Custom PC - UK (2020-06)

VERDICT

Decent gaming performance for the money, but some of the

supporting hardware is a bit basic.

OVERALLSCORE

80 %%

PERFORMANCE

19 / 25

DESIGN

20 / 25

HARDWARE

19 / 25

VALUE

22 / 25

BENCHMARK RESULTS

The CCL’s thermal performance is also fine, with solid CPU

and GPU delta E temperatures of 65°C and 45°C. It produces a

low rumble when idle and is only a little louder when gaming –

there’s noticeable noise, but it’s quieter than most rivals.

Conclusion

The Sabre iCUE is one of the more affordable RTX 2070 Super

PCs we’ve seen, although the relatively low price has an impact

in several departments. It’s not quite as quick in games as other

machines based on the same GPU, and while the mid-range

CPU is reasonable, it’s not as versatile as other parts.

Meanwhile, the case looks good and is compact, but

build quality could be better in places. The motherboard

is also capable but basic, and there’s no secondary

storage. Not everyone will be bothered by these aspects

though – and at its core, the CCL offers decent gaming

performance, a solid CPU and a decent warranty for a

generous price. It’s an unfussy and affordable option,

even if it isn’t outstanding.

MIKE JENNINGS

GIMPIMAGE

EDITING

60,804

HEAVYMULTI-

TASKING

224,905

HANDBRAKEH.264

VIDEO ENCODING

461,130

SYSTEM

SCORE

192,695

LUXMARK

OPENCL

119,718

Minimum Average

1,920x1,080,Highestdetail,TAA

SHADOW OF THE TOMB RAIDER

0 40 80 120 160

0 40 80 120 160

0 40 80 120 160

0 40 80 120 160

0 40 80 120 160

0 40 80 120 160

Fierce PC Ardent Core 94fps 124fps

2,560x1,440,Highestdetail,TAA

Fierce PC Ardent Core 69fps 85fps

1,920x1,080,Ultradetail,FXAA,DX11

TOTAL WAR: WARHAMMER II

Fierce PC Ardent Core 77fps 99fps

2,560x1,440,UltraDetail,FXAA,DX11

Fierce PC Ardent Core 58fps 72fps

1,920x1,080,Ultrasettings,DX12,High DXR,TAA

BATTLEFIELD V

Fierce PC Ardent Core 59fps 70fps

2,560x1,440,Ultrasettings,DX12,HighDXR,TAA

Fierce PC Ardent Core 42fps 50fps

The RTX 2070 Super in this PC will handle any gaming
task short of 4K, but most other RTX 2070 Super systems
we’ve reviewed have been slightly faster at 1080p, albeit
only by 2-3fps.
Meanwhile, the Ryzen 5 3600X proved itself to be a
decent all-purpose CPU for the money. Its image editing
score of 60,804 is fine, as is its HandBrake result of 461,130
is also reasonable, if not outstanding. The latter is a fair bit
behind the scores we see from Ryzen 7 CPUs with their extra
two cores, but it’s still fine for most people’s needs.
The SSD is good as well – its respective read and write
speeds of 3,507MB/sec and 3,083MB/sec are only
significantly bettered by PCI-E 4 drives, for which you’ll need
a pricier X570 motherboard anyway.