Computer Shopper - UK (2021-01)

ISSUE395|COMPUTER SHOPPER|JANUARY2021 45

MID-RANGE PCs

PREMIUM PCs

NZXT KrakenX53

★★★★★

£120•www.scan.co.uk

INTELCorei5-10600K

★★★★★

£251•www.ebuyer.com

AMDRyzen93900X

★★★★★

£440•www.ebuyer.com

Thischipisnotas

cheapasAMD’s

equivalents,noras

efficientatmultitasking,butit’sstillavery

quick,highlyoverclockablehexa-coreCPU

with gamingperformancethatbeatssome

top-of-the-rangeenthusiastprocessors.

Notonlyisthe

KrakenX53oneof

themosteffectiveAIOwatercoolersoutthere,

it’s alsoamongtheeasiestto installandtheeasiestto customise.

It workswithloadsof differentIntelandAMDsocketstoo, socan

upgradeolderPCbuildsaswellasnewerones.

ForgettheIntelCore

i9-9900K–this12-core

monsterof aCPUperformsfar

betterforsimilarmoney. Thereisadrawback,inthatit’s

notveryoverclocking-friendly,butthat’spartlybecauseit’ssofastto

beginwith.PairitwithsomegoodRAM,andyou’realreadymostof

thewaytoacapablehomeworkstation.

TECHNOLOGYClosedloop•FANS2x 120mm•SOCKETIntelLGA 2066/2011-3/2011/1151/1150/

1155/1156/1366, AMDAM4/TR4 (TR4 requires separate bracket)•RADIATORDIMENSIONS

(NOFAN)123x275x30mm•WARRANTYSixyears RTB•DETAILSwww.nzxt.com•PARTCODE

RL-KRX53-01•FULLREVIEWMay2020

SOCKETIntelLGA 1200•CORES (^6) • FREQUENCY4.1GHz•INTEGRATEDGRAPHICSIntelUHD
Graphics630•WARRANTYThreeyears RTB•DETAILSwww.intel.com•PARTCODE
BX8070110600K•FULLREVIEWAug2020
SOCKETAM4•CORES (^12) • FREQUENCY3.8GHz•INTEGRATEDGRAPHICSNone•
WARRANTYTwoyears RTB•DETAILSwww.amd.com•PARTCODE100-100000023BOX•
FULLREVIEWNov2019
COOLERMASTERMasterBoxK500
★★★★★
£70•www.scan.co.uk
AMD RadeonRX5700XT
★★★★★
£379•shop.amd.com
AMDRadeon RX 5700
★★★★★
£334•shop.amd.com
THERMALTAKEView37
★★★★★
£130•www.scan.co.uk
Greatlooks,afullsetof
pre-installedfans,highbuild
qualityandaspaciousinterior:
theMasterBoxK500isacommendable
all-rounder.It’snotthebestonstoragecapacity,
butyoucanstilladdatleastacoupleofSSDs
andharddiskseach.
Thestandard
RX5700is
bettervaluefor
lowerresolutions,butifyou
wantto playat4Kwithoutthe
expenseof Nvidia’stopRTXgraphics
cards,theRX5700XT’shighercorecountand
clockspeedsmakeitagreatchoice.
Aspacious,feature-rich
chassisforbothATX- and
EATX-basedbuilds,theView
37comeswithagull-wingsidewindowthat’s
perfectforshowingoff yourhandiwork.
CASETYPEMid-tower•MOTHERBOARDTYPEATX, microATX,
Mini-ITX•SUPPLIEDFANS3x 120mm•MAXDRIVEBAYS3x 3.5in,
2x 2.5in•DIMENSIONS260xx190x280mm•WEIGHT6.2kg•
WARRANTYTwoyears RTB•DETAILSwww.coolermaster.com•
PARTCODEMCB-K500D-KGNN-S00•FULLREVIEWJan2019
GPUAMDRadeon RX 5700 XT•MEMORY8GBGDDR6•GRAPHICSCARDLENGTH272mm•
WARRANTYOneyearRTB•DETAILSwww.amd.com/uk•PARTCODERadeon RX 5700XT•
FULLREVIEWOct2019
GPUAMDRadeon RX 5700•MEMORY8GBGDDR6•GRAPHICSCARDLENGTH268mm•
WARRANTYOneyearRTB•DETAILSwww.amd.com/uk•PARTCODERadeon RX 5700•
FULLREVIEWOct2019
CASETYPEMid-tower•MOTHERBOARDTYPEATX, EATX,
microATX, Mini-ITX•SUPPLIEDFANS2x 140mm•MAXIMUM
DRIVEBAYS7x 3.5in, 11x2.5in•DIMENSIONS525x261x538mm•
WEIGHT11.8kg•WARRANTYThreeyears RTB•DETAILSwww.
thermaltake.com•PARTCODECA-1J7-00M1WN-00•
FULLREVIEWDec 2018
AMD’s7nmGPUis
cheaperthanboththe
GeForceRTX2060and
theRTX2060Super,yetisjustascomfortable
withgamingat1080pand1440p.Thislowpriceonly seemsto
applyforthereferencedesignratherthanpartnerversions,butthe
blower-stylecooleristheonlyrealdownside.
ASUSROGStrixFlare
★★★★★
£153•www.novatech.co.uk
Besidesbeinga
comfortableand
responsivegaming
keyboard,largelythanksto itsalways-reliableCherryMX
Redswitches,theROGStrixFlareisloadedwithusefulfeaturesand
coolextras:there’sasetof dedicatedmediacontrolsandaUSB2
pass-throughport,amongothers.
KEYBOARDSHAPEFull size•NUMBERPADYes•CONNECTION2xUSB2•MEDIAKEYSPause/
play,mute, skip,volume•USBPORTS2x USB2•WARRANTYOneyearRTB•DETAILSwww.asus.
com/uk•PARTCODE90MP000MO-BOEA00•FULLREVIEWOct2019

00

he

anddd

omfortable

l seemsto

X5700XT

r

e

raphics

FULLREVIEWOct 2