B
othofthismonth’sreviewPCsusetheRTX 2070
Super,buttheOverclockersUKTitanKatana
undercutsitsrivalfromPCSpecialistby£200– a
significantsaving.Impressively,unlikethePCSpecialistrig,
thecheaperKatana’sGPUis alsooverclocked.ItsKFA²card
improvestheGPU’sboostclockfrom1770MHzto1815MHz,
andthecardhastwo100mmfanswithRGBLEDstoo.
TheoverclockedGPUis pairedwithanAMDRyzen 7
3700X.It’sa solidCPU,witheightmulti-threaded
cores.It’snotoverclocked,butitsbaseandboost
speedsof3.6GHzand4.4GHzarestillrespectable.
It’stoppedwitha CryorigH7coolerthatusesa
single120mmfan.
ThePCSpecialistis a littlebetterhere,though,
witha Ryzen7 3800Xanda CorsairHydroH100i
cooler.Thatchipalsorunsatstockspeed,butits
higherclockspeedsgiveit a significantedgeover
the3700X.Thosepartsarepairedwith16GBof
3000MHzmemory,a 500GBSamsung 970 Evo
SSDanda 2TBharddisk– it’sa similarspectothe
PCSpecialist,althoughthatmachinehasa Wi-Fi
cardtoo.
Meanwhile,theOverclockersPC’sAsusROG
motherboardlooksgood,withmetalheatsinks,a
pre-installedI/OcoverandseveralRGBLEDs,plus
it canaccepttwomoreDIMMsanda second
graphicscard.It alsohasthebonusofdecent
S1220Aaudio,andit providessevenUSB3.1
connectors,a Type-Cportanda PS/2connector,
aswellastwoM.2sockets.
ThereareseveralareaswheretheKatana’s
boardis betterthantheAsusTUFboardinsidethe
pricierPCSpecialist.It supportsNvidiaSLI,andit
alsohasmoreUSBportsanda third16xPCI-Eslot.
However,thePCSpecialist’sAsusTUF
motherboardusestheX570chipset,soit supports
PCI-E4 storage,unliketheX470boardinthe
Overclockersmachine.
Meanwhile,powercomesfroma Kolink
KL-850M,whichis semi-modularandhasan 80
PlusBronzecertification.It’sa decentPSU,butit’s
alsooverpoweredforthespeconoffer– thePCREVIEWS / PC SYSTEMS
SPEC
CPU
3.6GHzAMD
Ryzen7 3700X
Motherboard
AsusROGStrix
X470-FGaming
Memory
16GBTeamGroupNight
Hawk3000MHzDDR4
Graphics
KFA²GeForceRTX
2070 Super8GB
Storage
512GBSamsung 970 Evo
M.2SSD,2TBSeagate
BarracudaProharddisk
Case
KolinkBastionRGB
Cooling
CPU:CryorigH7with
1 x 120mmfan;GPU:
2 x 100mmfans;rear:
1 x 120mmfan
PSU
KolinkKL-850M850W
Ports
Front:2 x USB3,2 x USB
2,2 x audio;rear:2 x USB
3.1Gen2,5 x USB3.1Gen
1, 1 x USB3.1Type-C,1 x
GigabitEthernet,1 x PS/2, 1
x opticalS/PDIF,5 x audio)
Operatingsystem
MicrosoftWindows
10 Home64-bit
Warranty
Threeyearspartsand
labourcollectandreturnGAMING PC
OVERCLOCKERS UK
TITAN KATANA
/£1,399incVAT
SUPPLIER overclockers.co.ukSpecialist’s 550W 80 Plus Gold unit offers a better balance.
The case is a Kolink Bastion, which has a tempered glass side
panel, a roof-mounted dust filter and steel construction
throughout. It’s also noticeably smaller than the PC
Specialist’s case, measuring 70mm shorter and 50mm
shallower from front to back.
The Bastion handles the basics. At the rear there’s a single
tool-free hard disk bay and one 2.5in drive mount. At the
front there’s a PSU shroud and plenty of RGB LEDs. There’s
reasonable space on the inside too, so it’s easy to work inside
this rig. Get beyond the basics, though, and this budget case
shows its limitations. Its tempered glass side panel is hinged,
but it’s tricky to open and doesn’t cover the whole side of the
case. The steel used throughout the case feels flimsy, and
cable tidying is mediocre – there’s plenty of visible cables,
with no rubber grommets in the cable-routing holes.
The Bastion has no intake fans and no front fan mounts
either, although fans can be installed in the roof and on the
PSU shroud. The only included fan is a 120mm exhaust. The
PC Specialist offers better quality here – its case is stronger,
with thicker metal, more USB ports and more fans. Finally,
both systems include warranties with three years of labour
coverage, but the Overclockers rig offers a much better deal
with a full three years of parts service too, including collect
and return cover.Performance
The RTX 2070 Super is a superb GPU that handles 1080p
gaming at amazing frame rates, and stays above 60fps at
2,560 x 1,440 in most games too. The overclocked card in
this machine will easily handle VR headsets, and ray tracing
works well, with a solid minimum of 51fps in Battlefield V with
High DXR enabled.