ORGANIC TECH: KIT MADE FROM SALIVA, BLOOD AND MILK

RASPBERRY Pi
How to make a Pi NAS box or
media centre, and overclock it
NEW! NVIDIAS DUAL-GPU GEFORCE GTX 690
Inside the CPUs
8 motherboards
5 memory kits
Gaming PC
PLUS
ISSUE 106 JULY 2012 4.50
INTEL IVY
BRIDGE
3 July 2012
Welcome to Issue 106
Editorial
EDITOR
BenHardwidge
editor@custompc.co.uk
TECHNICALEDITOR
HarryButler
GAMESEDITOR
JoeMartin
ARTEDITOR
BillBagnall
PRODUCTIONEDITOR
JulieBirrell
CONTRIBUTORS
AntonyLeather, CliffHarris,
GarethHalfacree, JimKillock,
LucySherriff, MikeJennings,
PaulGoodhead, RobertFlorence,
SimonTreadaway, TracyKing
PHOTOGRAPHY
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INTEL IVY
BRIDGE
36
SandyBridgesusurperhasfinally
arrived, packedwithtiny22nmTri-Gate
transistorsandpromisingareductionin
powerconsumptioncoupledwithevenmorespeed,
whilekeepingthecorecountthesame. Buthowwell
dotheyoverclock, andhowmuchheatisgenerated
byall thosefast-switching, tinytransistors?We
takealookatIntelsnewchips, aswell asthebest
memorywithwhichtopartnerthem, andaready-
madeIvyBridgegamingrigfromScan.
44
4 July 2012
Welcome to Issue 106
12
GOVERNMENTSNOOPING
Will thegovernmentreallybe
readingall ouremails?JimKillockexplores
thefactsaboutCCDP.
14
GOGINTERVIEW
WetalktoGoGsTrevorLongino
aboutitsnewlaunch, andhowyoupersuade
Windows98gamestorun onnewPCs.
18
ORGANICCOMPUTING
Researchersshowthepotential to
maketechfromsalivaandbloodproteins.
46
NVIDIAGEFORCEGTX690
Thenextfastestgraphicscardin
theworld isherealready. Wetakealookat
Nvidiasbonkersnewdual-GPUcard, which
isbasedonthecompanysnewKepler
GPUarchitecture.
60
Z77MOTHERBOARD
SHOOTOUT
Whatmakesthebesthomeforabrand-new
IvyBridgeCPU? Werevieweightnew
motherboardsbasedontheZ77chipset
inordertofindout.
96
THEBITESIZEDHARDCORE
GAMERMANIFESTO
Notimetoplaythroughthegrind?Cliff Harris
exploresagapinthehardcoregamemarket.
98
HANDSONWITHTHE
RASPBERRYPi
This29pieceof circuitboardhasbeen
grabbingalotof headlines, butwhatcanyou
actuallydowithit, andhow?GarethHalfacree
detailshowtoturnthePi intoamediacentre
or aNASbox, andevenshowsyouhowto
overclockit.
60 98
112
14
106
5 July 2012
1ssue106
106
READERS DRIVES
MeetProjectStealthlowa
gorgeousPCwithacurvyaluminiumchassis,
all constructedwithout industrial machinery.
114
HOWTOMAKEADUSTFILTER
All youneedisapairof tightsanda
rubberband.
116
MAKEAUSB3FRONTPANEL
Shortonhigh-speedportsatthe
front?MakeyourownUSBpanel usinga
sparedrive-bayblankingplate.
Reviewedthis month
Hardware
CPU
38 Intel IvyBridge
MEMORY
40 Thebest memoryforIvyBridge
PC
44 Scan3XSVengeanceZ77OC
GRAPHICS CARDS
46 NvidiaGeForceGTX690
48 GainwardPhantomGeForceGTX
6802GBand4GB
HARD DRIVE
52 1TBWesternDigital VelociRaptor
CPU COOLER
53 NofanCR-95C
STEERING WHEEL
54 ThrustmasterFerrari F1Wheel
Integral T500
Customkit
58 Roku2XS
58 64GBKingstonDataTraveler
HyperXUSB3
58 GriffinBeacon(Androidversion)
59 SamsungNavibot VCR8895
59 ArcticChargingStation
59 StartechUNIDOCK3UGB
Z77motherboardLabs test
63 ASRockFatal1tyZ77
Professional-M
64 AsusMaximusVGene
66 AsusSabertoothZ77
67 BiostarTZ77XE4
70 GigabyteGA-Z77X-UD5H
72 Intel DZ77GA-70K
74 MSI Z77A-G43
76 MSI Z77A-GD65
Games
88 TheLegendof Grimrock
90 Rayman: Origins
91 Gettysburg: ArmoredWarfare
92 Risen2: DarkWaters
95 RidgeRacer: Unbounded
33
PRODUCTS
REVIEWED
18 98
60
44
40
36
46
88
Regulars
8 Fromtheeditor
11 TracyKing
12 Digital rights
14 Interview
16 Incoming
18 Science!
20 Mobiletechwatch
24 CPCEliteproducts
56 Howwetest
86 Grumpygamer
96 Devperspective
128 Retrotech
130 Robert Florence
Community
106 Readers drives
112 Howtofit motherboard
waterblocks
114 Howtomakeyourowndust filter
116 HowtomakeyourownUSBfront
panel
118 Forthewin!
120 Letters
125 Folderof themonth
126 Yourfoldingmilestones
i
wasoriginallygoingtotalkaboutIvyBridgethismonth, and
explainwhyitsstill theCPUarchitectureof choice, despite
doublingasanovenfilamentwhenitsoverclocked. However,
whileI wasdouble-checkingthepricesonourElitelist, I noticedthat
thepriceof SSDshastumbledlikeaJengasetbalancedonadogs
back. Justincaseyouhaventspottedityet, youcannowbuyaCrucial
M4128GBforjust89.99incVATfromwww.ebuyer.com, anda256GB
versionof thesamedrivefor175incVAT.
ItisntonlyCrucial thatsdroppeditsprices
either. Thepriceof othermanufacturers
SSDs, includingthoseof Samsung, havealso
plummeted. Inshort, theressimplynoexcuse
fornotinstallinganSSDinyournextPCbuild
now. NotonlyareCrucials128GBand256GB
M4SSDssupremelyfast, buttheyalsooffer
morethanenoughstoragespaceforWindows,
plentyof softwareandagoodfewgamestoo.
I mentionthisbecauseI meetsomanypeoplewhohappily
performmassivePCupgradeseverynowandthen, swappingoutthe
motherboard, RAMandCPU, butkeepingthesame1TBharddrive
theyvehadforyears, andstill usingitasasystemdrive. I knowweve
saidthisrepeatedly, andwereprobablystartingtosoundlikeabroken
record(anincrediblytediousrecordwithaconversationaboutstorage
devicesonit), buttheupgradethatwill makethebiggestdifferenceto
yourPCischangngfromaharddisktoanSSD.
Thebiggestdifferenceyoull noticeistheWindowsstartuptime,
whichissadlyalmostimpossibletobenchmarkconsistently, as
cachingalgorithmsmakeitslightlydifferenteachtime. However, its
astoundinglyquickerthanusingaharddrive, andImnotjusttalking
aboutthetimeittakesfortheWindowsdesktoptoappear. Whenyou
bootupWindows7orVistaonastandardPConaharddrive, youalso
You might not have to junk your
motherboard, CPUand RAMjust yet.
An SSDupgrade may be all you need
havetositaroundandwaitwhiletheharddrivestopsfaffingaround
beforeyoucanactuallydoanything.
ClickaniconontheQuickLaunchbarstraightafterboot-upand
youll havetowaitforyourharddrivetostopmuckingaboutbeforeyou
seetheresultof youraction. Itsevenworseif youclickonseveral apps
oneaftereachotherinanattempttogetthemall runningatonce.
Thebenefitsof SSDscontinuewell afterboot-upthough. Game
levelsloadmuchquicker, whichmakesamassivedifferenceindata-
heavygamessuchasTheWitcher2, and
iTunesdoesntshamblealonglikeafattortoise
stuckbetweentwobrickseither.
If yourestill usingaCore2Quadorfirst-gen
Corei7system, thenyoumaybetemptedto
gutyoursystemandinstall aloadof newIvy
Bridgekitnow(evenif itdoesgethot), butif
yourPCstill usesaharddriveasabootdrive
thenIdinsteadadvisespendingjust90ona
small upgradethatwill makeaworldof difference. Theresstill aneed
forfasterCPUs, of course, butanupgradetoanSSDwill makeamuch
morenoticeabledifferenceintermsof general use.
Forthisreason, andasaresultof feedbackfromourreaders(see
Issue105, p123), wevedecidedtokitoutall thePCsinourElitesection
(exceptthebudgetPC) withasolid-statesystemdrive, aswell asa
harddrivefordata. Whena128GBcostsjust90, youdbeafool notto
makethejump. Imnowgoingtoremovemypreachershat. Buyan
SSD. Seriously.
BenHardwidgeistheeditorofCustomPC. HelikesPCs, realale
andWarhammer40,000.
EDITOR@CUSTOMPC.CO.UK @MANSHARK
iTunes doesnt shamble
along like a fat tortoise
stuck between two
bricks any more
NOMORE
EXCUSES
8 July 2012
from the editor
T
hismonthagainbroughtaslewof storiesbasedonthe
ridiculousclaimthatWiFi andtechnologyissomehow
literallyfryingourbrains, givinguscancer, causingfatigue,
headachesordepression, andmorethan100othersymptoms; this
isbackedupbydubiousdataandparadedaroundasnews bylink-
baitingeditors. Itsurfaceseveryfewyearsandeverytimeitdoes, I roll
myeyessohardI getaYahtzee.
Asatech-savvynon-idiot, youalmostcertainlydontbelievethat
electro-smog, alsoknownasthemoremedical-soundingbutequally
sillyelectrosensitivity isagenuinedanger. However, asyoull certainly
besurroundedbyseveral computers, phones, aWiFi networkandall
sortsof otherkit, heresthelow-down.
Electrosensitivityisfirstandforemostaself-
diagnosedcondition. Youdontgetabunchof
symptoms, gotothedoctorandareasked,
Hmm, haveyourecentlyinstalledanew
router?. Instead, youshowsomesymptoms,
getnowherewithyourGP, starttoscramble
aroundforcausesandsuddenlyremember
thateverythingstartedaroundthesametime
youboughtanewNetgearbox.
Correlationdoesntequal causation. Itsthe
simplest, andsadly, oneof themostcommon
fallacies, especiallywhenitcomestohealth. I haveafriendwhodidnt
eatcheesefortenyearsbecausehesufferedamigraineaftereating
RedLeicester. Turnsouthewasallergictothefoodcolouring. Ten
wretchedcheeselessyearsbecauseof asimplelogical error.
Electrosensitivityisthekingof all post-hocfallacies. Were
surroundedbyincreasingnumbersof low-hum-emittingtech,
invisiblewavesandphonemastsinthedistance. Thechancesof
developingsomesymptomsafterbeingexposedtoanewdevice(even
seeinganewWiFi connectionisinthelist) are100percentif youlive
evenavaguelymodernlife, asweall do. Blamingelectromagnetic
radiationfromthosedevicesislikeblamingthecolourof yournewcar.
Theres no such thing as electro-smog,
but link-baiting editors still churn out
stories about WiFi frying our brains
Theevidencesimplyisntthere. Therehavebeenmany
experiments, andoverandoveragain, thoseclaimingsensitivitywere
unabletodistinguishbetweenareal signal andafakeone. Reviewsof
thoseexperimentsbyJamesRubinetal (PsychosomaticMedicine,
2005andBioelectromagnetics, 2010), concluded: Wehavebeen
unabletofindanyrobustevidencetosupporttheexistenceof
[electromagnetichypersensitivity] asabiological entity.
Sowhydopeopleclaimotherwise, andwhyisitaproblemif they
do?Itsimportanttorealisethatthesymptomsarereal. Physical pain
ordiscomfort, orevenvisiblesymptomssuchasrashes, canhave
underlyingpsychological causesbutthatdoesntmeantheyreall in
yourhead. Thepeoplereportingproblemsare
notlyingormad, anymorethansomeonewith
aphobia. However, itslikelythatthecauseisa
psychological one, andnotsurprisingly, the
treatmentwiththebestsuccessratefor
electrosensitivityiscognitivebehavioural
therapy(CBT), whileotheroptionssuchas
shielding, donothingbeyondplacebo.
Andtheproblem?Sameasalways. You
andI, andourpro-technologycommunities,
arethebadguysyetagainthemonstersin
thecloset. Somesufferers, fuelledbyscare-
lovingmedia, needlesslymovehouse, changetheirlifestylesorbuy
expensivebutworthlessshieldingequipmenttosavethemfromtheir
WiFi andgadgetry. SomecouncilshaveeventriedtooutlawWiFi in
schools, deprivingkidsof thebenefitsof amajortechnologyand
convenience. Evidencewill winintheendbutinthemeantime, being
armedwiththefactsonelectrosensitivitywill bemorehelpful when
tryingtoavoidaheadache.
GamerandscienceenthusiastTracyKingdissectstheevidence
andstatisticsbehindsomeofthepopularmediastories
surroundingtechandgaming @TKINGDOLL
11 July 2012
Correlation doesnt
equal causation. Its the
simplest, and sadly,
one of the most
common fallacies
ATTACKOF
THEKILLERWIFI
12 July 2012
JimKillock
ecently, storiesaboutthesinisterbut
innocuouslytitledCommunications
CapabilitiesDevelopment
Programme(CCDP) haveemergedin
theformof leaksandpartial confirmationsto
Sundaynewspapers. Thesecondstory,
printedinTheSundayTimesonApril Fools
Day, hadmanypeopleaskingif thissupposed
planwasajoke. TheCCDP, itwasclaimed, isa
plantocollectasmuchdataaspossibleabout
whoyoutalktoonline, andwhen. Couldsuch
anoutrageousstoryreallybetrue?
Withinaday, ministerTheresaMaywas
wheeledout, justifyingtheideaby
remindingpeoplethattrafficdata
hadinthepastbeenusedto
investigateterroristsand
paedophilerings. ShetoldTheSun:
Imnotwillingtoriskmoreterrorist
plotssucceedingandmore
paedophilesgoingfreeDatalike
thishasalreadyhelpedlockawaymurderer
IanHuntley. Ithelpedcatchthegangland
thugswhogunneddownRhysJones.
Shealsoremindedpeoplethatthenew
planswouldntinvolvestoringactual
messagesyousend, justwhoyou
communicatewith(trafficdata). Bythetime
youreadthis, wemayhavefirmerideasabout
Government snooping
CCDP wasnt an April Fools joke; its very real and it effectively
allows the government to see who everyone talks to online
whattheCCDPreallymeans, soplease
acceptmyapologiesinadvanceforanyerrors:
Internetpolicycanbeimplementedquickly
anddangerously.
CCDPhasitsrootsinaLabourideafrom
2009, calledtheInterceptionModernisation
Plan(IMP). Thisincludedaplantostoreall
yourtrafficdatainagiantnational database,
althoughthatpartwasquicklydropped.
However, theworryremainsthattheHome
Officewantsaccesstostoreddatainorderto
fish forsuspects, byscanningthroughdatait
canaccesseasily.
TheHomeOfficesjustification, thenand
now, forextendingthestorageof trafficdata
isthatthefactthatthepolicedependonitfor
investigations. Formanyyears, thepolice
wouldlookatphonebillstoseewhothe
peopletheywereinvestigatingtalkedto.
Asourcommunicationsbegantomove
online, ISPswereaskedtogivepoliceaccess
totheirlogs. Theseincludeemail send
andreceivedetails, accountIPaddresses
andsomedataaboutwebvisits. ISPsare
alsorequiredtokeepthesedetailsforup
to18months.
ISPsarentkeepingall therelevant
informationanymore. Infact, Skype, Gmail
andFacebookaremuchmorelikelytohave
detailsaboutwhoyoutalktothanBTor
TalkTalk, sotheHomeOfficewantstotarget
thesethird-partyapplications andcollect
informationfromthem.
WhenthecoalitionwasformedinMay
2010, manypeopleexpectedthe
approachtochange. Afterall, we
hadanewgovernmentwhose
partieshadopposedIMP. The
coalition, infact, saidinits
agreementthatwewill endthe
storageof Internetandemail
recordswithoutgoodreason.
However, byOctober, theHomeOfficesnew
strategydocumentstoldustheopposite.
Wewill introduceaprogrammeto
preservetheabilityof thesecurity, intelligence
andlawenforcementagenciestoobtain
communicationdataandtointercept
communicationswithintheappropriate
legal frameworkWewill putinplacethe
R
THE WORRY REMAINS THAT THE
HOME OFFICE WANTS ACCESS TO
STORED DATA IN ORDER TO
FISH FOR SUSPECTS
13 July 2012
necessaryregulationsandsafeguardsto
ensurethatourresponsetothistechnology
challengeiscompatiblewiththe
governmentsapproachtoinformation
storageandcivil liberties.
Soon, HomeOfficebudgetlineswere
reserving2billionfortheproject. Whathad
changed?Notverymuch. TheHomeOffices
OfficeforSecurityandCounter-Terrorism
(OSCT) still existsandisrunbythesame
officials, includingdirectorCharlesFarr, an
ex-AfghanistanMI6agent. OSCTpromoted
bothIMPandtheCCDP.
TheOSCThadbeentalkingtoindustry
andotherbodies, includingtheInformation
Commission, whichisinchargeof UKdata
protection. LastNovember, itsrepresentatives
metwiththeISPAssociation(ISPA) todiscuss
howtheymightimplementtheCCDP.
Duringthisperiod, myorganisation, the
OpenRightsGroup, askedtheHomeOfficefor
ameetingtoseewhatitwasplanning, and
wasbrushedoff. Ourfreedomof information
requestsfordetailsof meetingsandminutes
wereturneddownoncostgrounds.
TheOSCTandHomeOfficeappeartohave
learnedthatthepreviousconsultations, under
Labour, provokedtoomuchdebateand
opposition, andaquieter, moresecretive
approachwouldbemorelikelytodampen
oppositionandsucceed. Campaignerssuch
asORGandPrivacyInternational havehadto
relyonrumoursandleakstoestablishwhat
mightbehappening.
Thegreatestuncertaintiessurroundhow
thegovernmentwill deal withtheconcerned
companies, suchasGoogleandFacebook.
Whybotherinterceptingandstoringthisdata,
whenyoucansimplyaskforitdirectly?
Infact, thisalreadyhappens. Forexample,
Googlepublisheshowmanyrequestsitgets
fordataaboutitsusers. IntheUK, Googlesays
itreceivesover1,000requestsayear, andit
complieswitharound63percentof these.
However, thispalesintoinsignificance
againstthe500,000annual requestsmade
undertheRegulationof InvestigatoryPowers
Act(RIPA). Mostof thesearebelievedtobe
requeststophonecompaniesaskingwho
hasregisteredaparticularphonenumber.
Asmallernumberwill betrafficdata.
Meanwhile, Facebookcomplieswith
requestsinpart: itdoesntprovidethefull
detailsof everymessageanindividual sends,
butwill givesubscriberinformation. Whats
more, if acompanydoesntcomplywithsuch
requests, theUKpolicecanusuallyask
throughinternational legal agreements.
All RIPArequestsareself-authorisedby
lawenforcement, andtheydontrequirea
magistrateorcourttocheckthattheyre
reasonable. Ontheplusside, thegovernment
acceptsthatthenumberof bodiesabletouse
RIPApowersshouldbemorelimited: thelist
onceincludedtheMilkMarketingBoard, and
still includesall local councils.
However, acompletelistof someones
friendsandassociates, alongwithalarge
proportionof theircommunications, is
muchmoreintrusivethanaphonebill, and
potentiallymoreopentoabuse. Stronger
safeguardsareneeded, including
JIM
KILLOCK
isexecutivedirectorof
campaignorganisation
TheOpenRightsGroup
(www.openrightsgroup.org)
@jimkillock
independentsupervision. Afterall, the
Levesoninquiryhasalreadyshownthat
policeandjournalistscolludedandshared
informationinappropriately.
Targetedcollection, datafreezing or
retainingdataof genuinesuspects, and
targetedinterceptionareall possiblewithout
CCDP. Responsibleservicesmayco-operate,
andcross-borderagreementsensurethat
datacanbeobtainednomatterwhatthe
jurisdiction. Inthelongterm, thislegislation
will alsocausemassiveexpense, especially
giventhenumberof servicesthehardware
will needtointerceptandread.
Whatisit?
TheCommunicationsCapabilities
DevelopmentPlanaimstoaccessdetails
ofeveryonesonlinecommunications, but
notmessages content. Thegovernment
willseekpowerstocompelcompanies
suchasGoogletohandoverthisdata
undertheRegulationofInvestigatory
PowersAct. ItsexpectedtoaskISPsto
collectdatafromothercompaniesby
interceptingouronlinecommunications.
Whendidtheseplansstart?
TheCCDPisthesuccessortoLabours
InterceptModernisationProgramme,
debatedin2009.
Whospushingit?
TheHomeOfficesOfficeforSecurityand
Counter-Terrorism, underdirector
CharlesFarr.
Whatwillbestoredoraccessed?
Thetime, locationorIPaddress, and
dataaboutwhichuserscommunicates
withwhom.
WhatdoISPsstorealready?
ISPsstoretheIPaddressesofwebsites
youvisit, thetime, fromandto detailsof
youremailsifyouuseyourISPsemail
service, thetimesyoulogonandoff
yourInternetconnectionandyourhome
IPaddress.
Whatdoesthegovernmentintercept
already?
Thegovernmentalreadyhaspowers
underRIPA, anditalsohasthetechnology
fortargetedinterceptionof
communications.
WhatdoInternetcompaniesdotoday?
Mostmajorcompanieswillcomplywith
UKgovernmentrequests. Whentheyre
basedinacountrysuchastheUSA, there
areagreementsbetweenbothcountries
toensurethatinformationneededfor
investigationscanbehandedover.
Takeaction
Visitwww.openrightsgroup.org/issues/
ccdp
WHAT IS CCDP?
14 April 2012
Joe Martin
Goodoldgames
Were fond of GOG.com, as it tweaks classic games from the PCs rich heritage so
that they run on new machines. We catch up with GOGs Trevor Longino to discover
how GOG started, and why its committed to a DRM-free future
Trevor:DRMisntaneffectivetool toprevent
piracy. If all youwanttodoiscapturesomeof
youruserinfo, DRMisahugelyexpensiveand
overpoweredtool togatherthatdata. Itslike
swattingaflywithasledgehammer. Viewing
itasadelayingtacticisprobablythemost
realisticunderstanding, buteventhatisnt
areasonablesolutiontopiracy. Treating
everyonewhobuysyourgamepoorlytodelay
somepeoplefromcopyingitillegallywont
encouragegamerstobecomefansof your
studio. Anygamingcompanyshouldbe
focusedonrewardingtheirmostfaithful
gamers, andDRMdoesntdothat.
CPC:GOGpromoteseachgamewithnew
materialssoundtracks, designdocuments
andsoon. Isiteverhardtoobtaintheseso
longafteragamesrelease?
Trevor:Yes, itdefinitelycanbe. Wegetthem
inanumberof ways: webuyboxesoneBayor
gamecollectorforumsorcontacttheoriginal
devs; sometimeswereachouttofan
communitiesthathaveformedaround
populargamesandaskthemforhelp. Of
course, wefrequentlyfindsomeawesome
extracontentbutalsodiscoverthat,
unfortunately, therightsforwhoownsitandis
allowedtodistributeitareunclear. Whenthat
happens, wesadlycantreleasethecontent,
whichexplainswhysomehardcorefansof a
CPC:HowdidtheideaforGOG.com
comeabout?
Trevor:Theconceptof offeringold
gamesgerminatiedinthemindsof
Michal andMarcin, thetwoco-foundersof CD
Projekt. Originally, thepairstartedoff asretail
distributorsinPolandduringthemid-1990s,
andtheirfirstsuccesswastothwartpiracyby
offeringaseriesof classicPCtitlesatbudget
prices. Thatpromptedaninterestingidea: by
sellinggamesatreasonablepricesthatwere
previouslyonlyavailableviapiracy, couldwe
stoppiracy?Alotof thetime, theysawthat
pirateswouldpayforgamesif theyfeltitwas
worthit.
Sothenextcoupleof monthswerespent
analysingthedigital market, expandingthe
conceptandsoon. Welaunchedabetaof the
servicein2008, whichranfortwoyearsand
releasedmorethan400games, sothatwas
verysuccessful. Wevehadmorethan6
milliongamesdownloadedandhavebeen
profitablefromourveryfirstmonth.
CPC: Howhavepublishersreacted?
Trevor:Therewereinitiallyconcernsabout
piracy, butthinkof anytop-tierAAAtitlefrom
thepastthreeyears: nomatterwhichDRM
systemituses, theresgenerallyaday-one
crackavailableforit. Therefore, whenwe
startedoutwetookthetimetomeetkey
playersintheindustryandexplainthatthe
bestwaytoreviveback-cataloguecontent
wastomakethewholeexperiencehassle-
freefortheendusernoDRM, full Windows
compatibility, flatpricesworldwideand
unlimitedre-downloads.
CPC:SomepublishersviewDRMasa
deterrent, othersseeitasawaytotrapuser
informationandsomeseeitasadelaying
system, sinceitsonlyamatteroftime
beforeacrackcomesout. Whatsyourtake?
ClassicgamessuchasDungeonKeeper2areavailable
fromwww.gog.com
15 April 2012
particularfranchiseknowof areallycool extra
thattheywantustoincludeinourgamebut
wecant. Soevenbeyondfindingtheextras,
gettinglegal clearancetoreleasethemcanbe
challengingaswell.
CPC:Youalsoupdatethegamestoworkon
modernsystems. Howdoyoudothis?
Trevor:Thiscanbeverytricky, because
weneverworkfromsourcecode. Were
usingthesameretail mastercopies
thatgamershavesittingontheir
shelves. Foranumberof thereleases
atGOG, sinceI started, weusedmypersonal
copiesof gamesluckily, I have500+games
andI broughtthemall withmewhenI moved.
Asforhowwegetall thosegamesworking
onmodernsystems, franklysometimeseven
I wonderhowourprogrammersmanageto
makethoseoldgamesrunsowell!
Sometimeswecanuseexistingsystems,
suchasDOSBoxorScummVM, andwere
grateful totheguysbehindthoseprograms
whohaveallowedustousetheirsoftware.
Fornon-DOSgames, wesometimeshave
to developourownsolutionsin-house. We
hadsomemajortroublewithrecentgames,
suchasThief andAnachronox, bothof which
arenotoriouslydifficulttorunnowadays. We
hadtoreachouttothecommunitiesaround
thesegamesforhelp.
Anachronoxinparticularrequiredmuch
workonourpart. Thegamerunsona
modifiedQuakeII engine, usingacustom-
madescriptinglanguage, sothereweretwo
mainproblems.
Thefirstwashowtomakethe
enginerunonmodernGPUdrivers
theOpenGLextensionshadtobe
fixed. Wehadoutsidehelponthatone,
asacommunitymembercontributed
acustomDLLfilethatworkedforboth
NvidiaandAMDGPUs.
Thesecondproblemwasscript-
related. Therewasonequestbug, for
example, wheresomethingcauseda
stackoverflowduringlocationtransition, and
preventedthescriptforthatlocationfrom
loading, resultinginquestfailure. Thereare
numerousworkarounds, butweneededa
permanentfix. Thankstothetestingteam
whodivedintothescripts, wefoundaviable
solution. Ourprogrammersthendivedinto
theworldof OpenGLandcodedafix
fortheproblem.
Ourtestlabhasthreeorfour
computerswithadifferent
configurationateachtestingstation,
includinglaptops, desktops, AMD
andNvidiacards, AMDandIntel chipsets,
32and64-bitOSes. Youcanseehowthiscan
becomecomplex, andregressiontesting
(makingsurebugswevefixedstayfixed) can
beamajorhassle. Soeventhoughwehave
morethan25differenttestingplatformsin
ourtestlab, theresalwaysaconfigyou
couldnttest.
FOR A NUMBER OF RELEASES
AT GOG.COM WE USED MY
PERSONAL COPIES OF GAMES
Theresanumber
ofmust-play
gamesonGOG,
includingOutcast
GOGletsyou
re-download
gamesasoftenas
youlike,forfree
TheDarkProjectwas
apaintotweakfor
newPCs
GEFORCE GTX 670
REVEALED
Sadly, wedidnt
havetimetoget
holdofoneof
theseandput
itthroughits
pacesbefore
wewentto
press, but
Nvidiahasnowstarted
fillingouttheGeForce
600-seriesrangeofGPUs
evenfurther. Thenew
GeForceGTX670hasseven
StreamingMultiprocessor(SM)units, rather
thantheeightfoundontheGTX680, resulting
inatotal of1,344streamprocessors.
Meanwhile, theGPUhasabaseclockof
915MHz, whichcanGPUboostto980MHz.
Both2GBand4GBflavourswill beavailable,
andthedefaulteffectiveGDDR5speedis
6,009MHz. Well bereviewingtheGeForce
GTX670inournextissue.
CRUCIAL SSD AND
LLANOPRICE CRASH
Nowisthetimetojumpinandrelegate
yourclatteringharddrivetomedia
storageduties, ifyouhaventalready.
Crucialhasjustknockedloadsoffthe
askingpriceofitsaward-winningM4
SSDs(seeIssue104, p64).
The128GBM4nowcosts
89.99incVATfrom
www.ebuyer.
com, while
the256GB
flavournow
costsjust175inc
VAT. Therearenoexcusesnow!
Meanwhile, AMDhasalsobeenhitting
itsLlanochipswithaprice-beatingstick.
TheA8-3870KBlackEditionnowcosts
just85incVATfromwww.aria.co.uk
abargainforahalf-decentCPUandGPU
inoneunit.
We take a look at the latest
newly announced products
16 February 2012
NEW HARDWARE
OCZ UPDATES VERTEX
4 FIRMWARE
OCZclaimsownersofitsVertex4seriesof
SSDscannowsqueezemoreperformance
fromthemwiththelatest1.4firmware
update. Accordingtothecompany, the
maximumwritespeedofthe128GBversion
will increasemassivelyfrom200MB/secto
420MB/sec, whilethe256GBwill nowwrite
atamaximumof465MB/sec, increasing
from380MB/sec. Meanwhile, OCZsaysthe
maximumreadspeedswillincreaseform
535MB/secto550MB/secacrosstheboard.
OCZsaysthespeedboostcomesfroma
predictivereadalgorithm, whichanticipates
andrespondstocommandsnotyetissuedby
thehost. Youcangrabthe
newfirmwarefrom
http://tinyurl.com/
Vertex4Firmware,
buttheflashprocess
willdestroyall thedataon
thedrive, somakesureyou
performabackupfirst.
CORSAIR JOINS FANCLUB
CorsairhastickedanotherstepoffitsPCdominationplanwiththe
announcementthatitsenteringthefanmarket, followingthememory
makersrelativelyrecentmoveintomakingcases, PSUs, SSDsand
peripherals. ThenewAirSeriesfanswill beavailableintwocategorieshigh
airflow(forcases) andhighstaticpressure(forradiatorsandheatsinks), with
QuietandPerformancemodelsinbothcategories. Mostofthefansare
120mmmodels, althoughtheresalsoa140mmunitinthehighairflow
line-up, andtheyll alsobeavailableinblack, red, blueandwhite.
Prices correct at time of going to publishing (4th May 2012)
www.cclonline.com/cpc
call us on 08000 50 10 10
from468.35 inc VAT [Code: VGA0566]
Gainward GeForce GTX 580 Phantom Editon
783 MHz Base Clock Speed
3072MB GDDR5 Memory
2010 MHz Memory Speed
HDMI, Dual DVI-I & DisplayPort
8-pin & 6-pin Power
Gainward GeForce GTX 580 Graphics Card
783 MHz Base Clock Speed
1536MB GDDR5 Memory
2010 MHz Memory Speed
HDMI, Dual DVI-I &
DisplayPort
8-pin & 6-pin Power
329.99 inc VAT [Code: VGA0565]
from225.06 inc VAT [Code: VGA0563]
Gainward GeForce GTX 570 Graphics Card
750 MHz Base Clock Speed
1280MB GDDR5 Memory
1950 MHz Memory Speed
HDMI, Dual DVI-I & DisplayPort
8-pin & 6-pin Power
Gainward GeForce GTX 560 Phantom Editon
822 MHz Base Clock Speed
1024MB GDDR5 Memory
2020 MHz Memory Speed
HDMI, DVI-I & D-Sub
2x 6-pin Power
168.47 inc VAT [Code: VGA0558]
519.98inc VAT
[Code: VGA0594]
1084 MHz Base Clock Speed
1150 MHz Boost Clock Speed
2048MB GDDR5 Memory
3150 MHz Memory Speed
PCI Express 3.0
1x HDMI, 2x DVI, 1 DisplayPort
8-pin & 6-pin Power
Gainward GeForce
GTX 680 Phantom
18 July 2012
Lucy Sherriff
alkaboutbleeding-edgetechnology.
ResearchersinIsrael havemanaged
tobuildwhiteLEDsandtransistors
fromnothingbutbiological
componentsspecifically, proteinsfoundin
saliva, milkandblood.
Theideaof blendingtechnologyandbiology
isnothingnewthetermcyborgdatesbackto
1960afterall, whenitwascoinedbyUS
researchersManfredClynesandNathanS
Klineinanarticleaboutthemodificationsthat
wouldoptimisethehumanbodyforspace
exploration. However, thisworkturnsour
normal thoughtsaboutcyborgsinsideout.
Insteadof usingtechnologytomodifya
human, theteamatTel AvivUniversityhas
takenbiological componentsandusedthem
asthebuildingblocksfortechnology.
Althoughitsoundslikesomethingfroma
sci-fi future, themotivationwasquitesimple:
silicon-basedcomputingisrunningout.
Mooreslaw, fabulousasitsbeenforthe
computingindustry, isrunningintodifficulties
thatcantbeeasilysolved. Physicsisgoingto
getinthewayatsomepoint, andsoon.
AsEladMentovich, achemistryPhD
studentatTel AvivUniversityandpartof
theresearchteam, says: Itsthegreat
challengefacingelectronicsandphotonics.
Thematerial isgettingsmallerandharder
tofabricate.
YouknowMooresLaw: theideathatthe
numberof transistorswecanfitonachip
doublesevery18months, whiletheprice
halves. Thetroubleisthatattodays
dimensions, atomsarealreadygettinginthe
way, quantumeffectsarebecomingmore
thantheory, andtherestheheattoo.
Soalternativesarebeingsought. One
avenueof researchisquantumcomputing,
whichmightbealittlewhilecoming; another
Organiccomputing
Making computer transistors from saliva, milk and blood may be the stuff
of Cronenberg lms, but it isnt as far-fetched as you might think
isspintronics. Andtakingaleaf outof natures
bookmightjustbepartof thesolution.
Mentovichsaysthatthewholeideawastolook
forsolutionsinnaturethatalreadyexistfor
problemswerestartingtofaceintechnology.
TomakeawhiteLEDisquitedifficult, he
begins. Youneedthreecoloursred, green
andblueandtheymustcombine, butnot
interactwitheachother. If thathappens, you
getacolourthatsnotwhite. Ourambitionis
tofindsomethingbiological thatcanhavethe
sameeffect. Soweask: whatperformsthis
kindof separationinnature?Thisisjustwhat
salivaisdoing. Salivasortsfoodintodifferent
groupsandthenyourbodycanprocessit.
Withalittlehelpfromthehumanworldof
science(moreonthatlater), theMucinprotein
insaliva, whichworkssowell tobegin
digestion, canalsokeepfluorescentdyesof
differentcoloursseparateintherightwayfora
tri-colourwhiteLED. Andwiththeadditionof
dyesorotherchemicals, Mentovichsays, the
colourof LEDitproducescanbecontrolled.
Putthreecoloursintoit, andyouget
automaticseparation. Soinsteadof avery
complicatedindustrial systemforseparating
threecolours, wehaveaproteinthatdoesit
naturally, heexplains.
Emboldenedbyitssuccess, theteam
MentovichalongwithhiscolleaguesNetta
HandlerandBogdanBelgorodskydecided
tolookforotheruseful proteins. Andthey
foundoneintheblood: albumin. Thisprotein
canabsorboxygen, whichmeansthatthe
researcherscaneffectivelydope the
semiconductorwithspecificchemicals,
enablingthemtotailorthematerial to
produceparticulartechnological properties,
Mentovichexplains. Milkproteins,
meanwhile, formstrongfibresthatare
thebasisforbiological transistors.
Usingthetissueof livingcreaturescows,
pigsandultimatelyoneday, humansto
createtechnologycreatessomepowerful
mental images. Itconjuresupvisionsof slimy
humanspluggedintovastarrays, Matrix-
style, andcallstomindBladeRunnerandthe
replicants. Justthewordmucus makesus
thinkof therevoltingspectacleof David
Cronenbergsfilmof NakedLunch(1991),
whichsawtheprotagonist, exterminatorBill
Lee, typinghismemoirsintothestickymouth
of agianthallucinatedinsect/typewriterthats
probablyspyingonhimashestrugglesto
overcomeanaddictiontobugspray.
However, thevisceral reactionis
misleading. Theworkof theseresearchers
couldleadnotjusttodevelopmentssuch
T
TheMucinproteininsalivacankeepfluorescentdyes
ofdifferentcoloursseparateinjusttherightwayfora
tri-colourwhiteLED
Insteadofusingacomplicatedindustrialsystemfor
separatingthreecolourstomakeawhiteLED,the
proteindoesitautomatically
19 July 2012
asfoldingcomputerscreens, butalsoto
compostablefoldablecomputerscreens. If
thecomponentsareorganic, thenrecycling
potentiallybecomeseasy.
Wevegonefromsilicontoplasticand
nowwerelookingatingredientsthatare
biodegradable, saysMentovich. Plentyof
fabsaremakingnoiseaboutgoinggreen, he
observes, butthefocushasbeenalmost
exclusivelyonenergyconsumed, carbon
footprintsandsoon. Instead, Mentovichsays
histeamismorelookingatwaystoconsume
lesstoxicchemicals.
Inreality, atotallycompostabletransistor
mightbesomewayoff. Moreimmediately,
replacingsomeof thesiliconincircuitboards
couldcleanupthefabricationprocess
considerably. Inaworldwithprotein-based
transistors, nosiliconwouldneedtobe
burnedtorecovertheotherpreciousand
semi-preciousmaterialsgold, copperand
sooninvolvedinbuildingcircuitboards.
AsMentovichsays, theblood, milkand
mucusproteinsbetweenthemprovidethe
basiccomponentsof aphotosystem. It
shouldbepossibletomakeanentire
optoelectronicdevicethatsbiodegradable.
Andatransistormadeof proteinsalsohas
highmobility, andrequireslowvoltageto
operate, headds.
Sohowisitdone?Thekeyisthatproteins
canself-assemble.Traditionalsemiconductors
aremadefromthetopdownthesurfaceof a
siliconcrystal isetchedwiththeshapesand
formsneededforaparticularcomponent.
However, theproteinsbuildthemselvesinto
semiconductorsfromthebottomup, which
givesthemasignificantadvantage. Theycan
beflexiblewheresiliconisbrittle, andtheycan
bemademuchthinner. Mentovichpointsto
thecurrentstateof thesiliconart, whichhe
putsat18nm. Afilmof self-assembled
albuminproteinsisjust4nmhigh.
TheproteinstheIsraeli teamusesare
commerciallyavailablepowderedproteins
(Thelazyoption, Mentovichlaughs). Tocreate
asemiconductorfilm, thepowdermustbe
suspendedinasuitablepHbufferandcan
thenbepaintedontoanysurface. Evenonto
ablueLED, wheretherightproteinmixwill
changethelightfrombluetowhite.
Otherlabsareworkingwithproteinsina
similarcontext. Backin2008, researchersat
PurdueUniversityinLafayette, Indiana,
producedchainsof semiconductingparticles
usingproteinsasgrowthtemplates(http://
tinyurl.com/GrowthTemplates). InSweden,
researchershavesucceededinproducing
electrical wiresmadefromproteins(http://
tinyurl.com/ProteinWires), whileinRussia,
photosynthesisproteinshavebeentappedfor
theirabilitytogeneratephotocurrent(http://
tinyurl.com/PhotoCurrent).
Mentovichstressesthatthisworkisalong
wayfromacommercial process, butsaysthat
mostof theobstaclesinvolvecomplyingwith
industrystandards, ratherthantechnology.
Wewonderedhoweasyitwouldbetoscale
Mentovichandhiscolleagues workinthelab
LUCY
SHERRIFF
isajournalistwitha
degreeinastrophysics
whoknowsallaboutthe
latestscientifictech.
@lucysherriff
toanindustrial productionprocess. You
knowhowindustrystandardsare, hemused.
Integrationiseasy, butcompatibilitywith
standardsishard. Itwouldtakehuge
investmentmany, manydollarstotake
thisintoindustry. Butthatsfineforus. Were
havingfunfindingoutwhatwecando. This
isntaboutspittingoutatransistor, butwecan
takeablueLEDandcoatitwithourproteins,
andmakeitawhiteLED. Soperhapsthefirst
stepisahybrid, butreally, wewanttomake
everythingoutof proteins.
Lookingtothefuture, Mentovich
speculatesthatelectronicsinsidethebody
wouldbepossible, musingonthepossibility
of internal devicespoweredbythehuman
body. Thereissomedifference
betweenelectronics(inour
computers) andelectronicsinthe
humanbody. OneisIonicandthe
otheriselectronic. Proteinscando
both, somaybeitcanbethebridge?
Peoplehaveshownthiseffect
beforebutweneverthoughtsofarahead. I
thinkthathuman-machineinterfacewill be
muchmorevagueinthefollowingyears. We
seeitnowlookatthenewglassesbyGoogle.
Canwejustmodifytheeye?Maybe
CronenbergsNakedLunchshowshowtogetaheadintechnology
PROTEINS BUILD THEMSELVES
INTO SEMICONDUCTORS FROM
THE BOTTOM UP
IsGooglesProjectGlassconceptanindicationofthe
futureofthehuman-machineinterface?
20 July 2012
Gareth Halfacree looks at the latest mobile hardware
commontricktomakeeveryday
gadgetsseemfuturisticistomake
themtransparent, flexibleorboth.
However, justhowcloseareweto
humblesmartphonesechoingthoseused
bybillionairealcoholicinventor-cum-
superheroTonyStarkinIronMan2, orthe
disposableorigami phoneof Ultraviolet?
Closerthanyouthink.
STAGE 1: THE DISPLAY
Thedisplayisthefirstpartof asmartphone
thatyousee. Traditional displaysuseasolid
backgroundtoeitherreflectthelightof a
backlightsystem, ortoreflectambient
lightaswithelectronicpaperdisplays
suchasEInk.
Theydonthavetothough. Samsungs
displayarmhasbeenshowingoff alarge-
scaletransparentdisplaybasedonorganic
light-emittingdiode(OLED) technologyfora
while, creatinga46inmodel designedfor
retail environmentsincludingfridgeswith
animateddisplaysthroughwhichthe
productisvisible.
Thetechnologyisntlimited
tolarge-scaledisplayseither.
Little-knownheads-updisplay
specialistVuzixwaspresentat
theConsumerElectronicsShow
earlierthisyearwithaprototypefor
adisplaythatcouldintegratewith
eyeglasses, providingavirtual
overlayinfull colour.
Noristhetechnologynew: in
2009, LGshowedoff aprototype
activematrixOLED(AMOLED)
displayattheFPDJapan
show; ithadanimpressive
15indiagonal andoffered
thesamefull-motion
Trulytransparent trinkets
Just what would it take to make a completely transparent mobile device,
as seen in sci- icks?
smartphones, isnobarrierthesedays. Atmel,
creatorof microcontrollers, memoryand
touchcomponentsforcomputersystems,
recentlyunveiledatouchsensordubbed
XSense. Basedonaflexiblefilm, anXSense
panel canbeappliedtoanysurface
includingoneof Samsungsaforementioned
flexibledisplaysandcurvedtoalmostany
angle, whilereducingcomponentcostsand
decreasingtheweightof thehandset.
STAGE 2: THE ELECTRONI CS
Soaflexible, transparentdisplayispossible
butthatisntall youneed. Behindthescreen
isadizzyingarrayof system-on-chip
processors, memorymodules, circuitsand
wires, butthesecanalsobemadeinvisible.
ResearchersfromRiceUniversity,
speakingattheNational Meetingand
Expositionof theAmericanChemical Society,
claimtohavecreatedmemorychips
thatcanbefolded, exposedto
blisteringlyhightemperaturesand
soakedinwaterall withouta
singlelostbit. Betteryet, the
chipsaretransparentand
canbestackedina3Darray
tocrammoredataintoa
smallerarea.
Thetechnologyisntquite
perfectedyet. Generally,
experienceasastandardPCmonitor.
Althoughtheprototypelackedbrightness
andcontrast, thetechnologyhasnow
significantlyimproved.
Sotransparencyisachievablewithtodays
technology, butwhataboutflexibility?Wecan
againlooktoSamsungforaclue: backin
2011, thecompanydemonstratedaflexible
AMOLEDdisplayaimedspecificallyat
smartphones. Usingabendablecircuit
substrateandditchingthetraditional glass,
thecompanydemonstratedabrightand
clearhigh-resolutiondisplaythatcouldbe
curvedbackonitself andevenhitwitha
sledgehammerwithnoill effects. Recently,
LGhasdonethesamewithitselectronic
paperdisplays.
Eventouchsensitivity, a
requirementof modern
A
Thesee-throughphone:ridiculousor
prescient? Plastic-backed,flexible
displaysarealreadypossible
21 July 2012
youcantseeabitof memory, becauseitstoo
small, explainsJamesTour, whorunsthelab.
Butsiliconitself isnttransparentif the
densityof thecircuitsishighenough, youre
goingtoseeit. Asastartingpoint, however,
Toursworkisimpressive, andif memory
chipscanbetransparent, sotoocan
processorsandotherintegratedcircuits. It
maytakeawhilebut, unlikethewarpdrive,
itseasytoseehowwecouldgetthere.
Youcanmounttransparentmemorychips
ontotransparentcircuitrytoo, thanksto
workcarriedoutbytheUniversityof
Cambridgeoninkjet-printedcircuits.
Byaugmentingtheconductive
polymersaddedtotheinkwith
grapheneeveryonesfavouritenano-
material researchersledbyAndrea
Ferrari wereabletocreateamaterial
thatcanbeprintedonanysurface,
includingtransparentandflexibleplastics.
Coupledwithclearplasticcasingand
atransparentscreen, youreleftwitha
smartphonethatyoucanbend, fold, and
seerightthrough. Well, almost.
STAGE 3: THE BATTERY
Behindthedisplayandtheelectronicsis
arguablythemostimportantpartof any
smartphone: thebattery. Buthowdoyou
makeaphonesbattery, withall itschemicals
andworryinglycorrosivecomponents,
disappear?Onceagain, weturntoscience
specifically, apaperpublishedinthe
Proceedingsof theNational Academyof
SciencesbyStanfordUniversityscientists
YuanYangandYi Cui.
Workingontheprinciplethatthehuman
eyeisincapableof resolvingobjectssmaller
than50microns, YangandCui createda
mesh-likeframeworkforbatteryelectronics
wherethegridis35micronswide. Theresult
isthatlightpassesthroughthetransparent
gapsbetweenthegridlines, whilethe
gridlinesthemselvesaretoosmall tosee.
Ittooktheapplicationofpolydimethylsiloxane,
atransparentmaterial morecommonly
associatedwithplasticsurgeryandcontact
lenses, alongwiththecreationof amodified
gel electrolytethatcouldactasaseparator
betweenelectrodes, butthepairsuccessfully
createdaprototypewith62percent
transparency. Evenwiththreecellsstackedon
oneanother, theprototypestill offersaround
60percenttransparencyinvisiblelight.
Betterstill, theuseof therubberymaterial
PDMSmeansthatthebatteryisveryflexible.
Mountedtoagraphene-basedprinted
circuitboardpopulatedwithtransparent
integratedcircuitsandbehindatransparent,
flexibleOLED-baseddisplay, itcouldbe
possibletocreateasee-throughsmartphone
thatbendsintowhatevershapeyoudesire.
THE REALI TY
All theaboveprototypes, productsand
researchhaveemergedoverthepastcouple
of years, butitcouldbealongtimebefore
theyreusedinreal-worldproducts. Thisisnt
tosaythatcompanieshaventtried, however.
Perhapsthefirstattemptatatransparent
smartphonewastheLGGD900Crystal,
releasedin2009. Designedaroundaslider-
stylelayout, thetophalf of thephonewasfairly
standard; however, thekeypad, whichcame
outfromunderthedisplayinportraitmode,
wasaglowingsee-throughmatrixof buttons.
TheGD900wasntahugesuccess, however.
Sincethen, companieshaveshiedawayfrom
transparencyasagimmick, preferringtosell
theirdevicesbasedonslimness, screensize
orrawcomputational power.
GARETH
HALFACREE
isthenewsreporterat
www.bit-tech.net. He
knowsallabout the
latestnewsinPCandmobiletech.
@ghalfacree
Themostrecentattempttobringback
transparencywastheAsusEeePadMeMO,
anAndroid-based7intabletwithaBluetooth-
connectedpuck thatenablesthedevicetobe
controlledwhileitsinabag. Whileitslow-
resolutionandmonochrome, thepucks
displayisclearlytransparentandithasan
eye-catchingdesign.
Theresstill plentyof worktobecarried
outbeforeatrulytransparentsmartphone
canbemade. Workonflexibleand
transparentdisplaysneedstobecombined
tocreateonewiththebestfeaturesof
both, whilethetransparentbattery
needsfurtherdevelopmentbeforeit
canrival theefficiencyandcostof a
traditional battery.
Thechipswill needtobecomesee-
throughtoo, andwhileToursresearch
showsthisispossible, itwill beawhile
before adensesystem-on-chip, suchas
NvidiasTegra3orQualcommsSnapdragon
S4, canbemadesee-through.
Itsadirectioninwhichresearchersare
heading, however, anditcouldbearfruitin
thenot-too-distantfuture. Perhapstheminds
behindStarksimpressivegadgetwhich
wasactuallyasolidpieceof glasswitha
3D-printedplasticframe, withall theuser
interfaceelementsaddedbycomputer
werenttoofarfromthetruth.
WITH CLEAR PLASTIC CASING
AND A TRANSPARENT SCREEN,
YOU HAVE A PHONE YOU CAN
BEND, FOLD AND SEE THROUGH
Believeitornot,thisisaRAMchip
YuanYangbelieveshescrackedthesecretofaflexible,
invisiblebattery
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B GigabyteGA-A75M-UD2H www.lambda-tek.com www.gigabyte.com Issue98, p34 61
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COOLING
I
OPERATING SYSTEM
C
APU
25 April 2012
As Core i7 motherboards and high-end graphics cards command a
premiumprice, here are some components for a Core i5 PC that offer
great performance and wont break the bank
NAME SUPPLIER MANUFACTURER REVIEWED PRICE (inc VAT)
A SilverStoneRavenRV03 www.scan.co.uk www.silverstonetek.com Issue103, p70 112
B MSI Z77A-G43 www.ebuyer.com http://uk.msi.com Issue106, p74 76
C Intel Corei5-3570K www.scan.co.uk www.intel.co.uk Issue106, p36 162
D 8GBPatriot G2PGD38G1600ELK www.pixmania.com www.patriotmemory.com Issue106, p40 38
E ArcticFreezer i30 www.dabs.com www.arctic.ac Issue104, p48 30
F SapphireAMDRadeonHD78502GB www.scan.co.uk www.sapphiretech.com Issue105, p40 193
G ThermaltakeSP-530PCWEU www.scan.co.uk www.thermaltake.com Issue97, p72 52
H SeagateBarracuda2TBST2000DM001 www.scan.co.uk www.seagate.com Issue104, p75 85
I AsusXonar DG www.dabs.com http://uk.asus.com Issue99, p108 24
J Crucial M4128GB www.ebuyer.com www.crucial.com Issue104, p64 90
K Lite-OnIHAS124-19 www.cclonline.com www.liteonit.eu Issue99, p108 14
L Microsoft Windows7HomePremium64-bit www.amazon.co.uk www.microsoft.com Issue 75, p46 110
TOTALSYSTEMPRICE 986
A
G H I J L
PSU HARD DISK SOUND CARD SOLID STATE DRIVE OPERATING SYSTEM
F
GRAPHICS CARD
B D E
MOTHERBOARD RAM COOLING CPU
C
OCZ ZX Series 850W Power Supply
Fully modular cable management system
850W Continuous Power
Ultra quiet 140mm ball-bearing fan
+12VDC @ 70A Single Rail Design
80 Plus Gold Certied
CCL Code - PSU0225
124.96
Get FREE Next Day Delivery
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UPDATED
UPDATED
UPDATED
UPDATED
26 April 2012
Our choice of the best hardware available
Gainward NVIDIA GTX 580 Graphics Card
Phantom edition with Dual DVI,
HDMI and DisplayPort
783 MHz Core Clock
1536MB GDDR5 Memory
2010 MHz Memory Clock
Dual DVI-I, DisplayPort, HDMI
CCL Code - VGA0565
www.cclonline.com
330.34
WERE
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WINNERS!
PC Pro 2011
Highly Commended
This PC has the potential to be the finest gaming machine you can find as
well as an excellent all-round computer for office work, digital photography,
video production and media playback
NAME SUPPLIER MANUFACTURER REVIEWED PRICE (inc VAT)
A SilverStoneFortressFT02B-WUSB3.0 www.scan.co.uk www.silverstonetek.com Issue85, p88 209
B AsusMaximusVGene www.scan.co.uk http://uk.asus.com Issue106, p64 151
C Intel Corei5-3570K www.scan.co.uk www.intel.co.uk Issue106, p36 162
D 8GBPatriot G2PGD38G1600ELK www.pixmania.com www.patriotmemory.com Issue106, p40 38
E BeQuiet! DarkRockAdvanced www.scan.co.uk www.be-quiet.net Issue91, p74 40
F PNYGeForceGTX6802GB www.scan.co.uk www3.pny.com Issue105, p36 444
G Corsair Professional SeriesHX650 www.dabs.com www.corsair.com Issue97, p79 90
H SeagateBarracuda2TBST2000DM001 www.scan.co.uk www.seagate.com Issue104, p75 85
I AsusXonar DX www.scan.co.uk http://uk.asus.com Issue80, p63 57
J Crucial M4256GB www.ebuyer.com www.crucial.com Issue104, p64 175
K Lite-OnIHAS123-19 www.cclonline.com www.liteonit.eu Issue99, p108 14
L Microsoft Windows7HomePremium64-bit www.amazon.co.uk www.microsoft.com Issue 75, p46 110
TOTALSYSTEMPRICE 1,575
G H I J L
PSU HARD DISK SOUND CARD SOLID STATE DRIVE OPERATING SYSTEM
F
GRAPHICS CARD
A
B D E
MOTHERBOARD CPU RAM COOLING
C
UPDATED
UPDATED
UPDATED
UPDATED
27 April 2012
Gainward NVIDIA GTX 680 Graphics Card
Phantom edition with Dual DVI,
HDMI and DisplayPort
1150 MHz Core Clock
2048MB GDDR5 Memory
3150 MHz Memory Clock
Dual DVI-I, DisplayPort, HDMI
CCL Code - VGA0594
519.98
Get FREE Next Day Delivery
Use this Code: #CPC-Free
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The most awesome components around, before reaching workstation
territory. Weve included a dual 120mmliquid cooler kit as a base
example, but the case has space for a variety of water-cooling setups
G H I J K
PSU SOLID STATE DRIVE SOUND CARD HARD DISK OPERATING SYSTEM
A
NAME SUPPLIER MANUFACTURER REVIEWED PRICE (inc VAT)
A SilverStoneTemjinTJ07B-W www.scan.co.uk www.silverstonetek.com Issue63, p87 276
B AsusMaximusVGene www.scan.co.uk http://uk.asus.com Issue106, p64 151
C Intel Corei7-3770K www.scan.co.uk www.intel.co.uk Issue106, p36 246
D
8GBKingstonHyperXGenesis
KHX1866C11D3P1K2/8G
www.overclockers.co.uk www.kingston.com Issue106, p40 41
E NvidiaGeForceGTX6902GB www.scan.co.uk www.nvidia.com Issue106, p46 870
F Corsair H100 www.cclonline.com www.corsair.com Issue91, p74 81
G AntecHighCurrent ProHCP-750 www.scan.co.uk www.antec.com Issue 97, p78 102
H SamsungSSD830256GB www.scan.co.uk www.samsung.com Issue104, p68 227
I CreativeX-Fi TitaniumFatal1tyPro www.amazon.co.uk www.uk.europe.creative.com Issue62, p61 95
J SeagateBarracuda2TBST2000DM0001 www.scan.co.uk www.seagate.com Issue104, p75 85
K Microsoft Windows7HomePremium64-bit www.amazon.co.uk www.microsoft.com Issue 75, p46 110
TOTALSYSTEMPRICE 2,284
B D
MOTHERBOARD CPU RAM
C E F
GRAPHICS CARD COOLING
17
UPDATED
UPDATED
UPDATED
UPDATED
28 April 2012
Our choice of the best hardware available
Gainward GeForce GTX 560 Graphics Card
Phantom edition with DVI,
HDMI and D-Sub
822 MHz Core Clock
1024MB GDDR5 Memory
DVI-I, D-Sub & HDMI
CCL Code - VGA0558
www.cclonline.com
170.26
WERE
AWARD
WINNERS!
PC Pro 2011
Highly Commended
TYPE CPU MOTHERBOARD COOLER RAM
NAME
Intel Corei5-3570K AsusMaximusVGene ArcticFreezer i30
8GBPatriot G2
PGD38G1600ELK
SUPPLIER www.scan.co.uk www.scan.co.uk www.dabs.com www.pixmania.com
MANUFACTURER www.intel.co.uk http://uk.msi.com www.arctic.ac www.patriotmemory.com
REVIEWED Issue106, p36 Issue106, p64 Issue104, p48 Issue106, p40
PRICE(incVAT) 162 151 30 38
TYPE GRAPHICS CARD GRAPHICS CARD GRAPHICS CARD
NAME
SapphireHD68701GB SapphireAMDRadeonHD78702GB PNYGeForceGTX6802GB
SUPPLIER www.dabs.com www.scan.co.uk www.scan.co.uk
MANUFACTURER www.sapphiretech.com www.sapphiretech.com www3.pny.com
REVIEWED Issue102, p61 Issue105, p40 Issue105, p36
PRICE(incVAT) 140 275 444
UPDATED
UPDATED
UPDATED
29 April 2012
Gainward GeForce GTX 570 Graphics Card
Phantom edition with DVI,
HDMI and DisplayPort
750 MHz Core Clock
1280MB GDDR5 Memory
1950 MHz Memory Clock
Dual DVI-I, DisplayPort, HDMI
CCL Code - VGA0563
225.06
Get FREE Next Day Delivery
Use this Code: #CPC-Free
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08000 50 10 10
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TYPE CPU MOTHERBOARD COOLER RAM
NAME
AMDA8-3870K GigabyteGA-A75M-UD2H GelidTranquilloRev.2
4GBCrucial BallistixSport
PC3-12800C9
SUPPLIER www.aria.co.uk www.lambda-tek.com www.scan.co.uk www.overclockers.co.uk
MANUFACTURER www.amd.com www.gigabyte.com www.gelidsolutions.com www.crucial.com
REVIEWED Issue104, p38 Issue98, p34 Issue100, p86 Issue100, p96
PRICE(incVAT) 85 61 25 26
TYPE CPU MOTHERBOARD COOLER RAM
NAME Intel Corei7-3930K AsusSabertoothX79 Corsair H80 16GBCorsair Vengeance
CAS9DDR3
SUPPLIER www.novatech.co.uk www.scan.co.uk www.dabs.com www.dabs.com
MANUFACTURER www.intel.co.uk http://uk.asus.com www.corsair.com www.corsair.com
REVIEWED Issue101, p32 Issue101, p70 Issue101, p86 Issue101, p40
PRICE(incVAT) 444 248 70 74
30 April 2012
Our choice of the best hardware available
AMD FX-8120 Black Edition Eight Core Processor
Experience the world's rst native
8-core desktop processor
3.10GHz Clock Speed
Socket AM3+
Unlocked multiplier for
easy overclocking
CCL Code - CPU0061
www.cclonline.com
127.42
WERE
AWARD
WINNERS!
PC Pro 2011
Highly Commended
TYPE 530WPSU 650WPSU 750WPSU 1.2kWPSU
NAME
ThermaltakeSP-530PCWEU
Corsair Professional Series
HX650
AntecHighCurrent Pro
HCP-750
AntecHighCurrent Pro
1200W
SUPPLIER www.scan.co.uk www.dabs.com www.scan.co.uk www.ebuyer.com
MANUFACTURER www.thermaltake.com www.corsair.com www.antec.com www.antec.com
REVIEWED Issue 97, p72 Issue97, p79 Issue 97, p78 Issue 96, p48
PRICE(incVAT) 52 90 102 198
TYPE BUDGET CASE MICROATX CASE AIRCOOLING CASE WATERCOOLING CASE
NAME
AntecOneHundred SilverStoneTJ08-E SilverStoneRavenRV03 SilverStoneTemjinTJ07B-W
SUPPLIER www.lambda-tek.com www.scan.co.uk www.scan.co.uk www.scan.co.uk
MANUFACTURER www.antec.com www.silverstonetek.com www.silverstonetek.com www.silverstonetek.com
REVIEWED Issue92, p59 Issue98, p48 Issue103, p70 Issue63, p87
PRICE(incVAT) 47 83 112 276
31 April 2012
Intel Core i5 3570K 3.4GHz Processor
3rd Generation Intel Core i Series
(Ivy Bridge) CPUs Now Available!
3.4GHz Clock Speed
4 Cores, 4 Threads
6MB Cache
Supports Intel HD Graphics
CCL Code - CPU0102
174.73
Get FREE Next Day Delivery
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TYPE HARD DISK SSD NAS BOX
NAME
SeagateBarracuda2TBST2000DM001 Crucial M4256GB SynologyDiskStationDS212j
SUPPLIER www.scan.co.uk www.ebuyer.co.uk www.dabs.com
MANUFACTURER www.seagate.com www.crucial.com www.synology.com
REVIEWED Issue104, p75 Issue104, p64 Issue104, p50
PRICE(incVAT) 85 175 163
TYPE 24IN MONITOR 27IN MONITOR TRIPLEMONITOR STAND
NAME
Dell UltraSharpU2412M Dell UltraSharpU2711 XFXTripleDisplayMonitor Stand
SUPPLIER www.scan.co.uk www.aria.co.uk www.scan.co.uk
MANUFACTURER www.dell.com www.dell.co.uk www.xfxforce.com
REVIEWED Issue105, p64 Issue81, p56 Issue96, p58
PRICE(incVAT) 232 538 294
32 April 2012
Our choice of the best hardware available
BenQ XL2420T 120Hz LCD Monitor
The latest revision of the Amazing BenQ
gaming monitor designed by Gamers
1920x1080 Full HD Resolution
2x HDMI, 1x VGA, DVI, DisplayPort
3D Ready Display
2ms Response Time
CCL Code - MON0593
www.cclonline.com
196.60
WERE
AWARD
WINNERS!
PC Pro 2011
Highly Commended
TYPE KEYBOARD MOUSE STEERING WHEEL JOYSTICK
NAME
Corsair VengeanceK60 Corsair VengeanceM60 LogitechG27 LogitechFlight SystemG940
SUPPLIER www.scan.co.uk www.ebuyer.com www.scan.co.uk www.scan.co.uk
MANUFACTURER www.corsair.com www.corsair.com www.logitech.com www.logitech.com
REVIEWED Issue101, p46 Issue104, p52 Issue92, p108 Issue92, p109
PRICE(incVAT) 85 49 200 262
TYPE SOUND CARD 2.1 SPEAKERS HEADSET 5.1 SPEAKERS
NAME
AsusXonar DX Corsair SP2500 AsusVulcanANC LogitechZ906
SUPPLIER www.scan.co.uk www.scan.co.uk www.scan.co.uk www.ebuyer.com
MANUFACTURER http://uk.asus.com www.corsair.com http://uk.asus.com www.logitech.com
REVIEWED Issue80, p63 Issue92, p79 Issue98, p57 Issue102, p50
PRICE(incVAT) 57 173 78 242
33 April 2012
Gainward GeForce GT520 SilentFX Graphics Card
FREE Streetghter 4 PC Game
Download with this Graphics Card
Passive Silent Cooler
1024MB DDR3 Memory
1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x D-Sub
High Denition 1080p Display Support
CCL Code - VGA0537
33.98
Get FREE Next Day Delivery
Use this Code: #CPC-Free
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08000 50 10 10
Pr i ces cor r ect at t i me of goi ng t o publ i shi ng. I mages ar e f or i l l ust r at i ve pur poses onl y.
TYPE RPG FPS STRATEGY UNDERDOG
NAME
Elder ScrollsV: Skyrim DeusEx: HumanRevolution FrozenSynapse Trine2
DEVELOPER www.bethsoft.com www.square-enix.com www.mode7games.com http://frozenbyte.com
PUBLISHER Bethesda www.square-enix.com www.mode7games.com http://frozenbyte.com
REVIEWED Issue101, p100 Issue98, p96 Issue96, p92 Issue102, p98
PRICE(incVAT) 30 30 19for two 12
TYPE AFFORDABLE CHAIR AWESOME CHAIR
NAME
PledgeSolar SOL7MINFB CairoPlusErgonomicChair withHeadrest
SUPPLIER www.bestbuy-officechairs.co.uk www.chairoffice.co.uk
MANUFACTURER www.pledgechairs.com www.hhsolutionsuk.com
REVIEWED Issue99, p77 Issue99, p75
PRICE(incVAT) 188 236
40
THEBESTRAM
FORIVYBRIDGE
WetryoutfiveRAMkits
withthe newplatform
44
SCAN3XS
VENGEANCEZ77OC
Wecheckoutapre-
overclockedIvyBridgePC
50
GAINWARD
PHANTOMGTX
6802GBAND4GB
Is4GBworthhaving?
46
NVIDIAGEFORCE
GTX690
TwoKeplerGPUs,one
PCBandaninsaneprice
52
1TBWESTERN
DIGITAL
VELOCIRAPTOR
Spinningat10,000rpm
58
ROKU2XS
TurnanyoldTVinto
aNet-connectedsmartTV
formediastreaming
58
KINGSTON64GB
DATATRAVELER
HYPERXUSB3
Readsat106MB/sec
53
NOFANCR95C
Itmightlooklikea
hugesaladspinner,butits
actuallyaCPUcooler
54
THRUSTMASTER
FERRARI F1
WHEELT500
550-worthofwheel
59
ARCTICCHARGING
STATION
Powerupyourgadgetson
themove
58
GRIFFINBEACON
Transformyour
Bluetoothsmartphone
intoan IRdevice
59
STARTECH
UNIDOCK3UGB
Timetodigoutthoseold
IDEdrives
34 July 2012
Our in-depth analysis of the
latest PChardware
36
35 July 2012
HOWWETEST, P56
Intel IvyBridge
WetakealookatIntels
brand-newCPUarchitecture,
andalsoreviewthetwoflagship
unlockedchipstheCore
i5-3570KandCorei7-3770K
36
36 July 2012
INTEL CORE
i7-3770K
HOW MUCH?
Price246incVAT
Supplierwww.scan.co.uk
Manufacturer
www.intel.co.uk
SKUnumber
CM8063701211700
IN DETAIL
Frequency3.5GHz
TurboBoostfrequency
3.9GHz
CPUcoreIvyBridge
Graphicscore650MHzIntel
HD4000
Manufacturingprocess
22nm
NumberofcoresFour
physical,fourlogical
MemorycontrollerDual-
channel1,600MHzDDR3
CacheL1:32KB+32KB
(eachcore),L2:256KB(each
core),L3:8MBshared
PackagingLGA1155
ThermalDesignPower
(TDP)77W
FeaturesSSE,SSE2,SSE3,
SSSE3,SSE4.1,SSE4.2,
EM64T,EIST,Execute
DisableBit,VT-x,AES-NI,
TurboBoost2.0,AVX
andyBridgewasalwaysgoingtobeatough
acttofollow. Itstheonedownsideof
producingsomethingsodownrightamazing,
especiallyif yourbusinessmodel reliesonyou
knockingoutanewlineof CPUseachyear. Putone
footwrongandyouendupfollowingTheMatrixwith
TheMatrix: Reloaded. LuckilyforIntel, itsarch
competitorAMDdroppedtheball withitsBulldozer
architecture, givingIntel enoughbreathingspaceto
comfortablydelayIvyBridgeuntil itwasready.
Sonowitshere, whatsactuallyinanIvyBridge
chip?Unlikemostof Intelsnewcoressincethe
LGA775-era, IvyBridgeusesthesameLGA1155
socketasitsSandyBridge-basedpredecessors, but
theinsidesarenothinglikethoseof aSandyBridge
chip. Thebiggestinternal changeisthemovefrom
32nmplanartransistorstoIntelsbrandnew22nm
Tri-Gatetransistors, whicharethefirsttoproperly
explorethethirddimension.
Likepaperthatsbeensquidged
inwardsfrombothsides, aTri-Gate
transistorhasapeakinthemiddle, rather
thansittingflat. Notonlydoesthisreduce
thewidthof thetransistoronthedie, butit
alsogivesitalongenoughgatelengthto
maintainadecentsignal. Intel saysitsalsotakenthis
opportunitytotweaksomeof thelessvisibleaspectsof
theinternalstoo. Thisincludestinkeringwiththecores
toincreasethenumberof instructionsperclock(IPC).
Therehavebeensomechangesinotherpartsof the
die, aswell astheCPUcoresthough. Forstarters, Ivy
BridgeisthefirstCPUtosupportPCI-E3, aslongasit
hasasupportingmotherboard. Thiscaneithercome
viaaZ77motherboard(seep60), orviaaprevious-
generationmotherboardusingaseparatecontroller
chip. Thememorycontrollerhashadanupgradetoo,
withIvyBridgechipsnowofficiallysupporting
1,600MHzDDR3RAMasstandard.
Theotherbigchangeistheintegratedgraphics
processor, whichhasnowbeenupgradedtoIntelsHD
4000technology. Notably, thissupportsDirectX11in
hardware, butitalsoincreasesthenumberof
executionunits(EUs) to16fromthe12inaSandy
BridgeHD3000system. Itcanalsonowoutputtothree
independentscreens(twodigital, oneVGA). Wehavent
hadaproperchancetolookattheHD4000graphics
systeminanydepthyet, butwell betakingathorough
lookatit, andseeinghowitperformsincomparisonto
theGPUinAMDsLlanochips, inournextissue.
INTEL CORE i 7-3770K
PickingupfromtheCorei7-2700K, theCorei7-3770K
isIntelsnewflagshipconsumerchip. Ithasthesame
fourphysical coresasitsSandyBridgepredecessor,
andafurtherfourlogical onesviaHyper-Threading. It
evenhasthesame3.5GHzclockspeed, whichagain
TurboBoostsupto3.9GHz, andthesame8MBpool of
L3 cache.
Themainchange, however, isthethermal design
power(TDP) of just77W, comparedtothei7-2700Ks
95W. Thisisanamazingachievementforwhat
purportstobeaverypowerful CPU.
PERFORMANCE
Atitsstockspeed, thereslittletoseparatetheCore
i7-3770KfromtheCorei5-3570Kintermsof single-
threadedperformance. InourGimpimageeditingtest,
only54pointsseparatedthetwochips, whichcanbe
mainlyattributedtothei7-3770Ksextraclockspeed.
Interestingly, however, thei7-3770Kwasmorethan
200pointsaheadof thei7-2600Kinthistest, showing
theworkIntel hasperformedontweakingtheIPC.
Wherethei7-3770Kreallypulledawayfromthe
i5-3750K, however, wasinourmulti-threaded
Handbrakevideoencodingtest, withthescoreof 3,461
puttingit301pointsinfront. Thisismainlythanksto
theextrafourlogical cores. If youusealotof heavily
multi-threadedsoftware, thenthisiswhereyoure
goingtoseethedifference.
ThisdifferencewasalsoseeninMaxonCinebench.
Thei7-3770Ksscoreof 7.91issignificantlyinfrontof
S
INTEL
TRI-GATE
Low power
consumption;
slightly quicker
than Sandy
Bridge; PCI-E 3
GARDEN GATE
Gets hot when
overclocked;
doesnt overclock
as far as Sandy
Bridge
LIKE PAPER THATS BEEN SQUIDGED
INWARDS, TRI-GATE TRANSISTORS
HAVE A PEAK IN THE MIDDLE
Incredibly fast and power-efcient,
but gets toasty when you overclock it
IvyBridge
37 July 2012
LGA1155 PROCESSORS
thei5-3750Ks6.32. Notssurprisingly, however, Intels
SandyBridgeEarchitecturestill rulesthemulti-
threadedkingdom, withtheCorei7-3960XEEscoring
11.29inthistest.
WheretheCorei7-3770Kpullsaheadof theCore
i7-3960XEE, though, isingaming. ItsthefirstCPUto
clockupaminimumof 100fpsinourArmaII test, andit
wasalsothequickestinourShogun2CPUtest.
OVERCLOCKING
WeoriginallyhadhighhopesforIvyBridges
overclockingpotential, asSandyBridgewassuchan
incredibleoverclocker. However, westruggledtopush
theCorei7-3770Ktothesameloftyheights. Themain
culpritisheat, withtemperaturesrisingtodisturbing
levelswhenyoustartpushingupthemultiplier.
WewereunabletopushtheCorei7-3770Ktothe
5GHzpeakof theCorei7-2600K, eventuallysettlingon
atopstableclockspeedof 4.8GHzwitha48xmultiplier
andaCPUvoltageof 1.34V. Wesimplycouldntpushit
anyfurther, regardlessof adjustmentstothe
multiplier, baseclock, core voltageorIGP.
Atthesesettings, however, thecoretemperature
wasdisturbinglyhigh, andthiswaswithaCorsair
H100dual 120mmliquidcoolingsystem. Evenat
4.5GHz, theH100onlyreducedthecoretemperature
to85Conlowfansettings, asdemonstratedinthe
Scan3XSVengeanceZ77OC(seep44).
If youreaimingtooverclocktheCorei7-3770Kto
4.8GHz(andpossiblybeyond) thenyouregoingtoat
leastneedaliquidcoolingsystem, butyoushouldbe
abletocomfortablyhit4.4GHzwithadecentaircooler.
POWER CONSUMPTI ON
AlthoughheatisclearlyanissueforoverclockedIvy
Bridgechips, thepowerconsumptionwasremarkably
low. Ourtestsystemdrewjust244Wfromthemains
withtheCorei7-3770Kinstalledandrunningat
4.8GHz. Thats69Wlessthanitdrewwitha5GHzCore
i7-2600Kandanincredible294Wlessthanwithan
overclockedCorei7-3960XEE. Idlepower
consumptionwassimilarlyimpressive, withour
systemjustdrawing99Wfromthemainsatstock
speed, and115Wwhenoverclocked.
CONCLUSI ON
ItsashamethatIvyBridgesheatissuesmeanitisnt
theclear-cutimprovementtoSandyBridgethatwe
expected, buttheCorei7-3770Kisstill agreatCPU,
withslightlyquickerperformancethanSandyBridge,
andamazingpowerefficiency. Perhapsthemain
problemfortheCorei7-3770K, though, isthattheCore
i5-3750K(seebelow) costsafairamountlessandhas
alittlemoreoverclockingheadroom, whichgivesit
almostasmuchof aspeedadvantageasHyper-
Threadingwhenitsoverclocked.
If youalreadyhaveaCorei7-2600Kor2700K
system, thentheresnocompellingreasontoupgrade,
especiallygiventhelimitedoverclockingheadroom.
However, if youreoverhaulinganoldersystem, and
notlookingtooverclocktothentheCorei7-3770K
offersaworthwhileupgrade, particularlyif youre
lookingforfastmulti-threadedperformanceand
donthavethebudgetforSandyBridgeE.
INTEL CORE i 5-3570K
LiketheCorei7-3770K, theCorei5-3570Klooksvery
similaronpapertotheSandyBridge-basedCore
i5-2500Kitsdesignedtoreplace. However, ithas
aslightlyhigherstockclockspeedof 3.4GHz
comparedtothe2500Ks3.3GHz, anditwill Turbo
Boostall thewayto3.8GHztoo. LiketheCore
i7-3770K, italsohasalowTDPof 77W.
AswiththeSandyBridgearchitecture, themain
differencebetweenthetopendCorei5andi7chipsis
thatthei5CPUsdontsupportHyper-Threading, so
yougetthefourphysical coresandthatsit. Theyalso
haveslightlylessL3cache, withtheCorei5-3570Ks
fourcoressharinga6MBpool, comparedtothe8MB
allocationintheCorei7-3770K.
38
INTEL CORE
i5-3570K
HOW MUCH?
Price162incVAT
Supplierwww.scan.co.uk
Manufacturer
www.intel.co.uk
SKUnumber
CM8063701211800
IN DETAIL
Frequency3.4GHz
TurboBoostfrequency
3.8GHz
CPUcoreIvyBridge
Graphicscore650MHzIntel
HD4000
Manufacturingprocess
22nm
NumberofcoresFour
physical
MemorycontrollerDual-
channelDDR3
CacheL1:32KB+32KB
(eachcore),L2:256KB(each
core),L3:6MBshared
PackagingLGA1155
ThermalDesignPower
(TDP)77W
FeaturesSSE,SSE2,SSE3,
SSSE3,SSE4.1,SSE4.2,
EM64T,EIST,Execute
DisableBit,VT-x,AES-NI,
TurboBoost2.0,AVX
AnIvyBridgedieupclose.The
graphicscoreisontheright,while
theeightblueblocksatthetop
holdthe8MBofL3cache.Thefour
CPUcoressitbelowthese,andthe
memorycontrollerandSystem
Agentispositionedontheleft
38 July 2012
score: Core i7-3770K
score: Core i5-3570K
customPC
customPC
84
87
customPC
customPC
OVERALL
OVERALL
SPEED 44/ 50
FEATURES 14/ 15
VALUE 26/ 35
SPEED 43/ 50
FEATURES 12 / 15
VALUE 32 / 35
OVERCLOCK SETTINGS
Defaultfrequency Overclockedfrequency Otheradjusted
frequencies
Voltagesused
Intel Core i5-3770K 3.5GHz (35 x 100MHz) 4.8GHz (48 x 100MHz) RAM: 1.6GHz CPU1.34V
Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz (34 x 100MHz) 5GHz (50 x 100MHz) RAM: 1.6GHz CPU, 1.4V
Intel Core i7-3960X
Extreme Edition
3.3GHz (33 x 100MHz) 4.7GHz (38 x
123.75MHz)
CPUstrap: 125MHz,
RAM: 1.98GHz
CPU: 1.4V, RAM: 1.65V
Intel Core i7-2600K 3.4GHz (34 x 100MHz) 5GHz (50 x 100MHz) RAM: 1.6GHz CPU: 1.38125V, CPUPLL: 1.9V,
VCCSA: 1.1V, VCCIO: 1.106V
Intel Core i7-2500K 3.3GHz (33 x 100MHz) 5GHz (50 x 100MHz) RAM: 1.6GHz CPU: 1.38125V, CPUPLL: 1.9V,
VCCSA: 1.1V, VCCIO: 1.106V
AMDFX-8150 3.7GHz (18.5 x
200MHz)
4.818GHz (23.5 x
205MHz)
RAM: 1.61GHz CPU: 1.45V, CPU/NB: 1.2V, NB:
1.2V, NBHT: 1.25V, RAM: 1.65V
PERFORMANCE
TheCorei5-3570Ksextra100MHzoverits
predecessorstooditingoodsteadinourbenchmarks
atstockspeed, asdidIntelstweakstothecore. Inour
Gimpimageeditingtest, theCPUclockedupan
impressivescoreof 1,862147morepointsthanthe
i5-2500K. Notsurprisingly, though, itfell behindthe
i7-3770Kinourmulti-threadedHandbrakevideo
encodingtest, withascoreof 3,160comparedto4,245.
However, onceyoufactorinthemulti-taskingtest,
theCPUsoverall scoreof 2,248wasonly155points
behindthei7-3770Koverall agoodresultforachip
thatonlycosts162.
Asweexpected, theCorei5-3570Kalsonoticeably
laggedbehindthei7-3770KinWPrimeand
Cinebench. TheCorei5-3570Kturnedouttobeagreat
gamingchi, though. Itsminimumof 92fpsinArmaII
matchestheframerateof theCorei7-2600K, andisa
comfortabledistanceinfrontof theCorei5-2500Ks
86fps. Meanwhile, inourTotal War: Shogun2CPUtest,
thei5-3570Kwasonlysecondtothei7-3770K, withits
28fpsminimumplacingitalongwayinfrontof the
18fpsfromtheSandyBridgechips.
OVERCLOCKING
AswiththeCorei7-3770K, thei5-3570Ksuffersfrom
heatproblemswhenyoupushuptheclockfrequency,
butwefoundithasalittlemoreheadroominit,
possiblybecausethelackof Hyper-Threadingsupport
meanttheCPUcoreswerentstressedtosucha
degreewhenrunningmulti-threadedbenchmarks.
WemanagedtogettheCPUtorunat5GHzusing
aCorsairH100, althoughthecoretemperaturewas
disturbinglyclosetotheTJmaxtemperatureatwhich
theCPUthrottles. Nevertheless, itwasstableenough
torunourbenchmarksatthesesettings, andweonly
neededtotweakthemultiplierandsettheCPU
voltageto1.4Vtoachievethis.
ThisextraheadroomeffectivelygavetheCore
i5-3570Kaheadstartoverthei7-3770Kinmanytests,
includingourGimpimageeditingtest, andevenour
multi-threadedHandbraketest, showingthatanextra
200MHzmakesagreaterdifferencethanHyper-
Threadingsupporthere. However, theCorei7-3770K
wasstill quickerinWPrime2.05andCinebench.
Whatsevenmoreremarkableisthatthechipstill
didntdrawthatmuchpowerfromthemainsatthese
settings. Oursystemdrew267WwiththeCPUfully
loaded, comparedto311WfromaCorei5-2500K
runningatthesameclockspeed.
CONCLUSI ON
Thereslittledoubtthatyoull needapowerful liquid
coolingsystemif youwanttooverclocktheCore
i5-3570Ktoitslimitsand, aswiththei7-3770K, theres
nocompellingreasontoupgradetoitfromaSandy
Bridgesystem.
However, at162incVAT, itsstill afastCPUthatalso
offersfantasticpowerefficiencyandgreatvaluefor
money. If youreupgradinganoldsystem, andyou
arentusingheavilymulti-threaded3Drendering
software, thenthisisagreatCPUforthemoney.
BEN HARDWIDGE
37
Theuseof22nmtransistors
enablesInteltofitmorediesonan
IvyBridgewafer
39 July 2012
LGA1155 PROCESSORS
0 35 70 105 140
fps 26
fps 33
fps 26
fps 34
fps 18
fps 25
fps 18
fps 26
AMD FX-8150
Core i5-2500K
Core i7-2600K
Would not run
Would not run
0 35 70 105 140
fps 107
fps 122
fps 100
fps 119
fps 69
fps 82
fps 92
fps 108
fps 86
fps 106
fps 61
fps 70
AMD FX-8150
Core i5-2500K
Core i7-2600K
GIMP IMAGE EDITING
Lower is better
0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000
2,308
2,392
2,127
2,225
2,228
1,077
1,916
1,862
1,805
1,714
1,715
887 AMD FX-8150
Core i5-2500K
Core i7-2600K
Core i7-3960X EE
Core i5-3570K
Core i7-3770K
HANDBRAKE H.264 VIDEO ENCODING
0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000
4,229
4,245
4,208
3,903
3,063
3,461
3,160
3,985
3,211
2,997
2,520 AMD FX-8150
Core i5-2500K
Core i7-2600K
Core i7-3960X EE
Core i5-3570K
Core i7-3770K
MULTI-TASKING
0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000
1,908
1,915
1,984
1,940
1,854
1,439
1,767
1,721
1,645
1,727
1,637
1,283 AMD FX-8150
Core i5-2500K
Core i7-2600K
Core i7-3960X EE
Core i5-3570K
Core i7-3770K
WPRIME 2.05
0 3 6 9 12
7
9.783
5
7.303
9.985
9.484
6.260 6.927
7.754
4.134 4.932
6.130
7.459
9.484 AMD FX-8150
Core i5-2500K
Core i7-2600K
Core i7-3960X EE
Core i5-3570K
Core i7-3770K
OVERALL
0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000
2,836
2,851
2,966
2,791
2,662
1,860
2,403
2,248
2,478
2,217
2,116
1,563 AMD FX-8150
Core i5-2500K
Core i7-2600K
Core i7-3960X EE
Core i5-3570K
Core i7-3770K
CINEBENCH R11.5
0 4 8 12 16
9.73
8.22
13.61
9.78
7.71
7.95
7.91
6.32
11.29
7.49
5.93
7.95 AMD FX-8150
Core i5-2500K
Core i7-2600K
Core i7-3960X EE
Core i5-3570K
Core i7-3770K
Idle
Stock speed Overclocked
4,787
Lower is better
PEAK TOTAL SYSTEM POWER DRAW
0 50 100 150 200 250
W 115
W 119
W 210
W 136
W 131
W 126
W 99
W 97
W 179
W 118
W 114
W 110 AMD FX-8150
Core i5-2500K
Core i7-2600K
Core i7-3960X EE
Core i5-3570K
Core i7-3770K
Load
Lower is better
0 120 240 360 480 600
W 244
W 267
W 538
W 313
W 311
W 586
W 166
W 161
W 289
W 180
W 162
W 244 AMD FX-8150
Core i5-2500K
Core i7-2600K
Core i7-3960X EE
Core i5-3570K
Core i7-3770K
Stock speed Overclocked
ARMA II: OPERATION ARROWHEAD
1,920 x 1,080, Very High settings, no AA, no AF
fps 113
fps 122
fps 104
fps 123
fps 115
fps 125
fps 100
fps 106
fps 92
fps 106
fps 96
fps 107
Core i7-3960X EE
Core i5-3570K
Core i7-3770K
TOTAL WAR: SHOGUN 2 CPU TEST
1,920 x 1,080, default settings, no AA, no AF
fps 35
fps 40
fps 34
fps 43
fps 30
fps 38
fps 29
fps 33
fps 28
fps 36
fps 23
fps 30
Core i7-3960X EE
Core i5-3570K
Core i7-3770K
Overclocked avg Overclocked min
Stock speed min Stock speed avg
results
TEST KIT
AsusMaximusVGene(Ivy
BridgeLGA1155), Asus
MaximusIVGene-Z(Sandy
BridgeLGA1155), Asus
SabertoothX79(LGA2011),
AsusCrosshairFormulaV
(SocketAM3+), 4GB(2GB
DIMMs)Corsair1,600MHz
DDR3memory(CL9), Asus
GeForceGTX5903GB
graphicscard;120GB
PatriotWildfireSSD;
1.05kWEnermax
Revolution85+power
supply. Seetablefor
overclocksandsettings.
40 July 2012
venthoughtheIvyBridgecoreisjustaSandy
Bridgedie-shrinkonpaper, thereare
plentyof small, under-the-hoodtweaks
thatIntel hasmadetotheunderlying
design. Oneof themoreobviousisofficial support
foranincreasedrangeof DDR3speeds.
Infact, memoryspeedsof upto2,800MHzare
supported, whichisamassiveincreasewhenSandy
BridgeonlyofficiallysupportedamaximumDDR3
speedof 1,333MHz. Asaresult, wedecidedtofindthe
memorysweetspotforanIvyBridge-basedsystem
isitstill 1,600MHz, orhaveIntelstweaksincreasedthe
gainsyoull seefromhigh-frequencymemory?
Tofindoutwhatmemoryyou
shouldbeslappingintoyour
newIvyBridgesystem, we
lookedatanumberof
differentkitsfroma
rangeof manufacturers.
Clockspeedsranged
from1,333MHzto1,866MHz
butall were8GBkitsas; realistically,
thisshould bethecapacityyourelooking
atif yourespeccingupanewLGA1155build(see
Why8isthenew4, belowright).
Asusual, thekitscameinmanyshapesand
colours. Weveneverbeenconvincedthatsomeof
theostentatiousheatspreadersonmanyRAMkits
offermuchintermsof coolingbenefits, butawell-
chosenkitcancertianlyaddawelcomesplash
of colourtotheinsideof aPC.
TheG.Skill RipjawsXkit, forexample,
wouldlookexcellentparkedinanAsusROG
board, thankstoitsbrightredanodisedfinish.
ThePatriotG2set, ontheotherhand, would
partnerwell withoneof Gigabytesnewblack
motherboards, thankstoitsblackPCBsandblue
detailing. Noneof thekits
heresportedridiculouslytall
heatspreaderseither, sotheywont
interferewithlargeCPUcoolers.
Totestthememory, weseteachkittoitsrated
speedintheEFI of theAsusMaximusVGene(seep64)
thatweusedfortesting, settingthelatencytimings
manuallytomakesurethememorywasrunningas
tidilyasitcould. Wethenpushedeachkitthroughour
MediaBenchmarks, aswell asourArmaII test.
Perhapsnotsurprisingly, theIvyBridgearchitecture
showedthesameambivalencetomemoryspeedas
theSandyBridgearchitectureonwhichitsbased.
Granted, thefast1,866MHzKingstonHyperXGenesis
kitachievedthehighesttotal scoreof 2,399, butthis
wasonly13pointsquickerthanthe1,600MHz
PatriotG2kit. Thatsadifferenceof alittleover0.5
percent, whichisstill withinour
benchmarks marginof
E
THEBESTMEMORYFORIVYBRIDGE
Does Ivy Bridge have the same taste in memory as its predecessor?
FEATURE TABLE
Modelnumber Frequency CASlatency Voltage PriceincVAT Supplier
Corsair XMS3 CMX8GX3M2A1333C9 1,333MHz 9 1.5 38.16 www.scan.co.uk
G.Skill RipjawsX F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL 1,600MHz 9 1.5 39.95 www.overclockers.co.uk
Patriot G2 PGD38G1600ELK 1,600Mhz 9 1.65 32.00 www.pixmania.com
Kingston HyperX Genesis KHX1866C11D3P1K2/8G 1,866Mhz 11 1.6 53.99 www.overclockers.co.uk
PNY XLR8 MD8192KD3-1866-X9 1,866Mhz 9 1.65 45.99 www.ebuyer.com
41 July 2012
DDR3 RAM
GIMP IMAGE EDITING
0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000
1,874
1,925
1,904
1,932
1,912 PNY XLR8
Kingston HyperX
Patriot G2
G.Skill RipjawsX
Corsair XMS3
HANDBRAKE H.264 VIDEO ENCODING
0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000
3,432
3,448
3,476
3,495
3,491 PNY XLR8
Kingston HyperX
Patriot G2
G.Skill RipjawsX
Corsair XMS3
MULTI-TASKING
0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000
1,734
1,723
1,778
1,769
1,771 PNY XLR8
Kingston HyperX
Patriot G2
G.Skill RipjawsX
Corsair XMS3
OVERALL
0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000
2,347
2,365
2,386
2,399
2,391 PNY XLR8
Kingston HyperX
Patriot G2
G.Skill RipjawsX
Corsair XMS3
Stock speed min Stock speed avg
ARMA II: OPERATION ARROWHEAD
1,920 X 1,080, Very High settings, no AA, no AF
0 35 70 105 140
fps 113
fps 112
fps 113
fps 114
fps 113
fps 99
fps 100
fps 100
fps 100
fps 99 PNY XLR8
Kingston HyperX
Patriot G2
G.Skill Ripjaws
Corsair XMS3
Stock speed
error, soitshardlyan
emphaticvictory.
Furthermore, the
slowest kitontest, the
1,333MHzCorsairXMS3,
actuallybestedtheG.Skill
RipjawsX1,600MHzkitinour
multi-taskingtest, showingthatRAMperformance
isntalwaysjustaboutrawclockspeed.
Ourtestingalsoshowedmemorylatencyto
havelittleornodiscernibleimpactonreal-world
performance, astheCAS111,866MHzKingston
kitscoredanalmostidentical resulttotheCAS9
1,866MHzPNYkitinourMediaBenchmarks. Clearly,
itsonlyworthobsessingovermemorytimingsif
youretryingtomoveupafewplacesonHWBOT.
Ourgamingtestingtoldasimilarstory; noteventhe
quickerkitsreallystoodoutfromthecrowdintermsof
performance. Again, theKingstonHyperXGenesiskit
wasthenominal winner, butonlyby1fpsamargin
thatsindiscernibletothehumaneye.
CONCLUSI ON
ItsclearthatIvyBridgeprocessorssharetheir
siblings tastefor1,600MHzDIMMs. Thisisnt
necessarilybecausetheyresubstantiallyquicker
than1,333MHzmemory, butbecausethisiswhere
themarkethassettled. Thesameisequallytruefor
capacity; 8GBkits offerthebestvalueformoneynow.
Asaresult, yourebetter
off allowingprice, aestheticsand
personal preferencestodictateyour
memorychoice; itsperfectlyvalidtoallow
considerationssuchaswarrantyandcoloursway
yourbuyingdecisionwhenmostmemoryisso
evenlymatched. Wedrecommendthe
Patriotkitfromthisbatch, as
itswell pricedandlooks
good. However, asmemory
pricesaresochangeable,
youll dowell toshoparound
andseewhatsoutthere.
PAUL GOODHEAD
WHY 8 IS THE NEW 4
Dual-channel4GBkitsusedtoofferagood
balancebetweenpriceandperformance,but
youcannowpickup8GBkitsforlessthan40.
Thismeansthat8GBkitsarequicklygainingin
popularity,butwhatadvantagesdoyouget
fromdoublingthememorysize?
Annoyingly,theanswerisverylittlein
everydaysituationswecertainlydidntsee
anybenefitinourMediaBenchmarkswhen
switchingfrom4GBto8GB.Wedid,however,
seeabenefitwhenperformingmorespecialist
tasks;alargephotomergeinPhotoshoptook
almosttentimeslongerwith4GBratherthan
8GBofRAMinstalled,forinstance.
Consequentlysomepuristsmayhuffabout
thefactthat8GBofRAMisoverkillforthosenot
usingprofessional-levelapplications,andin
truth,thisiscurrentlythecase.Whenitsso
cheap,though,thereseemslittlepointinnot
optingforthebiggerkit. Itcouldbehandyfor
tomorrowsoperatingsystemsandsoftware.
44 July 2012
HOW MUCH?
Price1,593incVAT
Supplierwww.scan.co.uk
Manufacturer
www.scan.co.uk
IN DETAIL
CPU3.5GHzIntelCore
i7-3770Koverclockedto
4.5GHz
Motherboard Gigabyte
GA-Z77X-D3H
MemoryCorsairVengeance
LP1600MHz
GraphicsEVGAGTX680
SoundAsusXonarDG
Harddisk128GBCorsair
Force3SSD,2TBSeagate
Barracuda7200.14
OpticaldrivesLGBlu-ray
reader
CaseCorsairObsidian650D
CoolingCPU:CorsairH100;
case1x120m,rearexhaust
fan,1x200mmfront
intakefan
PSUCorsairRX650M
PortsFront:1xUSB3,
2xUSB2.Rear:4xUSB3,
2xUSB2,LAN,audioout,
mic,headphone,optical
S/PDIFout,PS/2.
ExtrasWindows7Home
Premium
uildingyourownPCmeansthatyoucan
customisethespecificationtoyourneedsand
usuallysavesomecashtoo. However, there
aretimeswheneventhemosthardcore
enthusiastwishestheycouldsendoff theirflakyPC
underwarrantyandhavesomeoneelsefixit. The3XS
VengeanceZ77OChasaone-yearon-sitewarranty
followedbyafurtherone-yearreturn-to-base, but
youdbeforgivenforthinkingthatanenthusiasthad
builtthissystem(infact, theyprobablydidyouonly
havetolookatpreviousDreamPCcompetitionsto
knowScanhasahistoryof makingamazingPCs).
Theresapremiumfeel tothe3XSVengeanceZ77
OC. ThecaseaCorsairObsidian650Dfeels
extremelywell madeindeed. Itlooksslightlyboxy
butthelargeside-panel window, illuminatedfront
switchesandsleekblackpaintjobmakeitlook
menacing. However, thankstoagreatchoiceof
hardwareinside, thisPCwontthrowdecibelsof
noiseatyou. ScanhasoptedforaCorsairH100
all-in-oneliquidcoolertodeal withthe
heatof itsCorei7-3770KIvyBridgeCPU.
Thelatterhasbeenoverclockedto4.5GHz
too, andasitsaCorei7CPU, italsosports
Hyper-Threading, gainingfourvirtual
coresinadditiontoitsfourphysical ones.
Thisshouldstanditingoodsteadfor
heavilymulti-threadedtaskssuchasvideoencoding.
TheH100alsokepttheCPUbelow85Cwiththe
fansattheirlowestsetting, evenduringthePrime95
smallfftstresstest. Thismightsoundwarmbutthe
newIvyBridgeCPUsrunhotwhenoverclocked, even
withamodest1.275Vvcoreand1.1VCPUVTTvoltage,
asappliedhere. Aswell asthetwo120mmintakefans
ontheCorsaircooler, theresasingle120mmexhaust
fanandsingle200mmfrontintakefan, whicharetied
tothecases4-channel fancontroller.
ScanhasalsooptedforaGigabyeGA-Z77X-D3H
motherboard, aCorsairRX650MPSUand8GBof
1,600MHzCorsairVengeanceDDR3memory.
Combinedwitha2TBSeagateharddisk, thisPCis
clearlybuilttolastforawhilefewgamesorapps
makeuseof morethan4GBof RAMand2TBof space
isamplefordatastorage. However, asyoudexpect
foraPCatthisprice, anSSDisincludedaswell. Scan
haschosenfora120GBCorsairForce3andsensibly
installedtheOSonittoo, leavingthe2TBdiskfreefor
dataandrarelyusedprograms. Theresultissuper-
quickboottimes, andaverynippyfeel toWindows
andprograms. Theinteriorisalsoimmaculate, with
someseriouslyninja-likecabletidyingnearlyevery
unsightlyobjectistiedawayandhiddenbehindthe
motherboardtray.
ScanhasalsoincludedanEVGAGeForceGTX680
2GBforsuper-fastgamingframerates, andthisisthe
noisiestcomponentinthePC, althoughyouonlyknow
itstherewhengaming. Scanhasalsoinstalledan
AsusXonarDGsoundcard, whichwill makemusic
soundnoticeablybetterthanstandardmotherboard
audio; theres anLGBlu-rayreadertoo, whichisgreat
if yourepartial towatchingfilmsonyourPC.
PERFORMANCE
ManySandyBridgesystemswesawlastyear, suchas
theDinoPCAlioramus2500KOC(seeIssue96, p43),
weregreatbuys. However, eventhoughtheCore
i5-2500Kinthatsystemwasalsoclockedat4.5GHz,
theScan3XSVengeanceZ77OCmanagedsignificant
leadsintheMediaBenchmarks. Intheimageediting
test, itwasmorethan150pointsfaster, inthevideo
encodingtestitwasmorethan200pointsfasterandin
themulti-taskingtestitwasnearly300pointsfaster.
B
SCAN
SUBLIME
Good value for
money; quiet;
excellent choice
of components;
fast
SUBVERSIVE
Not everyone
needs a huge
case, or Hyper-
Threading
THE H100 KEPT THE CPU BELOW
85C AT THE LOWEST FAN SETTING,
EVEN DURING THE PRIME95
SMALLFFT STRESS TEST
The rst Ivy Bridge PC to turn up at
our lab, but is it worth the cash?
3XSVengeanceZ77OC
45 July 2012
PRE-OVERCLOCKED PC
GIMP IMAGE EDITING
Stock speed
HANDBRAKE H.264 VIDEO ENCODING
MULTI-TASKING
OVERALL
0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000
2,165 Scan 3XS Z77 OC
0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000
3,821 Scan 3XS Z77 OC
0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000
1,931 Scan 3XS Z77 OC
0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000
2,639 Scan 3XS Z77 OC
0
25 50 75 100
fps 77 fps 64
fps 72 fps 60
Scan 3XS Z77 OC
Stock speed min Stock speed avg Overclocked avg Overclocked min
ARMA II
1,920 x 1,080, 16x AF, 4x AA
Meanwhile, theGPU-limitedArmaII returnednearly
identical resultstothoseof ourNvidiaGeForceGTX
6802GBtestsystem, whichusesaCorei5-2500K, with
aminimumframerateof 60fpsat1,920x1,080. Still,
thisis20percentfasterthanasimilarsystemwitha
GeForceGTX5801.5GB, andtheGeForceGTX680has
proveditself tobeafantasticgamingGPUinourother
tests(seeIssue105, p36).
IntheShogun2: Total WarCPUtest, wesawa
minimumframerateof 32fps. Thisis10percentfaster
thanastock-speedCorei7-3770Kand20percent
fasterthanaCorei5-2500Koverclockedto5GHz
anamazingresult. Thesystemdrew101Wwhenidle
and365Wunderload, sothe650WPSUhasplentyof
headroomshouldyouwishtoaddasecondgraphics
cardortryyourhandatoverclockingitfurther.
WiththeCPUalreadytoasty, wedecidednotto
increasetheoverclock. However, usinganewversion
of EVGAsprecisionoverclockingtool, weincreasedthe
GPUoffsetby80MHzandthepowerallowanceto120
percent, whichresultedina4fpsgaininArmaII.
CONCLUSI ON
At1,600, theScan3XSVengeanceZ77OCisapricey
pieceof kit. However, theIntel Corei7-3770KCPU
offersHyper-Threadingforthosewhowantit, andits
01
Anall-inoneCorsairH100
liquidcoolertamesthe
heatfromtheCPUwithitsdual
120mm-fanradiator
02
AnEVGAGeForceGTX6
802GBcardprovides
plentyofgruntforhigh-
resolutiongaming
03
Themachineonlydrew
365Wfromthemains
atfullload,sothe650WPSU
stillhasenoughheadroomfor
anothergraphicscard
4.5GHzclockspeedisenoughforsubstantial gains
withoutcrazytemperatures. TheSSDandCorsair
H100liquidcoolerarefantasticadditionstoo. Wed
possiblyhaveoptedforaCorei5-3570Kandacheaper
case, butyoucanaltervariousoptionsinScansonline
systemconfigurator.
Thatsaid, thecostof thePCscomponents, if bought
separately, arebarely100cheaper. Thisisprettygood
valueformoneyconsideringthatthisnominal amount
buysyouapre-builtPCwithninjacabletidyinganda
full warranty.
ANTONY LEATHER
customPC
86
OVERALL
SPEED 23/ 25
DESIGN 21 / 25
HARDWARE 21 / 25
VALUE 21 / 25
01
02
03
TheGeForceGTX6802GBgraphicscardaccountsforaquarterof
theaskingpricebutisawesomelyfastingames
46 July 2012
HOW MUCH?
Price870incVAT
Supplierwww.scan.co.uk
Manufacturer
www.nvidia.com
IN DETAIL
GraphicsprocessorGTX690
4GB,916MHz-1,019MHz
guaranteed
Pipeline2x1,536stream
processors(916MHz-
1,019MHzguaranteed),
32ROPs
Memory2x2GBGDDR5,
6GHzeffective
Bandwidth2x192.26GB/
sec,256-bitinterface
CompatibilityDirectX11.1,
OpenGL4.1
Outputs/inputs2xDVI,
HDMI,DisplayPort,2xSLI
Powerconnections2x
8-pin,top-mounted
Size255mmlong,dual-slot
oldingthetitleof FastestGraphicsCardOn
thePlanet haslongbeenapointof pridefor
bothAMDandNvidia. Thecardchargedwith
takingthetitleforTeamGreenistheGTX690
4GB, anditstotallybonkers.
Withthediminutivesizeandpowerconsumptionof
theGTX680sGK104GPU, Nvidiahassimplyplaced
twoof themononePCB. Therearenoreductionsin
streamprocessororSMcount; bothGPUsarefully
loadedGK104chips, witheightSMsof 192stream
processorseachatotal of 1,536perGPUand3,072
percard. EachGPUiskittedwith2GBof GDDR5
runningat1.5GHz(6GHzeffective) too; intermsof
assets, itsidentical totwoGTX6802GBsinSLI.
TheGPUcoreclockspeedhasbeenreduced
though. AswiththeGTX680, theGTX690hasaGPU
baseclock, atwhichitrunsregardless, andaGPU
boostclock, whichitcanhitinless stressful situations.
Itsbaseclockof 915MHzis91MHzlowerthanthatof
theGTX6802GB, whileitsguaranteedboostclockis
1,019MHzonly37MHzlowerthanthatof
theGTX6802GB, althoughbothcanboost
higherintherightcircumstances.
Thecards255mmlengthisalsothe
sameasthatof thestockGTX6802GB,
anditsportsasimilardual-heatsink
coolingarrangementastheGTX5903GB, wrapped
inasleekaluminiumandmagnesiumshell. Anickel-
platedfinstacksitsontopof eachGPU, withanaxial
faninthemiddleof thecard, althoughthismeansthat
half thecardsheatisexhaustedinsidethePC.
DuetoKeplerspowerefficiency, thecardjust
squeezesunderamaximumpowerdrawof 300Wtoo,
butstill requirestwo8-pinPCI-Epowerconnectors.
Thesesitonthetop, alongsideagreat-lookinggreen-
LEDlitGeForcelogo. If youredroppingalmostagrand
onagraphicscardthenyouwantpeopletonotice.
PERFORMANCE
InArmaII, theGTX6904GBwasincrediblyfast, butat
lowerresolutions, itsclearlyCPU-limited, evenwitha
3.3GHzCorei5-2500Kaminimumof 84fpsat1,920x
1,080with4xAAisonly40percentfasterthantheGTX
6802GBs59fps. At2,560x1,600with4xAA, the
improvementisgreatertheGTX6904GBsminimum
of 59fpsis73percentfasterthanastockGTX6802GB.
At5,760x1,080, however, theGTX6904GBsimply
didntworkinArmaII, highlightingthecomplicated
driverissuesconcernedwithmulti-monitorand
multi-GPUsetups.
InBattlefield3weencounterednosuchissues,
though, andintheGPU-limitedFrostbite2engine, the
GTX6904GBwentframe-ratecrazy. Aminimumof
69fpsat2,560x1,600with4xAAisan86percent
increaseoverastockGTX6802GB, whileatthethree-
screenresolutionof 5,760x1080with4xAA, theGTX
6904GBdeliveredaminimumof 45fps80percent
quickerthantheGTX6802GBandmorethandouble
theperformanceof theGTX5903GB.
Meanwhile, inDirt3, theGTX6904GBproduceda
minimumof 138fpsat1,920x1,080with4xAA, an18
percentincreaseoverthe116fpsminimumof theGTX
6802GB. At2,560x1,600with4xAA, thegapalso
increasedto56percentthankstotheGTX6904GBs
minimumof 117fps, whileat5,760x1,080with4xAA,
theGTX6904GBsframerateof 95fpswas75percent
higherthanthatof theGTX6802GB.
SkyrimsawCPU-limitedperformanceagainrear
itsuglyhead, though, withaminimumof 99fpsatboth
1,920x1,080with4xAAand2,560x1,600with4xAA.
Thiswasstill higherthantheGTX680, though, bythree
and35percentrespectively. At5,760x1,080with4x
AA, theGTX6904GBproducedasmoothminimumof
64fps60percentquickerthantheGTX6802GB.
Foracardcapableof suchframerates, power
consumptionwassurprisinglylow. Asystempower
drawof 373Wunderloadis117Whigherthana
standardGTX6802GB, butanimpressive54Wlower
thanNvidiaspreviousdual-GPUcard, theGTX590
3GB. Operatingtemperatureswerealsofair, withthe
H
NVIDIA
BIG SPENDER
Incredible BF3
performance;
power of two
GTX 680s
CHEAP SKATE
Costs almost
900; rarely
scales beyond 70
per cent of GTX
680 performance;
often CPU-limited
DUE TO KEPLERS POWER
EFFICIENCY, THE CARD HAS A
MAXIMUM POWER DRAW OF 300W
Incredible performance, but for
an outrageous price tag
GeForceGTX690
47 July 2012
GRAPHI CS CARD
ARMA II: OPERATION ARROWHEAD (DX9)
1,920 x 1,080, 4x AA, 16x AF
Minimum Average
2,560 x 1,600, 4x AA, 16x AF
0 25 50 75 100
fps 98
fps 72
fps 75
fps 84
fps 59
fps 66 Radeon HD 7970 3GB
GeForce GTX 680 2GB
GeForce GTX 690 4GB
0 25 50 75 100
fps 75
fps 40
fps 47
fps 59
fps 34
fps 41 Radeon HD 7970 3GB
GeForce GTX 680 2GB
GeForce GTX 690 4GB
5,760 x 1,080, 4x AA, 16x AF
0 25 50 75 100
fps 25
fps 24
fps 0
fps 21
fps 20 Radeon HD 7970 3GB
GeForce GTX 680 2GB
GeForce GTX 690 4GB
DIRT3 (DX11)
1,920 x 1,080, 4x AA, 16x AF
2,560 x 1,600, 4x AA, 16x AF
0 25 50 75 100
fps fps fps 138
fps 113
fps 90 Radeon HD 7970 3GB
GeForce GTX 680 2GB
GeForce GTX 690 4GB
0 25 50 75 100
fps 88
fps 75
fps 117
fps 75
fps 64 Radeon HD 7970 3GB
GeForce GTX 680 2GB
GeForce GTX 690 4GB
Idle Load
Idle Gaming
BATTLEFIELD 3 (DX11)
1,920 x 1,080, 4x AA, 16x AF
Minimum Average
2,560 x 1,600, 4x AA, 16x AF
Lower is better
Lower is better
PEAK GPU TEMPERATURE (DELTA T)
PEAK TOTAL SYSTEM POWER DRAW
0 25 50 75 100
fps 77
fps 66
fps 114
fps 64
fps 52 Radeon HD 7970 3GB
GeForce GTX 680 2GB
GeForce GTX 690 4GB
0 25 50 75 100
fps 83
fps 45
fps 41
fps 69
fps 37
fps 33 Radeon HD 7970 3GB
GeForce GTX 680 2GB
GeForce GTX 690 4GB
5,760 x 1,080, 4 x AA, 16x AF
0 25 50 75 100
fps 56
fps 31
fps 29
fps 45
fps 25
fps 23 Radeon HD 7970 3GB
GeForce GTX 680 2GB
GeForce GTX 690 4GB
THE ELDER SCROLLS V: SKYRIM (DX9)
1,920 x 1,080, 4x AA, 16x AF
2,560 x 1,600, 4x AA, 16x AF
0 25 50 75 100
fps 93
fps 99
fps 96
fps 77 Radeon HD 7970 3GB
GeForce GTX 680 2GB
GeForce GTX 690 4GB
0 25 50 75 100
fps 88
fps 71
fps 99
fps 73
fps 61 Radeon HD 7970 3GB
GeForce GTX 680 2GB
GeForce GTX 690 4GB
5,760 x 1,080, 4 x AA, 16x AF
0 25 50 75 100
fps 63
fps 56
fps 95
fps 54
fps 50 Radeon HD 7970 3GB
GeForce GTX 680 2GB
GeForce GTX 690 4GB
5,760 x 1,080, 4 x AA, 16x AF
0 25 50 75 100
fps 83
fps 49
fps 41
fps 64
fps 40
fps 34 Radeon HD 7970 3GB
GeForce GTX 680 2GB
GeForce GTX 690 4GB
0 20 40 60 80
C 63
C 54
C 53
C 10
C 11
C 14 Radeon HD 7970 3GB
GeForce GTX 680 2GB
GeForce GTX 690 4GB
0 80 160 240 320 400
W 373
W 256
W 293
W 96
W 89
W 90 Radeon HD 7970 3GB
GeForce GTX 680 2GB
GeForce GTX 690 4GB
fps 141
fps 104
fps 140
166
fps 148
fps 108
fps 130
fps 120
fps 132
cardsettokeepGPUtemperaturesbelow80Cand
adjustingthespeedof thefanaccordingly. However, in
comparisontoasingleGTX6802GB, theGTX6904GB
isnoticeablynoisierunderload.
CONCLUSI ON
AstheGTX6904GBiseffectivelytwoGTX6802GBs,
Nvidiahaspriceditappropriatelyat870; afrankly
ludicrousamountof moneyforagraphicscard. It
alsodoesntofferdoubletheperformance. Inheavily
GPU-dependentgamessuchasBF3youll seeclose
to90percentmulti-GPUscaling, but50-70percent
scalingismoretypical. Standardresolutionssuchas
1,920x1,080alsoseeminimal improvementthanksto
CPU-limitedperformance; thiscardisreallyforultra-
highresolutionormulti-displaysetups. TheGTX690
4GBiscertainlythefastestgaminggraphicscardin
theworldrightnow. However, thebenefitsrarelyjustify
thecolossal outlay.
HARRY BUTLER
TEST KIT
3.3GHzIntelCorei52500K
CPU, AsusP8P67
motherboard, 4GBCorsair
1,600MHzDDR3memory,
CrucialM225128GBSSD,
Windows764-bit, Nvidia
GeForce285.62, AMD
Catalyst11.12
customPC
77
OVERALL
SPEED 39/ 40
FEATURES 28/ 30
VALUE 10/ 30
BothGPUsarefullyloaded
GK104chips,witheightSMsof
192streamprocessorseach
atotalof1,536perGPU,and
3,072percard
48 July 2012
hankstoitsthoroughdrubbingof theRadeon
HD79703GB, theGTX6802GBissellinglike
achilli andTabascocakethatsbeenseton
fireandimmersedinlava. Withdemand
outstrippingsupply, priceshavecreptupfromthe410
wesawatlaunchtoaround440forastockcard, with
custom-cooledandpre-overclockedversionsnow
arrivingtofurthertemptthoseconsideringjumping
intothehigh-endgraphicspool.
GainwardscustomGTX6802GBofferingseesit
continueitsphenomenallysuccessful Phantom
range, havingwonouradmirationwithboththeGTX
5701.3GBPhantomandGTX560Ti 1GBPhantom.
Thesecardsofferedbothahealthyfactoryoverclock
andasuperblyquietcustomcooler, sowewere
hopeful forarepeatperformance, considering
theGTX6802GBsimprovedefficiencyand
overclockingpotential.
Witha257mmPCB, thePhantomisthesame
lengthasastandardGTX6802GB, andsportsthe
samerearI/Olayouttoo, withHDMI, DisplayPortand
apairof DVI connections. Thebigchangeis
thecompletelynewcooler, whichrunsthe
full lengthof thecardwithapparentlyno
coolingfansondisplay. Theresultissleek
andstylish, althoughthehugearrayof
aluminiumcoolingfinsisntfreefromone
ortwoslightbends.
NvidiasKeplerarchitecturemightbecool and
efficient, butthePhantomisntapassivecard. There
aretwo80mmcoolingfansrecessedinsidethe
heatsink, pullingdownairthroughthetoparrayof fins
andblowingitontothePCBbelow. Bothfansare
supportedbyplasticsupportsratherthanfull
surroundstoreduceturbulenceandnoise, withboth
wireddirectlyintothecardsPWMfanconnector. This
designchoicehasthenegativeeffectof increasingthe
coolerssizeconsiderablythough; thePhantomfillsa
whoppingthreeexpansionslots. Onmotherboards
suchastheAsusMaximusVGene(seep64), thisone
cardwill obscurebothPCI-Eslots, makingthe
Phantomfarfromideal formulti-GPUarrangements.
Peel backthemassiveheatsinkandyouremetwith
asimilarlylargefull-coveragealuminiumplate, which
coversthewholePCB, providingcoolingforthe
GDDR5memoryandpowerdeliverycircuitry. The
latterhasbeensignificantlyupgraded, withapairof
phasesforthememoryandsixpowerphasesforthe
GPU. Toensuresufficientstablepower, Gainwardhas
alsooptedtoreplacetheGTX6802GBsstandardpair
of 6-pinPCI-Econnectorswithtop-mounted8-pinand
6-pinconnectors.
ThePhantomisavailableinboth2GBand4GB
flavours, withthelatteraimedatthosewhojust
demandalittlemore. Physically, bothcardsare
identical, withthesamepowerrequirementsand
customcooler, barthedensityof theirGDDR5
modules. The2GBversionusesthestandardeight
256MBmodules, whilethe4GBcardsimplydoubles
theGDDR5densityanduseseight512MBmodules.
Weveneverbeenparticularlyconvincedbygraphics
cardsofferinggreatlyincreasedamountsof memory,
asthebenefits, if any, rarelyjustifytheincreasedprice
tag. WiththeGTX680alreadyofferingplayableframe
ratesatultra-highresolutions, wewereinterestedto
findoutif thatextra2GBcouldunlockafewmore
framespersecondat5,760x1,080.
Thetwoversionsof theGTX680Phantomalsohave
differentclockspeeds. The4GBversion, despitebeing
themoreexpensivecard, shipsatthestockclock
speedsforaGTX680, withthememoryat1.5GHz
(6GHzeffective), aGPUbaseclockof 1,006MHzand
aguaranteedboostclockof 1,058MHz(althoughit
can, anddoes, boost upto1,110MHzgiventheright
conditions). Meanwhile, the2GBversionisfactory
overclocked, with1,575MHz(6.3GHzeffective)
memory, aGPUbaseclockof 1,084MHzanda
guaranteedboostclockof 1,150MHz(althoughthis
againcananddoesboosthigher, uptoamaximum
of 1,188MHz). Effectively, thisisan8percentincrease
inGPUclockincomparisontoastockcard, butthe
T
GAINWARD
STEALTHY
Quiet; 2GB card
is fast
RAM RAID
Price; 4GB makes
no difference
THERE ARE TWO 80MM COOLING
FANS RECESSED INSIDE THE
HEATSINK, PULLING DOWN AIR
THROUGH THE TOP ARRAY OF FINS
Quiet but costly, and the extra 2GB is largely useless
GeForceGTX680Phantom
2GBand4GB
HOW MUCH?
GAINWARD GEFORCE GTX
680 PHANTOM 2GB
Price530incVAT
Supplier
www.overclockers.co.uk
Manufacturer
www.gainward.com
GAINWARD GEFORCE GTX
680 PHANTOM 4GB
Price630incVAT
Supplier
www.overclockers.co.uk
Manufacturer
www.gainward.com
IN DETAIL
GAINWARD GEFORCE GTX
680 PHANTOM 2GB
GraphicsprocessorGTX680
2GB,916MHz-1,019MHz
guaranteed
Pipeline1,536stream
processors(1,084MHz-
1,150MHzguaranteed),32ROPs
Memory2GBGDDR5,6.3GHz
effective
Bandwidth201.6GB/sec,256-bit
interface
CompatibilityDirectX11.1,
OpenGL4.1
Outputs/inputs2xDVI,HDMI,
DisplayPort,2xSLI
Powerconnections1x8-pin,
1x6-pin,top-mounted
Size255mmlong,tripleslot
GAINWARD GEFORCE GTX
680 PHANTOM 4GB
GraphicsprocessorGTX680
2GB,1,006MHz-1,058MHz
guaranteed
Pipeline1,536stream
processors(1,006MHz-
1,058MHzguaranteed),32ROPs
Memory2GBGDDR5,6GHz
effective
Bandwidth2x192.26GB/sec,
256-bitinterface
CompatibilityDirectX11.1,
OpenGL4.1
Outputs/inputs2xDVI,HDMI,
DisplayPort,2xSLI
Powerconnections1x8-pin,
1x6-pin,top-mounted
Size255mmlong,tripleslot
49 July 2012
GRAPHICS CARDS
benefitof thesuperiorcooleralsoreducesGPU
temperatures, enablingtheGPUtoboosttohigher
frequenciesmoreregularly.
PERFORMANCE
InArmaII, thePhantom2GBsfactoryoverclockdidnt
seemtohavemucheffect, withaminimumframe
rateof 35fpsat2,560x1,600with4xAAbeinga1fps
improvementoverastockGTX6802GB. Wewerealso
disappointedtofindthatthePhantom4GBofferedno
improvementoverthestandardGTX6802GBatall.
Evenat5,760x1,080with4xAA, thehighestresolution
atwhichwecantest, itofferednoimprovementover
astockGTX6802GB. Atthesameresolution, the
Phantom2GBsfactoryoverclocksawitproducea
minimumframerateof 27fpsanimprovementof
2fpsoverastockGTX6802GB.
InBattlefield3, themostGPU-dependentgame
weusefortesting, thePhantom2GBdelivereda
minimumframerateof 40fpsat2,560x1,600with4x
AAa3fpsimprovementoverastockGTX6802GB.
However, thePhantom4GBagainfailedtoshowany
performanceadvantageoverthestockGTX6802GB,
regardlessof resolution, withperformancethatwas
identical toNvidiasreferencecard.
Dirt3repeatedthispattern; thePhantom2GB
offeredanotableimprovementoverthestockcard,
whilethePhantom4GBagainmatchedthestockGTX
6802GB. Meanwhile, theminimumof 79fpsat2,560x
1,600with4xAAfromthePhantom2GBwas5percent
higherthanastockGTX6802GB.
InSkyrim, thePhantom2GBagainshowedits
advantage, withslightincreasestominimumframe
ratesacrosstheboard. At2,560x1,600with4xAA, it
managedaminimumof 76fps3fpshigherthana
stockGTX6802GB. However, thePhantom4GB
againdisappointedus, continuingtodemonstrateno
performanceadvantageoverastockGTX6802GB.
Withbothcardssharingthesamepower-delivery
circuitryandcooler, theircoolingabilityandpower
consumptionweresimilar. TheoverclockedPhantom
2GBpeakedata252Wsystempowerdraw, whilethe
4GBwasalittlemorefrugal at242W. Bothcardsare
alsolessdemandingthanthestockGTX6802GB,
whichpulledapeakof 256Wunder
load. ThePhantomcooleralso
knockedafewdegreesoff theGTX
680stemperature, withapeakdelta
TforbothPhantomcardsof 50C
a4Creductionincomparisontothe
stockcard. However, bothPhantom
cardswereextremelyquiet, even
underloadmuchmoresothanthe
stockGTX6802GB.
Therewasmorespeedtobehad
frombothcardstoo. Wewereable
topushthePhantom2GBsbase
clockto1,124MHz, anditsRAMto
1,615MHz(6,460MHzeffective).
However, theextrathermal
demandsmeantthatthecarddidnt
boostaseffectively, resultingina
minimumof 69fpsinBF3at1,920x
1,080with4xAAa1fpsincrease.
Asitshipsatstockspeeds, the
Phantom4GBwasmoreopento
overclocking, andweoverclocked
itsbaseclockto1,116MHzandits
memoryto1,625MHz(6.5GHz
effective). ThissawthePhantom
4GBmatchtheoverclocked
Phantom2GB, withaminimum
of 69fpsinBF3at1,920x1,080.
CONCLUSI ON
TheGainwardGeForceGTX680
Phantom2GBmanagestoimprove
onthestockGTX6802GBinalmost
everyway. Itscooler, quieter, and
perhapsmostimportantly, its
faster. Its8percentcorefrequency
overclocktranslatedwell intoreal-world
performance. However, italsocosts90morethana
stockcard. For20percentmorecash, yourenotgoing
toseeasimilarreturnwhenitcomestoframerates.
TheGainwardGeForceGTX680Phantom4GB
suffersevenmoreinthisregard. Shippingatstock
clockspeeds, itsextra2GBof GDDR5offeredzero
benefitwhenitcametoin-gameperformance, even
attheultra-demandingresolutionof 5,760x1,080. Its
pricetagof 630alsomakesitaludicrous190more
expensivethanastockGTX6802GB; thatshalf way
towardsasecondGTX6802GB. Whilewecantfault
thePhantomcoolersdesignorperformance, both
cardsoffertoofewimprovementsoverastockGTX680
2GBtojustifytheprice, andtherescurrentlynopointin
havingmorethan2GBonsuchacard.
HARRY BUTLER
50
50 July 2012
GRAPHICS CARDS
TEST KIT
3.3GHzIntelCorei52500K
CPU, AsusP8P67
motherboard, 4GBCorsair
1,600MHzDDR3memory,
CrucialM225128GBSSD,
Windows764-bit, Nvidia
GeForce300.99, AMD
Catalyst11.12
ARMA II: OPERATION ARROWHEAD (DX9)
1,920 x 1,080, high AA, 16x AF
Minimum Average
2,560 x 1,600, high AA, 16x AF
0 25 50 75 100
fps 74
fps 72
fps 72
fps 75
fps 60
fps 59
fps 59
fps 66 Radeon HD 7970 3GB
GeForce GTX 680 2GB
Gainward GTX 680 4GB
Gainward GTX 680 2GB
0 25 50 75 100
fps 42
fps 40
fps 40
fps 47
fps 35
fps 34
fps 34
fps 41 Radeon HD 7970 3GB
GeForce GTX 680 2GB
Gainward GTX 680 4GB
Gainward GTX 680 2GB
DIRT 3 (DX11)
1,920 x 1,080, 4x AA, 16x AF
2,560 x 1,600, 4x AA, 16x AF
0 25 50 75 100
Radeon HD 7970 3GB
GeForce GTX 680 2GB
Gainward GTX 680 4GB
Gainward GTX 680 2GB
0 25 50 75 100
fps 93
fps 88
fps 88
fps 75
fps 79
fps 75
fps 75
fps 64 Radeon HD 7970 3GB
GeForce GTX 680 2GB
Gainward GTX 680 4GB
Gainward GTX 680 2GB
BATTLEFIELD 3 (DX11)
1,920 x 1,080, 4x AA, 16x AF
Minimum Average
Idle Load
2,560 x 1,600, 4x AA, 16x AF
Lower is better
0 25 50 75 100
fps 82
fps 77
fps 77
fps 66
fps 68
fps 64
fps 64
fps 52 Radeon HD 7970 3GB
GeForce GTX 680 2GB
Gainward GTX 680 4GB
Gainward GTX 680 2GB
0 25 50 75 100
fps 48
fps 45
fps 45
fps 41
fps 40
fps 37
fps 37
fps 33 Radeon HD 7970 3GB
GeForce GTX 680 2GB
Gainward GTX 680 4GB
Gainward GTX 680 2GB
5,760 x 1,080, high AA, 16x AF
0 25 50 75 100
fps 27
fps 25
fps 25
fps 24
fps 23
fps 21
fps 21
fps 20 Radeon HD 7970 3GB
GeForce GTX 680 2GB
Gainward GTX 680 4GB
Gainward GTX 680 2GB
5,760 x 1,080, 4x AA, 16x AF
0 25 50 75 100
fps 31
fps 31
fps 29
fps 37
fps 25
fps 25
fps 23 Radeon HD 7970 3GB
GeForce GTX 680 2GB
Gainward GTX 680 4GB
Gainward GTX 680 2GB
THE ELDER SCROLLS V: SKYRIM (DX9)
1,920 x 1,080, 4x AA, 16x AF
2,560 x 1,600, 4x AA, 16x AF
0 25 50 75 100
fps 93 fps 77 Radeon HD 7970 3GB
GeForce GTX 680 2GB
Gainward GTX 680 4GB
Gainward GTX 680 2GB
PEAK GPU TEMPERATURE (DELTA T) PEAK TOTAL SYSTEM POWER DRAW
0 25 50 75 100
fps 94
fps 88
fps 88
fps 71
fps 76
fps 73
fps 73
fps 61 Radeon HD 7970 3GB
GeForce GTX 680 2GB
Gainward GTX 680 4GB
Gainward GTX 680 2GB
5,760 x 1,080, 4x AA, 16x AF
0 25 50 75 100
fps 67
fps 63
fps 63
fps 56
fps 58
fps 54
fps 54
fps 50 Radeon HD 7970 3GB
GeForce GTX 680 2GB
Gainward GTX 680 4GB
Gainward GTX 680 2GB
5,760 x 1,080, 4x AA, 16x AF
0 25 50 75 100
fps 52
fps 49
fps 49
fps 41
fps 43
fps 40
fps 40
fps 34 Radeon HD 7970 3GB
GeForce GTX 680 2GB
Gainward GTX 680 4GB
Gainward GTX 680 2GB
Idle Gaming
0 60 120 180 240 300
W 252
W 242
W 256
W 293
W 89
W 90
W 89
W 90 Radeon HD 7970 3GB
GeForce GTX 680 2GB
Gainward GTX 680 4GB
Gainward GTX 680 2GB
0 15 30 45 60
C 50
C 50
C 54
C 53
C 9
C 9
C 11
C 14 Radeon HD 7970 3GB
GeForce GTX 680 2GB
Gainward GTX 680 4GB
Gainward GTX 680 2GB
Lower is better
fps 104 fps 90
fps 148
fps 140
fps 140
fps 124
fps 116
fps 116
fps 122
fps 120
fps 120
fps 99
fps 96
fps 96
fps 33
customPC customPC
69 81
OVERALL OVERALL
SPEED 37 / 40
FEATURES 29/ 30
VALUE 3/ 30
SPEED 38/ 40
FEATURES 29/ 30
VALUE 14/ 30
scores: GTX 680 2GB scores: GTX 680 4GB
49
52 July 2012
HARD DISK
HOW MUCH?
Price219incVAT
Supplierwww.dabs.com
Manufacturer
www.wdc.com
SKUnumber WD1000DHTZ
IN DETAIL
InterfaceSATA6Gbps
Nominalcapacity1,000GB
Formattedcapacity931GB
Platterdensity333GB
Cache64MB
WarrantyFiveyears
t220for1TBof space(931GBformatted),
the1TBVelociRaptorcostsapricey22pper
gigabyte, dueinparttothefactthatithasan
enterprise-class2.5inharddiskenclosedin
a3.5inenclosure. Other1TBharddisksofferamuch
moreappealing7.5ppergigabyte.
Of course, WesternDigitals10,000rpmRaptor
driveshavealwaysbeenaboutspeedratherthan
capacity, butwhiletheearlyRaptorshadthe
enthusiastmarketall tothemselves, theperformance
storagemarketisnowfarmorecrowded. SSDsare
becomingcheaper, butaCrucial M4256GBstill costs
75ppergigabyteasopposedtotheVelociRaptors22p
pergigabyte. IsthenewVelociRaptorfastenoughto
justifyitspositioninthemiddleground?
The1TBVelociRaptorhasthreeplattersdishingout
its1TBcapacity(333GBperplatter), eachspinningat
10,000rpm. Italsosportsa64MBbuffersizeand
WesternDigital claimssequential readandwrite
speedsof 200MB/sec. Thisisvergingonthesame
performanceasSSDssuchasOCZsoriginal Indilinx-
poweredVertexdrives, andagood40-50MB/secfaster
thanmostof theharddiskswetestedinourrecent
storageLabstest(seeIssue104, p58).
PERFORMANCE
Notonlythat, butCrystalDiskMarkreported
sequential readandwritespeedswell above200MB/
sec. Infact, thedrivemanagedareadspeedof 214MB/
secofficiallythefastestdesktopharddiskweve
tested. The4KBrandomreadspeedof 1.11MB/sec
wasevenmoreimposing; thehighestwesawfrom
aharddiskinourstorageLabstestwas0.76MB/sec.
Meanwhile, its4KBrandomwritespeedof 3.83MB/
secwasmorethandoublethatachievedbyanyother
harddiskwevetested.
However, all theSSDswetestedhadvastlysuperior
4KBrandomreadandwritespeeds. Forexample, the
Crucial M4256GBmanagedarandomwritespeed
of 94.6MB/seccomparedtothe1TBVelociRaptors
3.83MB/sec. Whatsmore, the1TBVelociRaptoralso
madealotof noticeablenoisewhilebenchmarking,
althoughthisisntsurprisinggiventhehighspinspeed.
CONCLUSI ON
TheWesternDigital 1TBVelociRaptorsperformance
isincredibleforaharddiskwithspinningplatters, and
its4KBrandomspeedsarefarsuperiortootherhard
diskswevetested. However, standardharddisksoffer
farbettervalueformoney, whilea256GBSSD, suchas
CrucialsM4, costslessandissignificantlyfasterso
muchsothatwerescoringtheVelociRaptorpurely
againstharddisksandnotSSDs. With256GBoffering
spaceforyourOS, software, andgames, the1TB
VelociRaptoronlybecomesaviableoptionif youcant
affordalargerSSD. Eventhen, itsnoisyandyoucan
buya128GBSSDanda2TBharddiskforless.
ANTONY LEATHER
A
WESTERNDIGITAL
F-22
Incredibly fast for
a hard disk; large
capacity
CATCH-22
SSDs are much
faster; poor
value for money
compared to
standard hard
disks
A mechanical SSD beater?
1TBVelociRaptor
71
OVERALL
SPEED 48/ 50
COST/GB 7 / 20
BANG/BUCK 16/ 30
results
CRYSTALDISKMARK
4K random read/write speed (MB/sec)
0 25 50 75 100
95.6
1.11 3.83
0.67 1.32
24.3 256GB Crucial M4
2TB Seagate Barracuda
1TB VelociRaptor
CRYSTALDISKMARK
Sequential read/write speed (MB/sec)
0 150 300 450 600
215
208
511
279
155
153
2TB Seagate Barracuda
256GB Crucial M4
1TB VelociRaptor
Read Write
July 2012 53
PASSIVE CPU COOLER
HOW MUCH?
Price90incVAT
Supplierwww.quietpc.com
Manufacturer
www.nofancomputer.com
SKUnumbernofanCR-95C
IN DETAIL
CompatibilityAMD:AM2,
AM2+,AM3,AM3+,FM1;
Intel:LGA775,LGA1155,
LGA1156
Size(mm)180x180x148
(WxDxH)
FanNone
Statednoise0dBA
heCR-95C, whichclaimstobeableto
passivelycool anythinguptoa95WCPU, is
aestheticallyunconventional. Atfirstglance,
itlooksmorelikeacoppersaladspinnerthan
aCPUcooler, thankstoitsdoughnutshapeandthin
copperrodsthatmakeupitsbulk. Theserodsreplace
thefinsof atraditional cooler, providingalargesurface
areafromwhichwasteheatcandissipate.
FeedingheattotherodsarefourcopperIcePipes.
Theselooklikeheatpipes, butNofan
claimsthattheyreinternallymore
advanced, makingthemperform
massively betterthantraditional
heatpipes. Eitherway, theydotheirjob
well andmakesureheatquicklytravels
fromthemirror-finishedCPUblocktothefins.
However, theCR-95Cissolargethatitcanbe
awkwardtoinstall. Themountingmechanismuses
fourlong, sprungscrewsthatrunthroughametal
backplatethatclampsthecoolerinplace.
Onceinplace, thecoolerssizeagainbecomesan
issue; itssolargethatitalmostclasheswiththefirst
motherboardexpansionslot(traditionallya16xPCI-E
slot). Itsbeendesignedtojustmissit, of course, but
thegapbetweenthecoolersconductivemetal fins
andthebackof agraphicscardislessthan5mm,
whichisfartoocloseforcomfort. Itsalsoagapthat
will bebridgedif youhavearearcoolingplateonthe
backof yourcard, aswithstandardAMDRadeonHD
6990cards. Thiswontcauseanyissueselectrically,
butitcouldputstrainonthecoolermountorthePCI-E
slotinwhichthecardsits.
Aswithanyformof passivecooling, theCR-95C
reliesonthepresenceof airflowthroughthecaseforit
towork. Our95Wstock-clockedCoreIntel i7-2600K
camewithintouchingdistanceof itsthermal throttling
pointafter15minutesof stresstestinginourstandard,
fan-freethermal testrig, forexample. Addingasingle
120mmSharkoonSilentEagleroof exhaustfanatits
standardspeed(atwhichitsstill veryquiet) tothis
equationknockedawhopping17Coff theCPUs
temperatureunderload, however, meaningthatthe
CPUreturnedahotbutserviceabledeltaTof 55C.
Idletemperatureswerealsoimpressive, withadelta
Tof 12Cwithnocasefaninstalled, and9Cwiththe
aforementionedroof faninplace. ThePCwasalso
largelysilentthroughouttesting, althoughthelackof
CPUfannoiseemphasisedothersoundsgeneratedby
thePC, suchasharddriveclatter.
CONCLUSI ON
TheCR-95Ccanpassivelycool astock-clocked
LGA1155CPU, whichisaremarkableengineering
feat. Granteditneedsalittleairmovementtodothis,
butasingle120mmexhaustfan(whichwill probably
beinyourcaseanyway) will still bequieterthanan
averageCPUtowercooler. However, itsall-copper
constructionmakesitexpensive, andyoull needa
quietGPUforittobeworthwhile. Youdhavetobea
puristseekinggenuinesilenceforthistobeworththe
money, butif thatswhatyouwantthenlooknofurther.
PAUL GOODHEAD
T
NOFAN
PASSIVE
COOLER
Good cooling;
unique looks
PASSIVE
AGGRESSIVE
Needs good
case airow;
expensive;
could clash with
graphics card
THE RODS REPLACE THE FINS OF
A TRADITIONAL COOLER, PROVIDING
A LARGE SURFACE AREA
Its large and expensive, but it can
passively cool a Core i7-2600K
CR-95C
scores: lGa1155
70
customPC
OVERALL
COOLING 22 / 40
DESIGN 28/ 30
VALUE 20/ 30
FITTING GOOD
results
INTEL LGA1155
0 25 50 75 100
C* 99
C 55
C 17
C 12
Nofan CR-95C +
120mm case fan
Nofan CR-95C
Lower is better *Throttle
Idle Load
54 July 2012
HOW MUCH?
Price550incVAT
Supplierwww.play.com
Manufacturer
www.thrustmaster.com
SKUnumberFerrari F1
WheelIntegralT500
IN DETAIL
ConnectionWiredUSB
MaterialPlastic,metaland
rubber
Buttons2xrotaryknobs,
3xmetalflickswitches,8x
actionbuttons,2xD-pads
Rotation1,080degrees
ight, weknowwhatyourethinking, andyes
550incVATisaneye-wateringamountof
moneyforasteeringwheel. Thatsovera
monthsrenttomanypeopleweevenran
afeaturerecentlyshowingyouhowtoassemblean
entirePCforlesscash(seeIssue103, p90). Soitgoes
withoutsayingthattheFerrari F1Wheel Integral T500
isapremiumpieceof kit; onlytrueracingaficionados
needapply.
Thankfully, yougetanawful lotof wheel foryour
money. Forastart, yougettheThrustmasterT500RS
baseunitandpedalsunit, whichisahugelymeaty
pieceof kitthatweighsinat18kg. Consequently, itisnt
reallysuitableforcasual pick-up-and-playsessions
itsfarbettertohaveitpermanentlyattachedtoa
racingthronesuchastheGTOmegaRacingSimPro
(seeIssue98, p56).
YoualsogetThrustmastersfantastic
Ferrari F1racingwheel add-on. Thisisa
scalereplicaof thewheel usedbyAlonso
andMassa, anditsportsaveritablebevy
of switches, buttonsandrotaryknobsto
control everythingfromDRStofuel-mix.
Disappointingly, though, thefiverotating
jogswitchesinthecentreareonlymouldedplasticand
havenofunction.
Bizarrely, yourecurrentlybetteroff buyingthe
wheelsandpedalsseparatelyatcurrentretail costs.
TheFerrari F1wheel isavailableseparately(forpeople
whoalreadyownaT500RSbase) foraround130.
Consideringthatthebaseunitretailsfor370, its
currentlydifficulttojustifystumpingup550forthe
combinedset.
Pricingirregularitiesaside, theF1Wheel Integral
T500proveditself tobeexcellentonceweindulgedin
burningsomesimulatedrubber. Inputfeelsaccurate
andsharp, largelythankstothehall effectsensor,
whichdetectsrotational movementmagnetically
ratherthanmechanically.
Theforcefeedbackisexcellenttoo, anditcanreach
trulycripplinglevelsof punchwehadtoturnitdown
toaround30percent. Thisisnttosaythatitlacks
subtlety, however; thesmall bumpsandscrapesare
reproducedasaccuratelyasthebighits.
Thewheel itself isalsoexcellent, andnaturally, its
bestusedinconjunctionwithF12011, whichsupports
itsfull rangeof buttoninputs. Itsundeniablyawesome
topresstheDRSbuttononthelongstraightatMonza
andseethemovementmirroredexactlyon-screen
(althoughthiswill obviouslyonlyworkperfectlywhen
drivingaFerrari).
Thepedalsarelessflashy, butequallycompetent,
andtheunitsall-metal constructionhelpsittostay
firmlyplantedatall times. Theadjustableresistance,
spacingandheightof thepedalswill alsobeaboonto
thosewholiketotinkerwiththeirsetupuntil itsexactly
howtheywantit.
CONCLUSI ON
Thecombinationof ThrustmastersT500RSbaseunit
andFerrari F1wheel makesforasclosetodriving
nirvanaaswevefound, especiallyif youreanF1
fanatic. Itsironic, then, thatyoureactuallybetteroff
buyingthemseparatelyratherthaninthisset, asyoull
saveyourself around50.
PAUL GOODHEAD
R
THRUSTMASTER
SPA
Solidly built;
oodles of force
feedback;
authentic feel
BAHRAIN
Only really
optimised for F1
series of games
ITS AWESOME TO PRESS THE DRS
BUTTON ON THE LONG STRAIGHT AT
MONZA AND SEE THE MOVEMENT
MIRRORED EXACTLY ON-SCREEN
Looks and feels great, but
the current cost is more
than the sum of its parts
Ferrari F1 Wheel
Integral T500
77
OVERALL
DESIGN 36/ 40
FEATURES 32 / 35
VALUE 9/ 25
STEERING WHEEL
56 July 2012
Thoroughtesting and researchis the keyto evaluating whether a product
is worthbuying, and deciding whether or not theres a better alternative
TESTS:WeusetheCustomPCMediaBenchmarks, CinebenchR11.5, WPrimeandCrysis. Wealsotesttheresultantpowerdrawofthetest
PCwiththeCPUinstalled. Thesetestsreveal abroadrangeofperformancecharacteristicsfortheCPU, fromimageeditingtogamingand
fromvideoencodingto3Drendering. Werunall thetestswiththeCPUatstockspeedandagainwhenoverclockedtoitshighestfrequency.
Graphics cards are mainly evaluated on howfast they are for their price. However, we also consider the efficacy
and quietness of the cooler. Every graphics card is tested in the same PC, so all results are directly comparable.
We judge CPUs on whether they offer sufficient speed for the price. Part of a CPUs speed score comes from
howoverclockable it is. Every type of CPUis tested in the same PC, so all results are directly comparable.
Thegraphicscard
werereviewing
3.3GHzIntelCore
i5-2500K
AMDFM1 Intel
LGA1155
NvidiaGeForce
GTX5903GB
MSI
A75MA-G55
AsusMaximus
IVGene-Z
120GBPatriot
Wildfire
4GBofCorsair
1,600MHzDDR3
4GBofCorsair
1,600MHzDDR3
Windows7
64-bit
4GBCorsair1,600MHz
DDR3
AsusP8P67Rev3 Windows764-bit
SP1
AMDSocket
AM3+
AsusCrosshairIV
Formula
4GBofCorsair
1,600MHzDDR3
HOW WE TEST
57 July 2012
Ourbenchmarksuite
simulateshowpeople
reallyusePCs, anda
higherscoreisbetter.
Youcandownload
thesuitefrom
www.tinyurl.com/
benchies
2.66GHzIntelCore2
DuoE6750
2GBofCorsair
1,066MHzDDR2
250GBSamsung
SpinPointP120S
AsusP5KDeluxe
WiFi-AP
TESTS: ByusingthefastPCdetailedonthe
left, wecanbesurethatanylimitationswesee
areduetothegraphicscardontest. Wetestthe
fourgames(right) attheirmaximumdetail
settings, intheirhighestDirectXmode, andat
threeresolutions. High-endcardsshouldbeable
tosustainplayableframeratesat2,560x1,600,
while1,920x1,080ismoreimportantformid-
rangecards; wenolongertestat1,680x1,050
because1,920x1,080issocheap. Wealsotryto
overclockeverygraphicscardwetesttoseewhat
differencethismakestothecardsperformance.
Someproductsare
gloriouslyoverthe
top.Theseitemsof
excellentoverkill
earnourExtreme
Ultraaward.
PremiumGrade
productsare
utterlydesirable
wedeatnothing
butbeansuntilwe
couldaffordthem.
Productsworthy
oftheProfessional
awardmake you
andyourbusiness
appeareven
moreawesome.
Approvedproducts
arethosethatdoa
greatjobforthe
money;theyrethe
cannypurchasefor
agreatPC.
Forthosegadgets
andgizmosthat
reallyimpressus,
orthatwecantlive
without,theresthe
CustomKitaward.
Motherboards are evaluated on everything fromlayout and features
to overclockability and value for money. Every motherboard is tested
with the same components, so all results are directly comparable.
TESTS: WeusetheCustomPCMediaBenchmarksandseveral games, andalsotestthe
speedsoftheboardsSATAports. Wetrytooverclockeverymotherboardwereviewby
testingforamaximumQPI, BaseClockorHTTaswell asoverclockingtheCPUtoits
maximumair-cooledlevel. WerunourtestsatstockspeedandwiththeCPUoverclocked.
IntelCore
i5-2500K
AMDPhenom
IIX61100TBE
Motherboard
ontest
Motherboard
ontest
4GBofCorsair
1,600MHzDDR3
4GBofCorsair
1,600MHzDDR3
AMDA8-3850 Motherboard
ontest
4GBofCorsair
1,600MHzDDR3
NvidiaGeForce
GTX5903GB*
2TBWesternDigital
CaviarBlack
Windows7
64-bit
*Pleasenote: WetestedAMDFM1motherboardsusingtheon-boardgraphics, nottheNvidiaGeForceGTX5903GB
58 July 2012
CustomKit
We check out the latest gadgets, gizmos and geek toys
Written by Paul Goodhead
Seen something worthy of
appearing in CustomKit?
Send suggestions to
paul_goodhead@dennis.co.uk
MEDIA STREAMER
ROKU2XS
01
ThedinkyRoku2XSpromisestoturnanyTVintoasmartTV
withInternetmediastreaming. Netconnectionishandled
viaeitherEthernetor802.11nWiFi, andyoucanoutputthrough
compositeorHDMI connections. TheNetchannelsonofferarealittle
US-biased, butyoucangetfreeaccesstoiPlayer, Crackle
filmsandahostof newschannels. Variouspaid-for
channels, suchasNetflix, arealsoavailable.
However, themajorproblemisthatyoucant
streammediafromothernetworkdevices, suchas
yourPC, outof thebox. Insteadyoull needtoinstall
amediaserver, suchasPlex, whichisahassle
thatmarsanotherwiseneatpackage.
PG
SCART SMART
Price 100 inc VAT Supplier www.scan.co.uk
Manufacturer www.roku.com
USB DRIVE
KINGSTON
64GBDataTraveler
HyperXUSB3
02
Sometimestherejust
isntasubstitutefora
whoppinggreatbigUSBstick
whetheritsmovingahoardof
mediafilestoadifferentPC, or
simplybackingupyourSteam
libraryinpreparationfora
Windowsreinstall, morestorage
isalwaysuseful. Admittedly,
youcangetthismuchUSB
storageforlesselsewhere,
buttheDataTravelerHyperX
distinguishesitselfasoneofthe
fasteststicksweveseen, with
readspeedsof106MB/secand
writespeedsof92MB/seca
handyattributewhenyoure
movingacresofdata. Thechunky
metal casingandcapalsolend
theinsidessomemuch-needed
protection.
PG
TRAIN ROCKET
Price 98 inc VAT Supplier www.scan.
com Manufacturer www.kingston.com
REMOTE HUB
GRIFFINBEACON(Androidversion)
03
TheGriffinBeaconisaniftypieceof kitthatwill takeaBluetooth
signal fromyoursmartphoneortabletandturnitintoanIRsignal
thatyourTV, Blu-rayplayerorhi-fi canunderstand. Setupishandledviaan
appcalledDijit, whichcontains200,000deviceprofilesweeasilyfoundour
LGTVandBlu-rayplayer. If youcantfindyourdevicethentheappslearning
featuremakesiteasytosetupacustomprofile. Youcanevensetupcustom
macros(suchasturningontwodevicesatonce) orchangethelayoutof the
buttonsintheapptobestsuityourscreensizeorusagepatterns.
PG
UNICORN GRIFFIN
Price 50 inc VAT Supplier www.amazon.co.uk
Manufacturer www.griffintechnology.com
CUSTOM KIT
59 July 2012
ROBOT HOOVER
SAMSUNG
Navibot VCR8895
04
Maybeitsall thatTomorrows
Worldwewatchedaskids, but
frankly, weexpectedtheretobemore
robotsaroundby2012. Asitis, your
onlyreal recourseifyouwantarobot
assistantatthemomentistobuya
robothoover. TheNavibotVCR9985
issuchadevice, andquiteagood
oneatthat. Itwill dutifullycleana
roomortwobeforetrundlingback
toitsdocktorecharge, andyoucan
setatimersothatitcleanswhile
youreout. Youllneedanopen-
planhousetogetthebestoutofit,
however, anditisntcheapeither. Ouronly
othergripeisthatitdoesntlookrobotyenough.
PG
ROBOT HOOVER ROBOT BUTLER
Price 500 inc VAT Supplier www.comet.co.uk
Manufacturer www.samsung.com
CHARGING HUB
ARCTICChargingStation
05
RelyingonUSB-chargedgadgetsisfineathome, but
keepingthemjuicedupwhenyouretravellingcanbea
pain. Youlleitherhavetousealaptop(whichtypicallyhastobe
switchedon)orpacktheplugadaptor, whichisntevenincluded
withsomedevices. TheChargingStationlookstoendthishassle
byprovidingfourpoweredUSBportsfromasinglewallplug.
ThechargeralsoincludesUS, UKandEUplugadaptors, which
makesitimmenselyflexible. Totestthecharger, weattached
twophones, anMP3playerandavideocameraatthesametime
aloadthattheunithandledwithoutbreakingstride. Not
everyonewillhaveenoughgadgetstomakeuseofit, butits
greatforthosethatdo.
PG
TRAINSTATION BATTLE STATION
Price 13 inc VAT Supplier www.airetech.co.uk Manufacturer www.arctic.ac
HARD DRIVE DOCK
STARTECHUNIDOCK3UGB
06
MostnewmotherboardsnolongerhaveIDEcontrollers, andwhile
thisreducesPCBclutter, itcanalsobealittleannoyingif youstill
havesomeperfectlyserviceableIDEdisks. Thankfully, StarTechison
handwiththishandydual-bayharddiskdock. Itscompatiblewithboth
SATAandIDEdrives, andconnectstoyourPCviaUSB3. Duringtesting,
wesawhealthyreadandwritespeedsof 64MB/secand54MB/sec
respectively. Theonlystumblingblockistheprice, asyoull needtouse
itonaregularbasistojustifyspending50.
PG
MFM SATA
Price 50 inc VAT Supplier www.ebuyer.com Manufacturer www.startech.com
60 July 2012
A
longsideitsnewIvyBridge
CPUs(seep36),Intelhasalso
launchedanaccompanying
chipsetarchitecture.
CodenamedPantherPoint,itwillformthe
basisofallIntels7-serieschipsets,andit
addsnewfeaturestohelpgetthemostfrom
anIvyBridgesystem,includingon-board
PCI-E3andUSB3support.TheZ77flavour
(seep62)isthenewtop-endchipset,
boastingthelargestandmostadvanced
featuresetforenthusiasts.
However,asalways,everymajor
motherboardmanufacturerisjumpingon
theZ77bandwagoninthehopesofnetting
aplaceonyourupgradelist,makingthe
competitionfiercerthanever.WithIvy
BridgeCPUsrunningevenfasterthantheir
SandyBridgepredecessors,makingthe
rightchoiceisvitalifyouwanttosqueeze
themaximumperformancefromyourchip.
Therangeofextrasofferedvarieshugely
too,andnotalltheadditionalfeaturesare
worthwhile.Withsomanyboardsnow
available,wevepittedeightZ77
motherboards,rangingfromjust76to
180,againsteachotherinordertofind
thebestZ77boardforyournextbuild.
Looking for the perfect partner for that newIvy Bridge CPU?
We tested eight Z77 motherboards to find the best
Z77Motherboard
SHOOTOUT
62
62 Howwetested
62 InsidetheZ77chipset
63 ASRockFatal1tyZ77
Professional-M
64 AsusMaximusVGene
66 AsusSabertoothZ77
67 BiostarTZ77XE4
70 GigabyteGA-Z77X-UD5H
72 IntelDZ77GA-70K
74 MSIZ77A-G43
76 MSIZ77A-GD65
80 Results
82 Featuretable
61 July 2012
HOWWETESTED, PAGE62
62 July 2012
The Z77 Chipset
howwe tested
W
hilelastyearsZ68chipsetwasafairly
minorupdateto P67, Z77isamuch
moremeaningful stepforward. Notonlydoes
itunlockIntelsHDgraphicschipforusewith
hybridgraphics, butitalsoaddsIntelsReady
Boosttechnology, Z77. Itsalsobackwards
compatiblewithSandyBridgeCPUssuch
astheCorei5-2500KorCorei7-2600K,
althoughnotall thefeatureswill workwith
theseolderchips.
PCI -E 3 AND USB 3
ThemostimportantnewadditionisPCI-E3
support. ThisfirststepforwardsforthePCI-E
standardinmorethansevenyearsusesan
identical slotdesigntothatofPCI-E2, andis
fullybackwardscompatiblewithPCI-E2
cards. Theimprovementcomesfroman
effectivedoublinginmaximumbandwidth
fromPCI-E2to32GB/sec, witheachofa16x
slotslanesoffering1GB/secofbandwidth
ineachdirection.
WeveseenmotherboardswithPCI-E3
supportbeforeviatheuseofadditional
controllerchips, butZ77isthefirsttosupport
itnativelyonthechipset;thisofferspotential
improvementsto3Dgraphicsperformance,
aswell asGPU-computeanddatatransfer
speeds. However, asthePCI-E3busruns
directlyintotheCPU, youllcurrentlyonly
activatetheextraPCI-E3bandwidthwhen
usingIntelscompatibleIvyBridgeCPUs.
AnothernewfeatureisnativeUSB3
support. Again, USB3hasbeenavailable
onmotherboardsforsometime, butonly
viaadditional controllerchips, withthe
benefitofmuchimprovedUSBtransfer
speeds. TheZ77chipsetallowsforupto
fournativeUSB3ports.
INTEGRATED GRAPHI CS
AsecondZ77additionthatrequiresanIvy
BridgeCPU(anditsIntel HD4000Graphics
component)istheabilityoftheintegrated
graphicprocessor(IGP)tooutputtothree
screenswithoutadiscreteGPUinstalled. The
technologyisntasadvancedasAMDEyefinity
orNvidiaSurround, whichoutputtothree(or
more)displaysasasinglelargesurface, but
theabilityforon-boardgraphicstooutputto
multipledisplaysisusefulincircumstances
whereadiscreteGPUisntanoption.
WhileZ77motherboardsusethesame
dual-channel DDR3layoutasP67andZ68
boards, IvyBridgeCPUsnowoffersupport
forhighermemoryfrequencies. Forastart,
1,600MHzDDR3isnowofficiallysupported,
butthesmallermemoryfrequency
granularityalsoallowsforagreaternumber
ofpossiblememoryfrequencies, topping
outatamighty2,667MHz.
ExclusivetoZ77(insofaras7-series
chipsetsareconcerned) isIntelsSmart
ResponseTechnologyfor SSDcaching.
ThisfeaturedebutedinZ68, combiningthe
storagebenefitsofaharddiskwiththespeed
ofanSSDbycachingfrequentlyusedfilesto
theSSD. InZ68, wefounditachoretosetup,
butIntel hassignificantlyimprovedthis
aspectwithZ77. Itsanichefeature, especially
asSSDpricesarereallytumblingnow, butits
still aneataddition.
W
etestedwithanIntel Corei7-3770K
(seep36)andCorsairH100liquid
cooler. ThiswasjoinedbyaGeForceGTX680
2GB, 8GB(2x4GB)ofCorsairDDR31,600MHz
RAM(CL9),a1.05kWEnermaxRevolution85+
PSUandaPatriotWildfire128GBSSD.
Testswereperformedusingourown
MediaBenchmarks, aswell asourownArma
II:OperationArrowheadbenchmark, Shogun
2: Total Warsbuilt-inCPUbenchmarkand
ATTOdiskbenchmarktotestSATAspeeds.
Forstockperformance, eachboardwasreset
tofactorydefaultsandthenhaditsmemory
setto1,600MHz. Foroverclocked
performance, weleftthememoryat
1,600MHz, butaimedtoreachthe4.8GHz
speedofwhichweknowtheCPUiscapable
ofreachingbeforerunningourtestsagain.
63 July 2012
Z77 MOTHERBOARDS
HOW MUCH?
Price136incVAT
Supplierwww.ginger6.com
Manufacturer
www.asrock.com
SRockhasteamedupwithpro-gamer
JonathanFatal1ty Wendel tobring
somerecognitiontoitsnewM-ATXZ77
Professional-M. MirroringAsus strategy
withitsGenerangeof fullyfeatured M-ATXboards,
theZ77Professional-Mboastsanenviablearrayof
overclockingextrasthatbelieits136pricetag.
SupportforbothCrossFireXandSLI ismatched
withthreePCI-Egraphicsslots. TwoarePCI-E3(one
16xortwo8x), andthethirdis16xPCI-E2. AMolex
powerconnectorisfittedabovethePCI-Eslotsto
provideextrapowerformulti-GPUsetups. Theres
alsoa1xPCI-E2 slotsandwichedbetweenthePCI-E
3slots, althoughfittingadual-slotcardwill obscureit.
Initial setupismadesimplewithaPOST-code
readout, aswell ason-boardpowerandresetbuttons,
andtheresaclearCMOSswitchontherearI/Ofor
simpleEFI resets. AlsofoundhereareDVI, VGA,
DisplayPortandHDMI connections, fourUSB3ports,
eSATA, 1Gb/secEthernetandevenaPS/2portfor
legacyperipherals. Theresalsoaspecial Fatal1ty
MousePort, whichenablesyoutocustomiseyour
mousesUSBpollingrateformaximumpwnage.
Atstockspeed, theboardstuckrigidlytoIntels
per-coreTurboBoostspecification, onlyboostingour
Corei7-3770Kto3.9GHzwhenoneortwocoreswere
loaded. Assuch, itreturnednotablylowerscoresthan
boardsthatboostedto3.9GHz, andfounditself 144
pointsoff thepaceof theAsusMaximumVGene(see
p64) inourbenchmarks, whileitsminimumframe
rateinArmaII was10fpslower.
However, overclockingcuredmanyof theboards
ailments, viaawell laid-outEFI. Useof drop-down
menusgratedalittle, andtheautomaticoverclock
settingsfor4.8GHzdidntwork, butforthemostpart
theEFI provedsimpleandintuitive. Settingafixed
vcoreof 1.35Vandaload-linecalibrationsettingof
Level 1tookourchiptoitsmaximum4.8GHz. Once
overclocked, theZ77Professional-Mwasthefastest
boardontest, withanoverall scoreof 2,839pointsin
ourbenchmarks, pippingtheGenebyjustthreepoints.
Gamingperformancewasntastriumphant, witha
minimumframerateof 133fpsinArmaII, butthisis
onlyasmall marginoff thecompetition.
CONCLUSI ON
TheZ77Professional-Miscompact, crammedwith
useful featuresandoverclockswell. At136, itswell-
pricedtooandwouldbeagreatbasisforanyZ77build.
However, thewasteful boarddesignandlackof some
useful features, suchasBIOSflashback, seesthe
Genesqueezingitoutbyaclosemargin.
HARRY BUTLER
FATAL1TY
Good overclocker;
intuitive EFI;
M-ATX; looks
good
WENDEL
1x PCI-E slot
obscured by dual-
slot graphics card;
no dual BIOS
ASROCKFatal1tyZ77Professional-M
An excellent M-ATX board that only lacks a few features
A
64
scores
87
customPC
OVERALL
SPEED 41 / 45
FEATURES 25/ 30
VALUE 21 / 25
64 July 2012
HOW MUCH?
Price151incVAT
Supplierwww.scan.co.uk
Manufacturer
http://uk.asus.com
evelongbeenfansof Asus
Geneseriesof boards, as
theytypicallyofferall the
overclockingandenthusiast
featuresweloveinanM-ATXpackage,
withoutthetruckloadof luxuryextras
associatedwiththeMaximusFormularange.
Weusuallyhavetowaitafewmonthsafterthe
chipsetlaunchtogetourhandsonthecorresponding
Geneboard, butthistimeAsushasdecidedtolead
withitsM-ATXRepublicof Gamers(RoG) boardand
addtheMaximusVFormulalater.
DespiteitsM-ATXdimensions, theGenestill boasts
acompetitivearrayof featurestohelpyougetthe
mostfromyoursystem. CrossFireXandSLI areboth
supported, withapairof PCI-E3slots(one16xortwo
8x) andasingle4xPCI-E2slotbelow. Addingadual-
slotcardtothelowerPCI-E3slotwill obscurethe
4xslot, however, meaningthattheGenelacksthe
expansioncapabilitiesof full-sizedATXboardssuch
astheGigabyteZ77X-UD5H(seep70).
APOST-codereadersitsalongtherightsideof the
boardtohelpwithtroubleshooting, withon-board
powerandresetswitcheslocatedalongthebottomof
theboard. Meanwhile, aclear-CMOSswitchcanbe
foundontherearI/Opanel.
Despiteonlysportingsixon-boardSATA
connectors, fourof themareSATA6Gbps
twoviatheZ77chipset, andasecond
pairviatheASMediaSATA6Gbps
controller. Theportsarecolourcodedto
differentiatebetweenSATA6Gbpsand
SATA3Gbps, buttheASMediaportsoffer
muchlowerspeeds.
TheIntel SATA6Gbpsportscanreach
readspeedsof 542MB/secandwritespeedsof
509MB/sec, whereastheASMediaportstopout
at395MB/secreadand376MB/secwrite,
bottleneckingtheperformanceof high-endSSDs.
ThechipsetsremainingtwoSATA3Gbpsportsare
dividedbetweenarear-mountedeSATAportanda
mini-PCI-EmSATA/WiFi expansioncardthatfitsinto
thetopof therearI/Opanel.
Elsewhereonthebackaretwopairsof USB3
ports(oneprovidedviatheZ77chipset, andtheother
bytheASMediacontroller), DisplayPortandHDMI
outputs, andfourUSB2ports, anS/PDIFoutput, and
5-channel audiooutputs. Theaudiois
providedbyAsus SupremeFXIII chip, which
isneatlyisolatedfromtherestof theboard
byagapinthePCB. Notmissingatrick,
Asushasbacklitthistransparentpartition
withredLEDstogivetheboardslowerleft
corneralittleflair. Thiscanbedisabledinthe
EFI if youfindLEDlightinggarishthough.
Meanwhile, theboardspairof VRMbanksaround
theCPUsocketarefittedwithheatpipe-linked
aluminiumheatsinks, withanAsusRoG-branded
heatsinkcoolingtheZ77chipset. Boththe24-pinand
8-pinEPS12Vpowerconnectorsareplacedatthe
edgeof theboardforeasyaccess, andfive4-pinPWM
fanheadersarealsowell-spacedaroundtheboard.
ThesecanbecontrolledviaAsus bundledFanXpert2
software, whichallowsagreatdeal of fancontrol from
withinWindows.
PERFORMANCE
Atitsfactorydefaults, theGeneTurboBoostedour
Corei7-3770Kupto3.9GHzregardlessof coreload
afeatthatnoteveryboardontestmanagedtoachieve.
Thismeantthat, atstockspeeds, itperformedvery
well andtoppedourMediaBenchmarkswithan
overall scoreof 2,403. Italsoprovedhighlycapablein
gamesatstockspeeds, withaminimumframerateof
116fpsinArmaII beingthejointbestresultontest, and
aminimumframerateof 29fpsinShogun2again
matchingthebestthecompetitioncouldoffer.
OverclockingtheGenewasalsoverysimple, thanks
inparttoitssuperbEFI. All multipliers, clockspeeds
andvoltagescanbemanuallyentered, withsettings
groupedintuitivelytogethertomakeoverclockingas
straightforwardaspossible.
Meanwhile, theadditionof aBIOSflashback
functiontakestheworryoutof EFI updates, andbrief
explanationsof eachsettingareprovidedinthemenus
toadvisetheuninitiated.
GENE GENIE
Excellent
performance;
clear EFI; funky
lighting
I DREAMOF
JEANNIE
Limited expansion
options
ASUS Maximus VGene
All the features and overclocking you need in an M-ATX package
W
THE BOARDS VRM BANKS ARE
FITTED WITH HEATPIPE-LINKED
ALUMINIUM HEATSINKS, WITH AN
ASUS RoG-BRANDED HEATSINK
COOLING THE Z77 CHIPSET
65 July 2012
Z77 MOTHERBOARDS
90
OVERALL
SPEED 41 / 45
FEATURES 28/ 30
VALUE 21 / 25
Asusalsoprovidesanumberof CPULevel Up
presetsthatautomaticallyoverclocktheCPU(upto
4.6GHz), andwhileall theseproducedstableresults,
theirvoltagesettingswerealittleaggressivetoensure
compatibility. Wefoundthatweonlyhadtodisablethe
Intel C-states, setthevcoreto1.34VandsettheLoad
LineCalibrationtoExtremetopushourCorei7-3770K
toitsstablemaximumof 4.8GHz.
Asalmosteveryboardontestwasabletoreachour
CPUsmaximumclockspeed, competitionwasmuch
fiercerwhenitcametooverclockedperformance, but
theGeneshoweditsqualitywithanoverall scoreof
2,836inourMediaBenchmarks, secondonlytothe
ASRockFatal1tyZ77Performance(seep63), and
eventhenbyonlythreepoints. Overclockedgraphics
performancewasalsosolid, withaminimumframe
rateof 134fpsinArmaII and 33fpsinShogun2, both
of whicharewithinafewpercentof thecompetition.
CONCLUSI ON
TheGenemanagestostrikeagoodbalancebetween
performance, featuresandvalueformoney. Excellent
stockandoverclockedperformance, anintuitiveEFI
andaminimumof unnecessaryextrasmakeitfeel
leanandstreamlined, anditalsoprovidesalittleflair
carewiththeSupremeFXlighting.
Thegapiscertainlyclosing, though, withthesimilar
M-ATXASRockFatal1tyZ77Performancerunning
extremelyclosetotheGene. Ouronlycriticismisthe
limitationsinherentinanM-ATXdesign; theGigabyte
Z77X-UD5Hsvastarrayof slotsprovidesmore
expansionoptions.
Formostpeople, though, thiscardoffersasuperb
Z77overclockingexperience, withagreatbalanceof
features. TheAsusMaximusVGeneprovesthatgood
thingsreallycancomeinsmall packages.
HARRY BUTLER
66
66 July 2012
HOW MUCH?
Price180incVAT
Supplierwww.ebuyer.co.uk
Manufacturer
http://uk.asus.com
sus Sabertoothboardshaverecentlyveered
towardstheworkstationmarket, eschewing
featuressuchason-boardpowerbuttonsin
favourof extrassuchasplasticThermal
Armour, andadditional chipsetandVRMcoolingfans.
TheZ77iterationcontinuesthistrend; itscladin
blackplastictrimandhasplasticcoversforunused
expansionslotsandheaders. Theboardalsofeatures
optional fanmountsfortwo40mmfans; oneoverthe
upperVRMsandanotherinthecentretoprovide
airflowtothechipset. Wewerealittlesurprisedby
thelatter, astheZ77chipsetiswell behavedwhenit
comestoheat. Asustoldusthefansareonlyintended
foruseinloworzeroairflowenvironments; thisisjust
aswell, astheyreannoyinglywhineywhenfitted.
Elsewhere, CrossFireXandSLI supportare
included, withapairof PCI-E3slots(one16xortwo
8x), a16xPCI-E2slot(max4x) andthree1xPCI-E2
slotsprovidingmanyexpansionoptions. Theresalso
awhoppingcountof eightfanheaders(sixof whichare
4-pinPWM), all of whichareconfigurableviaAsus
Thermal Radarsoftware, whichmonitorsboard
temperaturesandadjustsfanspeedsautomatically.
Despitebeingaworkstation board, however, the
rearI/Opanel onlysportssingle1Gb/secLAN,
alongsidethesameDisplayPortandHDMI outputs
astheGene(seep64). TherearealsofourrearUSB3
ports, andprovisionforanoptional pairviaaninternal
connector, butsadlynoclear-CMOSswitch. Withthe
lackof on-boardpowerandresetbuttonsoraPOST-
codereader, thiswill makefrequenttweakingdifficult.
Outof thebox, theSabertoothTurboBoostedour
Corei7-3770Kto3.9GHzregardlessof coreload,
producinganoverall scoreof 2,397inourMedia
Benchmarks, secondonlytotheGene.
TheSabertoothalsosharesmanyof itsBIOS
featureswiththeGene. Menusaregroupedlogically,
withexplanationsforeachsetting. Withavcoreof
1.34V, LoadLineCalibrationsettoExtremeandIntel
C-statesdisabled, wehadnoproblemoverclockingit
to4.8GHz(48x100). Overclockedperformancewas
alsoexcellent, withanoverall scoreof 2,821inour
MediaBenchmarksjust0.5percentbehindthe
ASRockFatal1tyZ77Performance(seep63). Gaming
performancewasalsogood, withaminimumframe
rateof 133fpsinArmaII and33fpsinShogun2.
CONCLUSI ON
TheSabertoothZ77performsandoverclockswell, but
itscostlyandlacksuseful extrassuchason-board
powerswitches. Unlessyouwantaworkstation, the
GeneorGA-Z77X-UD5H(seep70) arebetterchoices.
HARRY BUTLER
WOLVERINE
Great
performance;
capable
overclocker; loads
of fan headers
SABRETOOTH
Expensive;
whiney optional
cooling fans; no
on-board power
buttons or POST-
code reader
ASUS SabertoothZ77
Plastic-clad and expensive, but offers little over the Gene
A
scores
83
customPC
OVERALL
SPEED 41 / 45
FEATURES 25/ 30
VALUE 17 / 25
67 July 2012
Z77 MOTHERBOARDS
HOW MUCH?
Price133incVAT
Supplierwww.ebuyer.co.uk
Manufacturerwww.biostar.
com.tw
iostarsTZ77XE4offersalmostall thehigh-
endfeaturesyoucouldwant. On-board
power, resetandclear-CMOSbuttonsare
groupedatthebottom, andthePOST-code
readeralsodoublesasathermometerinWindows.
CrossFireXandSLI aresupported, withapairof
PCI-E3slots(one16xortwo8x), anextraPCI-E2slot
(4xmaximum), a1xPCI-EslotandeventwoPCI slots
offeringplentyof expansion. Theslotsarealsospaced
toaccommodatetwodual-slotgraphicscardsand
allowaccesstoall butoneof thePCI slots. TherearI/O
panel iswell equippedtoo, withDVI, VGA, DisplayPort
andHDMI outputs, eSATAandapairof USB3ports.
However, thereareonlythree(3-pin) fanheaders,
andtheeightSATAportsarentcolourcodedeither.
The8-pinEPS12Vconnectorisrotated90degrees
fromitsideal position, andisntontheedgeeither.
Ourbiggestworry, though, istheWindows-based
EFI updateapp. Uponstartingtheflashprocedure, it
immediatelypromptsyoutorestart, mid-flash. Doing
sowouldbricktheboardand, withnodual-BIOSor
BIOS-flashbackoption, wouldresultinanRMA.
AswithotherZ77boards, theTZ77XE4onlyboosted
totheCorei7-3770Ksmaximumof 3.9GHzwhenone
ortwocoreswereloaded, reducingitsperformance.
Anoverall scoreof 2,278inourMediaBenchmarks
wasthehighestscoreof thefourboardsthatexhibited
thisissue, althoughinArmaII thismeantaminimum
of108fps8fpsofftheAsusMaximusVGene(seep64).
Thankfully, theTZ77XE4sEFI iswell laidoutand
displaysbasicdescriptionsof eachsetting. However,
italsosetsthedefaultSATAinterfacetoIDErather
thanAHCI, disablesNumLockbydefault, andrequires
F4ratherthanF10tosaveandexit. ItpushedourCore
i7-3770Kto4.8GHz, though, witha1.34Vvcorethe
onlysettingwehadtotweakbarthemultiplier.
Whenoverclocked, theTZ77XE4alsoproducedthe
highestresultinourmulti-taskingtest, withascore
2,043, whileitsoverall scoreof 2,795wasjust1.5per
centoff theASRockFatal1tyZ77Performance-Ms
2,839(seep63). Meanwhile, itsminimumof 132fpsin
ArmaII wasonlyjustbehindthefastestontest. Of
greaterconcern, though, wastheSATA6Gbpsspeed.
TheIntel Z77SATA6Gbpsportsproducedareadspeed
of 327MB/secandwritespeedof 379MB/secwell off
theexpected500+MB/sec.
CONCLUSI ON
DespiteeasilypushingourCPUto4.8GHz, the
TZ77XE4isletdownbyannoyingEFI nuances, poor
SATA6Gbpsspeedsandclunkylayoutdecisions. Its
notbadperse, butyoucangetbetterelsewhere.
HARRY BUTLER
SUPER NOVA
Easy to overclock
BLACK HOLE
Just three 3-pin
headers; suicidal
EFI ash system
BIOSTARTZ77XE4
Overclocks well, but has poor SATA speeds and a clunky EFI
B
70
scores
79
customPC
OVERALL
SPEED 39/ 45
FEATURES 21 / 30
VALUE 19/ 25
70 July 2012
HOW MUCH?
Price158incVAT
Supplier
www.cclonline.com
Manufacturerhttp://uk.
gigabyte.com/
f theAsusMaximusVGene(seep64)
isthelean, stripped-downcoupe,
thentheGigabyteGA-Z77X-UD5H
istheluxury, fully-loadedSUV. This
full-sizeATXboardisstuffedwithextra
features, slotsandports. Plus, considering
thatitcostsjust10morethantheGene, this
putsitinacommandingpositionfromtheoutset.
Asyoudexpect, theUD5Hsupportsboth
CrossFireXandSLI multi-GPUsetups, withthreefull-
sizedPCI-Eslots. All threearePCI-E3(oneat16x, two
at8x, andthreeat8x, 4and4x), althoughthethirdonly
workswhenanIvyBridgeCPUisinstalled. Thereare
alsothree1xPCI-E2slotsandaPCI slottoprovide
legacyexpansioncardsupport. Withsomany
expansionslots, theyrepredictablytightlypacked; fit
adual-slotgraphicscardintothetopPCI-E3slotand
youll losea1xslot, whileadual-slotcardinthemiddle
PCI-E3slotobscuresthePCI slot.
Thereareloadsof USB3portstoo. Aswell asthe
fourIntel USB3portsontherearI/Opanel, thereare
threeinternal headersthatprovidetwoportseach,
bringingthetotal totenUSB3ports. TherearI/Opanel
alsoboastsapairof 1Gb/secLANports, eSATA,
FireWire, anddisplayoutputsviaDVI, VGA, DisplayPort
andHDMI.
Thecolour-codedSATAportsaremountedat
a90-degreeangletotheboardandoffer
plentyof storagepotential. Thestandard
fourSATA3Gbpsportsandpairof SATA
6GbpsportssuppliedbytheZ77chipset
areaccompaniedbyapairof Marvell
88SE9172SATA6Gbpsports. Whats
more, theresalsoanmSATAconnection
inthemiddleof theboardformountinga
compatiblemSATASSD, whichwill disableoneof
theSATA3Gbpsports.
Boardlayoutisforsensibleforthemostpart,
althoughtheverticallyaligned8-pinEPS12V
connectorshouldideallybehorizontal andcloserto
thetopof themotherboard. Five4-pinPWMfan
connectorsarealsoarrangedaroundtheperimeterof
theboard, andthereareon-boardpower, resetand
clear-CMOSbuttonsinthetop-rightcorneralongside
aPOST-codereader.
Locatedalongthebottomof theboardisatwo-way
toggleswitch, usedtoalternatebetweentheboards
dual-BIOSchips. Thisenablesyoutorun
performancebenchmarksoroverclock
withoneBIOS, beforeswitchingbackto
asafe versionwithnoill effects. Theres
evenanLEDindicatortoshowyouwhich
BIOSiscurrentlyactive. Itsagreatextra,
especiallywhencombinedwithGigabytes
Q-FlashBIOSupdatesystem.
Presumablyevenhigher-specGigabyteboards
shipwithakitchensink, aswerehard-pressedtofind
anyuseful extrasthattheUD5Hlacks. Itssupremely
well kittedout.
PERFORMANCE
Unlikesomeof theboardsontest, theUD5HTurbo
BoostedourCorei7-3770Kto3.9GHzregardlessof
howmanycoreswereunderload, givingitan
immediateadvantageinourMediaBenchmarks. An
overall scoreof 2,373is30pointsoff theGene, butthis
worksoutatjusta1percentgap. InArmaII, theUD5H
producedastrongminimumframerateof 116fps, the
jointhighestresult, whileaminimumframerateof
29fpsinShogun2: Total Warisagainjointhighest; this
isafineall-roundshowing.
JumpingintotheUD5HsEFI, yourefirstgreetedby
Gigabytesnew3DBIOS, avisual depictionof theboard
whereyoucansimplyclickonacomponenttoseeits
configurationsettings. Itsaneatinclusionif you
knowyourwayaroundamotherboard, butthe
AdvancedSettingmenuwill bemorefamiliarto
experiencedusers. Hereyoull findthefull arrayof
settings, althoughitcouldbemoreuser-friendly.
Therearenoon-screenexplanationsof settingsand
commonadjustments, suchasvcoreandmultiplier,
andtheyrealsoonseparatescreensratherthan
groupedtogether.
AswithmostZ77motherboards, overclockingthe
UD5Hrequiressurprisinglyfewadjustments. Raising
thevcoreto1.37V, settingvcoreloadlinecalibrationto
ZX SPECTRUM
Plenty of
expansion slots;
good overclocker;
dual LAN; dual
BIOS; mSATA
slot; loads of USB
3 ports
SINCLAIR C5
Many people
wont need so
many extras
GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UD5H
Fast, feature-rich and sensibly priced
THERES EVEN AN LED INDICATOR
TO SHOW YOU WHICH BIOS IS
CURRENTLY ACTIVE. ITS A GREAT
EXTRA WHEN COMBINED WITH
GIGABYTES Q-FLASH SYSTEM
71 July 2012
Z77 MOTHERBOARDS
89
OVERALL
SPEED 41 / 45
FEATURES 28/ 30
VALUE 20/ 25
ExtremeanddisablingtheIntel C-stateswasall that
wasrequiredtocrankuptheCorei7-3770Kto4.8GHz
(48x100). Thislevel of overclockisntforeveryone
though; IvyBridgeCPUsrunnotablyhotterthantheir
SandyBridgecounterpartsandyoull requirehefty
CPUcoolingtomaintainsuchclockspeeds.
Despitestrongstockperformance, however, the
UD5Hwasunderwhelmingwhenoverclocked. An
overall scoreof 2,741pointsinourMediaBenchmarks
was98pointsbehindthefastestboard, theASRock
Fatal1tyZ77Performance-M(seep63), witha
disappointingscoreof 4,033inthevideoencoding
testbeingover200pointsbehindthebestboards.
However, inArmaII theUD5Hdeliveredthehighest
minimumframerateontestwhenoverclockedit
managed137fps, whileitsminimumframerateof
34fpsinShogun2wasagainamongthehighest.
SATA6Gbpsperformancewasalsofair; theIntel
SATA6Gbpsportsperformedasexpected, withread
speedsof 541MB/secandwritespeedsof 507MB/sec,
whiletheMarvell SATA6Gbpsportsofferedmuch
slowerreadspeedsof 365MB/secandwritespeeds
of 239MB/sec.
CONCLUSI ON
TheUD5Hsperformanceisvariable, butthemargins
betweenitandthebestboardsareslim, andtheUD5H
accountswell foritself acrossall ourbenchmarks. It
alsoboastsenoughports, headersandslotsto
accommodateahugevarietyof hardwaresetups, as
well asgenuinelyuseful extrassuchasDual-BIOS.
Asus MaximusVGeneisfaster, butleanerwhenit
comestoextrassuchasPCI-Eports, whiletheUD5H
isalittleslower, buthasmoreextras. Assuch, the
Genejustedgesitbyanarrowmargin, butif you
requiretheadditional slotsandportsofferedbythe
UD5Hthenitsanexcellentchoice.
HARRY BUTLER
72
72 July 2012
HOW MUCH?
Price177incVAT
Supplier
www.lambda-tek.com
Manufacturer
www.intel.co.uk
ntelsownmotherboardsoftenplayalso-ran
toboardsfromdedicatedmanufacturers, but
Intel isclearlypushingtocorrectthis. Draped
inblueandblackfinerywiththeskull motif
retainedfrompreviousIntel boards, theDZ77GA-70K
lookssmart, anditspairof chunkyVRMcoolersshows
thatitisntdesignedforstockclockspeedseither.
CrossFireXandSLI aresupported, withtwofull-
sizedPCI-E3slots(one16xortwo8x). Therearealso
twoPCI slots, two1xPCI-E2slotsanda4xPCI-E3
slot. Meanwhile, therearI/Opanel sportsasingle
videooutput(HDMI), butoffersUSB3ports, dual 1Gb/
secLAN, eSATA, S/PDIFandevenaPS/2port. There
arealsotwoUSB3headersinside, andcolour-coded
SATAconnectorsthatclearlydifferentiatetheIntel
SATA6GbpsportsfromtheslowerMarvell ports.
Five4-pinPWMfanheadersarealsodottedaround
theboard, whileaPOST-codereader, powerandreset
buttons, andaclear-CMOSswitchmakeoverclocking
andtroubleshootingeasy. The24-pinATXpowercable
and8-pinEPS12Vportsareimpeccablyplacedtoo, in
linewithandascloseaspossibletotheboardsedges.
All fourcoresof ourCorei7-3770KTurboBoostedto
3.9GHz, promptinganoverall MediaBenchmarks
scoreof 2,373identical toGigabytesGA-Z77X-UD5H
(seep70). InArmaII, theDZ77GA-70Kscoredachart-
toppingminimumof 134fps, whileinShogun2, itagain
cameoutontopwithaminimumof 29fps.
Meanwhile, Intelsnew-lookVisual BIOSEFI was
unlikethatof anyotherboardontestyousimply
moveaslideruptoamaximumof 4.5GHz. Itssoeasy
thatevenagovernmentadvisorontheDigital
EconomyActcouldmanageit. Therearemore
in-depthoverclockingoptionstuckedawaydeeper
withintheEFI, andtheseenabledustopushourCore
i7-3770Kto4.8GHz. Toachievethis, wesetthevcoreto
1.37VandtheLoadLineCalibrationtoPerformance,
thendisabledtheIntel C-states, andincreasedthe
burstandsustainedpowersettingsto500each.
Thisimprovedspeedsgreatly, withanoverall
scoreof 2,832inourMediaBenchmarksjustseven
pointsoff theAsusMaximusVGene(seep64). The3D
performancewasalsosuperb, withaminimumframe
rateof 135fpsinArmaII and33fpsinShogun2.
CONCLUSI ON
TheDZ77GA-70Kofferscompetitivefeaturesand
speed, andwhileitsEFI isgearedtowardsnewbies,
therearesufficientdeepersettingstooverclockas
well asanyotherboardontest, albeitnotaseasily.
However, the177priceisadrawback, andtheGene
andUD5Hoffercomparableperformanceforless.
HARRY BUTLER
SANDY BRIDGE
Good
performance;
capable
overclocker;
sensible features
NETBURST
Too expensive;
restrictive EFI
INTEL DZ77GA-70K
Well equipped, fast and easy to overclock, but too expensive
Z77 MOTHERBOARDS
74
scores
82
customPC
OVERALL
SPEED 41 / 45
FEATURES 24/ 30
VALUE 17 / 25
74 July 2012
HOW MUCH?
Price76incVAT
Supplierwww.ebuyer.com
Manufacturer
http://uk.msi.com
tjust76, MSIsZ77Acostshalf thepriceof
theGigabyteUD5H(seep70), butitscrimps
onextras. WhileCrossFireXissupported, SLI
isnt, andtheresjustasingle16xPCI-E3
slot, witha16x-sizedPCI-E2slotonlyrunningat4x.
Thereareplentyof otherexpansionslots, though,
includingtwo1xPCI-E2slotsandthreePCI slots. The
rearI/Opanel hoststwoUSB3ports, fourUSB2ports,
PS/2and1Gb/secLAN, alongwithVGA, DVI andHDMI
outputs. TheresnoeSATAthough; theboardsports
onlythesixSATAportssuppliedbytheZ77chipset(two
SATA6GbpsandfourSATA3Gbps).
Theresagoodarrayof fanheaders, however, with
five(includingthree4-pinPWMconnectors) arranged
aroundtheboard, althoughnotinthelowerhalf.
Meanwhile, the8-pinEPS12Vconnectorismounted
closetoandinlinewiththeboardstopedge, andthe
24-pinATXblocksitsalittlewayinfromtheedge, but
itsstill easytoreach.
TheG43sVRMcircuitryandcoolingarealso
reducedincomparisontothepriciercompetition, with
notablyfewerphasesandsmallerheatsinks. Aquick
lookintheEFI explainswhy; youcanonlyadda
maximumof 0.06Vtothevcore. Likeafewother
boardsinthistest, theG43onlyTurboBoostedour
Corei7-3770Kto3.9GHzwhenjustoneortwocores
wereunderload. Thisresultedinanoverall scorein
ourMediaBenchmarksof 2,197thelowestontest.
Itsminimumframerateof 103fpsinArmaII wasalso
atthebottomof thetable, althoughthe29fpsin
Shogun2wasmorecompetitive.
Withitscut-downEFI, overclockingtheG43proved
troublesome. Failedoverclockrecoveryisnon-
existenttheonlyoptionisaCMOSreset. Thelimited
vcoreoptionsalsomeantthatwecouldntpushour
CPUtoitsmaximumof 4.8GHz, insteadsettlingwith
4.4GHz. Thismaybeamorereal-worldoverclock,
consideringthecoolingrequiredtomaintaina4.8GHz
IvyBridgechip, butthelackof scopeisashame.
Duetoitsloweroverclock, theG43againbrought
uptherearinourMediaBenchmarks, withanoverall
scoreof 2,553286behindthefastestboards. Its
minimuminArmaII wasalsoonly125fps12fps
behindthebest, whileitsminimumof 33fpsinShogun
2 wasfairer, butstill behindthefastestboards.
CONCLUSI ON
TheG43maybecheap, butitsbeenstrippeddowntoo
far. Wecanforgivethelackof SLI andextraSATAports,
butitsalsocomparativelyslowandlacksoverclocking
features. Itsworthconsideringif fundsaretight, but
thepricierboards extrasareworththeinvestment.
HARRY BUTLER
A
BOOM
Costs just 76;
still overclocks
to 4.4GHz
BUST
Limited
overclocking
features; no SLI;
very few extras
MSI Z77A-G43
A budget Z77 entry, but with limited overclocking and features
Z77 MOTHERBOARDS
76
scores
73
customPC
OVERALL
SPEED 38/ 45
FEATURES 13/ 30
VALUE 23/ 25
76 July 2012
HOW MUCH?
Price149incVAT
Supplierwww.ebuyer.com
Manufacturer
http://uk.msi.com
heMSI Z77A-GD65iscurrentlyMSIstop-
endZ77-basedmotherboardand, asyoud
expect, it boastsasuitablyexhaustivelist of
featuresandall thenecessaryoptionsto
overclockanIvyBridgeCPUtoitslimits. At 149, its
reasonablypricedtoo, duellingit out withtheAsus
MaximusVGene(seep64) andtheGigabyteGA-Z77X-
UD5H(seep70).
Withitstop-endcredentials(andapricetagnearly
doublethat of theG43(seep74), therearetonnesof
extrafeaturesondisplay. CrossFireXandSLI areboth
supported, withthreefull-sizedPCI-E3slots(oneat
16x, twoat 8x, threeat 8x4x4x), althoughthethird
slot isonlyactivatedwhenusinganIvyBridgeCPU.
Theresalsoawhoppingcount of four1xPCI-E2
slots, althoughoddlynoPCI slotstoprovidelegacy
expansioncardsupport.
Theboardlayout isdecent, althoughanydual-slot
graphicscardfittedintooneof thePCI-E3slotswill
obscurea1xPCI-E2slot below. The8-pinEPX12V
connectorisfittedhorizontallyandclosetotheedge
of theboard, whilethe24-pinATXconnectorisalso
placedwithineasyreach. Meanwhile, fivefanheaders
(three4-pinPWMandtwo3-pin) areevenlyspaced
aroundtheboard; on-boardpowerandreset buttons,
aswell asaPOST-codereader, areall present.
TheresalsoMSIsuniqueOCGeniebutton. When
pressed, thisswitchtriggersaself-
overclockingprocessuponstart-up,
althoughitsof limitedusewhenyou
considertheeasewithwhichyoucan
manuallyoverclockIvyBridgeCPUs
onZ77. UnderliningtheGD65s
overclockingfocus, theresavoltage
checkpoint connectorfittednext tothe
24-pinATXconnector, althoughthisisaninclusion
that onlypro-overclockerswill use.
LookingtotheboardsrearI/Opanel, youll find
asimilarlayout tothat of MSIsZ77AG43(seep74),
albeit withafewnewadditions. Apairof USB3ports,
1Gb/secLANandaPS/2port arejoinedbyboth
coaxial andoptical S/PDIFoutputs, aswell asDVI,
VGAandHDMI displayoutputs. Theresalsoclear-
CMOSbutton, useful forresettingtheEFI without
scrabblingforcasescrews.
Sadly, theresnoeSATA, but internallytherearethe
standardsixZ77SATA6Gbps/3Gbpsports, aswell as
apairof SATA6GbpsportsprovidedviaanASMedia
controller. WhiletheASMediaandIntel SATA6Gbps
portsarebothwhite, theyrearrangedat eitherendof
thestackof 90-degreeSATAconnectorstoreduce
confusion. Aswithalmost everyotherboardontest,
wefoundtheadditional SATA6Gbpsportstobefar
inferiortoIntelsown. TheZ77SATA6Gbpsports
offeredreadspeedsof 541MB/secandwritespeeds
of 499MB/sec, comparedtotheASMediaSATA6Gbps
ports readspeedof 395MB/secandwritespeedof
381MB/sec.
Adual BIOSisalsohandilyincluded; thisisuseful
whentryingout anewversionof theboardsEFI
without riskingstability. Aswitchonthebottomedge
of theboardenablesyoutoeasilytogglebetweenthe
twoBIOSchips.
PERFORMANCE
Oddlyforahigh-endboard, at itsdefault settings,
theZ77A-GD65onlyTurboBoostedourIntel Core
i7-3770Kto3.9GHzwhenjust oneortwocores
wereunderload.
Withthreecoresloaded, it cappedat 3.8GHz, and
withall fourcoresloaded, it peakedat 3.7GHz. These
aretheguidelineboost levelsfortheCPU, but four
of theotherboardsontest boostedto3.9GHz
regardlessof coreload, andthisplacedtheGD65at
adisadvantagewhenit cametostockperformance.
Anoverall scoreof 2,219pointsinourMedia
Benchmarkswasthesecondlowest ontest, whilea
minimumframerateof 106fpsinArmaII was10fps
slowerthanthetopperformer.
However, overclockingtheGD65tounlockthe
performanceof ourtest CPUprovedextremelyeasy,
withMSI itself advisingthat weonlyneededto
increasethevcoreandmultipliertheboardtook
careof therest. Thisprovedtobeaccurate, aswith
avcoreof 1.4Vwehadnotroubleachievingastable
4.8GHz(48x100) overclock.
ZZ TOP
Comprehensive
feature set; well
laid out EFI; easy
to overclock
ZZZZ
Slightly lacking in
performance
MSI Z77A-GD65
A decent board, but overshadowed by the Gene and UD5H
T
THE EFI IS SUPERIOR TO THAT OF
THE G43, WITH A HUGE ARRAY OF
ADJUSTMENT OPTIONS. AND ALL
THE IMPORTANT OVERCLOCKING
SETTINGS GROUPED ON ONE SCREEN
77 July 2012
Z77 MOTHERBOARDS
86
OVERALL
SPEED 40/ 45
FEATURES 26/ 30
VALUE 20/ 25
TheEFI isalsovastlysuperiortothat of theG43,
withahugearrayof adjustment optionsandall the
important overclockingsettingsgroupedtogether
onjust onescreen. Thelackof on-screensetting
descriptionswasalittledisappointing, aswasthe
useof drop-downmenusratherthanmanual entry
foranumberof settings, but forthemost part, MSI
canbeproudof theGD65sEFI, andparticularlythe
easeof whichit overclocks.
WiththeCPUnowTurboBoostingto4.8GHz
regardlessof coreload, performanceimproved
dramatically, but comparatively, theGD65wasstill a
littleoff thepace. Ascoreof 1,802inthemulti-tasking
portionof ourMediaBenchmarkssuite wasover200
pointsbelowthescorefromthefastest board, while
itsoverall scoreof 2,742wasalmost 100pointsbelow
thequickest board. InArmaII, theGD65wasagaina
littlelacking, withaminimumframerateof 131fps
beingthelowest of anyboardthat overclockedto
4.8GHz. TherewasnosuchworryinShogun2,
though, withaminimumframerateof 34fps
matchingthebest ontest.
CONCLUSI ON
AsMSIscurrent top-endZ77motherboard, the
Z77A-GD65offersall thefeaturesyoudexpect,
tickingall themulti-GPU, USB3, SATA6Gbpsand
expansionslot boxes.
However, itsperformancewasalittlelacking, both
at stockspeeds, whereit stuckrigidlytotheCore
i7-3770KsTurboBoost specswhileothersforged
ahead, andwhenoverclocked, whereit provedtobe
theslowest of theboardscapableof a4.8GHzCPU
frequency. Itsbynomeansapoorboard, but boththe
GeneandUD5Harebetterchoices.
HARRY BUTLER
80
2012 NVIDIA Corporation. NVIDIA, the NVIDIA logo, and GeForce are registered trademarks of NVIDIA Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. All rights reserved.
80 July 2012
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O
C
K
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81 July 2012
Z77 MOTHERBOARDS
82
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82 July 2012
FEATURE TABLE
ASRockFatal1tyZ77Professional-M AsusMaximusVGene AsusSabertoothZ77 BiostarTZ77XE4
* Price (inc VAT) 136 151 180 133
Supplier www.ginger6.com www.scan.co.uk www.ebuyer.com www.ebuyer.com
Manufacturer www.asrock.com http://uk.asus.com http://uk.asus.com http://www.biostar.com.tw
FormFactor Micro-ATX Micro-ATX ATX ATX
Dimensions (mm) 244 x 244 244 x 244 305 x 244 305 x 244
Features
Chipset Intel Z77 Intel Z77 Intel Z77 Intel Z77
RAID 0, 1, 5 and 10 via Intel Z77 0, 1, 5 and 10 via Intel Z77 0, 1, 5 and 10 via Intel Z77 0, 1, 5 and 10 via Intel Z77
Audio 8-channel HDAudio via Realtek
ALC898
8-channel SupremeFX III 8-channel HDAudio via Realtek
ALC898
8-channel HDAudio via Realtek
ALC898
Fan headers 5 5 8 3
Ports and slots
IGPOutputs DisplayPort, HDMI, VGA, DVI-D DisplayPort, HDMI DisplayPort, HDMI DisplayPort, HDMI, VGA, DVI-D
16x PCI-E 2 x PCI-E 3 (one 16x, two 8x),
2 x PCI-E 2 (4x only)
2 x PCI-E 3 (one 16x, two 8x) 2 x PCI-E 3 (one 16x, two 8x) 2 x PCI-E 3 (one 16x, two 8x)
1 x PCI-E 2 (4x)
Additional PCI-E One 1x One 4x Three 1x, one 4x One 1x
PCI 0 0 0 2
DIMM 4 slots (max 32GB) 4 slots (max 32GB) 4 slots (max 32GB) 4 slots (max 32GB)
Storage 2 x SATA 6Gbps, 4 x SATA 3Gbps
(Intel Z77) 2 x SATA 6Gbps
(ASMedia)
2 x SATA 6Gbps, 2 x 3Gbps, 1 x
3Gbps eSATA (Intel Z77) 2 x SATA
6Gbps (ASMedia)
2 x SATA 6Gbps, 4 x 3Gbps, 1 x
3Gbps eSATA (Intel Z77) 2 x SATA
6Gbps, 2 x eSATA 6Gbps(ASMedia)
2 x SATA 6Gbps, 4 x SATA 3Gbps.
1 x eSATA (Intel Z77) 2 x SATA
6Gbps, (ASMedia 1061)
Audio 4 x surround audio. Optical
S/PDIF out
4 x surround audio. Optical
S/PDIF out
4 x surround audio. Optical
S/PDIF out
4 x surround audio. Optical
S/PDIF out
Network BroadcomBCM57781 Gigabit
Ethernet LAN
Intel Gigabit Ethernet LAN Intel Gigabit Ethernet LAN Realtek RTL8111E Gigabit LAN
USB2/USB3 8/6 8/6 10/6 8/4
Multi-GPU CrossFireX, SLI CrossFireX, SLI CrossFireX, SLI CrossFireX, SLI
FireWire 0 0 0 2
Overclocking
Base Clock range 95-150 80-300 80-300 95-300
CPUmultiplier
range
16-63 36-63 36-63 16-63
CPUvoltage (max) 0.6V-1.7V 0.8-2.155V 0.8-1.99V 1-1.79V
Other
Cooling Passive VRMand Southbridge
heatsinks
Passive VRMand Southbridge
heatsinks
Passive or actively cooled VRM
and Southbridge heatsinks
Passive Southbridge and VRM
heatsinks
Extras POST-code readout, power and
reset, Lucid Virtu, switches,
CMOS-clear switch
POST-code readout, power and
reset switches, CMOS-clear
switch, SupremeFX Audio Shield-
ing and SupremeFX LEDlighting,
Lucid Virtu, mSATA Port
2 x 40mmfans, Lucid Virtu,
mSATA Port, Thermal Armour,
POST-code readout, power and
reset switches, CMOS-clear
switch, Lucid Virtu
* Prices correct at time of going to press
83 July 2012
Z77 MOTHERBOARDS
GigabyteGA-Z77X-UD5H IntelDZ77GA-70K MSIZ77A-G43 MSIZ77A-GD65
158 177 76 149
www.cclonline.com www.lambda-tek.com www.ebuyer.com www.ebuyer.com
http://uk.gigabyte.com/ http://www.intel.co.uk http://uk.msi.com http://uk.msi.com
ATX ATX ATX ATX
305 x 244 305 x 244 305 x 244 305 x 244
Intel Z77 Intel Z77 Intel Z77 Intel Z77
0, 1, 5 and 10 via Intel Z77 0, 1, 5 and 10 via Intel Z77 0, 1, 5 and 10 via Intel Z77 0, 1, 5 and 10 via Intel Z77
8-channel HDAudio via Realtek ALC898 8-channel Intel HDAudio 8-channel HDAudio via Realtek ALC898 8-channel HDAudio via Realtek ALC898
5 4 5 5
DisplayPort, HDMI, VGA, DVI-D HDMI, VGA, DVI-D HDMI, VGA, DVI-D HDMI, VGA, DVI-D
3 x PCI-E 3 (one 16x, one 8x, one 4x) 2 x PCI-E 3 (one 16x, two 8x) 1 x PCI-E 3 (16x), one 4x PCI-E 2 3 x PCI-E 3 (one 6x, two 8x, one 8x and
two 4x)
Three 1x Two 1x, one 4x Two 1x Four 1x
1 2 3 0
4 slots (max 32GB) 4 slots (max 32GB) 4 slots (max 32GB) 4 slots (max 32GB)
2 x SATA 6Gbps, 4 x SATA 3Gbps (Intel
Z77) 3 x SATA 6Gbps, 1 x eSATA 6Gbps
(Marvell 88SE9172)
2 x SATA 6Gbps (Intel Z77), 2 x SATA
6Gbps (Marvel 88SE9172), 4 x SATA
3Gbps, 1 x eSATA 6Gbps (Intel Z77)
2 x SATA 6Gbps, 4 x SATA 3Gbps (Intel
Z77)
2 x SATA 6Gbps, 4 x SATA 3Gbps. (Intel
Z77) 2 x SATA 6Gbps, (ASMedia 1061)
4 x surround audio. Optical S/PDIF out 4 x surround audio. Optical S/PDIF out 4 x surround audio 4 x surround audio. Optical S/PDIF out
Atheros Gigabit LAN, Intel Gigabit LAN Dual Intel Gigabit Ethernet LAN Realtek RTL8111E Gigabit LAN Intel Gigabit Ethernet LAN
6/10 10/4 10/4 10/4
CrossFireX, SLI CrossFireX, SLI CrossFireX CrossFireX, SLI
2 2 0 2
80-133.33 100-120 0.01-616 0.01-605
16-63 5-65 16-63 16-63
0.8-1.9v 1-1.92V +0.06V 0.8-1.8V
Passive Southbridge and VRMheatsinks
with heatpipe
Passive Southbridge and VRMheatsinks Passive Southbridge and VRMheatsinks Passive Southbridge and VRMheatsinks
POST-code readout, power and reset
switches, CMOS-clear switch, Lucid
Virtu
POST-code readout, power and reset
switches, CMOS-clear switch
POST-code readout, power and reset
switches, CMOS-clear switch, Lucid
Virtu
84 July 2012
86
GRUMPYGAMER
UpforaLARP
88
THELEGENDOFGRIMROCK
Hiptobesquare
90
RAYMAN:ORIGINS
Afairco-op
91
GETTYSBURG:ARMOREDWARFARE
What wereGettysingat
92
RISEN2:DARKWATERS
Arr, Risen!
95
RIDGERACER:UNBOUNDED
Inabind
96
DEVPERSPECTIVE
Bite-sizedhardcoregaming
Amnesia:
AMachineFor Pigs
Amnesia:TheDarkDescentwasoneof
thebestgamesof2010,sowewere
alreadyveryexcitedaboutthesequel,
andthatanticipationonlyexpanded
whenwefoundoutTheChineseRoom,
developeroftheexcellentDearEsther,
wascollaboratingonthetitle.AMachine
ForPigsisstillshroudedinmysteryand
willlikelyremainthatwayuntilits
Halloweenrelease,buttheteamwas
kindenoughtoprovidethisexclusive
conceptartforus.DrawnbyBen
Andrews,itstitledTheTeslaField.
85 July 2012
Readers Night Wed, 6June, 9till late
Theplace OurCounter-Strike: Sourceserver
Whatyouneed Anup-to-dateCounter-Strike:
Sourceinstallation
GAMESERVERIPADDRESSES
32-playerBC2 85.236.101.22:16667
32-playerCS:Source 85.236.101.24: 37015
FINDUSONSTEAM
Publicgroup http://steamcommunity.com/groups/
CustomPC
ModernWarfare2 http://steamcommunity.com/
groups/CustomWarfare2
cust
om
pc
EXCLUSIVEIMAGE
i
vejustreturnedfromapresseventthathadmerunningaround
LondonsEastEndlookingforelves, beingmock-seducedbyan
enchantedmaidenandsword-fightingamutantanarchist. What
didI learn?Thatsomegamesworkjustfinewithouttechnology.
Letmeexplain.
TheeventwasanARGorAlternateRealityGamedesignedto
celebrateTheWitcher2sEnhancedEditionanditstartedwhenI was
invitedtoabanquetinTemeria. Forthepurposesof theevening, this
hadbeenrelocatedtoaShoreditchpub. KingFoltestwouldgrantme
anaudience, saidtheinvite, if I wouldgo
throughashortregistrationprocess.
I dulyobligedandturneduptofindthefloor
coveredinhay, thestaff all infancydressand
astrangedesiretotalkall oldeworlde. My
audiencewiththeKingendedwithmebeing
framedforhisassassination, leadingtoan
hourof runningaroundLondoncompleting
quests. Thesimultaneoushighandlowpoints
werewhenabewitchedandscantilycladLady
LaValettebeggedmetobathewithherbeforeI brokethespell. It
soundscorny, butitwasactuallyamazing, andI washappytothrow
myself intotherolewithoutmyusual grumpandawkwardness.
Thiswasbecausethiswasntactuallymyfirsttimechasing
imaginarycreaturesthroughthereal world. Asayoungkidgrowing
upinthecountry, I wasbestowedwithtwoof thebestgiftsachildcan
everhaveadecentcomputerandaninventivefatherwho, during
theboringsummerholidays, wouldcreateelaborateARGstogetus
outof thehouse.
Mybrother, sistersandI spenthourssearchingforestsforpagan
gods, orcarryingMagnorelays madeof plywoodandsparepartsup
Technology is creeping into everything, but
some games work best when we leave the
computers at home
mountains. SowhileTheWitchersARGmayhavemadeothersfeel
awkward, I wasrightathome.
Beingsoateaseinthesettingonlyservedtomaketheintrusionof
technologyintothegameworldmorejarringthanitdidforothers,
however. InTheWitchersARG, mysmartphonebecomemyjournal,
throughwhichIdadvancetheplotbytaggingmylocation, answering
quizzesandsnappingpictures. Itworksperfectlyasanidea, butin
reality, theentireadventureoftengroundtoahaltasI waitedforpages
toload, orformyphonetorestartaftercrashing.
Technical problemsareissuesforgames
ofall typesandformats, somygripeisntthat
bugsexistthatsanunderstandablereality.
MygripeisthatI seetechnologybeingforced
intomoregamesthesedayswithoutany
goodreason. Thejournal appdidntmake
TheWitcherARGanybetterevenwhenit
worked, justasMassEffect3slazyadoption
of multiplayerdidntsubstantiallyimprove
thatgameeither.
Alotof peopledisagreewithme, of course, andsomeseemingly
arguethattechnologyshouldbepursuedandusedwheneverits
possible. Me?I saypursueitall youwant, butdontforceitintogames
unlessyouresurethatitwill makethembetter. I lovemysmartphone,
butI dontneeditall thetimesometimesbeingaskedtobathewith
LadyLaValetteisenough.
FIND ME ON TWITTER: @JOETHREEPWOOD
WHAT IM PLAYINGAreadventuregamesdead?Pendulo
Studiosdoesntthinkso. Ivebeendippingintoitslatestsatanic
thriller, Yesterday. Therewasnospaceforareview, so:6/10.
GETTINGBACK
TOBASICS
My brothers, sisters and
I spent hours searching
forests for pagan gods, or
carrying Magnorelays
made of plywood
GAMING
86 July 2012
THE KNOWLEDGE
Price10.99incVAT
PublisherAlmostHuman
Games
DeveloperAlmostHuman
Games
Website
www.grimrock.net
tCustomPCwelikealotof
differentgamesnewonesand
oldones, fancyonesandugly
ones. Ourtastesrangefrom
exoticanddivisivetitlessuchasDear
Esthertoconventionalfaresuchas
SeriousSam. Whatwelovemorethan
anythingelse, though, aregamesthatknow
withoutdoubtorerrorwhattheyareattheircore;
titleswithaconsistencyofvisionsobrightandstrong
thatitrunsthroughthemlikeaveinofplatinum.
Basically, wemeangamessuchastheTheLegend
ofGrimrock;aback-to-basicsdungeoncrawlerwith
amodernfacelift. Treadingintheancientfootprints
ofDungeonMasterandBloodwych, Grimrock
presentsyouwithbeast-infestedhallways, many
flushwithsecretsandloot, whichmustbecleared
tilebytile. Youhavefourheroeswithwhichto
completethetask, eachofwhomisaconvicted
criminalwhohasbeenpromisedapardoniftheycan
findtheexittothedungeon;eachofthesecanbe
customisedtofillaroleintheteam.
Constantlyawareofitsheritage,
Grimrockstickssteadfastlytomanyof
thetropesthatmorecontemporary
adaptationswouldhaveabandonedin
favourofaccessibility. Yourfourheroes
travelina2x2formation, forexample,
withonlythefronttwochampionsable
toattackfoeswithstandardmelee
weaponsthoseatthebackmustusemagic,
polearmsormissilestodothejob.
Deathbycombatisntthebiggestthreat
inGrimrockshallseither;heroesmust
bewaryofsuccumbingtoexhaustion,
encumbranceorhunger. Illuminationmust
bepreservedtoo, astorcheshaveafinite
lifespanandthemazesthatfillthedungeonsare
almostimpossibletotraverseinthedark, especially
inlaterlevelswheretrapsandpuzzlesbecome
increasinglyfiendish.
Thankfully, ondefaultdifficulty, thegameis
balancedsoasnottooverwhelm, withtorches
scatteredplentifullyandlevelmapsfillingout
automatically. Itsstillchallenging, butitdoesnt
requirethesamepersistenceasOldSchoolMode,
whichadvisesyouupfronttobringsquaredpaper.
WhileGrimrocktreadsinthefootstepsofgiants,
itstillleavesitsownmark. Collectivedreamsanda
compellingsettingweavemorestoryintothetale
thanitsforebears, whilethegraphicsareonapar
withsomeAAAshooters.
Meanwhile, themagicsystem
requiresplayerstocastspellsviaagrid
ofsigils, ratherthansimplyselecting
whicheffecttohurlatyourfoes. Thisis
morehasslethansimplysluggingaway
withasword, butthatsthepoint;its
harderbecauseitsmoreeffective. The
combatmovesataconstant, regular
A
THELEGENDOFGRIMROCK
DUNGEON
MASTER
Faithful dungeon
crawling; looks
gorgeous
MASTER
BASTER
Difcult; inexible
magic system
Squaredpaper optional
88 July 2012
95
OVERALL
GOOD OLD
GRIMROCK
YoucanbuyGrimrock
fromthedeveloperand
Steam, butItsalsoin
GOGsnewgames
catalogue, ReadourGOG
interviewonp14.
REVIEW
rhythmandlearningtousethespellgridinthe
midstofabattlereapssuitablerewards, althoughits
ashameitcantbedisabledatlowerdifficultylevels.
Grimrockisntafraidtopunishorpushyou,
makingitfeelallthemorerewardingand
compelling. Thisisafarcryfromgamessuchas
DragonAge2orCallofDuty, which
managetopracticallyplay
themselvesdespitetheglossof
moralchoicesandadaptiveAI, andit
feelsbetterforit.
JOE MARTIN
89 July 2012
GRAPHICS COMPARISON
TheLegendof Grimrocksgenreandstylemightbeold-fashioned, butitstile-
basedstructurereapsgreatrewardsintermsof graphical presentation. The
regularityof thedungeonandthelimitedrangeof environmentspossiblewithin
thesettinghasenableddeveloperAlmostHumanGamestouptheantewhenit
comestodetail.
Thedownsideof this,
though, isthatthereisnta
hugeamountof graphics
optionswithwhichto
tinker, althoughthefact
thattheresanyoptions
atall elevatesGrimrock
abovemostof the
console-porteddrossthat
clogsthesummerPC
charts. Playerscanalter
ShadowQuality, Texture
Resolution, SSAOand
TextureFiltering, along
withabunchof UI options.
Grimrockalsosupports
playinginWindowed
Modetoo.
Of all thesesettings,
theTextureoptionsmake
thebiggestimpactonthe
atmosphere. Youll be
seeinglotsof thesame
wall texturesoverand
overagain, sotheymay
aswell lookgood. The
screenshotsweveincludedshowtheimpactthesesettingscanmakewhen
flickedfromHightoLow, buttheyhaveanimpactongameplaytooonHigh
itsaloteasiertospotthehiddenbuttonsandsecretmessagesthatlitter
Grimrocksdungeon.
Dontletthisdiminishtheimportanceof theShadows, however, asthese
canalsoplayanimportantrole. CombatisfierceandfastinGrimrock,
andtheresoftennowaytoretreatfromabattleeasily, sobeingableto
identifyyourfoesandknowhowmanyenemieslieaheadcanbecrucial.
Weusedaudiocuesandshadowstoachievethisonmanyoccasions,
peeringaroundcornersusingtheFreelookoptiontogaugecoming
battles. ThisonlyworksonthehigherShadowsettingsthoughonLow
theresnoshadewhatsoever.
Theupsideof all thisisthatyoudontneedamonsterPCtomeetthe
recommendedrequirements4GBof RAMandaGPUwithShaderModel
3.0and512MBof VRAMwill dothetrick, accordingtoAlmostHuman. We
recommendaimingforhigher, though, especiallyif youreaimingfor
largerresolutions. OurRadeonHD6970managedtomaintainsolid
frameratesat2,560x1,680, butitwasclearlyworkinghard, asitsfan
whirredlikeanangryfighterplane.
L
O
W
H
I
G
H
Shadows
Textures
L
O
W
H
I
G
H
THE KNOWLEDGE
Price19.99 incVAT
PublisherUbisoft
DeveloperUbiArt
Websitehttp://
raymanorigins.uk.ubi.com
herearefewsimplergamingjoys
thancontrollingacharacterwith
aperfectandconsistent
senseof momentum,
suchasglidingacrosssmearsof
brownpixelsinQuake, androcket
jumpingoverlakesof lava. Itsa
happinesswefindagainwhen
controllingfloppy-fringed, limblessRaymanashe
flounces, bouncesandtrouncesthroughacresof
creatorMichel Ancelscaricaturisedimagination.
Rayman: Originsisntjust aplatformgame; its
theabsolutepinnacleof side-scrollingachievement,
immediatelycomparabletoclassicssuchasSonic,
MarioandJamesPond. Movementisjoyful, controls
areprecise, animationsarehilariousandtheover-
archingdesignislitteredwithsecrets, unlockable
partsandchallengesthatkeepyoucomingback. Its
theverybestof old-school gaming, combinedwiththe
verybestthatmoderntechnologycanprovide.
Eventhestoryisfittinglyincomprehensible; at
thestart, RaymansloudsnoringannoystheLivid
Dead, whotheninvadetheworldinretaliationand
spreadall mannerof corruption. Itsabafflingand
bizarreplot, butonethatsfaithful toboththe
irreverenceof earlierRaymangamesandthe
retrononsenseof olderplatformers.
Rayman: Originsisntjustanostalgic
throwback, however. UbisoftsUbiArt
Frameworkenableslevelsfarlarger
andmorevariedthananythingits
progenitorscouldmanage; eventhe
loadingscreensareinteractive. Theres
drop-inco-opforuptofourplayerstoo,
thoughitssadlylimitedtolocal playonly, andtherefore
requiresgamepadstoaccess. Itsworththeeffortto
organise, however, aslaterlevelsincreasethechaos
andcomplexitytosuchfantasticlevelsthatitsbest
appreciatedif youhavepalstoaid, grief anddrinkwith.
Besides, Originsgrowsprogressivelyharderasyou
ploughintoits60orsolevelsandyoull needthehelp
laterinthegame, nottomentiontheagilityoffered
bygamepads. Originsiseminentlyplayableona
keyboard, butitisnttheoptimuminputdevicefor
thisgenreand, asamulti-platformrelease, Origins
doesntfeaturemanycustomisationoptions.
Althoughthegamesdifficultycurvegets steepin
places, itsalsoforgiving. Therearenolivesorhealth
points; onehitwill kill youunlessyourecarryinga
power-up, buttheonlypunishmentisafewscenes
of retreat. Thiskeepstheexperienceaccessiblefor
playersof all skillsandages, sinceall thatsrequired
tosucceedisabitof persistenceandthumb-agility.
Rayman: Originsisstraightforwardand
simple,butwhilethiswouldbeaweakness
forsomegenres, itsastrengthforaside-
scrollingplatformer, enablingUbisoftto
focusonfine-tuningthelevel designand
art. Theresultisaplatformerthatsas
closetoperfectaswecanimagine.
JOE MARTIN
T
RAYMAN: ORIGINS
ORIGIN OF THE
SPECIES
Precise; kinetic;
co-op play
EAS ORIGIN
Ideally needs a
gamepad
armless Fun
99
OVERALL
90 July 2012
DEMO-MAN
Rememberwhenevery
majorgamehadafree
demoversion?Wemourn
thatthisisnolongerthe
caseformostgames.
Thankfully, Rayman:
Originsisntjustold-
fashionedintermsof
presentationandstyle,
butalsoreleasestrategy.
Theresnothird-party
DRMandyoucangraba
freedemofromwww.
raymanorigins.com
July 2012 91
THE KNOWLEDGE
Price7.99 incVAT
PublisherParadox
Interactive
DeveloperRadioactive
Software
Website
www.armoredwarfare.com
evebeenprettypositiveaboutGettysburg
intherun-uptolaunch, writingplentyof
positivepreviewsandheapingpraiseon
one-mandeveloperRadioactiveSoftware
bythegoopybucketful. Weveseenitdemoedmany
timesandhavefalleninlovewiththequiethumilityof
creatorDannyGreen, whomadetheentiregame
prettymuchall byhimself.
Assuch, passingthisfinal judgementbreaksour
hearts, becausetherealityisthatGettysburgdoesnt
liveuptoevenafractionof thehypewehelpedcreate.
Itisntevenjustoneproblemthatprevents
Gettysburgfromachievingitspotential; itsawhole
rangeof issuesrangingfromthe obvioustothestrictly
superficial. Forexample, theresnomanual ortutorial,
withplayersapparentlyabandonedtofigureout
everythingforthemselvesinabewilderingfusionof
RTSandthird-personmechanicsinaCivil-War-with-
time-travel setting. Thereisntevenacontrol menu,
soyoucantvieworchangethedefaultkey-bindings.
Gettysburgsbasicconceptisthatupto64players
incorporeallylookdownonhugebattlefieldsand
eitherdirectAI-drivenunitsfromaboveorpossess
individual units. Itsafairlyneatidea, butinpractice
itscrippledbyalackof informationandseeminglyno
efforttobalanceunitsagainsteachother. Takecontrol
of aninfantrysolider, forexample, andyoull receive
noinformationabouttheirhealthorammocount. Not
thatanyonedoesplayasthesoldiers, of coursethe
tanksarebyfarthemostpowerful unitonthefieldand
havenoapparentdownsides.
Asif thatwasntenough, aseriesof feedback,
graphical andphysicsissuesunderminethegame
further. Infantryrifleshotsbounceoff thegroundat
weirdangles, forexample, whiledrivingvehiclesinto
hedgesandwallscausestheobstacletosuddenly
disappearinchunks. Unitmodelsarealsounreal-
lookingmonstrositieswithash-greyskin
andleadeneyes, whilevehicleshandle
withall thepersonalityof awheeliebin
full of bricks.
Eventhesmall handful of levels
doesnthelp, witheachof thembeing
unerringlyflatter, darkerandmore
unappealingthanasliceof wet
pumpernickel. Theonlyobjectsfortheinfantrytohide
behindareafewraretreesandtheregularwalls
which, thoughtheyvapouriseundertanktreads, are
apparentlyresistanttocannonfire.
Itstemptingtogointootherproblems,
whichevenextendtothetiny, too-square
fontusedformostof theon-screeninfo,
butthiswouldonlybelabourthepoint;
thatGettysburg: ArmoredWarfareisa
messthatwecantrecommendinitits
current, tragicallyruinedstate.
JOE MARTIN
W
GETTYSBURG:
ARMOREDWARFARE
FUN
Steam Workshop
support incoming
FUNCTION
No manual;
no depth; poor
graphics
Alls fareinloveandwar
10
OVERALL
REVIEW
SAVING
GRACE
Onepositiveaspectto
takefromGettysburgs
currentstateisthatlone
developerDannyGreen
isatleastresponding
openlyandquicklytoalot
ofthecomplaintsviathe
officialSteamforums.
Hesalreadytakenon
manysuggestionsfor
fixesandadditions, and
haspledgedtoaddmore
features, suchasaWorld
Editorwithintegrated
SteamWorkshop
support, inthefuture.
MaybeGettysburgwill
getbetter, butits
currentlyhardtoseehow
itcouldgetmuchworse.
REVIEW
THE KNOWLEDGE
Price39.99 incVAT
PublisherDeepSilver
DeveloperPiranhaBytes
Websitewww.risen2.com
isen2isfull of amusingand
assumedlyunintentional
inconsistencies. Youcan
slaughterturkeystosalvage
chickenmeatfromtheircorpses, for
example. Itsalsoagamethatdoes
littletoeasenewcomersintothelore,
dumpingyouintoaworldfilledwith
strange-soundingfactionsandmonsters
thatbattlewithhumanity.
Instead, if youhaventplayedthe
original, youll havetopickupthestory
bybadgeringNPCsforanswersand
trawlingtheInternet. Eventually, youll
learnthathumanityislockedinawar
withapowerful raceof monsters
calledTitansandthatyourquestis
tofindaweapontodefeatthem. This
involvesmuchadventuringonthe
highseaswithmenof lowmoral fibrealthough, as
thatMonkeyIslandreferencesuggests, thesettingis
morewhimsythangritty.
WhileRisen2ishasapiratefantasysetting, itstill
adherestotheusual RPGtropes. Thereareafew
tweaksadmittedlycompletingquestsgainsyou
Glory, ratherthanExperiencebut, sinceGloryisstill
usedtoupgradeyourcharacter, thatsacosmetic
exampleonly. Instead, Risenrunsthe
predictablegamutof fetchquestsand
collectormissions, withtheusual mixof
stealth, magicandcombatskills.
Thisisntnecessarilybad, andRisen2
isstill enjoyable, buttherearefewplaces
whereitexcelsandevenfewerwhereit
surprises. Combat, forexample, is
mostlysimplisticuntil
youveputinenough
hourstoenableyouto
wieldsword, musketand
fistall atonce. Eventhenthe
actionstrugglestobenotablefor
anythinginparticularitsjust
standardbutton-mashingfare.
However, Risen2clawsbacksomeground
inthepresentationof theworld. Itsboth
massiveandverypretty, lookingbrightand
beautiful, andoftendirectlycontrastingwith
theugly-facedNPCsthatfill it.
Unfortunately, whiletheproduction
valuesarehighinavisual sense, they
crumbleinothers. Thescripthas little
finesse, forexample, withhardlyany
tensionbuiltintotheadventure; youcan
spendthefirstfewhourslearninghow
tosneakfromcapturedprisonersandstealingclothes
fromtropical settlers. ItsafarcryfromtheTitan-
destroyingstorythatRisen2seemstothinkitstelling.
Itsthislackof polishthatwoundsRisen2. The
mechanics, suchastherulesandcombatsystem,
areadequatelydesignedwithoutbeingexceptional
orterrible. However, theothersideof theequationis
equal partsof unbridledambitionandfailedpotential.
Risen2aimstobelikeTheWitcher2on
boats, buttheroughedgesmeanthat
itnevergetsmorethanhalfwaytothat
loftygoal. Theresultisanunremarkable,
by-the-numbersRPG. Itisntbadper
se, buttheresabunchof attractive
alternativesofferingstiff competition.
JOE MARTIN
R
RISEN2: DARKWATERS
PIECES OF
GREAT
Looks great; large
world; pirates!
PIECES OF
HATE
Ropey story;
uninteresting
combat
Has Pollygot acracker?
70
OVERALL
92 July 2012
PORTS
TheoriginalRisenhada
difficultmulti-platform
launch, asPiranhaBytes
handedconsole-porting
dutiestothird-party
Wizarbox.ThePCversion
wasmoderatelyhailed,
whiletheconsoleversion
wasslammedfor
numerousglitches.
PiranhaBytes response
wastodesignthesequel
forconsolesfromthe
start, ratherthanporting
itlater. Um, yay?
AVAILABLE AT:
Titanium Internet Security 2012
April 2012
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ADVANCED+
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www.ebuyer.com www.dabs.com
So, youwant togofaster?
REVIEW
July 2012 95
THE KNOWLEDGE
Price29.99 incVAT
PublisherNamcoBandai
DeveloperBugbear
Website
www.ridgeracer.com
elicatedrifts, hugespeedboostsandthesly
grinsthatresultfromdefeatingopponents
withnanosecondstospare; thesearethe
simplejoysthatgoodracinggamesoffer. By
thismetric, RidgeRacer: Unboundedisoneof the
mostjoyful racersweveplayedinalongtime.
Itsfast, itsmadanditslikenootherRidgeRacer
gameweveplayed, swappingtheseries usual, clean
circuitracingmotifsforsomething halfwaybetween
NeedforSpeedandBurnout. Theresultisaracing
gamebasedinthefictional, neon-bathedcityof
ShatterBay, wherethefocusislessoncleanlines
andmoreonsmashingthroughscenery. Theresa
verboseandgrand-soundingintroductionatthestart
of thegame, whichlecturesaboutracerstryingto
takebackthenight, butitsdrearyslopthatsbest
skippedthrough.
Instead, whatmattersistheracing, andthisis
whereUnboundedclearlytakesinfluencefromthe
Burnoutseries, asvariousriskybehaviours, suchas
drifting, will fill apower-upmeteratthebottomof
thescreen. Maxthisoutandyoull get
ashortbonuseffectracesyield
speedboosts, whileFrag
AttacksprovidePowerboosts
thatletyoupunchthrough
enemieslikewetbread.
Boostsarentmerelyuseful for
slammingthroughtheopposition, however
theycanalsotearthroughpartsof thesceneryand
uncovernewshortcuts. Thisbecomesespeciallyfun
inFragAttacks, whereyourgoal istosmashasmany
policecarsaspossible.
All thisspeedandblitzingactionishandledwiththe
eleganceandgraceyoudexpectfromaMichael Bay
filmnoneatall. Thereshardlyanyguidanceformost
of thecoremechanics, forexample, but
whenthechancearisesforyoutoblowup
something, youcanexpectbigredcircles
highlightingyourtarget, whilebeingtold
toSMASH: TheShatterBayPD!
Unfortunately, thismeansUnbounded
crumbleswhenitcomestothefiner
details. ShatterBaycanquicklybecome
amonotonousplace
withrepetitivesights
andtoomuchbloom
lighting, whileother
areasmakeittooeasyto
breakthegame. Inoneof thefirststuntraceswe
found, wemanagedtoparkourcarontopof a
skyscraperjustafewsecondsafterstarting. While
theresaLevel Editor, itshardtocreateanythingtruly
differentfromthepre-mademaps, ascustomraces
havetobemadefromtilesthatyouunlockthrough
single-playerprogression.
Whiletheseissuescastashadow
onUnboundedsotherwisebrightand
bloom-saturatedglow, itremainsan
appreciablyhigh-speedexperience. If
youretiredof waitingforanewBurnout
thenitswell worthalook.
JOE MARTIN
D
RIDGERACER:
UNBOUNDED
NITROUS
Fast; challenging;
gorgeous
EXHAUST
Repetitive;
ludicrous
80
OVERALL
UNDER THE
HOOD
Ratherthansimplyusing
theUnreal3engine, like
manynewgames,
developerBugbearhas
insteaduseditsown,
custom-madegame
engineforRidgeRacer:
Unbounded. Specifically
designedforracing
titles, theunnamed
engineincludesa
bespokephysicssystem
andalsoenables
Unboundedtooverlay
in-gameinformation
overenvironmental
scenery, whichiswhy
youseeLap2/3
scrawledover
skyscrapersasyouplay.
96 July 2012
Cliff Harris
heresawholehostof peopleinthe
gamesindustry, usuallysittingat
desksinbigpublishinghouses, whose
jobistoanalysethemarket, lookatthe
attitudesof gamersandworkoutwhichsort
of gamesshouldbemadeforwhichaudience.
Unfortunately, ratherthangainingadeepand
genuineunderstandingof themakeupof
gamersinall theirvastcomplexity, aworrying
chunkof thosepeopleseemtoboil downthe
wholegamingdemographic intotwoeasily
labelledgroupstheycanputonaPowerPoint
slide. Heretheyare.
Hardcoregamersplayseriousanddeep
games, andtheyplayaLOT. Theyhavealotof
time, whichisinvestedingames. Theyplay
mods, readstrategyguidesandtheyre
probably14-year-oldboys. Theylikezombies
andkillingstuff. Theyplaygamessuchas
Skyrim, Call of Duty, Menof WarandStarcraft.
Theirfavouritecolourisdarkbrown, stained
withthebloodof orcs. Therearenowomenin
thisgroup, andnobodyovertheageof 20. They
probablyspendmostof theirnon-gaming
timeonforums. Toappeal tothem, weneed
buxomelvesinlingeriecuttingtheirenemies
headsintotinypiecesinexplicitgorygraphic
detail, preferablyinslowmotion.
Casual gamersplayfun, cuteandsimple
games, andonlyinshortchunks. Theycant
copewithtwomousebuttons, orreading
instructions. Theyhateviolence. Theyreall
40-plusmumswholikekittensandcooking.
TheyplaygamessuchasFarmvilleand
Peggle, andmatch-3 games. Theirfavourite
colouristhefluffywhiteof aponysmane,
drapedacrossabasketof flowers. Theyonly
clickonabuttonif ithasapastel colourand
bouncesupanddown.
Therearenomenatall inthisgroup, and
nobodyundertheageof 40. Thebestwayto
reachthisdemographicisbyadvertising
alongsideonlinearticlesaboutcookingand
reviewsof cleaningproducts.
Thebite-sizedhardcore
gamers manifesto
However, thisisavastsimplificationof the
truemakeupof gamersin2012.
I donthavealotof timetoplaygames, but
I lovedeepandseriousstrategygameswith
orcsandblood, andokay, maybetheodd
kitten, butitsakittenwithrazor-sharpclaws
whobattlesitsenemiesandearnsSteam
achievements. Imnotkeenonthe(frankly
embarrassing) half-nakedelves, butthen
Imnotkeenonfluffypastel-coloureduser
interfaceseither. I likeadecentfirst-person
militarysimulatorasmuchasthenext
person, butitdoesnthavetobemarketedas
thoughImusingittotakeoutmyfrustrations
withtheschool bully. Italsodoesntneedto
assumethatI havenootherlifebutgaming.
Whatmanygamedesignersseemtohave
missedisthatthe14-year-oldhardcore
gamersof yorearenowaged30or40-plus
withkids. Theyunderstandandloveserious
hardcoregamesbutdonthavealotof free
time. RightnowI genuinelyplaymore
Battlefield3thanAnno2070becauseAnno
takeslongertoloadforme, andthatwasted
timegratesinawaythatwouldneverhave
botheredthe11-year-oldme, waitingpatiently
fortenminutesashisZXSpectrumgame
loadeditsmighty48KBof memory.
Whatisitthatadultgamerssuchasmyself
andsomanyothers, stuckbetweenthese
groups, want. Couldtherebesuchathingas
bite-sizedhardcore?I reckonitspossible, so
letmepresentthefirstdraftof themanifesto.
THE BI TE-SI ZED HARDCORE
MANIFESTO S DEMANDS
01
Nopanderingtocasualgaming
stereotypes. Nogratuitouskittensor
cute cuddlycharacters.
02
Notime-wasting. Nosplashscreens,
introsorFMV. Wehave30minutes
tonightforgaming. Ensurethatall 30minutes
haveusinteractingwiththegame.
03
Nogrind. Wehavedayjobs;leavethe
grindtopeoplewithtimetoplayMMOs.
Instead, givemedecent, varyingcontent
withoutfiller. Anddontrewardgrindeither,
withbonusachievementsfortheamountof
timeplayed, or1,000low-level ratsclubbed.
I considermyself tobeanenthusiasticand
dedicatedplayerof Battlefield3andAnno
2070. DoyouthinkIveevenscratchedthe
surfaceof theunlocksandachievementsin
thesegames?No. Infact, I cantseehow
anyonewithadayjobcandoso. Dontmake
mefeel likeI onlyhaveaccessto10percentof
thegamefor90percentof thetimeI playit.
T
Brightcolours!Cuteanimals!Theunnecessarysimplificationofcasualgaming
97 July 2012
04
Nocheapin-gameitems
forsale. Wehaveproper
jobsanddisposableincome. If
thegameisgood, well buy
itoutright. Dontkeep
breakingimmersionto
trytosell us$0.05-worth
of magicpixiedust.
Also, dontmisjudge
ourgullibility. We
canseethroughthe
simplisticandfrankly
insultingstrategies
wherethegameismade
deliberatelydull inthe
hopewell giveinand
paytoskipthedull parts.
Thatshowsahugelackof
respectfortheintelligence
of theplayer.
05
Nooversimplification.
Wecancopewithtwo
mousebuttons, maybeeventhree, and
awheel. Wecancopewithrightclicking,
techtrees, customisableunitsandmods.
Notoverwhelmingtheplayerisgood, but
asimpleskill systemthatmycatcould
masterinanhourjustmakesthegame
shallowanddisposable.
06
Nomandatorytraininglevelsor
tutorialsthatcovertheobvious. Thisis
my245thfirst-personshooter. I canguess
thatWASDmoves, themouselooksandthe
leftmousebuttonshoots. Attheveryleast, let
meskiptutorialsI dontneed. If I canhitthe
WASDkeys, thatmeansImgoodtogo. Dont
makemerunthroughsomeslalomcourseto
gamers, andseethroughthecrude
generalisationsthatpublishersusetoday.
I dontthinkwell seebuxomhalf-dressed
elveseverywhereingamingin2020, anymore
thanweseetheBlackandWhiteMinstrel
Showontelevisiontoday.
Timeschange, andattitudesoftenchange
forthebetter. Mostpeopleolderthanmyself
struggletounderstandmyjob, sometimes
graspingfranticallyatanecdotesaboutPac-
Man. Intime, thatwill change, peoplewill
stopseeinggamingassomethingforkids,
andseeitasnodifferentfrombooksormovies
imaginetryingtocategorisepeoplewho
readbooksashardcore orcasual, and
basingyourwritingandmarketingstrategy
entirelyonthatsimplisticdivide.
Inthemeantime, if youagreewiththebite-
sizedhardcoremanifesto, youcandoyour
parttoencouragepublisherstoseethelight
bysupportinggamesthatseemtobeaimed
atyou. Formyself, Battlefield3isastepway
toofarintheyouhavenolife, getgrinding
mentality, whereassomanyFacebookgames
areasteptoofarintheyoureanidiothere,
clickonthiscuddlytoy! direction. Imstill
keepingmyeyesopenforgamessomewhere
inthemiddle.
CLIFF
HARRIS
istheone-mancoding
wizardbehindPositech
Games(www.positech.
co.uk), thedeveloperofGratuitous
SpaceBattles
@cliffski
Spacemarines!Brown!Monsters!
Guns!Scantilycladelvenladies!
Theunnecessarysimplificationof
hardcoregaming
proveI cangettheconceptof
movement. If runningaround
coneswasfun, youdshowitinthe
gamestrailer. Itsnot.
07
Dontpatroniseus. We
shouldntgetan
achievementforhittingtheJump
key, ortoldwereawesomesoldiers
forhittingatincan. Leavethatstuff
forkids. Achievementsingamesare
rapidlybecomingworthless, providing
justanotherannoyingmid-gamepopup
wehavetodismisstocontinueplaying.
08
Beoriginal. Weveplayedgames
before. Wevefoughtinmany
crate-strewncorridors, andkilled
manyratsandreturnedtheirhidesto
someonewhostoolazytodoitthemselves.
Weveheardmanytalesof lostkingdoms
andevil wizards. Surpriseus. Please. This
istheyear2012; wecancopewiththemain
characterbeingfemale, andyetsensibly
proportioned. Wecancopewithshadesof
greyintermsof goodandevil. Automatically
justdefaultingtoanotherspaceoperaor
herosjourneybecauseyouhavenobetter
ideasdoesntcutit. If thatreallyisall thats
onoffer, maybeyoushouldntmakeastory-
basedgame.
Of course, Imsurethiswill sinkin
eventuallyanyway, asmorepeoplewho
endupinmarketing, PRandbusiness-
managerjobsatpublishersareactual
98 July 2012
T
heRaspberryPi (www.raspberrypi.org) isnothingshort of amarvel: for just
29,yougetahighlyhackablehardwareplatformwithanARM-basedprocessor,
awodgeof memory, general-purposeinput/output capabilities andenough
grunttodrivea1080pdisplayviaitsincludedHDMIoutput.Thisisprobablywhy
itsprovinginsanelypopular.Infact,manufacturingpartnersclaimtohavereceivedmore
than350,000orders, anddemandshowsnosignof decreasing.
However, whatcanyouactuallydowiththecreditcard-sizedgizmo?Wegohands-on
withoneof thefirst Raspberry Pi Model Bunitsintheworldtooffer youaninsight into
howyou can transformthis education-orientated device in a variety of useful ways. If
youvemanagedtoget yourhandsonaPi, thiswill get youstarted; if not, itssomething
togiveyousomeideasuntil moreroll off theproductionline.
This sub-30 computer has been selling by the bucketload and
attracting a lot of press attention, but what can you actually do
with it, and how? Gareth Halfacree has some ideas
100
CUSTOMISATION
99 July 2012
07
TheSDcardslotprovidesthePi
withitsbootstorage,butbeware
ofthe17mmoverlapifyouredesigning
acase
08
Ifyourenotplanningtouse
HDMIaudio,a3.5mmjack
providesastereoanalogueoutput
09
ForusewitholdCRTTVs,this
RCAjackprovidesaserviceable
compositevideooutput
10
LookingatthePissoldering,
youdneverknowtheEthernet
portsneededtobereplacedafterafoul-
upatthefactory
11
TheUSBportssitproudofthe
PCB,withasingleportonthe
ModelAandtwoontheModelB
12
AlookatthePCBtracesbeneath
theSoC-RAMsandwichreveal
thecomplexityofthePishardware
13
AmicroUSBconnectornextto
theSDcardacceptsa5Vinputat
arecommended500mAfortheModelA
or700mAfortheModelB
THEFRONT THEBACK
01
06
11
10
12
07
13
08
09
05
03
04 02
SYSTEM SPECS
Processor BroadcomBCM2835 Multimedia Processor system-on-chip CPU700MHz single-core ARM1176JZF-S (ARMv6)
GPUDual-core BroadcomVideoCore IV with 128KBL2 Cache Memory 256MBLPDDRat 400MHz (shared between CPUand GPU)
USBOne USB2 port on Model A; two USB2 ports on Model B Video output HDMI, composite, Display Serial Interconnection (DSI)
Audio output HDMI, 3.5mmanalogue jack Storage None on-board, SD/SDHC/SDIOcard slot
Ethernet None on Model A; 10/100Mb/sec Ethernet on Model B Other ports MIPI Camera Connector, 26-pin GPIOHeader with UART, IC, SPI
Power 5V via micro USB, 500mA on Model A or 700mA on Model B Dimensions(mm) 85.6 53.9
01
TheBroadcomBCM2835
system-on-chipprocessor
thatpowersthePiishiddenbeneath
a256MBpackage-on-package(POP)
Hynixmemorymodule
02
The26-pingeneral-purpose
input/output(GPIO)connector
givesthePiArduino-likepowersof
communicationandcontrol
03
ThePisHDMIportsupports
high-definitionvideoanddigital
audio,andisthedefaultvideooutput
04
TheDisplaySerialInterconnect
(DSI)connectorenablesthePi
totalkdirectlytoflat-paneldisplays,
pendingthecreationofdrivers
05
Smartphone-stylecamera
hardwarecanbeconnectedto
thisMIPIcameraport,againpending
driversbeingreleased
06
ThisEthernetport,standing
slightlyproudofthePCB,
providesa10/100Mb/secnetwork
connectiononModelBunits
WHATS ONTHE PCB?
100 July 2012
GETTINGSTARTED
01
ThePi isprovidedasabare
development boardwithno
software. Headovertowww.raspberrypi.
org/downloadsonyourPCorlaptopand
downloadanoperatingsystemwe
recommendDebianfornewcomers.
02
Extract thearchive, andwritethe
contentsof theIMGfiletoa2GB
orlargerSDcard. InWindows, useWin32
ImageWriter(http://j.mp/win32iw).
ForOSXorLinux, useddfromthe
commandline.
05
Finally, connect thePismicroUSB
port toamainsadaptor. Almost any
mobileortablet chargerwill work, although
theModel Bneedsat least 700mA.
06
ThePi hasnopowerbutton, soit will
start immediately. ThePWRLEDwill
light, followedbyarapidflickeringof theOK
LED. If themonitorsswitchedon, youll seea
RaspberryPi logoandboot text.
07
Afterboot, youll bepresentedwith
aloginprompt. FortheDebian
distribution, theusernameispi andthe
passwordisraspberry.
08
TheDebianspinforthePi comeswith
theLXDEdesktopenvironment, but it
doesnt start bydefault. Toleavetheterminal
andloadamorefamiliargraphical user
interface, type: startxandpressEnter.
TheRaspberryPiisprovidedasabare
developmentboard,anditstinyweveplacedit
ontopofa2.5inlaptopharddrivehereforscale
Placeitonaflat,non-
conductivesurface
03
AsitsabarePCB, thePi requires
somecareful handling. Placeit on
aflat, non-conductivesurfacebefore
plugginginanything. Bearinmindthat
theanti-staticbaginwhichitspackaged
isconductive!
04
Connect amonitorviaHDMI
usinganHDMI-to-DVI cableif
requiredfollowedbyakeyboard, mouse
andnetworkcable. NotethePi hasnoVGA
support, evenwithaDVI-to-VGAadaptor.
CUSTOMISATION
101 July 2012
102
01
Awordof warningfirst: although
itspossibletooverclockthe
RaspberryPi, it isnt advisable. If you
breakit, whichismorethanlikely, it
couldbemonthsbeforeyoureableto
buyareplacement.
02
Still reading?Thenopenthe
Leafpadtext editorandcreateafile
inthe/boot directorycalledconfig.txt. If
theresalreadyonethere, openit. Thisis
thePisBIOSequivalent, controllingpre-
boot settings.
03
Addoredit, if itsalreadytherea
linereadingarm_freq=xxx, where
xxx isthefrequencyof theARMCPUin
MHz. Thestockfrequencyis700MHz, so
weveoptimisticallyput inarm_freq=800.
04
TooverclocktheGPU, makea
linethat readsgpu_freq=xxx,
whichcontrolstheGPUsvariousclocks.
Thestockfrequencyhereis250MHz, so
agoodstartingpoint foroverclockingis
gpu_freq=270.
05
Finally, tooverclockthememory,
typealinethat readssdram_
freq=xxx. ThestockRAMclockis400MHz,
soforalittleboost without toomuch
dangertrysdram_freq=420.
06
Tomakethechangestakeeffect,
reboot thePi. If nothingappears
on-screen, deletetheconfig.txt filefrom
theSDcard. If itsstill dead, youvebricked
thePi anditstimetoget backinthe
waitinglist. Betterlucknext time!
Youcanoverclockthe
PisARM-basedCPU,but
itisntadvisable
09
LXDEisalot likeWindows: there
areiconsandanequivalent tothe
Start Menuat thebottomleft of thescreen.
Clickhere, andyoull begivenalist of the
installedpackages. Itsprettybare, but
itsastart.
10
Foraneasywaytoinstall more
software, openLXTerminal from
Accessoriesthenrun:
sudo apt-get install aptitude.
11
Finally, youll alsoneedchange
rootspassword(liketheWindows
administratorpasswordforthosenot
familiarwithLinux) withsudo -i followed
by passwd, andthenfindAptitudeinthe
SystemToolsmenu.
LXDEisalotlikeWindows;theresanequivalentto
theStartMenuatthebottomleftofthescreen
TheLXTTerminalscreenisntaspretty,butthis
isagoodplaceforinstallingnewsoftwareand
administration,suchaschangingrootspassword
OVERCLOCKINGTHE Pi
102 July 2012
CUSTOMISATION
104
CREATE ARASPBERRY Pi NAS BOX
01
InordertoturntheRaspberryPi
intoaNAS, weregoingtoneed
someextrasoftwareforcreating
Windows-stylenetworkshares,
accessiblefromWindows, OSXorLinux
clients. Openaterminal windowandtype:
sudo apt-get install samba
02
Pluginanexternal storagedevice,
andwhenit popsupinyourfile
manager, makeanoteof whereits
mountedusually/media/
partitionname. Itsfineif partitionname
isastringof numbers.
03
Intheterminal, run:
gksudo leafpad /etc/samba/
smb.conf t
Thenaddthefollowinglinestothebottom
of thefile:
[storage]
comment = Raspberry Pi NAS
browseable = yes
path = /media/partitionname
guest ok = yes
read only = no
create mask = 0775
04
Savethefile. Younowneedtoload
thenewconfigurationfile, withour
newshareactivatedandreadytoserve
files. Todothis, restart Sambaat the
terminal bytyping:
sudo /etc/init.d/samba restart
05
Onyourmaincomputer, whether
itsrunningWindowsorLinux,
tryconnectingtotheRaspberryPis
IPaddress. If yourepromptedfora
usernameandpassword, usepi and
raspberry assumingyouhavent
createdanewaccount onthePi.
06
Youshouldnowhaveaccesstothe
contentsof theattachedstorage
device. Forhintsonsecuringaccess, go
totheterminal. Foramanual pageon
Samba, type:
man smb.conf
MakethemostofthePisnetwork
portbycreatingabasicnetwork-
attachedstoragedevice
Youcanuse
Sambatocreate
Windows-style
networkshares
Yourbrowseable
filesystemwillbe
accessiblefrom
Windows,OSX
andLinuxclients
104 July 2012
MAKE ARASPBERRY Pi MEDIACENTRE
Withitscompositeand
analogueoutputs,aswellasthe
HDMIconnector,youcanhookup
thePitooldanalogueCRTTVs,as
wellasHDdigitaldisplays
01
Theeasiest waytoturnthe
RaspberryPi intoafullyfeatured
mediacentreat thetimeof writingwill
betoinstall theOpenELECdistribution,
whichincludesthepopularXBMCclient.
Checkwww.openelec.tvandlookfora
Pi-compatibledownload. At thetimeof
writing, OpenELEChasyet torelease
binaries, but werehopingtheyll be
availablebythetimeyoureadthis.
02
Didnt findone?Dont worrywe
canbuildit ourselvesonaLinux
system. Openaterminal andinstall the
dependencies:
sudo apt-get install g++ nasm flex
bison gawk gperf autoconf automake
m4 cvs libtool byacc texinfo
gettext zlib1g-dev libncurses5-
dev git-core build-essential
xsltproc libexpat1-dev python2.7
python2.7-dev
03
Createadirectorytostorethefiles,
anddownloadacopyof thelatest
OpenELECsourcecodeusingthegit
management tool fromtheterminal:
git clone git://github.com/
OpenELEC/OpenELEC.tv.git
04
ChangetothenewOpenELEC.tv
directory, andstart thesoftware
buildingbytyping:
PROJECT=RPi ARCH=arm make -j x where
x isyourprocessorsnumberof cores+1.
05
OpenELEC will takeafewhoursto
compile, soprepareanSDcardby
creatingabootableFAT32partitioncalled
Systemandanext4partitioncalledStorage:
sudo parted -s /dev/sdx mklabel
msdos && sudo parted -s /dev/sdx
unit cyl mkpart primary fat32 -- 0
16 && sudo parted -s /dev/sdx set 1
boot on && sudo parted -s /dev/sdx
unit cyl mkpart primary ext2 -- 16
-2 && sudo mkfs.vfat -n System /dev/
sdx1 && sudo mkfs.ext4 -L Storage /
dev/sdx2
06
WhenOpenELEChasfinished
compiling, youll needtocopythe
filesacrosstotheSDcard. Insert it intothe
systemtomount yourpartitions, thenrun:
sudo cp build.OpenELEC-RPi.arm-
devel/bcm2835-driver-*/boot/
arm128_start.elf /media/System/
start.elf && sudo cp build.OpenELEC-
RPi.arm-devel/bcm2835-driver-*/
boot/bootcode.bin /media/System/ &&
sudo cp build.OpenELEC-RPi.arm-
devel/bcm2835-driver-*/boot/
loader.bin /media/System/ && sudo
cp target/OpenELEC-RPi.arm-devel-*.
system /media/System/SYSTEM && sudo
WhileOpenELECiscompiling,whichwilltakeafewhours,prepareanSDcardwith
abootableFAT32partition
WhenOpenELEChasfinishedcompiling,youllneedtocopythefilesacrosstotheSD
cardyoupreparedearlier
CUSTOMISATION
105 July 2012
cp target/OpenELEC-RPi.arm-
devel-*.kernel /media/System/
kernel.img
07
ForOpenELECtowork, weneed
acustomcmdline.txt file, which
passesvariousoptionstotheLinuxkernel.
At thispoint, thequickest waytomakethis
istorun:
sudo echo dwc_otg.lpm_enable=0
root=/dev/ram0 rdinit=/init
boot=/dev/mmcblk0p1 disk=/dev/
mmcblk0p2 ssh quiet > /media/
System/cmdline.txt
08
Eject yourSDcard, andinsert it
backintotheRaspberryPi. Youre
nowreadytoboot upyournewmedia
centre. TheHDMI cablewill carryboth
videoandaudio, soyoudont worryabout
needinganythinginthe3.5mmjack
just connect thepower.
09
Thefirst boot will takealittlewhile
tocomplete, asOpenELECneeds
toset upaswapfileandvariousother
facilitiesbeforeit canget going. Bepatient
andwait foracouplemoreminutes.
10
WhenOpenELEChasbooted, you
caninstall newadd-onssuchas
aYouTubeclient fromtheGet More
optionof eachAdd-Ons screen. Your
mediafilescanbestoredontheSDcard
orstreamedfromthenetwork.
TheRaspberryPisSDslotisyourprimarylocal
storagegateway
01
Thedefault Debiandistributionhas
aPythonintegrateddevelopment
environment (IDE) dubbedSPE. Loadit
fromtheProgramming categorytoget
started, but bepatient thefirst runtakes
awhiletoload.
02
Youdont needaPi towritePython,
of course, but thePi hassomething
most PCsdont: abunchof general-
purposeIOpins. Thesearelocatedat the
topleft of theboardandareusedfor
controllingexternal hardware.
03
Tomakeuseof theGPIOpins, youll
needtheRPi.GPIOPythonlibrary.
Openaterminal, andtype:
wget http://j.mp/pipy-gpio -O - >
RPi.GPIO-0.1.0.tar.gz && tar xvfz
RPi.GPIO-0.1.0.tar.gz && cd RPi.
GPIO-0.1.0 && sudo python setup.py
install
04
Youll needtoput: import RPi.
GPIO as GPIOat thetopof your
Pythonproject tousetheGPIOlibrary,
afterwhichyoucanstart tousethePi as
anoverpoweredArduino-alike.
05
Configurewith: GPIO.setup(NN,
GPIO.XX), whereNN isthepin
numberandXX eitherIN orOUT. Read
apinwith: input_value = GPIO.
PROGRAMMING
THE RASPBERRY Pi
input(NN) or turn on an output
with: GPIO.output(12, True)
06
If all that soundslikegobbledygook,
workthroughtheofficial Python
tutorial (http://docs.python.org/tutorial/
index.html) toget ahandleonthis
programminglanguageitsvery
powerful andflexible, yet easytolearn.
ThedefaultDebiandistributionincludesagreat
Pythonintegrateddevelopmentenvironment(IDE),
dubbedSPE
TomakeuseoftheGPIOpins,youllneedtheRPi.
GPIOPythonlibrary
ThePihassomethingmostPCsdont:abunchofgeneral-purposeIOpins,locatedatthetop-leftoftheboard
Your chance to get involved with CustomPC
CPC:Whatoriginallyinspiredyouto
buildProjectStealthlow?
Wayne:I alwayslikedthewayLian
Liscasessportedseparatecooling
sections, andthisprojectisreallylikean
evolvedversionof myfirstscratch-build,
whichwasoriginallyinspiredbytheLianLi
X2000. I wantedagood, all-roundsystem
insideacasethatlookedsweetandunique,
aswell asbeingsolidlybuilt.
CPC:WheredoesProjectStealthlowsname
comefrom?
Wayne:Stealth describessomethingquiet
andpowerful, andthenthiscrashesintothe
wordflow, representingthewaytheair
flowsnaturallyinandoutof thesystem. Its
auniquewordthatdescribethemachines
mainattributes, anditjustrollsoff the
tongueperfectly. I instantlylikeditwhenit
cametomind.
CPC:Howlongdidittakeyoutocomplete
buildingtheproject?
Wayne:I startedworkingonitinNovember
2010andfinishedinSeptember2011, butI
hadquiteafewbigbreaksduringthattime.
CPC:Whatothermodshaveyoubuilt?
Wayne:Ivebutcheredfiveretail caseswith
variousexperimental ideas. Theydidntlook
good, asI wasacompletebeginnerwhenit
cametousingpowertools, butI thenmoved
overtomakingfull customscratch-builds.
I likethesefarmore, astheycanbebuilt
preciselyhowyouwantthem. Myfirstefforts
includedtwoextremeXbox360coolingmods,
aswell asamulti-level entertainmentunit,
whichI madefromaluminiumbarsand
acrylicwithactivecooling.
ThefirstPCscratch-buildwasbasedonthe
aforementionedLianLi X2000; I likedthe
cases, buttheyweretooexpensiveforme. My
ownscratch-buildturnedouttobenasty-
looking, butitwasalsofullyusable. Ittooka
weektobuild, butImgladI didit, asitledto
mebecomingmorecreative. Thesecond
scratch-buildwasacubecase, whichwas
Name WayneWilkinson
Age34
OccupationUnemployedanddeveloping
skills
LocationManchester, UK
MainusesforPCInternet, XBMC,
designingandgaming
LikesToomanytomention
Dislikes Afewthings
Wayne Wilkinson
spurnedhigh-spec
industrial machinery
whenbuildingthis curvy
aluminiumPCcase, and
built it all withhis hands
usingstandardtools
SYSTEM SPECS
CPUIntel Core i5-2500K@4.5GHZ
GPUNvidia GeForce GTX 580
Storage 6 x hard drives, 1 x SSD, 1 x optical drive
Memory 8GB1,600MHz 9-9-9-20 DDR3
Motherboard MSI P67A-GD65 B3
Sound Auzentech Prelude X-Fi
PSUCorsair AX-850
Cooling Prolimatech Megahalems, three Enermax white
LEDApollish fans and six modified 120mmEnermax
T.B. Silence fans with an experimental one-point custom
mount, which enables angle positioning
Extras Lamptron vandal switch, four LEDs and two
white LEDstrips with sleeves to dimthem. The case
feet came fromBill Owen (fromwww.mnpctech.com),
a very inspirational modder who also agreed to sponsor
the project
Dimensions (mm) 235 x 393 x 769 (Wx Dx H)
Weight 26kg
106 July 2012
107 July 2012
good, butalsoalittleflimsythistookme
twoweekstocomplete. Thethirdonewasa
remakeof thecubecase, andwhilebuilding
thisone, I developedmorepatienceand
persistence; thecasewasstrong, had
effectivecoolingandlookedgood. Mymods
havealwaysbeenmoreaboutfunctionover
appearance, butasIvekeptpostingonthe
forums, Ivetriedtomakethemlookbetter.
Eitherway, I hadalottolearn, andI still do,
whenitcomestoadvancedmodding.
CPC:Whatmaterialsdidyouuse?
Wayne:I used1mm, 2mm, 3mmand4mm
sheetaluminium. Itsmyprimarymaterial of
choiceformakingcases, whetheritsangled,
flatorformedintosquarebars. I alsoused
threetintsof 3mmand5mmclearacrylic,
givingmeavarietyof coloursandshades.
I usedsheetcopperforboththetrimand
afewfunctional parts. I splashedoutonthis
afterfindingI
couldntobtainthe
aluminiumanodised
locally, andI didntwantto
paintit. I brushedmetal lacquer
ontothecopperandaluminiumto
preventitfromlosingitsuntarnishedlook,
andprotectitovertime. I performedthisusing
anon-standardbrushfinishthatflowswith
theshapeof thecase, ratherthanbrushing
withregularstraightlines.
Theresalsosome0.5mmmirror-polished
stainlesssteel, whichI usedforthefloorof the
secondlevel andfortheSSDcover. Thisalso
featuresayinandyangpiecemadefrom
copperandaluminium, whichI createdwith
108
ENTERYOUROWNPCATHTTP://FORUMS.BITTECH.NET
mynewscroll
sawitclicks
togetherasaone-
piececover. Theentire
machinewasputtogether
withM3countersunk, high-
tensilescrewswithbuttonheads,
asI liketobeabletodismantleitall with
ascrewdriver.
CPC:Whattoolsdidyouuse?
Wayne:Theresabiglist, whichincludes
markers, rulers, digital callipers, set
squares, filesets, andarangeof wetanddry
sandpaper. I alsousedapowerdrill andmany
differenttypesof drill bits, aswell asatapping
set, ajigsaw, a300mmdiscsander, sanding
drums, aheatgunandmanyclamps. Thelist
evenincludessomecookingpansandafew
otherrandomhouseholditemsthatI usedto
helpmewhenI wasmakingcurves.
SEE
MORE
ofWaynescurvaceous
chassisinthefullproject
logathttp://tinyurl.com/
ProjectStealthlow
108 July 2012
BEAWINNER!
ToenteryourmachineforpossibleinclusioninReaders
Drives, yourmodneedstobefullyworkingand, ideally,
finishedbasedintheUK. Simplylogontowww.bit-tech.netandheadovertotheforums. Once
yourethere, postawrite-upofyourmod, alongwithsomepics, intheProjectLogsforum. Make
sureyoureadtherelevantrulesandadvicestickythreadsbeforeyoupost. Thebestentranteach
monthwill befeaturedhere, wherewell printyourphotosofyourprojectandalsointerviewyou
aboutthebuildprocess. Fameisnttheonlyprize; youll also getyourhandsonafabulous
selectionofprizesseeright.
CPC:Whatdifficulties
didyoucomeacrosswhile
buildingProjectStealthlow?
Wayne:I foundoutwhenitwastoolate
thatthethicknessof acrylicsheetisnt100
percentprecise, soeverysheetwasshort
by0.1mm. Thiswasaproblemforthefan
holders, astheyreall madeof manypieces
stackedtogetherthefanswouldntfitand
I hadtoremaketheholders.
I experimentedwithmanydifferent
approachestocurvingthewindowwithaheat
guntoo. I finallytriedmakingsandwich-type
clampingpanelsfrom1mmaluminium, and
usedmanyof thesetoclampitstraighttothe
case, whichalsoprotecteditfrommelting. It
wouldhavebeeneasyif itwasonecurve, but
ithastwoopposingcurves, andoneisavery
shortcurveatthetop. Ittookabout14
attemptstogetitright, butthiswasstill far
cheaperthanprofessional thermo-forming,
andI alsogainedagoodextramoddingskill
intheprocess.
I originallyintendedthemaincurved
windowtofitflushtothesidealuminiumbars,
butcouldntachievethisperfectlywithouta
clampingmechanism. Thisiswherethe
triple-layerbracestripscameintoplay. I
startedoff usingtheseaslotsof little
clampingpieces, butthemoddingcommunity
helpedtoconvincemetocreateaneaterone-
piececlamp. Thethin1mmstripsfollowthe
curveeasily, andthere
arelittleholding
pieceswiththreads
ontheinsideso
thatitholdsittight
andflushtothe
curvedchassis.
Myfavouritenew
cuttingtool wasthe
premiumscroll saw,
butI onlyboughtthat
closetotheendof
makingtheproject, soI
onlyuseditonacoupleof
thefinal pieces. Thewhole
projectis100percenthand-
madebymyself usingtypical
powerandhandtools, and
withoutprofessional industrial
semi-automachines. Imvery
proudof this, andsomepeoplethink
Imcrazy, butI liketobeabletosayI did
itall withmyhands. Itsasillyprimordial
pridething; I canthelpit!
CPC:Whathaveyoulearnedfromthe
processofbuildingProjectStealthlow?
Wayne:Onemajorlearningexperience
wasusinglayersof material tomake
partswithoutamill therearbackplate
andI/Opieceismadefromfive3mm
aluminiumpanelsscrewedtogether,
andthefanholdersaremadefroma
loadof piecescarefullystucktogether.
I alsolearnedafairamountabout
theprocessof curvingmetalsand
acrylic, andI createdareallyeasyway
tomountcasefansthatenablesyouto
positionthematangles.
I gainedafewideasforfuturebuilds
too. Ithelpstobeorganised, perform
jobsinstagesandnevergiveuptrying
toachievewhatyousetouttocreate
evenif ittakes14attemptsitreally
helpstoproduceasatisfyingresult,
evenif itdoesntwinacompetition.
CPC:Areyouhappywiththeendresult,and
isthereanythingyoudnowdodifferently?
Wayne:Imreallyhappywiththeendresult.
TheonlypartI dontlikeisthepowerdraw
itsucks210Wwhenidleand350Wwhen
gaming. IvesincefoundthatI dontusemyrig
forintensivetasksanywherenearasmuchas
I useitforlightjobs, whichleftabigopening
foranotherprojectthatsmoresuitablefor
24/7use. Oncemynextprojectisfinishedand
readyforuse, I mightsell ProjectStealthlowif
agoodenoughofferwasmadeImnotsure.
Itsall justaboutthequesttomaketheperfect
rig, andI wouldbeperfectlyhappywithitif I
didntcareaboutenergyconsumption. I could
havemoddeditfurthertosupportalow-
powersystem, butI wouldntbecomfortable
doingthiswithwhatI considertobemyfirst
masterpiece.
ThePhobyamoddingkitisdesignedwiththemodderinmind, offering
greatvalueformoneyandqualityproducts. ThekitincludesNano-G
12SilentWaterproof1,500rpmmulti-optionfans, whichusean
innovativefan-bladedesign. As
standard, thefansincludebraided
blackcablestokeepyourcaselooking
asneataspossible. Thefansarealso
suppliedwithaspecial cablethat
letsyourunthefanat5Vratherthan
12V, reducingthenoiseemitted
inordertohelpyoutobuilda
silentsystem.
Thekitalsoincludesthe
60cmPhobya3-pinMolexto
4x3-pinMolexY-cable. This
pre-braidedextensioncablegivesyouextra
routeingoptionsinyourcase, anditalsoenables
youtorunuptofourfansfromonecompatible
motherboardheader. Meanwhile, the
PhobyaSATA3cablesincludedinthekit
offerthesamegreatqualitybraidingas
therestofthePhobyarange, whilealso
securingyourconnectionwith
latchedconnectors. Aswell as
this, thekitincludesthePhobya
SlimGuideController, whichgives
youtheoptiontovarythespeed
ofotherfansinyourcase, while
thePhobyaTwinLEDsletyou
shinealightonyourmods.
109 July 2012
HTTP://FORUMS.BIT-TECH.NET
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WithaCorsairCarbideSeries300Rcaseand
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112 July 2012
UNFASTEN THE HEATSINK
Mostmotherboardheatsinksareheldinplacebymany
screwsorprongedpins, soidentifytheseontherear
of theboard. If theheatsinkisheldinplacebypins, like
ours, thesecanberemovedbypinchingtheprongs
andpullingthepinfromtheothersideof thePCB. Be
careful toonlyremovethepinsthatsecuretheheatsink
yourereplacing; looseningthoseonaseparate
heatsinkcouldcauseittooverheat.
APPLY MASKING TAPE
If yourheatsinkisheldonbyscrewsorthepinsare
toostiff toremovebyhand, useascrewdriver(or
plierstodeal withstiff pins). Applymaskingtapetothe
surroundingarea, asthispreventsyoufromscratching
thePCBif youslip, whichcan havedireconsequences
foryourmotherboard. Leavethistapeinplace, asitwill
serveyouwell wheninstallingthewaterblock.
Motherboard waterblock
Seewhichonesyouneedat
www.coolingconfigurator.com
Screwdriver or Allen key
(depending on which block you
choose)
Frommosthardwarestores
Pliers
Frommosthardwarestores
Masking tape
Fromwww.chilledpc.co.uk
FitmotherBoard
waterBlocks
ourmotherboardcanbenefit
justasmuchfromalittleH
2
O
asyourCPUandgraphicscard.
Yourmotherboardschipsetand
VRMscanbecomeincrediblyhot, especially
if yoursystemisoverclocked, yetfewpeople
thinkaboutprovidingextracoolinghere.
Addingyourmotherboardtoyourwater-
coolingloopwill resultinlotsof wasteheat
beingmoveddirectlytoyourradiatortobe
expelledfromthecase.
YourPCwill thenbeabletodeal withthe
heatitproducesquicklyandefficiently, and
youll almostcertainlyprolongitslifespan
andincreaseyouroverclockingheadroom
too. Fittingwaterblocksonyourmotherboard
isntquiteaseasyasinstallingaCPU
waterblock, butthisguidewill showyouhow
todoitstepbystep.
FIND THE RIGHT WATERBLOCKS
Youmayhavetofitseveral waterblockstoyour
chipsetandVRMs, butmostthird-partywaterblock
manufacturersmakefull-coverwaterblocks
thatwindaroundthePCBof AsusandGigabyte
motherboards, coolingmanyareasatthesametime.
EKWaterblocksalsohasafantasticonlinetool (www.
coolingconfigurator.com) thattellsyouwhichoneswill
fityourmotherboard.
PLAN AHEAD
Theonlydownsidetowater-coolingyourmotherboard
isthatitcanbeexpensive. If youhaveasingle-piece
heatsinkwithintegratedheatpipes, likeours, youll
havetoremovetheentirething, andwater-cool all the
chipsetsandVRMs. Thankfully, manymotherboards
haveseparateheatsinks, inwhichcaseyoucanjust
water-cool thehottest-runningcomponentstosave
money, oraddfurtherblockslater.
Y
Its worthfittingawaterblock toyour motherboard, as well as
your CPU. AntonyLeather shows youhowits done
HTTP://FORUMS.BIT-TECH.NET
113 July 2012
REMOVE THE HEATSINK
Withall thepinsorscrewsremoved, theheatsinkshouldbeeasytoremove. If not,
checktoseeif thereareanyremainingscrews; if all isclearthensomethermal paste
isprobablyholdingtheheatsinkinplace. Useahairdryertoheattheheatsinkfora
fewminutes, movingtheairflowalongthelengthof theheatsink. Thiswill heatthe
thermal pasteandshouldenableyoutoremovetheheatsink.
APPLY THE THERMAL PADS
Thevastmajorityof motherboardblockswill includethermal pads, whichbridge
anygapsbetweenthewaterblockscontactplateandthecomponentsonthe
motherboard. Theyalsoservetoprovideanon-conductivelayerbetweenthemetal
contactplateandyourmotherboardtopreventshortcircuits. Applythesejustbefore
installingthewaterblocks, asitseasytodamagethem.
TEST FI T
Testfitthewaterblockgently, withoutforcingitdown, sothatyoucanmakesureitfits
properly, doesnthavedefectsandthatitsnotgoingtocauseshortcircuits. Inspect
theblockandanycomponentsnearitontheboardtomakesurenothingistouching
itthatshouldntbe. Thewaterblockandhardwarewill haveprobablybeentested
togetherbythemanufacturerbeforehand, butitdoesnthurttobesure.
CLEAN THE CONTACT AREAS
Removeanythermal pastebetweenthechipsetandheatsink, usingTIMcleaner
sparingly, andtakingcarenottogetanyontheboard. Nowchecktheinstructions
foryourwaterblocks; mostincludethermal padsbutsomerequirethermal paste,
inwhichcaseyoushoulduseanon-conductivepastesuchasArcticMX-2; yourisk
short-circuitingyourboardif conductivepastegetsontoit.
INSTALL THE WATERBLOCK
Fittheblockandthenturnoverthemotherboardsothatyoucanscrewitinplace.
Onlyinsertthescrewslooselyatfirstoncetheyreall inplace, proceedtotighten
themupwithamoderateamountof pressure, inspectingthemotherboardfor
warpingandotherissuesasyouproceed. All thatslefttodonowisleak-testthe
blockandfittings, andyoucanlookforwardtoacooler-runningPC.
INSTALL FI TTINGS
Inmostcases, itwill beeasierandlesshazardoustoinstall yourtubefittingsbefore
installingthewaterblock. Installingthefittingscanrequireafairamountof force, so
itisntideal todothiswhentheblockisattachedtothemotherboard. Goaheadand
install thefittingstotheblock.
114 July 2012
Its important toprevent your PCfrominhalingdust, but extradust filters can
be expensive. AntonyLeather shows youhowtomake your own
anycasesareequippedwith
dustfilterstopreventdust
fromgettingintoyourPCand
cloggingeverythingup. Dont
worryif yourcaseisnt, though, asyoustill
havetwooptionstobeatthedust. Oneistobuy
dustfiltersforyourfans, althoughthesecan
costupwardsof 5apiece, sokittingoutall
yourintakefansandventscouldbepricey.
GATHER YOUR EQUIPMENT
Grabapairof tights, somescissorsandsomething
toholdthetightsontoyourfan. Arubberbandorhair
bandisideal youjustneedsomethingthatwill fit
tightlyaroundtheedgeof thefanwhilealsogripping
thematerial.
HOLD IT IN PLACE
Slotyourrubberbandorhairbandbetweentheridges
ontheedgeof thefanscasing. Nowpull thematerial
tightandmakesureyourbandisabletoholditthere,
whilealsoensuringthefancanspinfreely.
FIND THE WAIST
Youneedtofindthelargewaistareaof thetights, asthis
will bealargeenoughareatobedevoidof anyunsightly
seams, givingyouamoreprofessional look.
REMOVE THE EXCESS
Gathertheexcessattherearof thefanandcutaround
theedge, leaving1-2cmbehindtheband. Depending
onwhichwayyoull mountthefan, youcanswitchthe
filtersothatthemountingscrewsdontpunctureitand
makeitfray.
INSERT THE FAN
Insertthefanintothetightsandgatherthematerial
aroundbehindit. Again, yourelookingtoavoidany
of theseamsinthetightssothatyouendupwitha
smooth, blemish-freearea.
CLEAN THE CONTACT AREAS
Yourefinished. Givethefanafinal spintomakesure
thefilterisntrubbing, andtheninstall it. Youcan
usethesamemethodtoapplylargersectionsof the
material towholeareasof yourcasewithagluegun.
Tights
Rubber band or hair band
Scissors
M
HTTP://FORUMS.BIT-TECH.NET
community
makeyour
ownDustfilter
Thankfully, theresamuchcheaperoption
thatcostsnexttonothing, assumingyouhave
someoneinthehousethatwearstights
(thankfully, theycanbeboughtfor1from
manysupermarketsif not). Thenylonmesh
fromwhichtheyremadeisdenseenoughto
formabarrierthatwill keepoutdustbutletin
air. Ourfilterisevenremovableforwashing
too. Readontoseehowitsdone.
116 July 2012
TEST-FI T THE MODULE
Placethemoduleontherearof thecoverandmake
sureitsitsflatonthepanel, orwithinafewmillimetres
of it, sothattheUSBportswill beaccessible. Youll also
needtomakesuretheresenoughroominyourcase
toroutethecables, whichwill probablybepointing
downwardsasshownhere.
CUT OFF REDUNDANT
CONNECTORS
Ourmodulesaudioconnectorsweredesignedto
protrudeslightly, whichpreventedthemodulefrom
sittingflushonourbaycover. Asourcasealreadyhad
audioconnectors, wecutoff theendswithaDremel.
Youcanalsoremovethecablesforconnectorsyou
wontbeusing.
Dremel with cutting disc
Frommosthardwarestores
Precision files
Frommosthardwarestores
Electric drill with appropriate
drill bit
Frommosthardwarestores
USB3upgrade module
8-15fromwww.specialtech.
co.uk
makeYourown
USB3frontpanel
SB3portsarepresentonmost
newmotherboardsandcases.
Itoffersahugespeedadvantage
overUSB2, andcanevencharge
devicesquicker. However, USB3hubsarestill
pricierthantheirUSB2counterparts, and
oldermotherboardsmightnothavetheright
connectorsforaUSB3huborfrontpanel.
Caseshaveonlyrecentlybeguntoinclude
USB3portsasstandard, buttheseusually
requirea20-pinmotherboardheader. Its
thesamewithmanyUSB3frontpanelstoo,
leavingyouwiththechoiceof justtherear
USB3portsoraPCI-EUSB3card.
However, if yourcasedoesnthaveUSB3
ports, youcanperformaneasymodwitha
5.25inbaycoverandUSB3upgrademodule,
whichmanycasemanufacturers currently
offerasoptionsforspecificcases. Youcan
thenmodifythesetouseonyourowncase.
CHOOSE A USB 3 UPGRADE
MODULE
SomecasemanufacturersofferUSB3upgrade
modulestoreplacetheUSB2modulesinspecific
cases, buttheycaneasilybemodifiedandmountedon
afrontbaycover. Chooseonewithmountingholesat
thefrontandtheconnectorsyourequire. Well onlybe
usingtheUSB3portsonthisLianLi case.
OBTAIN AN APPROPRIATE BAY
COVER
Mostupgrademoduleswill mountona3.5inbaycover
if yourcasehasone, butweuseda5.25incover. Most
caseshavetheseasstandard, andyoull probably
haveatleastonefree, evenif withtwooptical drives
installed. Sparepanelscanbeboughtforaround3
fromwww.kustompcs.co.uk
U
NoUSB3ports onyour case? Fear not AntonyLeather shows youhow
tomake your ownUSB3front panel
HTTP://FORUMS.BIT-TECH.NET
117 July 2012
MARK UP THE COVER
Itsnowtimetomarkupwhereyouregoingtoplaceyourcuts. Holdthemodulefirmly
inplace, thenuseapencil todrawaroundtheUSBportsandmarkthelocationof the
mountingholes.
DRILL THE MOUNTING HOLES
Checkthepositionof themountingholesnowthatyouvecutouttheUSB3ports,
thengoaheadanddrill theholes. Youll needtouseadrill thatsthesamesizeasthe
threadonthemountingscrewsthatwasincludedwiththeupgrademodule.
REMOVE THE EXCESS
Withtwotrianglescreatedintheholes, youshouldbeabletobendthesecarefully
inwardsby90degrees. If thecoverismadefromaluminium, youcanuseastrong
pairof plierstotwistthemoff neatly, butotherwiseuseacuttingdisc.
CUT THE HOLES
Cutalongthelongestedgesof theUSBportsholesusingaDremel andcuttingdisc,
andmakeyourcutjointwooppositecornerstomakeaZ shapeasshown. Dontcut
toofar; itseasytoletthecuttingdisccutalittletoodeep, whichwill resultinamess.
YOU RE FINISHED
Nowyoucanmountthemoduleonthebaycoverandyourefinished. Dontworryif
youmakemistakesthefirsttimearound. Sparebaycoversareavailableonlineand
youcanpractiseononeof thesefirstif youarentusedtousingaDremel.
FILE THE HOLES
Afileisessential tosmooththeholestoaneatfinishandmakethemsquareif they
endedupalittlelopsided. Therewill belotsof jaggededges, butdontfileawaytoo
muchof thesurroundingarea, ortherewill bealargegaparoundtheports.
118 July 2012
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120 July 2012
OVERCLOCKING BLUE-
SCREEN MYSTERY
Thankyouforabrilliant articleon
overclocking. I haveaninteresting
mystery; I overclockedmyCorei5-2500K
exactlyasyoudescribed(Issue106, p96). At
aratioof 45(4.5GHz), it runsPrime95for
hoursonendwithcompletestability. All
fourcoressit at 100percent andthecore
temperaturesrisetoaround65C.
TheweirdthinghappenswhenI shut down
Prime95andlet thePCjust sit theredoing
nothing. Idlecoretempshoverbetween
30-35C. If I wait longenoughit always
blue-screens, usuallyafterseveral hours.
I cant remembertheexact errorwording,
but itsalongthelinesof unidentified
hardwarefault.
If I reducethemultiplierto44, everythingis
just fine. CPU-Ztellsmeit sitsat 1,600MHz
most of thetimewhenidle, withjust the
occasional blipto4,400MHz, soI dont
understandwhyaclockratioof 45cancause
problemswhenit runsat 1,600MHzmost of
thetimeanyway.
Bearinginmindthat it runsat thehigher
speedall thetimewhenrunningPrime95,
couldit betheswitchingbetween1,600MHz
and4,500MHzthatscausingtheproblem?
Isthejumptoowide?Haveyouheardof this
problembefore?
SteveThackery
Paulreplies: I thinkyouredeadright, Steve.
Itsoundslikeitstheswitchingbetweenthe
EISTspeed(1.6GHz) andtheforcedTurbo
Boostspeed(4.5GHz) thatscausing
instabilityproblems.
Youcouldtryaddingalittleextravoltage
tocalmitdown, butiftheproblempersists
thenyoumayhavetocall itadayat4.4GHz.
Interestingly, thisisaproblemyoureonly
likelytoseeonAsusboards, asthey
overclockLGA1155CPUsbyincreasingthe
TurboBoostfrequency, forcingyoutoleave
EISTenabled(theTurboBoostoption
disappearsifyoudisableit) andmakingthe
CPUfrequencydothisbizarreclockspeed
dance. Weflaggedthisupasanissueinour
firstAsusLGA1155motherboardreview
(seeIssue90, p46), althoughtobefair, thisis
thefirstexampleweveseenofitpotentially
causinginstability.
Boardsfromothermanufacturers, such
asMSI, overclockviathemoretraditional
CPUmultiplieroption, whichenablesyou
toturnoffEISTandTurboBoost. This
meansthatyourCPUwill berunningatits
overclockedsettingsall thetime(inthis
case, 4.5GHz), whichwill bemorestable,
ifalittlemorepower-hungry.
THE GREAT UNWASHERED
Imjust buildinganewPCwithanLGA1155
motherboardandthird-generationCPUon
anAsusP8Z77-VPromotherboard, andyour
reviewof theBeQuiet! DarkRockAdvanced
hasraisedaquestion. I just receivedone,
whichI orderedwithyourreviewinmind. In
theboxisitem9, whichisdescribedasa
washer inthepartslist, andashim ina
paragraphheadedNOTE: For1155/1156.
Inyourreview, didyouusethesewashers
andshimstoimprovethethermal transferas
suggestedbytheBeQuiet! literature, ordid
youleavethemout?I presumeitspossible
that if youleft themout thenI mayattain
lowertemperaturesthanyourtest results. I
wouldgreatlyappreciateyouranswer, and
Ivebeenasubscribertoyourbrilliant
magazinesinceIssue1.
AnthonyBurk
Paulreplies: I canconfirmthatwedidntuse
thewashersorshimsinourtesting, aswe
didntwanttoriskapplyingmorepressure
toourCPUthanwasstrictlynecessary
whenyouretesting12coolersonasingle
motherboard, youdontwanttorisk
breakingithalfwaythroughtestingby
applyingmorepressurethantheamount
recommendedbyIntel.
Intruth, though, wevefoundtheDark
Rocktobemorethanadequatewhenit
comestocooling, evenwithoutthewashers.
HopethathelpsandImsureyoull enjoy
yournewPCitsoundslikeabeast!
Letters
Send us your feedback and correspondence to
editor@custompc.co.uk, with Letter in the Subject line
TheDarkRockAdvancedcoolenoughalready
121 July 2012
@pstrongprojectBeforeI or
anybodyelsetriestolaptheir
CPUinthebath, canyouconfirmits
safetocleantheCPUwithwater?
Benreplies:Dontlapitinthebath!
CleanoffthermalgunkwithTIM
cleanerand, yes, cleanoffanygritwith
water. Alsomakesureitscompletely
drybeforeyouputitbackin.
@PyrO_
PrOfessOr
Justbeen
clearingmy
roomtopmag
isthefirstoneI
everreadwith
theCore2
preview!
@dangrenfellFunnytothink
thereweredayswhenCreative
cardshadtodeclaretheywereAdLib
compatible. Hehe.
@tkingdollVeryamusedby@
robertflorencescolumnin@
CustomPCMagmagthismonth. It
mademegolol withmyface. Nonoise
cameoutthough.
@CustomPCmagAnyonetried
anyoverclockingoffthebackof
theoverclockingmasterclassinthe
currentissueofthemagazine?
@Joshimitsu91Will bepushing
myi5-2500Ktoitslimits
tomorrowafterI install mynewSSD!
@Will_123Yep, itinspiredmeto
overclockmyLGA1366Corei7
slightlyto3.1GHz. Thankyou.
@CustomPCmagAquotefrom
oneofAntonysIssue106HowTo
guides: Findthelargewaistareaofthe
tights, asthiswill bedevoidofunsightly
seams.
@SpawnstaR:Thisthehowto
robabanktofundanoutof
control PCupgradeproblem guide?
@CustomPCmagDontlet
unsightlyseamsruinyour
robbery!
@VikMinassianIssue105isthe
bestPCmagIvereadinavery
longtime. Precise, concise, detailed
andwithrelevantarticlesandguides.
Benreplies:Thankyouverymuchsir
gladyouenjoyedit!
@MiniFlamesBoostill cant
findanyonewithacopyof@
CustomPCMag. Didfindone, butit
lookedlikeithadmoonlightedasa
dogschew-toy
@ghalfacreeImdrinkingaglass
ofBrewdogs5AMSaint, but
donttell anyone. Especiallynot@
CustomPCMageditor@manshark.
@mansharkOhhai, Imjust
countingup@ghalfacreespay
forthismonthsfeature.
@TheHarryButlerThisisJoe.
HarryhaslefthisTwitterlogged
inforaminute. CompanyofHeroesis
rubbish. Boobs.
FEEDBACK
Follow us on Twitter at @custompcmag
OVERCLOCKING A CORE-I 7
Just aquickquestionabout youroverclocking
guidefortheCorei5-2500Kinissue105. Can
I usethisexampletooverclockmyCore
i7-2700K?I haveanAsusmotherboard.
AlexLajer
Benreplies:Theprinciplesofoverclocking
theCorei7-2700Kareexactlythesameas
thoseforoverclockingtheCorei5-2500K, as
theybothhaveanunlockedmultiplier, but
youmaynothaveasmuchoverclocking
headroomforhigherclockspeeds. As
youprobablyknow, themaindifference
betweenthei7andi5LGA1155chipsisthe
formerssupportforvirtual coresviaHyper-
Threading, andthisstressestheCPUalittle
moreunderload.
Wehaventtriedoverclockingthe2700K,
butwefoundthe2600Kcouldreach4.8GHz
whenwepushedittoitslimit, whilewecould
geta2500Kall thewayupto4.9GHz. As
such, your2700Kshouldbeabletocopefine
withthe4.5GHzfrequencywedetailedin
theguide. Ifindoubt, startoffwithaslightly
lowerclock(suchas4.3GHz), usinga43x
multiplierandseehowyougeton.
PUT YOUR FOOTER DOWN
I frequentlyclippagesfromCustomPC, and
usuallyaddthemagtitleandissuenumberat
thefoot of thepageasanaidtofiling. Could
youarrangeforthisinfotobeprinted?Just
thinkof theworldwidesavingsinpenink!
TonyFoster
Benreplies: Ill haveathinkaboutthisI
dontreallyseewhynot, exceptthatitsjust
onemoreareaofthepagewherewecould
leavethepreviousissuesnumberby
mistake!Ill askourarteditorandsee
whathethinks.
WHEN DO YOU NEED MULTI -GPU?
Ivejust readyourarticletitledTheJoker
Cardsabout CrossFireXandSLI. I currently
haveaCrossFireXmachine, whichistwo
yearsoldandhastwoRadeonHD4600cards,
but I havetoget anotheroneforworklaterin
theyear. All myworkisbasedongraphics
andimagingPowerPoint, Photoshop, video
andsoon, andI dont playgames.
Thepurposeof thenewmachine(along
withtheolderone) istohookit upwith
122
FEEDBACK
122 July 2012
IMAGINARY GRAPHI CS CARDS
YourreviewoftheRadeonHD7850/7870
continuallyreferstoaGeForceGTX570
Ti, butnocardexists.
MatthewLove
Benreplies:ThisispreciselywhyNvidia
shouldquitwiththesillynumberofGPU
modelnumbersandsuffixes!Illalso
tellHarrytostopimaginingGPUs.
Get a kick out of pointing
out the shortcomings of
others? Its okay so do we
MatroxsTripleHeadtoGosystem, and
output at full HDacrossall threeoutputs
ontoascreensome40ft across. Fromyour
article, it soundsasthoughI maybebetter
off usingjust asinglecardsuchasa
RadeonHD79703GB, ratherthantwo
RadeonHD7870cardsinCrossFireX. Id
beveryinterestedtohearyouropinion.
CliveSmith
Benreplies: Yourequiteright, Clive. You
nowonlyneedonecardtooutputacross
threemonitorsthisisthemagicofAMDs
Eyefinitysystem(andnowNvidiaSurround
too) itbasicallyenablesyoutohookup
three(orinsomecases, six) monitorstoone
card. Infact, evenaRadeonHD7970will be
overkill forwhatyouwantifyourenot
playinggamesonitacheaper, last-
generationRadeonHD6000-seriescard
will beabletohandlethatworkfine, and
outputtothreedisplaysrunningat1,920x
1,080each.
Justmakesurethatyoubuyacardwith
therightoutputstomatchyourmonitors, or
atleastwithanappropriatesplittercable
thatway, youwontevenneedtousethe
MatroxTripleHead2Gobox. TheMatrox
boxesaregreatifyouwanttohookup
several monitorstoalaptopwithonlyone
displayoutput, buttherightdesktop
graphicscardcannowdothatjobonitsown.
HOW IMPORTANT IS PCI -E 3?
Readingthroughthismonthsmag(Issue
105), I noticedanarticlecoveringthenew
NvidiaGeForceGTX6802GB. Fantastic! I
thinktomyself, asmynext plannedbuild
will eitherincludeoneof these, oranAMD
RadeonHD79703GB. Seeingsomemore
detailsandtest resultswouldbeahugehelp
withmakingmychoiceof purchase. I read
throughthearticle, just about followingbut
enjoyingtheobligatoryfiguresand
engineeringexplanations(keepingmy
caffeinelevelstoppeduptohelpmeduring
this, of course), but whenI cametothetesting
andconclusion, alittleredwarninglight
went off inmymind. At nopoint was
theissueof PCI-E3mentioned.
Consideringhowstronglythese
twocardshavebeencomparedin
thisarticle, andgiventhat the680
usesthePCI-E2interface, sayingthat
consideringtheGTX6802GBsperformance
andpoweradvantage, theresonlyone
winner isalittleinaccurate, giventhat
Issue102sreviewof the7970pointsout that
the7970isthefirst PCI-E3graphicscard,
andalsosayingthat whiledoublingthe
bandwidthto32GB/seciscertainlyintriguing,
nocurrent CPUsorchipsetssupport PCI-E3.
Assuch, thisfeatureisimpossibletotest at
themoment.
Logicallythen, astheGTX680doesnt
support PCI-E3, itsimpossibletoruntests
andcompareit fairlytothe7970usinga
PCI-E2setup, isnt it?It seemstomethat any
fairtest of trueperformancebetweenthese
twographicscardsmust bepostponeduntil
theycanbothbetestedonaPCI-E3setup,
andwecanseewhat level of performance
the7970will givethen. Idimaginethat
statementssuchastheGTX680thrashes
theRadeon7970by40percent insome
cases will becomeredundant whentested
onasystemthat allowsbothcardstowork
at full capacity.
I stronglyhopethat whenthenewplatform
isavailable, thesetestswill becarriedout
oncemore. I sincerelyhopethat, shouldmy
letterendupbeingpublishedinafuture
issue, Imnot mistakenforaRadeonfanboy,
but ratheranenthusiast tryingtofindfair
testsandaccurate
datatoaidmy
decisionpriortopayingout ashed-loadof
moneyforanewPC!
AdamWootten
Benreplies:Dontworry, wewont
mistakeyouforaRadeonfanboy, butits
importantnottooverestimatethe
importanceofPCI-E3. Yourerighttosay
wedidnttesttheRadeonHD7970ona
PCI-E3system, andwell lookatupgrading
ourgraphicstestrigtoaPCI-E3machine
nowthatIvyBridgeCPUsandZ77
motherboardsareavailable.
However, PCI-E3will makelittle, ifany,
differencetotheRadeonHD7970sspeedin
games, ascurrentgraphicscardssimply
dontpumpoutenoughdatatosaturate16
PCI-E2lanes, letalone16PCI-E3lanes. If
theGeForceGTX680trouncestheRadeon
HD7970onaPCI-E2PCthenitscloserto
pushingthelimitofthePCI-E2busthanthe
RadeonHD7970, soitwoulddoexactlythe
sameonaPCI-E3system.
ThisisnttosaythatPCI-E3wontbe
importantonedayitsalwaysgoodtohave
sparegraphicsbandwidthinthebank, butat
themoment, itslikeputtingaSATA6Gbps
interfaceonaharddrive. Itgivesyoua
featuretickbox, butnotaseriousspeed
advantageitsmuchmoreabouttheGPU
thantheinterfaceinthiscase.
AMDsEyefinitytechnologyenablesyouto
connectuptosixmonitorstothesamecard
PCI-E3wont
maketheRadeon
HD7970fasterthan
theGTX680
125 July 2012
Join our folding teamand help medical research
WHATISFOLDING?
Folding@homeusesthespareprocessingcyclesfromyourPCsCPUandgraphicscardsformedicalresearch.Youcandownload
theclientfromhttp://folding.stanford.edu/download.htmlandourteamsIDis35947.Onceyoupassasignificantmilestone,
youllgetyournameinthemag.Youcanalsodiscussfoldingwithusandotherreadersonthewww.bit-tech.netforums.
CPC:Whoareyouandwhatdoyoudo?
m1rr0rman:MynameisAaronHartwig, and
ImanetworkengineerforCSCAustraliain
Melbourne.
CPC:Whydidyoudecidetostartfolding?
m1rr0rman:I startedfoldingjust overayear
agowhenI first cameacrossCustomPC
magazine. Afterreadingabout Folding@
home, I carriedout moreresearchontheNet
anddiscoveredthat I couldcontributetoa
worthycause. Followingdirectionsonthe
bit-techforums, I joinedtheCPC/bit-tech
teamandtherest ishistory.
CPC:Whatexcitesyouthemostabout
folding?
m1rr0rman:I likethefact that I usemy
hardwareforagoodcausewhileitsidle, and
thefriendlycompetitionalsoaddstothefun.
CPC: Whatdoyourfriendsandfamilythink
aboutyoufolding?
m1rr0rman:Theythinkitsfantasticthat Im
contributingtosuchaworthycause, and
theyregladtoseemymachinebeingused
forsomethingotherthangaming.
CPC:Howmanymachinesdoyouhave
folding?
m1rr0rman:I hadthreemachinesfolding,
but I almost ranmyworklaptopintothe
ground, sonowtherearejust two, although
oneof themisrunningfiveclients. I havean
We catchup withfolder of the month: m1rr0rman
AsusG73JH-A2laptop, whichisonlyfolding
withitsCorei7-720QMCPU, andImalso
foldingonthemachinethatsmyprideand
joy. Thishasawater-cooledCorei7-2600K
overclockedto4.7GHz, andtwooverclocked
NvidiaGeForceGTX590s, whicharealso
water-cooled. BothPCsarerunning
Windows764-bit.
CPC:Areall yourmachineskeptathome?
m1rr0rman:The2600Kisat home, andthe
Asuslaptopisat work.
CPC:Youvebeenproducingquiteafew
pointsrecently; doyouintendtokeepupthis
sortofproductionlevel?
m1rr0rman:Yeah, without adoubt. Idliketo
increasemyproductionif possible, andIll
alsobelookingtobuildanotherPCsoon.
CPC:Whatstheworstexperienceyouve
hadwhilefolding?
m1rr0rman:That wouldbepayingforthe
powerbills.
CPC:Whatsthebestexperienceyouvehad
whilefolding?
m1rr0rman:Seeingthosepointsrackup
andslowlyclimbingtheteamladder.
CPC: Ifyoucouldchangeoneaspectofyour
setup, whatwoulditbe?
m1rr0rman:Actually, at themoment Imin
theprocessof separatingtheCPUandGPU
Teamrank117 Worldrank3,909
Score7,401,946 Workunits 1,922
Dailypointsaverage18,922
TOPFOLDERS
Thismonthsshout-outsgoto
JediMasterJonny,apeman556,debs3759,
Abomin81on,FingAZandVotick.Ifyoufold
underanyofthesenames,emaileditor@
custompc.co.uk
126
waterloopstoimprovetemperatures.
However, ImcurrentlyeyeingupsomeIvy
Bridgekit nowthat itsonthemarket.
CPC:Anytipsforfellowmembersofthe
team?
m1rr0rman:Keepuptheexcellent workand
friendlyattitudetocompetition. At theendof
theday, wereall workingtowardabetterand
healthierfuture.
HTTP://FORUMS.BIT-TECH.NET
126 July 2012
MILESTONES THIS MONTH
Username Points
milestone
Username Points
milestone
Username Points
milestone
Username Points
milestone
MrMonkeyChunks 80000
beads 100000
CountBartok 100000
Mariocdl 100000
Simlec 100000
smartwasp 100000
Yattiaman 100000
Andrew_Dixon 200000
bbnsol 200000
Munky 200000
Teflon 200000
YbrFinX 200000
Archaon88 300000
Cscarlet 300000
dbeddoes 300000
Dublos 300000
ejhunter 300000
Eldorado-Bit-tech 300000
ForGrace 300000
Jazzman 300000
JoshEllie-16 300000
MerDjence 300000
Reiep 300000
SlamDunk 300000
SyLvEsTeR20007 300000
TokerRizla 300000
Trevrev 300000
Avlan 400000
Fartlek 400000
Igniseus 400000
Number14 400000
Osiris_Blue 400000
Scammelio 400000
ShortMunky 400000
THE_EVIL_RAPIER 400000
Cpcwood 500000
cs278 500000
Jon_Simmo 500000
Neilo 500000
ricky2u2002 500000
8Core 600000
geonectixs 600000
zit_z_pps 600000
FingAZ 700000
hazza_t 700000
Slowlemon 700000
Abomin81on 800000
cynicaltaf 800000
Desertbaker 800000
funkybrown 800000
GandalfDDUK 800000
Javaman 800000
Mr.a2008 800000
CopperHead1960 900000
FoldingSolutions 900000
littlesmoke222 900000
Daniel_Selley 1000000
firth72 1000000
Frostbite 1000000
Written_In_C 1000000
awstcomputers 2000000
droyden 2000000
Fly_Boy_Rez 2000000
JediMasterJonny 2000000
Mark_Skeldon 2000000
Scorpuk 2000000
Oatyflapjack 3000000
techman 3000000
debs3759 4000000
gm04030276 4000000
v8ninety 4000000
cave_diver 5000000
Dolphin(CPC) 5000000
Serpentine 5000000
John_Naylor 6000000
kirk_1701 6000000
mikestanmartin 6000000
TheFlipside 6000000
dd 7000000
m1rr0rMan 7000000
World
rank
Teamname Points Dailypoints
average
Timeuntil
overtake
7
CustomPC&
bit-tech
5,047,792,572 4,284,004 0
awachs 1,790,160,787 10,752,708 1.4Years
Alliance
Francophone
3,281,687,710 4,461,071 27.3Years
THE NEXT OVERTAKE
Bob_D 20000
bobster01 20000
chewy1551 20000
ChrisS 20000
RunningDingos 20000
TacticalFluke 20000
BrawnyFanta 30000
Chrisz0rz 30000
EducatedChimp 30000
humphrey 30000
Mecael 30000
natwilford03 30000
Rosyglo 30000
HinTFishy 40000
nsymons 40000
pipnina 40000
SirBenjaminNunn 40000
{HSP}Dazzler 50000
darthvanman 50000
edmundkong36 50000
ttu 50000
anadir2 60000
llb443 60000
Clotten 70000
Luke_James 70000
mar_duke 70000
Millsy79 70000
Pausanias828 70000
Bnorus 80000
Karl_Patschinsky 80000
mattydinx 80000
McSpoon 80000
Username Points
Milestone
HTTP://FORUMS.BIT-TECH.NET
TOP 20 OVERALL
Rank Username Points Workunits
1 Dave_Goodchild 361,057,653 105,641
2 phoenicis 223,349,417 93,954
3 zz9pzza 211,014,628 15,794
4 DocJonz 206,624,821 137,834
5 coolamasta 177,473,507 140,669
6 Lizard 129,273,029 59,681
7 StreetSam 98,397,813 68,559
8 Wallace 75,193,236 5,610
9 Christopher_N._Lewis 70,381,654 31,616
10 CustomBitChimps 68,650,154 35,891
11 BennieboyUK 60,803,041 3,021
12 saspro 56,475,098 44,892
13 Standin_wave 50,449,639 33,455
14 fir3x 49,785,598 7,986
15 greenfrog.biz 47,524,607 161,432
16 PS3/LanDi 46,878,519 85,798
17 One_Box 40,739,244 6,308
18 Justin_Wells 40,373,133 72,158
19 The_M2B 39,777,577 34,634
20 PeteBee 39,282,369 22,329
TOP 20 PRODUCERS
Rank Username Dailypointsaverage Overallscore
1 Dave_Goodchild 712,057 361,057,653
2 DocJonz 293,478 206,624,821
3 coolamasta 190,549 177,473,507
4 Wallace 188,327 75,193,236
5
Christopher_N._
Lewis
181,646 70,381,654
6 StreetSam 127,128 98,397,813
7 fir3x 93,192 49,785,598
8 The_M2B 89,701 39,777,577
9 One_Box 78,135 40,739,244
10 piers_newbold 77,921 24,351,983
11 LordBadger 74,569 24,086,771
12 Lordsoth 68,172 35,899,082
13 enigmo 53,979 15,512,319
14 PC_Rich 50,562 36,915,145
15 JediMasterJonny 50,010 2,791,533
16 Leroyingo 48,428 13,895,753
17 HackJoe 47,769 21,452,249
18 apeman556 45,322 14,748,022
19 FingAZ 43,604 716,071
20 PeteBee 42,140 39,282,369
solarfreak 8000000
fatchef 9000000
bytesurfer 10000000
PaulChapman 10000000
Tattysnuc 10000000
Unicorn 10000000
HackJoe 20000000
Promethus26 20000000
sandyhall 20000000
One_Box 40000000
Christopher_N._
Lewis
70000000
Wallace 70000000
DocJonz 200000000
127 July 2012
Onsale 21 June, 2012
*Pleasenotethatthesestoriesaresubjecttoproductdelays, plustime
spentswearingatwater-coolingloopsandgawpingatthetemperatures
generatedbyoverclockedIvyBridgechips.
Water cooling
Forthefirsttime, wereconductinga
water-coolingLabsbasedonseparate
parts, ratherthankits. HarryButlerwill
betestingloadsofradiators, aswellas
waterblocksforbothCPUsandGPUs.
IvyBridgeoverclock
WetakeacloserlookatIntelsIvy
Bridgearchitecture, showingyouthe
bestwaytooverclockit, whilealso
investigatingIntelsnew4000-series
graphicscomponent.
Spintronics
LucySherriffventuresintotheworld
oftheminiscule, investigating
technologythatenablestheon/off
stateofabittoberepresentedbythe
spinofanelectron.
Webcensorship
NowthataUKcourtrulinghasordered
ISPstoblockaccesstoThePirateBay,
andVirginhasalreadydoneit, JimKillock
investigateswhatInternetcensorship
meansforInternetusers.
Comingnext monthin
128 July 2012
eef thewhat?Isthisoneof Joesindie
gamesaboutstealingcabbagesin
theAmericancivil war?Youprobably
haventheadof Keef theThief, butits
notableforafewreasons. Firstly, becausethe
PCversionwascodedbyayoungVijayPande
thesameProfessorVijayPandewhofounded
Folding@home. Itwas alsoNaughtyDogs
firstgame, producedwhilefoundersJason
RubinandAndyGavinwerestill at
college. Thirdly, itdemonstratesjust
howmuchgameshavechanged.
Headbackto1990, whenI had25of
ChristmasmoneythatIddecidedto
spendonanewgameformy8MHz8086
CGAPC. If youthinkPCgamesare
under-representedinGamenow,
considerthattheonlygamesondisplayinmy
local marketthenwereforAmigasandAtari
STs; youhadtoasktheguytogetouttheboxof
PCgamesfromunderthecounter.
I choseKeef theThief itlookedlikegood
funwithitscartoonycover, andthegraphics
lookedhalf-reasonable. I tookithomeand
installedit(ontwo720KBfloppydisks),
andthenwanderedaroundinthegame,
strugglingtoworkoutwhattodoand
dyingalot. OldRPGsarehard,
unforgivingandoftenjustunfair, plus
youcouldonlyhaveonesavegame. I put
itbackinitsbox, whereitstayeduntil
Christmas2010, whenI founditand
decidedtofinallycompleteit, ensuring
myyoungerselfsChristmasmoney
hadntbeenwasted.
Keef theThief
Ben Hardwidge nally completed one of the
hardest PC RPGs ever, 21 years after he bought it
I installeditproperlyfromtheoriginal
floppydisks(usingDOSBox) foroldtimes
sake. I wasthenconfrontedwiththecopy-
protectionsystem, whichrequiredyouto
matchupwordsusingacodeinthemiddle
sectionof themanual, whichwasall printedin
blackinkonadarkredbackground, toprevent
peoplefromphotocopyingitratherlike
analoguerightsmanagement.
ThenI wasin, andfirstnoticedjusthoweasy
itistodie. Infact, itsimpossibletofinishthe
gamewithoutdyingmany, manytimes. For
example, youhavetosteal stuff frompeoples
homes, butdisarmthetrapsfirst. The
algorithmforthisprocessseemstogiveyoua
10percentchanceof disarmingthetrap, and
a90percentchanceof dying. Imnoteven
exaggeratingI countedmorethan20deaths
disarmingjustoneof them. EachtimeI died,
I hadtoreloadmysavegameandstartagain
thatwastheonlywaytogainthethieving
experienceyouneeded.
Thentherewerethedungeonsand
caves, someof whichtooktheconceptof
randomlygeneratedareamuchfurther
thanSkyrim. All thesurroundingslook
thesame, andif youdie(andyouwill)
thenyoustartbackatthebeginning,
bywhichpointthedungeonsmaphas
completelychangedyoucanteven
drawamapitsbasicallypureluckif you
getthroughit.
Despitethis, though, afteradayof playing
thegame, I wasabsolutelyhooked. The
chunky320x240graphicsdidntbotherme
anymore, andneitherdidtheconstantdying
andreloadingI justwantedtogetthroughit.
WhenI wokeup, I feltexcitedbecauseI could
goandplaymoreof it.
Afteracoupleof weeks, I finally
finishedit, andI wassoproudof myself
thatI toldNaughtyDogfounderJason
Rubin, whocongratulatedmeonTwitter.
I thenloadedCrysis: Warheadandwas
remindedjusthowfarPCgameshave
comein21years. If youthinkanyof
todaysgamesarehardandunfair, you
dontknowhoweasyyouhaveit.
K
THE CHUNKY 320 x 240
GRAPHICS DIDNT BOTHER ME
ANY MORE, AND NEITHER DID
THE CONSTANT DYING
MyoriginalKeefthe
Thiefdisksnotewho
codedtheIBMversion
i
sitjustme, ordothosethreewordsmakeyouverysuspicious?It
alwayssoundslikecarnyhucksterstuff. Roll up! Roll up! Takea
shot, kid, itsfreetoplay! Nocatch! Yourinstinctistostayaway
fromit, becausetheressurelysomekindof shadyplayafoot.
I feltthatwaywhenI heardaboutTribes: Ascend. I originally
stumbledintoTribesbyaccident. I pickedupStarsiegeUniverseona
whim, becausetherewerebigrobotsinit, andIll buyanythingwithbig
robotsinit. TheStarsiegeUniversebox, foryouwhippersnappersout
there, includedtwogamesStarsiegeandTribesandbothgames
weresetinthesameuniverse. I installedTribes
first, asalittleappetiserbeforethemainevent.
I expectednothingfromit. WhatI gotwasmy
favouriteonlineFPSof all time.
Tribes, forthosewhohaventplayedit, is
asportsimulationgamewhereyouski over
mountainsasyouraceopponentstoaflag. Its
likeakindof relayrace, wherethecompetitors
canfiremetal platesthrougheachothers
necks. Inotherways, itslikea100msprint,
wherethetapeatthefinishlineismadeof lasersandyourheadkeeps
fallingoff. Anditsalsoverymuchliketheskeletonbobsleigh, except
withnobobsleighs, andlotsmoreburningskeletons.
Evenbackintheoldendays, whengraphicswereterrible, Tribes
wasbeautiful. I havewonderful memoriesof hangingaboutatthe
base, lookingoutoverthemountains, daydreamingasI letloosea
volleyof plasmaintoaraidersgroin. I rememberhowrelaxingit
wastobechattingwithstrangersduringthemomentsof calm
thatprecededhavingtoblowsomeoneschinoff at200mphwith
arocketlauncher.
So, understandably, whenI heardaboutTribes: Ascend, I wasvery
excited. AndthenI sawthatitwasfreetoplay(F2P), andI diedof fright.
Indeath, I railedagainsteveryhellishmanifestationof theF2Pconcept
There doesnt have to be a catch to free-
to-play games. Tribes: Ascend shows
howit should be done
thatSatancouldconjure. I literallyfoughtmywayoutof Hell, sothatI
coulddownloadtheTribes: Ascendclientandatleastgiveitatry. And
youknowwhat?Therewasnothingtofear. Infact, thisisthebestthing
IveplayedsincereturningtothePCfold.
Thisishowyoudofree-to-playproperly. Tribes: Ascendgivesyou
accesstothewholegame, eventually. Eventually iskeyhere. F2P
playerscanunlockeverythingwiththeXPthattheygain, butitwill
takeafairamountof time. ThosewhowanttopaycanacquirethatXP
faster, andgainaccesstonewweaponsandclassesmorequickly.
Now, youmightsay, Holdon. Sothosewhopay
will alreadyhavethecool weapons?NOFAIR!
ThisisTribes, myfriend. Thisisagameof skill.
AnexpertTribesplayerwiththeweakest
weaponwouldleadsomegreenrecruitwith
theadvancedweaponsamerrydance. Player
skill helpstoprovidethebalance, andthepaid
playersandthefreeplayersall merrilyplay
together. Itsperfect. I justcantfindthe
negatives. Believeme, Ivelookedforthem.
Andwhatagame. Thebeautyisstill there, andtheviolence, andthe
sport. Itsthekindof gamethatcouldonlybepossibleonPC, witha
mouseandkeyboardcombo, andathoroughlydecentPConline
community. ItssogreatthatI paidthemaximumpriceforit. Butyou
donthavetodothatif youdontwantto. Nice, huh?Comeandstick
aplateintomyeyebrow! Roll up! Roll up! Takeashot, kid, itsfreeto
play! Nocatch!
RobertFlorenceisthestarandwriterofBBCcomedy
Burnistoun, co-writerofMocktheWeekandTheITCrowd, and
anenthusiasticgamerwhosrediscoveringthejoysofPCgaming
@ROBERTFLORENCE
Its very much like the
skeleton bobsleigh,
except with no
bobsleighs, and lots
more burning skeletons
FREETO
PLAY
130 July 2012
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