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GAMEPAD GROUP TEST 9 PC GAME CONTROLLERS REVIEWED THE BEST SELLING MAG FOR PC HARDWARE, OVERCLOCKING, GAMING & MODDING / ISSUE 228 BUILD A MINI PC CREATE A KILLER GAMING PC IN A TINY PACKAGE FIT A FULL SIZE GRAPHICS CARD FOLLOW OUR FULL BUILD GUIDE LEARN OUR EXPERT TIPS CHOOSE YOUR CASE MINI ITX MOTHERBOARDS PRICES FROM £140 TO £373 INTEL AND AMD OPTIONS 10 BOARDS REVIEWED! SEPTEMBER 2022 / £5.99 HOW TO SPRAY PAINT YOUR CASE



Welcome Custom PC Issue 228 / FROM THE EDITOR Innovation central C ustom PC has been a fan of mini-ITX ever since the old EDITORIAL DESIGN days,when the first mini motherboards based on weedy VIA EPIA CPUs were being snapped up by EDITOR criticalmedia.co.uk Ben Hardwidge modders – there’s one built into a model car in our very first issue HEAD OF DESIGN [email protected] Lee Allen in 2003,and I also really like this month’s Readers’drives scratch FEATURES EDITOR DESIGNERS build (see p110),which is based on an even smaller motherboard Edward Chester Ty Logan, SamRibbits,OliviaMitchell design from ASRock. [email protected] COMMERCIAL & ADVERTISING Having limitations forces you to innovate,and while there’s MODDING EDITOR Antony Leather ADVERTISING still plenty of innovation going on in the ATX PC space,it’s in the Charlotte Milligan GAMES EDITOR mini-ITX arena where you see all the really interesting ideas. Rick Lane [email protected] +44 (0)7725 368887 Take a look at our mini-ITX motherboard Labs on p36 and you’ll CONTRIBUTORS DISTRIBUTION see all sorts of new ideas,from stacked PCB arrangements to M.2 Gareth Halfacree, James Gorbold, Mike Jennings, Phil Hartup, Seymour Distribution Ltd ports on the backs of motherboards and vertical add-on boards Richard Swinburne, Stuart Andrews, 2 East Poultry Ave, Tracy King London EC1A 9PT to provide SATA ports. Packing all the gear needed by the average +44 (0)207 429 4000 PRODUCTION EDITOR PC enthusiast onto a 170 x 170mm PCB requires some serious Julie Birrell SUBSCRIPTIONS thinking,and that makes for some refreshing ideas. PHOTOGRAPHY Unit 6 The Enterprise Centre Kelvin Lane, Manor Royal, There’s also a huge variety of mini-ITX cases available in tall, Antony Leather,BrianO’Halloran, Crawley, West Sussex, RH10 9PE Gareth Halfacree short,wide and narrow designs. Squeezing a fully featured PC Phone PUBLISHING 01293 312182 with a graphics card into the volume of a shoebox (or less) isn’t PUBLISHING DIRECTOR Email easy,particularly when it comes to cooling. Russell Barnes [email protected] While this makes for some really interesting ideas,however, [email protected] Website custompc.co.uk/subscribe it can be a bit of a minefield to navigate,particularly if you’re new to the field. Your choice of case will also affect your choice of cooling and hardware,and the case you think looks best may well not have all the features you want. That’s why we’ve accompanied this month’s mini-ITX motherboard Labs with a full feature (see p74). It takes you ISSUE 228 This magazine is printed on paper sourced from sustainable forests. The printer operates an through the various different case designs and the hardware you ISSUE 228 environmental management system which has been SUBSCRIBERS assessed as conforming to ISO 14001. can use with them,while also showing you how to build a killer EDITION Custom PC magazine is published by Raspberry Pi gaming PC in Phanteks’gorgeous Evolv Shift XT chassis. Ltd, Maurice Wilkes Building, St. John’s Innovation Park, Cowley Road, Cambridge, CB4 0DS. The You’ll be surprised what you can achieve in such a small case if publisher, editor, and contributors accept no responsibility in respect of any omissions or errors you follow our guide. A full-sized graphics card and top-end CPU relating to goods, products or services referred to or advertised. ISSN: 1740-7443. isn’t out of the question,and neither is liquid cooling. If your only DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME The information in this expansion card is a GPU,and you don’t have a large stack of hard magazine is given in good faith. Raspberry Pi Ltd cannot accept any responsibility for loss, disruption drives,there’s no reason why your next PC can’t be a dinky mini- or damage to your data or your computer that may occur as a result of following or attempting to follow ITX rig that has all the performance you could want. advice given in the magazine. If things do go wrong, take a break. EDITOR Ben Hardwidge [email protected] @custompcmag 3

CUSTOM PC / ISSUE 228 Contents Welcome to Issue 228 Highlights COVER 90 Which GPU should I buy? STORY 08 Ludicrous speed P74 Ben Hardwidge delves into the current graphics card market, now SSD storage is set to hit 12GB/ 50 Gamepad Labs that prices are normalising, to find out sec soon, but Richard Swinburne where your money is now best spent. ponders what real-world benefits PC gaming isn’t all about using this performance will provide for a keyboard and mouse. Edward 94 Hobby tech most users. Chester puts nine of the latest gamepads to the test. Gareth Halfacree reviews the tiny 10 Gaming myths Panic Playdate games console, 71 The Stanley Parable: revisits the MNT Reform laptop and Tracy King explores the pervasive Ultra Deluxe explores the history of Commodore misconceptions about games and in his latest book review. gaming that continue to be levelled at A second remake of a decade-old the industry. game shouldn’t be this exciting, but 102 Spray-paint your PC case The Stanley Parable is just that good. 18 Backforce One Learn how to add a professional- 74 Build a mini PC looking paint job to your PC in Antony Using a different manufacturer to Leather’s latest modding guide. many of its rivals, the Backforce Find out all the information you One brings some fresh ideas to the need to know in order to build a 108 Retro tech gaming chair space. magnificent micro machine without sacrificing performance. We take Stuart Andrews looks back at the 20 Roccat Burst Pro Air you through the hardware, and give fascinating story of how the CPU that you a full guide to building a mini PC started the PC revolution, the Intel Roccat’s latest wireless gaming based on Phanteks' great-looking 8086, came to be created. mouse packs in plenty of features for Evolv Shift XT chassis. its price. 110 Readers’ drives 86 Inside FSR 2 21 Austrian Audio PG16 Built completely from scratch, Jean and PB17 AMD has reworked its FidelityFX Roberto De lacovo talks us through Super Resolution upscaling creating his tiny circular PC. A relatively new name in high-end technology to look and perform audio, Austrian Audio’s gaming and better than ever but is it a true rival business headsets offer accurate to DLSS yet? sound and a sleek design. 22 Asus ROG Zephyrus M16 With its relatively slim, lightweight and stylish chassis, Asus’ latest large gaming laptop punches well above its weight. 36 Mini-ITX motherboard Labs Find the mightiest motherboard for your mini PC build as Antony Leather puts ten of the latest mini-ITX motherboards through their paces. 4

Regulars 50 Reviewed 3 From the editor CASES 8 Richard Swinburne 14 Kolink Observatory Z 10 Tracy King 12 Incoming Mesh ARGB 30 Custom kit 16 NZXT H7 Flow 34 How we test GAMING CHAIRS 60 Elite products 18 Backforce One 66 Inverse look GAMING MICE 72 Reality check 20 Roccat Burst Pro Air 94 Hobby tech 99 For the win GAMING HEADSETS 100 Customised PC 21 AustrianAudioPG16andPB17 102 How to guides GAMING LAPTOPS 108 Retro tech 22 Asus Zephyrus M16 GU603ZW 110 Readers’ drives PC SYSTEMS 114 James Gorbold 26 CyberPower Hydro-X Infinity RTX 28 CCLHorizon5IntelRTX3080GamingPC 110 Custom kit 36 71 30 Samsung T7Shield 30 ARCTICBreeze 30 LitetourDeskCord Organisers 31 Cooler Master Connect Stand 31 BoompodsSoundclip Mini-ITX motherboard Labs 37 ASRockB550PhantomGaming-ITX/ax 38 ASRockX570PhantomGaming-ITXTB3 39 AsusROGStrixB550-IGaming 40 AsusROGStrixX570-IGaming 41 GigabyteB550IAorusProAX 42 Gigabyte X570-I Aorus Pro WiFi 44 MSIMPGB550IGamingEdgeMAXWiFi 45 AsusROGStrixZ690-IGamingWiFi 46 GigabyteB660IAorusProDDR4 47 GigabyteZ690IAorusUltraPlus Gamepad Labs 51 LogitechF310 52 Microsoft Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 53 MicrosoftXbox Wireless Controller 54 MSIForceGC20V2 55 PowerASpectraInfinityXboxSeriesX 56 Razer Wolverine V2 Chroma 57 ScufInstinctPro 58 Sony DualSense 59 ThrustmasterDualAnalog4 Games 67 KingArthur:Knight’sTale 68 Dorfromantik 70 GalacticCivilizations4 71 TheStanleyParableUltraDeluxe 72 CosmoniousHigh Hobby tech 94 PanicPlaydate 98 FromVulturestoVampires 5





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

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

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INCOMING / NEWS Incoming 8PACK THERMALTAKE UNVEILS MID SIZED TOWER LAUNCHES TOP END Thermaltakehasjustrevealed anewmid- MINI PC sizedflavourofitsglass-fronted Tower chassis design, fittinginbetween the massive OCUK’s resident expert overclocker Tower900andthemini-ITX Tower100.Like 8Pack has put his name to a new theotherTower models, theTower 500shifts top-end small form factor PC, which around the interiorfromthe usual case design, features custom water-cooling gear sothatthemotherboardisdirectlyfacing the and high-end components. As standard, frontofthecase,with4mmtempered glass the Meteoroid MK2 features a Ryzen windows onthe front and sides providingan 9 5900X and a GeForce RTX 3080 Ti, unobstructed view of the insides. along with an Asus ROG Crosshair VIII Impact mini-DTX motherboard, 64GB of The right-hand side panel can also be 3600MHz DDR4 memory and 5GB of flipped 180degrees,soyou getmeshnext solid state storage. to theareabythemotherboard rather than glass,with room to mount a360mm radiator. Meanwhile,thewater-coolingsystem An optional3.9inLCDpanelkitcanbefittedto comprises a pair of 360mm radiators thebottomfrontof theTower500,providing and custom distribution plates, complete informationsuchas real-time system data, or with 8Pack branding. The water-cooled you can customise it with your own GIFs. graphics card has also been shifted so that it sits under a Plexiglas window in The Tower500is availableinblackand the top of the chassis, giving you a view white options,whichareavailable for£199inc of the coolant flowing through it. VAT from scan.co.uknow. All the gear is housed in an acrylic CHERRY RELEASES ULTRA chassis, which Overclockers says has LOW PROFILE TACTILE SWITCH been custom designed in-house, although it’s clearly been influenced Mechanical keyboardswitch maker Cherry soundas itactuates,butstill gives you a by Parvum’s acrylic case designs. Not isadding anew modeltoits line-upoflow- tangiblefeeling of actuationasyoupress surprisingly, it doesn’t come cheap, with profile keyswitches. The new Ultra Low thekey. ThenewULPTactilehasatotal the standard spec coming in at £7,800 Profile (ULP) Tactile is designed to offer a travelof 1.8mm,withtheswitchingpoint inc VAT. For more information, visit similarfeeltothecompany’sfull-sized MX sitting at 0.8mm. custompc.co.uk/Meteoroid Brownswitches,butina low-profileform thatcanbeusedin laptop keyboards and Meanwhile, either RGB or single- slim desktopdesigns. colour LEDs aremounteddirectly under the switch,withCherrysaying itevenly Unlike the alreadyreleasedULP Click, illuminatesthekeycap,withoptions for the ULP Tactile doesn’t make a clicking programmable per-key lighting. 12

CORSAIR DDR5 Rumour control HITS 6600MHz OUR ROUNDUP OF THE LATEST UNCONFIRMED TECH GOSSIP. Corsair has introduced a new top TAKE THESE STORIES WITH THE APPROPRIATE PINCH OF SALT speed to its Dominator Platinum RGB offerings, with 6600MHz kits now INTEL RAPTOR LAKE HITS 6GHZ joining the parade. The high-speed modules have 32-39-39-76 timings Twittertechgossiper@OneRaichu claims that one of Intel’s forthcoming 13th-gen ‘Raptor and all the usual benefits of Corsair’s Lake’ CPUs may have a top turbo frequency of 6GHz. The rumour followed an update Dominator Platinum RGB design, toIntel’sExtremeTuningUtilityon21June, whichaddedsupportforsomenewfeatures including 12 individually addressable under the heading ‘Future Platform(s) Support'. Capellix LEDs. The 6600MHz memory is available in 32GB (2 x The list included ‘per-core OC TVB,’ ‘package OC TVB’ and ‘Efficient TVB’, with TVB 16GB) and 64GB (2 x 32GB) kits, with standing for Thermal Velocity Boost – Intel’s tech that speeds up all a CPU’s cores when prices starting at £395 inc VAT from thermal headroom isavailable. corsair.com for the former. RTX 4000 SERIES SPECS LEAK Apparently leaked specs of Nvidia’s forthcoming GeForce RTX 4000-series GPUs have beensharedby [email protected] will be based on the AD102-300 GPU, and will come with 16,384 FP32 CUDA cores, a 386-bit memory interface and 24GB of GDDR6X memory. Meanwhile, he says the RTX 4080 will be basedontheAD103-300chip, with 10,240 CUDA cores and 16GB of memory and a 256-bit memory interface. Finally, he claims that the RTX 4070 will be based on the AD104-275 chip, and will feature 7,168 CUDA cores and come with 10GB of GDDR6 memory.

REVIEWS / CASES Reviews ATX CASE c ustomP KOLINKOBSERVATORY DPPROVE Z MESH ARGB /£120 incVAT C SUPPLIER overclockers.co.uk A A s an up-and-coming manufacturer that’s looking to muscle in with long-time players, Kolink has been getting progressively better at making cases. It’s a strong supporter of mini-ITX, so you might want to take a look at its mini cases if you liked this month’s feature and group test, but we’re focusing on ATX here with the Observatory Z Mesh ARGB. At £120 inc VAT, it’s up against a number of cases offering good airflow and RGB lighting costing noticeably less money, such as the Cooler Master MasterBox 500 at around £100, while Antec’s recent options such as the NZX700 cost even less money. Thankfully, Kolink has dialled up the Observatory Z Mesh ARGB’s credentials SPEC to help justify the extra outlay, glass side window, which lacks any tinted coating. The fans have their cables threaded behind the motherboard tray, Dimensions (mm) including the addition of four PWM but you’ll need to hook them up to the included controller 245 x 465 x 495 (W x D x H) 1,500rpm 120mm digital RGB fans yourself. The actual 4-pin fan cables will need to be connected to your motherboard, though, as the hub only Material in the package, as well as a multi- deals with lighting. Steel, plastic, glass channel lighting controller. In terms of size, the case’s width of 24.5cm means it’s Available colours The controller can hook up quite chunky, even though both the depth and height are Black to a USB 2 header to provide well under 50cm. However, this does open up the interior, software control too, but if you’d enabling it to offer some serious hardware support. There’s Weight rather avoid that, you can control space in the front for 360mm or 420mm radiators, equating 9.7kg the lighting using buttons on the to three 120mm or 140mm fans, as well as 280mm or front panel or any 3-pin RGB 360mm models in the roof, or two 140mm fans or three Front panel controller, including 3-pin headers 120mm models. This is excellent for a case of this size Power, reset, 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, 2 x USB on your motherboard. The quality and price. 3, 2 x USB 2, stereo, mic, LED control of the lighting is often a place where cheaper gear suffers, but There’s a good deal of clearance in the roof and front Drive bays we were suitably impressed by section too, with room in the latter behind the fans to easily 5 x 2.5in/4 x 3.5in the vibrancy and accuracy of the house 60mm-thick radiators. As well as ample radiator Kolink’s colours, which diffuse support, the case can also house E-ATX motherboards, Form factor(s) through the semi-opaque fan and sports 180mm of CPU cooler clearance and 380mm of E-ATX, ATX, micro-ATX graphics card clearance, with a support included to help large cards from sagging. One minor niggle is that the rear vents Cooling are simply small horizontal cut-outs, rather than a highly 3 x 120mm/3 x 140mm front fan mounts (3 x 120mm fans included), 1 x 120mm/140mm rear fan mount (120mm fan included), 3 x 120/2 x 140mm roof fan mounts (fans not included) CPU cooler clearance blades via the central hub, as well 180mm as the outer ring. Maximum graphics card length They also look particularly 380mm bright when viewed through the 14

T E M P E R AT U R E R E S U LTS CPU DELTA T 47°C 47°C Antec DF700 Flux 47°C Cooler Master MasterBox 500 47°C 48°C Fractal Design Meshify 2 48°C NZXT H510 Flow 48°C 48°C Kolink Observatory Z Mesh ARGB Antec NX700 50°C 20 40 60 80 Corsair 5000D Airflow SaharaGaming P44M Lower is better Fractal Design Meshify 2 Compact 0 GPU DELTA T 41°C Performance GREENWICH 41°C OBSERVATORY Corsair 5000D Airflow 42°C The Kolink’s fans proved to be extremely quiet at full speed, Fractal Design Meshify 2 Compact 42°C and if anything, we’d have liked to see a few more hundred + Good cooling Kolink Observatory Z Mesh ARGB 42°C RPM on offer from them to create a little extra cooling + Excellent water- 42°C headroom. Despite having four fans, the temperatures didn’t Cooler Master MasterBox 500 42°C quite match the best results we’ve seen, but with all the cooling support Corsair 5000D Airflow 42°C cases in the graphs having similar mesh designs with several 43°C included fans, the results were very close. + Reasonable price Fractal Design Meshify 2 43°C NZXT H510 Flow 20 40 60 80 The Observatory Z Mesh ARGB managed a CPU delta T TOILET ROLL of 48°C, which was noticeably cooler than the Fractal Design TELESCOPE SaharaGaming P44M Lower is better Meshify 2 Compact, but the louder, more powerful fans in Antec NX700 the Antec DF700 Flux managed to knock an extra degree - Notmanyother off at 47°C. The GPU delta T of 42°C was slightly better than Antec DF700 Flux the Antec case, but the Fractal Design Meshify 2 Compact stand-out features 0 and Corsair 5000D Airflow were slightly cooler. Either way, there’s not much in it. - Panels are tough efficient hexagonal pattern, which may impact on airflow, even if it does look quite eye-catching. Conclusion to remove The case feels well made too, and definitely more This is a solid and highly flexible case in terms of both air - Could do premium than Antec’s recent efforts. They were solid and water cooling. The RGB fans look fantastic and they’re enough, but the Kolink Observatory Z Mesh ARGB weighs quiet as well. The only issue is that there aren’t really any with more 3kg more than the Antec DF700 Flux, for example, despite stand-out features, such as the removable roof with the powerful fans having a similar size, which gives you an idea of the additional Fractal Design Meshify 2 Compact, or the Antec DF700 materials involved. However, the glass side and front panel Flux’s superb value. However, if you want a capable case for COOLING proved to be extremely stiff when removing them for the a high-end system that looks great out of the box, but costs first time, so be prepared to heave them open. just £120, the Kolink Observatory Z Mesh ARGB absolutely 25/30 does the job. Once inside, you’ll find that the roof has a magnetic dust FEATURES filter to prevent detritus falling into the case, with another ANTONY LEATHER catering for the PSU. However, the front mesh acts as its own 15/20 filter, meaning you need to pull off the front panel in order to VERDICT get at the fan mounts too. DESIGN Kolink continues to improve its case designs, with this There’s a generous count of four hard disk mounts as affordable, flexible and capable case. 25/30 well – they’re spread across the rear of the motherboard tray and the storage tray under the PSU cover. Alternatively, you VALUE could store up to five 2.5in drives in these mounts too. The case’s width means there’s plenty of clearance between the 17/20 motherboard tray and side panel too, plus there are lengthy Velcro ties included to gather cables together. OVERALL SCORE Meanwhile, the front panel offers loads of connections, 82% including four Type-A USB ports, two of which are USB 3, plus a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port as well. There are power and reset buttons, audio jacks and a button to control the RGB lighting on this panel too. 15

REVIEWS / CASES ATX CASE NZXT H7 FLOW / £120 incVAT SUPPLIER overclockers.co.uk FLOW CHART W hile NZXT has been dipping its toes into the ustomP pools of peripherals and motherboards + Good cooling recently, it’s better known for its cases and PPROVE + Excellent water- its ATX line-up has just received a refresh recently 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port and a single audio jack output for a cooling support headset. However, that means there’s no microphone input, so you’ll need to use your motherboard or sound card’s own c input or a USB headset in order to be able to talk to people. The H7 Flow’s exterior is otherwise unblemished, while the DH7 Elite and H7 have extra vents in their side panel to boost + Reasonable price with a trio of new models. The range caters for three Ccooling, due to them lacking a vented front panel. different markets, with the two cheaper models A Out of the box, the three cases’ fan arrangements differ too, with the H7 and H7 Flow offering front and rear 120mm FLOW TEST offering high-airflow or closed-panel designs, while fans that spin up to 1,200rpm, while the H7 Elite includes the top-end model offers all-glass panels, as well four larger 140mm fans. The roof and front fan mounts can - Notmanyother as software control. We’re looking at the high-airflow house up to 360mm radiators, with the front section also able to house up to three 140mm fans, and with space for stand-out features 60mm-thick radiators, making it an excellent case for water- cooling systems or AIO liquid coolers. - Fansarequietbut model this month, which is the £120 H7 Flow. It comes in either black or white, and it’s reasonably If you’re looking to add a bunch of hard disks, sadly there’s underpowered just the basic two 3.5in mounts in a removable cage in the base of the case, which can also be used for 2.5in SSDs, in - Nomicrophone compact, measuring 50cm tall and 48cm deep, while its addition to four dedicated mounts for the latter behind the width of 23cm enables the case to offer 185mm of CPU motherboard tray and on top of the PSU cover. port TheH7Flowalsooffersdecentcable-routingoptions.If you cooler clearance. The graphics card clearance stands at detest cabletiesandprefer large Velcrostrapsthenyou’rein luck,astheH7Flowhas twolargecablerunsequippedwith 400mm, but while there’s no vertical Velcro ties to secure the usual cables, such as the 24-pin ATX connector,PCI-E cablesand anyotherwires atthefrontof SPEC GPU mount in the case, NZXT’s recent your case. There are Velcro ties at the top and to the rear edge ofthe motherboardtray too, andthepositionsof cable-routing Dimensions (mm) flurry of launches included a universal 230 x 480 x 505 (W x D x H) vertical mount, and with three PCI-E Material slots to shift dual-slot GPUs away from Steel, plastic, glass the side panel, it’s probably a better option than a fixed mount anyway. Available colours Black, white As its name suggests, the H7 Flow also has a large mesh on its front panel Weight and in the roof section, so it’s geared 10.05kg towards offering high airflow with low fan speeds. There are a few useful Front panel features on the case’s exterior, such Power, 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, 2 x USB as tool-free side, front and roof panels 3, stereo that simply pop into place. There’s also a removable front fan mount, which Drive bays you can detach in order to fix fans and 2 x 2.5in/3.5in, 4 x 2.5in radiators to it, rather than having to do it awkwardly inside the case. There are Form factor(s) dust filters all around the interior too, E-ATX (up to 272mm) ATX, micro-ATX Cooling 3 x 120mm/3 x 140mm front fan mounts (1 x 120mm fan included), 1 x 120mm/140mm rear fan mount (120mm fan included), 3 x 120/2 x 140mm roof fan mounts (fans not included) CPU cooler clearance with the roof part sitting under the main 185mm panel and held in place using magnets. Maximum graphics card length Meanwhile, the front panel is a basic 400mm affair, with a pair of USB 3 ports, a USB 16

T E M P E R AT U R E R E S U LTS CPU DELTA T GPU DELTA T Antec DF700 Flux 47°C Corsair 5000D Airflow 41°C Cooler Master MasterBox 500 41°C 47°C Fractal Design Meshify 2 Compact 42°C Fractal Design Meshify 2 42°C NZXT H510 Flow 47°C NZXT H7 Flow 42°C NZXT H7 Flow 42°C Antec NX700 47°C Cooler Master MasterBox 500 42°C 42°C Corsair 5000D Airflow 48°C Corsair 5000D Airflow 42°C Kolink Observatory Z Mesh ARGB 43°C 48°C Fractal Design Meshify 2 43°C SaharaGaming P44M 20 40 60 80 Fractal Design Meshify 2 Compact 48°C Kolink Observatory Z Mesh ARGB Lower is better 0 48°C NZXT H510 Flow 48°C SaharaGaming P44M 50°C Antec NX700 20 40 60 80 Antec DF700 Flux 0 Lower is better holes have been wellconsidered. There’s arouting holeatthe quiet, even with the fans at full speed. The CPU delta T of top ofthemotherboard tray that runs for around 10intocater 48°C was on par with the Antec NX700 and Corsair 5000D for motherboardsthat have socketsinvarious places,suchas Airflow, while the Antec DF700 Flux, Fractal Design Meshify most AMDThreadripper TRX40 models. 2 and Cooler Master MasterBox 500 were a little cooler. However, the NZXT was a couple of degrees cooler than the However, it’s a shame the case doesn’t have full E-ATX Fractal Design Meshify 2 Compact. support, with the width limit set at 272mm. The main holes at the front of the case have a large cover to hide them as well. The GPU delta T sat at 42°C after our testing, which again Overall, it’s an easy case to keep tidy, with plenty of stowage is in the middle of the results and lacks the clout of cases for excess cables, lots of anchor points and cable ties. Build such as the Corsair 5000D Airflow, while just pipping the quality is also excellent throughout, with minimal panel gaps Antec DF700 Flux and Antec NX700 to the post, albeit by just and all the parts fitting snugly together. a single degree. Performance Conclusion With the fans peaking at a speed of 1,200rpm, they’re not At a price of £120 inc VAT, the NZXT H7 Flow is well priced particularly powerful, so it wasn’t a surprise to see the H7 given what’s on offer, which is just as well, as the competition Flow return middling results with the CPU and GPU delta is fierce. The Fractal Design Meshify 2 Compact sports a temperatures. However, the flip side is that it’s extremely similar specification and a removable roof section that helps to set it apart, but with slightly reduced radiator and storage support, and lower CPU cooler clearance. Corsair’s 5000D COOLING Airflow costs £20 more, but does offer an even better basis for a water-cooled PC, although it doesn’t include more fans 25/30 or storage mounts. FEATURES Overall, then, the H7 Flow is an attractive, well-priced case with good cooling and massive potential for expansion 15/20 in terms of both air cooling and water cooling. We’d have liked to see full E-ATX motherboard support, although the DESIGN 272mm width limit does cater for most large PCBs. The lack of a microphone front panel jack, and limited room for 26/30 hard drives, may be an issue for some people, but not if you’re using a USB headset and SSDS. It also lacks stand- VALUE out features compared with the competition, but this is otherwise a great case for the money. 18/20 ANTONY LEATHER OVERALL SCORE VERDICT 84% An excellent, attractive ATX case that’s also well priced. 17

REVIEWS / CHAIRS GAMING CHAIR BACKFORCE ONE /€553 incVAT(~£471incVAT) SUPPLIER backforce.gg BACKED UP T he latest gaming chair to find its way into our lab is edge, so it doesn’t a little different from the norm. Rather than clearly dig into the + Goodseatpadding being made by the exact same company but underside of your + Solidbuildquality rebadged, as is the case with some prominent chair legs. Many gaming + Pleasant manufacturers, the Backforce uses a different manufacturer chairs get even this to most of these brands and has quite a few features that set basic feature wrong. fabric finish it apart from their chairs. The overall aesthetic is familiar though. The seat is The chair also BACKED DOWN reminiscent of the racing/bucket seat styling seen on many offers height gaming chairs, with an integrated headrest, high shoulder adjustment and a - Lack of supports and a seat with raised sides. recline feature. The tension of the latter can be adjusted via a We tested the ‘OG’ all-black version, so the styling is knob on the right, and the chair can be locked in position by a adjustability muted, but other options add coloured highlights to the knob on the left side. It’s not the slickest, most easy-to-reach shoulder fins, headrest, slashes in the lower back padding system but it works okay. - Insufficient and various other areas of the seat. The OG version is also all-fabric, whereas other colour Meanwhile, the recline feature doesn’t offer a particularly lumbar support versions incorporate some faux leather elements. You can relaxing and supportive position – the seat doesn’t tilt enough also add custom-stitched, Velcro-attached patches to the along with the back – but it works without having to rest your - Stiff castors tops of the shoulder fins, for showing off your gamer tag. feet on a footrest to keep them held up, which is more than Around the back of the seat, it uses a fixed hard plastic can be said for some gaming chairs. shell that means there’s no adjustment for lumbar support or the headrest, as is common with gaming chairs. There’s also Overall build quality is very good, with the whole chair a sunken circle in the plastic, just below the headrest. Here, being very sturdy, and the base and gas lift not wobbling at all. you can add an included RGB-illuminated module that again The castors are a bit stiff though – you won’t win any office lets you add your gamer branding to the back of the chair. chair races riding this steed. The general lack of adjustment in the seat means that, despite being rated for sitters of between 4ft 11in and 6ft Conclusion 3in, as a 6ft 2in tester, I found it didn’t really fit my frame. In particular, the lack of lumbar support meant I was forced into It’s good to see a new face and genuinely different design in a slightly hunched position, while the diagonal-patterned shoulder padding section prodded into the top of my back. the gaming chair space, but the Backforce One still suffers The armrests also didn’t rise far enough to meet my arms, or reach over the desktop while in a normal sitting position. from several of the same problems I resorted to adding a cushion behind my lower back for more lumbar support, but this then exposed the lack of seat that blight its competitors. Namely, COMFORT length adjustment. comfort levels are relatively poor Our 5ft 2in tester had more luck, with the headrest aligning for the high price, and there’s not 15/25 better, the seat proving sufficiently deep and the armrests providing good support – the padding on them is softer enough adjustability where it matters, DESIGN than on several gaming chairs too. Backforce also offers particularly regarding lumbar support. the One Plus, which includes seat depth adjustment, and The build quality of the Backforce One 18/25 upholstered, more adjustable armrests. One universal positive is the seat padding, which is is excellent, though, plus there are FEATURES sufficiently soft and supportive, and rolls off on the front lots of different colour options and it’s considerably more comfortable than 22/25 some gaming chairs. VALUE EDWARD CHESTER 18/25 VERDICT OVERALL SCORE A solid gaming chair, but many 73% conventional office chairs offer better comfort for the price. 18

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REVIEWS / PERIPHERALS GAMING MOUSE ROCCAT BURST PRO AIR/£80 incVAT SUPPLIER amazon.co.uk BURSTING T he new Roccat Burst Pro Air takes the small and WITH JOY lightweight design of the Burst Pro and adds a wireless connection. It also includes a translucent + Excellentoverall body packed with RGB lighting, a stated 100-hour battery performance life, water resistance, Nvidia Reflex compatibility and a + Plentyoffeatures + Wiredand 19,000 DPI sensor, putting this rodent right at the forefront of wireless modes mouse technology. For all its features, though, it’s the design of this mouse There are no additional buttons, but the standard buttons FULL TO that’s likely to tempt or dissuade most users – as is often the all fall easily to hand and have a precise, light action, plus BURSTING case with gaming mice, given the subjective nature of mouse shape and styling. In particular, it’s this mouse’s narrow- the switches are rated to last 100 million clicks. Likewise, - Not all that light the scroll wheel is light, with a very grippy rubber cover - Slightly odd shape fronted, flared rear shape that will make or break it. and distinct scrolling notches, for precise control in games. - Divisive styling When using a fingertip grip, we found our fingers tended Meanwhile, the underside has a slider for switching the to slide slightly towards the narrow front and down the sides. mouse between standard wireless mode, Bluetooth and Not only did we find this made for a less secure grip than turning off the mouse. Alongside this is a profile button and mice shapes that guide your fingers into a central divot (via a a useful storage space for holding the wireless dongle. front that flares out slightly), but this design also makes the Tracking performance from the company’s Owl-Eye 19K Burst Pro Air slightly back heavy. The whole mouse isn’t that optical sensor is flawless, as is the wireless performance. light by today’s standards either at 81g. Plenty of wireless Nvidia’s Reflex technology uses software optimisation to alternatives dip well below 70g these days. reduce overall system latency between clicking a mouse What’s more, the shape of the rear doesn’t have particular button and seeing the result on-screen. It doesn’t make for advantages for other grip styles. Claw grip suffers from a revolutionary change to gaming performance, and it only the same issues as fingertip grip, while there’s not enough works with certain games, but it’s one more flag in the cap overall bulk to make for a relaxed palm grip. The size and of this mouse. shape of the mouse works a little better for DESIGN SPEC smaller hands, but while many companies are now Conclusion 12/20 embracing producing two sizes of flagship mouse, Weight there’s only one size of the Burst Pro Air. The Roccat Burst Pro Air’s style and 81g shape is less appealing to us than FEATURES Dimensions (mm) Another potentially contentious design decision those of several competitors, but these are highly subjective factors. 18/20 58 x 120 x 38 (W x D x H) is the styling and the RGB lighting. The whole Otherwise, the Burst Pro Air delivers in spades, with excellent performance, PERFORMANCE Sensor central top section of the mouse is translucent and great battery life and some useful extra Roccat Owl-Eye 19K (based backlit by several RGB zones. It’s an impressive features, all for a decent price. 28/30 on the PixArt PAW3370) display, but it strays some distance from the sleeker optical, 19,000 DPI, 50G designs favoured by many mice and mice users. EDWARD CHESTER VALUE acceleration, 400 IPS Elsewhere, though, the Burst Pro Air consistently 22/30 Buttons impresses. Up front is a USB Type-C socket for 6 (left, right, middle, charging the mouse, plus you can also run the OVERALL SCORE forward, back, DPI) 80% Cable mouse via its lightweight USB cable. Up top, the VERDICT 1.8m, lightweight braided selection of buttons is typical, with left, right, middle, back and forward buttons, plus a top-mounted A potentially divisive design, but the Extras DPI button. Burst Pro Air otherwise offers excellent RGB lighting overall performance and decent value. 20

GAMING HEADSET AUSTRIAN AUDIO PG16 AND PB17/£130 incVAT SUPPLIER game.com VIENNA A ustrian Audio is a relatively new entrant to the professional audio space, founded by former AKG + Smartstyling engineers after that company closed its original + Excellent Austrian facilities. The new brand has now entered the headset space with the introduction of the PB17 business sound quality headset and PG16 gaming headset. + Light,compact design + Decentvalue The two headsets are physically identical, other than the grey (pictured) or red highlights on each one, plus the THIS MEANS PG16 comes with a licence for the company’s spatial audio the right earcup, while the microphone is on the left earcup, NOTHING software. Like Razer’s equivalent software, it uses THX also makes for a confusing break with convention. An TO ME Spatial Audio technology to provide virtual surround sound on-headset volume control would have been handy too. - Not the most for your stereo headphones. As we’ve come to expect from Meanwhile, the microphone is on a rotating and THX Spatial Audio software, it works very well. bendable arm but isn’t removable. Its quality is adequate comfortable for chat but not for professional recording. The integral foam wind blocker is a welcome addition though. - Cable too short The design is minimalist, with no RGB lighting or much Where this headset really shines is in the sonic - No volume in the way of extra features. The slim headband has a performance of its headphones. Overall detail is superb, memory foam-padded central section, with telescoping reproducing every subtle in-game footstep or musical control intricacy. The reasonably flat sound profile also ensures there’s no exaggerated bass or treble, providing a realistic arms for fit adjustment, plus they fold inwards to make the presentation. The headset can produce those tones, but they’re not forced on you. This results in a less bombastic headset more compact for transporting – a fabric bag is sound than some headsets, but if you’re after detail and accuracy, it delivers in spades. The closed-back design also included for carrying them. blocks out external noise well. The earcups spin on the ends of the arms and can pivot in and out too. They have a closed-back design with deep memory foam padding. The whole headset weighs 265g, which is fairly light – the Corsair Virtuoso, for instance, weighs 100g more. SPEC This overall combination should Conclusion offer decent comfort, but we Dimensions (mm) encountered a couple of issues. The 205 x 180 x 80 (W x D x H) Weight first is that the earcup padding pushed A clear sound profile makes these headsets excellent 265g a little harder on the arms of our glasses than some alternatives. The for those seeking accuracy in their Audio config exact effect will depend on the arm Stereo and virtual surround design of your glasses, but we noticed music listening and clarity in the DESIGN reproduction of in-game details. Headphone frequency range The smart-looking, compact and 16/20 12Hz-24kHz Sensitivity/sound pressure level a relatively quick onset of discomfort. folding design also makes them FEATURES 113dB Despite this, the overall fit is a touch practical to move around. However, the cable is a bit short for desk use, 14/20 Mic frequency response loose too, putting more weight on the Not stated narrow headband than usual, further there’s no volume control, comfort SOUND QUALITY causing slight comfort issues with isn’t the best and the highly detailed Mic sensitivity longer use. It’s far from a bad showing, presentation won’t suit those who 32/40 Not stated but it’s not the most comfortable headset we’ve used. prefer a bassier tone. VALUE Cable 1.4m (3.5mm combi jack to EDWARD CHESTER 16/20 3.5mm combi jack) Battery life We also found the 1.4m detachable VERDICT OVERALL SCORE N/A cable to be a bit short for desk use. It’s only just long enough to reach Excellent clarity and decent value, 78% Extras on-desk audio devices, and would but there are a few comfort and 3.5mm combi jack to 2 x 3.5mm struggle to reach around the back of practicality issues. jack adaptor (for separate mic and many PCs. Having the cable plug into headphone), spatial audio software for the PG16, cloth carry bag 21

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

ZEUS CRONUS B E N C H M A R K R E S U LTS + Slick, sleek design - Too hot and often too loud DOOM ETERNAL + High-quality, high- - Thicker rivals are 1,920 x 1,080, Vulkan, Ultra Nightmare settings resolution 165Hz display comfortably faster Asus ROG Zephyrus M16 GU603ZW 136fps 218fps 400 65,048 + Crisp, fast keyboard - Better value 200 300 + Decent mainstream available elsewhere 0 100 GIMP IMAGE EDITING gaming performance 2,560 x 1,600, Vulkan, Ultra Nightmare settings 400 Asus ROG Zephyrus M16 GU603ZW 85fps 149fps 752,023 0 100 200 300 120 of 262,476 shows it’s quick enough to handle mainstream ASSASSIN’S CREED VALHALLA content creation, editing and multi-tasking, but the Scar HANDBRAKE H.264 scored 291,826 with the same CPU. In the M16’s Balanced 1,920 x 1,080, Ultra High settings, High anti-aliasing VIDEO ENCODING mode, the CPU’s P-Cores topped out at 2.4GHz in a multi-threaded benchmark and in a single-threaded Asus ROG Zephyrus M16 GU603ZW 44fps 69fps 120 test, they hovered between 4.3GHz and 4.6GHz, with 60 90 neither speed close to the chip’s theoretical peaks. 0 30 204,954 Using the Turbo mode saw the rig’s overall score only improve to 268,646. 2,560 x 1,600, Ultra High settings, High anti-aliasing 120 That Turbo mode does deliver a bit of extra Asus ROG Zephyrus M16 GU603ZW 34fps 51fps HEAVY MULTI performance, but the downside is noise and heat. In Turbo 60 TASKING mode, when running games or tough single-threaded 0 30 90 workloads, the M16 is louder than most laptops, the 120 processor nearly hit 100°C before throttling and the metal CYBERPUNK 2077 around the keyboard became too hot to touch. The M16 262,476 produced moderate noise in its Balanced mode, but the 1,920 x 1,080, Ultra preset, no ray tracing exterior exhibited similarly overwhelming heat. Not 120 SYSTEM surprisingly, the larger Scar was cooler and quieter. Asus ROG Zephyrus M16 GU603ZW 48fps 58fps 90 SCORE 0 30 60 If the heat and noise do become unbearable, the M16’s Silent mode is decent – it runs games at speeds that hover 2,560 x 1,600, Ultra preset, no ray tracing between 40fps and 60fps while keeping down noise levels down. Arguably, though, that negates the point of Asus ROG Zephyrus M16 GU603ZW 30fps 34fps a high-end gaming laptop entirely. 0 30 60 90 The M16 was inconsistent in battery tests too. Its gaming lifespan of one hour, six minutes is METRO EXODUS underwhelming, but it did last an excellent eight hours when playing a movie and four hours during a work test. 1,920 x 1,080, Ultra settings, High RT, PhysX off, HairWorks off Those latter scores are decent, but you’ll want to stay connected to the mains for any gaming. Asus ROG Zephyrus M16 GU603ZW 31fps 55fps On the plus side, the display is excellent. The 16:10 0 30 60 90 aspect ratio and 2,560 x 1,600 resolution deliver crisp imagery and extra vertical room when compared with 2,560 x 1,600, Ultra settings, High RT, PhysX off, HairWorks off 16:9 rivals, and the contrast ratio of 1,221:1 combines with a peak brightness of 476cd/m² for superb vibrancy and Asus ROG Zephyrus M16 GU603ZW 24fps 38fps 0 30 60 90 120 99th percentile Average punch. The delta E of 2.43 is good, the display renders PERFORMANCE almost 100 per cent of the sRGB and DCI-P3 gamuts, and the 165Hz refresh rate is fine for mainstream gaming. The 20/25 speakers are great too – they sound loud and balanced, with serviceable bass. DESIGN CONCLUSION 19/25 That 16in display is great, and elsewhere the Zephyrus HARDWARE supplies solid mainstream performance in a slim, light design with a satisying keyboard and good connection 22/25 options. There’s no denying that the slim chassis creates issues though. The M16 is hotter, louder and slower than VALUE the chunkier 15.6in Scar – and it’s pricier too. If you’d prefer a svelte gaming laptop, you’ll have to accept 19/25 those compromises, but your money will go further on a machine with a chunkier chassis that allows the OVERALL SCORE components to breathe. 80% MIKE JENNINGS VERDICT This slim, light and smart laptop has decent pace and a great screen, but it’s hot and loud in operation. 23





REVI EWS / PC SYSTEMS INTEL Z690 GAMING PC CYBERPOWERHYDRO X INFINITY RTX /£4,699 incVAT SUPPLIER custompc.co.uk/CPHX C yberPower’sHydro-XInfinityRTXhasamassive price tagof£4,699,which is about as expensive as PCs get before you head into dream PC territory, and that’s no wonderwhenyou consider the components. This machine pairs a beefy Intel Core i9-12900KSCPU with an overclockedNvidia GeForceRTX 3090 Ti GPU. TheMSI-made graphicscard runs its boost clock at 1920MHz ratherthanthe conventional1860MHz,and theGPU packs10,752 stream processorsand24GB of ustomP GDDR6Xmemory. Meanwhile,Intel’s top-of-the-line REME UL Alder Lake chip has eight Hyper-ThreadedP-Cores that cthispricerange.Scan’s £4,8993XSTorrentTi usedan RTX 3090Tiand a marginally sloweri9-12900K, but it TRAhad 64GB of5200MHzDDR5 memory.Ithada better theoretically peak at 5.4GHz,or5.5GHz withThermal motherboard too, but it only had an air cooler on the CPU,C comparedwith theCyberPower’sbrillianthard-tube Velocity Boost. custom water-cooling system.EXT SPEC The rest ofthe hardwareis suitably That’sahighlypotent coolingsystemforjusttheCPU, but our tests have shown the Corei9-12900KS to be a CPU muscular,with 32GBof dual-channel toastycustomer, andthis custom loopwillbeabletocool 3.4GHz Intel Core i9-12900KS DDR5memoryrunning at4800MHz it properly. The GPU isn’t water-cooled, but on the plus side, thatmeans you can easily upgrade the graphics Motherboard and a 2TB Kingston FuryRenegade card ata later date. CyberPower has alsoadded RGB LED MSI MAG Z690 Tomahawk WiFi PCI-E 4 SSD with impressive read lighting strips, and the machine’s eight casefans glow with andwrite speedsof7,106MB/sec coloured illumination–theinterior looksfantastic. Memory and 6,801MB/sec.It’s all powered by 32GB Corsair Vengeance 4800MHz DDR5 an MSI MPG A850GF,whichis afully All this gear ishoused ina Corsair 7000D Airflow chassis. Itmeasures600mmtall and 550mm deep, soit’shuge, Graphics and it has impeccable build quality and mature looks. Both MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Ti 24GB the sidepanels arehinged, theroofand frontpanels pop free, and CyberPowerhas keptthe interior tidy. Storage modular80 PlusGold PSUwithan 2TB Kingston Fury Renegade M.2 SSD 850W power rating – noissues there. You get a decentwarranty aswell, withtwo years of the all-important parts and labour cover,plus a further Networking Meanwhile, the serious-looking three years labouronly, including six monthsofcollect 2.5Gbps Ethernet, dual-band MSI MAG Z690 Tomahawk and return service. The Scan is better here, though, 802.11ax Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.2 motherboardsports hugeblack offering three years of parts and labour cover, and a year heatsinksand noRGBLEDs. Ithas of on-site repairs. Case Corsair 7000D Cooling three 16x PCI-E slots, one of which CPU: 2 x Corsair Hydro-X XR7 360mm supports PCI-E 5, and three ofits radiators, Corsair Hydro XD5 RGB fourM.2slotsusePCI-E4. The pump/reservoir, Corsair Hydro XC5 PCB alsoserves updecent Realtek waterblock, 7 x 120mm fans; GPU: 3 ALC4080 audio, while networking x 90mm fans; rear: 1 x 120mm fan comes from2.5GbpsEthernetand dual-band 802.11ax Wi-Fi.Therear Ports I/O panel is solid too,witha USB 3.2 Front: 4 x USB 3.1, 1 x USB 3.2 Gen Gen2x2 Type-C portthat rattles 1 Type-C, 1 x audio; rear: 1 x USB alongat20Gbps, andthere arethree 3.2 Gen 2x2 Type-C, 3 x USB 3.2 USB3.2Gen2Type-A portsandfour Gen 2, 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 1, 2 x USB slower ports. 2, 1 x optical S/PDIF, 5 x audio CyberPower’s rig has an imposing Operating system specification, butthisisn’t the Windows 11 Home 64-bit onlyrecentsystemwe’veseen in Warranty Two years parts and labour, plus three years labour only. Six months collect and return, then return to base 26

HERCULES HYDRA B E N C H M A R K R E S U LTS + Awesome water- - CPU still can’t hit peak speed DOOM ETERNAL cooling system - Very high price - Noticeable fan noise 2,560 x 1,440, Vulkan, Ultra Nightmare settings + Superb content creation performance CyberPower Hydro-X Infinity RTX 285fps 434fps 82,455 450 + Fast in games 0 150 300 600 GIMP IMAGE EDITING 3,840 x 2,160, Vulkan, Ultra Nightmare settings CyberPower Hydro-X Infinity RTX 165fps 264fps 300 PERFORMANCE 0 150 450 600 With itshuge coolingsystemandtop-endCPU, ASSASSIN’S CREED VALHALLA CyberPower’s PC overhauled the Scan inapplication benchmarks. The i9-12900KS scored 82,455 inourimage 2,560 x 1,440, Ultra High settings, High AA editing test, which stresses single-threaded performance, and 1,165,921 in our heavily multi-threaded Handbrake CyberPower Hydro-X Infinity RTX 72fps 1,165,92198fps benchmark– a12.5per cent improvementontheScan in 60 thefirsttest anda5.5per cent gainin thesecond. 0 30 90 120 That said, even this monstercoolingsystemcouldn’t 3,840 x 2,160, Ultra High settings, High AA enable the CPUto get beyond 5.2GHz in ourbenchmarks, and it still peaked at 77°Cduringstress tests,whichis right CyberPower Hydro-X Infinity RTX 52fps 68fps HANDBRAKE H.264 atthisCPU’s thermallimit. Also,while theCyberPoweris 0 120 VIDEO ENCODING never ruinously noisy, it’sconsistently audible whenidle, 30 60 90 and it’slouder in gamingand multi-threaded tests.Ifyou playloudmusic, usea headset or have your PC hidden CYBERPUNK 2077 away behind a desk, it’s not an issue, but this systemisn’t suitable fornear-silent working conditions.Scan’s PC 2,560 x 1,440, Ultra preset, no ray tracing might nothave thesheerCPUgrunt or high-powered coolingsystem,but it’squieter. CyberPower Hydro-X Infinity RTX 30 376,47276fps 87fps 120 90 Where this PCdoes excel,though,isingames. In our 0 60 4KAssassin’sCreed Valhalla benchmark,theHydro-X returneda 99th percentile of 52fps with anaverageof 3,840 x 2,160, Ultra preset, no ray tracing 68fps,and its 264fps average in Doom Eternal at 4K is superb – you can easily playundemanding games at4K CyberPower Hydro-X Infinity RTX 42fps 46fps HEAVY MULTI onmonitorswithhigh refresh rates. 0 30 60 90 120 TASKING There’sroom to enable raytracing at 4K too,with the CyberPoweraveraging 62fps in Metro Exodus withHigh METRO EXODUS 2,560 x 1,440, Ultra, HairWorks off, Advanced PhysX off, High RT CyberPower Hydro-X Infinity RTX 60fps 416,627101fps 0 30 60 90 120 3,840 x 2,160, Ultra, HairWorks off, Advanced PhysX off, High RT CyberPower Hydro-X Infinity RTX 41fps 62fps 90 120 SYSTEM 0 30 60 SCORE 99th percentile Average raytracing,and it will beeven quickerwith DLSSenabled. The only gamewhere the CyberPower struggled at4K wasCyberpunk2077but,tobe fair,allsystems struggle withthistest, and you’llbe able togetitrunning if you drop the settings a little. Comparatively, the CyberPowerwas marginally slowerthanthe Scan inmany tests,butonly byacoupleof frames persecondhereandthere. CONCLUSION PERFORMANCE CyberPower’s Hydro-X InfinityRTXofferssensational 25/25 application and gaming speed,along witha great-looking water-cooling system. Given the cost of the latter, and FEATURES the superiorCPU,it’sa better buythan thepricierScan. The only disappointments are that even a customwater- 23/25 coolingloop with tworadiatorscan’tfreeup thetoasty Core i9-12900KSto hit its peak boost clock,and it’salso FEATURES a bitnoisy.Theprice is alsoastronomical,ofcourse,but buying theveryfastestcomponents alwaysdemandsa 23/25 premium,and CyberPower has housed themina well- built,good-looking andvery fastmachine. VALUE MIKE JENNINGS 19/25 VERDICT OVERALL SCORE Fantastic performance and an awesome water-cooling 90% system, but you pay a premium for these top-line components. 27

REVI EWS / PC SYSTEMS INTEL Z690 GAMING PC CCL HORIZON 5 INTEL RTX 3080 GAMING PC/£1,889 incVAT SUPPLIER custompc.co.uk/CCL3080 C CL’sHorizon5IntelRTX3080GamingPC uses Nvidia’s veteran Ampere GPU, but there’sstillplentyto likeaboutthe aging 10GBGeForceRTX 3080 –itpacksanimpressive ustomP 8,704 streamprocessors intoits core.What’smore, PPROVE in this machine, the MSI card overclocks the boost c It’s allhousedin a LianLi LancoolIIchassis,which is sturdy andsolid, andthisSnoweditionincludesstriking whitepanels. DTwo hinged panels on each side of the case make internal core from1710MHzto1740MHz. Caccesseasy, and throughoutthechassis,you’llfindroomfor three harddisksandfour2.5indrives.Extrashroudsaround Alongside thatGPUIntel’s mid-rangeCore Athebackhidecables,andCCL’sbuildingisconsistently tidy. i5-12600KAlder Lake CPU, featuringsixHyper- The radiator for the Corsair Hydro H100x CPU cooler sitsin theroof anddoesn’timpedethemotherboard, while Threaded P-Cores with a top boost speed of 4.9GHz, the case’s three intake fans sit in a removable bracket, so they can easily be swapped for different cooling hardware. along withfourenergy-efficientE-Cores.That’s There’s roomfor largergraphics cardstobeinstalled,andthe bottom ofthemotherboard is easilyaccessible.Meanwhile, a perfectly decentCPUforgaming,and CCLhas also buttons ontop ofthe chassisaltertheRGBLEDs, and the top-mountedI/Opanelincludesa Type-Cconnection.The specced up16GB of 3200MHzDDR4memory anda 1TB SSD. onlyabsencehereisfancontrol,which you’llfindon LianLi’s Performance version. Thedrivein ourtestsystemis a WD Blue Gazearoundthe marketand CCL’smachine offersgood SPEC SN750 with mid-range read and write value. Youwon’tgetanequivalentspecificationfromChillblast, speeds, but at retail, CCL has swapped in PC Specialist, Ebuyer or Wired2Fire without spending north of CPU a Samsung980thatwill bea bit faster. £2,000.ScanandGladiator offerPCswith theRTX3080and 3.7GHz Intel Core i5-12600K Core i7CPUs for£1,899,buttheybothhaveweakercasesand CPU coolers, and Scan’srighas anentry-levelmotherboard. Motherboard Meanwhile,thereassuringly familiar Asus TUF Gaming Z690-Plus WiFi D4 Corsair RM750xpowersupplydelivers PERFORMANCE 80 Plus Gold certification and modular Memory design, and CCLoffers one ofthe best The GeForce RTX 3080 makes this sub-£2,000 PC great for 16GB Corsair Vengeance RGB warranties you’llfind from anyBritish gamingat2,560 x1,440.Itdidn’tdropbelowa99thpercentile Pro SL 3200MHz DDR4 builder,with threeyearsofon-site of60fps in Cyberpunk2077andAssassin’sCreedValhalla, and it onlydropped down to57fps inthe formerat theMedium Graphics ray-tracingpreset withDLSS enabled.Its averageof 85fps MSI GeForce RTX 3080 10GB Storage service covering both parts and labour. 1TB WD Blue SN570 M.2 SSD, 2TB Youget ahalf-decent motherboard Seagate Barracuda hard disk too,whichincludes Intel’stop-end Networking Z790 chipset.Its primary16xPCI-E 2.5Gbps Ethernet, dual-band slot supports PCI-E 5, and you 802.11ax Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.2 Case getan impressivetrioof2.5Gbps Lian Li Lancool II Mesh RGB Snow Edition Ethernet,dual-band 802.11ax Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.2. The board Cooling has agenerous total of fourM.2 CPU: Corsair Hydro Series H100x with 2 x connectors,allwith PCI-E4 support, 120mm fans; GPU: 3 x 90mm fans; front: 3 x 120mm fans; rear: 1 x 120mm fan Ports and elsewhere, this unassuming PCB Front: 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 1, 1 x audio; rear: 1 hasa Thunderboltheader andagreat x USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 Type-C, 1 x USB 3.2 rear I/O panel. There’s a super-fast Gen 1 Type-C, 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 2, 4 x USB USB3.2Gen 2x2Type-C connector 3.2 Gen 1, 1 x optical S/PDIF, 5 x audio Operating system here,alongside sevenother,slower Windows 11 Home 64-bit ports.You’llneeda pricier board for DDR5support,butthis isan excellent Warranty mainstream motherboard. Three years parts and labour on-site 28

B E N C H M A R K R E S U LTS ZERODAWN 67,707 778,744 + Great 2,560 x 1,440 gaming GIMP IMAGE HANDBRAKE H.264 performance EDITING VIDEO ENCODING + Versatile case 301,340 295,722 + Excellent warranty ZERO HOPE - CPUslower than usual - Lacksconsistent 4K gaming ability HEAVY MULTI SYSTEM TASKING SCORE DOOM ETERNAL 2,560 x 1,440, Vulkan, Ultra Nightmare settings CCL Horizon 5 221fps 350fps 0 100 200 300 400 3,840 x 2,160, Vulkan, Ultra Nightmare settings CCL Horizon 5 132fps 204ps 200 0 100 300 400 120 ASSASSIN’S CREED VALHALLA Meanwhile, the Core i5-12600K is adept with everyday workloads, includingmulti-threadedcontentcreation, and 2,560 x 1,440, Ultra High settings, High AA it won’tbottleneckgames.Its RealBench systemscoreof 295,722comfortably outpaces similarly pricedmachines CCL Horizon 5 62fps 85fps we’ve seen based on AMD Ryzen 5 5600X and Ryzen 7 0 30 60 90 5700X chips. 3,840 x 2,160, Ultra High settings, High AA The CCL’s onlyunderwhelming result was a comparatively sluggish67,707 inthe image editing test, whichstresses CCL Horizon 5 43fps 57fps 90 120 single-threaded performance, butthe CCLclearlyhas enough 30 60 CPU powerto handlegames. 0 The relatively modestCPUalso ensuresthattheCCLisa CYBERPUNK 2077 decent thermal performer.The Horizon5isnever loud–even duringthe trickieststress tests, this rig’s fannoisewas modest. 2,560 x 1,440, Ultra preset, no ray tracing TheGPUdeltaTof48°Cisgreat,andtheCPU’speakof 38°Cis similarly impressive. During all-core tests, the processor ran at CCL Horizon 5 30 60fps 70fps 120 itsexpectedspeed of4.5GHz,but itnevergotbeyond 4.7GHz 0 60 90 insingle-threadedbenchmarks(itshould hit4.9GHz),which partlyexplains its slightlypoor imageeditingresult. 3,840 x 2,160, Ultra preset, no ray tracing CONCLUSION CCL Horizon 5 32fps 36fps CCL’s system supplies solidperformanceinsidean attractive, 0 30 60 90 120 accessible chassis. It offers great value for the gaming performance on offer,andithasatop-notchwarranty.If you’d METRO EXODUS like moreprocessingpower, you canfind Corei7machines elsewhere atthisprice,butnotwith thislevelof GPUpower, 2,560 x 1,440, Ultra, HairWorks off, Advanced PhysX off, High RT and if you want more gaming power, you’ll have to spend significantlymoremoney.Ifyou’re looking forthe fastest CCL Horizon 5 47fps 86fps gamingperformanceyoucan getforunder two grand, CCL’s 90 systemis awell-balanced mid-market choice. 0 30 60 120 MIKE JENNINGS 3,840 x 2,160, Ultra, HairWorks off, Advanced PhysX off, High RT VERDICT CCL Horizon 5 28fps 47fps CCL’s Horizon 5 offers great gaming performance for the 0 30 60 90 120 price, and it’s bolstered by a superb warranty. PERFORMANCE 99th percentile Average 21/25 in Metro ExoduswithHigh ray tracingis agreatresult too. DESIGN Meanwhile, the 350fps average in Doom Eternalshows that thismachine has plenty of power for playingundemanding 21/25 gameson monitorsat high refresh rates. HARDWARE It’s notso strong at 4K, whereyou really benefitfrom stepping up to the much pricier GeForce RTX 3080 Ti–the 21/25 CCLdropped down toaclunky28-32fpsinCyberpunk2077 and Metro Exodus, although it still maintained decentpace VALUE in Assassin’sCreed Valhallaanda great 204fps average in Doom Eternal.You’llbe able to play somegamesat4Kon this 24/25 machine, butyou’ll needtodrop the graphics settings torun demandinggames at thisresolution. OVERALL SCORE 87% 29

REVIEWS / CUSTOM KIT Custom kit Phil Hartup checks out the latest gadgets, gizmos and geek toys SAMSUNGT7SHIELD/£252.97 incVAT(2TB);£137.98 incVAT(1TB) ustomP SUPPLIER scan.co.uk c IT The Samsung T7 Shield is another solid entry in the field of C external SSDs using USB 3.2 Gen 2 to combine previously unthinkable speeds with resilient cases. The case has a CU rounded rectangular shape with grooves down the sides, as STOM K well as a lightly rubbery surface that makes it comfy to carry and easy to grip. drive without being monstered by loading times. In the case of the T7 Shield, unless you’re hovering over a It’s on the cheaper side for a drive of this type, and it’s very cheerful particularly deep pool or up a very high ladder, dropping it won’t as well – this is a fast and tough-as-nails external SSD. matter anyway, as it has an IP65 rating against dust and water, and can endure a 3m drop. Greased Lightning A sequential read speed of 1,090MB/sec and write speed of 1,039MB/sec are exactly what you would expect for a drive of this type (and even faster than Samsung’s claims), so you can throw your files on it at great speed, or even use it as a portable games ARCTICBREEZE/£14.17 incVAT LITETOURDESKCORD ORGANISERS/£7.99 incVAT SUPPLIER amazon.co.uk SUPPLIER amazon.co.uk The ARCTIC Breeze is a USB desk fan that features the same kind of 92mm fan you usually expect to see inside a PC. The construction is solid, Theevolutionofthehumble cabletiecontinues apacewithanew there’s a heavy base and you get a 1.8m cable, so you can incarnation byLiteTour. These cabletieshaveaflatbase with a stripof plug it in reasonably far away. Meanwhile, the fan double-sided tape to anchorthemtoanygivensurface; theythenusea itself sits atop a bendy metal neck, which allows plasticloop withaladder-likedesigntolockthecablesin placeontothe you to aim it where you like. There’s no guard, base. This style ofloop offersan immediate andveryhelpful advantage though, so watch those fingers and stray cables. overregularcable ties, whichis thattheycanbeadjustedbackand forth, and even reopened oncelocked,withoutdamagingthem. Power is controlled with a dial on the base, and at the lowest setting of 800rpm, the Locking the loop with the wires in place can be fiddly compared with Breeze is very quiet, to the extent that the sound a regular cabletie,though, andyou’ll wanttotieupthecablesfirst, then is barely audible over an air-cooled PC, sounding like attachthe baseto thesolidsurface,asdoingittheotherwayround just another instrument in the orchestra. At full power, getsfiddly. Forfastidiousfolks, eachof the50cable ties isalso it reaches 1,800rpm and is loud enough to be irritating. numbered fromonetoten,soifyouwantyour Somewhere in the middle is fine. In terms of pushing air cables to be tidiedinorder, youcanput around, the Breeze does a surprisingly good job for its your cable ties in order, so your size. It’s not substantial enough to cool a whole orderis inorder. room, but it’s good enough for a desk. Fast Fastidious Easy Breezy 30

COOLER MASTER CONNECT STAND / £24.99 incVAT SUPPLIER amazon.co.uk The Connect Stand is a handy cooling platform for networking onto the mesh on top of it. Stability is provided by square rubber feet devices that may benefit from more cooling power than they get that keep it in place. as standard. The Connect Stand itself is an open-ended stand that measures 74mm high, 295mm long and 170mm wide. It mounts one For some people, such a stand may seem entirely unnecessary, of Cooler Master’s 120mm Sickleflow Reverse Edition fans in the top, but if you’ve ever felt a top-end router or cable modem while it’s and you then place whatever device you want working like a serf through a pitiless summer, you’ll know that such a device could potentially benefit from some extra cooling power, particularly if it’s shut away in a cupboard with restricted airflow. You place the device you want to cool on top of the stand, plug in the USB cable that powers the fan (which thoughtfully has a pass- through port on the back, so it doesn’t use up a USB port), and then your device gets the benefit of being lifted off the surface and getting a cool breeze up through its underbelly. The fan is quiet, outputting 22dBA at 1,200rpm, and does the job well. Most networking devices won’t need this extra cooling, but if you have a high-powered router in a location with restricted airflow, this little stand provides some extra airflow without making a racket. Hot Cool BOOMPODSSOUNDCLIP /£24.99 incVAT SUPPLIER amazon.co.uk The Soundclip from Boompods is an answer to the question: ‘No use. The silicon strap that forms the clip covers the micro-USB really, are you sure you haven’t attached a Bluetooth speaker to port that’s used for charging, and also helps to provide an IPX6 everything?’ In a world of suction cups, magnets (and, of course, waterproof rating. It’s a handy mobile alternative to an Echo Dot. feet) being used to keep Bluetooth speakers in place, the Soundclip uses a big rubbery loop on its back. Boompods calls it a clip, but it’s Clip Loop more like a belt loop. Either way, it works, insofar as it lets you loop the Soundclip onto any object that can accommodate it. The unit itself is a round, curved speaker, with a comfy pebble shape. It weighs a featherweight 153g, but packs enough battery capacity for seven hours of run-time. As well as a speaker, the Soundclip also functions as an Amazon Alexa compatible device, and can be connected to your home network with an app for remote use, as well as making and receiving phone calls. The sound quality is good, clear and punchy enough for general Seen something worthy of appearing in Custom Kit? Send your suggestions to [email protected] 31

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REVIEWS / HOW WE TEST How we test MOTHERBOARDS MONITORS TEST PROCESSORS We test image quality with an X-Rite iDisplay Pro colorimeter and Intel LGA1700 Intel Core i5-12600K DisplayCal software to check colour Intel LGA1700 mini-ITX Intel Core i7-12700K accuracy, contrast and gamma, while assessing more subjective AMD AM4 AMD Ryzen 9 5900X details such as pixel density and viewing angles by eye. For gaming, we test a monitor’s response time with an Open Source Common test hardware between our test rigs includes a WD Red Response Time Tester, and use Blur Busters’ ghosting UFO test to SN750 SSD, plus a WD Black SN850 SSD to test the speed of M.2 check the sharpness of a display in high-speed motion. ports, and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070. We use 16GB (2 x 8GB) of Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 3466MHz DDR4 RAM, or 32GB (2 CPU COOLERS x 16GB) of Corsair 5200MHzDominator Platinum DDR5 RAM. We useCoreTemptomeasuretheCPUtemperature,before All CPUs are cooled by a Corsair Hydro-X water-cooling loop subtractingtheambientairtemperaturefrom this figure to give with two XR5 240mm radiators, an XD3 RGB reservoir and an us a delta Tresult,whichenables us totest inalabthat isn’t XC7 RGB waterblock. We test with our RealBench suite and Far temperaturecontrolled.WeusePrime95’ssmallest FFTtest Cry 6 on Windows 11. We also test each board’s M.2 ports, and withAVX instructionsdisabledto loadthe CPUand takethe record the noise level and dynamic range of integrated audio temperature reading after ten minutes. using RightMark Audio Analyzer. For the Intel LGA1200system,wetakean averagereading PROCESSORS across all eightcores,andfortheLGA1700system,wetakean average reading across both theP-Cores andE-Cores.AMD’s TEST MOTHERBOARDS CPUs onlyreporta singletemperaturereading, ratherthanper- corereadings, sowelistwhat’sreported in CoreTemp. Intel LGA1700 Asus ROG Maximus Z690 Apex TEST KIT Intel LGA1200 MSI MEG Z490 Ace Fractal Design Meshify C case, 16GB of Corsair Vengeance RGB AMD AM4 APU MSI MPG Gaming B550 Carbon WiFi Pro memory, 256GB Samsung 960 Evo SSD, Corsair CM550 PSU. AMD AM4 MSI MEG X570 Unify INTEL LGA1700 Common gear includes a 2TB Samsung 970 Evo SSD and IntelCorei9-12900Katstockspeed,AsusROG MaximusZ690 Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 FE graphics card. For LGA1700 CPUs, Apex motherboard. we use 32GB (2 x 16GB) of Kingston Fury 5200MHz DDR5 RAM and a Thermaltake Toughliquid Ultra 360 CPU cooler. For INTEL LGA1200 other systems, we use 16GB (2 x 8GB) of Corsair Vengeance IntelCorei9-11900KatstockspeedwithAdaptive Boost RGB Pro 3466MHz RAM and a Corsair Hydro-X water-cooling enabled, MSIMEGZ590 Acemotherboard. loop, with two XR5 240mm radiators, an XD3 RGB reservoir and an XC7 RGB waterblock. AMD AM4 Ryzen 7 5800X overclocked to 4.6GHz with 1.25V vcore, or We use the latest version of Windows 11 with security Ryzen 5 5600X overclocked to 4.6GHz with 1.25V vcore on low- updates, plus the latest BIOS versions and drivers. We record profilecoolers,MSI MEG X570 Unify motherboard. results at stock and overclocked speeds, and tests include our RealBench suite, Cinebench, Far Cry 6 and Dirt 5. For games, we record the 99th percentile and average frame rates either using the game’s built-in benchmark or Nvidia FrameView. Finally, we note the idle and load power draw of the whole system, using Prime95’s smallfft test with AVX disabled. 34

GRAPHICS CARDS ustomPc AWARDS We mainly evaluate graphics REME UL TRA EXTREME ULTRA cards on the performance they C offer for the price. However, we ustomP Some products are gloriously over the top. They also consider the efficacy and EXT don’t always offer amazing value, but they’re noise of the cooler, as well as the MIUM GR outstanding if you have money to spend. GPU’s support for new gaming features, such as ray tracing. c Every graphics card is tested in the same PC, so the results are ustomP PREMIUM GRADE directly comparable. Each test is run three times, and we report AD E the average of those results. We test at 1,920 x 1,080, 2,560 x FESSIO C Premium Grade products are utterly desirable, 1,440 and 3,840 x 2,160, using an AOC U28G2XU monitor. offering a superb balance of performance and ustomPPRE features without an over-the-top price. TEST KIT AMDRyzen95900X,16GB(2 x8GB)ofCorsairVengeance cPPROVE PROFESSIONAL RGB Pro SL 3600MHz DDR4 memory, Asus ROG Strix B550-E Gaming motherboard, Thermaltake Floe Riing 240 CPU cooler, NALustomPThese products might not be appropriate for a Corsair RM850 PSU, Cooler Master MasterCase H500M case, C gaming rig, but they’ll do an ace job at AOC U28G2XU monitor, Windows 10 Professional 64-bit. STOM K workstation tasks. PRO GAME TESTS APPROVED Cyberpunk 2077 Tested at the Ultra quality preset and Medium c ray tracing preset if the GPU supports it. We run a custom Approved products do a great job for the benchmark involving a 60-minute repeatable drive around Night D money; they’re the canny purchase for a City, and record the 99th percentile and average frame rates C great PC setup. from Nvidia FrameView. A CUSTOM KIT Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Tested at Ultra High settings with resolution scaling set to 100 per cent. We run the game’s built-in c For those gadgets and gizmos that really benchmark, and record the 99th percentile and average frame impress us, or that we can’t live without, rates with Nvidia FrameView. IT there’s the Custom Kit award. C Doom Eternal Tested at Ultra Nightmare settings, with resolution scaling disabled. We run a custom benchmark in the opening CU level of the campaign, and record the 99th percentile and average frame rates with Nvidia FrameView. This test requires a CUSTOM PC REALBENCH minimum of 8GB of graphics card memory to run, so it can’t be run on 6GB cards. Our own benchmark suite, co-developed with Asus, is designed to gauge a PC’s performance in several key areas, Metro Exodus Tested at Ultra settings with no ray tracing and using open source software. both Advanced PhysX and HairWorks disabled. We then test it again with High ray tracing if the GPU supports it. We run the GIMP IMAGE EDITING game’s built-in benchmark, and report the 99th percentile and We use GIMP to open and edit large images, heavily stressing average frame rates. one CPU core to gauge single-threaded performance. This test responds well to increases in CPU clock speed. POWER CONSUMPTION We run Metro Exodus at HANDBRAKE H.264 VIDEO ENCODING Ultra settings with High Our heavily multi-threaded Handbrake H.264 video encoding ray tracing at 2,560 x test takes full advantage of many CPU cores, pushing them to 1,440, and measure the 100 per cent load. power consumption of our whole graphics test rig at the LUXMARK OPENCL mains, recording the peak This LuxRender-based test shows a GPU’s compute power draw. performance. As this is a niche area, the result from this test has just a quarter of the weighting of the other tests in the final system score. HEAVY MULTI TASKING This test plays a full-screen 1080p video, while running a Handbrake H.264 video encode in the background. 35

LABS TEST / MINI ITX MOTHERBOARDS LABS TEST Little mix Antony Leather tests ten of the latest mini-ITX motherboards, for both Intel and AMD platforms, to find the best options for building a mini PC How we test T his month we’re taking a look at ten mini-ITX boards, installation to test the speed of M.2 ports, rather than an empty SSD, catering for current Intel and AMD CPUs at a range of so all the results are comparable. budgets. We have boards based on Intel’s B660 and Z690 chipsets for Intel’s 12th-gen CPUs, as well as ones that use AMD’s We use the latest motherboard BIOS versions, plus Windows B550 and X570 chipsets, which are compatible with AMD’s Zen 3 and driver updates. All the motherboards are tested on a Barrow Ryzen 5000-series CPUs. Rhopilema test bench with full custom water-cooling systems, We’ve tweaked out test gear this month to focus on using powerful including two 240mm radiators and a Laing DDC pump to eliminate CPUs at stock speed, rather than overclocking them. We’re using any cooling bottlenecks. Intel’s Core i7-12700K and AMD’s Ryzen 9 5900X, which don’t yield significant performance benefits with manual overclocking, and doing We’ll be looking at VRM and M.2 temperatures, as well as it increases CPU heat and causes VRMs to run much hotter too. Both motherboard layouts, features and performance. To test M.2 heatsink of these hot spots are a bad idea in a mini-ITX system, which is why performance, we run back-to-back runs of CrystalDiskMark’s entire we’ve instead focused on stock speed results. battery of tests to record the peak M.2 temperature. We also use Apart from the two CPUs, our test kit includes an Nvidia RTX 3070 RightMark’s Audio Analyzer software to measure the dynamic range, Founders Edition graphics card, and 16GB of 3466MHz Corsair noise level and total harmonic distortion of the on-board audio. Other Vengeance RGB Pro RAM, or 32GB of Corsair 5200MHz Dominator tests include our RealBench suite of performance benchmarks, Far Platinum DDR5 memory for DDR5-enabled motherboards. Cry 6, Cinebench R23’s single and multi-threaded tests and total As some of the motherboards in this month's Labs test only have system power consumption measured at the wall. one M.2 slot, we’ve used a WD Black SN850 SSD with a Windows 11 Finally, our scores are based on a weighted calculation, including performance, features and value, with the overall score being the sum of those three values. Contents ASRockB550PhantomGaming-ITX/ax /p37 MSI MPG B550I Gaming Edge MAX WiFi /p44 ASRockX570 Phantom Gaming-ITX TB3 /p38 Asus ROG Strix Z690-I Gaming WiFi /p45 Asus ROG Strix B550-I Gaming /p39 Gigabyte B660I Aorus Pro DDR4 /p46 Asus ROG Strix X570-I Gaming/p40 Gigabyte Z690I Aorus Ultra Plus /p47 Gigabyte B550I Aorus Pro AX /p41 Results graphs /p48 Gigabyte X570-I Aorus Pro WiFi /p42 36

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

LABS TEST / MINI ITX MOTHERBOARDS AMD X570 MOTHERBOARD ASROCK X570 PHANTOM GAMING ITX/TB3/£250incVAT SUPPLIER overclockers.co.uk A vailablesincethelaunchofAMD’s SSD’s temperature rocketto was decent across the board, and theASRock Zen2CPUs,theASRock X570 nearly 80°C in under a minute, handled our Ryzen95900X well. Its standout Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 is quite sowe suggest addinga third- result was the audio, though, with its Realtek old inthe grand scheme oftheSocket AM4 party heatsink or opting for a ALC1220codecoffering anoiselevel of timeline, and it’s painfully obvious that this cooler-running PCI-E3model. -109dBAanddynamicrangeof 109dBA. motherboardhasn’t aged welleither. Compared withtheAsusROG StrixX570-I The CPU socket areas is Conclusion Gaming,it’slackinginanumberof features. For alsounusual, as ASRockopted a high-endboard that costs £250, itonly has to have Intel mounting holes Whileitmightlookdashingand different,the one M.2port,forexample,andit’sonly rather thanSocketAM4ones, ASRockX570 PhantomGaming-ITX/TB3 equipped with four USB ports too. in order toaccommodate isleftwantinginanumberof areas,whichis Admittedly, theX570 PhantomGaming- the10-phase power delivery a shame,asitssmart design, Thunderbolt ITX/TB3istheonly B550orX570mini-ITX system.This at least means supportandgood audio qualityarethemakings motherboardontest tofeature Thunderbolt that AIOliquid cooler of a decentmotherboard.Sadly, with just one support, soit’s likely ASRock assumed you’d compatibilityis reasonable,even if ARCTIC’s M.2port,atinyamount ofUSB Type-A ports be using fancy hubs andother Thunderbolt Liquid Freezer II pump still can’t fit. andpooraircoolercompatibility, thereare peripherals instead of USB ports. The early plentyofbetter optionsthismonth, with both X570 boards that came on the market, However, thetoweringVRMandchipset theAsusROG StrixB550-IGamingandMSI including thisone,alsolacked featureswe take heatsinks mean thatclearancefor low-profile MPGB550IGamingEdgeWiFi offeringbetter for grantednow, such asType-C headers, so air coolers is abysmal. In addition, the noise packagesforless money. you’re outofluckif your case has aUSB Type-C fromthechipset heatsinkfancanbecomequite port on its frontpanel. audible and,unliketheAsusROG StrixX570-I VERDICT There’s no M.2 heatsink either, with the single Gaming, there’snomonoblockavailable A typically outlandish ASRock design M.2portlocatedontherearof thePCBinstead. for it that removesthe fan. The VRMs were with a unique layout, but there are too As such, it wasn’t surprising to see ourPCI-E 4 relatively coolat56°C, but theAsus boardwas many shortcomings. noticeably cooler. SPEC The ASRock’s fan also spun up noticeably Chipset AMD X570 under high loads,althoughingames andless demanding tasks,itdidn’treallymake much CPU socket AMD Socket AM4 noise.Foryour owncasefans,there arethree 4-pin headers, which is typical of most mini-ITX Memory support 2 slots: max 64GB DDR4 (up to boards. There’s also RGB lighting arranged in 4533MHz) a stripontheundersideofthePCI-Eslot,plus 3-pin and4-pin RGB headerstoo. Expansion slots One 16x PCI-E 4 Meanwhile, ASRock’s EFI and software Sound 8-channel Realtek ALC1220 are very basic,but combined theydoallow you totakecontrolof yourfansand carryout Networking 1 x Intel Gigabit LAN, Intel 802.11ax overclocking relatively easily. Performance Wi-Fi THUNDERBOLT VERY VERY PERFORMANCE FEATURES OVERALL SCORE Cooling Three 4-pin fan headers, VRM heatsink, AND LIGHTNING FRIGHTENING VRM fan, M.2 heatsink 28/35 17/35 64% + Thunderbolt support - Only one M.2 port Ports 4 x SATA 6Gbps, 1 x M.2 PCI-E 4, 2 x USB VALUE 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Thunderbolt + Smart design - Only four rear Type-A 3/Type-C, 2 x USB 3, DisplayPort, HDMI, 3 x 19/30 surround audio out + Reasonable AIO liquid USB ports cooler compatibility Dimensions (mm) 170 x 170 - No modern EFI fan control suite 38

AMD B550 MOTHERBOARD customP ASUS ROG STRIX B550 I DPPROVE GAMING/£180 incVAT C SUPPLIER cclonline.com A W ith a £20 price reduction since we from the ROG Strix of 106dBA being second only to the ASRock first reviewed it a while ago, the Asus X570-I Gaming. X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX TB3 and Asus ROG Strix B550-I Gaming is now ROG Strix X570-I Gaming. even more attractive, especially as it’s now One feature £120 cheaper than its X570 sibling too. This that’s sadly lacking Conclusion board give you an 8+2 power phase design on that board is a and the same aesthetics as the Asus ROG Type-C header With the B550 chipset being released a Strix X570-I Gaming, but there’s no snazzy on the PCB, while after X570, the Asus ROG Strix B550-I RGB lighting and there’s only one fan rather which weren’t Gaming has the edge in some areas over the than two helping to cool the VRMs. included with pricier Asus ROG Strix X570-I Gaming. It has many X570 a USB Type-C header, which is common in There’s a pair of M.2 ports as well, but only motherboards. cases these days, and an improved layout with the top one supports PCI-E 4, with a second Thankfully, you its SATA ports all on the edges of the PCB. Its PCI-E 3 connector located on the underside of get one here, but VRM fan was quieter too, but best of all is that the PCB. The M.2 temperature with our PCI-E it only supports it costs £120 less. If you’re on a tight budget, 4 SSD was just 54°C under load, which was USB 3, and isn’t a this is the mini AM4 board to buy, but it’s worth the second lowest on test, although the VRM high-speed option, saving for the Asus ROG Strix X570-I Gaming, temperature was measured at 57°C with our unlike the full-fat USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C as it has more USB ports, cooling-running IR probe; while well away from any throttling port on the rear I/O panel. The USB Type-A components and attractive RGB lighting. issues, this was 10°C warmer than the result port count is pitiful too, though, at just four, which will mean plenty of owners heading to AGED GRACEFULLY FOSSILISED Amazon to look for USB hubs. + Great VRM and - Only four USB ports On the plus side, this board uses the Realtek M.2 cooling ALC S1220A codec, which offers decent - Only three fan headers performance and you also get 802.11ax + Reasonable price Wi-Fi and 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet, with the latter + Excellent EFI - No on-board trumping the standard Gigabit networking on the pricier Asus board too. RGB lighting It also has a rare feature in the form of a SPEC thermal probe input, which allows you to set VERDICT the input temperature for fan speed control to A decent B550 board for a good price, Chipset AMD B550 your thermal probe’s reading in the EFI, or in although it’s now showing its age a little. Asus’ software. CPU socket AMD Socket AM4 PERFORMANCE FEATURES OVERALL SCORE This is particularly useful if you use a coolant Memory support 2 slots: max 64GB DDR4 (up to probe and control your radiator fans using 32/35 28/35 89% 5100MHz) the coolant temperature rather than the CPU temperature, which helps to cut noise VALUE Expansion slots One 16x PCI-E 4 levels. This feature has been removed form Asus’ Z690 offering this month too. You get 29/30 Sound 8-channel SupremeFX S1220A the usual four SATA 6Gbps ports as well, but sadly only a run-of-the-mill total of three Networking 1 x Intel 2.5 Gigabit LAN, Intel fan headers. 802.11ax Wi-Fi Performance in games and content creation Cooling Three 4-pin fan headers, VRM heatsink, was on par with the rest of the field, but the VRM fan, M.2 heatsink audio performance was a cut above, with the noise level of -105dBA and dynamic range Ports 4 x SATA 6Gbps, 1 x M.2 PCI-E 4, 1 x M.2 PCI-E 3, 3 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-A, 1 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C, 1 x USB 2, 1 x USB 3 Type-C header, DisplayPort, HDMI, 2 x surround audio out Dimensions (mm) 170 x 170 39

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

AMD B550 MOTHERBOARD GIGABYTE B550I AORUS PRO AX/£167incVAT SUPPLIER scan.co.uk T he Gigabyte B550I Aorus Pro AX ground too, with just five of SPEC costs around £30 less than it did at them, but there are boards launch, but can it now offer the allure with fewer this month so we Chipset AMD B550 of the more expensive boards on test, or has can’t be too harsh. Gigabyte cut too many features from the list? CPU socket AMD Socket AM4 Let’s start with the M.2 heatsink, which is a vast Arguably, the best feature improvement on the non-contact design of of this board is the wide- Memory support 2 slots: max 64GB DDR4 (up to Gigabyte’s X570 board (see p42), but the large open CPU socket area. Unlike Gigabyte’s B660 4800MHz) top heatsink doesn’t actually make contact offering this month, there’s no heatsink at the with the SSD. Instead, there’s a smaller top, and every cooler we tested fitted fine, Expansion slots One 16x PCI-E 4 heatsink beneath it. including ARCTIC’s Liquid Freezer II with its Quite why Gigabyte separated the two is huge mounting plates. As you’d expect from Sound 8-channel Realtek ALC1220 beyond us, as its Z690 board (see p47) has just a B550 motherboard, you get 802.11ax Wi-Fi has one big slab that offers excellent cooling and 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet as well as Realtek ALC Networking 1 x Intel 2.5 Gigabit LAN, Intel via your case’s airflow. Still, the peak M.2 SSD 1220 audio. There’s the full complement of four 802.11ax Wi-Fi temperature of 58°C was decent. The VRMs SATA 6Gbps ports too, as well as HDMI and were also kept chilly. With an 8-phase power DisplayPort outputs should you want to use an Cooling Three 4-pin fan headers, VRM heatsink, delivery, they were kept at a peak of 51°C, which APU with on-board graphics. M.2 heatsink was the second coolest result on test. Meanwhile, a handy feature is Q-Flash The Gigabyte has three fan headers, albeit Plus, which is Gigabyte’s answer to USB BIOS Ports 4 x SATA 6Gbps, 1 x M.2 PCI-E 4, 1 x M.3 with one being a tiny proprietary port that Flashback, allowing you to update the EFI PCI-E 3, 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, 1 x USB 3.2 Gen requires an included adaptor to connect to a without having a compatible CPU. This could be 2 Type-C, 4 x USB 3, 2 x HDMI, DisplayPort, 3 x fan. Gigabyte’s fan control section in the EFI and useful if you end up with a second-hand model surround audio out it’s software are excellent too, with plenty of that has an old BIOS, and you have a shiny new adjustments available, although the software Ryzen 7 5800X3D it doesn’t support. Dimensions (mm) 170 x 170 is a bit clunky for overclocking and other tasks. Audio performance was good, with a Sadly, there’s no USB Type-C header on noise level of -103dBA and dynamic range Conclusion the motherboard, which is a shame given that of 103dBA. There wasn’t much difference in all the other B550 boards on test this month the performance results between all these Even though the Gigabyte X570-I Aorus Pro include one. boards in our benchmarks, but the Gigabyte WiFi is cheaper, we’d still take the B550I Aorus The rear I/O panel at least offers a USB 3.2 did managed to top the charts in Cinebench Pro AX over it. It offers better VRM and M.2 Gen 2 Type-C port, but it’s a shame the board and Far Cry 6, and it’s on par with the rest of cooling as well as faster networking and more can’t cater for cases that have full Type-C the field. fan headers too. In this price range, it’s a toss- support. Type-A ports are a bit thin on the up between Gigabyte, Asus and MSI’s B550 motherboards, depending on your priorities, and this is a great board if you have a really limited budget. CHILLED OUT HOT TEMPERED VERDICT A solid B550 mini-ITX motherboard that + Good VRM and - Heatsink design doesn’t shed too many features for the price. M.2 cooling could be better PERFORMANCE FEATURES OVERALL SCORE + Good software and EFI-based fan control - Could do with more 32/35 26/35 86% + Spacious CPU socket USB ports VALUE - No USB 28/30 Type-C header 41

LABS TEST / MINI ITX MOTHERBOARDS AMD X570 MOTHERBOARD GIGABYTE X570 I AORUS PRO WIFI/£140 incVAT SUPPLIER cclonline.com W hen you spot an X570 motherboard also shaved a few and audio ports for the Realtek ALC1220 retailing for significantly less degrees off the VRM audio. However, the Ethernet connection money than its B550 counterpart, temperature. While is only Gigabit rather than 2.5 Gigabit. The you know something isn’t quite right and our this board can handle audio performance was good, though, with initial misgivings about the Gigabyte X570-I high-end CPUs, you’ll a dynamic range of 103dBA and noise level of Aorus Pro WiFi have been proved correct – need to rein in your -103dBA, and benchmark results elsewhere this is a board that hasn’t stood the test of SSD’s spec and avoid were on par with the competition as well. time particularly well. Its design is in stark any high-speed PCI-E contrast to that of Gigabyte’s own excellent 4 drives that are likely Conclusion Z690 motherboard on test this month too, to get too toasty in the and even Gigabyte’s own B550I Aorus Pro tight confines of a mini- If you can manage with just two fan headers, AX. Still, at £140, it could be a bit of a bargain, ITX chassis. five USB ports, poor SSD cooling and a lack of especially with the inclusion of AMD’s top- a Type-C header, the Gigabyte X570-I Aorus end X570 chipset. Despite having some Pro WiFi might be for you if you’re looking of the best fan control software we’ve seen, to save some money. The Gigabyte B550I Our main issue with this board the first as well as an excellent EFI fan control suite, Aorus Pro AX is better for a little more money, time we reviewed it was the lack of a heatsink Gigabyte also seems to have forgotten while the Asus ROG Strix X570-I Gaming making contact with an SSD in the top M.2 that you actually need to have fan headers represents the best that the X570 chipset can slot. There’s a small fan above it blowing to power your fans too. This board has just provide in a mini-ITX form factor, albeit for onto the chipset heatsink below, but this two of them, which is going to mean buying double the price. simply isn’t doesn’t have enough power to splitter cables if you have to contend with effectively cool a hot-running SSD. more than two fans. VERDICT A temptingly cheap price for an X570 board, Our PCI-E 4 test SSD quickly topped 70°C The number of Type-A USB ports is also but there’s a long list of shortcomings. in our stress test in this board, for example, low compared with the competition, with five compared to a peak of just 58°C with the instead of the usual seven, although at least Gigabyte B550I Aorus Pro AX, which all the ports on this board are either USB 3 or USB 3.2 Gen 2. Thankfully, the clearance SPEC around the CPU socket area is excellent, as you only need to contend with the M.2 and Chipset AMD X570 I/O shroud heatsinks here. CPU socket AMD Socket AM4 As with most X570 boards, there’s no Type-C header on this board, but there is Memory support 2 slots: max 64GB DDR4 (up to a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port on the rear 4400MHz) I/O panel. This panel is mostly similar to the one on the B550 model, with 802.11ax Expansion slots One 16x PCI-E 4 Wi-Fi antennae connectors, video outputs Sound 8-channel Realtek ALC1220-VB COMPETITIVELY SUSPICIOUSLY PERFORMANCE FEATURES OVERALL SCORE PRICED CHEAP Networking 1 x Intel Gigabit LAN, Intel 802.11ac 29/35 21/35 77% Wi-Fi + Spacious CPU - Only two fan headers socket area VALUE Cooling Two 4-pin fan headers, VRM heatsink, - M.2 cooling not M.2 fan + Good EFI and software 27/30 + Decent audio particularly effective Ports 4 x SATA 6Gbps, 2 x M.2 PCI-E 4, 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, 4 x USB performance - Only five Type-A 3, 2 x HDMI, 1 x DisplayPort, 2 x surround audio out USB ports Dimensions (mm) 170 x 170 42

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LABS TEST / MINI ITX MOTHERBOARDS AMD B550 MOTHERBOARD MSI MPG B550I GAMING EDGE MAX WIFI/£190incVAT SUPPLIER ebuyer.com W hen it comes to mini-ITX Gaming Edge MAX want to add some RGB pizzazz, make sure motherboards, MSI is often late to WiFi now includes a you get the right gear. the party, if it even turns up at all. clear-CMOS button We’re still waiting for its Z690 offering, which on the I/O panel, so if Finally, benchmark results were solid is set to arrive in the next month or so, but it you do get stuck after across the board. Even the audio results of missed the X570 party altogether. Instead, we some overclocking, you -103dBA noise level and 103dBA dynamic had to make do with the MPG B550I Gaming won’t have a mission on range were slap bang in the middle of the Edge WiFi, and now the new version, which your hands. results this month. has the word ‘MAX’ in its title. Unlike a number Conclusion However, the only differences between of recent mini-ITX these two boards appear to be that the motherboards, the As an entry level mini-ITX board that covers newer one ships with a later BIOS version to PCB on display here all the essentials, the MSI MPG B550I Gaming support the latest CPUs, while fixing a glaring is spacious, with no Edge MAX WiFi is a good choice. It could do issue with the original, which was a hidden VRM heatsink at the with some more USB ports, but it also offers clear-CMOS header. This was bizarrely top of the board and a a couple of extras over the cheaper Gigabyte located under the I/O shroud and required low-riding M.2 heatsink B550I Aorus Pro AX. It can’t quite beat the you to remove the motherboard from the at the other end. The Asus ROG Strix B550-I Gaming in this price case to access it. Conversely, the MPG B550I heatsink has a fan embedded inside, but bracket, but there’s not much in it. unlike some boards, you can control its speed MAX VECNA in the EFI (it otherwise responds to chipset temperature). We found it only spun up under + Good M.2 and - Type-C header is extended heavy loads, but seeing as the peak VRM cooling temperature was already 62°C, we suggest only USB 3 either leaving it alone or setting a constant + USB Type-C header speed, so there’s at least some airflow. + Speed-adjustable - Average number There’s a second M.2 port on the underside chipset fan of USB ports of the PCB too, although it only offers PCI-E 4 support. Similarly, we were pleased to see - No 4-pin RGB headers a USB Type-C header on the PCB, although it’s only USB 3 rather than USB 3.2 Gen 2. The SPEC latter is reserved for a lone Type-C port on VERDICT the rear, which is accompanied by a mediocre A balanced motherboard with nearly all you Chipset AMD B550 total of five Type-A ports. Every other feature need to build an affordable mini Ryzen rig. is present and correct, though, including 2.5 CPU socket AMD Socket AM4 Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11ax Wi-Fi and Realtek PERFORMANCE FEATURES OVERALL SCORE ALC1200 audio, along with the usual count of Memory support 2 slots: max 64GB DDR4 (up to three 4-pin fan headers. 32/35 28/35 88% 4600MHz) Meanwhile, the power delivery comes from VALUE Expansion slots One 16x PCI-E 4 eight phases and is cooled by a large topside heatsink and smaller metal plate on the 28/30 Sound 8-channel Realtek ALC1200 underside. This did a decent job of cooling the VRMs, which peaked at 54°C, so there’s plenty Networking 1 x Intel 2.5 Gigabit LAN, Intel of headroom here. There’s no RGB lighting as 802.11ax Wi-Fi standard, but you do get a 3-pin RGB header. There’s no 4-pin header, though, so if you Cooling Three 4-pin fan headers, VRM heatsink, M.2 heatsink, M.2 fan Ports 4 x SATA 6Gbps, 1 x M.2 PCI-E 4, 1 x M.2 PCI-E 3, 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, 1 x USB 3 Type-C header, 2 x USB 3, 2 x USB 2, HDMI, 3 x surround audio out Dimensions (mm) 170 x 170 44

ustomP c TRA C INTEL Z690 MOTHERBOARD EXT ASUS ROG STRIX Z690 I REME UL GAMING WIFI/£373incVAT SUPPLIER scan.co.uk O ur initial review of the Asus ROG Strix heatsink, along with a SPEC Z690-I Gaming WiFi was glowing, second heatsink at the top as it sported a mighty feature set linked by a heatpipe. With a Chipset AMD X570 and an imposing PCB crammed with even VRM temperature of 51°C more goodies than previous generations. after dealing with our Core CPU socket AMD Socket AM4 However, it still won’t leave you with much i7-12700K at full load for ten change from £400, so can it still justify that minutes, it was the coolest Memory support 2 slots: max 64GB DDR4 (up to price in the face of cheaper competition? Intel board on test, so it will 4400MHz) Its triple-stacked array of M.2 ports and have no issues dealing with audio circuitry is built into a heatsink system a Core i9-12900K either. Expansion slots One 16x PCI-E 4 that passively cools both of its PCI-E 4 M.2 Move around the back and, you’ll find a rear ports, with our PCI-E 4 SSD maxing out at I/O panel with a reasonable count of seven Sound 8-channel Realtek ALC1220-VB 54°C, and this idea has been copied to some Type-A USB ports, two of which are USB 3.2 extent by Gigabyte with its Z690I Aorus Ultra Gen 2. There’s also a clear-CMOS button, 2.5 Networking 1 x Intel Gigabit LAN, Intel 802.11ac Plus. The Gigabyte board trumps the Asus in Gigabit Ethernet port and aerial mounts for Wi-Fi a couple areas too, with more fan headers and the 802.11ax Wi-Fi. Audio is provided by Asus’ on-board RGB lighting, plus both boards offer Supreme FX 7.1 system which is based on Cooling Two 4-pin fan headers, VRM heatsink, USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C ports and headers. Realtek’s ALC4080 codec, and the board’s M.2 fan The Asus board is the only one to offer full three minijacks cater for line-out, microphone Thunderbolt 4 support, though, and with a and line-in functions. Ports 4 x SATA 6Gbps, 2 x M.2 PCI-E 4, 1 x USB 3.2 pair of ports on the back too. This does push You may have spotted a vertical PCB in the Gen 2 Type-A, 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, 4 x USB up the price tag, but it enables you to add photo too. This is where Asus has located 3, 2 x HDMI, 1 x DisplayPort, 2 x surround audio out Thunderbolt devices such as hubs and 10 the four SATA 6Gbps ports, along with RGB Gigabit network controllers. headers and even the front panel connectors. Dimensions (mm) 170 x 170 Meanwhile, the 11-phase power circuitry If you want to remove it, there’s a second is cooled by a large fan-assisted I/O shroud power button header on the PCB. Sadly, Liquid II cooler was unable to fit, and using though, the extra paraphernalia has resulted NZXT’s hefty Kraken Z53 required us to use in Asus ditching the thermal probe header, low-profile memory too. However, smaller which was useful for controlling fan speeds cooler blocks from Corsair and EK fitted fine. according to coolant temperature in custom water-cooling loops. Conclusion The Realtek ALC4080-based audio performed excellently, with a dynamic It might be pricey, but if money is no object range of 118dBA and noise level of -118dBA, and you must have the best Z690 mini-ITX alleviating your inability to add a discrete PCI-E board you can buy, the Asus ROG Strix Z690-I sound card. Its audio was better than the Gaming WiFi ticks nearly every box ,and its Gigabyte Z690I Aorus Ultra Plus too, and the added premium features ultimately justify its Asus topped all of the Intel benchmark charts high price. apart from Cinebench, albeit by small margins. Adding coolers to the board can prove VERDICT a challenge, though, as the CPU socket is One or two small niggles, but this is ultimately cramped. This meant out ARCTIC Freezer a fantastic mini Z690 motherboard. ROG RAG PERFORMANCE FEATURES OVERALL SCORE + Attractive design - No thermal 33/35 34/35 88% + Excellent M.2 and probe input VALUE VRM cooling - Cramped PCB 21/30 + Innovative layout - Expensive 45

LABS TEST / MINI ITX MOTHERBOARDS INTEL B660 MOTHERBOARD ustomPc GIGABYTE B660I AORUS PPROVE D PRO DDR4/£200 incVAT C SUPPLIER scan.co.uk A O verclocking Intel’s 12th-gen CPUs boards this month, it also on the ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II 240 RGB, so doesn’t always yield decent gains, includes a generous you’ll need to opt for a cooler with a smaller particularly at the high end, so if you count of seven Type-A mounting mechanism, such as the EK’s ALC plan on running one at stock speed, you don’t USB boards and a USB AIO liquid coolers. need to fork out for a Z690 motherboard. The 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port on Gigabyte B660I Aorus Pro DDR4 costs the I/O panel. However, Conclusion significantly less than its Z690 siblings, and it you don’t get a full-fat uses DDR4 memory, cutting down the price Type-C header – the one The Gigabyte B660I Aorus Pro DDR4 offers of building a total system compared with on this board only offers a reasonable feature set, and includes ample using DDR5. USB 3 credentials, rather cooling for your M.2 SSD and VRMs. It’s more It’s also equipped with a decent array of than the higher speed and than up to the task of dealing with a high-end features despite its price. There’s a large power of USB 3.2 Gen 2 or CPU, even under extended loads. A second M.2 heatsink, which kept our PCI-E 4 SSD to Gen 2x2. M.2 port, USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C header and a peak temperature of 60°C and well away a more spacious CPU socket would be the from throttling. The heatsink is attached via Another shortcoming icing on the cake, and we’d like to see better a heatpipe to a large aluminium I/O heatsink is the lack of M.2 ports. There's a single PCI-E integrated audio too. shroud and a further heatsink at the top of 4 M.2 port, but you’ll need to reach for SATA the board too. The VRM temperature was still devices and the included four SATA 6Gbps However, if you’re on a tight budget, it’s still a little toasty, though, with our ten-minute ports for more storage capacity. Thankfully, a solid base for a 12th-gen Intel mini-ITX PC if load test seeing our Core i7-12700K drive the networking is solid, with 802.11ax Wi-Fi you don’t plan to overclock your CPU. temperature to 67°C. and Intel 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet supported. There’s a standard total of three 4-pin fan VERDICT headers too, two of which require the use Performance was mostly on par with A couple of niggles, but this is still a good of adaptors included in the box, as Gigabyte the other boards on test, but the Realtek choice if you want a solid sub-£200 mini-ITX has miniaturised them on the PCB to save ALC897 audio was a little below the standard board for Intel’s 12th-gen CPUs. space. Impressively for one of the cheaper presented by the other two Intel boards, with a dynamic range of 95dBA vs 100dBA SPEC and 118dBA for the more expensive boards. The video encoding and Cinebench multi- Chipset Intel B660 threaded results were a tad lower too, but not by a concerning margin. CPU socket Intel LGA1700 However, the board’s layout did pose some Memory support 2 slots: max 64GB DDR4 (up to issues from a cooling point of view, mainly 5333MHz) due to the close proximity of the M.2 heatsink and top VRM heatsink to the CPU socket. The Expansion slots One 16x PCI-E 4 area was too small to accommodate large AIO liquid cooler pump sections, such as that Sound 8-channel Realtek ALC897 BUSY CROWDED PERFORMANCE FEATURES OVERALL SCORE Networking 1 x Intel 2.5 Gigabit LAN, 802.11ax Wi-Fi + Attractive design - Only one M.2 port 29/35 22/35 80% + Effective M.2 and Cooling Three 4-pin fan headers, VRM heatsinks - Cramped CPU VALUE VRM cooling Ports 4 x SATA 6Gbps, 1 x M.2 PCI-E 4, 2 x USB 3.2 socket area 29/30 Gen 2 Type-A, 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, 3 x USB + Decent number of 3, 2 x USB 2. 1 x USB 3 Type-C header, DisplayPort, USB ports - Type-C header HDMI, 3 x surround audio out + Reasonable price is only USB 3 Dimensions (mm) 170 x 170 46

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

LABS TEST / MINI ITX MOTHERBOARDS MINI ITX MOTHERBOARDS BENCHMARK RESULTS AMD SOCKET AM4 GIMP IMAGE EDITING M.2 SPEED MB/SEC CrystalDiskMark, sequential 32-queue depth Asus ROG Strix X570-I Gaming 69,227 ASRock B550 Phantom Gaming-ITX/ax 5,359 7,005 ASRock B550 Phantom Gaming-ITX/ax 68,898 Asus ROG Strix X570-I Gaming 5,322 68,666 Gigabyte X570-I Aorus Pro WiFi 5,390 6,994 Gigabyte B550I Aorus Pro AX 68,651 5,371 ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX TB3 68,559 ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX TB3 5,319 6,994 68,139 Asus ROG Strix B550-I Gaming 5,341 Asus ROG Strix B550-I Gaming 67,449 Gigabyte B550I Aorus Pro AX 5,366 6,992 Gigabyte X570-I Aorus Pro WiFi MSI MPG B550I Gaming Edge MAX WiFi 60,000 80,000 MSI MPG B550I Gaming Edge MAX WiFi 6,979 0 0 6,925 20,000 40,000 100,000 6,925 2,000 4,000 6,000 7,000 8,000 Write HANDBRAKE H.264 VIDEO ENCODING Read Gigabyte X570-I Aorus Pro WiFi 990,416 FAR CRY 6 FPS Asus ROG Strix B550-I Gaming 984,721 MSI MPG B550I Gaming Edge MAX WiFi 973,684 1,920 x 1,080, Ultra settings 971,160 Gigabyte B550I Aorus Pro AX 200,000 400,000 600,000 971,002 ASRock B550 Phantom Gaming-ITX/ax 93fps 128fps Asus ROG Strix X570-I Gaming 970,845 Gigabyte B550I Aorus Pro AX 96fps 127fps ASRock B550 Phantom Gaming-ITX/ax 970,688 94fps 127fps ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX TB3 ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX TB3 93fps 127fps 800,000 1,000,000 Asus ROG Strix B550-I Gaming 127fps 0 92fps 126fps MSI MPG B550I Gaming Edge MAX WiFi 95fps 126fps HEAVY MULTI TASKING Gigabyte X570-I Aorus Pro WiFi 93fps 120 Asus ROG Strix X570-I Gaming ASRock B550 Phantom Gaming-ITX/ax 369,642 0 40 80 100 140 Asus ROG Strix X570-I Gaming 360,406 359,889 99th percentile Average ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX TB3 352,546 Gigabyte X570-I Aorus Pro WiFi 351,710 AUDIO NOISE LEVEL DBA Asus ROG Strix B550-I Gaming 351,596 349,086 RightMark Audio Analyzer 24-bit, 192kHz MSI MPG B550I Gaming Edge MAX WiFi 200,000 300,000 400,000 500,000 Gigabyte B550I Aorus Pro AX 100,000 ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX TB3 -108.6 0 Asus ROG Strix X570-I Gaming -106 Asus ROG Strix B550-I Gaming -105 SYSTEM SCORE 360,237 -50 -103 -150 -200 -250 359,808 MSI MPG B550I Gaming Edge MAX WiFi Lower is better Gigabyte X570-I Aorus Pro WiFi 358,709 Gigabyte X570-I Aorus Pro WiFi -102.5 ASRock B550 Phantom Gaming-ITX/ax 357,621 Gigabyte B550I Aorus Pro AX -102 357,269 Asus ROG Strix B550-I Gaming 355,644 ASRock B550 Phantom Gaming-ITX/ax -101.3 Asus ROG Strix X570-I Gaming 354,690 -100 MSI MPG B550I Gaming Edge MAX WiFi 200,000 300,000 400,000 500,000 0 MSI MPG B550I Gaming Edge MAX WiFi AUDIO DYNAMIC RANGE DBA Gigabyte B550I Aorus Pro AX 0 RightMark Audio Analyzer 24-bit, 192kHz 100,000 ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX TB3 108.6 Asus ROG Strix X570-I Gaming 107 CINEBENCH R23 MULTI THREADED Asus ROG Strix B550-I Gaming 106 Asus ROG Strix X570-I Gaming 22,901 MSI MPG B550I Gaming Edge MAX WiFi 50 103.4 150 200 250 Asus ROG Strix B550-I Gaming 22,879 ASRock B550 Phantom Gaming-ITX/ax 102.2 22,879 102.6 Gigabyte B550I Aorus Pro AX 22,797 Gigabyte X570-I Aorus Pro WiFi 101.9 Gigabyte X570-I Aorus Pro WiFi 22,741 Gigabyte B550I Aorus Pro AX ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX TB3 22,712 0 100 ASRock B550 Phantom Gaming-ITX/ax 22,649 MSI MPG B550I Gaming Edge MAX WiFi 20,000 AUDIO TOTAL HARMONIC DISTORTION PER CENT 0 RightMark Audio Analyzer 24-bit, 192kHz 10,000 30,000 ASRock B550 Phantom Gaming-ITX/ax 0.0017 ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX TB3 0.0017 CINEBENCH R23 SINGLE THREADED Gigabyte X570-I Aorus Pro WiFi 0.0019 Gigabyte B550I Aorus Pro AX Gigabyte B550I Aorus Pro AX 1,601 0.0029 Gigabyte X570-I Aorus Pro WiFi 1,595 Asus ROG Strix B550-I Gaming 0.003 Asus ROG Strix X570-I Gaming 1,572 Asus ROG Strix X570-I Gaming Asus ROG Strix B550-I Gaming 1,569 MSI MPG B550I Gaming Edge MAX WiFi 0.004 MSI MPG B550I Gaming Edge MAX WiFi 1,569 0.0046 ASRock B550 Phantom Gaming-ITX/ax 1,561 0 ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX TB3 1,559 0.0010 0.0020 0.0030 0.0040 0.0050 1,000 VRM TEMPERATURE °C Lower is better 0 2,000 3,000 Asus ROG Strix X570-I Gaming 47 Gigabyte B550I Aorus Pro AX 51 TOTAL SYSTEM POWER CONSUMPTION WATTS 54 Gigabyte X570-I Aorus Pro WiFi 54 Stock speed, Windows desktop / Prime95 smallFFT MSI MPG B550I Gaming Edge MAX WiFi 55 ASRock B550 Phantom Gaming-ITX/ax 56 ASRock B550 Phantom Gaming-ITX/ax 69 287 ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX TB3 57 Asus ROG Strix B550-I Gaming 70 293 65 295 Asus ROG Strix B550-I Gaming 25 50 75 100 ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX TB3 60 299 0 Lower is better Gigabyte X570-I Aorus Pro WiFi 71 Asus ROG Strix X570-I Gaming 63 309 LOWEST M.2 TEMPERATURE °C Gigabyte B550I Aorus Pro AX 60 318 200 322 Asus ROG Strix X570-I Gaming 52 MSI MPG B550I Gaming Edge MAX WiFi 100 Load Asus ROG Strix B550-I Gaming 54 300 400 58 0 Idle Lower is better Gigabyte B550I Aorus Pro AX 60 ASRock B550 Phantom Gaming-ITX/ax 62 MSI MPG B550I Gaming Edge MAX WiFi 74 Gigabyte X570-I Aorus Pro WiFi 76 ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX TB3 25 50 75 100 0 Lower is better 48

MINI ITX MOTHERBOARDS BENCHMARK RESULTS INTEL LGA1700 GIMP IMAGE EDITING AUDIO NOISE LEVEL DBA RightMark Audio Analyzer 24-bit, 192kHz Asus ROG Strix Z690-I Gaming WiFi 20,000 40,000 60,000 78,682 Asus ROG Strix Z690-I Gaming WiFi -99 -118 Gigabyte B660I Aorus Pro DDR4 78,187 Gigabyte Z690I Aorus Ultra Plus -94 Gigabyte Z690I Aorus Ultra Plus 77,544 Gigabyte B660I Aorus Pro DDR4 -100 -150 0 80,000 100,000 0 Lower is better HANDBRAKE H.264 VIDEO ENCODING AUDIO DYNAMIC RANGE DBA -50 Asus ROG Strix Z690-I Gaming WiFi 962,582 RightMark Audio Analyzer 24-bit, 192kHz Gigabyte Z690I Aorus Ultra Plus 961,655 Gigabyte B660I Aorus Pro DDR4 948,342 Asus ROG Strix Z690-I Gaming WiFi 118 0 300,000 600,000 900,000 1,200,000 1,500,000 Gigabyte Z690I Aorus Ultra Plus Gigabyte B660I Aorus Pro DDR4 100 HEAVY MULTI TASKING 0 95 100 50 150 Asus ROG Strix Z690-I Gaming WiFi 351,811 AUDIO TOTAL HARMONIC DISTORTION PER CENT Gigabyte Z690I Aorus Ultra Plus 350,462 Gigabyte B660I Aorus Pro DDR4 348,638 RightMark Audio Analyzer 24-bit, 192kHz 0 200,000 300,000 400,000 100,000 500,000 Gigabyte B660I Aorus Pro DDR4 0.002 Asus ROG Strix Z690-I Gaming WiFi 0.0025 SYSTEM SCORE 0.0033 Gigabyte Z690I Aorus Ultra Plust Asus ROG Strix Z690-I Gaming WiFi 356,715 0 0.0025 0.005 0.0075 0.01 Gigabyte Z690I Aorus Ultra Plus 355,861 Gigabyte B660I Aorus Pro DDR4 352,238 Lower is better 0 200,000 300,000 400,000 100,000 500,000 TOTAL SYSTEM POWER CONSUMPTION WATTS Stock speed, Windows desktop / Prime95 smallFFT CINEBENCH R23 MULTI THREADED Asus ROG Strix Z690-I Gaming WiFi 75 331 Gigabyte Z690I Aorus Ultra Plus 58 339 Gigabyte Z690I Aorus Ultra Plus 22,931 Gigabyte B660I Aorus Pro DDR4 351 Asus ROG Strix Z690-I Gaming WiFi 22,901 89 22,803 300 400 Gigabyte B660I Aorus Pro DDR4 20,000 30,000 0 100 200 Lower is better 0 Idle Load 10,000 40,000 50,000 5,000 CINEBENCH R23 SINGLE THREADED VRM TEMPERATURE °C Gigabyte Z690I Aorus Ultra Plus 1,000 1,945 3,000 4,000 Asus ROG Strix Z690-I Gaming WiFi 25 49 67 Gigabyte B660I Aorus Pro DDR4 1,940 Gigabyte Z690I Aorus Ultra Plus 25 51 Asus ROG Strix Z690-I Gaming WiFi 1,939 Gigabyte B660I Aorus Pro DDR4 75 100 2,000 0 50 Lower is better 0 LOWEST M.2 TEMPERATURE °C M.2 SPEED MB/SEC 51 Gigabyte Z690I Aorus Ultra Plus 54 CrystalDiskMark, 32-queue depth Asus ROG Strix Z690-I Gaming WiFi 60 Asus ROG Strix Z690-I Gaming WiFi 5,343 6,985 Gigabyte B660I Aorus Pro DDR4 50 75 100 Gigabyte B660I Aorus Pro DDR4 5,370 6,960 0 Lower is better Gigabyte Z690I Aorus Ultra Plus 5,342 6,952 5,000 7,500 0 2,500 10,000 136 200 Write Read 135 132 FAR CRY 6 FPS 150 1,920 x 1,080, Ultra settings Asus ROG Strix Z690-I Gaming WiFi 100 Gigabyte Z690I Aorus Ultra Plus 103 Gigabyte B660I Aorus Pro DDR4 99 0 50 99th percentile 100 Average 49

L A B S T E S T / GAMEPPAADDSS LABS TEST Get a grip A keyboard and mouse isn’t the only option for gaming on your PC, and you’ll want a gamepad for some titles such as Elden Ring. Edward Chester puts nine gamepads to the test How we test T hetrustymouseandkeyboardcombohaslongbeenthego-to PC, as you may need to buy a Bluetooth adaptor. Controllers that use choice for gaming on PCs, but they’re not ideal for every game. Bluetooth can also be used with mobile devices. Whether you need the analogue control that’s ideal for racing games and flight sims, or just want a more comfortable lounge-gaming Another consideration is the style of controller, with the main divide experience, a gamepad is often a better choice. being between the shape and control layout of Xbox 360/One/X There are plenty of options, with all the official controllers for the major controllers and PlayStation DualShock/DualSense controllers. The games consoles being supported to some degree on PCs, plus there are former are bulkier, and the left thumbstick is positioned above the D-pad, many third-party options too. However, not all controllers are created while the latter tend to be smaller with two analogue sticks in the middle. equal, so there’s plenty to consider. It’s largely personal preference as to which layout you may prefer. For a start, one feature that we consider essential, and that the likes of the Nintendo Switch Pro controller lacks, is analogue triggers. They’re Beyond these core feature differences, there are plenty of other needed for accurately controlling features such as accelerating and factors to consider. Build quality is a huge one, with premium controllers braking in racing games, and have many other uses too. It’s for this often feeling better-made than their cheaper counterparts, and including reason we’ve omitted this otherwise solid controller from this test. more precise-feeling controls – the analogue sticks can especially suffer The second biggest distinction between some controllers is whether in cheaper controllers. Extra features, such as additional buttons and they’re wired or wireless. Wireless options are more expensive, and you switches for different modes, can come in useful too. may need to jump through a few hoops to get them working on your We tested our gamepads across a variety of games, concentrating on Contents racing games, flight sims and first person shooters, to see how the most sensitive parts of the controllers – the analogue controls – held up. Logitech F310 /p51 Razer Wolverine V2 Chroma /p56 Microsoft Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 /p52 Scuf Instinct Pro /p57 Microsoft Xbox Wireless Controller /p53 Sony DualSense /p58 MSI Force GC20 V2 /p54 Thrustmaster Dual Analog 4 /p59 PowerA Spectra Infinity Xbox Series X /p55 50