Custom PC - UK (2020-07)

VERDICT

Solid 1080p gaming for a reasonable price, but the spec

could be significantly improved for not much more money.

OVERALLSCORE

75 %%

PERFORMANCE

16 / 25

DESIGN

19 / 25

HARDWARE

17 / 25

VALUE

23 / 25

LIGHTSABER

+ Amazinglylow

price

+ Solid1080p

gamingpace

+ Good-looking

chassis

BREADKNIFE

• 8GBsingle-
  channelmemory


• S ATAS S D


• Basic motherboard

BENCHMARK RESULTS Performance

The GTX 1660 Super is a decent GPU

for 1080p gaming. In our trio of test

titles, it delivered minimums of 44fps

orbetter,andtheminimumsweren’t

faroff60fpsinShadowoftheTomb

RaiderandBattlefieldV.Thatsaid,the

Sabre’s(non-ray-traced)BattlefieldV

resultswerea fairwaybehindwhat

weusuallyexpectfromthisGPU.Its

53fpsminimumand76fpsaverageat

1080presultsareperfectlyplayable,

buttheGTX 1660 Supermanageda

75fpsminimumand96fpsaveragein

ourrecentgraphicscardLabs(see

Issue199,p46).

Meanwhile,thePCSpecialist’sCPUperformanceis a fair

waybehindRyzen5 3600-basedmachines,buttheSabre’s

overallbenchmarkresultof154,341is goodenoughto

handleeverydaycomputing.Similarly,theSSD’sreadand

writespeedsof528MB/secand454MB/secarenothing

special,especiallywhen250GBNVMedrivescancostunder

£50now,butit’sfastenoughforconventionaluse.

Thebigissuehereis theSabre’ssingle-channelmemory.

Weswappedthisrig’s8GBof2400MHzmemoryfortwo

8GB,2400MHzDIMMs,andtheSabre’sbenchmarkscore

jumpedto159,510.Ingames,switchingtodual-channel

memoryadded3-5fpsto1080pbenchmarkresults.This

upgradecostsunder£10,andanyoneconsideringthis

machineshouldmakethatchange– it’ssurprisingthatPC

Specialistis usingsingle-channelmemorybydefaulthere.

Thermally,thePCSpecialistis solid.ItsCPUandGPUdelta

Tsof51°Cand50°Caregood,withthestock-speedCPUnot

pushingthelimitsoftheIntelstockcooler,andthesystemonly

produceda lowrumbleduringgamingtests.Thenoisewas

muchlouderwiththeCPUstressed,butit’sunlikelythatthis

PCwillseethatlevelofCPUoperationfora prolongedtime.

Conclusion

TheSabreMK1is a solidoptionforbudget1080pgaming.

ItsGTX 1660 Super has enough pace to handle the latest

games at respectable frame rates, and the rig has a

reasonable chassis and a CPU that will cope with everyday

computing. The low price does mean compromise though:

the motherboard is basic, the SSD is a slow SATA model and

the single-channel memory hinders performance.

The good news is that, even with a dual-channel memory

setup, the Sabre MK1 is still a relatively affordable GTX 1660

Super system. If you do that, this system is ideal if you want

to play games at 1080p but don’t have much cash to spend.

MIKE JENNINGS

GIMPIMAGE

EDITING

49,065

HEAVYMULTI-

TASKING

155,960

HANDBRAKEH.264

VIDEO ENCODING

307,684

SYSTEM

SCORE

154,341

The plastic mesh fascia and metal top panel are sturdy, and
the tempered glass side window is strong too. Handily, the latter
also sits on hinges and has a fabric tab for easier opening. The
front panel is magnetic too, which is a useful touch. The rear side
panel is weaker, though, and the PSU shroud feels flimsy. The
case also has the odd sharp edge and corner, so be careful.
Meanwhile, the interior is basic, with no rubber grommets
and a limited number of cable-routing holes, but it’s pretty
easy to build inside this machine. There’s loads of room to
work, and PC Specialist has kept cables neat, particularly when
you consider the lack of a modular PSU. There’s space at the
rear for a spare 2.5in drive, but no spare hard disk bay.
This system has the usual PC Specialist warranty, which
means three years of labour coverage and a year of parts
protection, but only one month of collect and return service.

INTELPERFORMANCE

INDEX

134.85%

Minimum Average

1,920x1,080,HighestDetail,TAA

SHADOW OF THE TOMB RAIDER

0 30 60 90 120

PC Specialist Sabre MK1 58fps 77fps

2,560x1,440,HighestDetail,TAA

0 30 60 90 120

PC Specialist Sabre MK1 38fps 50fps

1,920x1,080,UltraDetail,DX12

TOTAL WAR: WARHAMMER II

0 30 60 90 120

PC Specialist Sabre MK1 44fps 54fps

2,560x1,440,UltraDetail,DX12

0 30 60 90 120

PC Specialist Sabre MK1 29fps 39fps

1,920x1,080,UltraDetail,DX12

BATTLEFIELD V

0 30 60 90 120

PC Specialist Sabre MK1 53fps 76fps

2,560x1,440,UltraDetail,DX12

0 30 60 90 120

PC Specialist Sabre MK1 39fps 59fps