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ROUND-UP

KEYBOARD

Asushascreatedastrikingdesk

adornment with the ROG Flare. It

includesRGBbacklitkeys,RGB

downlightingonthesidesanda

customisable transparent, RGB-

backlit insert at the back, all of which

canbesynceduptoyourPC’s

other lighting using Asus’ Aura

Sync technology.

Asus’ new mechanical gaming keyboard features proper Cherry

MX switches and masses of RGB lighting, but it’s not without

compromise and it comes at a cost.

Elsewhere, the keyboard offers a

basic feature set, with a volume wheel

and multimedia keys in the top-left,

but no dedicated gaming keys.

The build is also plasticky, making

it feel expensive for what it offers.

SWITCHES: CHERRY MX BLACK, BLUE, BROWN OR RED /

USB: 1 X USB 2.0 PASSTHROUGH / INCLUDES: WRIST

REST, 1 X BLANK TRANSPARENT PLATE

75 %

75 %

70 % 85 %

ASUS ROG FLARE

http://www.asus.com £160

SSD

Slower only than Samsung’s flagship

970 Pro drive, the 970 Evo blazes

along, offering sequential read speeds

of up to 3,500MB/s and write

speeds of up to 2,500MB/s. These

numbers aren’t a huge leap over the

previous960Evodrivesbuttheystill

maketheEvoamongthefastest

SSDs available, and the 970 isn’t any

more expensive than its predecessor.

Youalsogetathree-yearwarranty,

and Samsung’s own Magician

software provides an easy way to

keep track of the overall life and

performance of your drive.

FORM FACTOR:M.2,NVME/CAPACITIES:250GB,

500GB, 1TB, 2TB/PRICE RANGE:£95 - £690,

The 970 Evo may not be Samsung’s
fastestSSDbutitistheoneyoushould
buy. It offers blistering speeds and a long
life for a reasonable price.

85 %

SAMSUNG 970

EVO 500GB

http://www.samsung.com £178

AMD RYZEN 7 2700

http://www.amd.com£257

The Ryzen 7 2700 has eight cores

that can process 16 threads at once

making for a mighty powerful

processor. It’s also multiplier-

unlocked for easy overclocking.

However, its relatively slow clock

speeds (3.2GHz to 4.1GHz)

mean it isn’t the best

choice for gamers.

SAMSUNG 970 PRO 512GB

http://www.samsung.com£252

This is essentially the fastest SSD

you can buy thanks to its read/write

speeds of up to a whopping

3,500MB/s and 2,700MB/s

respectively. The 512GB version also

boasts a massive 600TB write

endurance. However, it’s

overkill for most users. Go

for the 970 Evo instead.

AMD RYZEN 5 2600

http://www.amd.com£167

The Ryzen 5 2600 provides

massive six-core, 12-thread power for

a low price. It’s also easy to overclock

and has a good base clock of 3.4Ghz,

so it provides a guaranteed level of

performance. The Core i5-8400 is

better for gaming out of the

box, but overclocked this

chip is a great option.

Reviews

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