W
ired2Fire’sPredatorcomeskitted
outwithNvidia’slatestRTX 2060
SuperGPU,whichimproveson
theoriginalRTX 2060 byadding 256 stream
processorsand2GBofGDDR6memory,
givingit thesame8GBtotalasseveralofits
biggersiblingsintheRTXrange.Wired2Fire
hasusedanMSI-madeArmorOCcardfor
thismachine.Asthenamesuggests,this
booststheGPU’sstock1650MHzboost
clockby30MHz.
Thefirstsystemwesawwith
thiscard,theCyberPowerUltra 5 Super,
wascheaperthantheWired2Fire, with a
priceof£1,179incVAT,butthe Wired2Fire
hasa morepotentCPU.The AMD Ryzen
7 3700Xprocessorusesthe Zen 2
architecture,andhaseightSMT-enabled
cores(givingyou 16 threads), alongside
a 3.6GHzbaseclockand4.4GHz boost
clock.Comparatively,CyberPower’s
cheapermachinehada Ryzen 5 3600,
withtwofewercoresanda lesser
boostspeed.
TheWired2Firehasa marginally
bettermotherboardtoo.ItsMSI B450
TomahawkMaxproductlooks flashier,
withlargerheatsinksanda military-
styledesign.It hasa USBType-C
port,whichthecheaperCyberPower
doesn’toffer,andanextraRGB LED strip
connectoraswell.
Elsewhere,theTomahawk has four
memoryslots,several1xPCI-E slots and
basicRealtekALC892audio, and the use
oftheolderB450chipsetmeans you
don’tgetPCI-E4 support,unlike the latest
X570boards.Wired2Fire’smachine
bootsfroma 500GBWDBlack SN750NVMe SSD, and its read and write speeds of 3,232MB/sec
and 1,043MB/sec are still quick enough to ensure
consistently fast boot and loading times. The Predator also
has 16GB of memory clocked at a solid 3000MHz.
It’s all powered by a Kolink Enclave 700W PSU, which has
a fully modular design and an 80 Plus Gold efficiency rating –
both rarities at this price. CyberPower’s cheaper machine
made do with a non-modular PSU, with only the entry-level
80 Plus rating. It’s a good specification, although the absence
of any secondary storage is a little disappointing. Installing a
2TB Seagate Barracuda in Wired2Fire’s configurator will add
£53 to the Predator’s price.
Meanwhile, the Wired2Fire’s Phanteks P400A chassis
looks good, with a meshed front panel that contains a trio of
RGB LED fans, feeding the radiator for the 240mm Cooler
Master all-in-one liquid CPU cooler. The side panel is made
from tempered glass, the metal used throughout is sturdy
and the roof has a magnetic dust filter.
On the inside, there are rubber cabling grommets around
the cable-routing holes, neat cabling and a PSU shroud. The
Predator is well put together and there’s plenty of room to
work in the interior. At the rear, there are two tool-free 3.5in
bays and two neat 2.5in caddies. The tidy construction
continues, with Velcro ties used to lash down cables behind
the motherboard tray. This case is better than the cheaperREVIEWS / PC SYSTEMS
SPEC
CPU
3.6GHz AMD Ryzen 7 3700X
Motherboard
MSI B450 Tomahawk Max
Memory
16GB Team Group 3000MHz DDR4
Graphics
MSI GeForce RTX 2060 Super
Storage
500GB WD Black SN750 M.2 SSD
Case
Phanteks P400A
Cooling
CPU: Cooler Master MasterLiquid Lite
240 with 2 x 120mm fans; GPU: 2 x
90mm fans; front: 3 x 120mm fans;
rear: 1 x 120mm fan
PSU
Kolink Enclave 700W
Ports
Front 2 x USB 3, 2 x audio; rear: 2 x USB
3.2 Gen 1, 1 x USB 3.1 Gen 2, 1 x USB 3.1
Gen 2 Type-C, 2 x USB 2, 1 x Gigabit
Ethernet, 1 x PS/2, 6 x audio
Operating system
Microsoft Windows 10 Home 64-bit
Warranty
Two years parts and labour collect and
return, followed by three years labour
only return to base
WIRED2FIRE
PREDATOR
/£1,299incVAT
SUPPLIER wired2fire.co.ukGAMING PC
cc
uuss
tommPP
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