Custom PC - UK (2021-05)

VERDICT

An affordable PC for 1080p gaming everyday computing,

but there’s limited scope for upgrading.

OVERALL SCORE

73 %%

PERFORMANCE

16 / 25

DESIGN

18 / 25

HARDWARE

16 / 25

VALUE

23 / 25

averages 49fp, while Assassin’s Creed Valhalla will average

48fps at High settings.

If you want a new PC with more gaming power and ray-

tracing support, you’ll need an RTX 3060 Ti. Happily, the GTX

1660 Ti is more capable when it comes to esports: it will play

any current game at beyond 100fps at 1080p, so it delivers

the frame rates required for smooth competitive play in

undemanding games.

Meanwhile, the Ryzen 5 3600X’s overall score of 184,587

is reasonable. This CPU is fast enough to handle office tasks

and photo editing, as well as some multi-threaded work.

Compared with its successor, though, there’s a gulf: the

Ryzen 5 5600X scores around 245,000 in our benchmarks,

representing a substantial upgrade.

The PC Specialist is a mixed thermal performer too.

Positively, temperatures were never an issue – the CPU and

GPU delta Ts of 52°C and 50°C are fine. The noise levels are

easily manageable during gaming. A bigger concern is the

PC’s noise output when then CPU is stressed, with a very

loud noise generated by the CPU cooler’s two fans. You’ll

want to be in a different room if you set it running on a big

video encoding task.

Conclusion

PC Specialist’s Prism Elite can handle standard 1080p

gaming and everyday computing for a reasonable price.

However, it uses older components and entry-level

hardware, and this rig also suffers from noisy operation in

some tasks and a lack of upgrade paths. Spending a little

more money will rectify those issues and net you more CPU

and GPU power, but this is a reasonable entry-level system

that can be built right now if you want to save some money.

MIKE JENNINGS

BENCHMARK RESULTS

GIMP IMAGE

EDITING

58,531

HANDBRAKE H.264

VIDEO ENCODING

437,135

HEAVY MULTI-

TASKING

227,272

SYSTEM

SCORE

184,587

99th Percentile Average

1,920 x 1,080, Vulkan, Ultra Nightmare settings

DOOM ETERNAL

0 100 200 300 400

PC Specialist Prism Elite 102fps 167fps

1,920 x 1,080, High settings

ASSASSIN’S CREED VALHALLA

0 30 60 90 120

PC Specialist Prism Elite 38fps 48fps

1,920 x 1,080, High preset, no ray tracing

CYBERPUNK 2077

0 30 60 90 120

PC Specialist Prism Elite 42fps 49fps

1,920 x 1,080, Ultra preset, no ray tracing

0 30 60 90 120

PC Specialist Prism Elite 34fps 40fps

1,920 x 1,080, Very High settings

0 30 60 90 120

PC Specialist Prism Elite 35fps 45fps

1,920 x 1,080, Ultra High settings

0 30 60 90 120

PC Specialist Prism Elite 33fps 42fps

you’d prefer a GeForce RTX 3060 Ti and a Ryzen 5 5600X,
then you can expect to pay more than £1,200, and it’s also
hard to find that GPU in stock anywhere.

Performance
The GTX 1660 Ti has the grunt to handle mainstream 1080p
gaming. In Doom Eternal it delivered a 99th percentile
minimum frame rate of 102fps, and in tougher games, it
broke the 30fps barrier – the GTX 1660 Ti ran Assassin’s
Creed Valhalla with a 99th percentile minimum of 33fps,
and Cyberpunk 2077 with a 99th percentile result of 34fps.
You’ll be able to play today’s big-name titles at 1080p,
although you’ll have to dial back the settings if you want to
get smooth frame rates in most single-player games. Run
Cyberpunk 2077 at High rather than Ultra settings and it