Month: July 2022

Overclocker’s Hoplite is powered by the AMD Ryzen 2700X and the RTX 2060 WindForce making it a gaming powerhouse at 1080p.

Overclockers is known for putting together powerful machines so you don’t have to, making sure they’re rigorously tested and checked before they’re sent out of the factory. The Hoplite is certainly no exception and is able to run the latest titles right out of the box striking a great balance between having enough power without over-spending on any one component.

Price & Availability
You can find the Hoplite on the Overclockers website.where it was originally £1,479.95 but is now just £1,299. The specs we have here including an AMD Ryzen 7 2700x and GeForce RTX 2060 WindForce OC 6GB).

At the bottom of the page, you’ll be able to configure the build to your liking if you’d like to alter some components. The build we’re testing is the higher end of the specifications, but if you’re looking to save some extra money you can change the CPU down to the 2600X without impacting gaming performance too much.

Make sure you take a look at our best gaming PC chart to make sure you’re getting the right machine for your needs.

Design & Build
The Hoplite comes in a black Kolink Phalanx RGB Gaming Case. This case combines the best of both worlds by both looking great and being extremely practical at the same time.

The dimensions for the case are 210 x 510 x 445mm (WxHxD) making it a reasonably sized product. It’s not a massive case though and you shouldn’t have too much trouble fitting it into your setup, but the efficient design still means plenty of room within the case for larger graphics cards (up to 370mm) and taller CPU Cooler Heights (up to 160mm).

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The Vulcan S2 deploys an RTX 2070 to offer more gaming power than its rivals at a lower price. Find out more about this PC Specialist gaming machine in our full review.

The PC Specialist Vulcan S2 is a superb gaming system on paper, with better components and a lower price than its main rival. But have corners been cut in order to bring this system in under budget, or is a true mid-range marvel that can handle 1440p gaming for less cash than the competition?

Price
This £1,394 machine is built around two key components: an Intel Core i7-9700 processor and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 graphics card. You’ll need to buy it direct from PC Specialist.

That’s a lot of power for this price, and it squares up well against its key rival. The Overclockers Hoplite originally arrived at £1,479, but now it costs £1,299 – so it’s £100 cheaper than the PC Specialist machine. That rig relies on an AMD Ryzen 7 2700X CPU and RTX 2060 graphics.

The Vulcan S2 is protected by the standard PC Specialist deal, which is a three-year labour deal with one year of parts protection and one month of collection coverage.

Design & Build
PC Specialist has used one of its own enclosures for this machine. It’s called the PCS P209, and it nails most of the current trends. There’s a tempered glass side panel, a magnetic dust filter on top, and a slab of metal at the front.

It looks like loads of other recent cases – including the Kolink Phalanx RGB used by the Overclockers Hoplite. That PC’s enclosure also has a tempered glass side panel and a dust filter in the roof, but its front-mounted trio of RGB LED fans are more eye-catching.

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This cheap gaming PC from Asus offers reasonable 1080p pace and a solid CPU, but its other components, physical design and noise levels undermine its performance levels. Find out more in our full review.

The Asus ROG Strix GL10CS is a big-brand gaming PC with a budget price, decent specs and wide availability. That sounds great on paper, especially if you’re looking for an affordable machie from a trusted name – rather than building it yourself, or buying from an unfamiliar manufacturer.

Is the Asus a bargain, though, or does this big-brand box fall behind its rivals? Find out in our full review.

Price & Availability
The Asus’ £849 price makes it one of the cheapest gaming desktops around. The machine reviewed here includes an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti graphics card and an Intel Core i5-9400F processor.

Several different specifications are available if this rig doesn’t suit. A £799 version drops down to Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 graphics and ditches the SSD. Paying £1,199 will get you a more powerful rig that reinstates the SSD and upgrades to RTX 2060 graphics.

In the USA, the Asus is configured slightly differently. The cheapest model, at $849, includes a Core i5 CPU and a GTX 1050 GPU. The $899 model upgrades to a Core i7 chip, and you’ll have to pay $1,399 for a GTX 1660 Ti alongside that Core i7 processor.

Surprisingly, the Asus price compares well with machines from local companies – big-brand machines like this are usually more expensive.

In the UK, machines with the GTX 1660 Ti start at £969 from Chillblast and £899 from PC Specialist.

more than $1,100 at CyberPower to get a desktop with the GTX 1660 Ti and a Core i5 CPU, although prices drop a little if you accept an older AMD chip.

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This is the ninth iteration of Trident desktop from MSI, and the game-focussed brand has done a solid job of carving a niche for these small, tempting gaming desktops. There’s plenty to like about this eye-catching PC, but this big-brand machine also faces several challenges.

For starters, smaller systems just don’t suit every gamer – and big companies like MSI always face tough competition from local specialists that sometimes deliver more performance at similar prices.

Price & Availability
The machine reviewed here has the model number 9S6-B92611-085. It has an RRP of £1,349 but you can get it from Very for £1,249. It uses an RTX 2060 GPU and a Core i5-9400F processor alongside 16GB of memory, a 256GB SSD and a 1TB hard disk.

If you want a slightly cheaper version, AO has the Trident A for £1,199 if you don’t mind less RAM and a smaller SSD. In France, the gaming PC is €1,279 at FNAC, down from €1,649.

In the US, look out for the model number 9SC-430US. This machine costs $1,299 and still includes the RTX 2060, but elsewhere it’s got a Core i7-9700F processor and a 512GB SSD.

Other models are available, although they’re not always called the Trident A – the Trident X branding is used for beefier machines with RTX 2070, RTX 2080 and RTX 2080 Ti graphics cards, more powerful processors and RGB LED CPU coolers.

Check out our best gaming PC chart for some more options.

Design & Build
The MSI Trident A 9th-gen is consistently impressive. The dimensions are a good starting point: this rig is just 130mm wide and 396mm tall, which makes it about half the size of a conventional tower. That makes this machine easier to stow into smaller spaces under desks and in cramped bedrooms – and easier to take to LAN events.

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The AlphaBeta i5 RTX is a gaming PC from a new company and it’s trying to take a new approach to selling PCs. Instead of relying on buyers who already know plenty about PCs, or blinding people with jargon, AlphaBeta is trying to keep things simple and attract gamers who want to make the switch from consoles – or get involved in esports.

To that end, the AlphaBeta i5 RTX is a small, accessible machine with a sub-£1,000 price tag and plenty of mid-range power.

Price & Availability
The AlphaBeta i5 RTX costs £999 and is based around an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Super GPU and a Core i5-9600KF processor with 16GB of memory and a 512GB SSD.

The firm also sells Core i5-based Booster and Pro machines – the former has a weaker CPU and an RTX 2060 Super, while the latter has an RTX 2080 Super graphics card and 32GB of memory. There are also specifications available based on Core i7 processors and AMD Ryzen chips.

The AlphaBeta has two main rivals. The small MSI Trident A is a mini-ITX machine with an RTX 2060, and it now costs £1,099.

The PC Specialist Vulcan S2 won awards in the summer, and it was updated by PC Specialist to include an RTX 2070 Super. That precise machine is now no longer available from PC Specialist, but it’s possible to replicate the specification using the firm’s website. That machine now costs £1,482.

Check out our best gaming PC chart for some more options.

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The first ever Windows foldable is due this summer for $2499, and Lenovo has gone all out to prove that the ThinkPad X1 Fold won’t follow in Samsung’s footsteps

Foldable phones have been grabbing headphones for so long that they almost feel like old news, but folding PCs have gotten a lot less attention.

That makes a certain amount of sense – computers haven’t made the same transition to full-screen devices that phones have, and regular laptops have technically covered folding pretty well for a decade or two anyway. That won’t stop companies from wading in and doing their best anyway, and the first to actually bring a foldable PC to market looks to be Lenovo with the ThinkPad X1 Fold.

We got the chance to play with it at CES 2020 to find out whether Lenovo is ready to raise, or if it’s time to fold.

Price and availability
The X1 Fold is due out in summer 2020 – which is still pretty vague – and will cost the princely sum of $2,499. That’s undeniably an awful lot of money, but with foldable phones like the Galaxy Fold and Motorola Razr hovering around $2000 themselves, dropping two and a half grand on a PC-sized equivalent begins to sound almost reasonable.

Design and build: A Fold that won’t fail
If there’s one thing that Lenovo is keen to push with the X1 Fold, it’s essentially that it doesn’t want to be associated with Samsung’s phone of almost-the-same-name.

That made headlines for all the wrong reasons when it launched, promptly broke, and had to be re-launched a few months later. By contrast, Lenovo’s message is clear: this thing is sturdy, it’s safe, and it’ll last.

That’s part of why it’s a ThinkPad (Lenovo’s business line) and not a Yoga (the consumer side of the business). ThinkPads are designed for durability, and so the engineering team was able to leverage that expertise here.

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This Fnatic-branded PC is a little expensive and can’t match some rivals in games, but it’s still consistently fast and is very well-built

Price When Reviewed
Unavailable

This PC is one of the most exciting additions to the market in some time – because it’s the official desktop of Fnatic, one of the world’s biggest esports teams.

The PCs have Fnatic’s famous branding, and they’re built by PC Specialist, which has won plenty of awards in the past for its systems. Conversely, branded products are often too expensive when compared to rivals – and that might be the case here.

Price
The model reviewed here is the flagship of this new range, and it uses an AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT, a Ryzen 7 3700X processor and 16GB of memory. It’s the system that Fnatic will be sending to its own pro players. It costs £1,599, and is available from both PC Specialist and Currys PC World.

It’s not the only branded system available though. The cheaper Fnatic Elite costs £1,240 and drops down to a Ryzen 5 3600X and a Radeon RX 5600 XT.

The £1,660 Fnatic Pro pairs the RX 5700 XT with a Ryzen 7 3800X, and the Fnatic Ultra costs £2,190 and deploys a Ryzen 9 3900X alongside the same GPU.

Check out our chart of the best gaming PCs to see what else is available.

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The Chillblast Fusion Sorcerer is a solid system with great 1080p and esports gaming power and a generous warranty, but it’s expensive when compared to quicker competitors

Price When Reviewed
Unavailable

The Chillblast Fusion Sorcerer is a mid-range gaming rig that serves up a new Nvidia GPU, a powerful AMD processor and loads of RGB LEDs for a price coming in just over a grand.

That doesn’t make it the cheapest Nvidia-based gaming PC we’ve seen lately, but the slightly higher price does give this machine some advantages over its rivals.

Design & Build
The Sorcerer uses a Kolink Observatory case. It’s a good bit of kit: robust and smart, with RGB LED intake fans, an illuminated exhaust and side and front panels made of tempered glass.

The Kolink’s build quality compares well to the AlphaBeta i5 RTX‘s bespoke chassis, but that machine was more eye-catching – it had larger RGB LED fans and more tempered glass.

The Kolink is 435mm tall and 201mm wide, which means that it’s narrower but taller than the squat, square-shaped AlphaBeta rig.

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Can this GTX 1660 Super gaming and eSports PC undercut pricier competition?

The PC Specialist Sabre MK1 is one of the most affordable gaming rigs on the market right now. Go much cheaper than this and the specification will start making too much compromise to be worthwhile.

The desktop builder undercut its closest rivals at the checkout, but can it keep up the quality and performance levels?

Design & Build
PC Specialist has built this system around its own Wraith chassis. It’s a good-looking bit of kit: the meshed plastic front panel looks smart and contains three intake fans with bright RGB LEDs.

This chassis has top- and bottom-mounted dust filters and a single USB 3.0 port on the roof alongside two slower USB 2.0 ports.

The Wraith has a tempered glass window that swings open smoothly and sits on hinges for easy removal, and the front panel is magnetic, so it’s easy to remove.

On the inside, the Wraith is basic but serviceable. There’s plenty of space, which makes building and modifying easier, and PC Specialist has done a great job keeping cables neat around the front and at the rear. You get room for a spare 2.5in drive, but sadly there’s no 3.5in hard disk bay.

The biggest issue is build quality. That mesh front panel and the top panel are both sturdy, and the glass side window is rigid. However, the rear side panel is weaker and the internal PSU shroud is flimsy – and the case also has some sharp edges and corners, so you’ll need to be careful.

The Kolink chassis used by Chillblast is undoubtedly stronger, and with more room for storage space. AlphaBeta’s bespoke case is sturdier, with better USB connectivity and more upgrade room.

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The ROG Strix G15 offers huge CPU power and gaming speed – so it’s ideal for work and play. The case has decent features, but this PC suffers from middling build quality and limited upgradability

It’s all too easy to dismiss desktops like the Asus ROG Strix G15DH. Big-brand, high-street hardware has a reputation for being slow, expensive and badly-built – especially when compared to PCs from specialist firms like Chillblast and PC Specialist.

The latest Asus rig looks to buck that trend by including a high-end Nvidia RTX graphics card and an eight-core AMD Ryzen CPU for £1,400. Well that’s the model we’ve tested although there are other models available we’ll cover in the price section later.

Design & Build
The G15DH (also known as the GA15) looks unmistakably like a Republic of Gamers product. The front panel is decorated with a huge ROG logo, and it has jutting angles of plastic and a huge slash of RGB LEDs across the centre.

There’s more angled plastic on the roof alongside a useful handle, and the front panel has a handy headphone hook. At the front, you’ve got a full-size USB 3.2 port alongside a Type-C connection; at the rear, there are six USB 3.2 ports but no Type-C and only three audio jacks.

The G15DH’s 10kg weight isn’t bad, and this machine is only 189mm wide – so it’s not too difficult to move around. It’s a good start, but hands-on time reveals issues. On the outside, there’s poor build quality: the plastic front and roof panels and the metal side panels are both flimsy.

On the inside, there’s little to excite. The plain metal is not painted and the wires are untidy throughout, which is partly why the side isn’t transparent.

The CPU cooling is basic, the graphics card is a reference model with no ornamentation and there’s no side panel window. You don’t get any upgrade room from the case, with no 2.5in or 3.5in drive mounts.

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