Computer Shopper - UK (2020-03)

ISSUE385|COMPUTER SHOPPER|MARCH2020 53

COMPONENTS

AMD Ryzen93900X

★★★★★

£497•www.ebuyer.com

AMD Ryzen73700X

★★★★★

£290•www.amzn.to/2nFtHMC

Forget the Intel Core

i9-9900K –this 12-core

monster ofaCPU performs far better

forsimilar money.There is adrawback, in that it’s not very

overclocking-friendly,but that’s partly because it’s so fast to begin

with. Pair it with some good RAM, and you’re already most of the

waytoacapable home workstation.

This octa-core chip has all

the single-core strength of the

Ryzen 93900X,with mutlitasking

power that still puts it well beyond its Intel rivals. Lowpricing and

power efficiency areadditional highlights: the Ryzen 73700X only

draws up to 65W,atiny amount forthis many cores.

SOCKETAM4•CORES (^12) • FREQUENCY 3 .8GHz•INTEGRATEDGRAPHICSNone•WARRANTYTwo
yearsRTB•DETAILSwww.amd.com•PARTCODE 100 -1 00000023 BOX•FULLREVIEWNov 2019
SOCKETAM4•CORES (^8) • FREQUENCY3.6GHz•INTEGRATEDGRAPHICSNone•
WARRANTYTwoyears RTB•DETAILSwww.amd.com•PARTCODE100-100000071BOX•
FULLREVIEWDec 2019
THERMALTAKEView37
★★★★★
£110•www.scan.co.uk
Aspacious, feature-rich chassis
forbothATX-and EATX-based
builds, the View 37 comes with a
gull-wing side window that’s perfect forshowing
off your handiwork.
CASETYPEMid-tower•MOTHERBOARDTYPEATX, EATX,microATX, Mini-ITX•SUPPLIED
FANS2x 140mm•MAXDRIVEBAYS7x 3.5in, 11x2.5in•DIMENSIONS525x261x538mm•
WEIGHT11.8kg•WARRANTYThreeyears RTB•DETAILSwww.thermaltake.com•
PARTCODECA-1J7-00M1WN-00•FULLREVIEWDec 2018
ASUS ROGStrixFlare
★★★★★
£115•www.game.co.uk
Besides being a
comfortable and
responsive gaming keyboard,
thanks to its reliable Cherry MX Redswitches, the ROG Strix Flare
is loaded with useful features and extras: there’s aset of dedicated
media controls and aUSB2 pass-through port, among others.
KEYBOARDSHAPEFull size•NUMBERPADYes•CONNECTION1x USB2•MEDIAKEYSPause/
play,mute, skip,volume•USBPORTS2x USB2•WARRANTYOneyearRTB•DETAILSwww.
asus.com/uk•PARTCODE90MP000MO-BOEA00•FULLREVIEWOct2019

01

It’s essential that you buy the right

type of motherboard foryour

processor.For example,Intel’s Skylake,

Kaby Lake and Coffee Lake processors all

use the same LGA 1151 socket, but because

each CPU generation introduced new

chipsets, you’ll need to get aZ370

motherboard foraCoffee Lake chip,aZ270

boardfor aKabyLakechip and so on.

02

All current Intel processors have

built-in graphics chipsets, so if you

want to useyour chip’s built-in graphics,

make sure the motherboard has the

video outputs, such as DVI, HDMI and

DisplayPort. If you want to playthe latest

games, you’ll need to fit adedicated

graphics card in the motherboard’s PCI

Choosingan... Intelmotherboard

Express x16 slot, although this mayblock

one of your other slots.

03

Normal tower cases can accommodate

ATXmotherboards, which provide the

most expansion slots. AmicroATX

motherboard will let you build your PC in a

smaller case,but if you opt foramicroATX

board, make sure it has all the features you

need built in as there won’t be much room

forexpansion cards.

04

If you want to install lots of

expansion cards, look fora

motherboard that offers plenty of PCI and

PCI-E x1 slots. Some motherboards also

have PCI Express x4 slots and extra PCI

Express x16 slots. PCI Express x1 and x4

cards also work in PCI Express x16 slots.

If you need alot of storage,amotherboard

with plenty of SATA2and SATA3ports is

essential. SATA2isfine foroptical drives

and hard disks, but to make the most of an

SSD you need SATA3.

05

All motherboards have built-in audio

chipsets, but some support only 5.1

surround sound rather than 7.1. If you’re

connecting to older surround-sound

amplifiers that don’t have HDMI, look for

an optical or coaxial S/PDIF output. All

motherboards have Ethernet ports and most

have the faster Gigabit version. Youmay also

find it useful to buy aboard with built-in

Wi-Fi so you don’t have to useupaUSB

port or PCI slot with an adaptor.

AMD RadeonRX5700

★★★★★

£290•shop.amd.com

MSIMPGZ390GamingEdgeAC

★★★★★

£137•www.scan.co.uk

AMD’s 7nm GPU is

cheaper than the GeForce

RTX2060 and the RTX2060

Super,yet is just as comfortable with gaming at 1080p and 1440p.

This price only seems to apply forthe reference design rather than

partner versions, but the blower-style cooler is the only real downside.

From built-in 802.11ac Wi-Fi

and Bluetooth to high-end audio

connectivity,the MPG Z370 Gaming Edge

AC is stuffed with features. Addinagood price,easy overclocking and

awell-designed BIOS, and it’s perfect forpremium Intel-based builds.

GPUAMDRadeon RX 5700•MEMORY8GBGDDR6•GRAPHICSCARDLENGTH268mm•

WARRANTYOneyearRTB•DETAILSwww.amd.com•PARTCODERadeon RX 5700•

FULLREVIEWOct2019

PROCESSORSOCKETLGA1151•DIMENSIONS305x244mm•CHIPSETIntelZ390•MEMORY

SLOTS (^4) • PCI-Ex16SLOTS (^3) • PCI-Ex1SLOTS (^3) • PCISLOTS (^0) • USBPORTS2x USB2, 2x USB3,
1x USB3.1,1xUSB Type-C•VIDEOOUTPUTS1x HDMI,1xDisplayPort•WARRANTYOneyearRTB

• DETAILSwww.msi.com•PARTCODEMPGZ390GamingEdgeAC•FULLREVIEWApr2019

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