FEATURE / CUSTOMISATION
MEMORY
16GB(2x 8GB)Corsair
Vengeance RGB Pro
3466MHz DDR4
£125 inc VAT
scan.co.uk
Corsair’s Vengeance RGB Pro memory is still
one of our favourite RGB memory ranges.
It simply looks fantastic, with vivid diffuse
lighting that’s easily controllable via Corsair’s
iCUE software, which can also be synced
with Corsair’s other RGB products and some
motherboards now too.
We consider 16GB to be the minimum
amount of memory you need in order to ensure
a degree of futureproofing, and you’ll likely
see plenty of situations that use more than
8GB these days. With 3466MHz kits costing
barely any more money than 3000MHz ones,
it definitely makes sense to get the speedier
kit. Avoid using just one module too. It may be
cheaper than a pair, but you won’t be able to
operate your memory in dual-channel mode,
which will affect performance.
Alternatives
ADATA’s XPG Spectrix memory is a no less
spectacular option for RGB lighting fans,
and it’s a little cheaper than the Corsair kit
too, albeit with slightly less flexibility on the
lighting side. If you’re not fussed by RGB
lighting, then Corsair’s Vengeance LPX
memory is even cheaper, and is still available
in speeds above 3200MHz, making it ideal
for AMD systems.
GRAPHICS CARD
Zotac GeForce RTX 2060
Super Mini
£338 inc VAT
ebuyer.com
Graphics card prices have fallen since the
majority of current cards were launched last
year, and one of our favourites, the Zotac
Gaming GeForce RTX 2060 Super Mini, now
costs just £338 inc VAT. It’s a monstrous
card for 1080p gaming, and it easily handles
2,560 x 1,440 gaming in the latest titles at
high settings too.
Then there’s DLSS and ray-tracing support,
both of which offer compelling reasons to
go with the green team in this price league,
especially as support for the latter is growing.
Ray-traced shadows and reflections look
amazing in games that support this feature,
so if you want the best eye candy in games,
you want to pickanNvidia RTX GPU over the
currentAMDcompetition.Alternatives
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Super is
a more capable option if you want faster
performance at 2,560 x 1,440, particularly if
you’re enabling ray tracing, but it will set you
back around £100 more. The AMD Radeon
RX 5700 XT is a viable alternative to the RTX
2060 Super too, outperforming it in most
titles for similar cash, but it lacks ray tracing.
If you can’t quite stretch to our budget this
month, then you also have several other
options. The GeForce RTX 2060 is still a
great graphics card and can be had for
as little as £270, and if you’re not
bothered about ray tracing, AMD’s
RX 5600 XT shaves even more
off that price, while offering
similar performance.CASE
Lian Li Lancool II
£88 inc VAT
overclockers.co.ukLian Li’s Lancool One
was one of our favourite
sub-£100 cases whenwe reviewed it last year. It’s very reasonably
priced, looks unique, has excellent water-
cooling support and even includes tempered
glass and aluminium. This month, however,
we got our hands on its successor, the
Lancool II.
You can read our full review on p22, but
the gist is that it’s even better than the
original Lancool One. It has digital RGB
lighting, a trio of included fans, better
ventilation and a revamped cable-tidying
system, making it a great choice for air and
water-cooled systems, as well as people
who want their PC to stand out from the
crowd of other black boxes.Alternatives
For a little more cash,
Phantek’s Eclipse P600S
gets our vote as a superb,
feature-rich and flexible
case that’s equipped
with a few more creature
comforts. Alternatively, if
you need to shave another
couple of tenners off the
price, the be quiet! Pure
Base 500 is an excellent
quiet ATX case that costs
under £70.pOUR TOP UPGRADES
If you have a little extra cash to spare,
we have a couple of recommendations
to get more out of your PC for a little
extra outlay. Firstly, we’d upgrade the
SSD to WD’s Blue SN550 1TB. It costs
an extra £30 and bags you another
half a terabyte of storage space. With
games regularly topping 50GB these
days, every gigabyte counts.
If you fancy a set of custom
individually braided PSU cables, then
you’ll also need a fully modular PSU.
For an extra £30, Corsair’s RM550x
not only has an 80 Plus Gold efficiency
rating, but is also fully modular,
allowing you pick from a variety of
third-party cable sellers, or from
Corsair’s own custom cable sets, to
give your PC’s cabling an attractive
custom finish.