ROUND-UP
GRAPHICS
CARD
Why is that, you ask? Low profile, no
PCIe power, and fairly impressive
performance. For those looking to
upgrade, it’s a viable budget option.
For high-to-ultra 1080p gaming you
can easily hit around 40-50fps in
most AAA titles, as long as the
game doesn’t bottleneck
the CPU.MSI’s GTX 1050 Ti might not make a lot of sense at first glance,
but it’s one of the more interesting cards we’ve reviewed this year.And if that isn’t your jam, put up
£120 for the 1050 2GB version and
you’ve got yourself a gnarly HTPC as
well. It is louder than we’d like to
admit, but for the money, it’s not a
bad investment.
GPU: PASCAL / LITHOGRAPHY: 16NM FINFET /
M.2 / CORES: 768 / MEMORY: 4GB GDDR /
MEMORY BUS: 128 BIT84 %
83 %
71 %
83 %QCK PRISM MOUSEPAD
http://www.steelseries.com £65It’s hard to stomach paying £65 for
a mousemat. That said, the Prism
expands on the likes of Corsair’s
Polaris MM800 and Razer’s Firefly by
smoothing out the USB hub and
making sure the RGB LEDs are visible.
Swapping out from a smooth to
a more textured surface is
also a pretty neat and
intriguing feature.MSI GEFORCE
GTX 1050 TI 4GT LP
http://www.msi.com £150
ROG STRIX EVOLVE
http://www.asus.com £55The Evolve is one of the more
interesting gaming mice out there.
Featuring swappable top plates, you
can turn this from a right-handed
mouse to a left-handed ergonomic
dream with ease. It comes with Asus’s
RGB lighting and is comfortable
to grip. If only the material
was a touch more
premium.PULSEFIRE FPS
http://www.hyperxgaming.com £50Another £50 mouse, this time from
HyperX. Being its first venture into the
mouse ecosystem, the Pulsefire is
inspired by other competing brands,
with an overall look not too dissimilar
from Razer’s DeathAdder. Don’t let
that put you off, however, it’s a
crisp palm-gripping tool,
locked and loaded ready
for any FPS gamer.GRAPHICS
CARDReviews
HARDWARE
ASUS ROG STRIX
GEFORCE GTX 1080 TI
http://www.asus.com £800
At 1440p I managed to hit over 100
frames per second in Far Cry Primal
and The Division, and even kept Rise
of the Tomb Raider and To t a l Wa r :
Attila comfortably above 60fps, with
all of the graphical settings ramped
right up. Move up to 4K and Far
Cry Primal hits that 60fps
sweet spot easily.That’s one hell of a price tag for a GPU. No matter how you look at
it, it’s no small amount of cash. But does it warrant the splurge?The biggest bonus to this AIB card,
however, is the cooling solution. The
triple-fan DC III Strix cooler is one of
the best in the business, if you’re
looking for a super-quiet card, the
Strix is the one to get.
GPU: PASCAL / LITHOGRAPHY: 16NM FINFET /
CORES: 3,540 / MEMORY: 11GB GDDR5X /
MEMORY BUS: 352-BIT84 %