to find a book Worse, the instructions tell you to ‘click’
microcontroller and a single-colour LED as detailed as one they may have bought for the board into the plastic chassis before
matrix display. their Ford Cortina back in the day will be beginning to solder, which makes the solder
These parts, in fact, are the most complex disappointed by the thin paperback pamphlet pads difficult to reach and all but guarantees
components in the kit. The remainder of the that plops out of the packaging. It’s Haynes in you’re going to melt part of the plastic
box is taken up with two 10K potentiometers name only: the booklet falls at the very first housing with the tip of your iron.
with knobs, a length of insulated solid-core hurdle by copping out of actually This situation is especially obvious when
wire, two lengths of uninsulated solid-core demonstrating how to solder – a key feature soldering the potentiometers, which involves
wire and a lot of empty space. of a soldering kit aimed at beginners, you attempting to push a bare length of wire onto
The packaging makes much of the might think – in favour of pointing users to the pad with one hand, holding the solder
inclusion of a Haynes-brand instruction http://eight-innovation.com, the company
actually responsible for the kit’s
creation. There, you’ll (eventually, and
only by using the search function) find a
copy of a public domain, single-page
cartoon-style soldering guide.
Once you’ve familiarised
yourself with the basics of
soldering, you can begin to build
the kit – and, sadly, that’s where
the real frustration starts. The
packaging of the kit forms its
chassis, but its internals are made
of thin plastic that, in our sample,
failed to hold the circuitboard in
place.
It may carry the Haynes name, but
the Retro Arcade kit falls short of the The box serves as the chassis of the finished kit,
brand’s expected quality which would be neat if the parts lined up properly

98
The included components are minimal: the
circuitboard, potentiometers, wire and a
battery holder

with your other, and somehow using a

magical third hand to actually solder the
wire in place.
The kit’s design doesn’t quite work,
either; the plastic inner and
cardboard outer are held together by
the potentiometers, but the holes don’t line
up quite right. By the time I had
finished building the kit, the
bottom row of LEDs on the
display was below the lower
edge of the cut-out, with no
way to correct it.
Even the silkscreen on the
PCB has been put on the wrong
side, facing into the chassis instead of out, so
when the manual tells you to solder the
holder for the three AA batteries (not
supplied, naturally) to the 4.5V and GND
terminals, you have absolutely no idea
which terminal is which.
With a name such as Haynes behind it, The build process is
unnecessarily fiddly,
the Retro Arcade kit could have been
and requires careful
truly special. Instead, it’s an exercise in soldering to avoid
frustration that fails to even adopt best melting the plastic
practice when it comes to the
soldering itself. source code for which
Some instructions are even isn’t supplied – can
outright dangerous: the coin slot is control one or both of
activated by a coin – or any the ball game’s ‘bats’,
conductive object, realistically – and the AI is functional if
bridging the two uninsulated nothing to write home
solid-core wire lengths, but about. The circuitboard
these wires must be threaded also includes pads for an
through the side of the plastic in-circuit system
housing. programmer (ICSP) to
For this part, the instructions tell you to ‘hot applying the soldering replace the program with
piece them through the plastic tray’. That’s as iron in an effort to heat them enough to melt your own one, but there are
much instruction as you get. If you’re not through the plastic. no instructions that tell you how to do it.
familiar with the concept of heat conduction, Once it’s built, the Haynes Retro Arcade Kit The Haynes Retro Arcade kit is available to
you’re going to end up with singed fingers as works: after an initial go, a new game is purchase now from www.amazon.co.uk,
you hold the wires in your hand while begun by inserting a coin. The program – the priced at £24.99 inc VAT.

The kit is based around an ATmega8
microcontroller, which holds the seemingly
closed-source Pong clone
NEWS IN BRIEF
Nvidia Slashes JetsonTX1 price
Nvidia’s Jetson TX1 single-board computer (SBC)
was an interesting follow-up to the original Jetson
TK1 (see Issue 133), but with a price-tag that put it
well beyond the reach of most hobbyists: $499 US
(around £385 ex tax). The Jetson TX1 SE aims to fix
that problem, slashing the cost to $199 US (around £154 ex tax) by dropping the bundled
camera module. Available exclusively in the USA at the time of writing, the Jetson TX1
includes the same 64-bit quad-core ARM Cortex-A57 CPU and 256-core Maxwell GPU
as its more expensive predecessor.

99
 C U STO M I SAT I O N / HOBBY TECH
A N A LYS I S
OSHCamp Soldering Workshop
raditionally, my assistance in the
T annual Wuthering Bytes festival
held in Hebden Bridge – when I’m
able to offer it, at least – is limited to standing
there and announcing the speakers on the
regular Festival Day.
This year, though, one of the organisers –
Andrew Back, who runs local open-source
consultancy AB Open – told me at the last
minute that the person who was supposed to
be filling in for the person who was supposed
to be running the soldering workshop had
themselves had to pull out, leaving a table full
of soldering stations and nobody to run them.
He asked if I could fill in the for the filler-in who
now also needed a filler-in.
I headed off to the workshop day, run as
part of the Open Source Hardware Group’s
OSHCamp gathering with a few basic tools:
a Proster VC99 multimeter (see Issue 152), a
desoldering pump, desoldering braid and my
laptop. I also brought the ever-useful, though
sadly abandoned-by-its-creators, Bus Pirate
(http://dangerousprototypes.com/docs/
Bus_Pirate) in case whatever was built
needed some kind of communications, or
even just a 3.3V or 5V power supply.
When I arrived and began setting up, my
heart sank; the soldering irons on loan for the
event were reasonable-quality temperature-
controlled units, but with tips that revealed a
life of being ridden hard and put away wet.
The worst, which I ended up turning off after
wasting half a tin of tip cleaner trying to
NEWS IN BRIEF
Intel announcesMovidius
Myriad X
Intel is finally making good on its Movidius
acquisition with the launch of a Myriad
2-based Neural Compute Stick, which
offers 100-150 FLOPS of floating-point
performance in a USB stick, and the promise of more to come. Based on the Myriad 2, the
upcoming Myriad X boasts a claimed TLFOP of floating-point compute power in a chip
significantly smaller than your fingernail. The Myriad 2-based Neural Compute Stick is
available now for £83.99 inc VAT from http://uk.rs-online.com; commercial availability
of a Myriad X-based version hasn’t been announced yet.
Gareth Halfacree is the news reporter at www.bit-tech.net, and a keen computer hobbyist who likes to tinker with technology.
100
Attendees of the
OSHCamp soldering
workshop had a 100 per
cent success rate with
their creations – hooray!
the process becomes
more like ‘hold for five
seconds, attempt to
feed solder, straighten
the now-bent solder,
adjust the iron’s angle,
hold for five seconds,
get halfway through
feeding solder before
it suddenly solidifies,
adjust the iron again,
wiggle the solder to
With all through-hole technology
free it, hope what’s
(THT) components, the Cuttlefish
is a good kit for learning the basics there cooperates
and melts into place
rescue, looked like it had been before the iron
carved from a block of coal; even needs retinning’. It’s
the best ones needed constant not a great introduction
retinning – applying fluxed to soldering.
solder or tip cleaner to burn off Amazingly, though,
oxidisation – to create clean attendees proved more than
solder joints. up for the challenge. Back
Experienced solderers will provided a box of Cuttlefish
understand the importance of kits, Arduino-compatible
a good tip on your iron, which microcontrollers designed by
will transfer heat effectively, allowing you Saar Drimer of Boldport (whose
to do the ‘hold for a second, feed solder, hold previous work was reviewed in Issues 148
for a second and you’re done’ technique and 163), and despite some finer-pitched
detailed in all the guidebooks. With a bad tip, holes for the fiddly little DIL socket, nobody
had any real soldering difficulties – even if
they did have to work with the edges, rather
than the ends, of the iron tips to transfer
adequate heat.
For beginners, soldering initially seems like
impossible magic, but then it suddenly clicks.
If you’ve struggled in the past and ended up
with cold joints – those telltale ball or onion-
shaped blobs of solder that seem to hover
above the pads – the feeling when you hold
the iron in place properly and watch the solder
get sucked down to form that ideal volcano-
like shape is a true breakthrough. Not a single
attendee left without a grin on their face after
their personally crafted Cuttlefish was
hooked up to a laptop to be tested and
programmed using the Arduino IDE.
@ghalfacree

Customised PC
Case mods, tools, techniques, water-cooling gear
and everything to do with PC modding
Water-cooling Threadripper
People water-cool their PCs for all
sorts of reasons. For me, it’s more for
the noise reduction than cooling, at
least with my current rig, although my
long-awaited case mod will soon add
some aesthetic flare to the equation
when it’s eventually finished. However,
there are still a few areas where you
see some big gains in cooling, and
maybe even higher overclocks as a
result. Your graphics card, for example,
will run considerably cooler under
water, and the same goes for most
processors too.
However, I found that the lack of
solder between the CPU and
heatspreader on Intel’s latest CPUs
has resulted in limited gains from
water cooling, especially in terms of
maximum overclocks. So, with
Threadripper really pushing the limits
of desktop CPU cooling, but using
solder rather than thermal paste to fill
the heatspreader gap, I couldn’t wait to
see the impact of water cooling on
these processors’ thermals and
overclocking prowess.
Initial indications were that
Threadripper may well be a strong
candidate for water cooling, due to the
high TDP simply overwhelming most
air coolers. Even most of the single and
dual-fan all-in-one (AIO) liquid coolers
I’ve tried usually see Threadripper
temperatures quickly approaching the
102
MODDING
A N TO N Y L E AT H E R ’ S
We could overclock 90°C mark. The radiators feel quite
all 16 of our 1950X’s warm too –a clear indicator that the
cores to 4GHz with
water cooling
radiator is approaching its cooling
capacity. As a result, from my own
testing, I wouldn’t want to use any
cooler smaller than a AIO liquid cooler
with a 240mm radiator to cool an
overclocked Threadripper CPU, and
even then you’ll see some benefit
from opting for a 45mm or
60mm-thick model, rather than a
30mm-thick, half-height one.
To gauge whether water cooling has
a significant impact on Threadripper’s
thermals and overclocking headroom,
I carried out a fairly simple test using
EK Water Blocks’ new Supremacy EVO
Threadripper Edition waterblock. It has
a huge base plate that completely
covers the monster Threadripper
heatspreader so, unlike many of the
AIO liquid coolers that are
compatible with the TR4
socket, it doesn’t leave large
areas of the heatspreader
uncovered. I used a Fractal
Design Celsius S24 AIO liquid
cooler for comparison, as it’s
compatible with the Asetek
TR4 adaptor provided in
AMD’s Threadripper retail kits.
More importantly, you can
detach the S24’s radiator from
the pump, so you can perform
a proper comparison, using the
exact same radiator and fans,
along with a mid-range Alphacool
pump and the Threadripper
waterblock, to obtain a fairly
comparable set of results.
The custom loop has two main
benefits over the Fractal Celsius S24
cooler, of course. One is that the
waterblock covers the entire CPU
heatspreader surface, while the
Celsius 24 cooler, like most
Threadripper-compatible coolers,
leaves large areas in the corners
bare. Secondly, it has a much higher
flow rate.
However, with the radiators’ cooling
capacity being the same, and flow
rates generally not having a massive
impact on performance, our tests
should still make it clear if a custom
loop with a Threadripper waterblock is
beneficial over an AIO setup.
 This Threadripper rate and more advanced waterblock
waterblock from design. If you’re opting for a
EK has a massive
contact plate to
Threadripper system, it’s worth
cover the whole choosing a cooler that’s been
heatspreader designed for it and uses a larger
contact plate – you’ll likely see better
results. Also, if we were building a
Threadripper system, we’d most likely
opt for custom water cooling - you can
see how to build a water-cooled
Threadripper system in this month’s
feature on p88.

Largest ever AIO liquid cooler

We’re big fans of Alphacool’s Eisbaer
AIO liquid coolers, as they offer an easy
introduction to water cooling. They’re
expandable, and they look and work
To start, I ran Prime 95’s smallfft complexes in each CPU, overclocking more like a DIY loop than an off-the-
test with the pump and fans set to them and achieving a lower frequency shelf product. We’ve looked at the
maximum speed. I then obtained could end up hurting performance, 240mm and 280mm versions
temperature results at stock speed particularly in lightly threaded already, and now the company has
and found the maximum stable software. However, as water-cooling just released what it believes to be the
overclock with a CPU temperature the CPU allowed us to reach 4GHz world’s most powerful all-in-one liquid
below 90°C. The latter turned out to instead of just 3.85GHz, this cooler – the Eisbaer 420.
be 3.85GHz using 1.225V on our performance gap in lightly threaded As its name suggests, this monster
Threadripper 1950X – a lower voltage applications is much smaller. cooler sports three 140mm fans and
than our initial findings last month It’s tricky to gauge the precise a 420mm radiator. Amazingly, it also
thanks to a more recent BIOS update impact of the proper Threadripper With three 140mm costs £30 less than NZXT’s Kraken
for the Asus ROG Zenith Extreme we waterblock, but as we were using the fans and a 420mm X62 – a 280mm model with two
use for testing. At stock speed, the exact same radiator and fans, it’s clear radiator, is the 140mm fans, albeit with LED lighting
Eisbaer 420 the
CPU temperature reached 62°C and that the size of the waterblock affected largest all-in-one and software control. However, the
when overclocked, it rose to a toasty the results, as well as the higher flow liquid cooler ever? Eisbaer’s powerful pump and
86°C. The CPU would start to throttle expandability are definite advantages
much beyond these settings. if function is more important to you
Switching to the Threadripper than form. You’ll just need a case large
waterblock saw big improvements, enough to house it.
both in terms of temperatures and
the maximum overclock. The load
temperature was 7°C cooler at stock
speed and 9°C lower when
overclocked to the same level,
reaching just 77°C under full load
and staying well away from our
Threadripper CPU’s thermal limit. We
even managed to push the voltage to
1.35V, which enabled us to boost the
overclock to 4GHz and still shave
several degrees off the temperature
that the AIO liquid cooler managed at
3.85GHz with a 1.225V vcore.
It’s the overclocked load
temperature that’s perhaps the
most important figure here. As all
Threadripper CPUs can boost to
4.2GHz, and usually across four
cores, thanks to the use of four core

Antony Leather is Custom PC’s modding editor @antonyleather

103
 M O D D I N G / HOW TO GUIDES

How to MODDING CABLES

Mod your water- 1 / Cut off connector

If you intend to reduce the length of the cables then you’ll need to

cooling pump
add new connector pins, so go ahead and cut the connector. Leave
the old cables inside for now, as they’ll help you to remember which
cable goes where.

2 / Trim cables
Antony Leather shows you several It can help to place the pump in position in your case and work out
ways to tweak your pump the length of cables you need; it’s definitely a case of measuring
twice and cutting once, as you don’t want to leave yourself short.
ater-cooling pumps have come a long way since the days Trimming them can cut cable mess.
W of aquarium and pond hardware that water-cooling
enthusiasts used to use. The likes of the Laing D5 and DDC 3 / Remove pins from old connector
are now synonymous with PC water cooling, offering excellent Use the appropriate pin tool to remove the connectors. The round
performance and low noise. As they’re so popular, numerous water- pins in Molex connectors require the tool with cylindrical ends, while
cooling hardware manufacturers now offer all manner of customised 4-pin PWM connectors require the four-pinned tool.
parts for these pumps, from replacement tops that improve flow
rates, to silencing enclosures and heatsinks. 1
These parts aren’t essential, but they can boost your pump’s
performance, make it look better or even make it easier to install. This
month, we’re looking at a dozen ways to mod your water-cooling
pump – whether it’s a DDC, D5 or even a Phobya unit – as well as
braiding the cables in your favourite colours, converting a pump to
run at a lower, quieter voltage or powering it from your motherboard.

TO O L S YO U ’ L L N E E D
Water cooling pump
and tops /
www.aquatuning.co.uk
Cable pin removal tools /
www.aquatuning.co.uk
Cable pin replacements /
www.aquatuning.co.uk
Cable braid and heat shrink /
www.aquatuning.co.uk
Male 4-pin Molex to male
3-pin pump adaptor /
www.aquatuning.co.uk
Pump silencing box / 2
www.aquatuning.co.uk
DDC heatsink /
www.aquatuning.co.uk
Bay reservoir /
www.aquatuning.co.uk

IDENTIFY YOUR PUMP

Start by identifying your pump, so you can choose from
compatible accessories. The Laing D5 on the left is a large round 3
circular pump, while the Laing DDC is flat and square. The
Phobya DC-12 is cube-shaped with fixed threaded ports.

104
4 / Strip cables 7 / Overlay heatshrink
You’ll need to strip all the cables back so they’re showing around There are numerous heatshrink colours available, but the key is to
5mm of bare wire. You can use cable cutters or scissors with light get the right diameter. You need it to just slip over the cables. Most
pressure if you don’t have a dedicated cable stripper. heatshrink packaging will state its before and after sizes.

5 / Push on braid material 8/ Heat heatshrink

Cut the braid material to length then slide it onto the cables. It can Hold the heatshrink over a gas hob on low heat, from around 4in
contract and stretch quite a lot, so make sure it’s fully extended once away. If you don’t have a gas hob, use a lighter but be careful not to
it’s on. Aim to have around 5mm of bare cable at either end, so the cover the heatshrink in soot. You need to quickly rotate the cable to
heatshrink has a surface to grip. avoid melting the heatshrink.

6 / Connect new pins 9 / Insert new pins

You’ll need some new male pins for the Molex and 4-pin fan wires, Once you’ve applied the heatshrink and attached the new
which are readily available. It’s highly advisable to use a crimping tool connectors, insert the pins back into the connector. Make very sure
for this work, but it’s possible to do small jobs such as this one with you have them the right way around; it helps to leave the old pins in
needle pliers, a strong grip and some patience. the connector so that you can do a straight swap later.

4 5

6 7

8 9

105
M O D D I N G / HOW TO GUIDES

DISMANTLING PUMPS PUMP TOPS

Dismantle DDC
To install most tops and reservoirs, you’ll need to remove the stock
top by removing four screws underneath the pump. The new top
will come with replacement screws to secure it if necessary, but
you usually need to use the original O-ring seal.
DDC tops
Dozens of DDC tops are available, and the main considerations are
size and looks, although some are also compatible with integrated
reservoirs. Use the appropriate screws to secure the top to the
pump. It doesn’t matter which way around it’s installed.

Dismantle D5
The D5 is completely different, and just has a single large locking
ring securing it to the top. This ring unscrews from the back, leaving
just the cylindrical pump section behind. Make sure you keep the
large O-ring, as you’re likely to be reusing it.
D5 tops
D5 tops have a variety of different fitting styles. EKWB’s top
(pictured) allows the pump to stand upright, but there are also
small reservoir tops and large reservoir and pump combinations
that can save space.

COLOURED O-RINGS
As the DDC pump’s O-ring is visible
through clear acrylic tops, you can add
a further touch of colour by replacing
the stock black O-ring with a coloured
ring that matches your case or
coolant’s colour scheme.
Coloured O-rings are fairly cheap
and easy to install, and you can replace
one at the same time that you’re
adding a new top.

106
ATTACH A RESERVOIR
Phobya reservoirs
Phobya pumps don’t have high-performance tops available, but
they’re compatible with Alphacool’s Lightower, which combines
pump and reservoir sections to save using a separate reservoir. It’s
easy to fit, just sliding on and sealing with an O-ring.
DDC reservoirs
There are large and small DDC reservoirs, but if you’re looking to
save space, the Alphacool DDC reservoir is a great option. You
need the stock Alphacool DDC top and the reservoir simply
mounts on top of it, adding a fill cap and second inlet.
D5 reservoirs
There are one or two small D5 reservoirs, but plenty of larger
ones such as the EX X-Res. The latter allows the D5 pump to be
secured to a tube reservoir, and also includes a mount to secure it
to your case.
REDUCE VOLTAGE
Use pin tool to remove Molex pin
Another easy mod that can cut noise and vibration is to reduce the
voltage on DDC pumps. This method works on DDC 3.2 pumps, or
any with a startup voltage of 7V or lower. First, remove the inside
pin from the Molex connector using a pin tool.
Reinsert to reduce voltage
To switch from 12V to 7V operation – useful if your pump lacks
PWM speed control – you can simply move the second pin to the
opposite end of the Molex connector. If your pump no longer
powers up, its startup voltage is likely higher than 7V.
Connect pump to motherboard
Many new motherboards have headers that can power and
control pumps – check the header’s maximum power rating.
Pumps with 3-pin connectors plug straight to it, but you can also
use a male Molex-to-3-pin adaptor on a 4-pin Molex DDC pump.
107
M O D D I N G / HOW TO GUIDES
SILENCING BOXES AND HEATSINKS
Use a silencing box
While DDC and D5 pumps are fairly quiet, they can still be audible -
annoyingly so if you want to build a quiet water-cooled PC. For DDC
owners, Alphacool’s silencing box is a great option, as it uses noise
insulating foam in a sealed box.
Install pump
Only DDC pumps will fit, as there are specific openings for the ports.
You may also want to consider a DDC heatsink, as the 18W versions
of the pump can get hot, especially in such a confined space.
USE BAY RESERVOIR
Bay reservoirs are available for a variety of different pumps,
including dual-pump setups and single and dual-bay tanks. Most
bay reservoirs don’t need third-party pump tops, such as the
pictured DDC model, either.
108
Use a DDC heatsink
Laing DDC heatsinks are important for high-power versions of the
pump, as they aren’t cooled by the coolant, unlike the D5. Check the
heatsink is compatible with your DDC model first – there are several
heatsinks available.
Install pump in heatsink
Lift the circuitboard and impellor out of the old plastic case, and into
the metal case, which is equipped with a thermal pad for the
circuitboard. Make sure you route the cables through the small
offset notch on one side of the heatsink.
ATTACH TO RADIATOR
If you’re stuck for space in your case, manufacturers such as
Alphacool and EK Water Blocks offer mounts that allow you to
install a pump onto a radiator. Some models even support pump
and reservoir combinations, such as EKWB’s X-Res.
 CO M M U N I T Y / FOLDING

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109
 M O D D I N G / READERS’ DRIVES
Readers’ Drives
VerktøyCu
On a mission to prove that
workstations don’t have to
be boring black boxes, Derick
Magnusen built this dual-Xeon
steampunk rig with a load of
custom leather work
What originally inspired
you to build this project?
Derick:Around the time I was
really getting into building PCs six
years ago,I saw a SilverStone TJ11
steampunk mod by a modder
named Fugatech,and since that
moment I’ve always wanted to do
a steampunk build. The beauty of
steampunk is that there isn’t a set
style of how it needs to be done.
The inspiration for the style that I
ultimately chose for Verktøy Cu was
inspired by a guy named Ian Finch
Field. He specialises in creating
custom steampunk armour and
accessories,primarily out of leather
and sheet metal. I thought the
aesthetic effect he accomplished
with layering leather and brass was
beautiful,and it
ultimately determined
the basis for designing
Verktøy Cu. You can
check out more of his
work at this website:
http://tinyurl.com/
SteampunkArmour
/MEET THY MAKER
Name Derick Magnusen Where did the
Age 25 name come from?
Location Boston, MA, USA Derick:My builds
usually either named
Occupation Freelance
content creation after something
foreign or a type of cat.
Main uses for PC
Video editing My background is
Norwegian,so I often
110
start there when consulting the
mighty Google Translate for cool
names. Verktøy Cu is a very rough
translation of‘copper tool’in
Norwegian. Verktøy is‘tool’and‘Cu’
is copper on the periodic table of
elements. It just happened to sound
better with Cu after Verktøy. At the
beginning of the build I was only
planning on using copper,so the
name was a little more fitting. By
the time I decided to introduce some
brass elements,it was too late to
change the name.
What specs did
you choose and why?
Derick: This build has two primary
purposes. Firstly,I wanted to show
that super high-end workstation
systems can be modded to look
beautiful and unique too. Just
because you’re not gaming doesn’t
mean you have to be stuck with a
black or beige box.
Secondly,I needed a system for
working with 4K video. My current
business venture is focused around
editing 4K video,and my current
system just wasn’t cutting it
anymore. I ended up choosing a pair
of Intel Xeon E5-2687W V4 (24 cores,
48 threads and an all-core 3.2GHz
turbo clock).
Most of the editing process in
Premiere Pro isn’t optimised for a
large number of cores and threads,
and I benefit more from higher clock
speeds,so I went with one of the
highest-clocked Xeons available,
rather than one with the highest
core count,but a 2.8GHz clock speed.
The reason I chose the Xeon
platform over a gaming platform
with overclockable CPUs was
because I needed the extra PCI-E
lanes – I wanted to run four GPUs
and four PCI-E NVMe drives,which
significantly cuts down the
Premiere Pro render/export times
for videos. There may have been a
little e-peen (ego) factor mixed in
with that decision-making process
as well.
What other mods
have you built?
Derick: I believe I’ve currently built
around 20 mods. Most of them were
show builds for my previous
employer,EK Water Blocks,or other
companies that contracted me. I’ve
been trying to finish a bunch of my
personal builds that I’ll actually use,
but work always takes priority and
they often take a long time to finish.
What difficulties
did you come across?
Derick: One of the biggest
difficulties was trying to be random.
In my opinion,a lot of steampunk
mods I’ve seen over the years look
good partly because of the modders’
ability to integrate a huge
assortment of signature steampunk
items in a way that looks like art,not
junk. Pretty much all the mods I’ve
built in the past look clean and
sleek,so it was a challenge to move
away from that approach.
I also found it very difficult to
work with leather. The first time I
bought leather,I purchased it from
Amazon and I ended up with really
crappy leather. However,I didn’t
know about the quality at that time,
so I tried to make it work and it
ended up not looking great. I then
had to scrap that entire plan and
seek help from a local leather shop,
where the staff helped me to choose
much better materials with which
to work.
While working with the proper
materials certainly helped,though,
dying the leather was still a really
frustrating process. Besides the
constant deforming that seems to
take place when wetting or drying
the leather,getting the colour
consistent seemed almost
SEETHEFULL
PROJECTLOG
http://tinyurl.com/
VerktoyCu

111
M O D D I N G / READERS’ DRIVES
impossible. Even though all the
leather was from the same hide,
each piece seemed to come out a
different colour. I couldn’t even tell
you how many coats I ended up
applying to get a consistent colour,
especially on the large piece draped
across the top.
How did you integrate the
dials,and where did you source
these types of materials?
Derick:Most of the materials were
sourced from Amazon,Home Depot
and Vintage Wire & Supply. The
gauges are actually standard
ammeters. They’re hooked up to
an Arduino and connected to the
motherboard internally via USB 2.
I was able to find a tutorial to set
them up to display CPU and RAM
usage;I just tweaked them to match
the steampunk style a little. You
can view the tutorial at www.
lungstruck.com/projects/pc-meter
What tools and machinery
did you use?
Derick: I’m now the owner of a
pretty large variety of leather
working tools,so you can expect to
BE A WINNER
To enter your machine for possible inclusion in
Readers’ Drives, your mod needs to be fully working
and, ideally, finished based in the UK. Simply log on to
www.bit-tech.net and head over to the forums. Once
you’re there, post a write-up of your mod, along with
some pics, in the Project Logs forum. Make sure you
read the relevant rules and advice sticky threads before
you post. The best entrant each month will be featured
here, where we’ll print your photos of your project and
also interview you about the build process. Fame isn’t
the only prize; you’ll also get your hands on a fabulous
selection of prizes – see the opposite page for details.
112
see leather showing up in some of
my future mods. Verktøy Cu was
actually the first build for which I
used a jigsaw,and I was blown away
by that tool’s usefulness. I now use
one in place of a Dremel wherever
possible. Other tools include an 18V
cordless drill,a whole drill bit set,a
step drill bit,a couple sizes of hole
saws and a random orbital sander. I
also used a specialised polisher
that’s meant to be used for car paint,
an angle grinder,a Dremel and a
Dremel Trio,which is an odd tool
that’s very handy for small jobs. In
addition,I used several sheets of
sandpaper from 240 to 2,000-grit
and way too many cans of paint.
How long did the build take?
Derick: I technically started back in
January 2016,when the first parts
started arriving from sponsors.
Progress was constantly delayed
due to work,though,and I didn’t
end up finishing it until I left my
employment with EK.
What did you learn from the
build process?
Derick: I learned a lot about tools
and how to use them efficiently. I
actually ended up purchasing a lot
of the tools I previously mentioned
because I needed them for this
project. Most importantly,though,
SYSTEM SPECS
CPU 2 x Intel Xeon E5-2687W V4
Graphics 4 x Nvidia Titan XP
Memory 128GB Kingston DDR4
2400MHz
Motherboard Asus Z10PE-D8 WS
Storage 4 x 1.2TB Intel 750 Series
I learned that nothing gets done
by sitting around and trying to
visualise all the different things
you could do. I spent way too
much time staring at the case like a
blank canvas,just thinking about
what I could do instead of doing it,
particularly when it using a tool for
the first time.
As soon as I stopped worrying
about the possibility of wasting
material or time by practising
techniques,the faster the work got
done. No matter how much you
think about how t to do something,
it’s going to be different when
you’re actually doing it. It may be
easier,it may be harder. To quote
Nike,I found that the‘just do it’
mindset was much more productive
for me in the long run.
Are you happy with the end
result,and is there anything you’d
do differently if you built it again?
Derick: I definitely wish I’d invested
some time and money in learning
how to airbrush,as I went through a
ridiculous amount of spray paint
cans. I could have probably saved
some money and even achieved a
better result. I learned a lot of
techniques,though,and while it
would probably take much less time
if I did it again,I’m still incredibly
happy with the final result.
NVMe SSDs
PSU Corsair AX1500i
Cooling Full custom water-cooling
loop with parts made by EKWB
and Bitspower
 Win all these prizes!
We’ve teamed up with some of the world’s leading PC manufacturers and retailers to offer
this great range of prizes to each lucky Readers’ Drives winner. If your creation is featured in the
magazine then you’ll walk away with all of the prizes listed on this page, so get in your entries!

Mayhemscoolant
anddyes
VALUE £50 incVAT/
MANUFACTURER www.mayhems.co.uk

Cooling performance is only one part of the

CorsairK70LUXRGBkeyboard equation when it comes to kitting out your
rig with custom water-cooling gear. The
withyourchoiceofswitches other major bonus is that all those tubes and
TOTAL VALUE £160inc VAT / MANUFACTURER www.corsair.com
gleaming fittings just make your PC look
damn sexy, and they look even better when
The K70 LUX RGB is a part of Corsair’s LUX flagship line of gaming keyboards, featuring Cherry they're pumped full of fancy coloured
MX key switches backed by a lightweight, durable aluminium frame and dynamic, multi-colour coolant. As such, we're particularly pleased
lighting. The USB pass-through port is positioned for uninterrupted gameplay and ready for to have the folks at Mayhems now on board
your mouse or wireless headset adaptor. You can also harness the power of CUE for with Readers' Drives – they're currently
sophisticated macro programming and dramatic lighting effects and animations. offering two 1-litre bottles of Mayhems'
Meanwhile, 100 per cent anti-ghosting with full key rollover on USB Pastel Ice White coolant, along with a
helps to ensure accuracy, so every keystroke translates selection of five dyes, so you can choose
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FPS and MOBA keycap sets keep you in control, while the Check out the blue coolant in our own mini
Cherry MX key switches give you a linear response and fast PC mod on the cover of Issue 109 for an
actuation. Corsair will provide a keyboard with your own choice of example of what's possible with some
Cherry MX switches – both Brown and Red RGB models are available. Mayhems coloured coolant.

Alphacool water-cooling gear

VALUE £150inc VAT /MANUFACTURER www.alphacool.com,www.aqua-tuning.co.uk

Water-cooling hardware manufacturer

Alphacool is offering a choice of £150-
worth of its water-cooling components
to every featured Readers’ Drives
modder. The company is behind some
great products we’ve seen recently,
including all-in-one liquid coolers and
external radiators. For your prize, you
can select from DIY water-cooling kits,
the Eiswolf and Eisbaer all-in-one CPU
and GPU liquid coolers, as well as a vast
range of individual components, including waterblocks (pictured),
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tubing and fans, as well as modding and water cooling-related tools.

113
 OPINION
JA M E S G O R B O L D / HARDWARE ACCELERATED
CORE BLIMEY
Intel’s Coffee Lake CPUs are great products, but the
strategy is lacking, argues James Gorbold
A
fter nine years of comparative stagnation, Intel has
at long last deemed that it’s worth building CPUs
withmorethanfourcoresforitsmainstreamZ-series
platforms. The first Coffee Lake CPUs are here, known as the
8th-generation Core family, with even the most basic Core i3
CPUshavingfourcores,whileCorei5andi7chipshavesixcores
(Ed: look out for full reviews in the next issue!).
I’d argue in some ways that such a move still isn’t really
necessary, given that most games aren’t particularly heavily
multithreaded. However, increased competition from AMD
forthefirsttimeinmorethanadecademeansIntelcan’tafford
to sit on its laurels and keep pumping out
slightly improved quad-core processors.
After all, the last truly innovative The Z370 chipset has
mainstream Intel CPU architecture was
Nehalem, way back in 2008, and since then,
literally no new features
the subsequent Sandy Bridge, Ivy Bridge, apart from supporting
Haswell, Skylake and Kaby Lake iterations
have only offered marginal improvements.
the new CPUs
Coffee Lake is one of the most significant
products in years.
The CPUs are great, as they’re priced very similarly to their
quad-corepredecessorsbutprovidemuchgreaterperformance
in heavily multithreaded applications. However, the launch
itself is a right old muddle.
Firstly, although Intel’s new Coffee Lake CPUs retain the
LGA1151 socket that’s been in use since Skylake,the pinout has
changed,so you can’t upgrade your existing system to Coffee
Lake and will need to buy a new motherboard based on the
Z370 chipset.
Intel says this change was necessary due to the increased
power consumption of Coffee Lake processors, which I’ve
alreadyseeninourlabatScan.Forexample,althoughtheCore
i7-8700K’s TDP 95W is only 4W higher than the Core i7 7700K,
James Gorbold has been building, tweaking and overclocking PCs ever since the 1980s. He now helps Scan Computers to develop new systems.
114
power consumption is significantly higher under real-world
conditions. Regardless, it’s still a slap in the face for anybody
who bought a 200-series motherboard,which only launched
in January this year.
Worse still, the Z370 chipset has literally no new features
apartfromsupportingthenewCPUs,soyoudon’tgetanyextra
PCI-E lanes or USB 3.1 support. For that, you’ll need to wait for
a future Intel chipset that I’m not at liberty to discuss in any
detail yet.
What’s worse, though, is the severe shortage of CPUs. It’s
already been widely reported that Coffee Lake was originally
planned to launch in Q1 2018, but with the
move forwards to October 2017, there’s only
a tiny number of chips. Of course, product
shortages at launch aren’t new in the tech
industry;thepressevenhasaspecialtermfor
it – a‘paper launch’.
However,therearesofewCoffeeLakeCPUs
in existence that many potential upgraders
will have to make the awkward decision to
wait for stock or compromise by opting for a Ryzen or
significantly slower Kaby Lake CPU instead. I’d imagine that
most PC enthusiasts will probably opt for Ryzen – after all,for
the first time in years, Coffee Lake does offer a significant
upgradeoveritspredecessor,andKabyLakedoesn’treallycut
it any more.
The really big question is how much AMD can capitalise on
thisopportunity.Ryzen5andRyzen7arestillquitecompelling
alternatives,althoughforagamingPC,ahigher-clockedKaby
Lake or Coffee Lake CPU will be quicker.Intel may have finally
let6-coreCPUslooseonthemainstreamZ-seriesplatform,but
despitetheirsuperiorperformanceandfantasticoverclocking
headroom, it remains to be seen who will take the crown for
the all-important Q4 sales period.
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