Custom PC - August 2013-P2P

RASPBERRY Pi: TIMELAPSE PHOTOGRAPHY SETUP GUIDE
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NVIDIAS NEW
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780 AND 770
PHICS
CARDS
REVIEW
ED
Full graphics card group
test, from 75 to 855
TESTED IN
INTELS NEW
HASWELL CPUs
Inside the new
architecture
REVIEWED

Core i5-4670K

Core i7-4770K
HOW TO: MAKE YOUR OWN ACRYLIC TUBING
ISSUE 119 AUG 201 3 4.50
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3 August 2013
Welcome to Issue 119
Editorial
EDITOR
Ben Hardwidge
editor@custompcmag.org.uk

TECHNICAL EDITOR
Harry Butler
GAMES EDITOR
Rick Lane

ART EDITOR
Bill Bagnall

PRODUCTION EDITOR
Julie Birrell

CONTRIBUTORS
Antony Leather, Cliff Harris,
Gareth Halfacree, James Gorbold,
Jim Killock, Lucy Sherriff,
Paul Goodhead, Phil Hartup,
Richard Cobbett,
Simon Treadaway, Tracy King
PHOTOGRAPHY
Antony Leather,
Danny Bird

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NEW HARDWARE
OVERLOAD
38
INTEL HASWELL
58
GRAPHICS CARD LABS
This month has seen a veritable avalanche of new hardware
tumbling into the Custom PC lab. First off is Intels new
Haswell architecture, bringing two new multiplier-
unlocked CPUs, as well as the LGA1150 socket.
Meanwhile, the GPU market has been overhauled by the
release of Nvidias new GeForce GTX 770 and 780 graphics
chips. This isnt just because of the new brands, but because
theyve had a dramatic knock-on effect on prices down the
line. So much so, in fact, that weve decided to gauge them
against the whole current crop of graphics cards in our
latest game tests. Whatever your budget, our Labs will find
you the right graphics card for todays top-end games.
4 August 2013
Welcome to Issue 119
12
GARETH HALFACREES
HOBBY TECH
This month, Gareth details how to set up
timelapse photography on the Raspberry
Pi, while also taking as look at a build-your-
own calculator kit and reviving an old
Amstrad NC100.
16
JUST IN FROM COMPUTEX
Harry Butler reveals some of his
most exciting finds from the Computex trade
show in Taiwan, including an Asus Republic of
Gamers mini-ITX motherboard.
18
NEW 2D MATERIALS
Graphene gets all the media
attention when it comes to 2D materials; Lucy
Sherriff investigates the other contenders.
20
THE SNOOPERS CHARTER
Some politicians have exploited
recent tragic events to promote bad internet
legislation, argues Jim Killock.
42
MSI Z87-G45 GAMING
Gearing up for Haswell early?
Wetake our first look at an LGA1150 board.
88
METRO: LAST LIGHT
Rick Lane plays through the latest
Metro game. Can it match 2033?
100
LARGE-SCALE GAMING
Why arent more games set in big
open-world sandboxes with hundreds of
characters? Phil Hartup investigates the
requirements and limitations of large-scale
PC games.
108
OCULUS RIFT
We take a look at what we know so
100 42 108
cover storY
114
12
5 August 2013
1ssue 119
far about the forthcoming virtual-reality tech
for PC gamers.
114
HOW TO MAKE ACRYLIC
TUBING
Looking to create a rigid, kink-free water-
cooling loop? Antony Leather shows you how
to work with acrylic tubing.
118
HOW TO RECREATE
LAPTOPFEET
An easy way to prevent your laptop from
wobbling back and forth while youre typing.
114
72
38
14
Regulars
8 From the editor
11 Tracy King
12 Hobby tech
16 Incoming
18 Science!
20 Digital rights
24 CPC Elite products
52 How we test
86 Cynical hit
96 The engine room
98 Dev perspective
128 Retro tech
130 James Gorbold
Community
110 Readers drives
114 How to make acrylic tubing
118 How to recreate laptop feet
120 Letters
125 Folder of the month
126 Your folding milestones
Reviewed this month
Hardware
CPU
38 Intel Core i5-4670K
38 Intel Core i7-4770K
MOTHERBOARD
42 MSI Z87-G45 Gaming
PC
44 Scan 3XS Z87 Nanu GTX
46 Overclockers Ultima Extreme Envy
CASE
48 Corsair Obsidian 350D
NAS BOX
50 Synology DS213j
Custom kit
54 Star Trek Catan
54 Sphero
54 Damson Oyster
55 Razer Vespula
55 Startech Wireless HDD enclosure
55 Freedom i-Connex
Graphics card Labs test
61 AMD Radeon HD 7750 1GB
61 Nvidia GeForce GTX 650 1GB
62 Nvidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti 1GB
65 Nvidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost 2GB
68 AMD Radeon HD 7950 3GB Boost
69 AMD Radeon HD 7970 3GB GHz
74 Nvidia GeForce GTX Titan 6GB
Games
88 Metro: Last Light
90 Dont Starve
91 Monaco: Whats Yours is Mine
92 The Showdown Effect
94 StarDrive
37
PRODUCTS
REVIEWED
88
110
I
commonly rib our former games editor Joe Martin by rating his
tweets with a score of 7/10. Joe has a bit of an obsession with
waggling his finger at the scores at the end of game reviews, and
the fact that 7/10 seems to get awarded by default, because many
journalists refuse to use the bottom half of the score spectrum. Using
a score of one to ten, a game that doesnt work should get one, a bad
game should get two and an average game should get five.
The latter is key here, as so many average games seem to get 7/10
rather than 5/10. Were so accustomed to seeing 7/10 reviews, that a
5/10 seems like a bad review, when its in fact an average review. I
originally thought this gripe wasnt as
relevant to hardware reviews, as theyre less
subjective than game reviews you give a
graphics card a performance score based on
its frame rates, rather than your subjective
assessment of it, after all.
That changed this month, though, after we
decided to change our scoring system for
graphics cards some of which have got scores below 20 per cent.
Asyou probably know, we set our standards high at Custom PC, and
weve always said that a PC enthusiast should expect their hardware
to play games at their chosen resolution at maximum settings. The
ability to max out a games graphical settings are part of the joy of
being a PC gamer if youre going to play games with compromised
settings, you may as well buy a console.
For many years, weve also set the bar for playable frame rates at
aminimum of 25fps. Given that the average frame rate will be much
higher, the minimum is where the frame rate dips, and its the
minimum that you notice when your game suddenly becomes slow
and stuttery. However, there are also good arguments for wanting an
even higher minimum frame rate. As such, weve awarded further
Weve changed our scoring system for
GPUs this month, with some scoring
just 10 per cent overall. Heres why
points for cards that dont dip below 30fps, and more for cards that
dont drop beyond 60fps enabling a super-smooth frame rate.
We now score graphics cards using a system of points for hitting
playable frame rates, rather than just the frame rates themselves. If
one card produces 5fps in a test, and another produces 9fps, the
second card would previously have scored more points. However, both
cards are effectively useless for gaming at those settings. The new
scoring system reflects this state of affairs if a card cant hit 25fps
then it effectively fails that test and scores no points.
Weve often said it isnt worth buying a sub-100 graphics card if
youre a Custom PC reader, and our new
scoring system demonstrates why. If a card
scores below 20 per cent, then you cant
expect it to play current games at the
standard resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 with
maximum settings theyre a poor
investment for Custom PC readers, so they
fail. If a card scores around 50 per cent, then
it either offers average performance or average value for money. If it
scores 70 per cent or above, then you can be sure it will offer genuinely
playable frame rates in several real games at maximum settings.
Weve also brought back the Folding@home benchmark, so any of
you on our folding team (see p125) can gauge which card offers the
best ppd for your buck. Weve also introduced a BitCoin benchmark.
Neither test is incorporated into the final scores, but check the graphs
at the back to see the results.
Ben Hardwidge is the editor of Custom PC. He likes PCs, real ale
and Warhammer 40,000.

EDITOR@CUSTOMPCMAG.ORG.UK

@MANSHARK
If youre going to play
games with compromised
settings, you may as well
buy a console
SETTLING
OLD SCORES
8 August 2013

from the editor
T
he idea of performance enhancement for gaming is funny to
me, mainly because I try to get as horizontal as possible when
Im playing. Doping is for athletes, unless caffeine counts. As
such, it was with interest and raised eyebrows that I read about a new
device aimed specifically at gamers that claims, I kid you not, to make
your synapses fire faster to improve performance.
The foc.us headband is a very shiny futuristic-looking device that
raises more questions than the website (www.foc.us) answers. The
claim, for which the makers are asking 179, is that the headband
utilises Transcranial Direct Stimulation (TcDS) to increase the
plasticity of your brain and make your synapses fire faster. Im
making that face. You know, the sceptical one.
Lets look at TcDS first, then well discuss
this magical bit of your brain that makes you
agamer. TcDS is the passing of electric
pulsesinto the brain by way of electrodes.
Inalab, these electrodes are large, up to 7cm
inwidth, but the foc.us headband has much
smaller electrodes.
The lab ones are large because its actually
quite hard to target the bit of brain you want.
Many labs use fMRI scans to correctly position
them, although you wouldnt have access to that at home, so youd be
relying on guesswork or luck if you want to specifically target the the
frontal cortex regions dedicated to game playing on which the device
claims to work.
Except theres no such part of the brain. At least, not thats ever
beenidentified in neuroscience. Neither would you expect it to exist,
because gaming uses a whole range of skills. If you brain-scan
someone playing Starcraft, for example, different parts of the brain
light up like a Christmas tree. The brain just doesnt work in a way that
would make targeting gaming activity specifically feasible.

That said, there is emerging, if conflicted, evidence (small studies,
with lots of bias) that TcDS does affect brain activity in a way that
relates to performance in memory and mathematics. But not
gaming.As far as I can find, there havent been any studies on TcDS
and gaming performance, and whats reported under lab conditions
certainly isnt the same as what happens with a domestic device
suchas the foc.us headband, so I wouldnt infer anything from the
published data anyway.
I spoke to the maker of foc.us, Michael Oxley, and asked what
evidence there is that shows it works for gamers, as claimed. He said
the frontal cortex quote was marketing talk. I also asked him why
thedevice had a sham setting, a laboratory
placebo setting, where no current is delivered.
He told me: If you enable sham mode, the
headset will randomly blind-test you. It will
appear to be working (crescendo-on, lights
and timer), and you will only know afterwards
ifyou really received TcDS or not, so you can
check for the placebo effect on yourself.
Except if youve enabled the sham mode, you
know youre in sham mode. Thats useless
fortesting and certainly isnt a blind test as
claimed, particularly as 60 per cent of lab subjects get a bright red
forehead after receiving current.
TcDS for gamers. Were smarter than that. Were 179 smarter
than that. I dont know who would buy one, but Im tempted to launch
aheadset that claims to improve the area of the brain responsible for
parting fools and their money.
Gamer and science enthusiast Tracy King dissects the evidence
and statistics behind some of the popular media stories
surrounding tech and gaming @TKINGDOLL
If you brain-scan
someone playing
Starcraft, different parts
of the brain light up like
a Christmas tree
THE MAGIC
GAMING
HEADBAND
11 August 2013
Can a headband really improve your gaming
performance by making your synapses fire
faster? Tracy King examines the evidence
Sceptical analYsis
12 August 2013
The latest tips, tricks and news in the world of computer hobbyism,
from Raspberry Pi to retro computing
Designed, so the legend goes, to Alan Sugars
exacting specifications because he found
normal computers too difficult to understand
the Amstrad Notepad Computer wasnt a
huge commercial success when it launched
in 1992. That doesnt mean I dont have a use
for one in 2013 though. The NC100 had plenty
to recommend it for business users, despite
having a simplified UI. It can run for up to 30
hours on a single set of easily replaceable AA
batteries, its portable and lightweight, and it
has a proper moulded keyboard too.
Its the latter feature that gave me cause to
seek out a model with a view to adding it to my
field kit. While my laptop ostensibly lasts for
seven hours on a charge, in reality its
somewhere closer to five. If I have a full day of
interviews at an event, that isnt enough and
power isnt always readily available. A tablet
isanother option, of course, but on-screen
keyboards are a pain, and balancing a tablet
with a Bluetooth keyboard on your lap is an
exercise in frustration.
Picking up a lightly used NC100 from eBay,
along with a 256KB SRAM card (which cost
twice as much as the computer), I first had to
find a way to transfer data from the device to
my PC. All the battery life in the world is no
good if the data is trapped in the device.
The NC100 has two ports: a parallel port,
for connection to a printer, and an RS232
serial port. Once a common sight, serial ports
have fallen out of favour in these days of USB
but they have one feature in their favour: any
RS232 device can communicate with any
other RS232 device, regardless of age.
With nothing more than an inexpensive
USB-RS232 adaptor and a null modem cable
a serial cable with the receive and transmit
lines swapped at one end its possible to
connect classic computing hardware to any
modern desktop or laptop, regardless of the
operating system. In my case, it was doubly
simple, thanks to Linux still including serial
filetransfer tools using the same Xmodem
protocol as the NC100. File transfer would
have still been possible without these tools,
but it wouldnt have been as easy.
Having typed up notes on the NC100,
yousimply connect the null modem cable,
enter the file transfer menu and press X for
Xmodem Send. Running the rx command on
my laptop triggered receipt of the file, and
voila: the file was transferred almost instantly
from then NC100 to the laptop. A piece of
discarded computing equipment from the
early 1990s, with a processor less powerful
than that found in a modern remote control,
had taken on a new lease of life as the perfect
portable notetaker for events.
How perfect, you ask? Perfect enough for
this months column to be written entirely on
the NC100, before being transferred into
LibreOffice for formatting and submission.
REVIVING AN AMSTRAD NC100
hoBBY tech
GARETH HALFACREES
The Amstrad NC100 wasnt
a great commercial success,
but it still has a long battery life
and a great keyboard
A cheap USB-serial adaptor and a null modem cable get
the NC100 talking to a modern machine
The serial port of any classic computer can be used to
transfer data to a modern desktop or laptop
13 August 2013
SPIKENZIELABS CALCULATOR KIT
If youre a newcomer to the world of
soldering, fancy honing your skills or simply
dont have much to do at the weekend,
SpikenzieLabs is worth investigating.
Thecreator of numerous project kits,
mostly based around the same ATmega
microcontroller that powers the popular
Arduino development platform, the
Canadian-based teams latest creation is
the SpikenzieLabs Awesome Oldskool
Calculator Kit or, to save typing that
mouthful every time, the Calculator Kit,
available from Phenoptix for 33.17 inc VAT
(http://tinyurl.com/awesomecalc).
Based around the design of a classic
Sinclair or Commodore calculator, the kit
uses through-hole components soldered
toan attractive black printed circuitboard.
Its brain is the Atmel ATmega328
microcontroller, as found in the Arduino
Duemilanove an interesting choice for a
calculator kit, but one that gives the device a
unique capability: it can be reprogrammed
using the Arduino IDE software.
In its base form, that feature isnt used
much, but theres nothing to prevent an
interested hacker from using the Arduinos
inputs and outputs to connect the calculator
to external devices. Those who do a lot of
work with temperatures could connect it to
a temperature probe, for example, and have
the calculator read the current temperature
at the press of a button. The device could
also be wired to an output device, such as a
receipt printer, to provide hard-copy output.
Back to the kit itself: with all through-
hole components, and not many of those,
its a great kit for a newcomer. While the
microcontroller IC is soldered directly
without the use of a socket which
meansits theoretically possible for an
inexperienced solderer to overheat the
component its pretty robust. Basically,
unless youre using a massive soldering
gun designed for plumbing work, you
shouldnt have a problem.
A quick word of warning though: read the
instructions before beginning. Figuring I
knew what I was doing, I started soldering
right away and, as a result, failed to put
thespacers below the LED modules. The
calculator works fine, but the screen is
recessed in a way that could have been
avoided if I hadnt been so damn cocky.
The attractive transparent case, laser-
cut into multiple layers, is a bit of a pain
though. Actually putting it together is the
easy part, but it involves using numerous
small, fiddly components that are each
protected by a film on both sides. Expect
tospend more time peeling off this film
each piece of plastic than soldering the
components into place.
Once assembled, and power provided by
the bundled CR2032 lithium-ion cell, the
calculator boots and is ready to use. While
restricted to a six-digit display for space
reasons more than anything else, given the
size of the LED modules the calculator is
ready to use. The single button cell keeps it
running for quite some time, powering the
device off if no button is pressed within a
15-second period. This can lead to lost
results if you havent written them down,
but it can be reprogrammed for a longer
time-out using the Arduino software.
Theres no denying the SpikenzieLabs
calculator kit is attractive and fun to build
plastic peeling excepted but its accuracy
isnt great. Simple calculations work fine,
but longer floating-point calculations fail
miserably: Multiply 1.99999 by 1, for
example, and the answer is rounded down
to 1. That, sadly, is a drawback of the
ATmegas handling of floating-point
calculations, but it doesnt spoil the
calculators capacity for simpler maths.
Still, as a fun project to build on a rainy
Saturday, its easy to recommend the
Calculator Kit. Plus, theres always the
possibility of doubling it up as a PC keypad, a
code entry system for a magnetic door lock,
or any one of a number of other interesting
possible extension projects.
14
CUSTOMISATION
The kit contains all the components required to build
your own calculator, including a transparent case
Through-hole components mean that soldering the
kit together is easy even for beginners
The SpikenzieLabs Calculator Kit includes an
attractive black PCB
The finished calculator and if you read the
instructions, youll avoid a recessed display too
14 August 2013
hoBBY tech
14
memory, so change the split so that the GPU
has 128MB by typing the following command
and using the menus that appear:
sudo raspi-config
Reboot with sudo reboot before
continuing, if you make any changes.
03

CONNECT THE CAMERA
The cameras ribbon cable which is
pretty fragile, so dont try to fold it connects
to the CSI port on top of the Pi, nearest the
USB connector on a Model A or the Ethernet
connector on a Model B. Dont connect it to the
similar port near the SD card slot: thats a DSI
port for flat-panel displays. Gently lift up the
securing lug, push in the cable so that the
silvered contacts face towards the visible pins,
and then push the securing lug back down
again to hold the cable tight.
04

TEST THE CAMERA
The camera is controlled by two main
packages: raspistill and raspivid. One takes
still pictures, the other takes photos. Typing
either command on its own will provide a list
of options. To test the camera with a simple
still, type the following:
raspistill -w 1920 -h 1080 -q
90 -o test.jpg
That will capture a single still image at
1,920 x 1,080, after displaying a five-second
live preview.
TIMELAPSE PHOTOGRAPHY WITH
THE RASPBERRY Pi
The big Raspberry Pi news last month was
the launch of the Raspberry Pi Camera
Module. While numerous accessories for
the low-cost single-board computer exist,
the Camera Module (19.87 from http://
cpc.farnell.com) is the first to come from
the Raspberry Pi Foundation itself.
Basedon a five-megapixel sensor and a
surprisingly powerful image-processing
engine the same engine used in selected
Nokia handsets, in fact the camera,
supplied in traditional Foundation style
asan unprotected circuitboard, connects
to the previously unused Camera Serial
Interface (CSI) connector on the Pi using
abundled ribbon cable.
Playing with a pre-release version has
been an interesting experience. While the
command-line software for the camera
isstill very much unfinished, you can
achieve much with what has already been
released. In my case, that much equates
to a cheap time-lapse photography rig.
Heres how I did it.
01

USE THE LATEST
RASPBIAN
The camera has only just been released,
so if youre running an outdated version of
the Pis preferred operating system, the
Debian-based Raspbian, it simply wont
work. If youre new to the Pi, just download
the latest Raspbian image from the official
website and write it to an SD card; if you
have an existing installation, upgrade with
the following command:
sudo apt-get update && sudo
apt-get dist-upgrade
Once the updates are installed, restart
the Pi with sudo reboot and youre ready
to go.
02

CHECK THE GPU/CPU
MEMORY SPLI T
The Pi, like most embedded systems,
shares its memory between the CPU
andthe GPU. The hardware-accelerated
camera board needs plenty of GPU
Update your Raspbian installation before trying to use the camera
Once the cable has been
inserted, you can mount the
camera with a blob of Blu-tak
15 August 2013
CUSTOMISATION
15
05

ACTI VATE TIMELAPSE
MODE
The raspistill software includes an built-in
timelapse mode, but it isnt quite ready for
prime-time. Instead, use the following one-
liner to take a picture every thirty seconds:
while true; do raspistill -w 1920
-h 1080 -q 90 -t 0 -o `date -u
+%Y%m%dT%H%M%S`.jpg; echo
Image Captured.; sleep 30; done
This will run forever, so make sure you have
a decent-sized SD card. To change the delay
between captures, alter sleep 30 to another
number (measured in seconds.) When youve
captured enough images, hit Ctrl + C to cancel
the job. If you need higher-resolution images,
just alter the -w and -h switches, and you
can change the quality of the finished
JPEG with the -q switch.
06

USE THE PHOTOS
The finished photos can be strung
together into a video, if you so desire, or
used on their own. Each filename contains
the date in year, month, day, time format
so youll know exactly when each image
was captured.
If you dont want to save them locally,
you could also mount a remote storage
device over SSH to save the images there,
as long as you have a network connection,
of course.
This symbol means the command should
all be on one line
GARETH
HALFACREE
is the news reporter at
www.bit-tech.net, and a
keen computer hobbyist
who likes to tinker with technology.

@ghalfacree
ARDUINO GETS LINUX
The Arduino project has announced a new
board, which is designed to better
compete with the Raspberry Pi and
other low-cost ARM-
based microcomputers
with GPIO capabilities.
Based on an Atheros
AR9331 MIPS-based
system-on-chip, the Arduino
Yn runs a variant of OpenWRT
Linux, and provides access to its various
capabilities through an on-board webserver
accessed using an integrated Wi-Fi radio.
Unlike the Pi, the Yn also includes a fully
functional microcontroller, the same
ATmega32U4 found on the Arduino Leonardo,
which can be programmed independently or
tied to an application running on the AR9331.
The Arduino Yn has been priced at $69
(around 45 excluding tax) in the USA, with
noUK price yet available.
CENTRE FOR
COMPUTING HISTORY
FUNDRAISER
The Centre for Computing History is moving to
Cambridge. Its various collections, including
an army of Commodore PETs and working
Domesday machines, complete with
Laserdisc players, will be situated in a
10,500m facility with easy access to public
transport and local hotels.
The museum needs cash to complete
themove and overhaul the building, however,
so its launched the 128K Campaign. The
campaign looks to raise 131,072 (128KB in
bytes, if youre wondering) to fund facility
upgrades, which will include disabled access,
improved parking, security improvements
and a reception area.
More info at http://tinyurl.com/128KFund
rry Pi and
uino
The timelapse capture will run forever, or at least until its cancelled with Ctrl + C
This test image, captured at
1,920 x 1,080, shows how badly
I need to tidy my home office
NEW HARDWARE
16 August 2013
Harry Butler reports his latest ndings from
the Computex trade show in Taiwan
H B tl t hi l t t di f
COMPUTEX SPECIAL
T
his years Computex trade show in Taipei,
Taiwan has seen more than its fair share
of new products and innovations. Asus made
waves early on by launching a raft of new
mobile devices, but it was its Republic of
Gamers (RoG) Maximus VI Impact mini-ITX
motherboard that caught our eye the most.
Asus has moved the RoG brand to the mini-
ITX form factor with a no-compromise
approach to board design. The Impact
features a daughterboard for 8+2 phase
power, enabling it to overclock as well as RoG
ATX boards, and it also boasts an integrated
few months, at a tempting price of 100 inc
VAT. However, were more looking forward to
the raft of Companion Cube case mods that it
will undoubtedly inspire.
NZXT has also been busy, developing a
mounting kit that enables its CPU liquid-
cooling kits to be mounted on any graphics
card. Based on a design initially developed by
one of its forum members, the mounts should
work with any kit using the Asetek locking ring
mount, including Corsairs H110i. The mount
leaves a graphics cards memory and power
circuitry bare, though, so a 120mm fan is also
required to continue cooling the rest of the
card. Still, its an innovative approach to GPU
cooling that gets around the need to buy an
expensive full-cover waterblock.
Meanwhile, InWin showed off the tou, a
stunning concept case made of aluminium
and tempered two-way glass. With the lights
inside switched off, the cases angular
panelling took on a mirrored finish, but when
switched on, the panels became transparent,
revealing the hardware within. We shudder
toimagine its price if it ever makes it into
production, but it certainly turned heads.
Finally, Silver Stones innovative pump-less
liquid cooler had us at first baffled and then
amazed. While the waterblock and radiator
design is nothing new, the coolant inside
vaporises at a much lower temperature than
water. Combined with small-and-large-
diameter tubing to create a pressure
differential, coolant automatically moves
through the loop as the CPU warms it,
removing the need for a pump. The only
downside is that the coolant operates best
athigher temperatures than the coolant in
standard liquid coolers, but its an interesting
innovation nonetheless.
There was plenty more at Computex 2013
too, from newly crowned overclocking
champions to bizarre graphics cards and a
mountain of enticing new cases. Well be
covering more from the show next month.
expensive full-cover waterblock. d
th
re
d
a
s
i
t
th t t ti i f 100i f
SupremeFX sound card to get around the
single PCI-E slot limitation. Expect to see it
reviewed and on sale very soon.
Elsewhere, Corsair was busy with a raft
ofnew products, from updated Vengeance
keyboards and mice to its fastest-ever DDR3
kit. It was a new case, the Carbide Air 540,
thatimpressed the most, though,
thanks to a new design that shifts
thePSU and drive bays behind the
motherboard tray into a separate
compartment. This allows for
unobstructed airflow to the core
hardware in the windowed primary
compartment, showing off your hardware
while cooling it efficiently. Corsair is
hopeful that the case will ship in the next
18 August 2013
Lucy Sherriff
New 2D materials
n 2004, researchers at Manchester
University succeeded in isolating a
single atomic layer of carbon from
a block of graphite. Their chicken-
wire-like lattice version of carbon was just
one-atom thick, making it literally two-
dimensional. It behaved differently from its
bulk form, winning the researchers the Nobel
prize. This material was graphene, and its
successful isolation triggered a surge of
interest in 2D materials.
Professor Andrea Ferrari is a professor
ofnanotechnology at the University of
Cambridge, and one of the Universitys
representatives in the European Future
Emerging Technology Graphene Flagship.
Hesays that the single biggest question in
hisfield right now is simply: which will be the
next killer material?
The goal in all of this is to create a thin film
transistor that will compete with silicon, but
be fully flexible, he says. To do this, you need
high electron mobility [an electrons ability to
move through a metal or semiconductor].
Then you can make flexible screens with a
refresh rate high enough to make them
comparable to an HDTV.
The initial reports of the mobility of
molybdenum disulphide (also known as
molybdenite and MoS2) were very high, but it
turned out that some of those numbers were
errors. However, even once the errors have
been corrected, mobility is still very high.
MoS2 has enough mobility that it might be
acontender. Potentially, you could combine
[amaterial such as 2D boron nitride] with
graphene or MoS2 to make completely
flexible screens that compare well with HD
screens we have now.
Look at the European flagship stuff
thisisnt only about graphene, but other 2D
materials as well. If you read most of the
papers about MoS2 and boron nitride, its
thesame people who have been researching
Graphene isnt the only two-dimensional material waiting in the chip markets wings.
Lucy Sherriff investigates some of the others
graphene; the same scientific community.
There has been speculation that some of
these new materials molybedenum
disulphide, boron nitride and even newer ones
such as silicene and germanane might even
kick graphene to the kerb. Professor Ferrari is
sceptical, suggesting that people who make
such claims might have missed the boat on
graphene, and be overcompensating. He
reminds us that the Nobel prize wasnt
awarded just for finding graphene, but for
thediscovery of the new physics that went
along with it.
Its not graphene or these other materials;
its graphene and these other materials.
Remember that graphene already has an
enormous amount of research behind it
both theory and experiment. And for each of
these novel materials, the same amount of
work needs to be done, he notes.
While graphene might still be the most
famous two-dimensional kid on the block, it
isnt the only one. Even the Manchester team
is now looking actively at other materials as
well. Take, for instance, molybdenum
disulphide. Long in use in industry as a solid
lubricant, molybdenite is also a direct band-
gap semiconductor like silicon, but with
better charge mobility. Its been used to make
low-voltage transistors, and because of its
band gap, it might turn out to be a more useful
material for transistors than graphene.
A band gap is a gap between energy levels
in any material the jump between the
valance band and the conduction band. The
l
some of the others
Molybdenite is also a direct band-gap semiconductor like silicon, but with better charge mobility
Professor Andrea Ferrari, professor of nanotechnology
at Cambridge the biggest question in his field now is:
which will be the next killer material?
19 August 2013
size of the band gap determines a lot about
the character of a material. Metals, for
instance, have a zero band gap the valance
and conduction bands overlap and electrons
are free to move all the time.
Meanwhile, insulators have very large band
gaps, so exciting an electron to the conduction
band takes more oomph than a jolt from the
mains can manage. A semiconductor sits in
the goldilocks zone, where the gap is small
enough that a reasonably low voltage can
geta current flowing, but large enough that
theres a distinct difference between on and off
states. The band gap also determines which
part of the electromagnetic spectrum a
material will absorb.
Now an international team of researchers
including professor Ferrari has
demonstrated that molybdenite might also
have a useful future in optoelectronics, having
shown that when stimulated with electricity,
molybdenite will emit light.
Being a direct band gap material also
means that MoS2 should be very efficient at
converting light into electricity. However, as
the professor explains, this is also an example
of a two-dimensional material behaving in a
way that its bulk version doesnt. Its an
LUCY
SHERRIFF
is a journalist with a
degree in astrophysics
who knows all about the
latest scientific tech.

@lucysherriff
important result because the bulk version of
MoS2 is an indirect band gap material, he
says. In monolayer, it becomes a direct band
gap, so it has potential for applications in
solarcells.
Graphene, meanwhile, is metallic and
therefore has no band gap at all. However,
Professor Ferrari says theres an opportunity
to cover the whole spectrum by combining
MoS2 and graphene for solar cells,
becauseeach material absorbs light well
atdifferent energies.
Another two-dimensional hero is the
insulator boron nitride. Single layers of this
material can be made in exactly the same
wayas graphene, and they can be rolled into
nanotubes like graphene too. BN nanotubes
are more stable thermally and chemically
than carbon nanotubes, making them useful
in applications where heat might otherwise
be aproblem.
The single-layer form dubbed
ananomesh, because of its graphene-like
hexagonal structure is stable in a vacuum,
air, some liquids and at temperatures of up
to800C. The mesh can also trap molecules
in the holes between its atoms, keeping them
in a well-ordered array. It has potential for
various applications, from spintronics to
quantum computing and data storage.
GERMANANE AND SILICENE
Carbon, silicon and germanium sit on top of each
other in group four of the periodic table, so we might
expect them to share characteristics. As such, when
Manchesters Andre Geim and Sergey Novoselov
showed that you could isolate a single layer of
graphene from graphite, the next natural line of
enquiry was to discover whether or not you could
repeat the process with silicon and germanium.
It turns out that you can or at least you can get to
a stable two-dimensional sheet of each element
but the process is substantially more involved. When
you do it with silicon, you make silicene. When you do
it with germanium, you make germanane.
A Franco-American collaboration first identified
self-aligned silicon nanoribbons with a
honeycomb, graphene-like structure at the beginning of 2010. But at the end of that year,
the same group published a paper describing the epitaxial growth of the material on a
silver surface, results that have since been replicated by multiple independent groups.
Making germanane from bulk germanium is an even more protracted process. Last
year, researchers at Ohio State University began by inserting calcium between the crystal
layers of germanium. Next, they washed away the calcium, and quickly filled the empty
bonding sites left behind with hydrogen. From this, a single layer could be removed,
leaving a stabilised form of germanium called germanane.
It has a band gap unlike graphene and its more stable than silicon, being resistant
tooxidation, and it also has better electron mobility than silicon. Like silicon, it too is a
verywell understood material in its bulk form, with more than half a century of research
behind it. These are very new materials, though, and Professor Ferrari cautions against
getting overly excited, despite their interesting properties.
He makes a clear distinction between these materials and graphene, boron nitride and
molybdenite: You have to be very clear silicene and germanane are very different from
BN, MoS2 and graphene. Yes, theyve been shown to exist in principle, in very pristine
environments, under very controlled conditions, but its not in their nature to be two-
dimensional, so you need a substrate to grow them on. BN, MoS2 and graphene are
perfectly happy to form 2D materials, because their bulk forms are basically collections
of monolayers, or three layers in the case of molybdenite, bound by very weak forces.
A Franco-American collaboration
first identified self-aligned silicon
nanoribbons with a honeycomb,
graphene-like structure in 2010
MOLYBDENITE HAS BEEN
USED TO MAKE LOW-
VOLTAGE TRANSISTORS
AND, BECAUSE OF ITS
BAND GAP, IT MIGHT BE
MORE USEFUL FOR
TRANSISTORS THAN
GRAPHENE
20 August 2013
Jim Killock
ast month, two dreadful incidents
dominated the headlines: the death of
Drummer Lee Rigby and the murder
of April Jones by Mark Bridger. Im
sure youll have felt the shock and disgust;
perhaps, like myself, youll have found it hard
to understand how people can perpetrate
such appalling actions.
Many people want answers, asking
howwecan prevent such incidents from
happening again. Politicians, in particular,
feel a duty to answer these needs, to explain
and to take action.
However, some MPs went further than
justtrying to explain, and have appeared to
use these deaths for purely political ends.
Sensing the pain experienced by the
familiesand society at large, it looks as
though these incidents have been used to
drive agendas that threaten our liberty,
offering little to those seeking to prevent
repeat incidents.
THE SNOOPER S CHARTER
On the evening of the murder of Drummer
Lee Rigby, Liberal Democrat security
hardliner Lord Carlile told Newsnight that
we have to learn proportionate lessons from
what has occurred. We mustnt rush to
judgement, but we must ensure that the
police and the security services have the tools
they need, which will enable them to prevent
this kind of attack taking place. I hope that
this will give the government pause for
thought about its abandonment, for example,
of the Communications Data Bill [CDB].
Former Home Secretary Lord Reid, added
that measures such as the CDB, sometimes
known as the snoopers charter, were
essential, saying that it could take some
huge tragedy to show that the decision to
drop the bill was wrong. He wasnt alone.
The next few days saw Malcolm Rifkind,
Phillip Hammond and others making
similarcalls. Lord West, for instance, is
quoted in theInternational Business Times
as saying that email information is crucial
information for prosecuting serious crimes,
as well as terrorism.
Bringing out hard line experts, politicians
pressed the case for increased Internet
surveillance, warning of the consequences
ifthe Bill wasnt brought back.
However, senior security officials quickly
told The Independent that such calls were a
cheap argument. The Woolwich attackers
were already known to the security services,
The snoopers charter returns
People are exploiting tragic incidents for political ends, resulting in
proposals for invasive Internet controls, argues Jim Killock
L
21 August 2013
JIM
KILLOCK

is executive director of
campaign organisation
The Open Rights Group
(www.openrightsgroup.org)
@jimkillock
argued that it had ultimately led to April
Jones murder.
In The Mail, Carr argued that Google could
make users register before allowing an
uncensored search. Google could at that
point ask them to verify that theyre 18 or
above. That would be a huge deterrent for
many of these guys. That would stop them
getting on the pathway that led to the child
abuse images. This isnt an attack on free
speech, this is not censorship. Its about
making child pornography less easily
available.
Helen Goodman MP, Labours lead on
Internet matters, asked on Twitter: What
sane person would not want to restrict to over
18s extreme porn online? She followed up
bysaying that this is why Labour say if the
industry does not act the Government should
legislate to introduce effective age verification
for online porn.
The Guardian argued similarly in its
editorial, saying, Internet pornography
issometimes abusive and often violent. Mark
Bridger, convicted yesterday of the murder of
April Jones, had compiled a store of it.
Violent pornography is easily and freely
accessible, and at most requires only a credit
card there is strong evidence that at the
very least it is addictive, can normalise
violence, and at the same time diminishes
sympathy for its victims. It is a kind of
incitement to hate.
In essence, the argument seems to be
thatpornography, and extreme pornography,
are gateway drugs, both to material thats
abusive, and to material that encourages
violence and abuse, and that leads to
childmurders.
At its most extreme, the argument appears
to be that Google in particular is responsible
for a path that leads from pornography to
KNEE-JERK OUTRAGE RARELY
LEADS TO WISE DECISIONS, BUT
POLITICIANS ARE ALL TOO AWARE
THAT MORAL PANIC CAN BE USED
TO ADVANCE THEIR IDEAS
and their method of attack was extremely
primitive; it may not have involved any
unusual Internet or phone communication.
Thankfully, other rational voices, including
that of Sir Chris Fox, a former head of the
Association of Police Chief Officers, appealed
for calm. I may be wrong, wrote Sir Fox in
The Telegraph, but the money allocated to
such a system might be better used giving
security services and police extra resources
to spread their net wider, and investigate
more of those appearing on the radar. I will
await more tangible evidence but Im not yet
convinced that a wholesale collection
of personal data will protect us as
effectively as using well regulated,
intrusive and vigorous investigations
to pursue identified suspects.
The pressure on politicians to
revivethe snoopers charter have
been enormous. Yet a calm analysis
doesnt really seem to suggest that its
an answer to preventing another such
incident; many would argue that it doesnt
really offer many benefits for detecting
terrorism at all.
In fact, it looks more like a cynical attempt
to capitalise on peoples outrage by offering
simple solutions. People are more likely to
accept draconian laws when theyre seeking
solutions after terrible incidents.
Weve been here before. In the wake of
9/11, the USA introduced the Patriot Act,
allowing secret seizure of personal data,
without a warrant, by US secret services.
Meanwhile, after 7/7, the UK pushed for
dataretention of phone and Internet records,
not just here, but across Europe. Politicians
and the Home Office have experience of
usingterror incidents to cajole both MPs
andthe public.
GATEWAY PORNOGRAPHY
The day after Mark Bridgers conviction,
Internet security consultant and writer John
Carr called for [Google] to set up a default
block on such [child abuse] sites that would
require those trying to access them via
search engines to register, according to The
Daily Express. Bridger had collected images
of child abuse on the Internet, and it was
violent pornography, then materials
showingchild abuse and ultimately to the
murder of children.
Is every UK adult porn user really on
ajourney to child rape and murder? In
short,no. The idea of a slide from viewing
pornography to viewing materials showing
child abuse is speculation theres no
evidence for it.
For paedophiles, the means of accessing
illegal material showing child abuse can
often be relatively secretive, such as via peer-
to-peer networks. They dont always involve
Google searches. Google, meanwhile,
does its best to remove links when it
become aware of them. Whatever
youthink of Google, it certainly isnt
encouraging such activity.
These are intensely difficult
problems to address. Theyre emotive
and, of course, we all want to stop
child murders. However, taking
stepssuch as associating all or most use
ofpornography with a gateway drug
hypothesis, where users are tempted into
viewing worse kinds of material, seems
opportunistic, and designed to confuse
thedebate.
In particular, they seem designed to
createnew pushes against an uncensored,
unfiltered Internet, with all the problems that
creates, such as censorship, blocking the
wrong people and a generalised personal
surveillance of online activities.
Knee-jerk outrage rarely leads to wise
political decisions, but politicians are all
tooaware that moral panic can be used to
advance their ideas and careers.
Personally, I find the manipulation of two
terrible deaths for advancing such unrelated
political goals disgusting.
OPINION
22 May 2013
Our choice of the best hardware available
NAME SUPPLIER MANUFACTURER REVIEWED PRICE (inc VAT)
A Xigamtek Midgard II www.overclockers.co.uk www.xigmatek.com Issue 113, p74 60
B Gigabyte GA-F2A85XM-D3H www.scan.co.uk www.gigabyte.com Issue 115, p90 66
C AMD A10-5800K www.aria.co.uk www.amd.com Issue 112, p60 92
D 8GB Corsair Vengeance 2,133MHz CAS11 www.scan.co.uk www.corsair.com Issue 112, p60 57
E Gelid Tranquillo Rev 2 www.quietpc.com www.gelidsolutions.com Issue 100, p86 26
F Be Quiet! Pure Power L8 530W www.scan.co.uk www.bequiet.com Issue 110, p55 63
G 500GB Seagate Barracuda ST500DM002 www.scan.co.uk www.seagate.com Issue 104, p72 40
H Lite-On IHAS124-19 www.novatech.co.uk www.liteonit.eu Issue 99, p108 14
I Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit www.scan.co.uk www.microsoft.com Issue 75, p46 119
TOTAL SYSTEM PRICE 537
You dont have to spend an astronomical sum to get a decent PC.
Our budget PC includes a superb Trinity APU, with a built-in Radeon HD
7660D GPU, plus 8GB of 2,133MHz RAM to boost the on-board graphics
B
MOTHERBOARD
F
PSU
G
HARD DISK
D
RAM
H
OPTICAL DRIVE
E
COOLING
I
OPERATING SYSTEM
C
APU
A
23 May 2013
24
A SilverStone Raven RV03 www.scan.co.uk www.silverstonetek.com Issue 103, p70 95
B MSI Z87-G45 Gaming www.scan.co.uk www.msi-computer.com Issue 119, p42 108
C Intel Core i5-4670K www.scan.co.uk www.intel.co.uk Issue 119, p38 191
D
8GB Kingston HyperX Genesis
KHX1866C11D3P1K2/8G
www.lambda-tek.com www.kingston.com Issue 106, p40 65
E Thermalright True Spirit 120M www.overclockers.co.uk www.thermalright.com Issue116, p61 25
F Nvidia GeForce GTX 660 2GB www.scan.co.uk www.nvidia.com Issue 119, p66 150
G Be Quiet! Pure Power L8 530W www.scan.co.uk www.bequiet.com Issue 110, p55 63
H Seagate Barracuda 2TB ST2000DM001 www.scan.co.uk www.seagate.com Issue 104, p75 69
I Asus Xonar DG www.dabs.com http://uk.asus.com Issue 99, p108 24
J SanDisk Ultra Plus 256GB www.ebuyer.com www.sandiskcom Issue 117, p68 130
K Lite-On IHAS124-19 www.novatech.co.uk www.liteonit.eu Issue 99, p108 14
L Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit www.scan.co.uk www.microsoft.com Issue 75, p46 119
TOTAL SYSTEM PRICE 1,053
As Core i7 motherboards and high-end graphics cards command a
premium price, here are some components for a Core i5 PC that offer
great performance and wont break the bank
A
G H I J L
PSU HARD DISK SOUND CARD SOLID STATE DRIVE OPERATING SYSTEM
F
GRAPHICS CARD
B D E
MOTHERBOARD RAM COOLING CPU
C
UPDATED
UPDATED
24 May 2013
A SilverStone Fortress FT02B-W USB 3.0 www.scan.co.uk www.silverstonetek.com Issue 85, p88 185
D www.lambda-tek.com www.kingston.com Issue 106, p40 65
E Antec Khler H2O 920 www.scan.co.uk www.antec.com Issue 116, p62 82
F Nvidia GeForce GTX 770 2GB www.scan.co.uk www.nvidia.com Issue 119, p72 329
G Corsair HX850 www.scan.co.uk www.corsair.com Issue 110, p68 120
H Seagate Barracuda 2TB ST2000DM001 www.scan.co.uk www.seagate.com Issue 104, p75 69
I Creative Sound Blaster Z www.scan.co.uk www.creative.com Issue 116, p42 75
J Plextor M5 Pro 256GB www.scan.co.uk www.plextor.com Issue 117, p64 150
K Lite-On IHAS123-19 www.novatech.co.uk www.liteonit.eu Issue 99, p108 14
L Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit www.scan.co.uk www.microsoft.com Issue 75, p46 119
This PC has the potential to be the finest gaming machine you can find as
well as an excellent all-round computer for office work, digital photography,
video production and media playback
G H I L
PSU HARD DISK SOUND CARD SOLID STATE DRIVE OPERATING SYSTEM
F
GRAPHICS CARD
A
B D E
MOTHERBOARD CPU RAM COOLING
C
J
UPDATED
UPDATED
UPDATED
KHX1866C11D3P1K2/8G
25 May 2013
26
A SilverStone Temjin TJ07B-W www.overclockers.co.uk www.silverstonetek.com Issue 63, p87 260
D
KHX1866C11D3P1K2/8G
www.lambda-tek.com www.kingston.com Issue 106, p40 65
E Nvidia GeForce GTX 780 3GB www.scan.co.uk www.nvidia.com Issue 119, p34 550
F Corsair H100i www.scan.co.uk www.corsair.com Issue 116, p65 93
G Be Quiet! Dark Power Pro 10 850W www.scan.co.uk www.bequiet.com Issue 110, p64 180
H Samsung SSD 840 Pro 256GB www.ebuyer.com www.samsung.com Issue 117, p67 180
I Creative Sound Blaster Z www.scan.co.uk www.creative..com Issue 116, p42 75
J Seagate Barracuda 2TB ST2000DM0001 www.scan.co.uk www.seagate.com Issue 104, p75 69
K Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit www.scan.co.uk www.microsoft.com Issue 75, p46 119
The most awesome components around, before reaching workstation
territory. Weve included a dual 120mm liquid cooler kit as a base
example, but the case has space for a variety of water-cooling setups
G H I J K
PSU SOLID STATE DRIVE SOUND CARD HARD DISK OPERATING SYSTEM
A
D
RAM
E F
GRAPHICS CARD COOLING
B
MOTHERBOARD CPU
C
UPDATED
UPDATED
UPDATED
26 May 2013
TYPE GRAPHICS CARD GRAPHICS CARD GRAPHICS CARD GRAPHICS CARD
NAME Nvidia GeForce GTX 660 2GB Nvidia GeForce GTX 670 2GB
AMD Radeon HD 7970 3GB
GHz Edition
Nvidia GeForce GTX 770 2GB
SUPPLIER www.scan.co.uk www.ebuyer.com www.ebuyer.com www.scan.co.uk
MANUFACTURER www.nvidia.com www.nvidia.com www.amd.com www.nvidia.com
REVIEWED Issue 119, p66 Issue 119, p70 Issue 119, p69 Issue 119, p72
PRICE (inc VAT) 150 263 306 329
lGa1150 components
UPDATED
TYPE CPU MOTHERBOARD COOLER RAM
NAME Intel Core i5-4670K MSI Z87-G45 Gaming
Thermalright True Spirit
120M
8GB Kingston HyperX
Genesis
KHX1866C11D3P1K2/8G
SUPPLIER www.scan.co.uk www.scan.co.uk www.overclockers.co.uk www.lambda-tek.com
MANUFACTURER www.intel.co.uk www.msi-computer.com www.thermalright.com www.kingston.com
REVIEWED Issue 119, p38 Issue 119, p42 Issue116, p61 Issue 106, p40
PRICE (inc VAT) 191 108 25 65
UPDATED
UPDATED
UPDATED
27 May 2013
NAME Intel Core i7-3930K Asus Sabertooth X79 Corsair H100i
16GB Corsair Vengeance
1,600MHz CAS9
SUPPLIER www.novatech.co.uk www.scan.co.uk www.scan.co.uk www.dabs.com
MANUFACTURER www.intel.co.uk http://uk.asus.com www.corsair.com www.corsair.com
PRICE (inc VAT) 480 269 93 114
28
NAME AMD A10-5800K Gigabyte GA-F2A85XM-D3H Gelid Tranquillo Rev 2
8GB Corsair Vengeance
2,133MHz CAS11
SUPPLIER www.aria.co.uk www.scan.co.uk www.quietpc.com www.scan.co.uk
MANUFACTURER www.amd.com www.gigabyte.com www.gelidsolutions.com www.corsair.com
PRICE (inc VAT) 92 66 26 57
28 May 2013
TYPE BUDGET CASE MICRO-ATX CASE AIR-COOLING CASE WATER-COOLING CASE
NAME Xigmatek Midgard II SilverStone TJ08-E SilverStone Raven RV03 SilverStone Temjin TJ07B-W
SUPPLIER www.overclockers.co.uk www.scan.co.uk www.scan.co.uk www.overclockers.co.uk
MANUFACTURER www.xigmatek.com www.silverstonetek.com www.silverstonetek.com www.silverstonetek.com
PRICE (inc VAT) 60 73 95 260
TYPE
LGA1155 CPU
WATERBLOCK
GEFORCE GTX 680
WATERBLOCK
RADEON HD 7970
WATERBLOCK
DUAL 120MM RADIATOR
NAME XSPC RayStorm CPU XSPC Razor GTX680
Aquacomputer aquagrATIx
for HD 7970
Alphacool NexXxos UT60
Full Copper 240mm
SUPPLIER www.aquatuning.co.uk www.specialtech.co.uk www.aquatuning.co.uk www.aquatuning.co.uk
MANUFACTURER www.xs-pc.com www.xs-pc.com www.aquacomputer.de www.alphacool.com
PRICE (inc VAT) 54 94 81 57
29 May 2013
30
TYPE HARD DISK SSD NAS BOX
NAME Seagate Barracuda 2TB ST2000DM001 Plextor M5 Pro 256GB Synology DiskStation DS213j
SUPPLIER www.scan.co.uk www.scan.co.uk www.ebuyer.com
MANUFACTURER www.seagate.com www.plextor.com www.synology.com
REVIEWED Issue 104, p75 Issue 117, p64 Issue 119, p50
PRICE (inc VAT) 69 150 168
TYPE 530W PSU 850W PSU 1.2kW PSU
NAME Be Quiet! Pure Power L8 530W Corsair HX850 Corsair AX1200i
SUPPLIER www.scan.co.uk www.scan.co.uk www.scan.co.uk
MANUFACTURER www.bequiet.com www.corsair.com www.corsair.com
REVIEWED Issue 110, p55 Issue 110, p68 Issue 111, p40
PRICE (inc VAT) 63 120 258
UPDATED
30 May 2013
UPDATED
TYPE 24IN MONITOR 27IN BUDGET MONITOR 29IN MONITOR TRIPLE-MONITOR STAND
NAME Dell U2412M Digimate IPS-2701WPH Dell U2913WM
SUPPLIER www.scan.co.uk www.overclockers.co.uk www.overclockers.co.uk www.scan.co.uk
MANUFACTURER www.dell.com www.digimate.com www.dell.com www.xfxforce.com
PRICE (inc VAT) 207 380 420 306
TYPE SOUND CARD USB SOUND CARD 2.1 SPEAKERS HEADSET
NAME Creative Sound Blaster Z Asus Xonar Essence One Corsair SP2500 Qpad QH-90
SUPPLIER www.scan.co.uk www.dabs.com www.scan.co.uk www.ebuyer.com
MANUFACTURER www.creative.com www.asus.com www.corsair.com www.qpad.com
REVIEWED Issue 116, p42 Issue 118, p44 Issue118, p75 Issue 118, p69
PRICE (inc VAT) 75 348 179 73
XFX Triple Display Monitor
Stand
31 May 2013
TYPE KEYBOARD MOUSE
NAME Gigabyte Osmium Mionix Naos 3200
SUPPLIER www.scan.co.uk www.ebuyer.com
MANUFACTURER www.gigabyte.com www.mionix.net
REVIEWED Issue 108, p70 Issue 108, p60
PRICE (inc VAT) 98 42
TYPE RPG FPS STRATEGY UNDERDOG
NAME Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim BioShock Infinite Frozen Synapse Trine 2
DEVELOPER www.bethsoft.com http://irrationalgames.com www.mode7games.com http://frozenbyte.com
PUBLISHER www.bethsoft.com www.2kgames.com www.mode7games.com http://frozenbyte.com
PRICE (inc VAT) 18 30 19 for two 12

50
SYNOLOGY
DS213J
Can this new NAS beat its
predecessor?
46
OVERCLOCKERS
ULTIMA EXTREME
ENVY
All the new technology!
55
RAZER VESPULA
We check out this
28 mouse mat with a
wasp-themed name
48
CORSAIR
OBSIDIAN 350D
Corsair joins the micro-
ATX party
55
STARTECH
WIRELESS HDD
ENCLOSURE
Share your storage
42
MSI Z87-G45
GAMING
Our first look at an
LGA1150 motherboard
44
SCAN 3XS Z87
NANU GTX
A decent-spec Haswell PC
in a micro-ATX box
55
FREEDOM
i-CONNEX
An improvement over a
touch-screen keyboard?
36 August 2013
Our in-depth analysis of
the latest PC hardware

38

37 August 2013
HOW WE TEST, P52
Intel Haswell
The latest CPU architecture from
Intel has now been released. We
put the Core i5-4670K and the Core
i7-4770K through their paces

38

38 August 2013
HOW MUCH?
INTEL CORE i5-4670K
Product code
BX80646I54670K
Price 191 inc VAT
Supplier www.scan.co.uk
Manufacturer
www.intel.co.uk
INTEL CORE i7-4770K
Product code
BXF80646I74770KS
Price 268 inc VAT
Manufacturer
www.intel.co.uk
IN DETAIL
Frequency i5-4670K:
3.4GHz; i7-4770K: 3.5GHz
Core Haswell
Manufacturing process 22nm
Number of cores i5-4670K;
4, i7-4770K: 4 x physical,
4 x logical
Cache L1: 4 x 32KB, L2: 4 x
256KB; L3: i5-4670K: 6MB
(shared); i7-4770K: 8MB
(shared)
Memory controller Dual-
channel DDR3, up to
1,600MHz
Packaging LGA1150
Features SSE, SSE2, SSE3,
SSSE3, SSE4, SSE4.2,
EM64T, F16C, Turbo Boost 2,
Quick Sync Video
ntels tick-tock release cycle usually forms a
predictable schedule of new products. The ticks
represent a shrinking of the manufacturing
process, such as the move from Sandy Bridge
(32nm) to Ivy bridge (22nm), and they usually include a
small performance boost. These are followed by tocks,
in a roughly annual cycle, when Intel introduces a new
microarchitecture, and often a new CPU socket too.
This month, its time to bid farewell to Ivy Bridge and
LGA1155, as Intel introduces its Haswell CPUs and
their new CPU socket LGA1150. Thankfully, the
cooler mounting holes for the new socket are spaced
the same way as those on the LGA1155 socket, so
LGA1155 coolers should be compatible with LGA1150.
With regards to the CPU itself, there isnt much in
the way of exciting new technology for enthusiasts.
With Ivy Bridge we had 3D transistors and Sandy
Bridge could be overclocked to 5GHz using air cooling.
However, Haswells pre-launch hype and marketing
has focused more on power efficiency and on-board
graphics, and Intel has stated that there have been no
changes to key pipelines. In short, Haswell
isnt far removed from Sandy Bridge in
terms of the fundamental architecture,
although there are still a few changes.
WHAT S NEW?
The specifications of the CPUs were reviewing here
the 191 Core i5-4670K and 268 Core i7-4770K are
practically identical to their Ivy Bridge counterparts,
the Core i5-3570K and Core i7-3770K, which retailed
for similar money at their launch last year. The Core i5
part still has 6MB of Level 3 cache, while the Core i7
part has 8MB. The Core i7-4770K also features Hyper-
Threading, enabling you to splityour CPU cores
resources and gain a further fourvirtual cores, and
K-series CPUs still sport unlocked multipliers.
Perhaps the most interesting new feature is that
overclocking can now be achieved in two ways. Intel
has introduced what it calls B-Clock tuning ratios.
These are essentially base clock straps, similar to
those on LGA2011 CPUs, which enable you to hike the
base clock frequency to levels that would be suicidal in
an LGA1155 system. Most motherboards will include
straps of 1.00, 1.25 and 1.67 where, for example, a
strap of 1.25 gives you a base clock of 125MHz, while
the rest of your system stays at 100MHz. Your CPU will
apply the 125MHz base clock as normal, with a 40x
multiplier resulting in a frequency of 5GHz.
Sadly, the straps will be locked on non K-series
CPUs, dashing hopes of applying big overclocks to
cheaper CPUs. Their use is also questionable for all
but the most extreme overclockers, as its usually
pretty easy to overclock a K-series CPU using nothing
more than the unlocked multiplier and maybe 1-2MHz
more added to the base clock frequency. However, this
feature might come in useful when running memory
at very high frequencies; thanks to an updated
memory controller, Haswell may see more of a
performance boost when using faster DIMMs than
with Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge well be covering
this in more depth next month.
Meanwhile, the on-board graphics system has seen
a boost, with both CPUs now equipped with Intel HD
4600 graphics. The Core i5-4670Ks GPU is clocked
at1,200MHz, and the Core i7-4770K gets a further
50MHz boost on top of this frequency.
Both CPUs alsohave a TDP of 84W slightly higher
than their Ivy Bridge equivalents an increase thats
due in part to some of the voltage regulation circuitry
being moved on-chip.
However, nominal and Turbo Boosted frequencies
are again the same, with the Core i7-4770K Turbo
Boosting to 3.9GHz, while the Core i5-4670K tops out
at 3.8GHz. The transistor count remains relatively
static at 1.4 billion too.
As we mentioned earlier, Intel is also focusing on
power efficiency with this CPU launch, clearly on the
warpath with the other big players in the mobile device
industry. Specifically, Intel has introduced new C6 and
INTEL
HASWELL
Faster than
previous CPUs;
easy to overclock;
reasonably priced
HAS-BEEN
Doesnt overclock
as high as Ivy
Bridge; not worth
upgrading from
LGA1155 CPUs
YOUR CPU WILL APPLY THE 125MHZ,
WITH A 40x MULTIPLIER RESULTING
IN A FREQUENCY OF 5GHZ
Haswell has landed, but is it worth upgrading
from Ivy Bridge or Sandy Bridge?
Haswell
39 August 2013
PROCESSORS
C7 sleep states, which allow the CPU to draw far less
power than even than Ivy Bridge CPUs a fraction of
the amount in some cases. This is thanks to a part of
the voltage regulation circuitry moving to the CPU,
providing a more granular supply.
Interestingly, the new sleep states have also
introduced an issue with some PSUs, which are now
unable to wake from sleep due to such low power
consumption. Thankfully, most new PSUs should be
okay most PSU manufacturers have released lists
ofthe PSUs that have been checked. An old PSU we
tried did have the issue, although all the LGA1150
motherboards weve tried also have the ability to
disable the new sleep states, albeit at the cost of a
modicum of power saving.
Performance and other features havent been
totally ignored though. Virtual and physical address
mapping sees a boost thanks to a larger translation
lookaside buffer (TLB). The branch prediction
technology has also been enhanced to cope with
theextra grunt on tap, and the Level 1 and Level 2
cache bandwidths have been doubled compared to
those in previous-generation CPUs too.
Intel has also introduced a new chipset, which is
rather predictably named Z87. It doesnt introduce any
remarkable new features, but as you might expect,
there are more USB 3 ports up to ten in total and
there are now six SATA 6Gbps ports controlled by the
chipset, up from two with the Z77 chipset.
PERFORMANCE
In our image editing test, the Core i7-4770K recorded
the highest score weve ever seen from a CPU at stock
speed. Its score of 2,022 was more than 100 points
faster than the Core i7-3770K and more than 300
points faster than a Core i7-2600K, with the latter
equating to a speed boost of 15 per cent. Meanwhile,
the Core i5-4670K managed a score of 1,969, which
again is a fantastic result, beating its Sandy Bridge and
Ivy Bridge predecessors by a noticeable margin.
In our multi-threaded video encoding test, the Core
i7-4770K was again noticeably faster than its Sandy
Bridge and Ivy bridge equivalents, holding a 160-point
lead over the Core i7-3770K, and it was more than 400
points faster than the Core i7-2600K a difference of
over 11 per cent. Without Hyper-Threading, the Core
i5-4670K was less convincing in this test, however,
being only a little faster than the Core i5-3570K.
Interestingly, our multi-tasking test saw the new chips
lagging a little behind their predecessors. However,
the solid results elsewhere were enough for the Core
i7-4770K to outpace its predecessor by 55 points
overall, with a similar lead for the Core i5-4670K over
the Core i5-3570K
Not surprisingly, the Haswell CPUs didnt prove to
be a whole lot faster than the previous chips in The
Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, but they did prove to be around
10 per cent faster in the Total War: Shogun 2 CPU
benchmark. The highly multi-threaded Cinebench
R11.5 3D workstation benchmark told a familiar
storytoo both the Core i5-4670K and Core i7-4770K
were faster than the Ivy Bridge CPUs, but only by
smallamounts.
40
Inside a new quad-core
Haswellchip it isnt radically
different from the inside of an Ivy
Bridge chip
Like Ivy Bridge chips, the wafers for
Haswell CPUs are fabricated using
a 22nm manufacturing process
CORE CORE CORE CORE
SYSTEM
AGENT
DISPLAY
ENGINE AND
MEMORY
CONTROLLER
SHARED L3 CACHE
MEMORY CONTROLLER IO
PROCESSOR
GRAPHICS
40 August 2013

scores:
Intel Core i7-4770K

scores:
Intel Core i5-4670K
custom PC custom PC
86
OVERALL
SPEED 43 / 50
FEATURES 14 / 15
VALUE 29 / 35
83
OVERALL
SPEED 45 / 50
FEATURES 14 / 15
VALUE 24 / 35
OVERCLOCKING
Initial testing showed there was very little to be gained
from using the straps rather than the multipliers when
overclocking using our test setup, so we dove straight
into our test motherboards EFI system and ramped
up the multipliers. We hit a thermal limit with the Core
i7-4770K quite quickly, but achieving a frequency
4.4GHz required no extra voltage, while the maximum
4.7GHz overclock required a vcore of 1.257V. However,
at this setting, the chips temperatures were bouncing
along just below their limits.
The Core i5-4670K was slightly different though. It
ran cooler with higher voltages, but we simply couldnt
get it stable at 4.7GHz, even using 1.3V, with it crashing
consistently in Prime95, despite CoreTemp reporting
temperatures in the 90s. In the end we settled at
4.6GHz, using a vcore of 1.25V and a multiplier of 46x.
As a point of comparison, both the equivalent Sandy
Bridge CPUs and the Ivy Bridge Core i5-3570K could
be overclocked to 5GHz using air cooling, while the
Core i7-3770K was still stable 4.8GHz.
Our tweaking wasnt lost on our benchmarks,
though, and despite having a 400MHz lower overclock,
the Core i5-4670K was actually slightly faster than the
5GHz Core i5-3570K, which was the previous record
holder in our image editing test. However, overall, the
Haswell CPU lost out due to its lacklustre overclock in
our other tests. Meanwhile, the Core i7-4770K only
just managed to hold on to the top spot, despite all the
older CPUs sporting higher clock speeds.
Interestingly, the total system power consumption
readings also showed a rather mixed bag. As you
would expect from the new architecture, the Haswell
CPUs consumed less power than their Ivy Bridge
counterparts when idle, but under load, the
4770K-equipped rig consumed a little more power
than with the 3770K installed. This situation was
reversed when the two CPUs were overclocked,
whichisnt surprising considering the 3770Ks higher
overclock, but 30W lower power consumption for
faster performance isnt to be sniffed at. The same
was also true, though to a much lesser extent, with
the4670K against the 3570K.
CONCLUSI ON
While we welcome more power-efficient CPUs, its
performance that gets our pulses racing. When Sandy
Bridge arrived, we were massively impressed by the
extra performance and its ability to overclock. Haswell
doesnt quite come in with all guns blazing, and its
only noticeably faster than the equivalent Sandy Bridge
or Ivy Bridge CPUs in a few specific tests. It also
appears to suffer from the same heat issues as Ivy
Bridge, meaning that youll be lucky to run it at more
than 4.5GHz on a daily basis.
However, the Core i5-4670K and Core i7-4770K are
undoubtedly faster overall, often making up for the
lack of overclocking headroom with performance. If
youre building a new system, Haswell is clearly the
way to go; the Core i5-4670K is best if you dont use
much in the way of heavily multi-threaded software.
For upgrades, the situation isnt as simple though.
There isnt a lot of point in upgrading to Haswell from
an equivalent Sandy Bridge or Ivy Bridge CPU at
39
OVERCLOCK SETTINGS
Name Default frequency Overclocked frequency Voltages used
Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz (35 x 100MHz) 4.7GHz (47 x 100MHz) CPU 1.257V
Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz (34 x 100MHz) 5GHz (50 x 100MHz) CPU, 1.4V
Intel Core i7-2600K 3.4GHz (34 x 100MHz) 5GHz (50 x 100MHz) CPU: 1.38125V, CPU PLL: 1.9V,
VCCSA: 1.1V, VCCIO: 1.106V
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz (33 x 100MHz) 5GHz (50 x 100MHz) CPU: 1.38125V, CPU PLL: 1.9V,
VCCSA: 1.1V, VCCIO: 1.106V
41 August 2013
PROCESSORS
GIMP IMAGE EDITING
HANDBRAKE H.264 VIDEO ENCODING
0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000
2,413
2,401
2,308
2,392
2,225
2,228
2,022
1,969
1,916
1,862
1,714
1,715 Core i5-2500K
Core i7-2600K
Core i5-3570K
Core i7-3770K
Core i5-4670K
Core i7-4770K
0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000
Core i5-2500K
Core i7-2600K
Core i5-3570K
Core i7-3770K
Core i5-4670K
Core i7-4770K
MULTI-TASKING
OVERALL
CINEBENCH R11.5
0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000
1,782
1,711
1,908
1,915
1,940
1,854
1,666
1,619
1,767
1,721
1,727
1,637 Core i5-2500K
Core i7-2600K
Core i5-3570K
Core i7-3770K
Core i5-4670K
Core i7-4770K
0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000
2,860
2,730
2,815
2,851
2,791
2,662
2,436
2,258
2,381
2,248
2,217
2,116 Core i5-2500K
Core i7-2600K
Core i5-3570K
Core i7-3770K
Core i5-4670K
Core i7-4770K
0 2.5 5 7.5 10
10.23
8.39
9.73
8.22
9.78
7.71
8.12
6.41
7.91
6.32
7.49
5.93 Core i5-2500K
Core i7-2600K
Core i5-3570K
Core i7-3770K
Core i5-4670K
Core i7-4770K
THE ELDER SCROLLS: SKYRIM
1,920 x 1,080, 16x AF, 0x AA
Lower is better
0 25 50 75 100
fps
fps 88
fps 99
fps 87
fps 104
fps 84
fps 103
Core i5-2500K
Core i7-2600K
Core i5-3570K
TOTAL WAR: SHOGUN 2 DX9 CPU TEST
TOTAL SYSTEM POWER DRAW
Default settings, no AA or AF
Idle
0 25 50 75 100
fps 32
fps 37
fps 29
fps 40
fps 28
fps 40
fps 25
fps 32
fps 25
fps 33
fps 24
fps 33
Core i5-2500K
Core i7-2600K
Core i5-3570K
0 40 80 120 160
W 100
W 96
W 104
W 109
W 130
W 121
W 81
W 79
W 91
W 90
W 109
W 103 Core i5-2500K
Core i7-2600K
Corei5-3570K
Core i7-3770K
Core i5-4670K
Core i7-4770K
Load
0 75 150 225 300
W 171
W 162
W 202
W 172
W 281
C 131
W 137
W 132
W 132
W 125
W 152
W 162 Core i5-2500K
Core i7-2600K
Corei5-3570K
Core i7-3770K
Core i5-4670K
Core i7-4770K
Stock speed Overclocked
4,387
4,078
4,229
4,245
4,208
3,903
3,621
3,187
3,461
3,160
3,211
2,997
fps 145
145
fps 136
fps 149
fps 127
fps 148
fps
fps 91
fps 105
fps 89
fps 99
fps 90
fps 102
Core i7-3770K
Core i5-4670K
Core i7-4770K
fps 139
fps 150
fps 138
fps 143
fps 135
fps 146
fps 34
fps 42
fps 34
fps 37
fps 32
fps 38
fps 28
fps 34
fps 28
fps 31
fps 25
fps 32
Core i7-3770K
Core i5-4670K
Core i7-4770K
Stock speed min Stock speed avg
Overclocked avg Overclocked min
TEST KIT
Intel DZ87KLT-75K motherboard, 16GB Corsair
Vengeance Pro 1,866MHz DDR3 memory, 120GB OCZ
Vector SSD, Nvidia GeForce GTX 680 2GB graphics card,
Corsair Pro Series Gold HX750 PSU, Windows 7 64-bit

most, youre looking at a 15 per cent performance
boost from an older Sandy Bridge model, and this
margin was only seen in our single-threaded image-
editing test. This is very unlike Sandy Bridge, where
theupgrade from an LGA1156 or LGA1366 system was
well worth it. Haswell is a decent CPU architecture, but
it isnt a lustworthy must-have.
ANTONY LEATHER
42 August 2013
HOW MUCH?
Price 108 inc VAT
Supplier
www.scan.co.uk
Manufacturer
http://uk.msi.com
IN DETAIL
Chipset Intel Z87
CPU support LGA1150 Core
i3, Core i5, Core i7, Pentium
and Celeron
Memory support 4 x slots:
max 32GB DDR3 (up to
3,000MHz)
Expansion slots Three 16x
PCI-E (one at 16x, two at 8x
or one at 8x and two at 4x),
four 1x PCI-E 2.slots
Sound Realtek ALC 1150
Networking 1 x Killer E2205
1Gb/sec LAN
Overclocking Base clock 90
300MHz, CPU straps 1,
1.25, 1.67, 2.5 CPU multiplier
8 -80; max voltages, CPU
2.1V, RAM 2.44V
Ports 6 x SATA 6Gbps, 1 x
mSATA 6Gbps (Z87), 1 x
PS/2, 10 x USB 2 (Z87),6 x
USB 3 (Z87) 8 x USB 2 1 x
LAN, 4 x surround audio out,
line in, mic, optical S/PDIF
out, VGA, DVI-D, HDMI
Dimensions (mm) 305 x 244
ntels LGA1155 socket has seen us through
both the Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge CPU
generations, but Intels shift to LGA1150
means youll need a new motherboard to
support Intels new Haswell CPUs (see p38). Well be
looking at loads of LGA1150 boards, based on the new
Z87 chipset, in our next issue, but in the meantime MSI
has been quick off the mark with the Z87-G45 Gaming.
This board is clad in a dark brown PCB with red and
black heatsinks, complete with a dragon symbol on
the chipset heatsink. It has a similar look to MSIs Z77
boards, which manage to look good without going
overboard on over-the-top colour schemes and frills.
In terms of features, Z87 is very similar to Z77,
although it notably increases the number of
USB 3 and SATA 6Gbps ports controlled by
the chipset. The Z87-G45 offers a total of six
SATA 6Gbps ports and six USB 3 ports, with
four of the latter on the back panel and a
further two provided by the usual PCB
header. The Z87-G45 Gaming also offers a SATA 6Gbps
mSATA connector a boon over the usual 3Gb/sec
SATA II slots usually found on Z77 boards. However,
asmSATA SSDs are still quite expensive compared to
their 2.5in counterparts, this feature would be better
suited to mini-ITX boards than full-sized ATX boards.
Both two-way SLI and three-way CrossFire are also
supported by the Z87-G45 Gaming. However, only the
first 16x PCI-E slot offers the full 16x operating mode,
while two-way setups will be reduced to eight lanes
per slot, and three-way CrossFire setups will have one
eight-lane slot and two four-lane slots.
Layout is good on the whole, with the USB 3 header
and SATA 6Gbps ports mounted parallel to the PCB to
aid cable routing. These are located right at the edge
ofthe PCB, along with all the usual headers. The CPU
socket is fairly clear of obstructions too, although the
VRM heatsink to its left may foul particularly large,
low-riding CPU coolers or waterblocks. The PCI-E
slots are well spaced too and, even if you use all three
16x slots, youll still have a free 1x slot located above
the top 16x slot. Owners of older TV cards and sound
cards should take note that there are no PCI slots,
however. Meanwhile, the box carries a USB 3 breakout
header, a front panel adaptor and an SLI cable,
although it only includes one SATA cable.
As for overclocking perks, sadly there are no
on-board power or reset buttons, nor overclocking
switches, which weve become accustomed to seeing
on MSIs enthusiast-focused motherboards. Theres
aCMOS-clear switch on the back panel, though, and
the total of five fan headers spread across the
motherboard will be enough for most people too.
If youre the type of person who likes to take control
of your case and CPU cooler fans, the Z87-G45
Gaming also has a rather nifty EFI-based fan-control
suite. This enables you to set fan curves, including
minimum and maximum fan speeds for the two CPU
headers and a fixed fan speed for the system fan
header, although this only works with 4-pin PWM fans.
MSI
GAMING
Easy to overclock;
well laid-out
EFI; decent
performance
WORKING
A tad expensive;
lacks overclocking
hardware perks
Z87 IS SIMILAR TO Z77, ALTHOUGH IT
INCREASES THE NUMBER OF USB 3
AND SATA 6GBPS PORTS
A solid rst LGA1150 motherboard
thats easy to overclock
Z87-G45 Gaming
and SATA 6Gbps ports mounted parallel to the PCB to header, although this only works with 4 pin PWM fans.
The array of back-panel inputs and outputs also includes a CMOS-clear switch
43 August 2013
LGA1150 MOTHERBOARD
GIMP IMAGE EDITING
0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000
2,498
2,413
2,081
2,022 Intel DZ87KLT-75K
MSI Z87-G45 Gaming
0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000
Intel DZ87KLT-75K
MSI Z87-G45 Gaming
MULTI-TASKING
0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000
1,763
1,782
1,647
MSI Z87-G45 Gaming
OVERALL
0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000
2,876
2,860
2,463
MSI Z87-G45 Gaming
Stock speed min Stock speed avg Overclocked avg Overclocked min
THE ELDER SCROLLS: SKYRIM
1,920 x 1,080, 16x AF, 0x AA
0 25 50 75 100
fps 107
fps 105
fps 91
fps 91
Intel DZ87KLT-75K
MSI Z87-G45 Gaming
TOTAL WAR: SHOGUN 2 DX9 CPU TEST
Default settings, no AA or AF
0 25 50 75 100
fps 42
fps 42
fps 35
fps 34
fps 35
fps 34
fps 28
fps 28
Intel DZ87KLT-75K
MSI Z87-G45 Gaming
4,367
4,387
3,661
3,621
fps 150
fps 150
fps 141
fps 139
PERFORMANCE
At stock speed, the Z87-G45 Gaming was a match for
Intels DZ87KLT-75K, which is the only other LGA1150
motherboard weve tested so far. It managed an image
editing score of 2,081, which is 59 points faster, while
itwas 40 points faster in the video encoding test. It was
a fraction slower in the multi-tasking test, however,
meaning the overall score was practically identical.
Likewise, in Total War: Shogun , it managed near-
identical results to the Intel board at stock speed, with
a minimum frame rate of 28fps, and both boards also
performed similarly in Skyrim.
Overclocking was generally easier than it was
withthe Intel motherboard, though, as the Z87-G45
Gamings EFI was well laid-out, making the resulting
frequencies from your tweaking immediately visible.
This is very handy, especially when it comes to dealing
with Haswells new base clock ratios, which allow
youto use very high base clock frequencies to
overclock the CPU. The board also recovered well
from overzealous overclocks, and we had no need to
reach for the CMOS-clear button .
01
Even if you use all three
16x slots, youll still have
a free 1x slot located above the
top 16x slot
02
The 6Gbps mSATA
connector is a boon over
the 3Gb/sec SATA II slots usually
found on Z77 boards, although
this feature is arguably better
suited to smaller motherboards
03
The USB 3 header and
SATA 6Gbps ports are
mounted parallel to the PCB to
aid cable routing
We eventually settled on a CPU frequency of 4.7GHz
using a vcore of 1.256V and a multiplier of x47. This is
the best we achieved on either board going beyond
this frequency resulted in the CPU overheating and
throttling, so its unlikely youll get a better result using
other motherboards either. This overclock resulted in
significant gains in our benchmarks, though, with the
overall score rising by over 400 points, and the frame
rate in Skyrim rising from 91fps minimum to 107fps.
CONCLUSI ON
The MSI Z87-G45 Gamings stock performance was
fine, and it happily pushed our CPU to its maximum
frequency of 4.7GHz in minutes. Its well laid-out,
easily recovers from overzealous overclocking and
itsEFI is easy to navigate too. The only issue is price.
At108, you would expect a little more in terms of
overclocking hardware perks, but new technology
alsousually commands a premium. If you want to
upgrade to Haswell now then this is great-performing
motherboard. However, if you can wait, it will also be
worth taking a look at our LGA1150 Labs test next
issue to see whats on offer from the competition.
ANTONY LEATHER
TEST KIT
3.5GHz Intel Core i7-4770K
CPU, 16GB Corsair
Vengeance Pro 1,866MHz
Corsair DDR3 memory,
128GB OCZ Vector SSD,
Nvidia GeForce GTX 680
2GB graphics card, Corsair
Pro Series Gold HX750
PSU, Windows 7 64-bit

custom PC
84
OVERALL
SPEED 42 / 45
FEATURES 22 / 30
VALUE 20 / 25
01
02
03
44 August 2013
HOW MUCH?
Price 1,299 inc VAT
Manufacturer
www.scan.co.uk
IN DETAIL
CPU Intel Core i5-4670K
overclocked to 4.4GHz
Motherboard Gigabyte
Z87M-D3H
Memory 8GB Corsair
Vengeance Pro 1,600MHz
DDR3
Graphics Nvidia GeForce
GTX 770 2GN
Sound Asus Xonar DGX
Hard disk 256GB Samsung
840 Pro; 2TB Seagate
Barracuda
Optical drive DVD-RW
Case Corsair Obsidian 350D
Cooling CPU: Corsair H60
PSU Corsair GS600
Ports Front: 4 x USB 3, 2 x
mini-jacks, card reader.
Rear: 4 x USB 3, 2 x USB 2,
1Gb/sec, 6 x mini-jacks,
1 x PS/2
Extras Windows 8 64-bit
Warranty Three years; first
year on-site, second and
third years RTB
can is well known for its high-end, high-
impact gaming machines, but its latest PC
isnt the type of looming machine weve come
to expect from the Bolton-based system
builder. Instead, its smaller than the usual towers, and
it doesnt use top-of-the-range components either.
The 3XS Z87 Nanu GTX locks a Core i5-4670K into
itsGigabyte micro-ATX motherboard. This mid-range
CPU runs at 3.4GHz, and it doesnt have Hyper-
Threading, so its four cores can only address four
concurrent tasks rather than eight, although this is
only really relevant in highly multi-threaded software.
Thankfully, Scan hasnt just left the Core i5 running at
its stock speed either its overclocked the chip to a
much more boastworthy 4.4GHz. Given that we
couldnt get this CPU to go beyond 4.6GHz with our
own test kit, this is a great overclock for a pre-built PC.
Its a similar story with graphics. The GeForce GTX
770 isnt Nvidias new flagship its based on the
GK104 core used in last years GTX 680 rather than the
new GK110 but Scan has given the GPU some extra
help. The cards stock speed of 1,046MHz has been
raised to 1,136MHz, and its 2GB of GDDR5 memory
has been lifted from 7,000MHz to 8,010MHz as well.
Its a good start, with Scan getting the most out of
itscomponents, and the rest of the specification is
attractive too. The 256GB Samsung 840 Pro SSD won
an award in our last SSD Labs test, while the 2TB
Seagate Barracuda gives you bags of storage space.
A Blu-ray drive is included too, along with an Asus
Xonar DGX sound card a bonus over the usual
on-board audio. Meanwhile, Scan has sensibly opted
for 8GB of RAM, which is half the amount included in
the Overclockers Extreme Envy system (see p46), but
more than adequate for everyone except heavy multi-
taskers and those running lots of virtual machines at
once. The only potential issues with the specification
are the sacrifices needed to squeeze the Gigabyte
Z87M-D3H motherboard into a micro-ATX form factor.
It has no PCI-E 1x slots, for example, and the second
PCI-E 16x slot has just four lanes. Theres also no sign
of an eSATA port, on-board overclocking options or an
on-board power button.
However, the advantage of the smaller
motherboard is that it will fit into a compact chassis.
The 350D is the smallest chassis in Corsairs Obsidian
range its 449mm long and 439mm tall but it looks
and feels luxurious, with its a brushed metal facade,
windowed side panel and great build quality. The white
strip lights add a touch of glamour too.
The cases four feet allow air to pass through vents
on the bottom, and that isnt the only sensible touch. A
dedicated 2.5in SSD cage is installed towards the top
of the chassis, with room for two 3.5in hard disks at the
bottom which means theres a wide gap at the front
of the enclosure to aid airflow. Theres tool-free access
to the drive bays and 5.25in bays too, and the holes
around the motherboard tray has enabled Scan to be
fastidious with its cable tidying.
Meanwhile, cooling is handled by a Corsair H60,
andits two tubes are kept out of the way of the empty
memory slots too. Its an extremely well-built
machine. Finally, power comes from a Corsair GS600.
This has enough grunt to keep this machine in check,
although it isnt a modular unit. An extra layer of
support also comes from Scans three-year warranty
one year more than the Overclockers machine. The
deal includes a year of on-site cover, with the second
and third years return-to-base.
PERFORMANCE
The Core i5 chip might not be the most powerful in
Intels Haswell arsenal but, thanks to Scans overclock,
its no slouch either. A score of 2,232 in our image
S
SCAN
SCAN
Impressive
overclocked
performance;
strong and
smallcase;
super-fast SSD
SCAM
Not as quick as
rivals; mid-range
motherboard;
little overclocking
headroom
An overclocked Haswell CPU and
aGeForce GTX 770 for a great price
3XS Z87 Nanu GTX

custom PC
92
OVERALL
SPEED 22 / 25
DESIGN 23 / 25
HARDWARE 23 / 25
VALUE 24 / 25
45 August 2013
MICRO-ATX GAMING PC
editing benchmark is barely slower than the
overclocked Core i7-3770K installed in Scans own
3XSNode Titan, and it isnt far behind the 2,391 scored
by the 4770K-powered Overclockers machine.
The Scan also rattled through our video encoding
test to score 4,153; again, this isnt far off the Ivy
Bridge-based Scan system. However, with the aid
ofHyper-Threading, its no surprise that the
Overclockers machine, which ran its Core i7-4770K
at4.6GHz, scored 4,565 in the same test.
The Scan lagged behind the Overclockers machine
in the multi-tasking test too, with its score of 1,807
being 100 points slower than the Overclockers PCs
1,934. Even so, the Scan machine returned an overall
benchmark score of 2,730 still a very respectable
result. However, Scan has pushed this PC to the limit;
we were unable to overclock the CPU further without
itbecoming unstable.
The tweaked GTX 770 also performed well in our
game benchmarks. In Crysis 3 at 1,920 x 1,080, the
Scan system turned out a minimum frame rate of
47fps only 2fps slower than the stock-speed GTX
780in the Extreme Envy.
Were very pleased by the inclusion of a Samsung
840 Pro too its sequential read and write results of
519MB/sec and 467MB/sec respectively are among
the best in the business.
Despite being a small and powerful machine, it
didnt become too hot either. The processors top
temperature of 77C is reasonable, and the tweaked
graphics card hit a peak of 84C a little high, but not
dangerous. It was also extremely quiet when idle and,
while its low mid-game rumble was interrupted by
occasional bursts from the graphics cards fans, the
noise wasnt too intrusive.
01
The graphics cards stock
speed of 1,046MHz has
been raised to 1,136MHz, and
its 2GB of GDDR5 memory has
been lifted from 7,000MHz to
8,010MHz as well
02
A single-fan Corsair H60
all-in-one liquid cooler
keeps the CPU cool
03
The holes around the
motherboard tray have
enabled Scan to be fastidious
with its cable tidying
CONCLUSI ON
The Z87 Nanu GTX is small, good-looking and fast. Its
fast in applications, and the overclocked GTX 770 will
also tackle every game bar Crysis 3 at three-screen
resolutions. Its a little cheaper than the Overclockers
PC too. Wed only opt for the more expensive machine
if pure performance was our main consideration.
Otherwise, the Scan is extremely quick, and presented
in a compact, attractive and well-rounded package.
MI KE JENNINGS
GIMP IMAGE EDITING
Stock speed
0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000
2,232
2,268 Scan 3XS Node Titan
Scan Z87 Nanu GTX
0
1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000
4,153
4,240
Scan 3XS Node Titan
Scan Z87 Nanu GTX
MULTI-TASKING
0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000
1,807
1,857
Scan 3XS Node Titan
Scan Z87 Nanu GTX
OVERALL
0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000
2,730
Scan Z87 Nanu GTX
BATTLEFIELD 3
0 25 50 75 100
89fps
109fps Scan 3XS Node Titan
Scan Z87 Nanu GTX
1,920 x 1,080, 16x AF, 4x AA
0 25 50 75 100
37fps
49fps
34fps
Scan Z87 Nanu GTX
5,760 x 1,080, 16x AF, 4x AA
107fps
132fps
CRYSIS 3
0 25 50 75 100
57fps
66fps
44fps
Scan Z87 Nanu GTX
1,920 x 1,080, 16x AF, 0x AA
0 25 50 75 100
23fps
39fps
18fps
Scan Z87 Nanu GTX
5,760 x 1,080, 16x AF, 0x AA

01
02
03
46 August 2013
HOW MUCH?
Price 1,399 inc VAT
Supplier
www.overclockers.co.uk
Manufacturer
www.overclockers.co.uk
IN DETAIL
overclocked to 4.6GHz
Motherboard Gigabyte
Z87-D3HP
Memory 16GB Adata XPG
Xtreme 2,133MHz DDR3
Graphics: Nvidia GeForce
GTX 780 3GB
Sound On-board
Storage 120GB Samsung
SSD 840, 2TB Seagate
Barracuda
Optical drive DVD-RW
Case Corsair Obsidian 650D
Cooling CPU: Alpenfohn K2
Mount Doom with 2 x
120mm fans, 2 x 200mm
fans, 1 x 120mm exhaust
PSU Corsair GS600
Ports Front: 2 x USB 3, 2 x
USB 2, 2 x mini-jacks. Rear:
6 x USB 3, 2 x USB 2, 1 x
Gigabit Ethernet, 1 x optical
S/PDIF, 5 x mini-jacks,
1 x PS/2
Extras Windows 8 64-bit
Warranty Two years collect
and return
verclockers is a big player in the UK enthusiast
scene, so its no surprise to see the company
come out fighting with its first Haswell PC.
TheUltima Extreme Envy wont just turn rivals
green because of its high-end processor either it
also boasts an Nvidia GeForce GTX 780 graphics card.
However, what first grabbed our attention when we
first pushed the Ultimas responsive power button was
the pair of BitFenix strip lights inside, which are visible
through the Corsair Obsidian 650D cases window.
The lights bathe the interior in a striking shade of
green, and theyre not the only colourful parts visible
through this systems large window. The green
lettering along the graphics cards flank stands out,
and the two 200mm BitFenix Spectre Pro fans are
fitted with green LEDs too. Its a striking design.
The Envy impressed elsewhere too. The cases
steelframe is sturdy, and its brushed metal facade
makes it look great. The two side panels can also be
removed by pressing buttons, rather than fiddling with
thumbscrews, and theres a SATA dock at the top of the
case. Theres hardly a cable in sight either.
Meanwhile, the 3.5GHz Core i7-4770K has been
overclocked to 4.6GHz, with a CPU voltage of 1.3V,
andOverclockers has opted for a hefty Alpenfohn K2
Mount Doom heatsink in order to chill the chip. Its a
twin-tower part thats topped off with a pair of 120mm
fans, and it makes for an impressive spectacle, but
theres a downside: it hangs over the memory slots,
making the two free DIMM slots difficult to access.
Overclockers hasnt tweaked the Asus GeForce GTX
780 graphics card any further, though, so while theres
power here to put every top game to the sword, youll
have to tweak the GPU yourself if you want higher
frame rates. Unlike the Scan 3XS Z87 Nanu GTX (see
p44), the Envy also includes 16GB of 2,133MHz DDR3
RAM, and were pleased to see a 2TB Seagate
Barracuda hard disk installed for extra storage space.
In a few departments, the Ultima Envy doesnt quite
live up to its name though. Windows 8 64-bit is loaded
on to a 120GB Samsung 840 series SSD, for example,
while the Scan machine has a faster and more
capacious 256GB Pro model.
All the components are slotted into a Gigabyte Z87-
D3HP motherboard, which ticks the high-end boxes
inseveral key areas: support for 32GB of overclocked
DDR3 RAM, six SATA 6Gbps ports, loads of USB 3
ports and two UEFI chips soldered onto its attractive
black PCB. In other areas, though, the budget bites. Its
second PCI-E 16x slot is limited to eight lanes, SLI isnt
supported and the back panel includes a PS/2 port,
but no sign of eSATA. There are no on-board buttons or
POST displays either, and it also has a lack of mounting
holes along its right-hand edge to secure it in place.
Meanwhile, the middle of the board serves up one
PCI-E 1x slot and a pair of PCI slots for older cards.
Ambitious upgrades may be restricted by the
Corsair GS600 power supply though. This is a great
PSU for the current setup, and it meets 80Plus
certification, guaranteeing 80 per cent efficiency.
However, it isnt modular and it only has two PCI-E
power connectors, both of which are already used for
the graphics card. Finally, the two-year collect-and-
return warranty is more generous than the one-year
return-to-base deal included with many PCs, and
Overclockers will pay for shipping too.
PERFORMANCE
The Overclockers machine ripped through our image
editing test to a score of 2,391 more than 100 points
ahead of the Ivy Bridge-based Scan 3XS Node Titan.
The gap widened in our video encoding test too the
Haswell system scored 4,565, with the Ivy Bridge
machine lagging behind with 4,240.
O
OVERCLOCKERS
GREEN LIGHT
Stunning 2D
performance;
effective lighting;
great chassis
RED LIGHT
Mid-range
motherboard and
SSD; no GPU
overclock as
standard
Stunning application performance, and loads
of cutting-edge hardware for the money
Ultima Extreme Envy

custom PC
90
OVERALL
SPEED 23 / 25
DESIGN 21 / 25
HARDWARE 22 / 25
VALUE 24 / 25
47 August 2013
GAMING PC
In our multi-tasking benchmark, the Envy scored
1,934 again, ahead of the 3XS Node Titan, and the
Overclockers score of 2,963 easily beat the Node
Titans 2,778 too. When it comes to application
performance, this system is a monster, and its also
ahead of the 4670K-based Scan 3XS Z87 Nanu GTX.
The graphics performance is also stunning,
despitethe lack of overclocking. The Envy managed to
produce a smoothly playable minimum frame rate of
39fps in Battlefield 3 at 5,760 x 1,080, and it was also
quite happy in Crysis 3 at 1,920 x 1,080. Our tests with
the card in our graphics card Labs show that the GTX
780 will be able to comfortably deliver the frame rates
in Crysis 3 at 2,560 x 1,600 as well, although it cant
quite cope with it at 5,760 x 1,080. That said, the GTX
780 is currently overpriced and, in terms of playable
frame rates, the overclocked GTX 770 in the Scan 3XS
Z87 Nanu GTX is capable of playing todays games at
similar settings, while also saving you some money.
We werent able to push the CPU any higher, but
wecould increase the GPUs 863MHz core clock to
930MHz. This helped the PC to hit 100fps in Battlefield
3 at 1,920 x 1,080, and added 2fps to the minimum in
Crysis 3 at 1,920 x 1,080, and without overheating.
The CPUs peak delta T of 65C is surprisingly cool,
and the coolers fans stop spinning when they arent
required too making the PC whisper-quiet when idle,
and only emitting a low rumble under load.
Theres only one notable benchmark
disappointment, and thats the Samsung 840 SSD,
which just cant match the pace offered by top-end
drives. While its sequential read result of 518MB/sec
isexcellent, its sequential write speed of 129MB/sec
isdisappointing when compared to the Samsung 840
Pro drive found in the Scan 3XS Z87 Nanu GTX .
01
The interior has a green
lighting theme, from the
strip lights to the green LEDs in
the fans
02
A hefty Alpenfohn K2
Mount Doom heatsink
chills the CPU. It makes for an
impressive spectacle, but it also
makes the two free DIMM slots
difficult to access
03
The PC features an
amazing cable-routing job
theres barely a wire in sight
CONCLUSI ON
Theres plenty to like here, not least the fantastic
application benchmark results. The good-looking
chassis is also well built, we love the interiors green
theme and its no slouch in games either. The mid-
range motherboard and SSD arent particularly
ambitious, but theyre forgivable for the price of 1,399
a bargain for the kit on offer. This is an attractive rig
that consistently punches above its weight.
MI KE JENNINGS
GIMP IMAGE EDITING
Stock speed
0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000
2,391
Overclockers Envy
0
1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000
4,565
4,240
Scan 3XS Node Titan
Overclockers Envy
MULTI-TASKING
0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000
1,934
Overclockers Envy
OVERALL
0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000
2,963
Overclockers Envy
BATTLEFIELD 3
0 25 50 75 100
97fps
Overclockers Envy
1,920 x 1,080, 16x AF, 4x AA
0
25 50 75 100
54fps
49fps
39fps
Overclockers Envy
5,760 x 1,080, 16x AF, 4x AA
120fps
132fps
CRYSIS 3
0 25 50 75 100
61fps
66fps
45fps
Overclockers Envy
1,920 x 1,080, 16x AF, 0x AA
0 25 50 75 100
37fps
39fps
20fps
Overclockers Envy
5,760 x 1,080, 16x AF, 0x AA

01
02
03
48 August 2013
HOW MUCH?
Price 95 inc VAT
Supplier
www.specialtech.co.uk
Manufacturer
www.corsair.com
SKU number
CC-9011029-WW
IN DETAIL
x 440 (W x D x H)
Material Steel, aluminium
Available colours Black
Weight 6kg
Front panel Power, reset,
2 x USB 3, stereo, mic
Drive bays 2 x external
5.25in, 2 x internal 3.5in,
3 x internal 2.5in
Form factor(s) Micro-ATX,
mini-ITX
Cooling 2 x front
120/140mm fan mounts
(1 x fan included), 2 x top
(fans not included), 1 x
120mm rear fan mount
(fan included)
CPU cooler clearance
180mm
Maximum graphics card
length 350mm
Extras None
orsairs new Obsidian 350D is the companys
second micro-ATX case, but it isnt what youd
call tiny when its compared to other micro-
ATX cases. It measures 21cm wide and 44cm
high, which actually makes it larger than some of the
smaller full-sized ATX cases weve seen.
Its also pricey for a micro-ATX case; at 95, its just
a few quid cheaper than NZXTs Phantom a full-
sized tower with good water-cooling support and fan
control, while its nearly 50 dearer than the frills-free
but still perfectly capable Antec One. So, if the 350D
isnt a budget mini case, what is it?
Put simply, its a well-built micro-ATX case thats
designed for water cooling. It feels reassuringly solid
and well made, and it looks a lot like its Obsidian
bigger siblings, with a black, brushed aluminium
front panel with stretched 5.25in bay covers. All the
ports and buttons are exposed and located
above the two external 5.25in bays. The
front panel isnt exactly dripping with
gadgets, though, with just two USB 3 ports
and the usual mini-jacks. Theres no fan
controller either, which youd expect to be
included with a case costing nearly 100.
The main reason for this omission, and
the Obsidian 350Ds size, is that Corsair has made
sure that the 350D is compatible with all of its current
all-in-one liquid coolers, many of which have built-in
fan controls. Theres a substantial amount of space
above the motherboard, with two 120/140mm fan
mounts providing a potential home for up to a double
140mm-fan radiator, meaning that even Corsairs
monstrous Hydro H100i and Hydro H110 all-in-one
liquid coolers will fit.
Theres also enough space to fit a second radiator
in the rear 120mm fan mount, which is occupied by a
120mm fan as standard, and space on top of the 3.5in
drive cage, or in front of the PSU, for a pump, should
you install a custom water-cooling kit. Meanwhile, the
front of the case sports two further 120/140mm front
fan mounts, with a second 120mm fan included.
The sizeable dimensions of the case also means
there are unlikely to be any issues with large CPU
coolers or long graphics cards, and the large side-
panel window (optional for the same price) means
youll get a great view of your shiny new hardware
from the outside too. Theres also plenty of room to
build a micro-ATX system inside without trouble,
thanks to excellent attention to cable-routing areas
the motherboard tray is bristling with rubber
grommets, and theres a large CPU area cut-out too.
The gap between the motherboard tray and rear
side panel is deliciously large as well, making it easy
to stow cables out of sight in this area something
that cant be said for most micro-ATX cases.
Meanwhile, two 2.5in SSD bays two are mounted in a
removable cage, along with two 3.5in tool-free bays in
the base. To keep the innards free from dust, there are
C
CORSAIR
350Z
Excellent cable
routing; good
cooling; room
for water-cooling
systems
MICRA
Expensive; no fan
control; large for
amicro-ATX case
THE SIZEABLE DIMENSIONS MEAN
THERE ARE UNLIKELY TO BE
ISSUES WITH LARGE CPU
COOLERS OR GRAPHICS CARDS
A solid case with great cooling potential,
but it isnt cheap
Obsidian 350D
To keep the innards free from dust, a large, removable dust filter
is located beneath the PSU, with another behind the front fascia
49 August 2013
MICRO-ATX CASE
also two large, removable dust filters one located
beneath the PSU, and the other behind the hefty front
fascia, with both being easy to detach and clean.
PERFORMANCE
Thankfully, it turned out that there wasnt really a
need for a fan controller, as the Obsidian 350D proved
to be very quiet in our full-load test using Prime95 and
Unigines Heaven benchmark. Sadly, our previous
micro-ATX test system graphics card went the way of
the dodo, so we had to rerun some tests with a new
card. As such, while the comparative graphics in
thisreview are correct, the results wont be fairly
comparable with previous micro-ATX case reviews.
SilverStones Sugo SG09 and TJ08-E are two of the
best micro-ATX cases weve previously tested, and the
Obsidian 350D stood up well to these. Its CPU delta T
was 7C warmer than the TJ08-E on its highest fan
speed setting, and 5C higher than theSG09. The
GPU delta T of 49C was a respectable result too,
andwas 6C off the TJ08s best maximum-fan speed
result. These are laudable results considering the
lownoise produced by the 350D, although its a little
warmer than both cases at their lowest fan speeds.
CONCLUSI ON
Corsair has bravely pitched the Obsidian 350D as a
premium micro-ATX case with the significant boon
ofbeing compatible with its all-in-one liquid coolers.
If you kit out the case with a Hydro H100i, youll
haveenough cooling power for any overclocked
CPU.You could even install your own custom
water-cooling system, and cool the motherboard
andgraphics card too.
Of course, it was hard for Corsairs Obsidian
900Dto fail, given its superb build quality and the
limited competition at the top end of the market,
butthat all changes in the sub-100 price bracket.
Here, the Obsidian 350D has stiff competition from
both cheaper micro-ATX and full-sized ATX cases,
notleast of all the better-performing, cheaper and
noticeably smaller SG09 and TJ08-E, both of which
also offer fan control. The size of the Obsidian 350D
may put many off at a stroke too, given that many
micro-ATX motherboard owners like their PC to be
assmall as possible.
We cant ignore the Obsidian 350Ds flexibility in the
cooling department though. Its good as an air-cooled
case and would be fantastic as a mini water-cooled
chassis. There really arent many other micro-ATX
cases that have the same cooling potential so, while
the Obsidian 350D is large and comparatively
expensive, its also very flexible.
If you want to build a water-cooled micro-ATX PC
then this is the case for you, but if you want to build
asmall, air-cooled micro-ATX PC, the SilverStone
TJ08-E remains our case of choice.
ANTONY LEATHER
01
02
03
CPU LOAD DELTA T TEMPERATURE
Lower is better
Lower is better
0 15 30 45 60
46C
39C
42C
43C
44C
SilverStone Sugo SG09
(low speed)
SilverStone TJ08-E
(low speed)
(high speed)
SilverStone TJ08-E
(high speed)
Corsair Obsidian 350D
GPU LOAD DELTA T TEMPERATURE
0 15 30 45 60
49C
43C
44C
46C
47C
(low speed)
(high speed)
SilverStone TJ08-E
(low speed)
SilverStone TJ08-E
(high speed)
Corsair Obsidian 350D

custom PC
82
OVERALL
COOLING 25 / 30
FEATURES 18 / 20
DESIGN 26 / 30
VALUE 13 / 20
01
The gap between the
motherboard tray and
rear side panel is deliciously
large, making it easy to stow
cables out of sight in this area
02
Fully catering for the
solid state generation,
the Obsidian 350D features
dedicated 2.5in drive bays in
addition to the usual 3.5in and
5.25in bays
03
Theres a substantial
amount of space above
the motherboard, with two
providing a potential home for up
to a double 140mm-fan radiator
50 August 2013
NAS BOX
HOW MUCH?
Price 168 inc VAT
Supplier www.ebuyer.com
Manufacturer
www.synology.com
IN DETAIL
Features FTP server,
webserver, photo server,
music server, independent
download (via HTTP, FTP
and BitTorrent), iTunes and
UPnP media sever, DLNA,
print server, storage server
for external USB hard disks,
surveillance server
x 165 (W x D x H)
Weight 0.91kg
Drive bays 2 x 3.5in/2.5in
Ports Front: None; Rear: 2
x USB 2, LAN
iven the quality of previous Synologys NAS
boxes, we were interested to see just what
could be improved in its new range of
products. Its latest two-bay budget NAS box,
the DS213j, came fresh out the door this month, and it
only costs 168 too. This is just a few quid more than
its predecessor, the award-winning DS212j, but what
new tricks does it have up its sleeve?
Both the DS213j and its predecessor use a 1.2GHz
Marvell Kirkwood single-core CPU, and they also
bothhave two USB 2 ports, a single 1Gb/sec LAN
connector and a rear 92mm fan. However, the older
DS212j only has 256MB of DDR2 RAM compared to
the 512MB of DDR3 in the DS213j.
Synologys easy-to-use DSM 4.2 operating system
has seen a few revisions since the
DS212j era too, and many of its apps
have been tweaked and refined. Its
Dropbox-style cloud storage package,
called Cloud Station, now supports files
up to 10GB in size, up from a paltry 1GB.
You also can retain up to 32 previous file
versions, and theres now no limit on the
number of shared folders you can synchronise.
Setting it up is even easier too.
As well as USB speaker support, Synology NAS
boxes now also offer Bluetooth speaker support,
further cementing their position as possible HTPC
replacements. You can now view thumbnails of
pictures in Synologys file explorer too if youll be
storing and editing photos on the NAS, this is likely
tobe a huge boon.
Whats more, when adding files to the NAS, you can
now simply drag them directly into the OSs browser
interface, which now supports common keyboard
commands such as Ctrl + A and Ctrl + V too.
All the usual apps are downloadable too,
includingan iTunes server, DLNA support and
manymore goodies, including the Download Station
app, which offers independent BitTorrent, FTP and
HTTP downloads.
Synology claims it has tweaked its operating
system too, saying the DS213j can now offer 100MB/
sec read speeds. We measured a maximum of 96MB/
sec in our large file write test a fantastic result. The
speed dropped to 45MB/sec when writing the same
data, which is a little slower than we expected.
However, it was back in the fast lane with our
torturous small file test, where it managed a read
speed of 26MB/sec and write speed of 21MB/sec
when dealing with 5GB of image, music and word
files both among the fastest results weve seen.
CONCLUSI ON
Thanks to having more RAM than its predecessor, as
well asa tweaked operating system, the DS213j is
awesomely fast, and its quiet too. Whats more,
Synologys latest operating system has better
features and is easier to use than ever too.
Our only real complaint is the lack of USB 3 support,
which will mean slow data-transfer speeds to an
external hard drive if you use one. Otherwise, for just
afew more quid than its predecessor, this is a great
NAS for a very reasonable price.
ANTONY LEATHER
G
SYNOLOGY
SYNC
Very fast read
and write speeds;
quiet; excellent
operating system
SINK
No USB 3 ports
SYNOLOGY NAS BOXES NOW OFFER
BLUETOOTH SPEAKER SUPPORT,
CEMENTING THEIR POSITION AS
POSSIBLE HTPC REPLACEMENTS
A speedy dual-bay NAS box
DS213j

91
OVERALL
SPEED 34 / 35
FEATURES 32 / 35
VALUE 25 / 30
52 August 2013
Thorough testing and research is the key to evaluating whether a product
is worth buying, and deciding whether or not theres a better alternative
TESTS: We use the Custom PC Media Benchmarks, Cinebench R11.5, and Total War: Shogun. We also test the resultant power draw of the
test PC with the CPU installed. These tests reveal a broad range of performance characteristics for the CPU, from image editing to gaming
and video encoding to 3D rendering. We run all the tests with the CPU at stock speed and again when overclocked to its highest frequency.
Graphics cards are mainly evaluated on how fast they are for their price. However, we also consider the efficacy
and quietness of the cooler. Every graphics card is tested in the same PC, so all results are directly comparable.
We judge CPUs on whether they offer sufficient speed for the price. Part of a CPUs speed score comes from
how overclockable it is. Every type of CPU is tested in the same PC, so all results are directly comparable.

The graphics card
were reviewing
Thegraphicscard 4.2GHz Intel Core
i5-3570K
AMD FM2 Intel
LGA1150
Nvidia GeForce
GTX 680 2GB
Gigabyte
GA-F2A75M-D3H
Intel DZ87KLT-
75K
120GB OCZ Vector
8GB of Corsair
2,133MHz DDR3
16GB of Corsair Vengeance
Pro Silver 1,866MHz DDR3
Windows 7
64-bit
8GB Corsair Dominator
2,400MHz DDR3
Asus Maximus V
Extreme
Windows 7 64-bit
SP1
Wi d 764 bit
AMD Socket
AM3+
Asus Crosshair IV
Formula
4GB of Corsair
1,600MHz DDR3
AMDFM2
amd fm2
Intel lGa1150
HOW WE TEST
53 August 2013
Our benchmark suite
simulates how people
really use PCs, and a
higher score is better.
You can download
the suite from
www.tinyurl.com/
benchies
2.66GHz Intel Core 2
Duo E6750
2GB of Corsair
1,066MHz DDR2
250GB Samsung
SpinPoint P120S
Asus P5K Deluxe
WiFi-AP
TESTS: By using the fast PC detailed on the
left, we can be sure that any limitations we see
are due to the graphics card on test. We test the
four games (right) at their maxi mum detail
settings, in their highest DirectX mode, and at
three resolutions. High-end cards should be able
to sustain playable frame rates at 2,560 x 1,600,
while 1,920 x 1,080 is more important for mid-
range cards; we also now test at 5,760 x 1,080 for
three-screen setups. As well as this, we try to
overclock every graphics card we test to see what
difference this makes to the cards performance.
Some products are
gloriously over the
top. These items of
excellent overkill
earn our Extreme
Ultra award.
Premium Grade
products are
utterly desirable
wed eat nothing
but beans until we
could afford them.
Products worthy
of the Professional
award make you
and your business
appear even
more awesome.
Approved products
are those that do a
great job for the
money; theyre the
canny purchase for
a great PC.
For those gadgets
and gizmos that
really impress us,
or that we cant live
without, theres the
Custom Kit award.
Motherboards are evaluated on everything from layout and features
to overclockability and value for money. Every motherboard is tested
with the same components, so all results are directly comparable.

TESTS: We use the Custom PC Media Benchmarks and several games, and also test
the speeds of the boards SATA ports. We try to overclock every motherboard we review
by testing for a maximum QPI, base clock or HTT as well as overclocking the CPU to its
maximum air-cooled level. We run our tests at stock speed and with the CPU overclocked.
Intel Core
i7-4770K
AMD Phenom
II X6 1100T BE
Motherboard
on test
Motherboard
on test
16GB of Corsair
Vengeance Pro Silver
1,866MHz DDR3
4GB of Corsair
1,600MHz DDR3
Motherboard M AMD A10-5800K Motherboard
on test
8GB of Corsair
2,133MHz DDR3
Nvidia GeForce
GTX 680 2GB*
120GB OCZ Vector Windows 7
64-bit
Windows7
*Please note: We test AMD FM2 motherboards using the on-board graphics, not the Nvidia GeForce GTX 680 2GB 3GB
amd fm2
8GBofCorsair
Intel lGa1150
TOY
SPHERO
02
Were not sure why the world needs a robotic ball that you
control with a smartphone or tablet (via Bluetooth), but
messing around with the Sphero is initially good fun. The
on-screen controls are responsive, and there are plenty of free
iOSand Android games available for it too. These range from a
rudimentary golf game to full-on augmented reality capers.
Unfortunately, after half an hour, we ended up standing around
asking what next?, and this is Spheros main issue technically,
its impressive, but it falls flat once the novelty has worn off. The
games are shallow and, more importantly, its ball shape precludes
it from carrying drinks. That robot butler is still a little way off.
PG
SPHERO WALL-E
Price 95 inc VAT Supplier www.iwantoneofthose.com
Manufacturer www.gosphero.com
54 August 2013
Custom Kit
We check out the latest gadgets, gizmos and geek toys
Written by Paul Goodhead
Seen something worthy of
appearing in Custom Kit?
Send suggestions to
paul_goodhead@dennis.co.uk
BLUETOOTH SPEAKER
DAMSON OYSTER
03
At roughly two thirds the size of a rugby ball, the Oyster is a
little more portly than portable. Fortunately, its sound more
than makes up for its oversized frame; monstrous is the best way to
describe the bass and volume available. Treble frequencies were
picked out well too, although its Achilles heel is that it occasionally
sounds crackly when using Bluetooth, rather than the direct cable
input this was sometimes noticeable when listening to acoustic
guitar sounds. With a solid 12 hours of battery life, its otherwise a
quality piece of kit, which will enable you to inflict your taste in music
on the entire beach, field or garden.
PG
PRUNE

DAMSON
Price 180 inc VAT Supplier www.advancedmp3players.co.uk
Manufacturer www.damsonaudio.com
TOY
SPPHHEERRRRROOOOOOOOOOO
02
We We We We WWW rrre eno o n tt su su sure re re re re r wwww whhhy hy hy hy hy y hytttttt the he he he hhe he hewwwww wwwor or or oor or orldd ld ld ld ld ldnnnnn nnee ee ee ee ee ee eeds ds ds s ds s ds dsaaaaaa arrrr rrr bbb obb ob ob oobot ot ot oot otiiic ic icbb baall l th that at at at yyyyyyoou oo
cont ntttro ro ro rro ollll lwi wwi wth h tth th aaa as sma mart rtph phon onee or ort tab able lett (v ((via iaB Blu luuu t et t et etoo oo oo ooth th th th th th))), )))) b bbbut
messing around withh hhhth th th th hheeee Sp Spppphe hhe eeeero ro o ro oii iiiss siin inniit iit it i iia iaaa ialll llyy yyygo oo good odd odd o ffff fun. The
on screencontrolsareresponsive andthereareplentyoffree
BOARD GAME
STAR TREK CATAN
01
If you were compiling a list of the
most successful board games of all
time, Settlers of Catan would be right up
there. Its an undeniable classic. Its a little
light on starships and Vulcans for some,
though, but not now that Star Trek Catan
has been born. If youve played the original
Settlers, you wont find much new here; its
just the same game, but with licensed Star
Trek (original series) artwork and playing
pieces. The special character cards add
aunique flavour, but beyond that it lacks
imagination. If youre a big Star Trek fan (or
buying for one), youll get your moneys
worth, but beyond that there isnt any reason
to opt for this over the original.
PG
JANEWAY PICARD
Price 37 Supplier www.gameslore.com
Manufacturer www.mayfairgames.com
CUSTOM KIT
55 August 2013
MOUSE MAT
RAZER VESPULA
04
Named after a genus of wasps, the
Vespula mouse mat has two parts.
The first is a grippy rubber base with an
attached wrist-rest, while the second part
is the rigid plastic surface of the mat. This
sits on top of the base, and is held in place
only by the tackiness (in a good way) of the
rubber base, so its easy to remove for
travelling or cleaning. The surface layer is
double-sided too, with smooth and grainy
surfaces available, both of which tracked
well during testing. Its size (240mm x
300mm) means it may be too small for
some, but if that isnt a problem, this is a
really great premium mouse mat that
wont cost the earth.
PG
FLY WASP
Price 28 inc VAT Supplier www.pixmania.com
Manufacturer www.razerzone.com
HDD ENCLOSURE
STARTECH WIRELESS HDD ENCLOSURE
05
For such a small box, the well-made Wireless HDD Enclosure has a lot
oftricks up its sleeve. Add a 2.5in drive to its innards and it will share an
Internet connection and its storage space with a room of computers. Alternatively,
it can also act as a Wi-Fi adaptor for a single computer, again adding its storage to
the network to which its connected. It even has a BitTorrent client built in. Its only
problem is that its a rather niche product. Many offices and schools are already
wired up with proper shared storage, while most ISP packages give you the
routerand kit needed to share an Internet connection at home these days anyway.
Meanwhile, for home network storage, youll be much better off spending more
money on a proper NAS box with a wired 1Gb/sec Ethernet connection, giving you
better data transfer rates.
PG
WIRE MESS WIRELESS
Price 59 inc VAT Supplier www.ebuyer.com Manufacturer www.startech.com
MOBILE ACCESSORY
FREEDOM i-CONNEX
06
The touch-screen keyboards on tablets
are adequate for basic tasks, but you
tire of them quickly if you use them to write a
lot of emails or notes. Unfortunately, help is
not at hand here typing on the Bluetooth
equipped i-Connex is just as much of a chore.
The action and feel of the keys is reasonable,
but its tricky to get used to the layout, as many
of the keys are strange sizes, especially the
spacebar, which is too small. To make matters
worse, the pop-out stand thats tucked into the
side of the i-Connex was too weedy to hold the
iPad we used for testing upright.
PG
EYE PAD

iPAD
Price 35 Supplier www.expansys.com
Manufacturer www.freedominput.com
W

hen it comes to building
yourPC, no part has a
bigger impact on 3D game
performance than the
graphics card. All too often we see users,
andeven retailers pairing top-end CPUs with
sub-standard GPUs, leaving buyers confused
about why their new 1,000 PC cant play
games at their maximum detail settings.
Neither AMD, Nvidia, or Intel for its part,
help in this matter, offering products with a
confusing selection of names and model
numbers. They often differ wildly in terms
ofprice, performance and value, but the
companies simultaneously proclaim that
theyre all great. In reality, of course, theres a
world of difference between even a 90 and a
150 GPU, let alone a bank-balance muncher
such as Nvidias brand-new GTX 780 3GB.
The only way to cut the sweet-spot wheat
from the underpowered or overpriced chaff
isa straight performance showdown.
Accordingly, weve pitched every current GPU
from the 75 HD 7750 up to the 855 GTX
We test every GPU
from 75 to 855 to
find the best card for
your next upgrade
Graphics card
58 August 2013
60
60 How we test
65 Nvidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost 2GB
68 AMD Radeon HD 7950 3GB Boost
74 Nvidia GeForce GTX Titan 6GB
78 Feature table
80 Graphs
SUPER-TEST
59 August 2013
HOW WE TESTED, PAGE 60
Titan against each other in four of the most
demanding games.
For this graphics card group test, weve
also focused our results on meaningful,
playable performance rather than a
minimalframe rate lead here and
disadvantage there, cutting through the
branding to reveal the best value card for
real-world gaming, whatever your budget.
The results just might surprise you; they
certainly surprised us on occasions.
HARRY BUTLER
60 August 2013
how we test
A
ll our graphics tests are performed on
ahigh-end Ivy Bridge system. This rig
features an Asus Maximus V Extreme
LGA1155 motherboard and an Intel Core
i5-3570K running at 4.2GHz. Alongside
thesecore components are 8GB of Corsair
Dominator 2,400MHz DDR3 RAM and a
256GB Samsung SSD 840 Pro SSD.
Powercomes from a LEPA G1600 1600W
PSU, capable of powering up to four high-
end graphics cards in SLI or CrossFire
configurations, while the chassis is an NZXT
Switch 810 large enough to accommodate
even 12in-long graphics cards.
Weve tested each card in four separate
games, using a mix of recorded time demos
and manual gameplay to test in-game
performance. Our Battlefield 3 test uses a
90-second sequence from the single-player
campaign mission Going Hunting, and our
BioShock Infinite benchmark uses a
40-second sequence from the games built-
in benchmark, which we time with FRAPS
todouble-check the accuracy. Meanwhile,
Crysis 3 is tested using a 45-second macro-
recorded play-through from the single-
player mission Red Star Rising, and our
Skyrim test is performed using a 60-second
macro-recorded play-through of the area
outside Whiterun.
Each game is tested at its highest detail
preset, with v-sync disabled and all frame
rates are recorded using the freely available
FRAPS frame-rate monitoring tool, and
repeated three times. The end result is an
average of the three scores, with erroneous
tests repeated until a reliable result can be
ascertained.
NEW STANDARDS
In the past, weve gauged a cards
performance based on its frame rates in
relation to its competitors, as well as
whether or not it delivers a frame rate wed
describe as playable.
For this group test, however, we tweaked
our scoring standards to better demonstrate
real-world performance differences , with
the Performance component of the score
decided by a points-based system. Points are
awarded for a minimum frame rate equal to
or above 30fps; the minimum target where
gameplay is smooth and, for the most part,
stutter-free. Bear in mind that the average
will still be much higher, but the minimum
frame rate is where youll notice your games
slowing down, so you want this to be as
smooth as possible
A minimum of 30fps or more is worth
three points at 1,920 x 1,080, two points at
2,560 x 1,600 and one point at 5,760 x 1,080. If
a minimum result is equal to or above 60fps
in a given test, 0.5 bonus points are also
awarded, rewarding the smoother visuals,
while a result of between 25fps and 29fps
(which weve consistently considered to be
borderline playable), receives 0.5 points.
Results below 25fps receive zero points.
While this scoring method is likely to be
controversial, we feel it highlights both the
underpowered low-end and the largely
unnecessarily powerful high end of the
current GPU market, and puts the onus on
real, useful performance in the current
generation of games. After all, if one card
manages a frame rate of 4fps, and another
manages 9fps, the latter card doesnt really
win as both are ultimately useless.
There is, however, an argument for looking
at frame rates beyond 60fps for the purpose
of future-proofing. For this reason, weve
also included results from Unigines Valley
1.0 benchmark, a demanding DirectX 11 test
thats heavy on tessellation. Its run at the
Ultra detail setting at 2,560 x 1,600 with
anti-aliasing disabled, and our result is the
average of three runs.
Weve also tested each GPU in two popular
GPGPU applications Folding@home and
Bitcoin Mining. If youre looking for a GPU for
these specific purposes, check the results at
the back. We prioritised performance in real
games, so neither Unigine Valley or GPGPU
performance has been factored into the
scores. Also bear in mind that Nvidias new
GTX 770 and 780 chips currently dont work in
Folding@home.
Unigines Valley 1.0 benchmark
a demanding DirectX 11 test
thats heavy on tessellation
61 August 2013
GRAPHICS CARDS
62
POLE POSITION Low power consumption; single slot
DNQ Hardly any playable frame rates in our tests
GTX Short PCB. Really, thats it
FX Hardly any playable frame rates; requires 6-pin PCI-E connector
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 1GB
A woefully underpowered GPU
Very underpowered for the 90 price
Price 75 inc VAT Supplier www.scan.co.uk Manufacturer www.nvidia.com
A
MDs Radeon HD 7750 1GB costs just
75 and, like the rest of the 7-series, its
based on AMDs South Islands architecture,
although its extremely cut down. The Cape
Verde Pro GPU offers just a single front-end
engine attached to eight compute units (CUs)
of 64 stream processors each, for a total of
512. Meanwhile, the fixed core frequency
of800MHz is 20 per cent lower than that of
theHD7770.
Alongside is a limited count of 16 ROPs
anda 128-bit memory interface. When paired
with the cards 1GB of 1,125MHz (4.5GHz
effective) GDDR5 memory, this results in
72GB/sec of bandwidth less than a third of
that on the HD 7950 3GB.
T
he GTX 650 uses a core based on the
Kepler architecture, dubbed GK107. This
cut-down chip comprises just a single GPC of
two SMs, each with 192 stream processors,
for a total of 384 stream processors.
On the plus side, the 118mm, 1.3 billion-
transistor chip only has a TDP of 64W,
although it still requires a 6-pin PCI-E
power connector.
Its count of just 16 ROPs is half that of
thehigher-spec Nvidia cards, while its tight
128-bit memory interface combines with
1GBof 1.25GHz (5GHz effective) GDDR5
memory for a peak 80GB/sec of memory
bandwidth. Meanwhile, the cards 1,058MHz
core frequency is static, and the card
All these reduced specs do have
some benefit though; the single-slot
card doesnt need an any extra PCI-E power
connector, and it has a TDP of just 55W.
Performance in our top-setting
benchmarks was dire, even at 1,920 x 1,080,
with the card unable to produce a playable
result in anything but Skyrim, and even then
only with a 27fps minimum. At 2,560 x 1,600,
frame rates were largely single digits.
While this is to be expected from a budget
card, the prospect of dropping 75 on a new
GPU only to find it so painfully lacking in
performance doesnt bear thinking about.
Despite its low price, the AMD Radeon HD
7750 1GB is incapable of playing modern
doesntsupport Nvidias GPU
Boost technology.
In our top-setting game tests, the GTX
650 1GB only produced a playable frame
ratein one game. Even then, Skyrims
minimum frame rate of 26fps at 1,920 x 1,080
is borderline, with all three remaining games
requiring many detail reductions to even
approach playable frame rates.
While this is to be expected from a low-end
card, we know wed be deeply disappointed if
wed spent 90 on a graphics card only to find
it so inept.
Low-end GPUs usually offer the worst
bang per buck, and the GTX 650 1GB is no
different, with dire performance despite its
games when theyre looking their best. As
such, its a poor choice for playing todays
games and an even worse investment for
thefuture. Dont be tempted by the low price
instead, we recommend spending a little
more to get much better performance. HB
90 price tag. Spending 60 on a GTX 660 2GB
nets twice the speed, so we advise saving your
pennies if youre considering a low-end card
such as the GTX 650. HB
12
custom PC
OVERALL
1920 SPEED 3 / 25
2560 SPEED 0 / 20
5760 SPEED 0 / 5
VALUE 9 / 50
10
custom PC
OVERALL
1920 SPEED 3 / 25
2560 SPEED 0 / 20
5760 SPEED 0 / 5
VALUE 7 / 50
do have
single-slot
extra PCI-E power
55W
ki theirbest As
GRAPHICS CARDS
62 August 2013
64
THREE-OF-A-KIND 30fps in Skyrim
2-7-OFFSUIT All other games unplayable
TITANIUM Reasonable 1,920 x 1,080 performance
TIN GTX 660 2GB more than 50 per cent faster for 50 more
AMD Radeon HD 7770 1GB GHz Edition
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti 1GB
A sub-100 GPU, but its painfully slow
The best low-price GPU, but thats not saying much
T
he first of AMDs 7-series GPUs to creep
below 100, the HD 7770 1GB leads
AMDs low-end range. As weve often warned,
though, dipping into the sub-100 GPU
market can be dangerous, with these cards
typically offering below-par performance
andvalue for money. The HD 7770 1GB uses
aCape Verde XT GPU; like the HD 7750 1GB,
this is equipped with just a single front-end
engine and therefore a single tessellation unit.
Meanwhile, ten compute units of 64
stream processors each give you 640 stream
processors running at 1GHz, but the GPUs
limited count of 16 ROPs and its tight 128-bit
memory interface leaves it hamstrung. The
1GB of 1,125MHz (4.5GHz effective) memory
T
he GTX 650 Ti 1GB is fitted with the
sameGK106 GPU as the GTX 660 2GB,
although its been cut down in a number
ofareas. Just a single SM has been
disabled,with the four remaining split
between three GPCs. Nvidias GPU Boost
tech has been omitted too, with a static core
frequency of 925MHz.
The GK106 GPU has also seen its ROP
count cut from 24 to 16 and its memory
interface reduced from 192-bit to 128-bit.
Both of these reductions are more telling
onperformance than the disabled SM, as
isthe memory bandwidth; thanks to a
1,350MHz (5.4GHz effective) clock speed,
thispeaks at 86.4GB/sec.
makes for just 72GB/sec of memory
bandwidth. The card itself requires a
6-pin PCI-E power connector too,
with a TDP of 80W.
Despite the spec advantages over the HD
7750, performance is largely similar in terms
of playable frame rates. At 1,920 x 1,080, the
HD 7770 1GB was only able to deliver a
playable frame rate of 30fps in Skyrim,
although it at least came close with a
minimum of 24fps in Battlefield 3.
Graphics cards under 100 should be
approached with caution, and the HD 7770
1GB is no different. Requiring you to dial down
your game settings to achieve playable frame
rates, its low performance will disappoint you.
The GTX 650 Ti 1GB proved capable
of running three of our games at
1,920 x 1,080. Minimum frame rates of
30fpsin BF3, 29fps in BioShock Infinite and
37fps in Skyrim are all respectable results,
although the GTX 660 2GBs 50 per cent (or
more) improvements in each test more
thanjustify its higher price tag. The only
disappointment was an unplayable
minimum of 19fp in Crysis 3.
Low-end graphics cards are usually found
lacking in performance, but the GTX 650 Ti
1GB is the best of the bunch, delivering
reasonable 1,920 x 1,080 performance.
However, spending that little more unlocks
so much extra performance that youd be silly
The GTX 660 2GB may cost 60 more, but it
delivers more than enough performance to
warrant the extra investment. HB
not to opt for the more expensive, but far
more capable GTX 660 2GB. HB
20
custom PC
OVERALL
1920 SPEED 5 / 25
2560 SPEED 0 / 20
5760 SPEED 0 / 5
VALUE 15 / 50
44
custom PC
OVERALL
1920 SPEED 13 / 25
2560 SPEED 0 / 20
5760 SPEED 0 / 5
VALUE 31 / 50
r the HD
r in terms
,080, the
TheGTX 660 2GB may cost 60 more, but it
h nenough performance to
ackup &Sync
verything
Cloud Storage for Lveryone
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64 August 2013
SEAWORTHY Passable 1,920 x 1,080 speed; super-low power consumption
DRY-DOCKED GTX 660 2GB costs just 30 more and is far faster
LEGACY Fair performance at 1,920 x 1,080; attractive price
FALLACY GTX 660 2GB costs the same and is faster
This new GPU architecture is still underpowered
Now comprehensively outclassed by the GTX 660 2GB
Price 120 inc VAT Supplier www.scan.co.uk Manufacturer www.amd.com
A
MD updated its South Islands
architecture for the HD 7790 1GB
and,while the core GPU architecture is
unchanged, it sports that critical dual-front-
end engine design and 14 compute units of 64
stream processors into a tiny 160mm GPU.
AMDs calling this semi-new architecture Sea
Islands, with this GPU codenamed Bonaire XT.
Its core frequency of 1GHz is promising, but,
like the HD 7770 1GB, its limited by having just
16 ROPs and a 128-bit memory interface. The
1.5GHZ (6GHz effective) memory frequency
helps, but its peak memory bandwidth of
96GB/sec remains a steep drop from the
153.6GB/sec of the HD 7850 2GB. While it
does require a 6-pin PCI-E power connector,
T
he price of the HD 7850 2GB has remained
around the 150 mark since its release
last year, when it impressed us. Its GPU is a
reduced version of the Pitcairn design shared
with the HD 7870 2GB, named Pitcairn Pro,
but it retains the dual-front-end engine design
shared with the rest of AMDs high end GPUs.
Its 16 CUs of 64 stream processors make
for a total of 1,024 stream processors running
at 860MHz, while its healthy ROP count of 32
and wide 256-bit memory interface are also
indicative of a higher-spec card. On paper, the
HD 7850 2GB is greatly superior to Nvidias
price competitor, the GTX 660 2GB, which can
only muster 24 ROPs and a 192-bit memory
interface in comparison.
however, the HD 7790 1GB has
remarkable power efficiency;
despite boasting far more GPU
assets than the HD 7770 1GB, its
85W TDP is just 5W higher.
With more stream processors to its name,
the HD 7790 1GB offers a big advantage over
the lesser 7-series cards. Playable frame
rates in BF3, Skyrim and BioShock Infinite at
1,920 x 1,080 bode well, but the GTX 660 2GB
casts a long shadow, delivering frame rates
up to 50 per cent higher for just 30 more.
Released as a halfway house between
AMDs mid-range and low end, the HD 7790
1GB is only marginally better than its
underpowered 7-series siblings. As 30
However, when it comes
to real-world gaming, the
HD 7850 2GB now lags
some way behind its Nvidia nemesis.
Minimum frame rates at 1,920 x 1,080
are, for the most part, playable, with only
Crysis 3 proving too difficult, and even
thenwith a borderline result of 24fps. In
comparison, though, the GTX 660 2GB is at
least 10 per cent quicker in every test, and it
even manages a playable Battlefield 3 frame
rate of 31fps at 2,560 x 1,600, compared to the
7850s struggling 22fps.
One of our former favourites now struggles
in the face of new games and low-priced
competition. The HD 7850 2GB is at least 10
netsso much more performance, youd be
silly not to opt for the far better value for
money of the GTX 660 2GB. HB
per cent slower than the GTX 660 2GB, which
now costs around the same amount, putting it
in a distant second place in the battle for mid-
range supremacy. HB
41
custom PC
OVERALL
1920 SPEED 13 / 25
2560 SPEED 0 / 20
5760 SPEED 0 / 5
VALUE 28 / 50
56
custom PC
OVERALL
1920 SPEED 15 / 25
2560 SPEED 4 / 20
5760 SPEED 0 / 5
VALUE 37 / 50
65 August 2013
GRAPHICS CARDS
66
ECCENTRIC Fair 1,920 x 1,080 performance; usually quicker than HD 7850 2GB
WEIRDO GTX 660 2GB costs only 10 more and is much faster
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost 2GB
A weird card in Nvidias line-up that isnt worth considering
L
aunched to compete with the HD 7850 at
the 150 price point, the GTX 650 Ti Boost
2GB originally coincided with the collapse of
GTX 660 2GB prices to their highly competitive
150 level, making it largely pointless.
In terms of specs, its an improved GTX
650 Ti 1GB, and sports the same layout of
four SMs, each with 192 stream processors,
across three GPCs. Its core frequency
benefits from Nvidias GPU Boost tech,
though, starting at a base clock of 980MHz
before boosting to a guaranteed 1,033MHz,
and as high as 1,071MHz. The chip also
gains two key improvements: an array of
24ROPs (matching the GTX 660 2GB) and
a192-bit memory interface, replacing the
128-bit of its lesser stablemate.
Meanwhile, 2GB of (6GHz
effective) GDDR5 memory
completes the package.
As these improvements effectively make
the card an underclocked GTX 660 2GB, its
performance is good, particularly at 1,920 x
1,080. All four of our games produced playable
minimum frame rates, from 26fps in Crysis 3
to an impressive 41fps in Battlefield 3. At 2,560
x 1,600, only Skyrim was playable, though, and
GTX 660 2GB was around 15 per cent faster
throughout testing.
While it produces the goods at 1,920 x
1,080, the Nvidia GTX 650 Ti Boost 2GB is
outperformed in every way by the GTX 660
2GB; a card thats only 10 more expensive.
Inthe competitive mid-range market, this
makes the Boost a non-starter. HB
8-BALL Good performance at 1,920 x 1,080
8-TRACK Similar performance to cheaper GTX 660 2GB
Great 1,920 x 1,080 speed, but the GTX 660 is 20 cheaper
W
ith a 170 price tag, the HD 7870 2GB
competes with overclocked versions
of the GTX 660 2GB in terms of price, rather
than the GTX 660 Ti 2GB.
The 212mm, 2.8 billion transistor
Pitcairn XT chip retains the Southern
Islands architecture and dual-front-end
layout, but with just less than two thirds
ofthe CUs and stream processors of the
HD7970 3GB.
The 1,280 stream processors run at a
static frequency of 1GHz, while the 2GB of
GDDR5 memory runs at a stock speed of
1.2GHz (4.8GHz effective). Thanks to the
256-bit memory interface, this results in
153.6GB/sec of peak memory bandwidth.
Despite its 20
premium over the
GeForce GTX 660 2GB,
however, the HD 7870 performs
largely the same, with playable
frame rates in each of our test games
at 1,920 x 1,080. The shared minimums
of 47fps in Battlefield 3 and 42fps in
BioShock highlight the similarity, with the
two cards even pulling the same system
power to within 1W. The HD 7870 2GB is
alsocapable of high-resolution gaming,
producing playable frame rates in both BF3
and Skyrim at 2,560 x 1,600.
While the HD 7870 2GBs performance
hits the mark at 1,920 x 1,080 and even in
some 2,560 x 1,600 tests, the fact that its
soevenly matched by the GTX 660 2GB, a
card 20 cheaper, means its only worth
considering if AMDs Never Settle game
bundle interests you. HB
68
custom PC
OVERALL
1920 SPEED 19 / 25
2560 SPEED 6 / 20
5760 SPEED 0 / 5
VALUE 43 / 50
67
custom PC
OVERALL
1920 SPEED 18 / 25
2560 SPEED 4 / 20
5760 SPEED 0 / 5
VALUE 45 / 50
GRAPHICS CARDS
66 August 2013
BARGAIN Playable performance in every test at 1,920 x 1,080; fantastic value for money
BARGAIN-BIN Struggles at higher resolutions
The best-value card on the market
W
hile the HD 7990s and GTX Titans of
this world grab headlines and draw
the envy of gamers everywhere, the real
battleground for PC gamers is the crucial
150 price range. This is where the GTX
660 2GB now finds itself; despite initially
launching at a price closer to 200, recent
price cuts to 150 mean it now competes
with AMDs 7850 2GB and, oddly, Nvidias
own GTX 650 Ti 2GB, priced just 10 cheaper.
Unlike the GK104-equipped GeForce GTX
660 Ti 2GB, the GTX 660 2GB makes the
switch to a smaller Kepler GPU with 2.54
billion transistors, dubbed GK106. This
GPUsports a maximum of three GPCs, two
containing a pair of SMs and the third with
just a single SM.
As the core Kepler architecture design,
with 192 stream processors for each SM, is
unchanged, this means that the GTX 660
2GB sports a total of 960 stream processors
a sharp reduction from the 1,344 in the GTX
660 Ti 2GB and GTX 670 2GB.
Counteracting this drop is an increased
clock speed. Using Nvidias GPU Boost
technology, the GTX 660 2GBs boost curve
starts at a base clock of 980MHz, with a
guaranteed boost clock of 1,033MHz and
apeak boost of 1,071MHz. These are all
50-60MHz higher than the clock speeds of
even the GTX 670 2GB.
The GTX 660s GK106 GPU also offers a
narrower memory 192-bit interface than the
256-bit peak bus size of GK104. Paired with
the cards 2GB of 1.5GHz (6GHz effective)
GDDR5 memory, the result is a GTX 660 Ti
2GB-matching bandwidth of 144GB/sec. It
also matches the GTX 660 Ti 2GB when it
comes to the ROP count, with 24 ROPs,
compared to the 32 of the GTX 670 2GB and
GTX 680 2GB.
The smaller GPU has its benefits though.
Stock GTX 660s require just a single 6-pin
PCI-E power connector and have a peak TDP
of only 140W. Most versions of the card also
use a short 174mm PCB, enabling the GTX
660 2GB to fit into small form factor chassis.
The GTX 660 2GB was capable of
producing playable performance in every
one of our benchmarks at 1,920 x 1,080, with
minimum frame rates of 47fps in Battlefield
3, 62fps in Skyrim, 42fps in BioShock Infinite
and a commendable 29fps in Crysis 3. In
comparison, the HD 7850 2GB wasnt able to
reach the GTX 660s smooth 69fps minimum
in Skyrim or a playable frame rate in Crysis 3,
with the GTX 660 2GB proving quicker by at
least 10 per cent in every test.
Whats more, at 2,560 x 1,600, the GTX
6602GB still delivers in some games, with
aborderline playable minimum of 27fps in
Battlefield 3 and a smooth minimum of 43fps
in Skyrim, but Crysis 3 and BioShock are
beyond it at this resolution.
CONCLUSI ON
With smooth playable frame rates in every
test at 1,920 x 1,080, the Nvidia GeForce GTX
660 2GB is perfectly matched to the needs of
1080p gamers, although its limitations show
at higher resolutions.
At 150, its also the best value card on
themarket today, easily eclipsing AMDs
similarly priced Radeon HD 7850 2GB and
making its sibling, the GeForce GTX 650 Ti
Boost 2GB, practically redundant. If youre
looking for a new graphics card that costs
under 200 and copes well at 1,920 x 1,080,
this is by far the best choice. HB
73
custom PC
OVERALL
1920 SPEED 19 / 25
2560 SPEED 6 / 20
5760 SPEED 0 / 5
VALUE 48 / 50
THE GEFORCE GTX 660
2GB WAS CAPABLE OF
PLAYABLE FRAME RATES
IN EVERY ONE OF OUR
GAME BENCHMARKS AT
1,920 X 1,080
68
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www.overcIockers.co.uk 7eI: 0871 200 5052
Pr|oes oorreot at t|me of pr|nt but may ohange w|thout pr|or not|oe. A|| |tems subjeot to ava||ab|||ty. D|soount oodes are va||d for two weeks after pub||oat|on
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68 August 2013
BOOSTER Playable frame rates at 2,560 x 1,600; great value
BOOSTER SEAT Varied clock speeds confusing; high power consumption
FRONT RUNNER Reasonable speed at 2,560 x 1,600
BACK MARKER Up against stiff competition in this price bracket
AMD Radeon HD 7950 3GB with Boost
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB
Great performance across the board for just 240
Second best to the GTX 670 and HD 7950
Price 240 inc VAT Supplier www.overclockers.co.uk Manufacturer www.amd.com
T
he HD 7950 3GB is AMDs most confusing
current SKU; launched with a core
frequency of 800MHz, a with Boost version
was subsequently released with a base clock
of 875MHz and a boost frequency of 925MHz.
For the purposes of this review, were only
looking at versions with a core frequency
boosting to 925MHz.
Its Tahiti Pro GPU has four fewer compute
units than that of the HD 7970 and, as a result,
256 fewer stream processors for a total of
1,792. It retains the large 384-bit memory
interface; when paired with 3GB of GDDR5
1.25GHz (5GHz effective) memory, this results
in a peak memory bandwidth of 240GB/sec
superior even to the new GTX 770 2GB.
W
ith the GTX 770 2GB pushing down
prices, the GTX 660 Ti 2GB now finds
itself only 20 cheaper than the GTX 670 2GB.
The two cards are very similar though; both
are equipped with GK104 GPUs loaded with
1,344 stream processors, which are split
between seven SMs with 192 stream
processors each.
They even run at the same GPU Boost-
equipped clock speeds, with a base clock of
915MHz, a guaranteed boost of 980MHz and
apeak of 1,084MHz. The 2GB of 1.5GHz (6GHz
effective) GDDR5 RAM is the same too. The
only difference is the ROP count; the GTX 660
Ti 2GB only has 24, compared to the full set of
32 on GTX 670 2GB.
The HD 7950 3GB produced
super-smooth minimum frame
rates above 55fps at 1,920 x
1,080 in BioShock, BF3 and Skyrim.
Crysis 3 was also playable, with a
minimum of 36fps. At 2,560 x 1,600, the
HD 7950 3GB was also very capable, with
playable frame rates in excess of 32fps in
BioShock and BF3; it was even happy to run
Skyrim at 5,760 x 1,080 at 30fps.
The HD 7950 3GB is a capable high-end
graphics card, mastering games at 1,920 x
1,080, and even providing playable frame
rates at 2,560 x 1,600. At 240, it offers decent
value for money too, although its now also up
against some stiff competition from the only
On average, this drops frame
rates by15 per cent across the
board, although this still enables
the GTX 660 Ti 2GB to produce high
playable frame rates in each game on test
at1,920 x 1,080.
A minimum of 55fps in BF3 at 1,920 x 1,080
is great, as is the minimum of 37fps in Crysis 3
at the same resolution. It also manages
playable frame rates at 2,560 x 1,600 in both
BF3 and Skyrim, with an impressive 29fps in
BioShock Infinite.
However, the rapidly compressing market
has pushed the GeForce GTX 670 and Radeon
HD 7950 3GB into the GeForce GTX 660 Ti
2GBs price bracket. With both cards
slightly pricier GTX 670 2GB, which is now
(just) the superior card in this price league. HB
performing around 15 per cent faster and
commanding around a 10 cent premium,
either is a stronger choice. HB
81
custom PC
OVERALL
1920 SPEED 22 / 25
2560 SPEED 12 / 20
5760 SPEED 1 / 5
VALUE 46 / 50
75
custom PC
OVERALL
1920 SPEED 22 / 25
2560 SPEED 10 / 20
5760 SPEED 0 / 5
VALUE 43 / 50
69 August 2013
GRAPHICS CARDS
GIGAHERTZ Fast at 1,920 x1,080; playable at 2,560 x 1,600; well priced
GIGA-HURTS GTX 770 2GB marginally faster; confusing clock speeds
AMD Radeon HD 7970 3GB GHz Edition
Fantastic performance for the money
Price 306 inc VAT Supplier www.ebuyer.com Manufacturer www.amd.com
A
MDs HD 7970 3GB first graced our
desks back in December 2011, but
AMDhas recently been very aggressive
when tweaking its pricing against Nvidias
competition, with the Radeon HD 7970
dropping from an initial price of 440 to a
farmore attractive 306, and that even gets
you a 1GHz GPU clock speed to boot. This
has enabled it to remain relevant despite
stiffcompetition, even in the face of Nvidias
new GTX 770 3GB.
The peak of AMDs Southern Islands
GPUarchitecture, the Radeon HD 7970
3GBs Tahiti XT packs the maximum possible
number of 32 compute units. With each CU
subdivided into four SIMDs of 16 stream
processors each, this means that the
cardboasts a whopping count of 2,048
stream processors.
However, its clock speeds can be a little
confusing. Initially launched with a fixed core
frequency of 925MHz, AMD subsequently
launched a GHz Edition with a base GPU
frequency of 1GHz, which also had the ability
to boost its clock speed to 1,050MHz. AMDs
partners have been lax in employing the GHz
Edition branding in all cases, though, so for
this particular review were going to be
looking at Radeon HD 7970s with a core
frequency of 1,050MHz.
In terms of the GPU itself, the Southern
Islands architectures pair of front-end
engines handle tessellation, geometry
assembly and rasterisation before
handingoff render tasks to individual CUs.
Elsewhere, the Radeon HD 7970 also carries
a 384-bit memory interface, 32 ROPs and
128 texture units.
Meanwhile, the cards 3GB of GDDR5
memory is clocked at 1.5GHz (6GHz) on the
majority of GHz Edition cards, although the
original Radeon HD 7970 3GBs memory ran
at a slightly lower frequency of 1.375GHz
(5.5GHz effective) again, were going to
assume the higher frequency for this
particular review.
While AMD does offer a stock card, most
examples now on the market are built on
custom PCBs and use custom coolers.
Whats consistent, though, is the use of an
8-pin and a 6-pin PCI-E power connector,
along with a TDP of around 230W this is
around 35W more than the GTX 680 2GB,
butthe same as the new GTX 770 2GB.
The HD 7970 3GB GHz Edition remains an
extremely fast card, capable of frame rates in
excess of 60fps at 1,920 x1,080 in Battlefield
3, Skyrim and BioShock at their highest
settings. The minimum of 69fps in BF3 is
particularly impressive, and while the GTX
770 3GB is marginally faster, with a 7fps
advantage in this test, it has little impact on
playability. Crysis 3 was also comfortably
playable at 1,920 x 1,080, with a minimum
of40fps, although the GeForce GTX 770
wasagain quicker here, with a smoother
minimum frame rate of 8fps.
The HD 7970 3GB GHz Edition again
impresses at 2,50 x 1,600, producing
playable frame rates in every game tested,
including a minimum of 26fps in Crysis 3.
Again, the GTX 770 2GB is marginally faster
in these tests, but at this more demanding
resolution the difference is, for the most
part, only 1-2 per cent.
CONCLUSI ON
Theres little to separate AMD and Nvidias
cards in this price bracket. Both the HD 7970
3GB GHz Edition and the GTX 770 GB provide
performance at 1,920 x 1,080 and are
capable at 2,560 x 1,600 too.
With so little to separate them, the GTX
770 2GBs slight edge in frame rates enables
it to justify its slightly higher price, but the
HD7970 3GB remains highly competitive for
this money. HB
84
custom PC
OVERALL
1920 SPEED 23 / 25
2560 SPEED 15 / 20
5760 SPEED 2 / 5
VALUE 44 / 50
THE GPUS PAIR OF
FRONT-END ENGINES
HANDLE TESSELLATION,
GEOMETRY ASSEMBLY
AND RASTERISATION
70
GRAPHICS CARDS
70 August 2013
72
RALLY Great performance; low power consumption; small stock PCB
DROP Nothing to report
ORDER Still extremely fast; lower power consumption than GTX 770
CHAOS Lacks GTX 770 2GBs fancy cooler; same price as GTX 770
A recent price cut makes this card a superb choice
Roundly supplanted by the GTX 770 2GB
Price 250 inc VAT Supplier www.overclockers.co.uk Manufacturer www.nvidia.com
Price 330 inc VAT Supplier www.overclockers.co.uk Manufacturer www.nvidia.com
T
he GTX 670 2GBs price has taken a
nosedive recently, now selling for around
250. Using a cut-down GK104 Kepler GPU,
the GTX 670 has seven SMs with 192 stream
processors each, which are split between
fourGPCs giving you a total of 1,344
streamprocessors.
Nvidias GPU Boost tech makes for a base
clock of 915MHz, a guaranteed boost clock of
980MHz and a peak boost clock of 1,084MHz.
The 294mm GPU boasts 3.54 billion
transistors, and it also houses 32 ROPs and
a256-bit memory interface. When paired
withthe 1.5GHz (6GHz effective) GDDR5
memory, this produces a peak memory
bandwidth of 192GB/sec.
F
ormerly Nvidias flagship, the GTX 680 2GB
now looks set for a rapid exit from the
market following the launch of GTX 770 2GB.
GTX 680 2GB shares its successors full-fat
GK104 GPU, fitted with 1,536 stream
processors split between eight SMs and four
GPCs. The GTX 680 2GBs TDP of 195W is
around 35W lower than GTX 770 2GB too,
thanks to its lower clock speeds.
With a base clock of 1,006MHz, a
guaranteed boost clock of 1,058MHz and a
maximum boost clock of 1,110MHz, the GTX
680 is only a few per cent behind the GTX 770
interms of frequency, and both also boast
32ROPs and a 192-bit memory interface.
TheGTX 680 2GB sports slower memory,
While performance is a step down from
the GTX 770 2GB, the GTX 670 2GB is still
very quick. At 1,920 x 1,080, minimum frame
rates didnt drop below a smoothly playable
58fps in BioShock Infinite, Skyrim or BF3, and
were on average 9 per cent higher than those
of the HD 7950 3GB. Meanwhile, at 2,560 x
1,600, performance also remained playable
inall our tests except Crysis 3.
Its recent hefty price cut has done the GTX
670 2GB plenty of favours, having previously
cost much more than the Radeon HD 7950
3GB, which offers similar performance.
With the two cards now competitively
priced, the Radeon HD 7950 holds its ground
remarkably well, but the GeForce GTX 670
though,with its 2GB of GDDR5
memory running at 1.5GHz
(6GHz effective).
Not surprisingly, the GeForce
GTX 680 2GB also performs similarly to
the GTX 770 2GB, which is to say extremely
well. Super-smooth frame rates at 1,920
x1,080 included minimums of 70fps in
Battlefield 3 and 64fps in BioShock, and it
evenremained playable at 2,560 x 1,600 in
Crysis 3, although only at a borderline
playable minimum frame rate of 25fps.
Still ferociously quick and, on average, just
6 per cent slower than the GTX 770 2GB, the
GTX 680 2GB is still a compelling card, but its
price doesnt account for its successor. At
justclinches the better score in this price
league with its slightly quicker performance,
giving you a little more headroom for not
much more money. HB
330, its similarly priced to the GTX 770 2GB
but also a little slower. As such, its only worth
considering if its price drops further. HB
82
custom PC
OVERALL
1920 SPEED 22 / 25
2560 SPEED 12 / 20
5760 SPEED 1 / 5
VALUE 47 / 50
80
custom PC
OVERALL
1920 SPEED 23 / 25
2560 SPEED 15 / 20
5760 SPEED 2 / 5
VALUE 40 / 50
72 August 2013
BRAND NEW Great cooler; smooth at 1,920 x 1,080; playable at 2,560 x 1,600; fair price
OLD HAT Only marginally quicker than GTX 680; HD 7970 similarly fast in some games
Nvidias latest GPU is a superb choice
D
espite its new name, the GTX 770 2GB is
actually rather familiar, as its based on
the same GK104 GPU found in the current
GTX 680 2GB. Of course, that isnt a problem,
considering that the GTX 680 2GB has been
extremely popular over the past year, proving
a healthy competitor to AMDs HD 7970 3GB.
Using the same core Kepler architecture
as the rest of Nvidias 6 and 7-series line-up,
the GTX 770 2GBs GK104 GPU splits its 1,536
stream processors between four GPCs of four
SMs each; the maximum possible for this
3.54 billion transistor, 294mm, 28nm GPU.
However, while it sports the same physical
GPU as the GTX 680, the GTX 770 2GB offers
some improvements over the GTX 680 2GB
when it comes to clock speeds. Its GPU base
clock is 40MHz higher, while its Boost clock is
27MHz higher, although these are frankly
minimal adjustments, both of which could
beseen on even the most timidly factory-
overclocked GTX 680 2GB cards.
More impressive is the GDDR5 memory,
which runs at 1.75GHz (7GHz effective) a
record high for a stock consumer GPU. With
the GK104 GPUs 192-bit memory interface,
this results in a peak memory bandwidth of
224GB/sec a 16 per cent jump over the
192GB/sec of the GTX 680 2GB.
The reference model sports 2GB of
GDDR5memory, but Nvidia also plans to
release a 4GB model featuring double-
stacked memory. Wed be cautious, though,
asextra memory at these levels rarely, if
ever,improves performance by a significant
margin, even at high resolutions with lots
ofanti-aliasing.
Like the GTX Titan, the GTX 770 has been
equipped with Nvidias fantastic-looking
branded aluminium cooler. The 267mm card
is slightly longer than the GTX 680 2GB it
replaces, but the coolers sleek lines and
vapour-chamber heatsink means its a cut
above the usual standard of stock coolers.
Nvidia also claims that the GTX 770 2GB has
apeak TDP of 230W; 35W more than GTX 680
2GB and equal to AMDs HD 7970 3GB GHz
Edition, indicating its GPU and memory runs
at higher voltages. This increased TDP has
necessitated an 8-pin and a 6-pin PCI-E
power connector, rather than the pair of
6-pin connectors found on the GTX 680 2GB.
In performance terms, the GTX 770 2GB is
largely similar to both the GTX 680 2GB and
the Radeon HD 7970 3GB GHz Edition,
producing minimum frame rates above
60fpsin Battlefield 3, BioShock Infinite and
Skyrim at 1,920 x 1,080, with a still very
smooth minimum frame rate of 48fps in
Crysis 3. At 2,560 x 1,600, performance
remained playable in all four games, with a
playable minimum frame rate of 43fps in BF3
and a 62fps in Skyrim although the minimum
of 28fps in Crysis 3 is borderline. The GTX 770
even managed playable frame rates of 30fps
or above at 5,760 x 1,080 in both Battlefield 3
and Skyrim, although the rest of our test
games werent playable at these settings.
CONCLUSI ON
While the Nvidia GeForce GTX 770 2GB offers
only a minor performance improvement over
the GTX 680 2GB, it stirs up the market a treat,
with the end result of high-end GPU prices
being pushed down. This is a fantastic
graphics card that offers atruck-load of
performance and enough of an edge over the
Radeon HD 7970 3GB to justify its slightly
higher price too. HB
83
custom PC
OVERALL
1920 SPEED 23 / 25
2560 SPEED 15 / 20
5760 SPEED 3 / 5
VALUE 42 / 50
WHILE IT SPORTS THE
SAME PHYSICAL GPU
ASTHE GTX 680, THE
GEFORCE GTX 770
OFFERS IMPROVED
CLOCK SPEEDS
73 August 2013
GRAPHICS CARDS
LUCKY 7 Almost as quick as GTX Titan; gorgeous cooler
SNAKE EYES Doesnt move price/performance boundaries; expensive
Phenomenally fast, but doesnt shake up the market
W
ith AMD sticking to its 7-series guns,
Nvidia has taken some initiative by
releasing the GTX 780 3GB. Sadly, the GTX 780
3GB doesnt boast a new GPU architecture,
oreven any silicon optimisations over the
existing Kepler architecture. Where it raises
the stakes is with its humongous 7.1 billion-
transistor GK110 GPU, previously the reserve
of the GTX Titan.
While it uses the same basic GPU
architecture as the GK104 and GK106 chips
found further down Nvidias range, GK110
boasts far more stream processors, with the
GTX 780 3GB packing 2,304 split between four
GPCs (graphics processor clusters) of three
SMs (streaming multi-processors) each. This
is a 50 per cent increase over the number of
stream processors in the GTX 680 2GB.
The card also benefits from Nvidias GPU
Boost 2.0 technology, with its clock speeds
increasing in line with voltage, temperature
and noise-level constraints. At stock speed,
its GPU runs at base clock speed of 836MHz,
with a guaranteed worst-case boost clock
of900MHz and a maximum boost clock of
992MHz. By default, the card targets a 79C
maximum temperature.
Meanwhile, the 3GB of GDDR5 memory
(half that of the GTX Titan) runs at 1.5GHz
(6GHz effective); when combined with the
cards 384-bit memory interface, this results
in a peak memory bandwidth of 288GB/sec.
Theres one further cut in comparison to the
GTX Titan too, which is the removal of the
double-precision units required by certain
GPGPU processes.
Nvidia has also chosen to equip the GTX
780 3GB with its gorgeous dual-slot
aluminium GPU cooler. Measuring 267mm,
and with a peak TDP of 250W, the card is
slightly more demanding than the Radeon
HD7970 3GB GHz Edition, but the coolers
vapour chamber heatsink enables it to run
surprisingly quietly.
As you would expect from a 550 graphics
card, the GTX 780 3GB is a monster when it
comes to performance. At 1,920 x 1,080, it
produced frame rates in excess of 80fps in
Battlefield 3, BioShock Infinite and Skyrim,
and was still eminently playable in Crysis 3
with its minimum of 57fps. At 2,560 x 1,600,
the GTX 780 3GB was again supremely
impressive, producing playable results
inevery game on test and surpassing a
minimum of 50fps in Battlefield 3, BioShock
Infinite and Skyrim. Only Crysis 3 proved a
challenge, but its minimum of 32fps in this
game was still smooth and playable.
Remarkably, even at 5,760 x 1,080, the GTX
780 3GB still produced playable frame rates
inevery game bar Crysis 3, which remained
beyond all but the dual-GPU cards at this
resolution. In comparison to the GTX 680, the
GTX 780 represents, on average, a 30 per cent
jump in performance and, amazingly, it ran
just 10-15 per cent slower than the 825 GTX
Titan 6GB, showing that the Titans extra
memory and stream processors arent
necessarily worth the extra cash.
CONCLUSI ON
As impressive as GTX 780 3GB may look in
comparison to GTX 680 2GB and the far more
expensive GTX Titan, its 550 price tag sees it
come into Nvidias product stack above the
GTX 680 2GB, rather than replacing it. As a
super-high-end single-GPU card it
convincingly, and embarrassingly, buries the
GTX Titan in terms of value for money too (in
fact, wed be pretty annoyed if wed spent the
full 825 on a Titan before the 780s launch).
However, this is only a card for those who
really want to play everything at very high
resolutions. For everyone else, there are
cheaper and better-value alternatives. HB
66
custom PC
OVERALL
1920 SPEED 22 / 25
2560 SPEED 17 / 20
5760 SPEED 3 / 5
VALUE 24 / 50
AS YOU WOULD EXPECT
FROM A 550 GRAPHICS
CARD, THE GTX 780
3GB IS A MONSTER
WHEN IT COMES TO
PERFORMANCE
74
GRAPHICS CARDS
74 August 2013
76
SWIM Fastest single-GPU card; playable frame rates at 2,560 x 1,600
SINK Outrageously high price tag; GTX 780 2GB is almost as fast for 300 less
NVIDIA GeForce GTX Titan 6GB
Now a Titanic waste of money in the face of GTX 780
U
pon its release three months ago, the
GeForce GTX Titan 6GB was pitched as
anew proposition from Nvidia. Rather than
joining the rest of the familiar GTX product
stack, it would sit at the top of the pile as a
single-GPU card with performance to rival
Nvidias dual-GPU GTX 690 4GB, but without
the inevitable driver dependence of multi-
GPU setups.
Boasting a GPU that was previously the
preserve of super-computers, and with no
single-GPU card close to matching its
performance, it was the epitome of a luxury
GPU reliable, incredibly fast and, at 825,
brutally expensive.
As the top-end single-GPU Nvidia card, the
GTX Titan 6GB boasts the most capable chip
based on Nvidias Kepler architecture, GK110.
While not quite equipped to the maximum
limits of the chip (full-fat GK110s are still
reserved for Nvidias Tesla Compute cards),
the GTX Titans 2,688 stream processors
splitbetween 5 GPCs of 3 SMs each (with one
GPC of two SMs) is a 70 per cent increase in
the number of stream processors over the
GTX 680 2GB.
Using a refined version of Nvidias GPU
Boost 2.0 adaptive clock speed technology,
the GTX Titans GPU frequency runs at a
baseclock of 836MHz, with a guaranteed
boost to 876MHz and a maximum boost
clockof 993MHz.
Underlining the GTX Titans top-dog spot,
Nvidia has equipped it with a massive 6GB of
GDDR5 memory; double that of any other
single-GPU card on test. Running at 1.5GHz
(6GHz effective) and with the GK110s large
384-bit memory interface, this means the
GTX Titan wields 288GB/sec of memory
bandwidth. As a carry-over from GK110s
compute heritage, its also equipped with
double-precision units, the only Nvidia card
on test to do so. These are primarily used in
certain GPGPU compute tasks, although
some game effects, such as AMDs TressFX
hair rendering tech, also make use of them.
Included in this droolworthy list of
specsisanattractive aluminium stock
coolerthat few graphics card partners have
chosen to replace. Complete with its LED-lit
GeForce logo, vapour chamber cooler and
Perspex window, its a great piece of design
and engineering.
With similar clock speeds and 16 per cent
more stream processors than the GTX 780
2GB, the GTX Titan retains its position as the
fastest single GPU graphics card on the
market, although the gap is worryingly
smallconsidering the 275 price difference
between the two. At 1,920 x 1,080, the Titan
was able to surpass 60fps even in Crysis 3,
with minimum frame rates of 105fps in
Battlefield 3 and Skyrim, and 88fps in
BioShock underlining the power on tap. At
2,560 x 1,600, frame rates in both BF3 and
Skyrim remained above 60fps and were
perfectly playable in both Crysis 3 and
BioShock too. The Titan even delivered
playable performance in every game at
5,760x 1,080, although only just in Crysis 3
thanks to a minimum frame rate of 25fps.
CONCLUSI ON
While still the undisputed single-GPU
performance champion, the Titans legacy
has been greatly soured by the GTX 780 3GB,
acard 275 cheaper that only lags behind in
terms of playable frame rates at 5,760 x 1,080.
Even then, the gap is only 10-15 per cent and
easily closed with the help of overclocking.
Needless to say, wed feel pretty sick if wed
invested in a GTX Titan 6GB, and its asking
price of 825 now looks comically overpriced.
If youre set on a top-end single-GPU card, the
GTX 780 3GB offers far better value. HB
66
custom PC
OVERALL
1920 SPEED 24 / 25
2560 SPEED 18 / 20
5760 SPEED 4 / 5
VALUE 20 / 50
UNDERLINING THE
GEFORCE GTX TITANS
TOP-DOG SPOT, NVIDIA
HAS EQUIPPED IT WITH
A MASSIVE 6GB OF
GDDR5 MEMORY
GRAPHICS CARDS
76 August 2013
78
DUAL-WIELD Phenomenal performance at every resolution
HOLSTERED Huge; monstrous power consumption; high price
SLI Playable at 5,760 x 1,080; great stock cooler
SLY Expensive; performance doesnt always scale well
A beast of a card, but with a bafingly high price
Incredibly quick, but also expensive
T
he HD 7990 6GB wields two of AMDs top-
end Malta GPUs, which are physically
identical to the Radeon HD 7970s Tahiti XT, but
they run at a set GPU frequency of 1GHz. Each
GPU can also only use its own resources, so
while the card carries 6GB of GDDR5 memory,
each GPU can only access 3GB of it.
Running at 1.5GHz (6GHz effective), the HD
7990 6GBs memory can boast a huge peak
bandwidth of 2 x 288GB/sec. Meanwhile, the
card measures a whopping 305mm, and has
a peak TDP of 375W.
The coolers three-fan design is also very
effective at removing heat, but it exhausts
intoyour case and it can become noisy under
continuous load.
T
he GeForce GTX 690 4GB places a pair of
Nvidias GK104 GPUs onto a single PCB.
Both are equipped with four GPCs, each
subdivided into a pair of SMs containing 192
stream processors each. The result is two
GPUs that are each equipped with 1,536
stream processors, 32 ROPs and a 256-bit
memory interface.
As with other multi-GPU cards, each GPU
can only access its own resources, so the
1.5GHZ (6GHz effective) memory results in
2GB of memory for each chip, each with
192GB/sec of memory bandwidth.
Meanwhile, the base clock of 915MHz is a
seven per cent drop from that of the GTX 680
2GB, although its guaranteed boost clock of
Amazingly, the 7990
achieved playable minimum
frame rates in every game
tested, which is an admirable
achievement. This includes minimums
above 64fps in every game bar Crysis 3 at
2,560 x 1,080. The performance scaling is
rarely double that of the HD 7970 3GB, though,
and micro-stuttering was occasionally
noticeable too.
While capable of playing every game at
every resolution on test, the HD 7990 6GB
carries a ludicrously heavy price premium.
At855, its more expensive than a pair
ofHD7970 3GB GHz Editions in CrossFire
configuration a setup weve previously found
1,019MHz is only a three per
cent cut.
In terms of performance, the GTX
690 4GB makes mincemeat of modern
games at 1,920 x 1,080, with minimum
frame rates in excess of 102fps in Battlefield 3,
Skyrim and BioShock Infinite. Even Crysis 3
was no challenge, with a super-smooth
minimum of 72fps. Performance remained
smooth at 2,560 x 1,600 too, with a minimum
frame rate above 66fps in all games except
Crysis 3. Even at 5,760 x 1,080 most games
were playable, although a driver problem
inBioShock infinite resulted in an
uncharacteristically low minimum of 7fps.
With crushing performance, the GTX 690
to be even faster. Meanwhile, the GTX 690 also
offers similar levels of performance for less
money, making the HD 7990 ultimately
unattractive, despite its speed. HB
4GB is just as impressive as its HD 7990
6GB rival, but its similarly afflicted by
ahigh price and poor value. You could
buy two GTX 770s for 150 less, and get very
similar performance. As such, the GTX 690 is
an inadvisable choice. HB
66
custom PC
OVERALL
1920 SPEED 24 / 25
2560 SPEED 19 / 20
5760 SPEED 4 / 5
VALUE 19 / 50
67
custom PC
OVERALL
1920 SPEED 24 / 25
2560 SPEED 19 / 20
5760 SPEED 4 / 5
VALUE 20 / 50
'HYHORSHG E\ JDPHUV
IRU JDPHUV
PV *W*+]
Leveloped by gamers for gamers: 1he brand-new 61 om (24") lullL monitor for the ultimate viewing experienoe in gaming. lt beasts a 144 Rz refresh rate
and the ultra-shert lxel resense tlme ef ene mllllsecend, providing a lag-free, real-time gaming experienoe. Allowing the extremely short response time of
just one milliseoond for riohly detailed, extra-olear and orisp images without ghosting effeots. ln addition, the g2460Pqu refreshes the pioture up to 144 times
per seoond, more than doubling the standard rate of 60 z and delivering super-smooth piotures. 1his espeoially oomes in handy when playing trst-person
shooters, when enemy movements need to be deteoted rapidly and olearly. Flnally ne mere screen tearlngl
PR0bUC1 b1AlL5
lnputs: L-3ub, Lvl-L, LMl, Lisplay port
upto 1 ms 0t0
1920 x 1080 144 z
3peoial leatures: -5-+15 1ilt, 3wivel, 130 mm height adjust
350 od/m
03L with speoialed and oustomizable pre-sets for best performanoe in various types of games
\\\FTHJZWTUJHTR
lnnovative height u3B 2.0 ub with without ghosting effeots by one milliseoond
adjust stand (130mm) fast oharging port
3 years warranty
78 August 2013
FEATURE TABLE
Nvidia GeForce
GTX Titan 6GB
Nvidia GeForce
GTX 780 3GB
Nvidia GeForce
GTX 770 2GB
Nvidia GeForce
GTX 690 4GB
Nvidia GeForce
GTX 680 2GB
AMD Radeon HD
7990 6GB
AMD Radeon HD
7970 3GB GHz
Edition
Nvidia GeForce
GTX 670 2GB
AMD Radeon HD
7950 3GB With
Boost
Typical street
price from (inc
VAT)
825 550 329 815 330 855 306 250 240
Supplier www.scan.
co.uk
www.scan.
co.uk
www.scan.
co.uk
www.scan.
co.uk
www.over
clockers.co.uk
www.scan.
co.uk
www.ebuyer.
com
www.over
clockers.co.uk
www.over
clockers.co.uk
Manufacturer www.nvidia.
com
www.nvidia.
com
www.nvidia.
com
www.nvidia.
com
www.nvidia.
com
www.amd.com www.amd.com www.nvidia.
com
www.amd.com
GPU
Architecture Kepler Kepler Kepler Kepler Kepler Southern
Islands
Southern
Islands
Kepler Southern
Islands
Codename GK110 GK110 GK104 2 x GK104 GK104 Malta Tahiti XT2 GK104 Tahiti Pro
Base clock 836MHz 836MHz 1,046MHz 915MHz 1,006MHz 1GHz 1GHz 915MHz 875MHz
Guaranteed
boost clock
876MHz 900MHz 1,085MHz 1019GHz 1,058MHz N/A 1,050MHz 980MHz 925MHz
Maximum
boost clock
993MHz 993MHz N/A 1,058MHz 1,110MHz N/A 1,050GHz 1,084MHz 925MHz
Stream
processors
2,688 2,304 1,536 2 x 1,526 1,536 2 x 2,048 2,048 1344 1,792
Layout 5 GPCs, 14
SMs
4 GPCs, 12
SMs
4 GPCs, 8 SMs, 2 x 4 GPCs, 8
SMs
4 GPCs, 8 SMs, 2 x 32 CUs, 128
SIMDs
32 CUs, 128
SIMDs
4 GPCs, 7 SMs 28 CUs, 112
SIMDs
Texture units 224 192 128 2 x 128 128 2 x 128 128 112 112
Rasterisers 5 4 4 2 x 4 4 2 x 2 2 4 2
Tessellation
units
14 12 8 2 x 8 8 2 x 2 2 7 2
ROPs 48 48 32 2 x 32 32 2 x 32 32 32 32
Die size 551mm 551mm 294mm 2 x 294mm 294mm 2 x 352mm 352mm 294mm 352mm
Transistors 7.1 billion 7.1 billion 3.54 billion 2 x 3.54 billion 3.54 billion 2 x 4.3 billion 4.3 billion 3.54 billion 4.3 billion
Process 28nm 28nm 28nm 28nm 28nm 28nm 28nm 28nm 28nm
Memory
Memory 6GB GDDR5 3GB GDDR5 2GB GDDR5 2 x 2GB
GDDR5
2GB GDDR5 2 x 3GB
GDDR5
3GB GDDR5 2GB GDDR5 3GB GDDR5
Frequency 1.5GHz (6GHz
effective)
1.5GHz (6GHz
effective)
1.75GHz (7GHz
effective)
1.5GHz (6GHz
effective)
1.5GHz (6GHz
effective)
1.5GHz (6GHz
effective)
1.5GHz (6GHz
effective)
1.5GHz (6GHz
effective)
1,250MHz
(5GHz
effective)
Interface 384-bit 384-bit 256-bit 2 x 256-bit 256-bit 2 x 384-bit 384-bit 256-bit 384-bit
Bandwidth 288GB/sec 288GB/sec 224 GB/sec 2 x 192 GB/sec 192 GB/sec 2 x 288GB/sec 288GB/sec 192 GB/sec 240 GB/sec
Card specifications
PCI-E power
connectors
1 x 8-pin
PCI-E, 1 x
6-pin PCI-E
1 x 8-pin
PCI-E, 1 x
6-pin PCI-E
1 x 8-pin
PCI-E, 1 x
6-pin PCI-E
2 x 8-pin
PCI-E
2 x 6-pin PCI-E 2 x 8-pin PCI-E 1 x 8-pin
PCI-E, 1 x
6-pin PCI-E
2 x 6-pin PCI-E 2 x 6-pin PCI-E
CrossFire/SLI
compatibility
4 x SLI 4 x SLI 4 x SLI 2 x SLI 4 x SLI 2 x CrossFire 4 x CrossFire 4 x SLI 4 x CrossFire
TDP 250W 250W 230W 300W 195W 375W 230W 170W 180W
Slots, length
(stock)
Dual, 267mm Dual, 267mm TBC Dual, 279mm Dual, 257mm Dual, 305mm Dual, 275mm Dual, 240mm Dual, 265mm
* Prices correct at time of going to press
79 August 2013
GRAPHICS CARDS
Nvidia GeForce
GTX 660 Ti 2GB
AMD Radeon
HD 7870 2GB
Nvidia GeForce
GTX 660 2GB
AMD Radeon
HD 7850 2GB
AMD Radeon
HD 7790 2GB
Nvidia GeForce
GTX 650 Ti
Boost 2GB
Nvidia GeForce
GTX 650 Ti 1GB
AMD Radeon
HD 7770 1GB
Nvidia GeForce
GTX 650 1GB
AMD Radeon
HD 7750 1GB
221 170 150 150 120 140 105 90 90 75
www.scan.
co.uk
www.scan.
co.uk
www.scan.
co.uk
www.scan.
co.uk
www.scan.
co.uk
www.scan.
co.uk
www.scan.
co.uk
www.scan.
co.uk
www.scan.
co.uk
www.scan.
co.uk
www.nvidia.
com
www.amd.com www.nvidia.
com
www.amd.com www.amd.com www.nvidia.
com
www.nvidia.
com
www.amd.com www.nvidia.
com
www.amd.com
Kepler Southern
Islands
Kepler Southern
Islands
Sea Islands Kepler Kepler Southern
Islands
Kepler Southern
Islands
GK104 Pitcairn XT GK106 Pitcairn Pro Bonnaire XT GK106 GK106 Cape Verde XT GK107 Cape Verde
Pro
915MHz 1GHz 980GHz 860MHz 1GHz 980GHz 925MHz 1GHz 1,058MHz 800MHz
980MHz N/A 1,033MHz N/A N/A 1,033MHz N/A N/A N/A N/A
1,084MHz N/A 1,084MHz N/A N/A 1,071MHz N/A N/A N/A N/A
1,344 1,280 960 1,024 896 768 768 640 384 512
4 GPCs, 7 SMs 20 CUs, 80
SIMDs
3 GPCs, 5 SMs, 16 CUs, 64
SIMDs
14 Cuss, 56
SIMDs
3 GPCs, 5 SMs, 2/3 GPCs, 4
SMs
10 CUs, 40
SIMDs
1 GPC, 2 SMs 8 CUs, 32
SIMDs
112 80 80 64 56 64 64 40 32 32
4 2 3 2 2 2/3 2/3 1 1 1
7 2 5 2 2 4 4 1 2 1
24 32 24 32 16 24 16 16 16 16
294mm 212mm 221mm 212mm 160mm 221mm 221mm 123mm 118mm 123mm
3.54 billion 2.8 billion 2.54 billion 2.8 billion 2.08 billion 2.54 billion 2.54 billion 1.5 billion 1.3 billion 1.5 billion
28nm 28nm 28nm 28nm 28nm 28nm 28nm 28nm 28nm 28nm
2GB GDDR5 2GB GDDR5 2GB GDDR5 2GB GDDR5 1GB GDDR5 2GB GDDR5 1GB GDDR5 1GB GDDR5 1GB GDDR5 1GB GDDR5
1.5GHz (6GHz
effective)
1.2GHz
(4.8GHz
effective)
1.5GHz (6GHz
effective)
1.2GHz
(4.8GHz
effective)
1.5GHz (6GHz) 1.5GHz (6GHz
effective)
1,350GHz
(5.4GHz
effective)
1,125MHz
(4.5GHz
effective)
1.25GHz (5GHz
effective)
1,125MHz
(4.5GHz
effective)
192-bit 256-bit 192-bit 256-bit 128-bit 192-bit 128-bit 128-bit 128-bit 128-bit
144 GB/sec 153.6 GB/sec 144 GB/sec 153.6 GB/sec 96GB/sec 144 GB/sec 86.4GB/sec 72 GB/sec 80GB/sec 72 GB/sec
2 x 6-pin PCI-E 2 x 6-pin PCI-E 1 x 6-pin PCI-E 1 x 6-pin PCI-E 1 x 6-pin PCI-E 1 x 6-pin PCI-E 2 x 6-pin PCI-E 1 x 6-pin PCI-E 1 x 6-pin PCI-E None
4 x SLI 2 x CrossFire 2 x SLI 2 x CrossFire 2 x CrossFire 2 x SLI No SLI 2 x CrossFire No SLI No CrossFire
150W 175W 140W 130W 85W 134W 110W 80W 64W 55W
Dual, 240mm Dual, 246mm Dual, 174mm N/A NA Dual, 174mm Dual, 152mm Dual, 210mm Dual, 152mm Single, 168mm
80
80 August 2013
UNPLAYABLE
UNPLAYABLE
UNPLAYABLE
UNPLAYABLE
UNPLAYABLE
UNPLAYABLE
PLAYABLE
PLAYABLE
PLAYABLE
PLAYABLE
PLAYABLE
PLAYABLE
BATTLEFIELD 3 1,920 x 1,080
Ultra Detail, 4x AA (fps)
0 30 60 90 120 150
Radeon HD 7750 1GB
GeForce GTX 650 1GB
Radeon HD 7770 1GB
GeForce GTX 650 Ti 1GB
Radeon HD 7790 1GB
Radeon HD 7850 2GB
GeForce GTX 650 Ti
Boost 2GB
GeForce GTX 660 2GB
Radeon HD 7870 2GB
GeForce GTX 660Ti 2GB
Radeon HD 7950
3GB Boost
GeForce GTX 670 2GB
Radeon HD 7970
3GB GHz
GeForce GTX 680 2GB
GeForce GTX 770 2GB
GeForce GTX 780 3GB
GeForce GTX Titan 6GB
Radeon HD 7990
3GB GHz
GeForce GTX 690 2GB
23
25
30
36
39
47
49
57
58
66
71
76
85
83
91
111
125
148
148
18
21
24
30
31
38
41
47
47
55
58
64
69
70
76
94
105
121
123
SKYRIM 1,920 x 1,080
0 50 100 150 200
GeForce GTX 650 1GB
Radeon HD 7750 1GB
Radeon HD 7770 1GB
Radeon HD 7790 1GB
GeForce GTX 650 Ti
Boost 2GB
Radeon HD 7850 2GB
GeForce GTX 660 2GB
Radeon HD 7870 2GB
Radeon HD 7950
3GB Boost
GeForce GTX 670 2GB
GeForce GTX 680 2GB
Radeon HD 7970
3GB GHz
GeForce GTX 770 2GB
Radeon HD 7990
3GB GHz
GeForce GTX 780 3GB
GeForce GTX 690 2GB
36
34
42
50
53
69
71
79
84
90
94
106
113
106
120
147
145
154
175
26
27
30
37
41
52
56
62
66
69
77
83
84
87
87
97
105
105
111
0 20 40 60 80 100
Radeon HD 7750 1GB
GeForce GTX 650 1GB
Radeon HD 7770 1GB
Radeon HD 7790 1GB
Radeon HD 7850 2GB
GeForce GTX 650 Ti
Boost 2GB
GeForce GTX 660 2GB
Radeon HD 7870 2GB
Radeon HD 7950
3GB Boost
GeForce GTX 670 2GB
GeForce GTX 680 2GB
Radeon HD 7970
3GB GHz
GeForce GTX 770 2GB
GeForce GTX 780 3GB
GeForce GTX 690 2GB
Radeon HD 7990
3GB GHz
12
14
15
17
19
27
27
32
33
38
42
43
48
50
52
65
72
85
87
8
11
11
13
14
22
23
27
27
31
34
36
40
41
48
55
61
72
72
SKYRIM 2,560 x 1,600
0 30 60 90 120 150
Radeon HD 7750 1GB
GeForce GTX 650 1GB
Radeon HD 7770 1GB
Radeon HD 7790 1GB
GeForce GTX 650 Ti
Boost 2GB
Radeon HD 7850 2GB
GeForce GTX 660 2GB
Radeon HD 7870 2GB
Radeon HD 7950
3GB Boost
GeForce GTX 670 2GB
GeForce GTX 680 2GB
GeForce GTX 770 2GB
Radeon HD 7970
3GB GHz
GeForce GTX 780 3GB
Radeon HD 7990
3GB GHz
GeForce GTX 690 2GB
23
24
28
31
34
48
50
55
60
61
68
75
78
83
78
105
113
131
142
15
17
19
22
23
39
39
43
46
47
56
59
61
62
63
81
85
89
99
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Radeon HD 7750 1GB
GeForce GTX 650 1GB
Radeon HD 7790 1GB
Radeon HD 7770 1GB
Radeon HD 7850 2GB
GeForce GTX 650 Ti
Boost 2GB
GeForce GTX 660 2GB
Radeon HD 7870 2GB
Radeon HD 7950
3GB Boost
GeForce GTX 670 2GB
GeForce GTX 680 2GB
Radeon HD 7970
3GB GHz
GeForce GTX 770 2GB
GeForce GTX 780 3GB
Radeon HD 7990
3GB GHz
GeForce GTX 690 2GB
7
19
18
21
23
24
29
29
33
35
35
42
46
60
59
0
0
0
0
5
13
14
17
18
20
22
24
28
28
30
37
41
46
49
SKYRIM 5,760 x 1,080
0 20 40 60 80
Radeon HD 7750 1GB
GeForce GTX 650 1GB
Radeon HD 7790 1GB
Radeon HD 7770 1GB
Radeon HD 7850 2GB
GeForce GTX 650 Ti
Boost 2GB
Radeon HD 7870 2GB
GeForce GTX 660 2GB
Radeon HD 7950
3GB Boost
GeForce GTX 670 2GB
GeForce GTX 680 2GB
Radeon HD 7970
3GB GHz
GeForce GTX 770 2GB
GeForce GTX 690 2GB
Radeon HD 799
3GB GHz
GeForce GTX 780 3GB
13
26
25
32
30
32
37
41
42
43
45
70
72
59
65
0
0
0
0
7
18
20
23
24
24
30
32
34
36
37
46
46
48
51
Frames per second
Frames per second
Frames per second
Frames per second
Frames per second
Frames per second

Minimum

Average

Minimum

Average
81 August 2013
GRAPHICS CARDS
82
UNPLAYABLE
UNPLAYABLE
UNPLAYABLE
UNPLAYABLE
UNPLAYABLE
UNPLAYABLE
PLAYABLE
PLAYABLE
PLAYABLE
PLAYABLE
PLAYABLE
PLAYABLE
CRYSIS 3 1,920 x 1,080
Very High Detail, Very High Texture Resolution,
0x AA (fps)
0 20 40 60 80 100
Radeon HD 7750 1GB
GeForce GTX 650 1GB
Radeon HD 7770 1GB
Radeon HD 7790 1GB
Radeon HD 7850 2GB
GeForce GTX 650 Ti
Boost 2GB
Radeon HD 7870 2GB
GeForce GTX 660 2GB
Radeon HD 7950
3GB Boost
Radeon HD 7970
3GB GHz
GeForce GTX 670 2GB
GeForce GTX 680 2GB
GeForce GTX 770 2GB
GeForce GTX 780 3GB
Radeon HD 7990
3GB GHz
GeForce GTX 690 2GB
14
15
17
22
23
27
30
32
34
43
42
49
47
52
56
64
70
81
87
11
13
14
19
20
24
26
27
29
36
37
40
41
46
48
57
61
71
72
BIOSHOCK INFINITE 1,920 x 1,080
Ultra Detail with Depth of Field (fps)
0 30 60 90 120 150
Radeon HD 7750 1GB
GeForce GTX 650 1GB
Radeon HD 7770 1GB
Radeon HD 7790 1GB
Radeon HD 7850 2GB
GeForce GTX 650 Ti
Boost 2GB
Radeon HD 7870 2GB
GeForce GTX 660 2GB
Radeon HD 7950
3GB Boost
GeForce GTX 670 2GB
Radeon HD 7970
3GB GHz
GeForce GTX 680 2GB
GeForce GTX 770 2GB
GeForce GTX 780 3GB
GeForce GTX 690 2GB
Radeon HD 7990
3GB GHz
20
23
25
32
34
39
45
48
51
61
63
70
74
75
81
95
105
132
128
16
19
21
28
29
35
37
42
42
51
55
58
64
64
67
82
88
102
111
CRYSIS 3 2,560 x 1,600
0x AA (fps)
0 20 40 60
Radeon HD 7750 1GB
GeForce GTX 650 1GB
Radeon HD 7770 1GB
Radeon HD 7790 1GB
Radeon HD 7850 2GB
GeForce GTX 650 Ti
Boost 2GB
Radeon HD 7870 2GB
GeForce GTX 660 2GB
GeForce GTX 670 2GB
Radeon HD 7950
3GB Boost
GeForce GTX 680 2GB
Radeon HD 7970
3GB GHz
GeForce GTX 770 2GB
GeForce GTX 780 3GB
Radeon HD 7990
3GB GHz
GeForce GTX 690 2GB
8
8
10
12
13
16
17
19
20
24
27
26
30
30
32
37
42
49
49
6
7
8
10
10
14
14
16
17
20
22
23
25
26
28
32
37
42
45
0 20 40 60 80
Radeon HD 7750 1GB
GeForce GTX 650 1GB
Radeon HD 7770 1GB
Radeon HD 7790 1GB
Radeon HD 7850 2GB
GeForce GTX 650 Ti
Boost 2GB
Radeon HD 7870 2GB
GeForce GTX 660 2GB
Radeon HD 7950
3GB Boost
GeForce GTX 670 2GB
GeForce GTX 680 2GB
Radeon HD 7970
3GB GHz
GeForce GTX 770 2GB
GeForce GTX 780 3GB
Radeon HD 7990
3GB GHz
GeForce GTX 690 2GB
10
12
13
18
17
22
25
26
29
34
36
40
43
42
47
56
62
73
79
8
10
11
14
15
19
20
23
24
29
31
33
36
37
39
49
54
64
66
CRYSIS 3 5,760 x 1,080
0x AA (fps)
0 10 20 30 40
Radeon HD 7750 1GB
GeForce GTX 650 1GB
Radeon HD 7770 1GB
Radeon HD 7790 1GB
Radeon HD 7850 2GB
GeForce GTX 650 Ti
Boost 2GB
Radeon HD 7870 2GB
GeForce GTX 660 2GB
Radeon HD 7950
3GB Boost
GeForce GTX 670 2GB
GeForce GTX 680 2GB
Radeon HD 7970
3GB GHz
GeForce GTX 770 2GB
GeForce GTX 780 3GB
Radeon HD 7990
3GB GHz
GeForce GTX 690 2GB
11
11
13
13
16
18
18
20
21
21
25
28
32
32
0
0
0
0
0
9
10
11
11
12
14
14
17
17
19
22
25
26
27
0 10 20 30 40 50
Radeon HD 7750 1GB
GeForce GTX 650 1GB
Radeon HD 7770 1GB
Radeon HD 7790 1GB
GeForce GTX 690 2GB
Radeon HD 7850 2GB
GeForce GTX 650 Ti
Boost 2GB
Radeon HD 7870 2GB
GeForce GTX 660 2GB
GeForce GTX 670 2GB
GeForce GTX 680 2GB
GeForce GTX 770 2GB
Radeon HD 7950
3GB Boost
Radeon HD 7970
3GB GHz
GeForce GTX 780 3GB
Radeon HD 7990
3GB GHz
43
13
15
16
17
20
24
26
28
21
26
34
39
45
0
0
0
0
0
7
8
8
11
11
11
13
15
15
17
20
29
32
36
Frames per second
Frames per second
Frames per second
Frames per second
Frames per second
Frames per second

Minimum

Average

Minimum

Average
GRAPHICS CARDS
82 August 2013
UNIGINE VALLEY 2,560 x 1,600 (points)
0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000
Radeon HD 7750 1GB
GeForce GTX 650 1GB
Radeon HD 7770 1GB
Radeon HD 7790 1GB
Radeon HD 7850 2GB
GeForce GTX 650 Ti
Boost 2GB
Radeon HD 7870 2GB
GeForce GTX 660 2GB
Radeon HD 7950
3GB Boost
GeForce GTX 670 2GB
Radeon HD 7970
3GB GHz
GeForce GTX 680 2GB
GeForce GTX 770 2GB
GeForce GTX 780 3GB
Radeon HD 7990
3GB GHz
GeForce GTX 690 2GB
369
497
546
705
764
813
992
1,073
1,142
1,347
1,407
1,546
1,636
1,772
1,934
2,298
2,544
2,587
3,134
BITCOIN EFFICIENCY (MH/Watt)
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5
GeForce GTX 650 1GB
GeForce GTX 650 Ti
Boost 2GB
GeForce GTX 660 2GB
GeForce GTX 670 2GB
GeForce GTX 680 2GB
GeForce GTX 770 2GB
GeForce GTX 690 2GB
GeForce GTX 780 3GB
Radeon HD 7750 1GB
Radeon HD 7770 1GB
Radeon HD 7850 2GB
Radeon HD 7790 1GB
Radeon HD 7950
3GB Boost
Radeon HD 7870 2GB
Radeon HD 7970
3GB GHz
Radeon HD 7990
3GB GHz
0.19
0.30
0.31
0.37
0.47
0.47
0.48
0.52
0.64
0.8
0.88
0.9
1.09
1.31
1.53
1.55
1.64
1.68
2.12
POWER CONSUMPTION (Watts)
0 100 200 300 400 500
Radeon HD 7990
3GB GHz
GeForce GTX 690 2GB
Radeon HD 7970
3GB GHz
GeForce GTX 780 3GB
GeForce GTX 770 2GB
Radeon HD 7950
3GB Boost
GeForce GTX 680 2GB
GeForce GTX 670 2GB
GeForce GTX 650 Ti
Boost 2GB
GeForce GTX 660 2GB
Radeon HD 7870 2GB
Radeon HD 7850 2GB
Radeon HD 7790 1GB
Radeon HD 7770 1GB
GeForce GTX 650 1GB
Radeon HD 7750 1GB
470
415
356
352
344
333
314
300
277
266
245
244
243
227
205
200
196
179
173
127
122
110
108
108
106
110
112
111
109
104
103
108
106
104
110
106
103
106
FOLDING@HOME PERFORMANCE (PPD)
0 20,000 40,000 60,000
GeForce GTX 770 2GB
GeForce GTX 780 3GB
Radeon HD 7750 1GB
Radeon HD 7790 1GB
Radeon HD 7770 1GB
Radeon HD 7850 2GB
Radeon HD 7870 2GB
Radeon HD 7950
3GB Boost
Radeon HD 7970
3GB GHz
GeForce GTX 650 1GB
Radeon HD 7990
3GB GHz
GeForce GTX 650 Ti
Boost 2GB
GeForce GTX 660 2GB
GeForce GTX 670 2GB
GeForce GTX 680 2GB
GeForce GTX 690 2GB
N/A
N/A
4,575
5,450
6,080
6,500
6,900
7,223
7,549
11,560
15,370
16,820
19,920
20,900
24,980
25,550
31,580
32,500
59,770
BITCOIN HASH-RATE (MH/sec)
0 500 1,000 1,500
GeForce GTX 650 1GB
GeForce GTX 650 Ti
Boost 2GB
GeForce GTX 660 2GB
GeForce GTX 670 2GB
GeForce GTX 680 2GB
Radeon HD 7750 1GB
GeForce GTX 770 2GB
Radeon HD 7770 1GB
GeForce GTX 690 2GB
GeForce GTX 780 3GB
Radeon HD 7790 1GB
Radeon HD 7850 2GB
Radeon HD 7870 2GB
Radeon HD 7950
3GB Boost
Radeon HD 7970
3GB GHz
Radeon HD 7990
3GB GHz
28
49
56
71
100
102
115
120
121
188
221
225
253
256
270
372
460
620
1,294
FOLDING@HOME EFFICIENCY (PPD/Watt)
0 50 100 150 200
GeForce GTX 770 2GB
GeForce GTX 780 3GB
Radeon HD 7750 1GB
Radeon HD 7950
3GB Boost
Radeon HD 7970
3GB GHz
Radeon HD 7790 1GB
Radeon HD 7870 2GB
Radeon HD 7850 2GB
Radeon HD 7770 1GB
Radeon HD 7990
3GB GHz
GeForce GTX 650 1GB
GeForce GTX 650 Ti
Boost 2GB
GeForce GTX 660 2GB
GeForce GTX 670 2GB
GeForce GTX 680 2GB
GeForce GTX 690 2GB
N/A
N/A
31.3
33.1
33.7
34.1
37.1
37.6
38.7
46.4
83.8
105.1
107.7
114
114.8
121.1
130
132.2
175.8
Idle Load
84 August 2013

86
CYNICAL HIT
The generation game
88
METRO: LAST LIGHT
Off the rails
90
DONT STARVE
Eating is underrated
91
MONACO: WHATS
YOURS IS MINE
Stainless steal
92
THE SHOWDOWN
EFFECT
Jedi vs Terminator
94
STARDRIVE
4X candles
96
ENGINE ROOM
Sharpen your Clausewitz
98
DEV PERSPECTIVE
Global differences
86
Divinity: Dragon Commander
Divinity: Dragon Commander is the new
fantasy strategy game from Larian Studios. It
combines turn-based grand campaigning with
real-time battlegrounds, a little like the Total
War games. However, alongside building
structures, researching technologies and
controlling armies, you can also assume direct
control of a dragon during combat and swoop
down on your unsuspecting foes. As you can
see from this image, the dragon also wears
ajetpack, which is the flying fantasy creature
equivalent of wearing glasses without lenses.
Bloody hipster lizards!
c
u
s
t
o
m
p
c
EXCLUSIVE IMAGE
85 August 2013
Readers Night Wed, 3 July, 9 till late
The place Our Counter-Strike: Source server
What you need An up-to-date Counter-Strike:
Source installation
GAME SERVER IP ADDRESSES
32-player BC2 85.236.101.22:16667
32-player CS: Source 85.236.101.24: 37015
FIND US ON STEAM
Public group http://steamcommunity.com/groups/
CustomPC
Modern Warfare 2 http://steamcommunity.com/
groups/CustomWarfare2
a
t this point, you hopefully dont need me to tell you that there
are a couple of new consoles coming out the PlayStation
4, named because its the fourth PlayStation, and the Xbox
One because, well, either Microsoft cant count, or its
hoping to be able to spin it as More like Xbox *Won*! in a couple of
years. Both of them are essentially PCs, although neither company is
likely to thank anyone for pointing that out.
Its a comment from EA CTO Rajat Teneja thats just locked the
bullshit fox in the technical henhouse, though, claiming that these
consoles are a generation ahead of the
highest end PC on the market. Uh-huh.
Sure. Now, it isnt entirely clear what he
means, or indeed if he simply speaks in
amarketing-exclusive tongue that just
sounds a little like language. Either way,
Kinect doesnt need a suite of sensors to
translate the correct response to this, as
long as it can detect a single raised finger.
Both consoles are a big jump on the last gen, as youd hope and
expect. The idea that theyre 8-10 times superior to the current gen,
though, is ridiculous. Theres no point in listing full system specs
here, but in both cases, were looking at the Jaguar APU, an 8-core
system that isnt as impressive as it sounds when you look at the
actual implementation details, and a solid chunk of fast memory
thats overkill now but wont be in 2015. Its a definite upgrade ahead
of the curve for the average consumer PC, but a generation? Not
compared to a platform whose users can buy a GTX Titan right now.
The fact is that the raw technology behind these consoles isnt
thatimportant unlike the Wii U, which even Nintendo has finally
admitted is underpowered. More horsepower is always good, but at
this point it isnt the big development bottleneck. The problem is that
Apparently, the PS4 and Xbox One are
a generation ahead of the highest end
PC on the market. Hmm
actually using it now costs a fortune in terms of making assets,
scripting and a million other tasks.
What would make the difference for the next generation is focusing
on that problem allowing for more procedural generation figuring
out ways to make the games we see today without developers
constantly being one release away from collapse. Many developers
want the next generations graphical hike to somehow bring an army
of new blood into the fold and help pay the bills, but really, if you
werent going to play Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, you probably wont be
won over by the upcoming Ghosts. The idea
of having to kick production values up a level
should be terrifying the promise of several
years of high-stakes poker where Sony and
Microsoft insist everyone goes all-in.
At least on PC, well get to enjoy the fruits
of that the most not because the consoles
are ahead, but because assets and games
wont be designed primarily for a five-year-
old console any more. Well also get the thriving indie market,
cheaper games through Steam sales, and in a couple of years time,
average machines that offer the best technological bang for your
buck. High-end systems though? Theyve already beaten both
consoles, before they even hit the shelves. Claiming otherwise isnt
good marketing, its silliness. Ignore the silliness until it goes away.
GENERATION
GAMES
EITHER MICROSOFT CANT
COUNT, OR ITS HOPING
TO BE ABLE TO SPIN IT AS
MORE LIKE XBOX *WON*!
IN A COUPLE OF YEARS
GAMING
86 August 2013
Richard Cobbett is a writer, journalist and professional cynic,
wishing everything could be as easily solved as an adventure
game puzzle.
@richardcobbett
CYnical hit
THE KNOWLEDGE
Price 34.99 inc VAT
Publisher Deep Silver
Developer 4A Games
Website
www.enterthemetro.com
he star of Metro 2033 was
arguably its gas mask. Venturing
beyond the Metro into the nuclear
winter-gripped ruins of Moscow
required such breathing apparatus to survive. You
were a stranger in an alien land, your life always on
atimer. As you explored you needed to constantly
scour the ruins for spare mask filters as yours
became clogged with radioactive dust, choking you
and fogging the mask with your breath. Such touches
elevated Metro from being a rote post-apocalyptic
shooter into a gripping, fascinating experience.
Last Light refines and improves nearly all of 2033s
design ideas, and this is encapsulated by the gas
mask. It works in much the same way, but now a
digital watch clearly counts how much time you
haveleft before you need to change your filter. This
inturn must be performed manually rather than
automatically, as in 2033. Best of all, mud, rain and
occasionally blood will splatter onto the mask, and
aquick tap of the G key prompts the main character,
Artyom, to wipe it clean with his hand.
Its an immersive touch of genius, acknowledging
the barrier between the player and the game world,
and saying, Its okay, we can work with this. Last
Light wants to create a post-apocalypse world thats
as convincing as possible, and it usually succeeds.
To accomplish its vision, developer 4A has made
significant alterations to the look of the game. The
Metro is a much more colourful and vibrant place
than before, and Artyoms second foray into the
depths of the subway system is a more varied
sightseeing tour, whether hes sampling the
murkydelights amid the green canals and
woodenwalkways of the station known as Venice,
orsneaking through the bright red banners and
darkblue uniforms of a Nazi faction rally.
On the surface, winter has thawed into early
spring, so the white wasteland of 2033 is now a
green, swampy landscape of opportunity. Its no less
treacherous, however; violent storms break out
abruptly, the lashing rain and dazzling lightning
showing off the 4A engines spectacular
environmental effects. Meanwhile, new shrimp and
mantis-like mutants now reside in the marshes.
It all makes for quite a sight but, unfortunately, for
the first couple of hours thats pretty much all it is.
Metro 2033 always kept the player on a fairly tight
lead, but initially in Last Light its more of a choke-
chain. You spend too much time simply moving
forwards through the games scenery, and even
thenthe momentum is constantly interrupted by
interactive cut-scenes, which involve mashing the
Ebutton to open a manhole cover or fight off a
monster. Put it this way: about a quarter of the way
through the game you get to drive a railcar, as in a car
METRO: LAST LIGHT
METRO
TRANSPORT
SYSTEM
Astonishing
worldcrafting;
improved combat
and stealth
METRO
WINDOWS
INTERFACE
Early game
restrictively linear;
questionable
representation
ofwomen
PROVIDED YOU TURN OFF
THE LIGHTS, YOU CAN SNEAK
IN FRONT OF AN ENEMY AND
THEY WONT SEE YOU
Right on track
88 August 2013
T
light level rather than vision so, provided you
turn off the lights, you can sneak right in front
of an enemy and they wont see you, even if
the rooms ambient light isnt particularly
dim. Most enemy soldiers are equipped with
headlamps, though, which means you need
to pay attention to your surroundings.
There are a few other issues too. The
storyis more interesting than that of 2033,
but it also meanders, focusing on Artyoms
mission to find the last of the Dark Ones the
race of psychic post-humans he destroyed
inthe last game, and who may not have been
as evil as humanity originally suspected.
However, the target constantly shifts, and
Artyoms journey is interrupted by various
setbacks and sidetracks. Unfortunately, the
and then, and then, and then structure
implies that the story was
made up as the designers went
along. The content is good; it
just lacks cohesion.
Meanwhile, the characters
are mostly well portrayed. The
personality of Pavel, your
gentle-voiced Communist
REVIEW
thats literally on rails. Compared to the early
game, this feels liberating.
Mercifully, Last Light gradually slackens
its grip, and from the railcar onwards, the
levels are either relatively open (albeit
directed), or have plenty of side paths and
cubbyholes to explore. It also gives you
plenty of opportunity to experiment with
thereworked combat and stealth.
The formers improvements are largely
down to punchier weapons and better
monster design. There are now scuttling
spider-mutants t are deeply unsettling, but
are also fatally allergic to light. Unfortunately,
they tend to attack in numbers, so you must
switch your torch between them to keep
them at bay. Meanwhile, the Nosalis giant
mutant moles that featured in 2033 have
been completely rethought with new
models, animations and AI. Instead of
lumbering cannon fodder, the Nosalis are
now swift, leaping horrors that will try to
flank the player and attack from behind.
Meanwhile, stealth has been improved
inasmuch as it actually works now, although
it still works a little strangely. Its based on
companion, unfolds impressively. However,
the games representation of women may
raise eyebrows. It begins promisingly, with
asidekick sniper called Anna who has a
no-nonsense attitude and a wicked sense
ofhumour, but later on theres a cringingly
embarrassing scene involving a strip bar,
and from there it tragically descends into
cheap titillation and stereotypes. It isnt
malicious, but given recent efforts in games
such as Tomb Raider and BioShock Infinite, it
comes across as backwards and ignorant.
Its a strange misstep, because otherwise
Last Light shows a deft understanding of
humanity its factional and often self-
destructive nature, but also its ability to show
empathy and compassion in the worst
situations. Its simultaneously beautiful and
terrible, hopeful and deeply sad.
A first-person-shooter with a
heart is a true rarity in this most
bombastic and jingoistic of
genres, and while it may have a
few ugly mutations in places, Last
Light is very much welcome here.
RICK LANE
84
OVERALL

89 August 2013
THE KNOWLEDGE
Price 11.99 inc VAT
Publisher
Klei Entertainment
Developer
Klei Entertainment
Website
www.dontstarvegame.com
lei Entertainments fiendish isometric
survival game Dont Starve is analogous
tothe early stages of a Minecraft game,
butwith a big chunk of Dark Souls thrown
into the mix. Youre left alone in the wild with no
instructions other than to find some food before
nightfall, and its up to you learn how to survive.
Youdo this by collecting resources, building tools,
getting everything fatally wrong and then learning
from your mistakes.
Its a tough game, but its also clever. Starvation
isthe most persistent threat, but there are many
others, and its those others that usually result in
your demise. Spend a day foraging for berries and
forget to chop down enough trees to build a fire, and
when night comes, youll make a tasty dinner for the
faceless horrors that lurk in the dark. Similarly, it
may seem a clever strategy to spend days picking up
Beefalo manure to fertilise lots of little farms, and it
is, until Winter arrives, the crops stop growing and
you have no food or winter clothing because you felt
squeamish about killing the furry, lumbering beasts.
The procedurally generated world is brought
eerilyto life by Kleis wonderful animation, and the
Victorian pop-up aesthetic works very well indeed .
There are plenty of reasons to explore the world,
where youll find all manner of weird creatures
andunique items that can aid your survival efforts.
Unfortunately, however, basic subsistence is such
achallenge that it discourages exploration and
experimentation, and there arent
enough ways to navigate the early
stages of a game. In particular, too
many items require spider silk to
craftthem.
Also, the game logic is a little iffy at
times. The gentleman scientist can
invent an all-purpose science machine
in the middle of nowhere with some wood and a bit of
gold, but making a hunting bow is apparently beyond
his skills. Meanwhile, examining the map pauses the
game, but looking up item recipes doesnt, meaning
that you can lose entire in-game days just working
out what to build next.
Klei has promised a further six months
of updates to the game after release, so
hopefully these little foibles will be
addressed at some point. Even without
the updates, however, Dont Starve is an
enchanting and challenging take on the
emerging survival genre.
RICK LANE
K
FEAST
Lovely art style;
well structured;
uncompromising;
compelling

FAMINE
Early game lacks
variety; some
logical gaps;
over-reliant on
some resources
I will survive
82
OVERALL

90 August 2013
DONT STARVE
August 2013 91
THE KNOWLEDGE
Price 11.99 inc VAT
Publisher
Pocketwatch Games
Developer
Pocketwatch Games
Website
www.pocketwatchgames.
com/Monaco
onacos fantastic premise casts you as a
group of criminal masterminds who, in their
escape from prison and ensuing attempts
toescape the games city, pull off a series of
increasingly ambitious and challenging heists,
rescues and cons.
Up to four players can take part in these cooperative
criminal capers, each selecting one of four initial
characters, with a further four joining as the story
progresses. These characters vary in usefulness.
TheLookout, Mole and Hacker are regularly crucial
toa successful heist, with their abilities to highlight
guard movements, break through walls and hack
security systems respectively. However, the Locksmith
and Pickpocket quickly become redundant, as all
characters can unlock doors and pick up coins
albeitless effectively.
Playing cooperatively, the game is initially chaotic.
Theres little information on how the game works and,
with your view of the map limited to your line of sight,
your troupe of thieves moves through the early levels
with the subtlety of an explosion in a cutlery factory,
partly because of the busy visual style. There are icons
everywhere, showing key strategic points, weapons,
equipment, objectives, coins and guard
alert statuses. Its messy and confusing.
That said, you eventually acclimatise,
and when your team starts to work
together, forming strategies and
changing them quickly on the fly, the
game becomes quite special. You might
send in the Cleaner to knock out a guard
near a power outlet, before moving in the Hacker to
shut off a nearby camera so the Mole can knock a
holeinto the safe room without being detected. As you
pull off increasingly complex heists in an organised
fashion, Monaco becomes very gratifying. Particularly
enjoyable is sneaking into a building unseen, grabbing
the loot and then making a mad dash for the exit,
leaving chaos and confusion in your wake.
While partnered pilfering is compelling, however,
lone lawlessness is considerably less fun, as you can
only use one character per player. This could have
been solved by allowing any numbers of players below
four to switch between multiple roles.
Monaco needs a full roster of players
toget the most out of it, and even then it
can be baffling and frustrating. However,
when it clicks, its one of the most original,
amusing and satisfying games weve
played for ages.
RICK LANE
M
MONACO
Funny; clever;
unique
M25
Confusing visual
style; single-
player not as
much fun as
multiplayer;
some characters
redundant
Heist almighty

82
OVERALL
REVIEWS
MONACO: WHATS
YOURS IS MINE
REVIEW
THE KNOWLEDGE
Price 7.99 inc VAT
Publisher Paradox
Interactive
Developer Arrowhead
Game Studios
Website www.
theshowdowneffect.com
hat would happen if Liam Neeson and
Arnold Schwarzenegger had a fight? If
Arnie was wielding a rocket launcher the
size of a bus, and Liam Neeson had the
lightsaber from his role as the astoundingly boring
Qui-Gon-Jinn in The Phantom Menace, then the dour
Irishman would likely carve up the beefy Austrian
before he could shoot. If, however, Mr Terminator used
his shield ability and brought out his shotgun, the
former Jedis skillset would prove less useful than a
mop in the desert. Welcome to The Showdown Effects
way of thinking.
The game allows you to live out your dreams as an
action hero, featuring scattershot references to action
movies from the last three decades. Taking one of four
hero archetypes and customising its load-out from an
array of weaponry and clothing, you duke it out with up
to seven other players in some beautifully designed
platform-based maps, ranging from neon-soaked
cities to medieval fortresses.
Melee and throwing weapons require you to
simplyclick the mouse and aim in your opponents
approximate direction. For bullets to hit their mark,
however, you must keep the mouse reticule on your
opponent tricky when they can wall-
jump, roll around and spear-tackle you.
Its a lot of silly fun, if completely
forgettable. Mechanically, theres
nothing special, and the strict limits on
the initially available weapons, combined
with the large gaps between levels, make
the experience a bit of a grind. Mercifully,
however, its saved from mediocrity by two particular
game modes The Expendables and One Man Army.
The Expendables pits one team of action heroes
against another team of henchmen. The henchmen
wear identical clothes and are considerably weaker
than the heroes, but each time a henchman kills a
hero, the heros spawn delay is increased. In short, the
heroes must survive the onslaught until the timer runs
out; a recipe for blistering chase sequences and heroic
last stands.
One Man Army has a similar premise, except only
one player is the hero, and any henchman who kills the
hero then takes their place. Its basically tag, but with
katanas and heavy machineguns; how we
all would have liked to play tag as children.
Admit it, we were all little monsters.
Ultimately, The Showdown Effect is like
a good action movie, unlikely to hold your
attention for more than a few hours, but a
wild ride while it lasts.
RICK LANE
W
COMMANDO
Flashy and
entertaining;
twostand-out
game modes
COMMANDONT
Unlikely to hold
your attention
forlong
68
OVERALL

92 August 2013
THE SHOWDOWN EFFECT
Disposable heroes
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REVIEW
THE KNOWLEDGE
Price 24.99 inc VAT
Publisher
Iceberg Interactive
Developer
Zero Sum Games
Website
www.stardrivegame.com
tarDrive begins promisingly, with you
choosing one of eight colourful and unique
races to play, from noble space-bears, the
Kulrathi Shogunate, to hive-minded AI
insects, the Opteris. Further customisation of races
isalso available via a pool of positive and negative
traits, affecting anything from your starting tech to
thenumber of planets you initially know.
Youre then taken into the game, and presented
with a lovingly detailed and easily navigable top-down
star map of the galaxy, in which you can zoom right
down to individual planets and ships. It impresses
audibly too, with an appropriately gentle and eerie,
yetoptimistic, electronic soundtrack.
Here, StarDrives best ideas come to the fore, as
many of its systems can be automated. Scout ships
can be told to explore, and will hop between stars of
their own accord. Click on a planet and opt to colonise
it, and the game will build a colony ship for you and
send it away. Spare colony ships can then be ordered
to shuttle food and colonists to support
those fledgling systems. This is all great.
Sadly, this is where StarDrives
philosophy of simplification ends
though. A lot occurs behind these few
automated systems, and much of it is
poorly communicated. You can install
governors on colonies and manage
them automatically, but this is pointless unless you
understand how the games resources work.
Similarly, custom ship design is a good idea, but
theres no advice on what makes a good scout, frigate
or fighter, such as which types of weapons or engines
each should use.
While there are some introductory videos and
awritten guide, it needs a tutorial campaign to
demonstrate the basics and introduce a few
strategies to help develop your play style. Meanwhile,
the AI seems far more capable than you, being able to
build ships and research tech faster, warding you off
claiming specific star systems. Again, theres no guide
as to what you should research early on, so you can
often research yourself into a corner immensely
frustrating when youre several hours into a game.
These issues would be forgivable if StarDrive had a
unique selling point but, in its ambition to match the
breadth and depth of Endless Space and Galactic
Civilzations, its ended up an unremarkable mimic of
other 4X games. StarDrive could have
been the 4X-equivalent of XCOM: Enemy
Unknown, purging the tedious micro-
management and glacial gameplay that
burdens other examples of its genre. In
actuality, its a derivative 4X strategy game
with little to differentiate it from the pack.
RICK LANE
S
STAR WARS
Well presented;
interesting races;
smart automation
ideas
SPACE BALLS
Derivative;
unrealistically
procient AI; lacks
comprehensive
tutorials
Drive on
50
OVERALL

94 August 2013
STARDRIVE
Rick Lane
early all the engines weve covered
so far in this series have either been
designed to be general purpose,
such as Unreal and Unity, or
specifically designed for first person
shooters or RPGs. Even Codemasters
EGOengine, unique in its focus on racing
games, shared that similar design
philosophy with its focus on intense visual
detailing, realistic physics and convincing-
looking game worlds. The Clausewitz
engine is completely different.
Paradox Interactives grand strategy
engine is designed to power games that
simulate entire societies at various layers of
detail; their politics, religions, militaries and
even individual people, all moving across
continent maps that can contain thousands
of separate working parts. Is that work
harder or easier to create than a typical
first-person shooter engine?
I would say its a lot simpler in general,
says Fredrik Zetterman, lead engine
programmer on Clausewitz. With shooters,
you need to have good physics and
[occlusion] culling to remove the playfield,
which you dont see, in order to improve
performance. We have a much simpler,
more predictable case with our games
because we always see them top-down.
While the games Clausewitz supports are
very different from the norm, the reason for
the engines development was the same as
any other. Paradoxs previous effort, the
Europa engine, was two-dimensional and
beginning to look severely dated. Clausewitz
was intended to be a current-generation 3D
engine, with full 3D models representing
terrain and structures, as well as
animations for army units, boats and so on.
For a grand strategy game, this poses a
few difficulties, such as deciding how much
information to represent visually using 3D
models. Civilization has a system where
each city grows organically, but in that game
you might have ten cities, whereas in ours
the engine room
Rick Lane uncovers the secrets behind Paradox Interactives grand strategy engine
you see so many provinces and so many
cities at the same time, Zetterman says.
In our recent games, weve actually
started to play around with the zoom level.
Ifyou zoom in, you see a lot more stuff than
when youre zoomed out. There are some
tricks you can use.
But the biggest challenge in keeping
Paradoxs strategy games graphically
current isnt the nature of the games
themselves, but the size of the teams that
work on them. Paradoxs largest team,
working on the upcoming Europa
Universalis IV, consists of only five people.
Infact, Zetterman himself has only been a
full-time engine programmer for around a
year, working previously as a programmer
on Crusader Kings II. When you develop a
game with a really small team, three coders,
it limits how much you can do, he says.
This means Clausewitzs development
has historically been more tied into game
releases than most engines, being changed
and having parts added to it with every new
game. At first, the designers have some
broad design for a game, and then we
usually have these meetings where we drill
down and see what kind of needs we have for
the engine, such as which games systems
need to be developed, he
explains. After that, we also
discuss whether these
systems should be at an
engine level, or if they
should be game-specific,
because some systems are
obviously really game-specific and theres
no use in integrating those systems at the
engine level.
Currently in its third iteration (Clausewitz
II primarily added support for Mac OS and
Linux), Paradox plans to make Clausewitz
more of an individual entity now that
Zetterman is working on it full-time. This
began with a purging of the engines code; a
clean-up of all the various ad-hoc inclusions
to make it more cohesive. There was old
Clausewitz
N
96 August 2013
ITS SURPRISING THAT THESE
VAST, COMPLEX GAMES RUN
ONCOMPARATIVELY SIMPLE
ENGINE TECHNOLOGY
While you can zoom in and out and move the camera
in Crusader Kings II, the angle is static, making engine
design considerably easier than in an FPS game
stuff from the Clausewitz engine, I think it
was a lot of rendering code. Zetterman says.
Now you can do a lot more in fewer lines.
Alongside giving the engine a general
spring-clean, several new features have
also now been added to improve the look of
the games. Were actually deploying a new
object system, with which we
can script a lot of new content
without actually writing any
code, such as complex entities
that have particle systems
and play sounds.
On top of that, Zetterman
has also written a custom
animation system for
Clausewitz, replacing the
third-party EmotionFX
animation system used
previously. Unlike a game such as The
Witcher 2, Clausewitzs games have
relatively simple animation needs, and
thenew animation system is designed to
cater to those needs without requiring the
additional expense of third-party software.
For Zetterman, this turned out to be a
surprisingly difficult aspect of the engine
toget right.
While the animation itself wasnt that
hard to write, he says, working with the
Maya exporter and Maya API was a
challenge, because Maya is such a huge
andcomplex program. So many things could
go wrong; Ive probably worked on Maya for
15 minutes in total, so I had to run to the
artists all the time and ask questions about
how everything actually worked.
Zetterman also plans to adopt certain
broadly similar game-specific features into
Clausewitz and make them engine-specific.
One such example is the AI that drives the
many systems of Paradoxs grand-strategy
games, such as all the character
interactions in Crusader Kings II. Were
thinking about creating some sort of
template project, where you actually have
ageneric base game, then you begin to
modify that and, if you then improve on that
base game, you can import it back into the
generic template.
In some ways, its surprising that these
vast, complex games are developed by such
small teams and run on comparatively
simple engine technology. Aside from a
rendering window for particle systems and
animations, Clausewitz doesnt have its
own toolset, and Zetterman and the other
programmers work entirely by coding
directly into TXT files.
However, Paradoxs attitude towards
development isnt unique. The barrier to
entry for game programming is becoming
lower, and there are quite a few surprisingly
small teams building their own tech and
using it to make games that would have been
impossible to produce with such small
teams ten years ago.
I think thats really one of our strengths.
Zetterman says. When youre working with
only a few people, you have little time, but
the decisions and improvements can pop up
all of a sudden. Its a really interesting and
flexible way to work.
It could be much more than interesting
and flexible. It could be the future. With so
many new funding and distribution models
available to todays developers, small teams
that create their own engines, rather than
licensing them, are becoming increasingly
common. Some dont even have publishers
at all, and well be speaking to more of these
developer teams in the future.
ANALYSIS
97 August 2013
Zetterman was responsible for the many
different types of map in Crusader Kings
II, and the dynamic naming system
Crusader Kings II more detail, such as
trees, becomes apparent as you zoom in
Crusader Kings IIs map was limited to Europe,
but Europa Universalis IV has a much larger map
Europa Universalis IV
Europa Universalis IV
98 August 2013
Cliff Harris
Nope. In fact, the US publisher for the game
told me many times that, to sell well, it would
have to be changed to US currency, be set in
the USA and in a town called Greenfield that
sounded more American. Plus, it had to be
marketed as a game that was much more
upbeat. It turns out the publisher was right.
Smiling faces and optimism really does sell
well in the USA, and my satirical inclusion of
alottery ticket that never wins wasnt seen as
a funny joke by American players; they just
assumed it was a bug.
This isnt to say that Americans
are fundamentally different from
people in the UK were all
human beings, and there are
obviously many exceptions to
these rules, but when youre
looking at the bottom line,
general culture is an
important consideration. In
the UK, most of us can laugh
at failure. In the USA, failure is
failure. Most big casual games
(which are very popular in the
USA) have no failure state.
The idea of permadeath to
n certain situations , game design
morphs into a serious hair-pulling
exercise. Not just because you want to get
the mechanics or balance right, but also
because of cultural sensitivities. When I talk
topeople who dont play games at all, theyre
often surprised to hear that few Japanese
games become big hits in the west, and that
few western games become big Japanese
hits (yes, I know there are exceptions). A
common assumption among non gamers is
that all games sell everywhere. Everyone likes
Angry Birds, right?
Culture in different countries is really
diverse. I remember being amazed that the
Japanese TV show Endurance really existed
when I was a kid. Im sure there are countries
where The Jeremy Kyle Show seems frankly
weird, and I doubt that Graham Norton would
go down well in Iran. However, with the
explosion in selling games online, all games
are now global games, and that brings a host
of cultural challenges.
You may be aware, for example, that there
are special laws in Germany that restrict the
use of Nazi imagery. As such, its no surprise
that Company of Heroes had a Panzer Elite
side, rather than the SS, which is how anyone
outside the German game censorship
department would refer to them. Thats a
veryreal, very legally enforced barrier that
reminds us that different rules apply in each
country, but it can also be much subtler.
When I designed my casual life-
simulation game Kudos, it had the
UKpound as the currency, and
wasset in Slough. Meanwhile, the
main character (you) started off in
an early-life crisis, worrying about
their lack of achievement. I found
the idea funny, and thought US
gamers would be keen to try out
something new. Surely theyre sick
of upbeat optimistic games set in
New York and letting them live the
American dream, right?
that market is laughable. I often get emails
from American customers, confused because
they bought the version with some weird
currency that they dont understand, and they
want this to be changed to the normal one.
I often chat to a fellow indie developer who
is frequently angry and full of disbelief when
he gets angry emails from customers saying
that the characters in his indie RPG are too
sexy. He posts images from his game to us
fellow devs to ask Whats wrong?, revealing
apicture of an Amazon warrior with more
curves than a racetrack and less clothes than
you might consider sensible when going into
battle. Hes aghast when UK developers
suggest to him that his angry customers have
a point. Hes Italian.
Its very hard to step back and identify your
prejudices, and even harder to force yourself
to remove them from something artistic
youre trying to create. Even the most text-
light games still contain some cultural
character and attitude. My last game
(Gratuitous Tank Battles), a tower-defence/
RTS hybrid set in an alternative setting of
World War I, had a lot of hat tips to Blackadder
Goes Forth, and a general theme of
Global game design
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The concept art for the liberal and the patriot
in Democracy 3
99 August 2013
lampooning the generals and their mindless
optimism about a never-ending war.
Culturally, this comes from the traditional
British subversion of the upper classes,
combined with our experiences during the
world wars. To many Americans, this isnt
relevant, funny or even recognisable. One
persons humour is another persons
incomprehensible gibberish.
At this moment, Im working on a game
about politics a game idea that possibly has
the potential for more cultural confusion than
any other. Democracy 3 is a political strategy
game that puts the player in the role of
president or prime minister of a real country
they make the laws, control the policies and so
on. Already, even in that one sentence, you can
see where it starts to get messy. Is the player
the president or the prime minister? The USA
has a president, the UK has a prime minister,
France has both and Germany calls its leader
the chancellor. Confused yet?
The game also makes much fuss of the
ministers and the cabinet, which is a big deal
here in the UK, but less visible to the public in
the USA. The USA is more concerned with
congress, whereas here we have the House of
Lords. Its all a very confused mess, but you
can make a lot of it abstract there are no
individual congressmen or members of
parliament in the game.
Where it gets really tough is when it comes
to the voters and policies. Voters in the game
with earlier versions of the game, and insisted
that a new character design for patriot was
needed, because the previous one had a
beerbelly, which might have been seen as
social commentary.
Whenever I look at the characters in
Democracy 3 I find myself panicking and
worrying. Is it a problem that the wealthy
character is a white racist? Why is the
religious character clearly a Christian? Will
anyone be offended? Almost certainly, but
notby design.
The area of policies as expected also leads
to some concerns. Does legalising handguns
reduce crime or increase it? Most UK gamers
would say it increases it, but many US gamers
would firmly state the opposite.
Meanwhile, the idea of a state health
service in the USA has caused uproar, and
incited fierce opposition from the right,
whereas in the UK, that opposition appears to
be far smaller. Its scary to think that I have
thousands of equations in the game that
precisely define the relationship between
concepts such as alcohol consumption and
crime. Is binge drinking considered a
problem anywhere in the USA? Would they
even use the word binge?
If game designers do their jobs properly,
you never realise any of these subjects are
considered. You play a game and you arent
jolted out of your ethical or cultural comfort
zone. You only notice it when it feels wrong.
Behind the scenes, there are often people
likemyself, biting their fingernails, wondering
whether the phrase Mansion Tax is easily
understood in Omaha. Wish me luck.
CLIFF
HARRIS
is the one-man coding
wizard behind Positech
Games (www.positech.
co.uk), the developer of Gratuitous
TankBattles
@cliffski
are placed into groups such as socialist,
liberal religious and so on, but these labels
can imply vastly different meanings in various
countries. In the UK, you can have a liberal
capitalist, but this is considered rare in the
USA, where a liberal basically means a
socialist, and a liberal (as we know it) is
generally considered a libertarian.
The UK also has a tendency to associate
patriotism with moderate racism, whereas
inthe USA, almost everyone considers
themselves a patriot. Ive found myself
havingto put gun-rights activists in with
patriots, but the whole idea of gun-rights
activists in the UK is laughable. Trying to come
up with a paragraph that describes the word
liberal is a considerable challenge.
And thats only a problem of text. Imagine
the grief associated with commissioning a
single drawing of an individual to represent
aliberal. My liberal character was described
by me (English) to the artist (Swedish) for
comprehension by everyone, including
Americans. Ive been down this road before,
MY SATIRICAL LOTTERY
TICKET THAT NEVER
WINS WASNT FUNNY
TO AMERICAN PLAYERS;
THEY JUST ASSUMED
IT WAS A BUG
Cliff often gets emails from American customers
confused because they bought the version with
some weird currency that they dont understand,
and they want this to be changed to the normal one
100 August 2013
ANALYSIS
101 August 2013
102

little over ten years ago, a first-
person shooter appeared that
didnt hugely change the world,
but provided many gamers with an enjoyable
and unique experience. That game was
Planetside, a first-person shooter played out
in a scale and level of fidelity that gaming had
never seen until that point. Wed seen games
that packed more players on one server, such
as Ultima Online, but it was only Planetside
thatused those numbers in a game that,
whilerudimentary in many ways, was still
recognisably a game of skill and reflexes.
What Planetside offered for the starry-eyed
players was a huge sense of scale for that era.
Each of the three factions fighting on any given
continent could put up to a 150 players into the
fray, or more, and the original game also
allowed factions to outnumber one another.
For many playing Planetside back in its heyday,
this felt like a revolution in PC gaming, as if
games would keep getting bigger, with larger
armies, huge maps and epic battles.
But despite a rapid and sustained increase
in system power over the past ten years, this
expansion didnt happen, at least not as quickly
as people expected. The advantages of a large-
scale game are, not surprisingly, obvious. For
Why are so many PC games set in restrictive, linear environments, rather
than big open-world sandboxes with hundreds of characters? Why cant
the laughable battle scenes in Skyrim be more like the epic clashes
in Mount and Blade? Phil Hartup investigates the requirements and
limitations of large-scale PC games
one, the simple act of playing on a larger scale
gives a game a greater sense of gravitas and
verisimilitude. Seeing an enemy army turn up
in force feels more realistic, particularly if the
alternative is a steady trickle of enemies,
attacking in conveniently manageable waves,
like the goons in a Bruce Lee movie.
WHY LARGE-SCALE
GAMING MATTERS
This inability for a game to really handle scale
is a bugbear showcased perhaps most
lamentably in the recent Elder Scrolls games,
with both Oblivion and Skyrim presenting plot-
critical battles, which decide the very fate of
cities, as little more than a scuffle in a pub car
park. In Oblivion at one point, you unite a mighty
army to face the enemy pouring through an
Oblivion gate, complete with pre-battle rousing
speech and epic soundtrack, and there isnt
enough troops there to field a full rugby team.
Thats okay, of course, because when the
enemy do invade, intent on conquering the
entire world, they politely wander through the
gate in pairs and each will wait until those before
have been slain. The denizens of Oblivion
apparently slept through their own rousing
speech about teamwork before the battle.
We see similar problems with corridor
shooters such as BioShock: Infinite. The game
world is small, theres no freedom of action
above and beyond how you intend to kill the next
batch of enemies; as a result, anything exciting
thats going to happen is likely to be the result of
scripting rather than an organic product of what
happens in the game space. This is in stark
contrast to games such as Far Cry 3 or Crysis,
where the larger game world with more
elements in play can allow players to think
outside the box, and change the script.
Meanwhile, larger-scale multiplayer games
invite a greater level of tactical play, and can even
encourage different thinking on a strategic
level. For example, the original Planetside
would see groups of players, called Outfits in
the game, dedicate themselves to different
roles, such as air assault or tank warfare.
Taking that to the next level, EVE: Online
isnoted for involving combat of all sizes and on
all fronts, from solo engagements to vast
battles in space, along with all the economic
and political chicanery on the markets and
forums. These elements come into play
because the game has so few arbitrary
limitations within the game; there are no
instances to limit player numbers, and theres
102 August 2013
also only one server. Everybody could, if they
choose, meet up in one place at one time
in-game.
HARDWARE DEMANDS
So there are benefits to games having a big
canvas. However, even where a larger scale
might suit a game, the scaling process brings
a lot of baggage. The most obvious problem with
scaling up the number of objects and characters
in a game is the increased demands on the
system in terms of both the client PCs and the
servers. We spoke with Cem imenbier, lead
designer at Taleworlds who helped to create
the Mount And Blade series, about this problem
and others facing developers who want to
deliver an epic scale in their games.
Adding new characters to a scene isnt a
simple case of increasing the requirements on
a predictable per-character basis. For example,
in a battle scene in a game such as Skyrim,
adding each character means adding visuals,
objects, shadows, physics, AI and possibly
lighting effects if theyre a spell caster. Fighting
more than one opponent brings extra
considerations, and fighting between two
factions in larger numbers can become chaotic,
with bodies tumbling around, shadows being
cast all over the place, spells going off and
frame rates getting crushed as a result.
On a reasonably powerful PC, Skyrim can
support many more characters than the basic
version of the game, thanks to mods, but
performance still suffers when it gets really
crowded. So how does a game such as Mount
and Blade manage to handle battles of 400
characters, or even more, at the same time with
comparative ease? The first factor is that, unlike
a player cramming extra characters into a
game of Skyrim, the Mount and Blade series is
built for this sort of scale. imenbier explains
the that the battlefield AI works as follows:
We have a grid structure for troops in order
to help the AI find other troops in close range
faster. Also, forpath-finding,an AI thats in a
formation gets some help from the other
members in the formation about the path that
theyre going to follow. So, as long as the troops
are close to each other, their path-
findingrequires less hard work, and they use
the same path. AI characters behaviour doesnt
change according to the number of troops on
each side, but their behaviour does change
according to the orders given to their formation.
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE CPU
This system of using groupthink for blocks of AI
characters, rather than giving every character
its own fully functioning AI is a tactic that will be
familiar to anybody who has spent time making
missions using the Arma mission builder. AI
units that are part of the same group work as
part of a collective effort, while units outside of
a group work individually, even if theyre all in
close proximity. This ability to bundle AI units
together under a single intelligence saves on
processing power, and according to imenbier,
CPU power is the most important factor when
building games on a big scale.
For many games, you can turn off lots of
graphical features without affecting the actual
gameplay, but on the CPU side, those kinds of
options dont always exist, he says. PC gamers
are usually able to sacrifice graphical fidelity
for the sake of performance you can spare
your graphics power by lowering resolutions,
reducing texture detail, disabling anti-aliasing
and so on; any number of different shortcuts
and tricks are available. But even after all those
graphical cuts have been made, youre
effectively playing the same game; youre still
getting the authentic experience and playing
what amounts to the same game as a person
who plays it with higher graphical settings. The
role of the CPU, however, isnt so easily adjusted.
The CPU becomes more problematic for
game design and performance optimisation,
explains imenbier. We decided to give some
more options to the user, whatever their
limitations in terms of processing power.
THE SIMPLE ACT OF PLAYING ON A
LARGER-SCALE GIVES A GAME A GREATER
SENSE OF GRAVITAS AND VERISIMILITUDE
Planetside 2 still looks
graphically impressive,
despite the size of the
maps and the large
number of players
ANALYSIS
103 August 2013
104
Accordingly, Mount and Blade not only allows
the player to change the size of battles, but also
remove elements that might impact the CPU,
such as ragdoll physics on the bodies of fallen
characters. This isnt an appropriate strategy
for every game though; a game with a more
locked-in narrative, such as The Witcher 2, for
example, cant give players the freedom to
choose the size of a battle without it seriously
affecting the balance of the game.
In the original Planetside, both the CPU and
RAM were notorious sticking points for the PCs
of 2003. However, Planetside 2 eased these
problems by having less of the action handled
by the client (which in itself is a vital anti-cheat
measure), and also by limiting the draw
distance and curtailing the effects of players on
the wider game world.
How this manifests itself in Planetside 2, as
opposed to a game such as Arma 2, is that if, for
example, you fire a tank shell in Arma 2 into the
distance, its probably going to land somewhere
unless it completely leaves the map, even if you
cant see that far. So, maybe 6km across the
country, something in a forest might be splatted
by your missed shot. In Planetside 2, however,
that doesnt happen. Once your tank shell has
left the rendering distance around you, its gone.
This is a marked difference between
Planetside 2 and the Arma series. In Arma, the
game world around you is a fully fleshed-out
entity, which is very demanding on the system
running the game, but provides a great level of
immersion. In Planetside 2, the many hundreds
of players on any given server exist within their
own bubbles. While the Planetside 2 method
might seem like a ruthless shortcut, its worth
bearing in mind that, while both games involve
large-scale combined armies, if you try to cram
close to 2,000 players onto an Arma server, it
will burst into tears under the stress.
Another problem with performance is that
the requirements for running a game during
an epic battle scene will be much higher than
they are for when youre just wandering about
the game world. In a game such as Skyrim or
Arma 2, where you spend a lot of your time not
actually engaged in combat, you might not want
to compromise the visuals in order to smoothly
accommodate a situation that may or may not
happen later. Equally, it can be really jarring if
you encounter a group of enemies and
immediately have to stop the game and fiddle
with your options before you can smoothly deal
with them.
Clever use of multi-threading is also playing
a part in smoothing out the problems of CPU
performance with larger games, which is only
recently becoming common. Arma 3 makes
use of multi-threading to a much greater extent
than previous games in the series, and Mount
and Blade: Warband also uses multi-threading
to ease the strain of big battles. As this
technology is used more, this can only benefit
CPU-limited games, and gives you a good
reason to look at a quad-core CPU for gaming.
ADDRESSING LAG
All these hardware issues also tie into the other
common problem for large-scale multiplayer
games that old bugbear of online gaming: lag.
There are two types of lag that a player might
encounter during play: connection lag and
server lag, both of which are more likely to occur
in a large-scale game than a small-scale game.
Connection lag can occur simply because
the server is too busy to adequately handle the
upstream and downstream traffic necessary
for the game. This is a problem sometimes
encountered with small servers trying to
handle big games. For example, while Arma
sessions can be hosted on a home computer,
even with a very good connection, youre likely
to struggle with more than a handful of players
as the bandwidth demands grow. The greater
problem occurs, however, when the server
hardware itself starts to buckle under the strain
of hosting the session.
Larger servers for Mount and Blade:
Warband or Arma games can accommodate
Combat in The Witcher 2 is
detailed and deadly, similar to
Mount and Blade in terms of
the mechanics, but its wholly
unsuited to large-scale conflict
THE CPU BECOMES MORE
PROBLEMATIC FOR GAME
DESIGN AND PERFORMANCE
OPTIMISATION
ANALYSIS
104 August 2013
106
up to 200 or around 100 players respectively,
but you can still experience lag even on
dedicated server hardware. In Arma games in
particular, the lag depends on the mission being
played. Its very easy to hammer your servers
frame rate with a poorly written script or
misjudged mission design. When the frame
rate on a server gets low, even with a good
connection and a high frame rate on a client
system, youll experience de-synchronisation
and erratic behaviour of objects and characters
in the game world.
The problems associated with server lag
really become apparent when the number of
players in a particular situation goes into the
thousands. Although it very rarely happens,
there have been occasions in Planetside 2
where two of the factions have fought the third
faction at one base, with almost the totality of
their forces committed. When this happens,
the lag is intense and strange events inevitably
occur, with players vanishing into the floor,
weapon damage being delayed by several
seconds, and interactions with vehicles and
equipment made impossible.
EVE: Online can also suffer from lag during
big fights. The recent Battle Of Asakai holds the
record, with some 3,000 combatants involved.
Due to the numbers involved, players reported
lag and time dilation of unprecedented levels.
Despite the lag, however, combat was still
functionally possible, if much more unwieldy
than usual.
WHY LARGE-SCALE GAMES
ARE RARE
Not all the problems with large-scale games
are tied to the sheer brute force required to run
them though. Often problems dont come from
the hardware requirements, but from the
games design and the way its played. In fact,
this is possibly the real reason why games that
operate on a grand scale are so rare.
One of the key problems from a design
perspective lies in the systems that you need to
make large battles work. In Mount and Blade
or Arma, part of the charm of the game is that
youre merely one face among many. One lucky
spear thrust as you lead the charge in Mount
and Blade can put you on your back, and in
Arma, it isnt uncommon for players to never
even see their killers, due to the engagement
ranges and lethal accuracy of AI soldiers.
However, this isnt appropriate for all games.
Take The Witcher 2, for example. The combat
is detailed and deadly, similar in some ways to
Mount and Blade in terms of the mechanics,
but its wholly unsuited to large-scale conflict;
nor would this level of combat fit with the style
of the character. There are occasions in the
story where a colossal battle scene would
arguably be appropriate, but would tailoring the
games combat system to accommodate just
one such scene be worth it? We doubt it, given
that the game already has to handle monster
fights, group combat and boss battles.
The same could be said for Skyrim or party-
based RPGs such Dragon Age: Origins their
ITS VERY EASY TO HAMMER YOUR
SERVERS FRAME RATE WITH A
POORLY WRITTEN SCRIPT OR
MISJUDGED MISSION DESIGN
400-man brawl in
Mount and Blade.
Good clean fun
Even in an alpha build of Arma 3,
an air strike can be big and scary
ANALYSIS
106 August 2013
combat systems are geared towards enabling
the player to deal with a roughly equal number
of enemies; adding many more would break
the system. Most MMOs also work along similar
lines; typically, enemies attack singly or in small
groups, and are then handled accordingly the
combat systems simply arent designed for
swatting hordes of mobs.
Scale isnt only a design factor in RPGs and
first-person shooters, however. Strategy
games such as Xcom and Wargame: Airland
Battle also eschew large squads and gigantic
sweeping formations of troops, not because the
game cant handle them, but because the sheer
numbers would overwhelm the player
attempting to control them.
Very large battles are a feature of Wargame:
Airland Battle, but theyre ten-vs-ten
multiplayer games, so you can still keep a tight
control on your forces on a big battlefield.
Theres also an option in Shogun 2: Total War to
command armies of up to 40 regiments single-
handedly and, while the battles themselves can
be spectacular as a result, trying to herd that
many troops efficiently doesnt leave much time
to enjoy the show.
The frustrations of spinning a large number
of plates as a commander, or trying to battle
through a horde of enemies in an RPG, arent
the only issues though. Even in a game where
theres no AI to consider, when you have masses
of players, the problems with systems, rules
and how the game is played persist. You can see
this problem in action in Planetside 2. At launch,
the game featured a map based on hexagonal
tiles, each of which contained a base that could
be captured a change from the original game,
which used a system called the Lattice and a
much smaller number of bases.
The old system meant that you had to battle
from base-to-base, rather than roaming the
map grabbing land adjacent to land you already
owned. At the time of writing, however, the
hexagonal system is being phased out in a
return to a lattice system. Why? Because with
no control mechanic to funnel armies against
each other, the maps are chaotic, with
individuals or small teams grabbing
undefended territory with unseemly speed.
Armies encountering heavy resistance could
flood outwards into adjoining territory and grab
that instead. Basically, a game based around
battles on a persistent map looked poised to
turn into a game of control-point hopscotch.
Herein lies a serious problem. While the
spectacle of Planetside 2 cant be denied, its
difficult to persuade players to stick with a game
thats so ruthlessly anarchic, and where a base
that took hours of battling to claim can be lost
in minutes once you leave. Returning to a lattice
system might redeem Planetside 2 for many
players, or it may even alienate it from some,
but its clear that simply building a giant sandbox
for players is by no means all there is to it.
Simply having gigantic armies slamming into
each other isnt enough. You also need to have
a game in the pure sense, with challenges,
fairness and a feeling of control just having
more enemies in a bigger space wont cut it.
CONCLUSI ON
Making a game on an epic scale isnt as easy as
adding more square footage to the game world,
or cramming more characters into it. You need
to be able to accommodate an array of different
systems in your potential player-base by
providing options to scale the game not just
graphically, but in terms of CPU resources too.
Multi-threading, group AI and other
shortcuts will help, but theyre no guarantee of
success. Even if you can make an epic game
that runs fine on most hardware, the game
design still needs to suit the scale. Controlling
the flow of a big game, whether youre trying to
orchestrate an army of AI troops or chase after
hundreds of other players, is tough, and you
wont have much fun unless youre in control.
Large-scale environments with hundreds of
characters arent appropriate for every game-
type, but the occasional new epic title still shows
that progress is being made with the design of
large-scale games. With the growing success
of each iteration of the Arma and Mount and
Blade franchises, with new titles in the pipeline
for both, we also still have much in the way of
future large-scale games to enjoy.
ITS CLEAR THAT SIMPLY
BUILDING A GIANT
SANDBOX FOR PLAYERS
IS BY NO MEANS ALL
THERE IS TO IT
The Napoleonic expansion for
Mount and Blade casts players as
unit commanders
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108 August 2013
nce heralded as the future of
entertainment, Virtual Reality
hasbecome something of a
technological joke. In the early 1990s, the
excitement about VR generated by films
suchas the Lawnmower Man were quickly
dispelled by the distinctly non-lifelike
experience of using the actual technology.
Early VR headsets such as Nintendos Virtual
Boy were commercial failures, while VR
headsets designed for the Atari Jaguar and
Sega Megadrive never made it into stores.
These days, with graphics engines edging
closer to photorealism and HDTVs
the size of walls, becoming
immersed in a game world
doesnt seem out of the
question, although the idea of
sitting in a room wearing a headset
still seems a little ridiculous.
Or at least it did until about a year ago when,
in a small side room at E3, ids John Carmack
was spotted duct-taping what looked like tiny
TVs to peoples faces, and then recording
theirexclamations of amazement as they
played Doom 3 while wearing the curious
contraption. It turned out that the device in
question had nothing to do with Carmack,
andwas instead the invention of young virtual
reality enthusiast Palmer Luckey.
Since then, the Oculus Rifts fame has
skyrocketed. Luckeys Kickstarter campaign,
which asked for $250,000 to push forward
development of the headset, received just
shyof ten times that amount, and has been
endorsed by industry giants including Valves
Gabe Newell and Unitys David Helgason.
With the first development kits being shipped
in March, were getting a much clearer picture
of the devices technical specifications, what
its like to use and the work required to make it
commercially available.
The key features that set the Oculus Rift
apart from previous attempts at VR are
its wide field of view, low-latency head-
tracking and use of stereoscopic 3D.
The idea is that, in a game, mouselook
is replaced by VR motion tracking, so
you can look around the environment
independently of movement direction
Potentially redening virtual reality for the modern age of PC gaming, the Oculus Rift
is currently basking in the games media limelight. Rick lane investigates
hile VR
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o stores.
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reality enthusiast Palmer Luckey.
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The Oculus Rift has a wide field of view, low-latency
head-tracking and stereoscopic 3D features
ANALYSIS
109 August 2013
and mouse aim. The Rifts head-tracking
system has the full six degrees of freedom
forwards and backwards, up and down, left
and right, plus pitch, yaw and roll.
Latency has historically been the biggest
problem for VR headsets. At the moment, the
Rifts pipeline takes about 60 milliseconds
between the sensor tracking your head
movement and replicating that movement
on-screen. This is enough to be slightly
noticeable, but the developers are hoping to
halve this delay at the very least by the time
acommercial version becomes available.
Inside the headset are two separate
LCDs,one for each eye, which is how the
stereoscopic 3D effect is created. According
toOculus, the Rift was deliberately built with
greater separation between the two displays
than other stereo 3D devices, which gives a
truer sense of being in a three-dimensional
world, as opposed to the pop-up-book effect
you often see in 3D movies.
Meanwhile, the lenses inside the headset
are designed to warp the LCD images around
the eyes, giving a wide, 90-degree field of view
compared to the common default of 60
degrees in games. The combination of the
specially shaped lenses and the wide field of
view is designed to give genuine peripheral
vision when playing games.
While reports of the Rifts performance in
these areas are almost universally positive,
theres concern about resolution support.
Currently, the development kits only support
resolutions of 1,280 x 800, which translates
into 640 x 800 per eye. This means pixels look
rather big and blocky, and on-screen menus
can be difficult to read. The resolution can be
pushed a little higher to accommodate 16:10
aspect ratios, but this apparently increases
the latency of the head-tracking. Whats more,
the effective resolution is even lower due to
the wide field-of-view. The good news is that
the commercial version is planned to be
equipped with a 1080p screen.
Another point in the Rifts favour is that it
uses standard interfaces HDMI, DVI and
USB although theres currently no VGA
support. However, while the standard
interfaces mean its possible that the Rift
could be made compatible with other
platforms, currently its PC-exclusive.
At the moment, theres only one game
available that fully supports Oculus Rift, and
thats Valves Team Fortress 2. The Doom 3
demonstration that initially brought the Rift
toattention, and for all intents and purposes
appeared to be the flagship game for the
device, has vanished completely. In fact,
Oculus offered various compensation credits
on Steam and elsewhere to Kickstarter
backers for the no-show. The reason for
Doom 3s disappearance is shrouded in
mystery, but Oculus has stated that Rift
support for ids game is still a possibility.
John Carmack has stated, however, that
Rift support will be a feature in Doom 4.
Meanwhile, other major developers that have
announced support for the device are Unity
and Epic; given the substantial number of
games currently available on their respective
engines (hundreds in the case of Unreal and
thousands in the case of Unity), theres the
potential for many Rift-supported titles.
But dont get too excited yet. Such games
are years in the future. Heck, the Rift doesnt
have a commercial release date yet (Oculus
estimates some time in 2014). In terms of the
here and now, a demo of multiplayer mech-
based game Hawken was recently shown
using the Rift at GDC this year. In addition,
enthusiasts have also hacked support into
games, including Mirrors Edge, Skyrim and
Half-Life 2, with varying degrees of success.
Since the release of the developer kits,
were also getting a greater sense of what
kindof PC youll need to run the Rift.
For an optimal Rift experience, Oculus
recommends a machine that can run the
game in question at 60fps with v-sync enabled
and in stereoscopic 3D, which means youll
need a fairly heavyweight graphics card.
Even with everything we currently know,
there are still a lot of questions, and the device
still has a lot to prove. An immersive visual
experience is one factor, but what about
soundand control? Will new devices for those
aspects of gaming be needed to complement
the Rifts immersion? Also, will the Rift be
suitable for extended periods of gaming?
Many experienced games journalists who
have used the Rift have reported feeling
unwell just after a few minutes of playing.
Acclimatisation seems to be a necessity.
Hopefully, well be able to answer these
questions when we get our hands on a device
in the next couple of months, so watch this
space. Besides, regardless of whether the
Riftwill prove to be a revolution in gaming, or
just a flash in the pan like so many other VR
systems, the tech is looking impressive, and
its always great to see new ideas in PC
gaming we cant wait to try it.
Unity has already pledged
support for the Rift
A demo of multiplayer mech-based
game Hawken was recently shown
using the Oculus Rift at GDC 2013
when doing the paint job
onthe Fallout project, and
because I'd had the idea
fora steam punk 'future'
since the beginning, I
decided to name it APASF
'A Post-Apocalyptic
Steam-punk Future'.
CPC: What's the purpose
of APASF?
Luciel: This project has the
same function as the
Fallout machine; it's
mostly a showpiece.
It's rather fragile
due to the exposed
parts and piping, and
it's very hard to clean
a lot of dust would
gather inside it if I were
to use it every day. As
such, I decided to use it solely for LAN events,
modding competitions and so on.
With that in mind, I also designed it so that
itcould be easily taken apart, as some of
the hardware used is from the PC that
I use on a daily basis.
CPC: What other
mods have you built?
Luciel: I've made many
mods over the past few
years but there are
seven if I only count
those with work logs,
plus another two that I
never finished, either
because they were
simple experiments or
because I moved on to
do a similar concept
with different parts. Out
of those completed seven
110 August 2013
CPC: What was the inspiration
behind APASF?
Luciel: Ever since I started painting
and modding some years ago, the
idea for this project was in my head from
dayone. The reason I hadn't done anything
until now was mostly because I wanted to
improve my skills, both in structural
modding, painting and effects, before I
started I wanted to make sure my skills
wouldn't limit the idea I had in my head.
CPC: Where did the name come from?
Luciel: The name comes from the idea
itself.In order to make sure I had the skills
fordecay effects, I made a 'mod in a week'
project called Fallout Cause SP, which turned
out much better than I expected.
I had also already seen, and loved, many
steam punk projects, but I had never seen a
mix of steam punk and post-apocalyptic style.
As this project used the skills I developed
Your chance to get involved in Custom PC
meet thy
maker
Name Luciel Campbell
Age 26
Occupation PR for Lamptron Europe
Location Mlaga, Spain
Main uses for PC Web design, server
management and gaming
Likes Roast beef, my Abarth Stilo,
futurepop, beer, three-screen setups
Dislikes Peas, failing hard drives,
RMAs, the Nvidia 790 chipset
With a fan-free water-
cooling system based
on rigid copper pipes,
Luciel Campbell
visualised this post-
apocalyptic steam punk
project when he first
started modding
ENTER YOUR OWN PC AT HTTP://FORUMS.BIT-TECH.NET
SEE
MORE
of Luciel's APASF project,
check out the full project
log at http://tinyurl.com/
ProjectAPASF
projects, two were showpieces, one was a
present for my then partner (a PS2 modified
to look like a corset) and two were for clients
that wanted very specific looks.
The other two were a tutorial project, in
which I explained every step of making a CPC: Was using water cooling CPC: What materials did
relatively simple project for those who wanted difficult? you use, and why?
to get into modding, but didn't know where to Luciel: I don't usually find using water cooling Luciel: I knew I wanted wood to feature in this
start, and the final one was an everyday PC. difficult, but this case was different. Using mod, but after some research (I'd never
copper piping and fittings originally intended worked with wood before), I simply couldn't
for plumbing is no easy task if you're not a find a viable solution for the wood details I had
SYSTEM SPECS
plumber (I'm not). in mind. Instead, I opted for plastic, using very
GPU 2 x Asus Nvidia GeForce GTX560 Ti TOP in SLI
I encountered quite a few issues, which simple wood vinyl and aging effects, which
Storage 2 x Kingston SSD 240GB in RAID 0
mostly involved leaks. It was also difficult gave the look of old and abused wood.
Memory 16GB (4 x 4GB) 1,866MHz Kingston HyperX setting up the whole system, as the rigid Copper was the obvious choice for the
DDR3 RAM
copper pipes meant that there was no room steam punk elements, so I used it for all the
Motherboard Asus Maximus IV Gene-Z/GEN3
for mistakes. piping, and developed a copper-rust paint
PSU NZXT HAL90 850W
I also had to try very hard not to strip any effect for all the non-wooden parts of the
Cooling 2 x Alphacool 360 slim radiators, EK pump,
plastic when connecting the brass fittings to case. This was actually extremely hard
EKCPU block, FrozenQ reservoir, copper pipes and
brassfittings the reservoir and the CPU block. while you can easily recreate conventional
112
August 2013 111
112 August 2013
rust with several acryl paints and inks, copper
rust has turquoise highlights. However, I'm
very happy with the end result.
All the other materials were taken from
theoriginal case (a B-Move Slim II HTPC
chassis), cut to size and used as needed.
The only exception was the modified
picture frame and little watches within it in
the front of the case believe it or not, these
came from Claire's Accessories! I also filled
in the front using epoxy resin, as the original
front was empty.
CPC: What tools did you use?
Luciel: I used a Dremel with disc number 420
to make most of the cuts needed. I also used
asander to smooth out surfaces, strip the
original case paint, and to clean and smooth
the epoxy resin once it was dry.
For the piping, I just used a conventional
wrench. Finally, in terms of paint, I used
fourdifferent brushes (I needed different
thicknesses for different effects), a detailing
paint gun and a compressor.
CPC: How long did it take you to complete
the building process?
Luciel: I was originally planning to finish
building this project within three to four
months. Eventually, however, it took me
around 11 months to complete it. To be fair,
though, I barely touched the project in four of
those months due to everyday life getting in
the way.
CPC: What have you learned from the
process of building APASF?
Luciel: Don't use copper piping ever again
it's a massive pain, and I've now realised that
Icould have just used Plexiglas tubing and
painted it copper. That said, I wouldn't have
accomplished a fan-free liquid cooling
system without the copper tubing, so
everything has its advantages. I also learned
that modifying a slim HTPC case in order to
mount a full-sized PSU is a lot harder than
you would expect, due to the effect it has on
the structural integrity within the case. I
learned how to make copper rust paint
effectsand wood effects as well.
BEAWINNER!
To enter your machine for possible inclusion in Readers
Drives, your mod needs to be fully working and, ideally,
finished based in the UK. Simply log on to www.bit-tech.net and head over to the forums. Once
youre there, post a write-up of your mod, along with some pics, in the Project Logs forum. Make
sure you read the relevant rules and advice sticky threads before you post. The best entrant each
month will be featured here, where well print your photos of your project and also interview you
about the build process. Fame isnt the only prize; youll also get your hands on a fabulous
selection of prizes see the opposite page for details.
CPC: Are you happy with the end result, and
would you do anything differently if you built
it again?
Luciel: During the last two months of the
build process, I pretty much obsessed over
it,and I don't think I could be happier with it,
despite some of its faults, simply because the
idea for it has been in my head for years you
can never recreate the idea you have in your
head exactly. If I could do it again, I would have
chosen a different HTPC case with a more
solid area around the PSU, as that was the
biggest issue I had with the project. All in all,
I'm very happy with the final result, especially
with the paint effects and the overall look.
HTTP://FORUMS.BIT-TECH.NET
The Phobya modding kit is designed with the modder in mind, offering
great value for money and quality products. The kit includes Nano-G
12 Silent Waterproof 1,500rpm multi-option fans, which use
an innovative fan-blade design. As standard, the
fans include braided black cables to keep
your case looking as neat as possible. The
fans are also supplied with a special cable
that lets you run the fan at 5V rather than
12V, reducing the noise emitted in order to
help you to build a silent system.
The kit also includes the
60cmPhobya 3-pin Molex to
4x 3-pin Molex Y-cable. This pre-
braided extension cable gives you extra routeing options in your case,
and it also enables you to run up to four fans from one compatible
motherboard header. Meanwhile, the Phobya SATA 3 cables included
in the kit offer the same great quality braiding as the
rest of the Phobya range, while also
securing your connection with latched
connectors. As well as this, the kit
includes the Phobya SlimGuide
Controller, which gives you the
option to vary the speed of other
fans in your case, while the Phobya
TwinLEDs let you shine a light on
your mods.
Weve teamed up with some of the worlds leading PC manufacturers and retailers to offer this great
range of prizes to each lucky Readers Drives winner. If your creation is featured in the magazine then
youll walk away with all of the prizes listed on this page, so get in your entries!
CORSAIR CARBIDE SERIES 300R CASE
AND 550W TX MODULAR POWER SUPPLY
Total value 142 inc VAT Manufacturer www.corsair.com
Corsair believes that a great PC starts with a great case.
The Corsair Carbide Series 300R is a compact
expression of this core philosophy. It packs in a
remarkable number of features given its compact
dimensions, provides builders with tonnes of room
for expansion, and has amazing cooling potential.
And, like all Corsair cases, its built using the finest
materials and finished to the highest standards, so
it will withstand several years of upgrades.
Just as a quality case is essential to building a
quality PC, a high-performance, high-quality power
supply is also a vital ingredient. Based on the award-
winning TX V2 Series, the new Enthusiast Series Modular
PSUs add a modular cabling system for improved
installation flexibility. TX Modular power supplies are built
using quality components, and are rigorously tested and
qualified at 100 per cent load at an ambient temperature
of 50C for unmatched reliability. Theyre designed to a
superior standard so that they not only meet the ATX
specification, but also exceed it. In addition to unmatched quality,
TX Modular PSUs are also power-efficient, offering 85 per cent energy efficiency or
higher at 50 per cent load.
With a Corsair Carbide Series 300R case and 550W TX Modular power supply at the
heart of your build, youll have the foundations for a truly awesome gaming machine.

PHOBYA MODDING KIT
Value 50 inc VAT Manufacturer www.phobya.com, www.aqua-tuning.co.uk
113 August 2013
MAYHEMS COOLANT
AND DYES
Value 50 inc VAT
Manufacturer www.mayhems.co.uk
Cooling performance is only one part of the equation
when it comes to kitting out your rig with custom
water-cooling gear. The other major bonus is that all
those tubes and gleaming fittings just make your PC
look damn sexy, and they look even better when they're
pumped full of fancy coloured coolant. As such, we're
particularly pleased to have the folks at Mayhems now
on board with Readers' Drives; they're currently
offering two 1-litre bottles of Mayhems' Pastel Ice
White coolant, along with a selection of five dyes, so
you can choose the colour that best complements your
PC. Check out the blue coolant in our own mini PC mod
on the cover of Issue 109 for an example of what's
possible with some Mayhems coloured coolant.
114 August 2013
MARK TUBING
When it comes to cutting the tubing to size, measure off
the length required and score or mark the tubing so you
know where to cut it. You can mark it with a few strokes
of a saw, or simply use a marker pen.
SNAP TO SI ZE OR CUT
Depending on which tools you have to hand, there are
two ways to cut the tubing. If you score it heavily at the
point you need to cut it, you should be able to snap the
tubing in half with a relatively clean cut. Alternatively,
you can use a Dremel or fretsaw to cut through the
entire tube.
Acrylic tubing, tube support
and push-fit barbs
From www.e22.biz
Fretsaw or Dremel
Most hardware stores
Sandpaper, file or Dremel
sanding bit
make acrYlic
tuBing
CHOOSE YOUR SI ZE
Several sizes of tubing are available, although theyre
all currently smaller than the larger, flexible PVC
tubing sizes. The smaller the tubing, the tighter youll
be able to bend it, which may be useful in small cases.
PLAN TUBING ROUTES
With acrylic tubing, its even more important to confirm
and accurately measure the tubing route, because its
more expensive than PVC tubing, and it isnt flexible
once its cooled. Use string or standard tubing to
ascertain just how much tubing youll need, taking
theangles between barbs into account.
ush-fittings were the rage in the
early days of water cooling, where
tubing was inserted into barbs
with grapples holding it in place.
This system wasnt always reliable, however,
as sideways pressure could cause tubing to
warp in the fitting, resulting in leaks. Thicker
tubing is more popular now, although it still
suffers from kinking, and its hard to route
neatly, especially when youre cooling your
VRMs, CPU and GPU, all in close proximity.
However, a recent addition to the world of
modding and water cooling is acrylic tubing.
Its made of a similar material to acrylic sheet,
and its essentially a hollow cylindrical tube.
By using a heat gun and a few other tools, you
can bend it to shape to fit your hardware. The
end result is not only kink-proof, but it also
enables you to maintain dead-straight lines.
Here, well show you how to create your own
acrylic tubing and bend it to shape.
Want to set your cooling system apart from the crowd? Antony Leather
has some useful tips on making your own straight-line tubing
P
115 August 2013
SAND THE EDGE
Any cut or snap will likely leave sharp edges, and its important to remove these,
as they could damage the rubber O-rings that the barbs use inside to make a seal.
Smooth them down using either sandpaper or a Dremel sanding attachment.
HEAT WI TH HEAT GUN
Use a heat gun to warm the tubing so that it becomes flexible. This shouldnt take
more than 10-20 seconds, and youll need to move the gun across the tubing to heat it
evenly. If you dont have a heat gun, its possible to do this job using a gas hob, or even a
hairdryer on its maximum setting.
TEST-FI T TUBING
While youre sanding, test-fit the tubing regularly to make sure you dont take too
much off. You want to achieve a tight fit that requires a little force to slot the tubing
into the barb and O-ring. If you sand it too much, the tubing will be loose and prone to
leaking.
SAND THE OUTER EDGE
The barb size is slightly smaller than the tubing, which creates a tight fit for flexible
PVC tubing, but means that rigid acrylic tubing wont fit. Youll need to sand down the
outside of the last 23mm or so of the tubing so that it can slot into the barb under the
O-ring. Use sandpaper, files or a Dremel for this job.
BEND TO SHAPE
Now go ahead and bend the tubing to shape. You might want to insert one end into a
barb first and bend it around to the other barb, or simply use a brace to achieve a neat
right-angled bend. If things dont go as planned, you should be able to heat the tubing
again and bend it back to its original shape.
INSERT TUBE SUPPORT
To prevent kinks forming in the acrylic tubing once youve heated it, you need to insert
a length of tube-support to fill the area youll be bending. If the length of tubing is
particularly long, you may want to attach something to the tube-support so that you
can remove it easily afterwards.
116
116 August 2013
REMOVE TUBE SUPPORT
Once youre happy with the result, allow the tubing to cool thoroughly for ten minutes,
or dab it with a cool damp cloth to speed the cooling process. When its cool (and only
then), remove the tube support, otherwise the tubing could still warp or develop a
kink on the bend.
FILL SYSTEM
With your loop connected, check the tubing to make sure its all tightly in place, and
then fill the loop with coolant. Its advisable to use coloured coolant to aid leak-testing.
We also recommend using an ATX jumper to power the pump without powering your
hardware so if a leak does occur, nothing will get damaged.
INSERT BARBS
Place the barbs into the threads of your waterblocks, radiators and other water-
cooling hardware. Dont be tempted to use a metal wrench or spanner to tighten
them, as this can ruin the exterior finish.
LEAK-TEST
The final act is to leak-test the cooling system. As this is a more involved way of
fitting tubing, requiring some modification, leaks are more likely to occur, but theyll
manifest themselves fairly quickly, allowing you to fix them. Wrap white tissue paper
around each barb this will trap any coolant and show you the leaks position.
INSERT TUBING
Thanks to the sanding, your tubing should slot in place with a small amount of force.
As the tubing isnt flexible, you may have to remove the block and hardware from your
system to slot the two ends together. As a last resort, you can insert the tubing with
the barb removed, and then tighten it with a spanner or wrench.
TIGHTEN WI TH HEX KEY
Instead, theres a hex key slot inside the barb, enabling you to tighten it from within
using a hex key, avoiding any exterior scrapes and scratches. Ideally you need to
tighten it so that the O-ring at the bottom makes good contact with the hardware. If
the barb is too long then use a spacer.
11
13
15
12
14
16
Promthe
experts at
PCPro
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118 August 2013
REMOVE DAMAGED FEET
As many of the feet on our laptop were either damaged
or simply worn down, we decided to replace the lot.
If most of yours are okay, and you just have one thats
missing, its worth replacing both the missing foot and
the adjacent one to level your laptops height and grip.
APPLY CLEANER
Its important to clean any residual adhesive off the foot
area so the glue can adhere properly. The best cleaner
to use is household polish, such as Mr Sheen, as this
breaks down the adhesive and makes it simple to
remove with a quick wipe.
Glue gun
Scalpel or sharp knife
IDENTIFY MISSING FEET
First youll need to identify any feet that are missing.
The feet are usually located in the corners of the laptop,
but they may be present on the battery as well, as
this often protrudes outwards. If you have any spare
batteries, check them too.
CHECK FOR AFTERMARKET FEET
Of course, it pays to check if someone offers direct
replacement feet for your laptop first. Check eBay, and
make sure that the feet specifically support your exact
laptop model, and not a slightly different one. Beware
of shipping costs too if theyre coming from abroad,
you could be looking at up to 20 including postage.
aptops usually last many years, but
constant use can often see certain
non-critical parts wear out. One
ofthe first parts to go is often a
support foot, which may not be essential for
the laptop to work, but its absence can make
your device unpleasant and awkward to use.
If theyre missing a foot, laptops can slide on
slippery surfaces, or wobble back and forth
when you type. Sadly, while replacement
mouse feet are readily available, replacement
laptop feet are still quite tricky to find. You can
try using adhesive rubber feet, but the
adhesive often isnt strong enough to hold.
Thankfully, theres a cheap and easy way
toactually create your own laptop feet. Glue
guns can be bought for as little as 6, which
isless than most companies charge for
replacement feet in the first place.
You apply the runny glue to the foot area
and, once it dries, it acts almost identically to
the original rubber feet. A single glue gun with
a couple of glue sticks can replace all your
laptop feet several times over too. Lets show
you how its done.
Trying to type on a laptop with a missing foot can be incredibly irritating.
Antony Leather shows you how to make your own
L
recreate
laptop feet
119 August 2013
CLEAN SURFACE
Wait for around ten minutes for the old adhesive to break down; this will save you
hours of scrubbing time. Then use a cloth to wipe away the residue, leaving a clean,
adhesive-free surface.
APPLY TO OTHER AREAS
Go ahead and apply the glue to the other feet areas on your laptop. You may want to
obtain different sizes or heights of feet; this will be easy to achieve by just increasing
or decreasing the amount of glue you use.
TRY AGAIN
Its likely your first attempt wont turn out brilliantly and, while the glue will certainly
stick to your laptop well, its possible to pry it off. Again, make sure the glue gun has
been warmed for at least five minutes and, if needs be, apply some glue to some
newspaper first. Applying it liberally will allow it to create a bulbous shape.
HEAT GLUE GUN THOROUGHLY
The key to achieving a uniform-shaped replacement foot is to heat the glue
thoroughly for at least five minutes, so it doesnt cure too quickly and end up looking
more like a log than a foot. The heat also allows it to flow and do the work for you.
Apply the glue at one end of a foot socket and work your way down.
ALLOW TO DRY
Dont be tempted to use the laptop as soon as the glue is hard to the touch. It will take
several hours to cool down and cure properly, and youll need to leave it well alone
during this time so that you dont risk deforming the feet.
TRIM EXCESS GLUE
Once youre happy with the result, use a scalpel to trim any excess glue that may have
been left behind. Most glue guns will leave a trail so, try as you might, there will very
probably be some cleaning up needed.
120 August 2013
was a little confused. It seems to suggest
that gamers anger at not being able to use
aproduct theyve paid for can be labelled
asgamer rage. The article then moves on
to tell us how other companies that have
annoyed their customers are still doing fine,
thank you very much, and that when we buy
the game in six months time for a reduced
price, it will all be good.
I agree that Internet forums are
populated by nice people, not so nice
people, people who just want to upset other
people and 12-year-olds who really need to
get out and kick a football round. However,
the article suggested to me that you
Letters
Send your feedback and correspondence to
letters@custompcmag.org.uk
couldnt be one of the first kind without your
opinion being gamer rage.
Lets remember that the only reason
youcouldnt play your new copy of Sim City
was because the publisher was worried
someone else might steal it. Personally,
Iwouldnt buy a shirt if I found I couldnt
wear it for a week in case the next person
through the shop door was a shoplifter, but
somehow its okay when Im a gamer.
Also, although EA will survive the rage,
itwouldnt survive Cliffs suggestion of
people picking up games from a bargain
binin six months. The games industry is an
entertainment industry just like films, so it
needs big titles and big launches. I imagine
nothing pulls down a company faster than
an accountant telling the shareholders
thatthe latest multimillion dollar game it
released will do okay once the hype and
excitement and interest has died off.
Finally, try substituting the word gamer
with customer throughout the article, and
youll find it reads differently. This problem
was of EAs making, and it probably
deserves the ratings and anger it received
from the Sim City release. Although I was
looking forward to the game, and would
have bought it like I bought all the
other versions, the coverage of the
problems persuaded me that, this
time, I just didnt want to reward a
company that treats its customers so
poorly, with my money.
Jules Ratcliff
Cliff replies: I agree with you.
Customers angered by useless DRM
have every reason to feel upset,
cheated, conned, badly treated and
have good cause to express anger at
the companies responsible. My point is
GRAPHI CS CARD
MEMORY INTERFACES
Me and a few friends atthe Aria
forums (http://forums.aria.
co.uk)are having a discussion about the
difference between the 192-bit bus on the
GTX 660 Ti compared to the 256-bit bus on
the GTX 670. As these cards are otherwise
the same, is it true that two 660 Ti cards in
SLI can effectively double the 192-bit bus
to384-bit ,and effectively remove the
bandwidth bottleneck that would otherwise
hamper performance in games such as
Crysis 3 at high settings and high
resolutions. Ive read in two reviews that this
is the case, but others dont agree. Can you
please find a conclusion to this topic?
Simon Cunvin
Ben replies: No, the memory interface for
each card is kept separate in SLI mode
the two arent combined its the same
with dual-GPU cards such as the GeForce
GTX 690, which effectively have two 256-bit
interfaces, rather than a combined larger
interface. Although the two cards work
together through the PCI-E bus, they
eachonly access their own individual
memory through their own interfaces,
rather than combining resources.
Running two 660 Ti cards in SLI mode
will definitely give you a performance
boost in some games, though, but
thats because the two cards are
working together on alternate frames,
rather than because theyre combining
their memory interfaces.
CHALLENGING
CLIFFSKI RAGE
I think Cliff Harris recent Dev
Perspective article about gamer rage
Combining two GeForce660 Ti cards doesnt give you
awider memory interface
look
c
h
t
121 August 2013
FEEDBACK
that those feelings will only actually result
in real change if they also translate into a
long term boycott that actually does
material economic damage. EAs share
price has risen 54 per cent in the past 12
months. I dont think the modern games
industry is as focused on the first months
sales as it used to be.
SILI CON HEAVEN
We all love a good upgrade. We all love
chasing higher performance, bolting
bleeding-edge tech into a gleaming chassis
and then watching the numbers blast off the
charts. But there is one downside what
about those components that are being
swapped out? Yesterdays hero is now a
lump of scrap metal with an archaic
architecture. Im sure Im not alone in
having a tendency to box them up and put
them somewhere safe, after which they
immediately pass from my memory.
This was brought home recently when
Idiscovered a perfectly functional Intel
Q9450 and a once-mighty EVGA Black Pearl
LGA775 board in a cupboard, along with
assorted RAM, water pumps and tubing.
There must be a use for this kit it still
works but what could I do with it?
Compared to my main rigs slightly
outdated, but still rapid, 2600K running at
4.6GHz, the old Yorkfield is a dinosaur, but
itmust still have a place in the world. Keep
up the good work on the mag, although
recently it seems there is a growing focus on
contributor opinion on social issues, games
and gaming, and less content around
detailed hardware reviews and features.
Ivebeen a reader since Issue 1, and when
Ibrowse back issues there seems to be
much more tech and much less pop culture.
Barry Taylor
Ben replies: Thanks for your
continued support of the
magazine, Barry. Im not sure
we actually have a great deal
more in the way of opinion on
social issues than before
weve always had a few
opinion columns, and we
now have the digital
rights column and dev
perspective, but thats
Some people sell their old kit on eBay, or
they use it for other purposes such as
building an HTPC out of spare parts, or a
modding project or MAME cabinet.
There are all sorts of cool projects for
oldcomputer parts last year I built a half-
decent gaming rig for a mate of mine using
my old Core 2 Quad and a Radeon HD 6870.
Like you, Im generally a bit of a hoarder,
rather than a binner I still have most of
my old graphics cards from my 8-bit EGA
card, through the Voodoo5 to the GTX 680
Ihave now. I also still have my very first
8MHz 8086 processor. Hold on to some of
your kit you never know when it might
come in handy.
just four pages, and I assure you that our
focus is still very much targeted on
hardware and gaming!
We are doing less in the way of news and
reviews these days, though, and focusing
more on customisation features and how
to guides, mainly because
so many people
now generally
usethe Internet,
rather than
magazines, for news
and product reviews.
On to your main point,
though, I do completely
understand your sadness.

ZanderMears Could you do a
HOTAS Labs test? Space games
in development like SC and ED have got
me interested.
Ben: Yes, this is something weve
been considering doing for a while,
and its going to be a priority now that
our previously recommended flight
stick on the Elite list is no longer
available. Im sure Antony, our
resident flight sim enthusiast, will
jump at the chance!

StifflersMaw The
little Pandora
system I built for @
CustomPCMagto review
scored 91% ! Fantastic
result#veryproud
#titan
Ben: Congrats to the
Utopia team that was
a great PC with a superb paint job.

rich_bryant Whats my best
option for a capable and QUIET
graphics card under 200?
Ben: That rather depends on your
definition of both quiet and capable.
The minimum graphics card we
currently recommend is the Nvidia
GeForce GTX 660, which currently
costs around 150. The stock cooler
isnt intrusively noisy, but I wouldnt
describe it as quiet either. Look for a
card with a third-party cooler that
uses large fans, which can push more
airflow than smaller fans, and at
slower speeds, reducing noise.

Wulfnoth Got
new issue of
Custom PC today. What
an amazing front cover.
The future is now!

denigor777
Wonderful case.
But does it fire bullets? :)
Ben: Sadly not.

phenoptix Looks like Ill be
resubscribing to Custom PC.
Need a new mug anyway
Follow us on Twitter at @custompcmag
i tj b
C
a
T
B
Be
125 August 2013
Join our folding team and help medical research
WHAT IS FOLDING?
Folding@home uses the spare processing cycles from your PCs CPU and graphics cards for medical research. You can download
the client from http://folding.stanford.edu and our teams ID is 35947. Once you pass a significant milestone, youll get your name
in the mag. You can also discuss folding with us and other readers on the www.bit-tech.net forums.
CPC: So who is johnim, and what do you do?
johnim: Im John Mansfield, Im from
Birmingham and I work for Connect
Distribution Ltd, which is a white goods
andelectrical goods distributor.
CPC: Why did you start folding?
johnim: I noticed the mag one day, and found
the folding charts. I wondered if I could help,
as I often left my computer on when it was
just downloading files I thought this was a
waste, so I decided to set it folding as well.
CPC: What excites you the most about
folding?
johnim: Mainly the competition and keeping
up my ppd output, but the science is also
great, especially knowing it could help real
medical research one day.
CPC: How many machines do you have
folding?
johnim: I have four machines folding, but only
three are dedicated to folding; I use one for
games now and again.
CPC: What operating systems do you use?
johnim: Three of my machines use Windows
7 Ultimate 64-bit, while the Pentium E5200
machine uses Windows XP Professional.
CPC: Whats the average spec of your folding
machines?
johnim: I have one Core i5-2500K with a

We catch up with folder of the month: johnim
GeForce GTX 660, one Core i5-750 with
GeForce GTX 460s in SLI, one Core i5-750
with a GeForce GTX 560 Ti and one Pentium
Dual Core E5200 with a GeForce GTX 260.
Ionly fold on GPUs, but I have five of them
working at it.
CPC: Do you keep all your machines at
home?
johnim: Yes, all my machines are at home.
CPC: Whats your best piece of folding kit?
johnim: The GeForce GTX 660 produces the
highest ppd.
CPC: Youve been producing quite a few
points recently, do you intend to keep up this
production level?
johnim: Yes, I hope so, but I may need some
extra cooling with the warmer weather.
CPC: Any tips for fellow members of the
team?
johnim: Yes. Keep going, no matter what
spec you have every little helps the cause.
Also have a look at the forums (http://
forums.bit-tech.net) theres a great team,
and everyones ready to help.
CPC: What do your friends and family think
about your folding?
johnim: They think Im mad having all my
machines on all the time, and all four
computers are in the living room too.
Team rank 21 World rank 704
Score 55,852,671 Work units 268,111
Daily points average 147,936
TOP FOLDERS
This months shout-outs go to v8ninety,
BeauchN, Cmaxx and Greenmeister87. If you
fold under any of these names, email
folding@custompcmag.org.uk
126
CPC: Whats your worst folding experience?
johnim: Its generally not been too bad
actually. I did lose a Corsair TX750 PSU,
alongwith an HX520 and a GeForce GTX 260,
following constant folding, but I managed to
get replacements under warranty without
any trouble.
CPC: And the best?
johnim: Hitting the 1 million points mark.
126 August 2013
MILESTONES THIS MONTH
Username Points
milestone
Username Points
milestone
Username Points
milestone
Username Points
milestone
Dickie 900000
Ptarmigan 900000
RDL_Mobile 900000
SourDipRaita 900000
The_Assassin 900000
TokerRizla 900000
chrisyholmes 1000000
CPDawe 1000000
David_Murphy 1000000
DS_Designs 1000000
InfraBlue 1000000
maniyer 1000000
nrxt 1000000
Rosyglo 1000000
SazD 1000000
Skidder 1000000
SudhirM4H 1000000
weebob 1000000
Wibb 1000000
Javaman 2000000
jdw_lupine 2000000
JimmyMcRees 2000000
BIllyTheCat 3000000
chad116793 3000000
chelseascum 3000000
ForGrace 3000000
kenco_uk 3000000
mmorr 3000000
Stewie 3000000
matthewj25 4000000
rjcman 4000000
mikeyboy1973 5000000
paul_warden 5000000
Texasshuffle 5000000
Votick 5000000
Laguna2012 6000000
Sparkymatt 6000000
xv208 6000000
Oatyflapjack 7000000
Daniel_Selley 8000000
Desertbaker 8000000
luckybfocus 8000000
Witness 8000000
Cmaxx 9000000
dapperdave 9000000
HoistaWheelie 9000000
John_Naylor 9000000
steveneedleuk 9000000
World
rank
Team name Points Daily points
average
Time until
overtake
7
Custom PC &
bit-tech
7,158,873,773 6,891,093 0
11 Hardware.no 3,736,818,460 11,568,609 2 Years
16
Vietnam Global
Team
3,144,246,300 7,545,068 16.8 Years
THE NEXT OVERTAKE
bughyz 20000
Mr.Eke 20000
THE_ST1G 20000
Erkin_Salih 30000
Parmesan 30000
Sean_Fletcher 30000
x3amd 30000
daveboat 40000
SniperPan 40000
blotty 50000
Bob_D 50000
Dalunar 50000
SiTrixonian 50000
anadir 60000
Hanscombe
EnterprisesLtd
60000
vacant_machine 70000
EricK 80000
zodiakas112 80000
HinTFishy 90000
Anaerin 100000
SLOcaliGREEK 100000
WarrenJ 100000
marcusclegg 200000
Michael_Bland 200000
Pickles 200000
Snowy190uk 200000
TehKrak3n 200000
Adam_S_James 300000
Fat_Gat 300000
Mike_energise 300000
Qazax 300000
ronman 300000
shaolindan 300000
struthers 300000
Gazzap45 400000
gKitchen 400000
Halldor 400000
Jazzman 400000
LboroSlider 400000
ligmon 400000
AlSomething 500000
davmonk 500000
Evilpaperclip 500000
Greenmeister87 500000
Johnny2Bad 500000
Cscarlet 600000
Geoff_Ashden 600000
Martin_A_Graham 600000
Melvyn_Davies 600000
SMauri 600000
Acanuck 700000
chris_bradford 700000
Christopher_Bates 700000
daveppeters 700000
pipnina 700000
bigrew 800000
Ptarmigan 800000
Reiep 800000
tutting 800000
BordenGrammar
School
900000
Username Points
milestone
TOP 20 OVERALL
Rank Username Points Work units
1 Dave_Goodchild 429,996,072 112,656
2 DocJonz 361,665,247 151,362
3 coolamasta 284,818,134 147,109
4 phoenicis 239,716,449 94,297
5 zz9pzza 211,014,628 15,794
6 Nelio 162,584,950 44,463
7 Christopher_N._Lewis 151,478,576 35,538
8 StreetSam 136,753,754 76,526
9 Wallace 132,488,733 5,884
10 Lizard 131,878,662 60,132
11 CustomBitChimps 101,553,439 47,970
12 Ben_Lamb 91,631,215 2,359
13 Scorpuk 90,334,842 5,663
14 Lordsoth 86,073,811 70,833
15 fir3x 83,609,696 14,582
16 The_M2B 78,818,470 43,785
17 BennieboyUK 71,522,379 4,224
18 PC_Rich 69,210,091 57,277
19 One_Box 68,432,279 7,416
20 saspro 59,496,323 45,705
TOP 20 PRODUCERS
Rank Username Daily points average Overall score
1 coolamasta 748,936 284,818,134
2 DocJonz 555,162 361,665,247
3 Scorpuk 461,331 90,334,842
4 Ben_Lamb 395,639 91,631,215
5 Nelio 362,342 162,584,950
6 Slowlemon 298,574 51,479,734
7 StreetSam 242,114 136,753,754
8 Lordsoth 230,258 86,073,811
9 phoenicis 228,510 239,716,449
10 Wallace 183,610 132,488,733
11 LordBadger 139,346 53,170,579
12 piers_newbold 133,354 49,252,142
13 The_M2B 99,371 78,818,470
14 johnim 98,538 54,336,543
15 BennieboyUK 95,133 71,522,379
16
Christopher_N._
Lewis
91,177 151,478,576
17 KevinWright 90,990 25,020,407
18 PC_Rich 76,460 69,210,091
19 fir3x 73,695 83,609,696
20 Dave_Goodchild 72,217 429,996,072
cauliflower1 10000000
Mark_Skeldon 10000000
www.pcsolutions.
co.uk
10000000
Keith_Chung 20000000
A1DTM 30000000
Sean_Hayes 30000000
LordBadger 50000000
Slowlemon 50000000
BennieboyUK 70000000
Lordsoth 80000000
Ben_Lamb 90000000
Scorpuk 90000000
CustomBitChimps 100000000
127 August 2013
On sale 5 July, 2013
*Please note that these stories are subject to product delays, the CPC
team being overwhelmed by multiple hardware launches at once, and
kit not turning up on time.
AMD Richland
With all the other new hardware
launches this month, we were unable
to feature AMDs new FM2 chips in this
issue, so were going to take a proper
look at them next month.
LGA1150
motherboards
Weve already looked at the new
Haswell architecture, but whats the
best foundation for it? We Labs test
loads of LGA1150 boards to find out.
Make a 29
Android tablet
Gareth Halfacree takes the 29 Nook
Simple Touch e-reader, and shows
you how to root it and effectively turn
it into an e-ink Android tablet.
Modding advice
Antony Leather shows you how to
install a window in your cases side
panel with push-pins, and also
details the best way to fit sound-
insulating foam inside your PC.
Coming next month in
le
his
r
VGA
It wasnt the 15-pin input or 640 x 480 resolution that made VGA
important to early PC gamers it was the colours
128 August 2013
here was a kid at my school whose
PC had a video graphic array (VGA)
graphics card and, being the nasty
little jerks that we were, the rest of
the (very small) group of PC gamers bullied
him for it. At the time, my PC had CGA
graphics (four colours at 320 x 200), and my
friend had an EGA card (16 colours at 640 x
350), and we used to play a game with VGA
boy. Wed ask him which was the best PC
graphics card. If he said CGA, my friend would
punch him. If he said EGA, Id punch
him, and if he said VGA, wed both
punch him. This actually happened.
We were horrible kids. A year later
he properly beat me up. I deserved it.
It was envy, pure and simple. It
wasnt his fault his dad earned
enough money to buy a VGA card,
and it wasnt his fault that his graphics card
was infinitely superior to ours either. We
justdidnt like the fact that his machine
couldrun more games than ours, and that
allthe other games looked amazingly better
on his machine.
We use the acronym VGA to describe all
sorts of tech today. The 15-pin analogue
graphics input socket is usually called VGA,
and we describe 640 x 480 as a VGA resolution
too. However, when VGA was first introduced,
its most obvious benefit to gamers was the
array of colours it produced. Unlike the
maximum of 64 colours (but usually 16) that
could be produced by an EGA card, a VGA card
could display games at a resolution of 320 x
240 with 256 colours and, if it had enough
memory, even display 256 colours at a
resolution of 640 x 480.
As you can probably imagine, the
difference between running a game with
justfour colours and 256 colours is
immense.Games in CGA looked generally
awful. Games in EGA showed a marked
improvement grass was green, sky was
blue, roads were black and so on. However,
VGA changed everything now you had
proper variations between colours, which
meant shading and highlights. PC gaming
graphics had finally come of age.
Not all VGA cards were equal, though, and
this was a particular problem for me. At the
time, my PC had two spare 8-bit ISA slots. You
could get 8-bit VGA ISA cards, but they could
only display 16 colours at once.
So, even though you gained access to the
full 640 x 480 resolution, you couldnt make
your games look much better than EGA. You
needed a 16-bit card to gain access to the full
256 colours although, in retrospect, Im not
sure why, as 256 is the exact limitation of 8-bit
computing, but that was the way it was.
It also didnt help that VGA graphics cards
were ridiculously expensive. In todays money,
a good VGA card cost around the same as a
GeForce GTX 690, but there was a much
greater need for a VGA then than there is for
aGTX 690 today.
The latter wont make Windows look any
better than a 75 graphics card, or display
more colours. It gives you higher
frame rates, but frame rates
werent important in the pre-
first-person shooter days. At
thispoint, just having the right
colours in the right places in
Monkey Island, or being able to
playWilly Beamish in any form
whatsoever, were the priorities.
Basically, you can dial down the settings
ingames today to make them run more
smoothly on slower hardware, and while
thisis still a compromise too far in my book,
reducing the anti-aliasing or texture
resolution is definitely a preferable sacrifice
than reducing the number of colours on
display to just four or 16.
Exclusively expensive, VGA was only for
theelite when it came out, but it gave the PC
the potential to become a proper games
machine, and the term is still used today.
Thats a pretty decent legacy.
IF HE SAID CGA, MY FRIEND
WOULD PUNCH HIM. IF HE SAID
EGA, ID PUNCH HIM, AND IF HE
SAID VGA, WED BOTH PUNCH
HIM. THIS ACTUALLY HAPPENED
T
CGA EGA
VGA
E
very time Ive been to the cinema recently, Ive been forced to sit
through a bombastic advert for the Summer of Cinema, This
is a fast-paced string of clips from upcoming films stitched
together, designed to get you all excited about the queue of endless
remakes and sequels that youll soon be able to watch.
After tolerating this again the other day, it struck me that some of
the folks in the respective IT and Hollywood marketing industries
have probably been similarly educated in the art of hype and
launches. The past few weeks in the IT hardware business have
resulted in the same reaction from me as the
Summer of Cinema campaign, with
companies seemingly releasing as many
products in the shortest possible time.
It all started on 23 May when Nvidia
launched the GeForce GTX 780, a card that I
predict will make many Titan owners weep,
as it delivers almost identical performance
for a fraction of the price. That point aside, the
GTX 780 is still preferable to putting up with
the misery of multiple-GPU setups for high-resolution gaming.
Exactly one week later, Nvidia was at it again, launching the
GeForce GTX 770. Unlike the 780, the 770 was more of an
evolutionary step forward, although it still confused quite a lot of
people because it was designed to replace the 680, not the 670, as
you would expect from its name. That aside, the fact that the 770
isalittle faster than the 680, and has had the knock-on effect of
reducing the price of this league of GPUs, means that its likely to
beavery popular card over the coming months.
And then on 2 June, at the bizarrely chosen time of one minute
past midnight, Intel decided that it was time to launch its Haswell-
generation Core i5 and i7 processors. The dust has yet to settle on
the Haswell launch while its undoubtedly fast and power-efficient,
James Gorbold ponders whether launch
shock is a recognised phenomenon
james GorBolD james GorBolD
I also cant help feeling disappointed by the reduced overclocking
potential in comparison to Ivy Bridge, let alone Sandy Bridge.
Now, as many people wait for a new CPU and GPU to come along
before upgrading both at once, it shouldnt come as a surprise that
Intel and Nvidia launched so many products in such close proximity.
One might even suggest there was some collusion going on.
However, this makes what happened next even sadder, as AMDs
CPU division decided to get in on the act too, and on 4 June, it
launched several new APUs based on the Richland architecture.
While these little chips represent pretty good
value for money for basic PCs, the press (and
the market in general) was so overwhelmed
with all the Intel and Nvidia launches, that
AMDs new entry-level chips received little
coverage. Custom PC is no exception having
to bump coverage until next month.
AMD has one more trick up its sleeve,
though, the FX-9590 a new high-end
desktop CPU that it hopes will topple Haswell
from pole position. AMD would probably never speak to me again if
Itold you anything more about it at this stage though. Similarly,
Nvidia has several more launches planned, so theres plenty more
tocome. This years Summer of Cinema advert closes with a shot
ofSuperman speeding off into the distance, which makes me hope
that this years overwhelming season of hardware launches will end
on a similar high note, rather than a whimper.
James Gorbold fell in love with the original IBM PC in the early
1980s and has been building, tweaking and overclocking PCs ever
since. He has written an article in almost every issue of Custom
PC and now helps Scan Computers to develop new systems.
The press was so
overwhelmed with the
Intel and Nvidia
launches that AMDs
chips got little coverage
TOO MANY
HARDWARE
LAUNCHES!
130 August 2013
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