PC Gamer Presents - PC Hardware Handbook - May 2018

(nigelxxx) #1

ROUND-UP


HEADSET

It’s been a while since we first took a look at Corsair’s Void series of
headsets. We’ve always had a penchant for wireless headsets, and so
when Corsair announced a V2 of its Voids, we had to get a pair.

So what’s new for the headset? Well,
the audio drivers have been tweaked
to provide a more resonant sound,
the microphone has been
redeveloped from the ground up for
greater sensitivity, and, more
importantly, the ear cups have
been changed out for memory
foam additions.
That last bit is a big deal.
Previously, the ear cups on the Voids
always felt like they were leaking
sound out of the bottom of the
circumaural cups, but with the
memory foam in place, this seems
there’s a tighter fit – isolating more
noise, whilst also being far more
comfortable than its counterparts.
DRIVER TECHNOLOGY: 50MM DYNAMIC / FREQUENCY
RESPONSE: 20 HZ - 20 KHZ / IMPEDANCE: 32 OHMS /
CONNECTIVITY: USB / WIRELESS

ASUS RADEON RX 580 4GB
http://www.asus.com £380

The RX 580 might not be anything
other than an overclocked RX 480,
but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a good
card. Although the price of these is
through the roof, once they come
back down to that £220 sweet spot
(goddammit, cryptocurrency),
it’ll definitely be the card to
get, especially if you game
at 1080p.
84 %

88 %


92 %
90 %

BITFENIX PORTAL
http://www.bitfenix.com £120

Bitfenix has always designed some
bonkers cases, whether it’s the
Prodigy or the Shinobi, it has always
been at the forefront of pushing those
case design boundaries further. The
Portal is no exception. Its crazy
cylindrical ITX design is impressive,
the materials used
exceptional and the
cooling acceptable.

ASUS ROG STRIX B250I
http://www.asus.com £125

And what’s better to go with the
ITX Portal than a solid Asus
motherboard. This B250i Strix is
packed with features, including an
M.2 PCIe SSD heatsink, eight-pin CPU
power, a ton of USB and SATA ports,
RGB lighting and even Wi-Fi. Couple
that with a stunning price
and solid performance.
It’s a winner.

CORSAIR VOID PRO WIRELESS


http://www.corsair.com £100


MOBO

If the brash styling of Asus’s ROG
Strix line doesn’t cut it for you,
perhaps TUF’s armour-based X299
boards can sway you instead. The
integrated PCB/M.2 cooling,
memory support and clean RGB
lighting makes this a solid choice
for anyone looking to build a
crisp-looking setup.

It’s weird to think that this is one of the most affordable X29 9
motherboards out there right now. TUF hasn’t ever let us down in the
past, and, as a brand, it’s one of the few we go to without question.

We managed to reach an
impressive 4.4 GHz on my Core
i9-7900X with relative ease. Asus’s
BIOS is also one of the easier to work
with if you’re new to overclocking.
CHIPSET/SOCKET: X299 / LGA 2066 / FORM FACTOR: AT X /
MEMORY SUPPORT: 128GB DDR4 @ 4133 MT/S /
M.2 / U.2 SUPPORT: 2X M.2 /
SATA SUPPORT: 8X SATA 6GB/S

91 %


ASUS TUF


X299 MARK 1


http://www.asus.com £285


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