£99 RYZEN AMD‘ aR Bee ae CU UL me Cake Comer erate ed FASTEST: GAMING CPU EVER OVERCLOCKING GUIDE PL ee GROUP TEST WHAT MEMORY YOU NEED fea) ie (3 Or une BOARD ANATOMY OF THE PCa OE yey 25601440 144i SNP R Ole am Available at: PTT ereli) amazon lle CT nC, AC ro Leon @aocgaming @aocgaminglays Custom PC Ros Intelis still the fastest PO ET | ee ees See ee aed een one eee ees ee ee eee er Pierre ene ie teeter ete Pete eee re as Cee eee eee ee Cy Pees Drea ee cree ‘thatSkylake isasuperb CPUmieroarchitecture,even now: The Die eee Stee a teed een eee eee eee ey eee ee oe tt ered really fast Ree et a em ae Cee tr er Present meron ee ete eee ores eee eee oe Ne eee ete eae peer eee ra eet eee ne eee ens eee aoe ee ey ee eee Peet ev eee eee) Reet eet re red Se ean ee eee) ea ‘The Core’. 10600K isonce moreadecent budgetoption, en ee eee ey itonthe itelistyetisthelackof budget motherboards that pee te eee eee oe et rar ee er nt oan Ce aero tee es Poet a) Cee! | ro ea Boca) Issue 203 Porte orc) ee cosas od Poon Lacie aoe td Per ced Petes oe ees Pre) Pern dgenbers eats Ces camry Corres price ee _ ree oat one OO nae Pah ero a pried ‘an feria aay Sere stiocet es ed aoe remeron eo cavemen! Pee cat perience te ee ad sea ames od Lseeresiery careers corey eee eae phere metres Piemamine sated peer tt ere eat ey ernie enar ree Mae net Pe cee teen aed aera reer Pe hie reece rae cc eon beater ee a ery een tere a eres aati a tae onery Eos bere estedHighlights 08 ATXrules 10 Contents Welcome to Issue 203 Richard'Sainbume explains whe lovestbigboxes.and he cannot How tospota conspiracy theory with misinforratonrife, our debunker Inchief Tracy King shares hertootkt {or spotting conspkacy theories. ten : 1 Intet snext generation of PUSS here! We're stuckanthe Skylake ‘micoarchitecture at4nm,butntet has now enabled Hyper-Threading ‘across the Coreproductrange. 2s ‘wellas gvingtheriagship model ‘encores Herewetake outhrough 54 Non-gamingkeyboards 94 Hobbytech thechanges,reviewtwo of the Welrvestgatesome ofthe options Garets Hatfacreeexploressomeotthe new CPUS look at whstmemory forpeople who wantakeybecrtor \waysinwmichthe makercommunty's vyouneedand sow younowta worker than gaming frommodets helpngneatnservcescope wen te overcocktne Core 9-10900K designesior creative professionals corpnavinuspandemic.andalsotakes tomini60 percent models alookatthe Rock INO Model A 26 £99Ryzen Zen 2Fnaly getsrlledoutinto 70 Piecemeal game launches 102 Howto fitfilland drain ports thebudget PUmarketwith Rick Laneasksfweshouidbe Filingandcrininga water-cooing Ryzen3, We checkoutAMD's encouraging big-budget developers systembutcanbe aright but latestqued-core CPUS, tolaunchgamesbeforetheyreready. fitingafitandcrainportensbles you tochange your cooiantwith mrimat 44 2490 motherboards 78 Anatomy of thePC fuss. Antony Leathe shows youhow ItyoureupgracingtoaComettake Ever wonderechowalltheaferent itsdone. PUthenyautrealsogongtonecda partsof your PC are connected and new GAT200 motherboard Wetoak how therinterfaces wok? Herewe 104 Howtofitareservoir alsicofthelatestmodets rom sus, dssectyourPC'sarteres andexpiain Weheipyoutochoosetheright MSiandGigabyte.allofwhichare how alitecomectons work reservirforyourwater-cooting basedanhrie'snew 2490chpset system andshow youhow to 88 Makeyourownkeyboard fitineoyour case aswel, 4 Thereareaimostendesspossiiites a) \whencomes tomakingaunique 108 Retrotech:Socket7 e keyooartalioredto your exact Wegobocktothe strange spectication andit'snoteven timeinthe 990swhencne thataffcat RysSommefelat motherboardcoult support CPUS showsyouhowitsdone frommutiple manufacturers,Cover guide Ba GAMING CPU EVER ag f e 7 = Regulars 10 2 4 a2 62 64 70 76 94 99 Fromthe editor Richard Swinburne Tracy King Incoming Letters Custom kit How wetest Elite products Inverse took Reality check Hobby tech Forthe win 100 Customised PC 102 How to guides 107 Folding@home 108 Retrotech M0 Readers’ drives 14 James Gorbold PRODUCTS: ut PROCESSORS 8 telCove19-10900K 20 Intel Covels-10600K 27 AD RVz33100 28 AmDRyz0n33300x MOTHERBOARDS 30. MSIMEG7490 ode: CASES 32. FractalDesionDefne 7 Compact STORAGE 34 KinostonKC2500 PCSYSTEMS: 36. Scan3XS vengeance XM/CUE 38 CyberPower HyperLiqid Uta 9RTX Customkit 42. Siols OutdoorPowerBank 42 WowsticeMiniBlecric Screwdhiver 42 HavitRGBCooling Pad 43. InvsionPCMontorAmm 43. EksterParlament Smart Wallet 2490 motherboard Labs 45 AsusMaxins Xilero(WFD 48 ASUsROGSIn4Z490-EGanng 47, Gisabyte 2490 Aones Master 48 Giabyie 2490 AonssPro AK 50 MSIMAGZ490 Tomahawk 52 MSIMEG2490 Ace Keyboard Labs 55. FicoMajestouenConverble2Terkevless 56 HPK2500 36 KBPacrdse V60 58 Logtechk720 58 LogtechMX Craft 60 Matas REBBaclst WredALmnum Keyboard forPC 61 MerosoftErconomicKeyooard Games XCOMChmeraSaund ResidentEw\3 Hao. Combat Evolved AnnWersary Recever2 PreetRipped 1995 Hobby tech 96 RockPiNiOModelA 98 ImagineThat! BUEN SEim Windows 10 i © Windows 10 Home Intel® 10th Gen 9 10900x Processor wa GeForce MS 208 GE ceo Cars —_— ASUS TUF X99 MK2Mabbood 4368 20h Corsi Vengennce Lx Memory 0058 Sarsung S70 £0 PL $59 718 Scogcte SATAN HOD Cocos W500 868 Gari Case rin A 8007 Pane Supy Crs 0 FOB ProXT Coir w/ 2M ER Fons TP ink archer TE Duo Bond Wess Card ) 86 69 Windows 10 Home Intel Core™ is-9400F Processor NI GeForce NS BX 1660 608 Video Crd S203 PRO Manboord 8560084 24cm Cc Vengeance LF Mema 218 Seagate SATA HOD (asa Zz te soirg ose rv asc Fewer Suey Cle MostrMstr Ui Lite Colina System oo Windows 10 Home Intel® Core™ ia-S100F Processor Dw Gere MSI GT E5048 Video Cord ASUS Prime HOM A Mab 53 00R4 2400nhz Cosa Vengeance LPxMamixy Te Seagate SAT HOO Coder Most osterbox (E00 Garing Case rin a 4500 Powe Supply al Stand Cole > 6 cB ORDER TODAY! 03333 237 776 Work easy. Playhard. ii Windows CyberPowerPC recommends Windows. One experience for everything in your life. CI Windows 10 Home Intel? Core™ i9-2900KF Processor Naa Gface Ms ATX SUPER Wien Od Ms 2380-4 PRO Malnboard 1668 00R42t00nhz Coat Vergara Lex Menexy 51068 Soms.ng 360 €V0 S80 IB Seazote SMTA HOD Caclarastr Vasebac MBSEOP Gaming ose rn as e500 Powe Surely Car Mester Noster Ute 240 Cong Stor PRO Overcocéng ) So CTLs Windows 10 Home Intel® Core™ 7-9700KF Processor AHA Face US RT Z060 SPR Bin Cod ASUSPRIE 2390? Moinbood 1188 04 240omhe Crsar Vengeance LPH Menery 24068 Westem gt Geen $50 Ta Seago SATA HD Cal Mester Matrox M20 lc Ir ASS SSN Fewer Spy Cl ster Master Lid Ute 240 ontng stam P20 ovrdacéng ) ¢ es Mea el) Windows 10 Home Intel® Core™ 7 107S0H Processor rel taro cist NDI GeForce DX 2060 638 Det" 21 1658 2662420084 Corsa Vengeance Memory ‘MB Westam bial ue SNESO SSO ‘13 FO tab 1S Day Intel oes X01 V6 (802Max|+luetcoth 2 ooGet £20 off CYBERPOWERPL CUSTOM BUILD WWW.CYBERPOWERSYSTEM.CO.UK Follow Us! € © © @CYBERPOWERUK | @CYBERPOWER_UK Intel Inside®, extraordinary Performance Outside.? is : }} ) RICHARD SWINBURNE /VieW FROM TA\WAN ILIKE BIG BOX AND I CANNOT LIE Richard Swinburne would rather have amammoth ATX case over a diddy mini-ITX one any day Bh simp ter fen pope come mine yas stress ot ouightrenembe bg soe rege iomingoat ee, oercninge nde nays ange tse And whic itn he fo, tos tat Ifyou see a great dealon Obvious gags aside the best benefit of big casesis that you ‘can put any hardware into them. Ifyou see a great deal on an upgrade at any time, you can getit and not worry about ‘whether or not it willfit in your PC. You can use the extra PCIE slots on an ATX board for a sound card and 106 network card without having to buy a premium motherboard. I have an Optane SSD that sits ina 4x PCLE slot too. All this gear can be migrated to the next upgrade, without having to worry about whether a ‘motherboard manufacturer will decide to keep a feature sm its next range of mint-ITX offerings. Similarly, don't need a degree infiuid ‘dynamics to cool my hardvrare properly does double duty as my armrest. Such AN UPGrade atany time, YOU — — 1 can just whack six fans in the case. ‘convenience! Thanks to the CPU fans exhausting out the roof vent, it’s both cangetitand not worry Admittedly, the gooD isn't great at cooling ‘out of the box, and it’s easy to see why ‘comfortable and warming, although it © @DOutwhetherornotit will corsair iaunched an‘airflow’ version, but does also exhaust hot air directly onto my right arm while gaming. ‘Big cases are built like tanks, and this ‘one has lasted years, if you knock your chair into it, this hnulk of acase just shrugs it off. A few scratches don't matter really ~they just add character! ‘Should Ibe the unfortunate victim of a burglary, its so heavy, no one will ever be able to steal it, whereas a tiny, attractive mini-ITX system could be thrown under the arm. and ever seen again. Even if }do want to move it, could duill some holes in the case, slap some wheels on it and rollit around, 'm thankful that my tiny flat doesn't have stairs though. fitin your PC another benefitof ts sizels that Tve been ‘easily able to tweak its cooling design without much effort The 9000 is also old by today's standards, and its support fora dozen 3 sin hard drives sno longer necessary, but that’s just given me another layer of modding potential. In the past year, [threw away all the cages and there's now so much space, I could fit an additional mini-ITX system inside this case, as well as the ATX system. ‘While the challenge of building a mini-ITXPC is enamoring, {say embrace bigness for versatility. You'll keep going back to itwith more ideas. There's ro need to constrain your options ‘when you have space for all the gear you might need, re Richard nas worked in tech for over a decade, as a UK journals on Asus’ ROG team and now 3s an Industry analyst based in Tawan [] @ncswiGET IN THE FLOW! PURE BASE 500DX Exceptional airflow, significant quiet Discover Pure Base S00DX - the new PC case by be quiet! opti- mized for maximum airfow, transporting the neat out of the system ‘super quick. With its stylish dosign and ARGB LEDs, it’s also a real eye-catcher! High ailow intake front panel and top cover, Taree Pure Wings 2 140mm fans for high cooling power ‘ARGB LEDs at the front and inside the case USB 8.1 Type C Gon. 2 for latest hardware Available at: Ssan.co.uk overclockers.couk: ebuyercom rovalech cou ariacowk econine.com i ‘srazon.co. bequiet.comTRACY KING / SCEPTICAL ANALYSIS HOW TO SPOTA CONSPIRACY THEORY With misinformation rife on social media, our debunker in chief Tracy King shares her toolkit for spotting conspiracy theories reply was there is no evidence that would change my rind’ ‘There'sno winning against hardcore conspiracy theorist such as Alex jones, because to them it isn'tadebate While Donald Trump has long been a fan of conspiracy ‘theories Britain so faris largely fre of such claims from the ‘government, but high-profile social media users and even a few Journalists are doing the job anyway. In late May, people ‘wereadamant that Twitter was censoring Dominic Curumings? ‘name from trending. The fact is that ‘Cummings, much like ‘Scunthorpe’ didn’t pass the pom filter. Noconspivacy orcover: up just an overzealous algorith. ‘what can beadequately explained bystupidity. You canburn downaSG sehowdoyouspotacanspiracy theory from It’s usually correct, but unpopular. Partly a regular theory? Ill give you the basics First, because it’s not nice to call people stupid, MASt, DULYOU CAN'EDUIM —rockout whetherornot youacively want the but also because i's less exciting to believe ‘we're led by incompetent walles rather than Machiavellian schemers ‘While we're feeling helpless and useless, its comforting to think there's a grand plan or reason forit. We're suffering, but the universe can’t be that random and cruel, right? Far betterto think thatthe British Government s hiding. ‘the real cause ~5G masts —because its members own shares intelecommunications. Conspiracy theories provide answers and give focus youcan't burndown an invisible airborne virus (don't though, as sGhas nothing to do with coronavirus) Tusedtodebate conspiracy theorists (usually 9/2 Truthers, although I've met all sorts), but eventually realised t was ‘raitless. My epiphany was when Lasked a conspiracy theorist, ‘what evidence would it take to change your mind?’ and his toactivism You can burn down a 5G mast, but down an invisible airborne virus thing tobe true, and why. Inmmany ways!'d far rather Covid-ig is caused by 56, because that's very fixable problem. Once ve realised ws tobe true,[can leave my blasat the door. Ihave tobe.as open to the conspiracy not being true as being true. Then Lask myself that key question - what evidence would ittake to change my mind? Is there an organisation, an expert, debunking jouralist that I trust on this particular issue? ‘Then {collect as much information as possible ve been doing, this for over a decade, som pretty fast at sorting legitimate sources from dodgy ones, but the Internet is a minefield of biased resources. tisn't easy, butit’s a useful skil that makes youhard to fool ‘And the finaltvick to not falling fora conspiracy theory isto remember that, in the vast majority of eases, Hanlon’ Razor ‘turned out tobe correct wre Gamer an science enthusiast Tracy King sects the evidence and statistics behind popular media sores surrounding tech and gaming [I etkngdotNY DOOD coma CORSAIR PLAY wit A FULL DECK K95 RGB PLATINUM XT Neer Reece Fae es aD ant a Deere uN CeO graeme eres et ema Meee URC cit STURM ere aces Pewee ieee Cee ete cone Bee LTH Ca by Saag Cea A soft textured cushioned leatherette palm a ea ete eee) Pee ees ees Rae an Eee ee eee) Te ee a ae Creek CUTS OC (tc Lc a Se Py r CNT Cae ee Redener Incoming RAZER UNVEILS 300Hz LAPTOP Razerhasgoneastep furherthan the usual240H2refreshrate peak foritsiatestlaptop. The newRazer Blade Pro Thasthe optiontor2 1920108017 3iscreenthatcan rinatupto 300Hz Theincreases refieshratekeeps visual sharpand esninastpacedsequences making enemieseasieriosee and lexteasiertoread; damisthe company. The Blade Pro 7 asohas the option fora 4k 1202 dsplay. Tnenewmachine featuresan 8-core Intel Corei-1087SH CPU, wth options for GeForce RTX 2070 Max-Qor GeForce TX 2080 Supe Max-QGPUs Prices aesetto start at £2,600 nc VAT. AMD has countered online fury about backwards compatiity, by announcingthat itsforthcorning Zen 3CPUs llrunon 400-series cpsets. Themove came after AMD's senior technacalmarketingmanager RobertHalock, wrote blogpost called The Exating Future of AMD Socket AMA’ wich statecthatZen 3 CPUs wouldbebackwards Compatiole with motherboardsbasedon AMD'sS00-serteschipsets, suchas X570 anc 8550, ncucing the above chart ‘Wile we wish couldenabe fulls pert for every processor on every chinset said Hallock, the lashmemory chips thatstore BICS setungs andsupporthave capacity limitations, Basicaty, here woulds’tberoom, foralthecodencededtosupoortsa many processormodelsinthe I6MBEIOS chip.An fonineacklashensued, and AMD took stock ‘Overthepastweek we cioseyrevieved your feedback anthatrews we watched every video, read every commentans saw every Tweet saidthe companyin a statement ‘As the team weighed your feedback agains the technica challent wetace, we decdedte change course. AS a result wevllenable an upgrade pat for 8450 and X¢70 customers thatads support fornext-gen AMDRyzenProcessors win the Zen3" acrtecture” AMD saysitnow plansto‘cevelop and enable ourmotherboard partners withthe codeto support”Zen 3"-based processors in select betaBIOSes for AMD B450 and 470 motherboards, However, the compary warns tat enabling this BIOS Update mayremove your motherboart's support for older CPUs. and that you wont be abletoflashbacktoanolder BloSatterwarss Zen3 wltalsobe the last CPU generation supportedby 400-senles motherboards,Monitor maker AOChas ust unleashed fv touting upto0 Sms (some oft Ims)response times and240Hz0€ ates. The newmoniters in ADCS: feat support AMD'SFi Premium Adin eliminate tearing andstutteringarteta when usingan AMD GPU. Thetop-ené27nand. c2rG22u, 27627 LeU SA OLUN SIN] Legare Use (ee) a gee cea Ste Nn eee Oe a ego ae Teo eae) eer) De ee ee ey Ree nUe mesa tenes Teun ey Peete ete testy eer eae’ eee eo) eee ee reer ene ee ere Se eer Ce eet ee een Bee eae ei) Bee eter See aE oT Pence sta tet) ee eect os cree ety era eee Piece es eee een te erected Cea eee ar) Pecan presumablyinorde tocohncide withthe ei tee eae es Pes Tewwanesetechsitedigitmes.com Peon er eee oy Cees cee eae) eee ero Contes eee teed ee ad eet ee Cee eee) pee aca) ete eee See ets Pees ee regret Cee ee eer eet) Stents te Maree eer earn peer ree eee eae eee eet eee aes hopingtobulduponitssuccess andexpand its[siclleadershipin advanced process ene eter Cee ee ened Ree eee eres) peat s Pa ee ec aera ty cers aLetters Please send us your feedback and correspondence to letters@custompcmag.org.uk ‘When's thenextissue out? During my recovery Ihave been bought copies ofCustom PCand CUSGOMPG Mee erottotmemaymonne Issue 204 9 before! couldread the magazines, onsaleon Thursday, 9July butknowing [could pick therm upandread something that interested me,andkeepabreastof thenew developments wasaway mybodywhichisamajorimpact of measuringray progress lalso whenyou'rerighthanded Ispent practised my writing and typingby thenexteightdaysinthehospital, _ copyingsectionsofte magazines, unabietotalksense and do rmalangslow progress butalways anything formyselt. improving thave sincebecomea Tvebeenin tecoverysincet sulserber.thedelvery sabways Fanclub cameoutofheepital whichhas something lackforwardta rvebeenaloyalfollowerof Custom been low progress My obisa The plan for my recovery has PCfora numberof yeats,and! love computerengineer- {specialise with thecoconavinis, thecurrentdesign Thereis one inhardwareandOSintegrations, _butithasn'tstopped [planto hung feel that teally lacking whichilove Thestiokeleftme | return oworkon 6)uly.Thisis vihenitcomestoyourmonthly unabletowiite.typeorusetools proof that my recovery is working Hlteartide though-case fans suchasserewdrversor snips. and that yourmagizinehasbeen ‘There’sapyramidof diferent fans Apartofmyrehabwasreading, _instrurnentaltolt.Ihavejoined the avallablecases andthey resootten whichwasalzodificulcould Custom PCFoldinghome team overlooked but oh soimpertant for conlyresdfortenminutesbefore _andlcurrentlyhaveover2,000,000 ‘the good nunningofacomputer Ihada headache. My family points. wanted tothank everyone Which fansofter good valuefor weteamaring-lookingafterme, _atthemagazine,andihopethat the money? More importantly what helpingmetoleara the things Jockdownisnotcausingtoo many makes really goodcase exhaust Ineeded togetbacktosome problems.Take care,andstay safe fanforgettingall that heat out of resemblanceofnormalty.wert GARRY REES yourcase? really feelthis isan area backtomy Uldhood with Lego, thatshoulda'beforgtten Wel hawki® —_Meceanoandigsawpuszles allot BersThankyousomuchforyr doneagaintoalatthemagaanetor tenetamnwse yhchhelpedwithmy dextenty, _teter-Rsaraargtokrowtnatou ding ngreatjobeach month WET andeachthinglbuiltgive mes mapeznehasplayedaralenyour ‘ADAM BUCKENAM Covo-oresench _greatsenseof satisfaction recovery andhelpesyauto eeu wetntegaingsoninthe tech ny er: Gandpaind West we can ver thelestiew mont thas squeezesomein Inthemeantine,our latestfanlabs canbe foundinissue 194, givens areal motivation boostin these extraordinary times. Thanks for subscrbing and folding for us too—fm ‘only on two milion points so youve ‘overtaken me alreacy!ihope therestof yourrecovery goes toplan andthank youagaintorgettngintouch We've sentyoua free 2G RaspberryPiktto have aplaywitn aswell Magazine therapy on Thursday.29 December. at nigopm,tsuffereda stroke. More specifically. had ahaemorrhagse stroke crableedon the brain. The stroke affected the right side of