Custom PC - October 2014 UK

REVIEWED: Nvidias new Jetson hobby board
THE BESTSELLING MAG FOR PC HARDWARE, OVERCLOCKING, GAMING & MODDING / ISSUE 133
HOW TO
Build an HD gaming
PC for 549incVAT
Plays all current games at
1,920 x 1,080, and at
maximum settings
4.6GHz OVER
CLOCKED CPU
240GB SOLID
STATE DRIVE
RADEON R9
270X GPU
8GB OF RAM
4K MONITOR GROUP TEST

3,840 x 2,160 SCREENS
FROM JUST 431
THE VOICE OF COMMANDER SHEPARD

WE TALK TO GAMING VOICE
ACTOR JENNIFER HALE
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Welcome
Custom PC Issue 133
Editorial
EDITOR
Ben Hardwidge
editor@custompcmag.org.uk
LABS
Matthew Lambert, Mike Jennings
MODDING EDITOR
Antony Leather
Dennis Publishing Limited

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Simon Treadaway, Tracy King
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Henry Carter
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C U STO M P C / ISSUE 133
Contents
Welcome to Issue 133
88 Build an HD gaming
PC for 549
Budget overclocking is back with a
vengeance. Not only has Intels new
unlocked 50 Pentium chip proved itself to
be capable of running at phenomenal clock
speeds, but Asus has also enabled multiplier
overclocking across loads of budget
motherboards, including many that arent
based on the top-end Z97 chipset. Put the
two together with a Radeon R9 270X and
you end up with a surprisingly fast system,
which can even play Crysis 3 at maximum
settings at 1,920 x 1,080.
Not only that, but with the money you save,
you can also get a 240GB solid state drive
and 8GB of RAM into a PC that cost s just
549 inc VAT, and thats without skimping on
the case or power supply either. In this issue,
we outline the reasons for our choice of
components, show you how to put the whole
lot together and then take you through the
process of overclocking your new gaming rig.
10 Hidden a gender
Recent research into the gender of
gaming avatars tells us more about
outdated stereotypes than real
personalities, argues Tracy King.
COVER STORY
P88
36
24
36 4K monitor labs
The cost of going beyond the limits of
HD has now plummeted, with 4K
screens going for as little as 431.
Here, we test seven 4K screens,
which all cost well under a grand.
98 The voice of
Commander Shepard
60 Pentium gaming PCs
Fancy getting your hands on a cheap
gaming rig, but cant be hassled to
build it yourself? Check out these
pre-built Pentium gaming PCs.
94 Text adventure evolution

You awaken in the woods. Beside
you is a chest. There is an exit to the
north. Tracy King examines the
history of the text adventure, from
Zork to todays visual novels.
Rick Lane catches up with voice actor

Jennifer Hale to find out whats
involved with voice acting in games.
102 Build a robotic arm

Gareth Halfacree gets to grips with
the Phenoptix MeArm, a robotic arm
kit you can build yourself.
104 Nvidia Jetson

We get our hands on Nvidias new
hobbyist computer, which features
a quad-core CPU and a full-on GPU

with 192 stream processors.
110 How to give your case a
carbon fibre look

Antony Leather shows you how to
apply carbon fibre lookalike wrap to
your case.
116 The Baby Grand

We chat to modder Savell Martin
about his great-looking project,
which incorporates a desktop PC and
a server into a single desk.
23
98
100
Reviewed
this month
PRODUCTS
REVIEWED
Hardware
SSD
17 Plextor M6e M.2 SSD 256GB
MOTHERBOARD
18 Asus Maximus Gene VII
GRAPHICS CARD
20 MSI GeForce GTX 760
Gaming ITX
116
LAPTOP
24 Asus G550JK
CPU COOLER
26 Cooler Master Nepton 280L
GAMING HEADSET
28 Audio Technica ADG1
94
Custom kit
108
34
34
34
35
35
35
PNY OTG Adapter

SteelSeries Free Touchscreen
Mionix Sargas 900
Razer Adaro
Razer Adaro Wireless
Spaced360 Bluetooth Portable
Speaker
4K monitor Labs test
Regulars
8
10
12
14
30
34
60
64
77
84
86
100
107
108
110
116
120
121
122
From the editor

Tracy King
Cover guide
88
104
Letters
Incoming
38
40
42
44
48
50
52
Dell UP2414Q
Iiyama ProLite B2888UHSU
AOC U2868PQU
Asus PB287Q
Samsung U28D590D
Philips Brilliance 288P6LJEB
ViewSonic VX2880ml
Games
How we test
78
80
81
82
Custom kit
PC head to head
CPC Elite products
Divinity: Original Sin

Sniper Elite 3
Valiant Hearts
The Wolf Among Us: Season One
81
Inverse look
The engine room
Digital rights
Hobby tech
Retro tech
Customised PC
How to guides
Readers drives
Folder of the month
Your folding milestones
James Gorbold
36
98
5
OPINION
B E N H A R DW I D G E / FROM THE EDITOR
APPLE RETINA PUTS

THE PC TO SHAME
Microsoft and Adobe need to stop being stuck in yesterdays 1080p world,
and take some notes from Apple, argues Ben Hardwidge (reluctantly)
fter decades of avoiding anything with the Apple logo,
like a dog avoiding a bath, I decided to swallow my pride
(and prejudice) and wandered into the Brighton Apple
store a couple of months ago. I have nothing against Apple
computers, but the tech-head snob in me passionately dislikes
the blind zealotry of so many Apple evangelists.
I ignored the computers, but I was really taken by the iPad Mini
Retina. Id recently smashed my Nexus 7 while using it as a GPS
Ordnance Survey map on a hike, and Id completely failed to fix
the screen myself with one of those kits on
eBay, ripping the copper heatspreader with
my big sausage fingers, and breaking several
ribbon connectors. I wanted a new tablet, and
the Apple store handily had the iPad Mini
Retina placed next to the standard iPad.
They didnt look different at all from a
distance, but when you got up close, the
Retinas screen was amazing. The text and
icons were so much smoother than those on the standard iPad,
but they were also exactly the same size. The OS was the same
in terms of usability its just that the display was so much
sharper. Unbelievably, this was the first time Id seen highresolution OS scaling work properly, and I wondered why Id
tolerated bad resolution scaling on Windows for so long.
You can scale up icons and OS features in Windows 7, of course,
but they just look completely wrong. The text doesnt scale
proportionally, and the buttons and taskbars of Windows dont
look right. Whats more, when you open up an app such as
Photoshop, all the buttons in that app will be too small, despite
your icons on the desktop being bigger.
I was so impressed by the iPad Retina Mini that I bought one,

despite its overinflated price, and now I want that same OS
scaling on my Windows desktop. The cost of 4K monitors is no
longer a barrier to getting a high resolution desktop screen (see
p36) the problem is Windows and the way it interacts with
other software. Windows 8.1 will now scale the OS properly up
to 4K, but thats a feature thats only just come about recently.
Games and movies might be the headline grabbers when it
comes to 4K, but the bigger deal is that it can effectively enable
similar smoothness to an Apple Retina screen
on a PC desktop in Windows software. For me,
this could mean having several Adobe apps
open at once, while Im making the magazine
in your hands, and still being able to read the
text properly, without having to zoom in and
out of each app to do so. It would actually
make a massive difference to the way I work.
At least, it would if Adobe Creative Suite
scaled properly to 4K on Windows 8.1, but that isnt the case. The
only 4K option on Windows is the new Creative Cloud suite, and
that was only updated to feature proper 4K scaling in June this
year. Theres no 4K patch update for Creative Suite you have to
upgrade your entire software package if you want proper 4K
scaling in Adobe software for Windows at the moment. Creative
Suite scales fine at higher resolutions on Mac OS, of course.
The PC is the most powerful and flexible desktop computing
platform, yet my iPads screen has a higher resolution than my
PC monitor. The PC is still catching up with Retina, and thats a
disgrace. Its time for Microsoft, Adobe and other PC software
developers to get their act together, and make 4K happen.
You can scale up icons and

OS features in Windows 7,
of course, but they just
look completely wrong
Ben Hardwidge is the editor of Custom PC. He likes PCs, heavy metal, real ale and Warhammer 40,000.
editor@custompcmag.org.uk
@mandogfish
REFERENCES
HTTP://TINYURL.COM/
STRATEGICFEMALE
OPINION
T R ACY K I N G / SCEPTICAL ANALYSIS
HIDDEN A GENDER
Recent research into the gender of gaming avatars tells us more about
outdated stereotypes than real personalities, argues Tracy King
here are a couple of non-work subjects at which Id
say Im an expert: Sid Meiers Civilization; making
French toast; the work of Goscinny and Uderzo; being
female; Plants vs Zombies; and cat ownership. Aha, I fooled
you! I sneaked in being female there to see if youd notice that
it isnt something you do, but something you are. Unlike being
a woman, which is something you do.
In science, female and male are sexes. In society, woman
and man are genders. Not everyone knows that those arent
the same, though, so I shall briefly explain because its relevant
to some science further on. Your sex is based on your biology
(chromosomes, sexual reproductive organs,
hormones and so on), and your gender is the
socially constructed role or presentation that
may or may not match your sex. Both terms can
be used colloquially, though, so theyre
sometimes interchangeable. There are other
less clear-cut areas, such as intersex, but for the
purposes of this column, Im going to focus on
male and female sexes, because thats what the
research Im about to analyse involved.
In May this year, http://phys.org published an article on a
study by Concordia University, Colorado State University,
Syracuse University, Hofstra University and the University of
Toronto (whew!) called The strategic female: genderswitching and player behavior in online games, in which
researchers claim that when gamers pretend to be someone
of the opposite gender, they still act like their real-world
gender. This claim is in contrast to a 2010 study of EverQuest
II, which showed that male players didnt behave differently
when switching the gender of their avatar.
The research was undertaken in a custom quest in World of
Warcraft. Players had free choice over their avatar, but while
23 per cent of males chose a female avatar, only 7 per cent of
females chose a male avatar (yes, the conflation of sex and

gender here is hard to follow, but for the purposes of this study
they mean that the female avatar looks womanly and the
male avatar looks manly, otherwise you wouldnt be able to
make a snap judgement about the gender of another player).
The usual flaw with self-report, particularly in a study
conducted online, is that you cant know if those players who
declared their real-world gender were telling the truth. But its
a decent sample size, so lets assume that isnt an issue.
Participants sense of how they fit into their real-world
gender roles was measured by the Bem Sex-Role Inventory
(BSRI), a questionnaire developed in 1971 to
measure masculinity and femininity. I did the
test recently and scored 81.667 out of 100
masculine points, 56.14 out of 100 feminine
points and 53.509 out of 100 androgynous
(neutral) points. Clearly, I dont act like my
gender then. But Im a woman, so how I act is
the most womanly thing in the world, to me.
What the test is saying is that I dont act like a
gender stereotype.
Gender norms are increasingly questionable in a society
just beginning to make headway into the rejection of predefined social roles (for example, stay-at-home-dads are on
the increase, and some traditionally male-dominated fields
such as medicine are now largely equal). It means less if you
act like the stereotype of your gender now, and in many cases,
its a disadvantage.
While the Concordia study results are interesting,
researchers are perhaps asking an outdated question. Instead
of examining whether players behaviour reflects their realworld gender regardless of avatar, the real issue is whether
traditional gender roles and expectations are necessary for
gameplay at all.
You cant know if those

players who declared
their real-world gender
were telling the truth
Gamer and science enthusiast Tracy King dissects the evidence and statistics behind popular media stories surrounding tech and gaming
10
@tkingdoll
F E E D B AC K
Letters
Please send us your feedback and correspondence to
letters@custompcmag.org.uk
Z87 or Z97?
Thanks for the mag I like
the recent changes and
additions, particularly
the inclusion of
modding as a regular
feature, as this is my
main area of interest. Im
currently designing a new
scratch-build high-performance ITX
rig, and am looking for a good ITX
board that looks the business, but
isnt too expensive. I love the look of
the Asus RoG products and believe
the Maximus Impact VII is due for
launch in August, but I suspect it
will be quite expensive which
leads me to my burning question.
The Maximus Impact VI is
capable of running the latest
processors via a BIOS update, and
is now available at a heavily
discounted price, so what is likely to
be the real-world performance gain
between running a new board with
a Z97 chipset, compared to a Z87
board using the same processor?
Given that the boards will also look
very similar, and share some
features between generations, such
as the ROG_EXT connection, which
Asus Maximus
VI Impact is still a
great motherboard,
despite being
based on a slightly
older chipset
HELP TEST OUR

NEW BENCHMARKS!
Yes, the wait for the new Custom PC
benchmarks suite is nearly over, and
we promise were not making it up.
Thanks to everyone whos tried them
out so far - were gradually ironing out
the issues, and now have a second
release candidate of the new suite to
try. If youre still not on our list, but you would like you
to help us test the new suite, as well as give us your
feedback about it, drop us a line at letters@
custompcmag.org.uk, with Benchmarks in the
Subject line.
12
Im thinking of using with Asus

fancy-looking RoG Front Base as
part of my build, would the
outgoing boards be a
good buy now?
I would be using
the board with a
discrete GPU, by the way,
so saving some pennies on the
board would help me to squeeze
the budget a little more for a GPU
upgrade. I hope you can help me
make up my mind.
DAVID CHUGG
Ben replies: There isnt a great deal of

difference between the two chipsets in
terms of performance, in all honesty
the margins are tiny. However, the Z97
chipset has other advantages over Z87,
including native support for PCI-E
storage using SATA Express and M.2,
and Intel also hasnt confirmed whether
its forthcoming Broadwell chips will
run with Z87 motherboards either, so
a Z97 board may offer you a little more
future-proofing.
For your needs, though, I reckon you
should opt for the discounted Maximus
VI Impact its still a great motherboard,
and the performance difference
between the Maximus VI and a Z97
board will be minimal in most
circumstances. I recommend
asking the retailer to flash the BIOS
to the latest version before sending
it to you, though (unless you have a
first-generation Haswell CPU
handy), just so youll be sure it will
work with your new CPU.
percentage is correct if the figures

are 30 respectively).
Keep up the good work, especially
on the modding and hobby tech
side. I always enjoy finding out
about upcycling old PCs, and Im
currently attempting my own
budget NAS build. Time will tell.
RICHARD
Ben replies: Youre quite right Richard

thanks for pointing that out. Just so
were clear, the overall scores for the
Thermalright coolers are still correct, its
just that the design and value scores
should be listed as being out of 30,
rather than 40. Im glad youre enjoying
our modding and hobby tech content,
and good luck with the NAS build.
I was very, very drunk

I would like to retract my
statements regarding your NAS
feature. The email that I sent was
unnecessarily harsh. When I sent
the email, I was reading my
favourite magazine on the train
home after consuming 14 pints of
continental-strength lager. I had
also drank some whisky. Im a highly
trained network engineer, and in
hindsight I completely understand
that not every reader would have
Settling old scores

Im really enjoying my monthly
subscription, but I noticed a minor
typo on p58 of Issue 132. The
Thermalright design and value
figures are 10 points too high (out
of 40 rather than 30, but the
Me? Criticising NAS articles, on a train, with

my reputation?
I have a lot of respect

for the fact that you
printed my email
it shows that you
take your readers
issues seriously.
the same understanding of
networkattached storage as
myself. I barely recall sending the
email, and you can imagine my
surprise/embarrassment when
finding my drunken rant printed in
the Letters page.
I have a lot of respect for the fact
that you printed my email it
showsthat you take your readers
issues seriously. In this case, though,
I feel that my comments were
unfounded. All I can do is offer my
apologies. If you ever have a
network-related issue then please
feel free to contact me the least I
can do is offer my services on the
house. I remain a fan of the mag and
yes, I did enjoy the Devils Canyon
coverage.
All the love,
NELSON MCKINNON
Ben replies: Aw, thanks for your

honesty Nelson. That sounds like me
when Im greeted with several surprise
emails from eBay in the morning after
a drunken night out, all telling me Ive
apparently won something that I dont
remember bidding on. One time I ended
up with a Cliff Richard LP. True story.
First-person booters
No, its not just you. Its called
growing up!
TED EUERS
No, Ben, youre not alone, now there

are two of us. Like you, I often gawp
transfixed at the gorgeously
rendered backgrounds in my games.
Luckily, I dont play shooters thirdperson role players are my game of
choice, so no one is going to shoot
Twitter highlights
Follow us on Twitter at @CustomPCmag
linuxnewbie @ghalfacree Hi, Great @
CustomPCMag articles. I would like to
learn about Raspberry Pi and Spark Core. Any
idea where to start please? Thank you.
Gareth: Sure. You dont even need a Pi: you can

get an Ethernet shield for the Arduino. Better
still, try a Spark Core.
Gareth: Cheers! Sparks official website is

good www.spark.io/start, and I have to
recommend my book www.amazon.co.uk/
gp/product/1118795482
kiddser Woo! Septembers

@CustomPCMag has dropped
through the door. Loving being at the top of
@foldingathome charts every month now =D
#TeamPlayer
McFlyinDelorean Things I said I would

do once employed: 1. subscribe to @
CustomPCMag done!
shahinfard Hi, Can I run 3 x 4K screens

at 60Hz with a single HD 7990?
Workstation use only.
Ben: Excellent, thank you!
Ben: We had to double-check this with AMD

to find out for you, just to make sure, but yes,
AMD says an HD 7990 will output to up to
four 4K screens at 60Hz if you use the
DisplayPort connections.
georgebaily I know its hard to make

pics of CPUs interesting but isnt that
Core i7 on p19 a copy paste of the i5?
Ben: Well spotted. Only one of the CPUs had
arrived in time for photography, although the
undersides are identical!
richardnpaul just seen the remote
power button article. Do you think that
you could do an Internet connected version,
with a pi?
me while I sightsee. The Longest

Journey is a good example each
setting is an atmospheric work of
art, and because Im so bad at
working out the clues, I get to look
at them for a mighty long time.
But where did our fixation for
game scenery originate? Does it go
back to the early SNES or 486 days
when pixellation was rife, and thus
any attempt at background realism
was to be applauded? Plus, there
was the associated pride that your
machine could generate such
graphical wonders.
Even today, with near photo
realism in games, my attention
frequently drifts to the background.
And it still gives me a buzz!
RICK BILLSON
Send your feedback and correspondence to
Croomo84 Hey Ben. I loved your firstperson booter article. I totally agree.
Its like building a 50m house and only using
the kitchen.
Ben: Thanks! From the other letters weve
received, it seems as though quite a few
people feel the same way.
Ben replies: I wonder if you might have

hit on something there actually Rick.
Fogies like me remember when PC
game graphics were awful, so anything
that was especially realistic, such as
the first 3D-accelerated games, or
even the first 256-colour VGA games,
really stood out. Plus, we had a lot of
adventure games back then, which
encouraged you to thoroughly explore
the environment.
WHENS THE NEXT MAG COMING OUT?

Issue 134 of Custom PC will be on sale on Thursday,
18 September, with subscribers receiving it a few
days beforehand. Visit http://tinyurl.com/
CPCDates to see the release dates for the rest
of the year.
letters@custompcmag.org.uk
13
CO M I N G S O O N / NEW KIT
Incoming
We take a look at the latest newly announced products
Nvidia launches
Shield tablet
Nvidia has dived headfirst into the Android
tablet arena with its latest Shield device, which
is aimed squarely at gamers. Based on the
same Tegra K1 mobile processor as the Jetson
TK1 (see p104), the new device offers 192
Kepler-class stream processors, which are
the same as their desktop GPU counterparts,
as well as a quad-core ARM processor.
The tablets 8in screen has a 1,920 x 1,200
resolution, and theres also an optional
wireless game controller available, complete
with two analogue sticks, a D-pad and several
buttons, for when you need more precision and
control than a touch-screen.
In addition, the new Shield tablet has front-facing speakers, and Nvidia has also teamed up
with Valve to offer up Half-Life 2 and Portal as games for the device, making it the only Android
tablet to have access to these games. Also of note is Nvidias GameStream technology, which
enables you to stream games directly from your desktop PC to the Shield and, if you hook the
Shield up to your TV, even stream them to your PC.
The Shield tablet is available to pre-order in 16GB and 32GB flavours now from various
retailers for 240 and 300 inc VAT respectively, with the wireless controller costing an extra
50. You can read James Gorbolds opinion on the Shield tablet on p122.
Asus unleashes
Maximus VII Formula
Swiftech takes on
all-in-one coolers
The Formula is the latest Asus RoG brand to get the Z97 treatment,
in the form of Asus new Maximus VII Formula motherboard.
Designed for the latest Devils Canyon CPUs, the board theoretically
supports up to 32GB of 3,300MHz RAM and has three PCI-E graphics
slots (one PCI-E 3 at 16x or two PCI-E 3 at 8x, while the third slot is
4x PCI-E 2).
The board also takes full
advantage of the latest storage
interfaces, with two SATA
Express ports, as well as an
M.2. slot on the board. Like its
Z87-based predecessor, it
really looks the part too, clad
in the traditional RoG red and
black colour scheme, and
covered in Asus RoG Armor.
The Maximus Formula VII is
available from www.scan.co.
uk now for 251 inc VAT.
Veteran water-cooling firm Swiftech has launched a new all-in-one

liquid cooler that incorporates enthusiast-level water-cooling parts.
Unlike the usual all-in-one designs, the H220-X has its pump
integrated into a dual 120mm radiator, rather than the CPU
waterblock, along with a
reservoir , complete with a
window so you can see the
coolant inside.
The waterblock itself is a
Swiftech Apogee XL. Unlike
most all-in-one liquid coolers,
the Swiftech H220-X also
uses standard watercooling tubing and
fittings, and is expandable
using other watercooling parts, so you can
add a GPU waterblock to
the loop later.
14
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Reviews
Our in-depth analysis of the latest PC hardware
Asus
Maximus
Gene VII
We check out Asus new
micro-ATX addition to its Z97
RoG family/ p18
Reviewed this month

Plextor M6e M.2 256GB p17 / MSI GeForce GTX 760 Gaming ITX p20 /Asus G550JK p24
Cooler Master Nepton 280L p26 /Audio Technica ADG1 p28
16
HOW WE TEST
PAGE 32
S O L I D STAT E D R I V E
Plextor M6e M.2 SSD 256GB/165
inc VAT
This M.2 SSD uses PCI-E to smash the SATA 6Gbps limit
SUPPLIER www.overclockers.co.uk
CI-E storage may have been available through

expansion cards for years in the enterprise world,
but the launch of Intels 9-series chipsets has
brought it closer to the mainstream, with plenty of Z97
motherboards now featuring M.2 and/or SATA Express
connectors. M.2 SSDs that use the SATA bus have been
available for a while, but were now starting to see more
M.2 PCI-E drives, such as Plextors M6e, which uses two
PCI-E 2 lanes, for a maximum bandwidth of 10Gb/sec.
It also uses the 2280 form factor, which is the most
common, although its still worth checking that your
motherboard supports it. If you dont have an M.2 slot, you
can purchase the M6e with an M.2 PCI-E expansion card for
around 30. The M6e uses the Marvell 9183 controller, a
dual-core model designed specifically to interface flash
with the PCI-E bus. Plextor uses its own custom firmware
and Toshiba 19nm Toggle MLC NAND, while a 512MB DDR3
Nanya chip handles caching.
The stated specifications impress
the M6e 256GB is capable of 770MB/sec
and 580MB/sec sequential read and
write speeds. However, these speeds
come at a cost; 165 is very expensive for
256GB you can even get double this
capacity for less money with Crucials
MX100 512GB.
Meanwhile, Endurance is always a
concern for SSDs, and Plextor ships the
M6e with a five-year warranty, although it
doesnt state the amount of data you can write to the drive
before its invalidated. Support for TRIM and AES 256-bit
encryption are also present, but more advanced encryption
standards are sadly missing.
Sequential performance is indeed very high; the M6e
exceeds 700MB/sec read speeds in CrystalDiskMark, and
its read and write speeds exceed the limits of the SATA
6Gbps bus. Random performance, however, is still limited
by other factors (such as the controller, firmware and the
AHCI interface). As such, both the SSD 850 Pro and even the
MX100 beat it at both single and high queue
depths, and in each case by a relatively
large margin too.
/SPECIFICATIONS
Unfortunately, we couldnt get our realForm factor M.2 2280
world benchmarks to run on the M6e, as
Interface 2x PCI-E 2
PCMark 7 simply refused to play ball with
Nominal capacity 256GB
the drive. However, the strenuous Iometer
Formatted capacity 238.47GB
mixed workloads tests are very important
Controller Marvell 88SS9183
for premium SSDs, and here the drive
Cache Nanya 512MB DDR3
excels, netting one of the best scores
Memory 8 x 32GB Toshiba 19nm
weve seen and matching the Samsung
Toggle Mode MLC NAND
SSD 850 Pro. Its particularly effective in
Warranty Five years
the file and webserver workloads, where it
The M6e exceeds

700MB/sec read
speeds in Crystal
DiskMark
outpaces every other solid

state drive weve tested.
Conclusion
The two key benefits of M.2 PCI-E drives are size and speed.
Its hard to argue with the size advantage, as theres no need
for a drive bay or cables. That said, 2.5in drives are very
small anyway, and M.2 SATA drives offer those same
advantages for less money. As for speed, the M6e is faster
than SATA drives, but only in specific conditions. As such, for
the vast majority of users, a 2.5in SSD with an excellent price
per GB, such as the MX100, will provide more than enough
speed and much better value for money.
MATTHEW LAMBERT
AS SSD
Sequential (MB/sec)
578.9
Plextor M6e M.2 256GB
501.8
Crucial MX100 512GB

0
180
360
703.4
517.2
540
720
4KB random (MB/sec)
33.2
Crucial MX100 512GB
128.7
31.1

0
70.4
33
66
99
132
4KB 64-queue-depth random (MB/sec)
218.8
246.6
338.6 366.4
Crucial MX100 512GB

0
92
Read
184
276
368
Write
IOMETER
Mixed workloads average score (IOPS)
45,302

Samsung SSD 850
PRO 256GB
Crucial MX100 512GB
45,297
40,549
SPEED
45/50
OVERALL SCORE
77%
12,000
2,4000
/GB
12/20
36,000 48,000
BANG/BUCK
20/30
VERDICT
Such speed in so small a form
factor is great, but the M6e lags
behind in some tests, making it
too expensive for what it offers.
17
R E V I E WS / NEW KIT
LG A 1 1 5 0 M OT H E R B OA R D
Asus Maximus VII Gene/147
inc VAT
The new Gene is fantastic-looking and loaded with features

SUPPLIER www.cclonline.com / MODEL NUMBER 90MB0I30-M0EAY0
ver since the first micro-ATX ROG-branded Gene

motherboard hit the shelves, weve been big
fans of the series. The Gene boards have
previously been cheaper than Asus ATX equivalents,
such as the Formula and Extreme, while also
offering great overclocking features, as well as a
base for dual-GPU SLI or CrossFire setups. The price
advantage isnt as clear-cut this time, though, with Asus
budget-focused ROG ATX offerings, such as the Maximus
VII Hero and Ranger, now available for temptingly low
prices, with the latter retailing for less than 130.
The Gene has eight SATA 6Gbps ports in total two more
than the Maximus VII Ranger, although the extra ports are
controlled by an ASMedia chip, so theyre likely to be slower
than the other six controlled by the Intel Z97 chipset. Also
included is an M.2 slot located between the two 16x PCI-E
slots, but theres no SATA Express. Irritatingly, the M.2 slot is
also likely to be blocked by your graphics card, requiring you
to remove the latter in order to get at the slot.
A Combo II Wi-Fi card was included on some previous
Gene boards, but with the inclusion of a Z97-controlled M.2
slot, Asus has instead filled the space with a mini PCI-E slot,
although youll need to buy a Wi-Fi module separately.
Meanwhile, the Gene has a number of overclockingorientated features on top of those provided by the Hero.
There are probelt voltage measuring points and even an
LN2 mode switch, making the Gene a more potent extreme
overclocking board than the Ranger or Hero. It also sports
60A ferrite chokes, NexFET Power Block MOSFETs, 10K
black metallic capacitors and Asus Extreme Engine Digi+ III,
with an 8+2 phase power design.
Not surprisingly, theres no room for an embedded audio
processor on this feature-packed micro-ATX boards, so
Asus has instead included a proprietary
riser port and a Supreme FX Impact II
/SPECIFICATIONS
daughterboard that you can slot into the
Chipset Intel Z97
motherboard. This board is based on a
CPU socket Intel LGA1150
Realtek ALC1150 codec but it also offers
Memory support 4 slots: max
its own electrical shielding and premium
32GB DDR3 (up to 3300MHz)
capacitors. Its probably not going to
Expansion slots Two 16x PCI-E 3,
compete with a fully fledged Xonar
one 4x PCI-E
sound card, but its better than a generic
Sound Realtek ALC1150
8-channel
on-board effort.
Networking 1 x Killer Gigabit LAN
As usual, the Gene is achingly goodOverclocking Base clock 80
looking, and theres plenty of illumination
300MHz, CPU multiplier 8 - 80x;
once the lights are lowered and the board is
max voltages, CPU 2.2V, RAM 2.4V
powered on. Layout is generally very good
Ports 4 x SATA 6Gbps (Z97), 2 x
as well, with right-angled SATA ports, and
eATA 6Gbps (ASM1061), 4 x USB 2,
4 x USB 3, 1 x LAN, 3 x surround
all the main connectors located on the
audio out, line-in, mic, optical
edge of the PCB. The SupremeFX Impact II
S/PDIF out, 1 x HDMI
daughterboard sits above the primary
Dimensions (mm) 244 x 244
graphics slot, so it doesnt interfere with
18
any dual graphics arrangements and, if youd prefer to use

your own sound card, theres also a 4x PCI-E slot beneath
the lower 16x slot. The only fly in the ointment is that long
graphics cards could make it tricky to get at the SATA ports,
so if you own a monster graphics card, youll want to connect
your SATA cables first. The heatsinks are also fairly lofty, but
theyre positioned far enough away from the CPU socket to
cause any trouble with most coolers.
The rear I/O panel has enough ports for most people too,
with four apiece of USB 2 and USB 3 ports, plus a clearCMOS button, HDMI port and Gigabit LAN port. The PCB
offers up power and reset switches too, which are handy for
testing, plus an LED POST code readout. Theres also a ROG
EXT connector on the PCB that allows for compatibility with
devices such as Asus OC Panel overclocking tool. As with
Asus other ROG motherboards, the Gene sports a wealth of
software features too. The UEFI, for example, offers a builtin SSD secure erase feature and the ability to make a RAM
drive, while the latest Windows-based features include the
ability to turn any USB keyboard into a macro-equipped one
using Keybot, plus many other features.
Performance
The Gene performed reasonably at stock speed in our Media
Benchmarks, with a strong multi-tasking score helping it to
get just ahead of the Maximus VII Hero overall. It was a
similar story in the game tests too, where it was slightly
faster than some Z97 motherboards weve tested, although
ASRocks cheaper Fatal1ty Z97 Killer was a little quicker.
Using a Plextor PX-G256M6e SSD, the on-board M.2 port
was considerably faster than the SATA 6Gbps ports too, with
read and write speeds of 750MB/sec and 559MB/sec
respectively, compared to 542MB/sec and 520MB/sec with
our 240GB OCZ Vector 150 SATA 6Gbps SSD.
Meanwhile, Asus UEFI is typically slick and well featured;
seasoned overclockers will have no problem finding their
way around. It could be a little daunting for newcomers, as
theres a mass of options, but everything you need is there.
We managed to hit 4.8GHz using 1.33V with our usual Core
i7-4770K, which is fairly standard among Z97 motherboards.
ELITE
NEW ENTRY
P 64
2
1
3
1
The on-board power

and reset switches
are handy for testing
The lofty heatsinks

are placed away
from the CPU socket
An M.2 slot sits

between the two
16x PCI-E slots
However, when using water cooling, we got our CPU

stable at 4.9GHz, albeit with a toasty 1.47V vcore. This
overclock improved the scores massively, with the overall
score rising over 20 per cent, although it still wasnt quite
enough to grab the top spots. Meanwhile, power
consumption was a little lower at idle than many other
boards, but often higher under load and when overclocked.
Conclusion
The Maximus VII Gene is a compact powerhouse that has
every feature you could want, other than SATA Express and
triple-GPU support, and all on a small PCB. That said, the M.2
port certainly fared well, and very few people will ever need
more than a dual-GPU setup anyway.
In addition, its also very attractive, overclocks well and has
an abundance of features, with easily accessible UEFI and
Windows software too.
G IM P IM AG E E D ITING
ANTONY LEATHER
T HE E L DE R S CR O L L S : S K Y R I M
Asus Maximus VII Gene

Asus Maximus
VII Ranger
0
The extra eye candy and features, plus the fact that thirdparty waterblock manufacturers always offer exciting
products for the Gene series, makes the Gene VII highly
desirable. The Ranger and Hero may be better for owners of
ATX cases, but if youre looking for a micro-ATX board, the
Gene is lustworthy enough to justify its price premium.
650
1,300
2,079
2,519
2,063
2,507
1,950
1,920 x 1,080, 16x AF, 0x AA
3,596
0
1,150
2,300
3,450
4,600
1,693 1,765
1,577 1,698
450
900
1,350
1,800
2,412 2,876
750
FEATURES
38/45 28/30
VALUE
21/25
169 fps
135
180
1,500
2,250
30 fps 36 fps
35 fps
34 fps
0
Stock speed min
42 fps
29 fps 35 fps
Asus Maximus
VII Ranger
2,463 2,875
Stock speed
SPEED
90
S HO G U N 2: T O T A L W A R CPU T E S T
O VE RAL L
Asus Maximus
VII Ranger
0
45
1,920 x 1,080, default settings, no AA, no AF

Asus Maximus
VII Ranger
0
170 fps
152 fps
112 fps
4,422
M U L T I-T ASK IN G
96 fps
Asus Maximus
VII Ranger
3,617 4,342
153 fps
114 fps
2,600
H AN D BRAK E H .26 4 V IDE O E NC ODING

Asus Maximus
VII Ranger
97 fps
11
Stock speed avg
22
Overclocked min
33
42 fps
44
Overclocked avg
3,000
Overclocked
OVERALL SCORE
87%
VERDICT
Pricier than other Z97 boards, but
this fantastic micro-ATX package
is brimming with features,
particularly for overclockers.
/TEST KIT
3.5GHz Intel Core i7-4770K, 16GB Corsair Vengeance
Pro DDR3 1,866MHz DDR3 memory, 240GB OCZ
Vector 150 SSD, Plextor PX-G256M6e SSD, Nvidia
GeForce GTX 780 3GB, Corsair Pro Series Gold
HX750 PSU, Windows 7 64-bit
19
GRAPHICS CARD
MSI GeForce GTX 760 Gaming ITX/181
inc VAT
A dinky, but powerful card, and it only needs one power connection
SUPPLIER www.dabs.com
mall but powerful graphics cards are rare, as large

GPUs generate lots of heat and need chunky
heatsinks, but MSIs GTX 760 Gaming ITX (which
has a GPU thats easily capable of smooth 1080p gameplay
at maximum settings) specifically targets mini-ITX users.
Physically, the GTX 760 ITX is 170mm long, 29 per cent
shorter than the reference card. Almost any mini-ITX case
should be able to handle the length, although the cards
height does extend slightly past the top of the backplate,
which could be an issue in some cases.
Despite the size, MSI actually runs the GPU core above
stock speeds too, although the memory remains clocked at
1.5GHz (6GHz effective). By default, the core is clocked at
1,006MHz, 3 per cent more than the 980MHz stock
frequency, and it has a stated boost
clock of 1,072MHz. However, with the
MSI Gaming App, you can quickly
switch the card from its default
Gaming profile into either Silent or
OC mode. In Silent mode, the GPU
is clocked back to 980MHz (boost
1,033MHz) while in OC mode its at
1,033MHz (boost 1,098MHz). The peak
boost speeds we observed in the
Silent, Gaming and OC modes were 1,084MHz, 1,110MHz
and 1,124MHz respectively fairly small differences.
The GTX 760 ITX can run up to four displays at once too.
The HDMI and DVI-I connectors are joined by two miniDisplayPort connections (an adaptor to a full-sized
DisplayPort is provided) that match the DisplayPort 1.2
specification and can be used with 60Hz 4K displays as well.
Along the top edge is a pair of SLI connectors, as the card
is 3-way SLI-compatible. Youll also find a single 8-pin PCI-E
power connection in place of the dual 6-pin connectors on
the reference card. Along with the supplied
6-to-8-pin adaptor cable, which means almost
any PSU will work with this card, and cable
/SPECIFICATIONS
clutter is reduced too.
Graphics processor Nvidia
On the front of the PCB are four Elpida
GeForce GTX 760, 1,006MHz
(boosting to 1,072MHz)
memory chips, with a further four on the rear.
Pipeline 1,152 stream
The card also uses the reference 4+1 phase
processors, 32 ROPs
power design, but with its own military-class
Memory 2GB GDDR5, 6GHz
Super Ferrite Chokes, which MSI claims run
effective
cooler than standard chokes, while providing
Bandwidth 192GB/sec
higher current capacity and power efficiency,
Compatibility DirectX 11.2,
OpenGL 4.3
leading to better overclocking stability.
Outputs/inputs Dual-link
Meanwhile, the cooler uses a single MSI
DVI-I, HDMI, 2 x mini
Radax fan, which is designed to combine the
DisplayPort
high airflow of radial fans with the low noise of
Power connections 1 x 8-pin,
axial ones, and to provide both horizontal and
top-mounted
vertical airflow. Its similar to Asus CoolTech
Size 170mm long, dual-slot
system, although MSI naturally says that its
The GTX 760 ITX is

170mm long, 29 per
cent shorter than
the reference card
20
own implementation is better. Either way, the coolers

plastic shroud isnt fully sealed, so some warm air will get
back into your chassis.
Relative to the size of the card, the heatsink is also rather
large. The heatpipes and fin-stack directly cool the GPU,
while a metal contact plate straddles the front-facing
memory chips and power circuitry. Finally, a rear backplate
dissipates heat from the rear memory chips.
Performance
Performance is virtually identical to the reference GTX 760,
give or take 1-2fps, and thats to be expected. Since the
overclock on the MSI card is so small, it doesnt boost any
further than the stock GTX 760. Both cards more or less
maintained a peak boost speed of 1,110MHz throughout all
of our tests, in fact.
In Battlefield 4, the MSI card is smooth at 1,920 x 1,080 but
unable to handle 2,560 x 1,440 for that resolution, youll
need to invest over 200 if youre not willing to sacrifice
detail. In BioShock Infinite, the MSI card is almost always
above 60fps at 1,920 x 1,080, and is very smooth. Its even
comfortable at 2,560 x 1,440, never dropping below 36fps.
Meanwhile, the Crysis 3 results are very similar to those in
Battlefield 4: you can expect smooth performance at 1080p,
but go higher and the GTX 760 ITX starts to show its limits.
System power draw is also exactly in line with a standard
GTX 760. Pleasingly, however, the MSI GTX 760 ITX card
was noticeably quieter than the reference GTX 760 card,
ELITE
NEW ENTRY
P 64
and a little cooler too. Under load, its fan typically sat at
40-43 per cent speed, which was barely audible over our
other quiet system fans.
The Silent and OC modes make little difference to speed,
with just 1fps between the fastest and slowest modes in
Battlefield 4. The modes appear to slightly alter the cards
fan curve, though, as the card runs quieter (but a touch
hotter) in Silent mode. Exact noise output will depend on
your own setup, but if your system is well ventilated, noise
from the GTX 760 ITX is unlikely to bother you.
For overclocking, we turned to MSI Afterburner. After
pushing the power and temperature limits to their
maximums (115 per cent and 95C respectively), we
achieved a base clock speed of 1,126MHz, a 120MHz (12
per cent) increase, which took the stated boost clock to
1,192MHz and the peak boost to 1,228MHz. Sadly, this result
is no better than we managed with a reference GTX 760, but
we did get the memory to 7GHz effective; a tasty 17 per cent
increase. After overclocking, performance in games and
benchmarks increased between 11 and 16 per cent as a
result, and although the power consumption increased by
28W, the card was only marginally louder and hotter.
Conclusion
The GTX 760 ITX is well-made, packs plenty of punch into a
small volume, and its cooler and quieter than a reference
card too. Therefore, although it doesnt perform or overclock
any better, its more efficient. If you arent confined by space,
cards with a better price-to-performance ratio are available,
but MSIs pricing is far from extortionate, and its done a
great job of shrinking the GTX 760 on to a smaller PCB too.
MATTHEW LAMBERT
BAT T L E FIE L D 4
CR Y S I S 3
1,920 x 1,080, Ultra Detail, 4x AA
1,920 x 1,080, Very High detail, 0x AA
MSI GTX 760 ITX

(Silent)
37 fps 45 fps
MSI GTX 760 ITX
42 fps 51 fps
55 fps
47 fps
Nvidia GTX 770

0
15
30
15
30
45
60
2,560 x 1,440, Ultra Detail, 4x A
28 fps 33 fps
30 fps 36 fps
30 fps
Nvidia GTX 770

10
20
Stock speed min
37 fps
10
Stock speed avg
40
76 fps
72 fps
Nvidia GTX 770

25
1,847
1,760
AMD R9 280X
66 fps
AMD R9 280X
90 fps
50
75
2,135
Nvidia GTX 770

0
100
550
104 W
42 fps
AMD R9 280X
46 fps
Nvidia GTX 770
33/40
47 fps
15
Stock speed avg
FEATURES
VALUE
18/20
34/40
30
Overclocked min
56 fps
45
106 W
AMD R9 280X
111 W
60
85%
2,200
316 W
Nvidia GTX 770
Overclocked avg
OVERALL SCORE
1,650
288 W
MSI GTX 760 ITX
36 fps 44 fps
MSI GTX 760 ITX
1,100
T O T A L S Y S T E M PO W E R DR A W
2,560 x 1,440, Ultra Detail with Depth of Field
SPEED
40
Overclocked avg
2,560 x 1,440, Ultra Detail, 0xAA
MSI GTX 760 ITX

57 fps 71 fps
MSI GTX 760 ITX
Stock speed min
30
Overclocked min
1,647
B IO SH O CK IN FINITE
20
UNIGINE VALLEY
30
29 fps 35 fps
Nvidia GTX 770
AMD R9 280X
60
23 fps 28 fps
MSI GTX 760 ITX
24 fps 30 fps
45
2,560 x 1,440, Very High detail, 0x AA
57 fps
AMD R9 280X
MSI GTX 760 ITX
50 fps
50 fps
46 fps 55 fps
Nvidia GTX 770
45 fps
AMD R9 280X
43 fps
40 fps
AMD R9 280X
38 fps 46 fps
MSI GTX 760 ITX (OC)
37 fps 45 fps
MSI GTX 760 ITX
37 fps 45 fps
90
Idle
Load
338 W
350 W
180
Overclocked
270
360
Lower is better
VERDICT
Cool, quiet, fast and well made. This pint-sized GeForce
GTX 760 card is ideal for mini-ITX cases, and it only
requires a 6-pin PCI-E power connector too.
21
G A M I N G L A P TO P
Asus G550JK /1,099
inc VAT
Can this slim, light and surprisingly aordable gaming laptop keep pace?
SUPPLIER www.amazon.co.uk
aming laptops are machines of extremes: some

are gigantic, some concentrate on power, and
most seem designed to alleviate our bank
accounts of ridiculous sums of money. The new Asus
G550JK takes a more considered approach. It has a
15.6in screen and a chassis that isnt so heavy youll need
to hit the gym to lug it to LAN parties, and it relies on an
Nvidia GeForce GTX 850M GPU. It also costs 1,099,
which is cheaper than the 1,800 Alienware 17 and the
1,299 MSI GT70.
It still looks the part too. Its constructed from matt
black brushed aluminium throughout, and decorated
with a classy red theme: the bevelled edge around the
base glows, each key is topped with red symbols and the
lids Republic of Gamers logo matches.
The power button glows crimson too. It feels the part too.
Theres little give across the wrist rest, and the base is just as
sturdy. Most impressive is the screen, which is just 6mm
thick but barely flexes and shows no sign of desktop
distortion when the back panel is pressed. This well-built
machine tips the scales at 2.6kg and is 28mm thick less
than half as thick as the MSI GT70.
Meanwhile, the keyboards Scrabble-tile buttons are light
and snappy, and the solid base gives them a welcome jolt of
feedback, although it suffers from a slightly cramped layout.
Its accompanied by a touchpad thats fast, responsive and
bigger than the Alienware 17s small offering. The buttons
are good too, although theyre tricky to press in the corners,
with a little too much resistance.
So far so good, but what about the hardware inside? The
GeForce GTX 850M is based on the desktop GTX 750 Ti,
and it has 640 stream processors overclocked
from 936MHz to 991MHz and 2GB of dedicated
memory. The MSI GT70s GTX 870M has 1,344
/SPECIFICATIONS
stream processors, so the Asus will have its
CPU 2.4GHz Intel Core
work cut out when it comes to gaming.
i7-4700HQ
Meanwhile, the CPU is a Core i7-4700HQ
Memory 16GB 1,600MHz
DDR3
thats clocked to 2.4GHz with a 3.4GHz Turbo
Graphics Nvidia GeForce
peak, and has four Hyper-Threaded cores and
GTX 850M 2GB
6MB of L3 cache. The Asus has 16GB of RAM too
Sound On-board
twice as much as the MSI GT70. It also sports
Screen 15.6in 1,920 x 1,080
dual-band 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0,
IPS non-touch
but theres a 1TB hard disk, rather than an SSD.
Storage 1TB hard disk,
Blu-ray reader
Thats a notable omission that leaves it lagging
Weight 2.6kg
behind solid state laptops when it comes to
Ports 3 x USB 3, HDMI, miniresponsiveness and boot times.
DisplayPort, 1 x audio jack
You cant add your own SSD either, unless
Dimensions (mm) 383 x
youre willing to swap out the hard disk. Theres
255 x 28 (W x D x H)
no upgrade room, with the hard disk bay and
Extras Windows 8.1 64-bit
memory slots all occupied. Its tricky to even
Warranty One year return to
open up this machine too, as its sealed with tiny
base
Torx screws.
24
Performance
The GTX 850M is a mid-range GPU, and thats reflected in
its gaming results. In Battlefield 4 at 1,920 x 1,080 with Ultra
settings, the Asus floundered with minimum and average
frame rates of 15fps and 19fps respectively, and in Crysis 3 at
its trickiest settings, the G550KJ could only manage 11fps
and 18fps. In fact, the Asus could only get near-playable
frame rates at top settings in BioShock Infinite, with
minimum and average results of 24fps and 30fps.
We only hit playable frame rates by reducing quality. We
turned off BioShocks Depth of Field options and saw the
minimum result rise to 32fps, and we achieved a palatable
44fps in Battlefield 4 at its Medium settings. We could only
manage a 27fps minimum when we turned Crysis 3 to Low
quality levels though. Its certainly a step up from integrated
graphics, but its also a world apart from the MSI GT70, which
stomped through our maxed-out game tests with playable
minimums in almost every title.
The Asus couldnt keep up in our Media Benchmarks, with
its overall score of 1,830 behind the MSIs 2,020. That isnt to
say the Asus is slow in Windows apps its still remarkably
quick, but more power is available elsewhere.
On the plus side, the non-touch, matt screen has plenty
going for it. The brightness of 375cd/m2 betters the
Alienwares level, and the contrast ratio of 962:1 is good
HOW WE TEST
PAGE 30
better than the Alienware but a little behind the MSI. Its
more than enough to give games vivacity and punch at their
lightest and darkest points. Colour accuracy is good too,
thanks to an average delta E of 1.91 one of the best scores
weve ever seen from a gaming laptop, and the sRGB
coverage level of 93.1 per cent is just as impressive. Its an
IPS panel too, so viewing angles are excellent.
The good screen isnt paired with high-quality audio
though. The G550JKs speakers are hampered by a midrange that sounds as if its underwater, a tinny high-end
and indistinct bass. Wed use a headset instead.
The Asus doesnt break ground when it comes to battery
life either. It lasted for 62 minutes while looping a demanding
graphics test in its High Performance mode, with the screen
at 100 per cent brightness. We ran a more conventional work
test, but it only lasted two and a half hours. Thats to be
expected when you only have a slim chassis into which to
squeeze a battery, but its worth noting if you plan to use the
laptop on the move.
Meanwhile, the hard disk has plenty of space, but its
sequential read and write speeds of 141MB/sec and 128MB/
G IM P IM AG E E D ITING
Conclusion
The G550JK avoids many of the excesses typically found on
gaming laptops, and its mid-range aspirations expose pros
and cons. Its slimmer and lighter than rivals, and it can play
games at reasonable settings, but its GPU is clearly very
limited in comparison to the GTX 870M in the pricier and
bigger MSI GT70, and the lack of an SSD is keenly felt. The
screen is better than the panels inside rival machines,
though, and the slim and light chassis makes it attractive for
the low price too. If portability is a bigger priority than maxing
out your games graphics settings, then this is a great
portable gaming laptop for the money, but youll need a
beefier machine to run your games at top settings.
MIKE JENNINGS
BATTLEFIELD 4
1,920 x ,1080, Ultra Detail, 4x AA
1,318
Asus G550JK
MSI GT70 2PC
Dominator
sec are well behind even the slowest SSDs. It also took 27
seconds to boot at least ten seconds longer than an SSD.
However, the Asus isnt too hot or noisy. The CPU and
GPUs top temperatures of 89C and 86C are high without
being dangerous, and only a little heat made its way to the
chassis you can use the Asus on your lap comfortably..
1,723,
0
450
900
1,350
H AN D BRAK E H .26 4 V IDE O E NC ODING

MSI GT70 2PC
Dominator
900
1,800
2,700
MSI GT70 2PC

Dominator
3,600
600
900
1,200
SPEED
DESIGN
16/25 23/25
HARDWARE
VALUE
21/25 23/25
1,100
1,650
OVERALL SCORE
83%
11fps
Asus G550JK
MSI GT70 2PC
Dominator
2,020
550
30
54fps
45
60
1,920 x 1,080, Very High Detail, 0x AA
1,830
0
15
CR Y S I S 3
O VE RAL L
Asus G550JK
MSI GT70 2PC
Dominator
36
30fps
44fps
1,109
300
24fps
Asus G550JK
MSI GT70 2PC
Dominator
1,091
0
27
Asus G550JK
18
B I O S HO CK I N F I N I T E
3,228
0
19fps
31fps 36fps
3,082
Asus G550JK
15fps
Asus G550JK
MSI GT70 2PC
Dominator
1800
2,200
18fps
23fps
Stock speed min
18
35fps
27
36
Stock speed avg
VERDICT
Great looks, a good screen,
reasonable gaming performance
and decent value, but it cant play
current games at top settings.
25
C P U CO O L E R
Cooler Master Nepton 280L/89
inc VAT
One of the best-performing coolers weve

eve seen
SUPPLIER www.scan.co.uk / MODEL NUMBER RL-N28L-20PK-R1
20PK-R1
t 89, the new Nepton 280L

80L is
pete with
clearly designed to compete
0 and
the likes of Corsairs H110
epton
H105. Like the monster H110, the Nepton
diator
280L sports a dual 140mm-fan radiator
ns. Its
and a single row of two 140mm fans.
g and
enormous, measuring 311mm long
139mm deep, so it will overlap the
motherboard area in many cases, potentially
interfering with heatsinks, so checkk your case for
clearance first. However, it includess 120mm as well as
140mm fan mounts so, even if yourr case lacks the latter,
theres still a way to mount it if you have the physical space.
Cooler Master has included three screw types too. One
allows you to mount the fans directly to the radiator, using
the second smaller set to mount the radiator to your case.
A third extra-long set can pass through the case and fans
to mount the whole contraption on the case, so there are
plenty of options. Theres no exotic
fan control, as with Corsairs i-series
coolers, but the fans are 4-pin PWMcontrolled and theres a 4-pin splitter
cable so you can tune them down
from 12V when your system is under
light loads.
The box contains fittings for all current
Intel and AMD CPU sockets, as well as
some older ones. Its coolant tubes are
very thick, but also flexible, and the barbs can rotate.
Installation in our Corsair Carbide 500R wasnt easy, though,
mainly because Corsair uses different fan spacing for its fan
mounts. In the end, we had to haphazardly secure the
radiator using the smaller screws and place the fans on top,
in the roof, pulling air through the radiator, as there was no
room beneath for them, although this wouldnt be an issue
in some larger cases.
Cooling ability, though, was nothing short of legendary. It
cooled our LGA2011 system with a delta T of 39C, which is
the best result weve ever seen from an off-the-shelf
cooler. It knocked 3C off the mighty Noctua NH-D15s
result in our LGA1150 system too.
However, its fans were monstrously loud at
full speed this isnt a cooler for the noiseconscious, and Noctuas NH-D15 offers a far
/SPECIFICATIONS
superior noise-to-cooling ratio.
Compatibility Intel: LGA115x,
It cooled our
LGA2011 system
with a delta T of
only 39C
LGA1366, LGA2011; AMD:

Socket AM3+, AM3, AM2+,
AM2, FM2+, FM2, FM1
Radiator size (mm) 139 x 311
x 30 (W x D x H)
Fans 2 x 140mm
Stated noise 39dBA
26
Conclusion
The Nepton 280L is an absolute monster of a
CPU cooler, and its cooling power is phenomenal
for in overclocked LGA2011 systems, although
its arguably needless for most LGA1150 or
Socket FM2+ systems. However, the fans are
pretty ferocious at full speed, so youd likely want to tune

them down in your motherboards BIOS. Its also caselimited due to its large size. However, if youre looking for the
best cooling for an overclocked LGA2011 system, without the
hassle and expense of building a custom water-cooling
loop, the Nepton 280L is as powerful as it gets.
ANTONY LEATHER
L G A 1 1 5 0 DE L T A T
Cooler Master
Nepton 280L
Noctua NH-D15
48 C
51 C
13
26
39
52
L G A 201 1 DE L T A T
Cooler Master
Nepton 280L
Corsair Hydro H105
39 C
40 C
44 C
Corsair Hydro H100i

0
12
24
36
48
LG A 1 1 5 0
COOLING
39/40
VALUE
DESIGN
82%
DESIGN
OVERALL SCORE
23/30
20/30
OVERALL SCORE
LG A 2 0 1 1
COOLING
39/40
VALUE
23/30
24/30
VERDICT
86%
An epic CPU cooler, but you need to make sure your case
can house it, and it makes a racket when its under load.

GAMING HEADSET
Audio Technica ADG1/265
inc VAT
Gaming audiophiles rejoice

SUPPLIER www.audiotechnicashop.com
hile graphical improvements tend to grab the

headlines, gaming audio has come a long way too
in the past decade. Close your
eyes and compare a game of Battlefield 4
with a blast on Counter-Strike 1.6 and the
difference is huge. Not surprisingly,
headset manufacturers argue that you
need the correct hardware to properly
appreciate the audio of modern games, just
as you need a modern
graphics card to render the latest
graphics. To that end, Audio Technica
has produced the ADG1.
Based on the companys top-end
AD900x headphones, the ADG1 is a
serious piece of kit. Its huge, openback ear cups look stunning, clearly
revealing the red anodised speaker
casings within. These casings also
house 53mm drivers the largest
weve ever seen on a gaming headset.
The headband is novel too - metal
bands provide structure and shape,
while a clever 3D wing-support
system sits on either side of your
noggin. Its very comfortable to wear,
and it only makes contact with your
head in the bare minimum of places,
alleviating headband ache. This
system also cuts weight out of the
headset, which tips the scales at just
276g, despite its oversized ear cups. This weight is 11g lighter
than the lithe, Elite-listed HyperX Cloud (see Issue 130, p32),
as a point of comparison.
Unfortunately, though, we found the wings to have too
little resistance so, while the headset is very comfortable
and unobtrusive initially, it didnt remain this way in the long
term. It slips steadily downwards over time, with the wings
slowly giving way as you move your head around, meaning
it eventually ends up sitting on the tops of your ears.
This is a frustrating situation, as the ADG1 is otherwise
exemplary. The large drivers imbued audio with
beautiful detail and precision - every sound from
tiny hi-hats to bassy mortar explosions was
/SPECIFICATIONS
reproduced without a hint of distortion.
Cup type Circumaural
Performance was maintained across the
Connection Wired, 3mm
entire spectrum too, with bass sounding
jack, USB DAC
impactful, while high tones had accuracy
Driver(s) 53mm
and sparkle. Indeed, the ADG1 even slightly
Frequency response 5Hz to
emphasises treble tones, making them stand
30KHz
out in the mix when compared to our reference
Impedance 38 Ohms
HyperX Cloud headset. This made almost all
The large drivers

imbued audio with
beautiful detail
and precision
28
audio sound better lighter music appreciated the

increased impact, while bassy music benefited from
the extra contrast between the high and low tones.
It was also refreshing to see the ADG1 maintain its
performance at all volume levels were so used to seeing
gaming headsets function well at 50 per cent volume
before falling to pieces at higher levels. This is particularly
beneficial in games, where being able to turn up the volume
made for a brilliantly immersive experience.
The open-back nature of the ear cups also helps in terms
of immersion, as they make for a more natural, expansive
sound. Just bear in mind that open-back ear cups leak sound
(both in and out) by their nature, meaning the ADG1 isnt best
suited to noisy environments, or places where youll disturb
other people if they can hear your music or games.
Conclusion
In terms of audio, the ADG1 is the best headset weve ever
reviewed, which makes it a tragedy that the headband is too
flimsy to hold it in place properly. If this was an 80 headset,
we could forgive this state of affairs, but you cant expect
such a compromise when youre paying 265 for a headset.
PAUL GOODHEAD
SOUND
39/40
OVERALL SCORE
81%
DESIGN
22/30
VALUE
20/30
VERDICT
Truly classy audio, but the ADG1
is marred by a slightly flimsy,
though clever, headband
arrangement.

*$' % ***,
,% !!%' % ! * !'* "!.%, ' * ! * %*

%' %! * " ''! !% "%*! '. * * * ' * *
% 0 ' !,' !%#
% . % ! + '%' '*%' "%* *.

!! !. !'#
0 *,% * '& .* *'
-% *! %, ("! !*!% 0 . -! *!,% !! '
!"* 0 % %% "%!% * ""'#
'%' '
/ * !% !-%! '0'*' ,*% "' " *
!%' "0 "%* ' "%!% .*!,* !"%!'#
'%' ' - ' !,*!.% !'#

'!-% * % ! + '%' 0 -'*

- * ' #!#, % #!#, ,0%#! !-%!%'#!#, 0!0!*#!#,
,'*!"'#!#, ! #!

How we test
Thorough testing and research is the key to evaluating whether a product
is worth buying, and deciding whether or not theres a better alternative
PROCESSORS
We judge CPUs on whether they offer sufficient speed for the price. Part of a CPUs speed score comes from how
overclockable it is. Every type of CPU is tested in the same PC, so all results are directly comparable.
INTEL LGA2011
INTEL LGA1150
Intel
LGA1150
CPU
Asus Maximus VII

Ranger
16GB Corsair
Vengeance Pro
1,600MHz DDR3
+
240GB
OCZ Vector
150
Intel
LGA2011
CPU
+
Asus
X79-Deluxe
16GB Corsair
Vengeance Pro
1,866MHz DDR3
250GB
Samsung SSD
840 EVO
COMMON
COMPONENTS
AMD FM2+
+
AMD FM2+
APU
+
Gigabyte G1 Sniper
A88X
16GB Corsair Dominator

Platinum 2,133MHz DDR3
(GPU testing)
+
8GB G.Skill RipjawsX
1,600MHz DDR3
(CPU testing)
+
256GB Plextor
M5 Pro
Nvidia GeForce
GTX 780 3GB
Windows 7
64-bit
TESTS: We use the Custom PC Media Benchmarks, Cinebench R11.5 and a variety of games. We also test the resultant power draw of the
test PC with the CPU installed. These tests reveal a broad range of performance characteristics for the CPU, from image editing to gaming
and video encoding to 3D rendering. We run all the tests with the CPU at stock speed and again when overclocked to its highest frequency.
*Please note: We test AMD FM2+ APUs using the on-board graphics, not the Nvidia GeForce GTX 780 3GB
GRAPHICS CARDS
Graphics cards are mainly evaluated on how fast 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.
4.2GHz Intel Core

i5-3570K
30
8GB Corsair Dominator

2,400MHz DDR3
Asus Maximus V
Extreme
Windows 7
64-bit
= SCORES
The graphics card

were reviewing
CUSTOM PC MEDIA BENCHMARKS
2.66GHz Intel Core 2

Duo E6750
2GB of Corsair
1,066MHz DDR2
+
250GB Samsung
SpinPoint P120S
= 1,000
Asus P5K Deluxe WiFi-AP
MOTHERBOARDS
Motherboards are evaluated on everything from layout and features to overclockability
and value for money. Every motherboard is tested with the same components, so all
results are directly comparable.
INTEL LGA1150
Motherboard
16GB Corsair
Intel
240GB
on test
Vengeance Pro OCZ Vector
Core
1,600MHz DDR3
i7-4770K
150
INTEL LGA2011
+
Intel Core
i7-4960X
+
AMD
A10-7850K
Motherboard
on test
16GB Corsair
Vengeance Pro
2,133MHz DDR3
COMMON COMPONENTS
Motherboard 16GB Corsair Vengeance

on test
Pro 1,866MHz
+
Nvidia GeForce
GTX 780 3GB*
The
Awards
EXTREME
ULTRA
AMD FM2+
Our benchmark suite

simulates how people
really use PCs, and a
higher score is better.
You can download the
suite from www.tinyurl.
com/benchies
Windows 7
64-bit
TESTS: We use the Custom PC Media Benchmarks and several games, and also test the speeds of
the boards SATA ports. We try to overclock every motherboard we review by testing for a maximum
QPI, base cloCck or HTT as well as overclocking the CPU to its maximum air-cooled level. We run our
tests at stock speed and with the CPU overclocked.
*Please note: We test AMD FM2+ motherboards using the on-board graphics, not the Nvidia GeForce GTX 780 3GB
Some products are

gloriously over the
top. These items of
excellent overkill
earn our Extreme
Ultra award.
PREMIUM
GRADE
Premium Grade
products are
utterly desirable
wed eat nothing
but beans until we
could afford them.
PROFESSIONAL
Products worthy of
the Professional
award make you
and your business
appear even more
awesome.
APPROVED
Approved products
are those that do a
great job for the
money; theyre the
canny purchase for
a great PC.
CUSTOM KIT
TESTS: By using the fast PC detailed on the left, we can be sure that any limitations are due to the
graphics card on test. We test the four games (above) at their maximum detail settings, in their highest
DirectX mode, at several resolutions. High-end cards should be able to sustain playable frame rates at
2,560 x 1,440, while 1,920 x 1,080 is more important for mid-range cards; we also now test at 5,760 x
1,080 for three-screen setups, and 3,840 x 2,160 for 4K monitors. We also try to overclock every
graphics card we test to assess the performance impact.
For those gadgets

and gizmos that
really impress us,
or that we cant
live without,
theres the Custom
Kit award.
31
Custom Kit
Paul Goodhead checks out the latest gadgets, gizmos and geek toys
U S B A DA P TO R
PNY OTG Adapter /

5 inc VAT
While the overly cutesy styling of PNYs OTG Adapter
may not be quite our cup of tea, theres no denying
that theres a great idea behind the gadget. Simply
plug a regular USB thumb drive into the adaptor and it
will turn it into a USB OTG (on the go) drive, meaning
you can plug it into your Android phone or tablet using
the concealed micro-USB port. You can then use the
thumb drive as external storage (if compatible),
reading from and writing to the drive with your device.
Its fantastically useful, and the adaptor can even
be used to connect keyboards or game controllers to
Android devices too. Granted, a dedicated OTG stick
with a built-in micro-USB port is tidier, but for 5, this
is a small, cheap and simple way to attach USB
devices to an Android device.
ON THE TURN
ON THE GO
SUPPLIER www.amazon.com
M O U S E PA D
Mionix Sargas 900 / 13 inc VAT
TA B L E T ACC E S S O RY
SteelSeries Free
Touchscreen / 18 inc VAT
SteelSeries has clearly put a lot of effort into its Free Touchscreen
set, with parts that you can stick to a tablet touch-screen to
effectively give you physical controls. The buttons feel good to
press, and the D-pad has a clever circular spring mechanism with a
pleasant amount of resistance. Unfortunately, though, the clever
D-pad is also home to the sets main flaw the suckers that hold it
in place arent up to the task, meaning its far too easy to unseat.
Thats a shame, as otherwise the set works well, especially in
games that suit the D-pad and triple-button setup, such as Dead
Trigger and After Burner Climax.
PUNCH
SUCKER
34
With the Sargas 900, Mionix has taken the bigger is better mantra
to the next level. At nearly 1m wide, its a comically huge mouse
mat. Indeed, its more of a desk protector than a mousepad our
keyboard and speakers fitted comfortably on the Sargas 900, while
still allowing plenty of room for low-sensitivity rodent antics.
Thankfully, its also rollable for easy transport.
The close-weave fabric upside of the mat also proved to be an
effective tracking surface, with the three mice we tested on the
surface all performing perfectly, with no erratic behaviour. At 13,
it offers good value for money too, despite its appeal being limited to
high-resolution snipers with huge desks, or gamers who make large
land grabs when setting up their space at LAN events.
BIG
BIGGEST
HEADPHONES
Razer Adaro / 85 inc VAT

MERMAN
MERMAID
Razer Adaro Wireless / 130 inc VAT

TOP HALF FISH
BOTTOM HALF FISH
Razer products used to be named after snakes, but as the companys

product range has grown, it has cast a wider net in search of brand
inspiration, such as these Adaro headphones. Wikipedia tells us the
Adaro are malevolent sea spirits in Solomon Island mythology. Lovely.
Fortunately, theres nothing malevolent about Razers new cans,
which come in wired and wireless guises. The sleek black plastic cups
and black leather headbands are attractive, dropping the over-the-top
gamer styling that sometimes blights Razers products. Both models
are also impressively lightweight. Indeed, were amazed that the
wireless version weighs only 24g more than the wired model (212g
compared to 188g), despite having to accommodate extra electronics
and a battery.
Audio from the two headsets was effectively identical. We couldnt
notice any change in quality or detail when switching between the two
a ringing endorsement of the wireless sets posh aptX Bluetooth
audio technology.
However, pumping our test tracks through the headphones
revealed a distinctly bass-heavy lilt to the otherwise detailed audio
on show. While tracks such as Daft Punks Contact sounded suitably
epic, lighter music sounded less bright and sharp than wed like. The
twangy guitar of Jos Gonzlezs Heartbeats lacked the sparkle thats
revealed by better balanced headphones, for example.
Your attitude towards the Adaroswill depend on your music tastes.
Theyre not for everyone, but if you like strong, bass-heavy audio, then
both the Adaro sets are well-built, comfortable to wear and look great.
SUPPLIER www.scan.co.uk
B LU E TO OT H S P E A K E R
Spaced360 Bluetooth Portable Speaker / 250 inc VAT

With its peculiar shape, the Spaced360 is one of the most distinctive
portable speakers weve seen. Thankfully, theres also method in the
design, as each prong houses a 2in driver, meaning the speaker
projects sound in all directions. Its effective too; audio is clear from
any angle, and the three on-board bass radiators gave music a
richness often lacking from portable speakers. Meanwhile, a built-in
battery provides eight hours of operation, and NFC compatibility
means that pairing a smartphone is childs play.
However, at 250, the Spaced360 is expensive for a device that

youll want to casually take out and about, where theres a risk that
the exposed drivers could get damaged. Keeping it at home doesnt
make sense either youd get better audio from a 250 non-portable
speaker set. That said, this is a great portable speaker set; youll just
need to make sure you look after it if you take it outside.
FRIENDS
SPACED
SUPPLIER www.spaced360.com
Seen something worthy of appearing in Custom Kit? Send your suggestions to
paul_goodhead@dennis.co.uk
35
L A B S T E ST
4K handles
With 4K now quickly settling down comfortably in the realm of affordable prices,
we round up seven of the latest UHD displays
ust last year, owning a 4K display was a distant dream for
most PC owners few monitors were around, and those
that were available cost thousands of pounds. However, as
is often the case with new display technologies, that barrier to entry
is now being quickly eroded, and were now seeing new 4K monitors
entering the market for under 500.
While the term 4K in the consumer space is something of a
misnomer (it technically means a resolution of 4,096 x 2,160), the
ultra high-definition (UHD) resolution of 3,840 x 2,160 to which it
commonly refers still offers a whopping four times as many pixels
as your standard 1080p monitor. So while 500 is still a significant
amount of cash to spend on a single screen, you certainly get plenty
of pixels for your money. The significantly higher pixel count carries
many advantages for PC users too, including increased desktop real
estate, outstanding sharpness of images and the chance to enjoy

games at 4K, provided you have the necessary graphics hardware to
handle such a workload.
Sadly, however, manufacturer specifications for monitors are often
unhelpful, as they usually refer to unrealistic, best-case scenarios,
making it hard to gauge which one best meets your needs. This
situation can be frustrating, not least because a monitor is likely to
outlast numerous component and system upgrades, so its crucial
that you make the right choice when purchasing the benefits of a
good panel will be yours to enjoy for years to come, but any flaws you
overlooked could haunt you for just as long. Thankfully, if youre ready
to take the plunge with a 4K desktop monitor, were here to make
sure you choose the one thats right for you.
MATTHEW LAMBERT AND MIKE JENNINGS
Featured this issue

How we test / p37
Dell UP2414Q / p38
Iiyama ProLite B2888UHSU / p40
AOC U2868PQU / p42
36
Asus PB287Q / p44

Samsung U28D590D / p48
Philips Brilliance 288P6LJEB / p50
ViewSonic VX2880ml / p52
Results / p54
Feature table / p58
How we test
n order to test panels beyond the
subjective level, weve tested
each monitor with an X-Rite i1
Display Pro colorimeter, which accurately
measures a monitors colour accuracy,
contrast ratio, brightness and gamma
levels. We also use the free and open
source display calibration software
dispcalGUI. The colorimeter is placed in the
middle of the screen (which is reset to its
factory settings), and the software then
displays a number of different colours and
shades of grey for the X-Rite i1 Display Pro
to measure.
he
The outcome is a detailed report of the
-ameasured values, which gives us an at-aglance evaluation of the panels
performance. Were looking for a
neutral colour temperature, also
called the white point, thats as
close to the sRGB colour spaces
6,504 Kelvin (K) as possible; too
high a value results in a cooler
temperature and a blue tinge to
the picture, while a low value
signifies a warmer temperature
with a red tinge. To ensure accurate
and balanced detail in mid-tones,
gamma levels at different shades
of grey should be as close to 2.2 as
possible, to match the Windows and
sRGB standards.
Meanwhile, the contrast ratio the
difference between the monitors
blackest black and whitest white is
measured by dividing the displays peak
brightness in candela per square metre
(cd/m) by the black point the brightness
of black on the screen. A higher value is
considered better, although youll need to
bear in mind that weve only tested using
static contrast settings. Dynamic contrast
modes, available on some screens, can
achieve greater contrast ratios, but often at
the cost of jarringly (and constantly) altering
the panels brightness based on whats
currently displayed on it.
Colour accuracy is also important when
assessing a panel. Its measured by the
colorimeter in dE2000 (delta E 2000
equation), and reflects the distance of
the colour measured to the colour the
calibration software expects. Values below
1 are considered imperceptible, but any
The free and open source dispcalGUI software is

used to calibrate the monitors
We test each monitor with an X-Rite i1 Display

Pro colorimeter, which accurately measures
a monitors colour accuracy, contrast ratio,
brightness and gamma levels
figure under 3 is still a very good result. The

comprehensive dispcalGUI software tests
30 colours, alongside black, white and
multiple shades of grey.
While each panel comes with its own
factory default settings, most displays
also come with a series of pre-calibrated
profiles, in which case we test a handful of
the most relevant profiles.
After all, all of these settings are available
out of the box, so its good to know if you
can get a quick boost in image accuracy
with a few button presses.
We then implement a full software
calibration. The first step is lowering the
The calibration software creates a custom

Windows ICC colour profile that compensates for
the panels natural colour and gamma levels
brightnes
brightness to around 125cd/m2 (generally
considere
considered a sensible and realistic setting
for long-term
long-t
use), before adjusting the
monito
monitors RGB values in the on-screen
menu until its colour temperature is as
close to 6,504K as possible.
Ca
Calibration then begins and, in
conj
conjunction with the colorimeter, the
cali
calibration software creates a custom
W
Windows ICC colour profile that
ccompensates as best as possible
for the panels natural colour and
gamma levels, resulting in a bestcase scenario for image quality.
Nevertheless, the scoring for
image quality is very heavily
w
weighted towards factory and
outout-of-the-box settings, since only
professio
professional users are likely to fork out
for a colo
colorimeter. Also, many games will
ignore and override ICC profiles anyway.
Using dispcalGUI, we can also assess the
uniformity of each displays image by
taking measurements of a specific
greyscale pattern at 15 different points on
the screen. Finally, we also measure each
screens power consumption in standby
mode, as well as when its generating
brightness levels of 100 per cent and
125cd/m2.
In addition, we use our own eyes to test
each panel in a number of real-world
scenarios at the various configured
settings. To judge contrast and black depth,
we used a series of test images, and then
jumped into a Battlefield 4 multiplayer
server in order to gauge each monitors
performance in games, where we looked
for minimal levels of input lag and ghosting.
37
L A B S T E S T / 4K DISPLAYS
Dell UP2414Q /585
inc VAT
he Dell UP2414Q is the

only screen in this Labs
test that doesnt stretch
its pixels over a 28in diagonal. In
fact, its much smaller than your
average 4K display, with a diagonal
of just 24in. Its small size, gives it
the highest pixel density of any
monitor on test, with its 185ppi
easily outstripping the 157ppi of
every other display.
The higher density and smaller
diagonal means that the 4K
resolution looks incredibly sharp.
Youll have to really squint if you want to
see individual pixels, and games look
unbelievably crisp on it. However, youll
definitely need to make use of Windows
scaling options to make it usable.
The UP2414Q looks classy too, with a matt
black bezel and a metallic stand thats plain
and attractive. Its build quality is rock-solid too
the stand is stable, and the edges and
seams around the screen stayed firmly in
place when we moved the screen around.
The stand supports the full range of
Performance
The viewing angles

are excellent, largely
thanks to the Dell using
an IPS screen
movement options, and its VESA compatible
as well.
The Dell also has the best menu of any
screen on test. Five touch-sensitive buttons
sit in the bottom-right corner of the bezel, and
theyre context-aware icons appear on the
screen, above each button, to indicate their
purpose. The menu is clearly laid-out, and its
snappy and responsive we never had to
wait for a jarring second or two for a new
menu to open. Its even possible to
established three shortcut keys to switch
between different profiles.
Meanwhile, the anti-glare coating used
across the panel works well when it comes
to banishing reflections that can interrupt
frantic gaming moments, and the viewing
angles are excellent too, largely thanks to
the Dell using an IPS screen rather than a TN
38
panel. Only the Samsungs screen is more

versatile in this regard.
The Dell is also one of the few screens on
test to include a mini DisplayPort connector
alongside its full-sized counterpart, and HDMI
is also included, although we had to manually
switch to DisplayPort 1.2 in order to use the
60Hz refresh rate. The connections list is
great elsewhere too, with the Dell being the
only screen on test to include four USB 3
ports. Several other panels here have a
quartet of connectors, but they all include a
pair of slower USB 2 ports alongside USB 3.
On the other hand, the Dell is one of only two
screens here to not offer speakers but, having
heard the lack of quality available elsewhere,
thats not really a loss.
Another feature that makes this panel
stand out from the others on test is its
compatibility with the demanding
Adobe RGB gamut. Profiles
are included that automatically
calibrate the screen for use
with Adobe RGB, making it
ideal for high-end colour work
where accuracy is key. The
presence of this feature also
indicates that Dell intends the
UP2414Q to be used for work
more than play, and further
evidence for the Dells
working credentials can be
seen in the slower 8ms
response time comparatively,
five other screens on test claim to have rapid
1ms response times. There are also no
picture-in-picture or Overdrive options
available on the Dell.
The Dells factory settings provided

excellent image quality, with crisp
detail and vibrant colours
throughout. White areas displayed
particularly good detail and
accuracy, with black levels only
suffering from a slight amount of
crushing. Banding, meanwhile, was
imperceptible an improvement on
several of the other screens on test.
Likewise, the colorimeter results
were stellar. The Dells average
delta E of 0.8 is the best figure on
test by a significant margin, and its bolstered
by a maximum delta E of 2.36 again, the
best result, beating the average results from
two other monitors on test this month.
Meanwhile, the colour temperature of
6,777K is a tad on the cool side, but its only
beaten by two other monitors in this test, and
its close enough to the 6,504K ideal that only
the most dedicated observers will be able to
spot the difference. The 838:1 contrast ratio is
the second-best figure in the Labs too, losing
out only to the Iiyamas 889:1 result.
The Dell is also the only screen on test to
nail a 100 per cent coverage level of the sRGB
gamut, and it has the best uniformity on test,
of 89 per cent. The Dells poorest uniformity
results were seen along the top edge, and the
rest of the screens uniformity is significantly
better, with most sectors hitting around 95
per cent. Plus, if that isnt good enough,
theres also a Uniformity Compensation
setting to boost this level even further.
It isnt a gaming monitor, as we established

earlier, but the UP2414Q still has a Gaming
mode. It works well too - it isnt as jarringly
bright and oversaturated as some of the other
game modes weve seen this month. The
dynamic contrast feature is a good addition
too it works well, keeping sensible levels of
contrast in brighter moments, while bringing
welcome depth and nuance to darker areas
on the fly.
Interestingly, the 8ms response time didnt
put us off during our gaming tests either,
with no obvious artefacts on the screen.
Professional gamers and other high-level
players might be able to spot the difference,
but it wont be an issue for anyone else.
Interestingly, though, while the UP2414Q is
the smallest screen in this Labs test, its also
the greediest when it comes to power
consumption. With the screen at 125cd/m2
brightness, and with white and black images
on the panel, the Dell consumed 43W and
39W respectively, which is similar to many
other panels in this test. When we ramped up
the brightness to 100 per cent, though, the

Dell required 87W and 82W respectively to
display the same images around 30W more
than this screens hungriest competitors, and
more than twice as inefficient as this months
best panels.
Conclusion
The UP2414Q is the smallest screen in this
group, but it consistently punches above its
weight. Its fantastic colour accuracy, pixel
density and gamut coverage help it to deliver
the best image quality in this entire Labs test,
and the superb benchmark results are backed
up with great features, from a versatile, wellbuilt stand to the most intuitive menu system
weve used.
Its designed for work rather than gaming,
though, which brings inevitable downsides;
the 8ms response time is the slowest on test,
and it doesnt have speakers or other gamefriendly features such as Overdrive. However,
these issues didnt prove problematic during
testing. More importantly, though, power
consumption is higher than any other screen

on test, and so is the price.
The 24in diagonal delivers unparalleled
crispness, though, and no other screen on
test can match the UP2414Q for pure quality
if those are your priorities then this is a
fantastic screen. If youre after a panel for
gaming, though, wed sacrifice a little image
quality and opt for a larger screen with more
features, such as the Iiyama or Asus.
MIKE JENNINGS
IMAGE QUALITY
51/55
FEATURES
VALUE
11/15 24/30
OVERALL SCORE
86%
VERDICT
Unrivalled image quality makes this panel
great for work and surprisingly decent for
gaming, although its smaller and pricier than
key rivals.
39
Iiyama ProLite B2888UHSU /500
inc VAT
iyamas ProLite
B2888UHSU has a
28in TN panel with a
60Hz refresh rate, and it sits
right in the middle of the pack in
terms of pricing. The base, stand
and screen are all finished in
sturdy matt black plastic and, as
with most of the screens on test
this month, assembly is very
easy, requiring you to simply
screw the base into the stand
using two pre-attached toolfree screws.
All three of the available
stand adjustments move easily,
but thankfully not too easily. The
only adjustment option that it lacks is the
ability to pivot the screen into portrait mode,
so youll need to look elsewhere if thats
important to you. As with the vast majority of
current screens, you can also mount the
ProLite to a wall using the standard VESA
100mm system.
Meanwhile, the video inputs all face
downwards on the rear, and the Iiyama sports
the best selection of inputs on test too. There
are two DisplayPort connectors and two
HDMI connections, one of which includes
designed to reduce eyestrain

very long sessions.
The colour temperature

is closer to the ideal
result than any other
screen on test
MHL support for connecting mobile devices.
In addition, DVI and VGA inputs ensure you
wont have trouble connecting multiple
devices to the screen, even if they might
not necessarily be able to output the full
resolution, and theres even a pair of USB 3
ports; along with the headphone jack, these
are easily accessible down the left-hand side.
Then we have the power and menu
buttons, which are all touch-sensitive bumps
on the underside, with front-facing symbols
so you can see the buttons jobs. It isnt the
best design, though, as its a little too easy to
miss a button or press the wrong one by
accident. Thankfully, the layout of the OSD
software is fine, with all settings easily visible
40
Performance
and sensibly located, although it can be a little

slow to respond.
Within the menu, youll find all the usual
adjustable settings as well as an overdrive
setting, which is off by default but can be set
to five different levels between -2 and 2.
Dynamic contrast also makes an appearance,
as does Eco mode, which is really just a quick
way of limiting the displays brightness to one
of three levels. Picture-in-picture and pictureby-picture can both be used as well. In short,
the Iiyama screen has one of the strongest
feature sets on test.
You have several options
when it comes to colour
adjustment as well. By
default, the screen is set to
User colour mode, with
all three RGB values set
to 100 per cent.
However, there are
also Warm, Normal
and Cool colour
temperature
options, as well as
four i-Style
configurations
Scenery, Cinema, Game and Text - which
are designed to optimise the image output for
their respective uses. Finally, there are three
levels of blue light reduction,
a feature found on few
other screens, which is
Looking at the B2888UHSU for

the first time, we noticed that
viewing angles were nothing
special, being on a par with
what wed expect from a
standard TN panel, although
they were certainly better than
those of the Philips panel.
Naturally, youll still want to
make sure youre sitting as
centrally as possible in relation
to the panel.
We were impressed by the
image quality using the factory settings
though. The screen appeared neither too
warm nor too cold, and indeed our
colorimeter gave us a colour temperature
reading of 6,593K, which is closer to the ideal
of 6,504K than any other monitor on test this
month. Mid-tone details were also good in all
but the darkest areas, and there was very little
banding in the greyscale images. Colours
were accurate too, and our test photos had
decent levels of depth to them there was
still room for improvement in this respect (as
with practically any TN panel), but the Iiyama
also had the best contrast ratio of all seven
screens, with a result of 889:1.
Even so, we wanted to see if the other
presets provided better
results, but sadly they
couldnt better the outof-the-box settings.
The Normal colour
temperature settings
actually proved to be
a little too warm, as
confirmed by the
colorimeters reading of
5,945K. Game mode,
meanwhile, slightly
increases colour vibrancy by
exaggerating certain tones,
and also alters the gamma
curve so that details in the
lightest mid-tones are lost in
favour of a brighter image. As
such, colour accuracy and gamma
are both worsened, meaning its
best to leave the Iiyama at its
out-of-the-box settings.
Meanwhile, the average
delta E of 2.19 is a very good score for a

factory-fresh TN panel, but even so, its one
that Asus, Dell and ViewSonic all managed to
beat. The average gamma of 2.15 is excellent
too, second only to Asus. Importantly, the
gamma range is low as well (just 0.27), so
detail throughout the whole range of midtones is fairly consistent.
The Iiyama panel managed to produce a
brightness uniformity result of 85 per cent,
which is the same as the AOC. Samsung and
Dell both manage to produce slightly higher
scores in this test, but youll be hard-pressed
to notice dim areas of the screen on the
B2888UHSU any result of 85 per cent or
above is very good.
There wasnt much visible difference
after calibration, although the contrast ratio
wasnt quite as good at the lower brightness
setting we used. Nevertheless, the panel
responded well and we achieved an average
delta E of just 0.8, which only the Dell
managed to beat (and thats a screen that
comes pre-calibrated).
Meanwhile, we didnt observe any input lag

in games, and the default image settings also
left our games looking pretty good, with the
image looking more vibrant, and less flat, than
many of the other screens on test. Theres a
noticeable difference between having the
overdrive setting at its highest and lowest
settings in terms of pixel response, but we
found the middle setting was fast enough
for gaming at the highest setting (which is
automatically selected when you turn on
Game mode), theres a slight loss of colour
accuracy on fast-moving objects.
The power consumption of 27W at
125cd/m2 is also very respectable, and 44W
at 100 per cent brightness puts the Iiyama in
joint second place with Asus and ViewSonic
too. Finally, the speakers are some of the best
on test, with more of a mid-range punch
audible in explosions than the speakers on
other monitors, although that isnt saying
much even a cheap headset or pair of
desktop speakers will be better than most
monitor speakers.
Conclusion
The Iiyama impresses in almost every regard
it has a flexible adjustment system, loads of
connections, extensive (if slightly fiddly) menu
options and healthy power consumption. This
robust feature set is backed up by similarly
pleasing image quality. It isnt always the best,
but it never disappoints, and having the best
contrast ratio really helps. Whats more, it will
only set you back 500, making the Iiyama
very easy to recommend for a fully featured,
decent-quality 4K monitor.
MATTHEW LAMBERT
IMAGE QUALITY
48/55
FEATURES
VALUE
13/15 28/30
OVERALL SCORE
89%
VERDICT
A fantastic 4K panel with lots of features and
decent image quality for a fair price.
41
AOC U2868PQU/470
inc VAT
OCs entry in this months Labs is

one of only three panels to dip
below the 500 barrier. Despite the
low price, though, the U2868PQU doesnt
suffer from a lack of features its been kitted
out with many of the sensible extras we
expect on high-quality screens.
It has generous tilt and pivot mechanisms,
for example the screen can be rotated into
portrait mode and its height is adjustable.
However, its a shame there are no left and
right swivelling options, which are the only
features missing when it comes to the stand.
The screen was easy to set up once wed
manoeuvred it into position, thanks to a row of
touch-sensitive buttons with clear symbols,
and the menu is intuitive and easy to use too.
The software is slower and less responsive
than the software on several rivals though; its
still a long way behind the rapid, slick software
of the Dell screen.
On the inside, the AOCs panel ticks plenty
of familiar boxes. Its a TN screen with an LED
backlight, like four of its competitors, and it
has a 60Hz refresh rate and a stated
response time of 1ms. It has DisplayPort,
HDMI and DVI-D connections too and,
oddly, VGA. Its well equipped for USB
connections as well, with pairs of USB 3
and USB 2 ports only the Dell has better
connections in this respect.
Using default settings, the AOC produced
slightly warm skin tones and marginal
washed-out effects elsewhere, but its far
from the worst on test the Philips was
poorer, for example.
The panel was
inconsistent when dealing
with extreme white and
dark shades, though, with
light tones handled well but
blacks merging together,
and we saw mild banding at
the low end of the scale too.
This subjective
assessment was backed up
by mediocre testing results
too. The colour temperature
of 6,845K is in the middle of
the pack, and the 802:1
contrast ratio is beaten by
five rivals a result that
hampered the AOCs gaming
performance; however, to
be fair, the AOCs gaming
performance was otherwise
42
fine. The middling colour reproduction can be

explained by its average delta E of 3.87, which
is at the bottom of the heap.
We then calibrated the screen, but this
process didnt change the AOCs fortunes.
Our adjustments improved the appearance
of black tones and other dark colours, but
contrast remained low, so images lacked
punch after wed made our tweaks.
The AOC can be altered with different
screen modes too, but they didnt seem to
change much aside from the brightness.
Many of the other adjustments had similarly
small effects: the three gamma modes didnt
make much difference, and
most of the dynamic contrast
options were similarly
ineffective. We did notice a
change with the Full Enhance
mode, but it had its pros and
cons some of our test shots
became pleasingly vivid, but
others were too saturated.
One interesting option
comes in the form of the
Bright Frame mode; a
customisable on-screen
box that can be adjusted
with different brightness
and contrast settings to
the rest of the screen. It
worked well, and it could
be useful if youre watching
a video thats quite dim, but you dont want

to brighten the rest of the screen, for example.
Viewing angles, meanwhile, were distinctly
average, but thats to be expected from a TN
screen. The speakers have plenty of volume,
but the sound quality wasnt great, although
thats often the case with monitor speakers.
Conclusion
AOC has done well to cram so many features
into an affordable monitor aside from the
left-to-right swivelling, theres nothing
notable missing.
Image quality doesnt stand up against the
competition, though. The contrast and delta E
figures all languish towards the bottom of our
results tables, and the viewing angles and
colour temperature arent great either.
This isnt a bad monitor for the money, but
we recommend spending the extra 30 on
the Iiyama.
MIKE JENNINGS
IMAGE QUALITY
42/55
FEATURES
VALUE
13/15 27/30
OVERALL SCORE
82%
VERDICT
Good features for the price, but its let down
by inconsistent image quality.
Asus PB287Q/569
inc VAT
he Asus PB287Q impressed from

m
the moment it emerged from its
box. Great build quality ensures that
s,
its one of the sturdiest screens in the Labs,
out
and the matt black finish looks smart without
appearing ostentatious. The PB287Q has
nd
every movement option we expect too, and
asy
resistance is good across every axis. Its easy
to assemble too, requiring just one screw that
attaches the base to the stand.
tton
It took a little while to get used to the button
arrangement, though, as the buttons are on
the back of the screen rather than the front.t.
ing
Thankfully, Asus has installed corresponding
dots along the front bezel and contextge
sensitive symbols on the screen that change
y
as required. The menu itself is also snappy
and sensibly laid out.
Like many other panels in this test, the
Asus screen is an LED-backlit TN device, but
e
its the only screen in the Labs to have true
ally
10-bit technology. That means it theoretically
has a broader and more accurate range of
ce
colours, as the screen can distinctly produce
m
up to one billion colours a difference from
the 8-bit screens found elsewhere in this
Labs, which flash different tones rapidly to
give the impression of extra shades.
Elsewhere, the Asus has DisplayPort
alongside two HDMI connections, but no
DVI-D, and theres a single audio jack
alongside internal speakers. It can be used
with VESA mounts too, and theres support
for both picture-in-picture and picture-bypicture. The only surprising omission is USB.
The Asus got off to a solid start in our
performance tests. Skin tones looked natural
and colours were vibrant
without hitting
oversaturation, while detail
in lighter areas was
fantastic. Black shades
werent produced quite as
effectively, but they were
still deep its a better
result than most screens in
the Labs. Viewing angles
are some of the best on
test too.
Also, this screens Game
mode really brought out
colours and highlighted
areas in our tests our
games were just the right
side of oversaturation.
Theres no sign of input lag,
44
and we only saw artefacts once wed cranked

up Overdrive to full, which we wouldnt
recommend anyway. The panel also supports
Asus Game Plus system, which displays an
aiming reticule in the centre of the screen, or
a timer in the top-right corner.
Different modes are included for reading,
watching movies, editing photos and using
the screen at night, and colour temperature
options range from warm to cool. Theres no
gamma control however.
Meanwhile, in our colorimeter tests, the
Asus average delta E of
2.04 is excellent, and its
paired with a perfect
gamma level of 2.2, with
both results showing
excellent colour accuracy.
However, the contrast
ratio of 814:1 falls in the
middle of the pack, as does
the colour temperature of
7,070K as with every
other screen in this Labs,
its on the cool side of the
6,504K ideal. The sRGB
gamut coverage of 88
per cent and the screens
uniformity level of 83
per cent didnt blow us
away either.
Conclusion
The Asus has fantastic colour accuracy no
doubt in part thanks to the presence of the
only 10-bit screen in the Labs. Plus, while
other displays outperform it in other areas, its
performances elsewhere werent too bad,
being mid-table rather than disastrous. It also
fared particularly well when running games,
thanks to its dedicate mode and fast refresh
rate, and its one of the only screens here that
comes with extra features, such as Game
Plus, dedicated to gamers.
More conventional features are present
too, from decent connections to a versatile,
sturdy stand. The Asus is one of the most
expensive screens on test, but its great colour
reproduction and good feature set mean its
definitely worth the extra cash.
MIKE JENNINGS
IMAGE QUALITY
49/55
FEATURES
VALUE
14/15 26/30
OVERALL SCORE
89%
VERDICT
Great colour accuracy, excellent design and
features made for gaming make the Asus an
award-winning screen.
Samsung U28D590D/450
inc VAT
amsungs U28D590D is one of

the most visually arresting products
in this months Labs test. The
Samsungs 28in panel is surrounded by a
slim black bezel, and the screen sits on top of
a thin metal stand that juts backwards to an
angled point before launching back across
the desk towards a thin, wide bar. It looks
fantastic, and its also the shortest and
narrowest screen on test a couple of other
screens are almost 10cm taller than the
486mm Samsung, and the 169mm depth
is admirably slim.
The concentration on size does mean that
the U28D590Ds slim frame is missing some
practical features though. The screen can be
tilted back and forth, but theres a limited
range of movement, and there are no options
to alter the height, switch to portrait mode or
swivel the screen from left to right.
The Samsung is also the only screen in the
Labs that cant be used with a VESA mount,
and its so thin that it needs to be connected
using an external power brick. The presence
Samsungs Magic
Angle system alters
the backlight to better
suit your viewing angle
of a DisplayPort connection and a pair of
HDMI connectors is welcome, though, and
were pleased that the ports face outwards
rather than downwards, plus theres a clip
that can be used to keep cables tidy.
Connections suffer elsewhere, though,
with no room on this slimline screen for any
48
USB ports or
speakers, though
these features
arent deal
breakers for
most people.
Meanwhile, the
control panel is
navigated using
a tactile button
behind the
bottom-right
corner. The button
moves in four
different directions
and is paired smartly
with the intuitive, well-designed
menu the whole interface is
smooth to operate. The
menu system is crammed
with options too.
The Samsung supports both picture-inpicture and picture-by-picture options, and
it has a Game mode that disables every
control except for brightness and response
time adjustments. Samsungs Magic Bright
system also has modes designed to be
used when watching movies and in other
scenarios, but sadly these options mainly just
seemed to oversaturate colours and lose
detail in black and white areas.
Also of interest is Samsungs Magic
Angle system, which is designed to
alter the backlight to better suit your
viewing angle, so it adjusts the
backlight if youre sitting down,
standing up or leaning back. It works
moderately well, but the difference
isnt enough to make this TN panels
viewing angles as good as those from
an IPS panel.
Elsewhere, there are Standard,
Cool and Warm toning options, but
we wouldnt recommend using any
setting other than the Standard one.
Gamma can be adjusted with a trio of
different settings too, but these
settings only really seemed to change
the darkness of various black and grey
shades. Again, youll be better off
sticking to the default options.
Samsung may have omitted many
features in order to produce this
attractive, slimline screen, but on
the plus side, it has a very
attractive price of 450 inc VAT,
making it the second most affordable model

in this months Labs test.
Performance
We didnt notice any big problems when we
tested the Samsung at its default settings
colours were vibrant and contrast was good,
with only the smallest touch of banding
spoiling our experience. The Samsungs
constantly competent performance was
supported by reasonable benchmark
performance with our colorimeter too. The
818:1 contrast ratio is in the middle of the
pack, and the average delta E of 2.47 is
fourth out of the seven screens in the Labs,
but its helped by the maximum delta E of
5.5, which is the second best in the Labs.
Meanwhile, the sRGB gamut coverage
level of 88 per cent is good enough, with
plenty of coverage for most shades, but
with less accurate results when trying to
handle red, pink and light blue tones. The
uniformity of 86 per cent is similarly
middling; its fine for gameplay and
general use, but not quite good enough
for demanding graphical tasks, with
the uniformity dropping in the middle
of the screens top and bottom edges.
Comparatively, Dells UP2414Q is better
when it comes to sRGB coverage and
uniformity, and the Iiyama has an
identical uniformity rating, but
better sRGB coverage.
In other areas, the Samsung
slipped compared with most
of the other monitors on test. The measured

colour temperature of 7,239K is the coolest
in this Labs, being almost 200K behind
the nearest challenger. The gamma
measurement of 2.34 is a significant distance
away from the ideal 2.2 result too, even if its
range is pleasingly narrow.
When it comes to games, the Samsung
handles Battlefield 4 well. The game whizzes
around quickly with no sign of input lag and
motion blur, and the screens Game mode
worked reasonably well too the
oversaturation of colours didnt prove
distracting, unlike when using the Cinema
mode, and the dynamic contrast system
worked well. In Game mode, the average
delta E dropped to 5.17, but this is still a
reasonable score when youre gaming
the difference wont be noticeable during
a frenetic FPS session.
The Samsung also has several different
response time options, but the quickest one
available resulted in artefacts appearing
during fast movements. Instead, we
recommend the default setting, labelled
Faster, which is fine for gaming.
Performance also improved dramatically
when we calibrated the screen. When
calibrated, the Samsungs average delta E

rose to an impressive 0.87, and the colour
temperature dropped to a near-perfect
6,482K. Contrast, however, disappointingly
declined to 706:1.
Meanwhile, power consumption is
excellent. When displaying black and white
images at 125cd/m2, the Samsung didnt
consume more than 21W, and that figure
didnt even double when we ramped up the
screen to its full brightness, drawing just 26W
from the mains. Both figures are significantly
lower than the power demanded by every
other monitor on test, with the power-hungry
Dell requiring almost three times as much
power when running at full brightness.
Its a positive start, but we cant ignore the

Samsungs lack of features. No other screen
in the Labs is missing so many options, from
the absent USB ports and speakers to the
lack of versatility with its stand and screen
the latter is arguably the bigger deal, as it
really limits flexibility.
If youre confident that you dont need
these particular features, however, the
Samsung U28D590D offers a very
respectable display for the money. However,
just an extra 50 more would net you the
Iiyama B2888UHSU, which has similarly
impressive screen quality and a much
broader range of features.
MIKE JENNINGS
Conclusion
The Samsung proved consistently decent in
most of our benchmark tests, with few
results that either plumbed the depths of
our results tables or stood above key rivals.
Those benchmark results are enough to
guarantee good image quality throughout,
and the Samsung was even more impressive
in games, with no sign of artefacts or input
lag, and with a Game mode that actually
improved our experience in Battlefield 4.
IMAGE QUALITY
47/55
FEATURES
VALUE
9/15 29/30
OVERALL SCORE
85%
VERDICT
Good looks and image quality for a great
price, but the stand offers little flexibility, and
other screens offer a wider feature set.
49
Philips Brilliance 288P6LJEB/519
inc VAT
SUPPLIER www.cclonline.com
t 519, the 288P6LJEB is the third

most expensive screen on test, so
it needs to prove its worth. The
273mm deep stand gives the 288P6LJEB
a larger footprint than any other screen in
the Labs, but thankfully it isnt wasted, as it
offers all four possible adjustments, all of
which move smoothly with the right amount
of resistance. A VESA 100mm mount is
offered too, and the screen takes mere
seconds to assemble.
The 288P6LJEB is a very well connected
panel as well, offering DisplayPort, DVI-D,
HDMI with MHL and even a VGA input youll
need to switch to DisplayPort 1.2 in order to
enjoy the all-important 60Hz refresh rate.
Theres also a USB hub thats relatively easy
to access down the right-hand side, which
supplies a pair each of USB 2 and USB 3
ports. Its connection options are identical to
the AOC panel.
Meanwhile, the power and menu buttons
are all touch-sensitive and the OSD software
is pretty easy to use. It offers gamma control,
overdrive via the SmartResponse feature and
dynamic contrast. Picture-in-picture and
picture-by-picture are also supported.
However, while the 288P6LJEB is kitted out
with heaps of features, it shows its weakness
when it comes to image quality. We noticed
the panels viewing angles immediately,
which were the worst of any screens on test.
Even facing the screen, directly in the centre
of it, you can spot slight distortion near the
edges and corners. Contrast was noticeably
low as well, with our test images really
lacking depth. The low gamma, which
averaged just 1.92, didnt help
matters, and flattened images
further by reducing mid-tone detail.
In hope of better results, we
switched to sRGB mode, but sadly,
the contrast was even worse in this
mode, and the colour temperature
was way off too, at 7,310K.
We then toyed with the on-board
SmartImage settings (Office, Photo,
Movie, Game and Economy). On
balance, Game mode proved to be
the best setting available, although
its far from perfect. Even with
SmartContrast, the Philips only
managed a contrast ratio of 609:1, the
lowest on test by a fair margin.
The colour temperature of
7,134K was on the cool side
50
too only the Samsung achieved a worse

result. It has the second worst colour
accuracy, gamma and brightness uniformity
too. That said, the colour accuracy and
uniformity results arent terrible in
themselves its just that most other panels
are even better.
Naturally, calibration improved image
quality, although the lack of contrast was still
apparent, with a reading of 634:1. The average
delta E was also still over 1 as well, so the
Philips doesnt respond as well to calibration
as most of the other panels.
Thankfully, the 288P6LJEB handled games
remarkably well, especially with Game mode
enabled, as the dynamic contrast really
helped to add depth to Battlefield 4 levels,
for example. Its fast too, and we
observed no input lag or ghosting.
We recommend leaving the
SmartResponse setting alone,
though, as the panel is fast enough
without it and it causes artefacts,
especially at the highest settings.
The 288P6LJEB also features
on-board speakers, with 3.5mm
audio input and output jacks. Sound is
a little muffled, but its loud and clear
enough to be usable if you had to
use the speakers, although as
ever, we recommend using either separate

speakers or a headset instead.
Finally, power consumption is
comparatively high, matching the AOC. Even
at a brightness of around 125cd/m2, the
Philips consumes 42W, which is similar to
the result from the majority of panels at
maximum brightness.
Conclusion
The 288P6LJEB has excellent connection
options and a fully adjustable stand. However,
it isnt alone in having a strong feature set, and
certain aspects of its image quality (contrast
ratio and viewing angles especially) are hard
to overlook, especially as its beaten in
numerous areas by cheaper screens.
MATTHEW LAMBERT
IMAGE QUALITY
41/55
FEATURES
VALUE
13/15 24/30
OVERALL SCORE
78%
VERDICT
Plenty of features, but poor contrast and
gamma levels mean you can get better
screens for the same money.
ViewSonic VX2880ml/431
inc VAT
SUPPLIER TBC
eve seen 4K monitors

dropping in price over
recent months, but the new
ViewSonic VX2880ml is the most
affordable way yet to get 3,840 x
2,160 pixels on your desk this 28in
screen is available for just 431.
Thats positively a bargain when
it comes to 4K panels but, not
surprisingly for the price, it doesnt
look or feel quite as good as some
of its rivals. The front of the stand is
attractive solid metal, but the screen
bezel is made from glossy black
plastic that easily picks up fingerprints. It
isnt the easiest screen to put together either,
thanks to a fiddly plastic cover that needs to
be used to fix the stand in place.
It isnt particularly versatile either. Like the
pretty Samsung U28D590D, the ViewSonics
stand only offers minimal forwards and
backwards tilting movement, with no other
positional adjustments available so theres
no portrait mode, height adjustment or
swivelling from left to right.
The n VX2880ml is the

most affordable way
yet to get 3,840 x 2,160
pixels on your desk
The lack of versatility isnt an ideal partner
for the screens average viewing angles;
youll have to sit front-and-centre with this
screen, or youll notice image quality rapidly
deteriorate. On the plus side, the ViewSonic
supports VESA mounting systems.
Meanwhile, the menu system is navigated
by using five touch-sensitive buttons that lie
along the middle of the bottom bezel, and the

menu they control is well laid-out and easy to
navigate, but its not as fast or as intuitive as
Dells software.
The connection options are good too, with
DisplayPort input and output options, and a
mini-DisplayPort connector alongside an
HDMI port, although there are no USB
connectors. The ViewSonic is also one of just
two systems in the Labs to use an external
power brick.
Theres one bigger omission, though, and
thats the lack of a 60Hz mode when using
DisplayPort 1.2. As such, the ViewSonic is
the only screen in the Labs that doesnt
work at 60Hz, which means it really
isnt suitable for serious gaming, as
the screen effectively wont be able
to display high frame rates the
maximum refresh rate on offer is 30Hz.
The issues arent limited to fast-paced
games either even general desktop
use felt sluggish, thanks to the lack of
60Hz support. This design decision
presumably made because of budget
restrictions also means theres no
overdrive mode.
Performance
Our first impressions of the affordable
ViewSonic were decent: our test
images demonstrated good contrast
and vibrancy, with superb detail picked
out in white shades. Theres no sign of
banding either. Blacks are deep,
although some dark tones
were crushed together, and
some skin tones had a slight
52
yellow tint. We then switched to

RGB mode, where every colour
option is set to its maximum level,
and skin tones appeared more
accurate, with better detail in
darker areas too.
Some of the ViewSonics
benchmark results with the
colorimeter were excellent too.
The colour temperature of 6,643K
is only second to the Iiyama, and
the VX2880mls 833:1 contrast
ratio is decent too. The good
temperature and contrast results
are paired with good colour
accuracy as well. The average delta E of 2.1
is one of the Labs better scores, and the
maximum figure of 5.64 is reasonable. The
gamma level of 2.15 is just as impressive as
well, and its 0.2 range is the best result in this
Labs result.
However, while the ViewSonic gets the
fundamentals right, it suffers elsewhere. The
sRGB coverage level of 88 per cent is beaten
by several other monitors on test this month,
with performance slipping when displaying
red, pink and dark blue hues. The uniformity
rating of 75 per cent is also the worst result
on test by a wide margin. That 75 per cent
average doesnt tell the whole story, either
in certain sectors of the screen, notably on
the left-hand side, the ViewSonic lost even
more brightness.
The VX2880mls various modes were
consistently disappointing too. The sRGB
mode lowered the brightness massively
and crushed black tones together
dramatically, and the dedicated gaming
mode is even worse. Changes to the
gamma level in this mode mean that
detail is lost in middling shades, and
images look flat and lifeless. Its clearly
designed to ramp up the detail in black
areas, but the reality is that the darkest
areas just look grey and washed out a
result of the atrocious 4.18cd/m2 black
level produced in this mode. The movie
mode makes similar changes, thanks to
a black level of 2.04cd/m2, which is a
better result than the one from the
gaming mode, but youll still be
able to spot it in darker
moments in films.
Meanwhile, the webbrowsing mode resulted
in oversaturated colours
and high contrast. For the most part, none of

these different options improved the quality
of the screen; the ViewSonics default mode
is by far its best option, so stick to that. Finally,
one other interesting option is the blue light
feature, which covers the screen in a light
blue hue in order to combat eyestrain caused
by extended computer use.
We achieved our best results after
calibrating this screen. When we used our
colorimeter, the average delta E dropped to
0.8, the colour temperature improved to an
impressive 6,488K and the 754:1 contrast
ratio was reasonable, albeit lower than the

contrast of every one the other screens on
test this month.
The speakers arent much cop either. They
only offer 2W of power, so theyre lacking in
punch and volume, and the sound quality
isnt particularly good. As always, though, this
isnt surprising for monitor speakers we
recommend using external speakers or a
headset instead.
Finally, the power consumption was
average. When displaying black and white
images at 125cd/m2 the ViewSonics power
consumption of 28W and 30W respectively
is a tad higher than some of the competition,
and at maximum brightness, the power
draws of 42W and 44W fall in line with most
of the other monitors in this Labs.
Conclusion
The ViewSonic is the cheapest monitor in this
Labs, and spending a comparatively small
amount of cash on a 4K screen means
making sacrifices. The lack of a 60Hz mode
means the ViewSonic isnt really suitable for
games, and the disappointing performance in
several of the screens preset modes means

wed be loathe to move away from the
VX2880mls standard settings. Its also
lacking when it comes to versatility, with an
absence of stand options limiting the ways in
which this screen can be used.
Its great to see 4K screens coming down
in price, but there are much better options
available if you can afford to spend just a little
more cash. The 450 Samsung U28D590D
has superior image quality alongside a similar
dearth of features, and the 500 Iiyama is
much better in every regard.
MIKE JENNINGS
IMAGE QUALITY
43/55
FEATURES
VALUE
8/15 28/30
OVERALL SCORE
79%
VERDICT
A tempting price, but it comes at the cost of a
lot of sacrifices in terms of both features and
performance.
53

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C O L O U R T E M P E R AT UR E (K ELVI N )
B R I GH T NE S S U N I F OR M I T Y ( PE R C E N T )
C ON T R A S T R A T I O
Deviation from ideal result (6,504K)
Dimmest area divided by brightest area
Ratio of white-to-black luminance
Iiyama B2888UHSU
(factory)
89
Iiyama B2888UHSU
(factory)
89
Dell UP2414Q
889:1
ViewSonic VX2880ml
(User mode)
139
Samsung
U28D590D
86
Dell UP2414Q
(sRGB mode)
838:1
Dell UP2414Q
(sRGB mode)
273
AOC U2868PQU
85
ViewSonic VX2880ml
(User mode)
833:1
Iiyama
B2888UHSU
85
Samsung U28D590D
(factory)
818:1
Asus PB287Q
83
Asus PB287Q
(factory)
814:1
Philips
288P6LJEB
83
AOC U2868PQU
(factory)
802:1
AOC U2868PQU
(factory)
341
Asus PB287Q
(factory)
566
Philips 288P6LJEB
(Game mode)
630
Samsung U28D590D
(factory)
735
200
400 600 800

Lower is better
ViewSonic
VX2880ml
Philips 288P6LJEB
(Game mode)
76
25
50
75
100
Higher is better
609:1
225
450
675 900
Higher is better
C O L O U R A CCUR ACY
AVERAGE GAMMA
POWE R C ON S U M PT I ON ( WA T TS )
Average delta E 2000
Deviation from ideal result (2.2)
White screen
Dell UP2414Q
(sRGB mode)
Asus PB287Q
0
(factory)
0.8
Samsung
U28D590D
21 36
Asus PB287Q
(factory)
2.04
Iiyama B2888UHSU
(factory)
0.05
Asus PB287Q
25
44
ViewSonic VX2880ml
(User mode)
2.1
ViewSonic VX2880ml
(User mode)
0.05
Iiyama
B2888UHSU
27
44
Iiyama B2888UHSU
(factory)
Samsung U28D590D
(factory)
Samsung U28D590D
(factory)
2.47
Philips 288P6LJEB
(Game mode)
3.87
3
4
Lower is better
0.14
0.26
AOC U2868PQU
(factory)
0.0
ViewSonic
VX2880ml
0.08
Philips 288P6LJEB
(Game mode)
2.94
AOC U2868PQU
(factory)
Dell UP2414Q
(sRGB mode)
2.19
0.4
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
Lower is better
30 44
Philips 288P6LJEB
42 55
AOC U2868PQU
43 56
43
Dell UP2414Q
25
125cd/m2
87
50
75
100
Lower is better
Max brightness
All the results for colour, gamma, colour temperature and contrast are reported from the preset (next to the monitors model name) that provided, on balance, the best of all four results.
56
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58
Yes / Yes
Yes
DisplayPort, DVI-D, HDMI

(MHL), VGA
2 x USB 3, 2 x USB 2
Yes / Yes
Height, pivot, swivel, tilt
PiP / PbP
Overdrive
Inputs
USB
Speakers/3.5mm
audio out
Adjustment
* Prices correct at time of going to press
1 bright pixel, 1 dead pixel
1ms
Stated response time

(grey to grey)
Dead pixel policy
170 / 160
Stated viewing angles

(H/V)
3 years
1000:1
Stated static contrast

ratio
Warranty
60Hz
Maximum refresh rate
VESA 100mm
LED
Backlight type
Bright Frame
TN
Panel technology
Mount
659 x 561 x 245
Size (W x H x D) (mm)
Extras
3,840 x 2,160
157
335in2 / 2,161cm2
Screen area
Pixel density (ppi)
335in2 / 2,161cm2
16:9
Aspect ratio
Resolution
16:9
28in / 71.1cm
Screen size
569
www.overclockers.co.uk
3 bright pixels, 5 dead

pixels
3 years
EyeCare backlight,
GamePlus aimpoint and
timer, QuickFit, key lock
VESA 100mm
Yes / Yes
No
DisplayPort, HDMI, HDMI

(MHL), 3.5mm audio
Yes
Yes / Yes
1ms
170 / 160
N/A
60Hz
LED
TN (true 10-bit)
660 x 564 x 220
157
3,840 x 2,160
28in / 71.1cm
www.scan.co.uk
470
Supplier
ASUS PB287Q
Price inc VAT*
AOC U2868PQU
FEATURE TABLE
0 bright pixels, 5 dead

pixels
3 years
>5 pixel defects
2 years (3 years with

registration)
VESA 100mm
Blue light reducer
Adobe RGB compatible
Height, swivel, tilt
Yes / Yes
2 x USB 3
2 x DisplayPort, DVI-D,
HDMI, HDMI (MHL), VGA
Yes
Yes / Yes
1ms
170 / 160
1000:1
60Hz
LED
TN
663 x 542 x 230
157
3,840 x 2,160
335in2 / 2,161cm2
16:9
28in / 71.1cm
500
IIYAMA PROLITE
B2888UHSU
VESA 100mm
No / No
4 x USB 3, card reader
DisplayPort, HDMI, miniDisplayPort
No
No / Yes
8ms
178 / 178
1000:1
60Hz
LED
IPS
569 x 502 x 192
185
3,840 x 2,160
242in2 / 1,562cm2
16:9
23.8in / 60.5cm
www.amazon.co.uk
585
DELL UP2414Q
>5 pixel defects
3 years
None
VESA 100mm
Yes / Yes
2 x USB 3, 2 x USB 2
DisplayPort, DVI-D, HDMI

(MHL), VGA, 3.5mm
audio
Yes
Yes / Yes
1ms
170 / 160
1000:1
60Hz
LED
TFT-LCD
659 x 573 x 273
157
3,840 x 2,160
335in2 / 2,161cm2
>7 dead pixels
3 years
None
No
Tilt
No / Yes
No
DisplayPort, 2 x HDMI
Yes
Yes / Yes
1ms
N/A
1000:1
60Hz
LED
TN
661 x 486 x 169
157
3,840 x 2,160
335in2 / 2,161cm2
28in / 71.1cm
16:9
3 bright pixels, 3 dark

pixels
3 years
Blue light filter
VESA 100mm
Tilt
Yes / Yes
No
DisplayPort, DisplayPort
(output) HDMI (MHL),
mini-DisplayPort,
3.5mm audio
No
No
5ms
170 / 160
1000:1
30Hz
LED
TN
660 x 511 x 242
157
3,840 x 2,160
335in2 / 2,161cm2
16:9
28in / 71.1cm
28in / 71.1cm
16:9
431
VIEWSONIC
VX2880ML
TBC
450
SAMSUNG U28D590D
www.cclonline.com
519
PHILIPS BRILLIANCE
288P6LJEB
R E V I E WS / PC HEAD TO HEAD
Pentium G3258 PCs

Intels latest CPU is a throwback to the days when cheap, overclockable chips were
the norm here, it forms the basis of two temptingly affordable gaming rigs
Scan 3XS Z97

Performance GT
UK Gaming Computers
Hyperion
/599 inc VAT
/599 inc VAT
he new Pentium G3258 Anniversary Edition

celebrates the 20th birthday of Intels famous
brand, and its a call back to an era when
enthusiasts could buy cheap Intel chips and still overclock
them to ridiculous levels. The 50 G3258 has an unlocked
multiplier, and its perfect for building budget gaming rigs
with some extra punch. As such, weve asked two UK
system builders to put together PCs that can handle highend HD gaming for 599 the only condition is that the new
Pentium chip must be used.
The components
UK Gaming Computers (UKGC) and Scan have both
deployed the G3258, and its the former firm that takes an
60
SUPPLIER: www.ukgamingcomputers.co.uk
early lead in the specs lists its chip runs at 4.6GHz, which is
100MHz more than the Scans speed. The UKGC machine
continues its good start by cramming an SSD into the 599
budget. Its a 128GB Corsair Force LS model that wont break
any speed records, but its a better offering than the Scan
PC, which has just a 1TB hard disk.
In other crucial areas, however, the Scan makes up
ground. Both machines have 8GB of DDR3 memory, but
Scan has overclocked its RAM to 2,133MHz a tweak that
allows the memory to run faster than the 1,333MHz limit
that Intel places on the G3258. The UKGC system is kitted
out with 1,600MHz memory, but its restricted to 1,333MHz,
mainly because of the limitations set by its motherboard; its
the same Asus H81-M Plus motherboard used in our PC
ELITE
NEW ENTRY
P 64
Scan
The UKGC machine continues

its good start by cramming an
SSD into the 599 budget
building feature this month (see p88), and it can give you
access to a CPU multiplier, thanks to a recent BIOS update.
The Scans Gigabyte GA-Z97M-DS3H motherboard is
a superior option. For starters, its Z97 chipset is better
equipped than the H81 hardware inside the UKGC machine:
it supports more PCI-E lanes, more SATA 6Gbs ports and
more USB 3 connections. It can also enable faster memory
speeds than the H81 chipset.
The Asus H81 board is undoubtedly a bargain, but the
differences between the chipsets mean that the Scans
board is more versatile. It supports up to 32GB of
overclocked memory in four slots, while the UKGC
machines Asus board is restricted to 16GB of slower
memory in two slots.
The Scans motherboard also has four USB 3 ports
double the number on UKGCs machine, and more
on-board headers, including three rather than two fan
connectors. It also has six SATA 6Gbs ports, while the Asus
PCB has just two. Both boards use the micro-ATX form
factor, though, so expansion slots are limited, and this is
where the Asus board pulls ahead, having three 1x PCI-E
slots one more than the Gigabyte.
Both manufacturers have also deployed Nvidia GeForce
GTX 760 graphics cards. Again, Scan takes an early victory in
this respect: its MSI-made card is pre-overclocked, with the
base and boost clocks raised from 980MHz and 1,124MHz
to 1,085MHz and 1,150MHz respectively. Meanwhile, Palit
produces the stock-speed card in the UKGC system.
The relatively modest components and smaller
motherboard form factor means smaller cases too. The
Scan uses the Fractal Design Core 1000, while the UKGC
has a Corsair Carbide SPEC-01. The Scans 355mm-tall
Fractal chassis is shorter than the 430mm Corsair, and it has
a plain meshed front, with matt black used throughout, and
its front buttons and ports are consigned to the right-hand
edge. Scans only concession to modding is its card reader,
which has a 3XS logo and a button to change the colour of
its illuminations.
Meanwhile, the Corsair case used by UKGC makes more
of a statement. Plastic vertical slats dominate the front, and
theyre illuminated by the red LED in the 120mm fan behind,
while the top of the chassis is decorated by a glowing red
bar of light.
The Corsair chassis has the more traditional layout of
the two cases. Its 3.5in bays are perpendicular to the
motherboard at the bottom of the chassis, the PSU is
mounted in the base and two tool-free 3.5in bays sit
towards the top. Scans enclosure takes a different
approach, perhaps to accommodate its smaller dimensions;
the PSU is mounted in the top, with the motherboard
beneath, and storage is screwed vertically to a plate that
stretches from top to bottom.
The plate adds complications when it comes to working
inside the Scan, though, as it needs to be removed if you
1
An overclocked MSI
GeForce GTX 760 card gives
the Scan an edge in games
The 450W Corsair PSU is

mounted in the roof of the
case, rather than the base
The 8GB of RAM runs at a

frequency of 2,133MHz,
despite the limits of the CPU
SCAN/SPECIFICATIONS
CPU 3.2GHz Intel Pentium G3258
overclocked to 4.5GHz
GPU: 2 x 92mm fans ; front: 120mm

Fractal fan
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-Z97M-DS3H
PSU Corsair VS450 450W
Memory 8GB Corsair Vengeance Pro

2,133MHz
Ports Front: 2 x USB 3, 2 x USB 2, 2 x audio,

card reader; rear: 4 x USB 3, 2 x USB 2, 1 x
PS/2, 1 x Gigabit Ethernet, 3 x audio
Graphics MSI GeForce GTX 760 Twin Frozr

2GB GDDR5
Storage 1TB Seagate Barracuda 7200.14
hard disk, DVD writer
Case Fractal Design Core 1000
Operating system Windows 8.1 64-bit

Warranty Three year returns to base, with
one year on-site and three years labour
and parts
Cooling CPU: Arctic Freezer i11, 92mm fan;
need to remove the graphics card or motherboard. It

also restricts storage upgrade room theres room for
a 2.5in SSD, but the position of the plate and the side of
the graphics card make it impossible to fit a second 3.5in
hard disk.
However, while the UKGCs Corsair chassis has a more
conventional layout, the PC still lacks upgrade room. Like
the Scan, just a single hard disk bay is vacant, and both of its
memory slots are occupied. Scans machine has a pair of
memory slots free, although the Arctic Freezer i11 cooler
overhangs one of the vacant slots.
These small systems dont have much room to grow,
and (not surprisingly) neither have modular PSUs, but both
are put together tidily. Scan has bundled most of its spare
cabling towards the top of the case, with other cables
hidden in the hard disk tray, while UKGC has used its
enclosures narrow motherboard tray to keep cables out
of the way. Both systems could have been a little tidier, but
both are generally neat.
61
R E V I E WS / PREBUILT PCs
UK Gaming Computers
Scan achieved its 4.5GHz

speed by pumping a hefty 1.4V
through the processor
1
3
Thanks to a BIOS update,

the Asus H81M-Plus can
now access CPU multipliers
A Palit GeForce GTX 760 card

handles graphics duties, but it
isnt overclocked
The 8GB of Corsair XMS

1,600MHz RAM only runs at
1,333MHz
UK GAMING COMPUTERS /SPECIFICATIONS

CPU 3.2GHz Intel Pentium G3258
overclocked to 4.6GHz
GPU: 1 x 92mm; front: 120mm intake; rear:

120mm exhaust
Motherboard Asus H81M-Plus
PSU Corsair CX500 500W
Memory 8GB Corsair XMS 1,600MHz
Ports Front: 1 x USB 3, 1 x USB 2, 2 x audio;

rear: 2 x USB 3, 4 x USB 2, 2 x PS/2, Gigabit
Ethernet, 3 x audio
Graphics Palit GeForce GTX 760 2GB GDDR5

Storage 128GB Corsair Force LS SSD, 500GB
Seagate Barracuda hard disk, DVD writer
Case Corsair Carbide Spec-01
Cooling CPU: Xilence M606, 120mm fan;
Operating system N/A

Warranty Three years return to base with
three years labour and one year parts
Theres one important feature that Scan includes thats

absent from the UKGC machine though an operating
system. The 3XS machine includes Windows 8.1, with
different Windows 7 and 8.1 options available for varying
prices. The UKGC system is also available with different
operating systems too, but they all add extra cost the
standard versions of Windows 7 and 8.1 each cost 72.
Performance
Scans system might be clocked a little lower than its rival,
but its faster memory and superior motherboard helped it
to better the UKGC machine in most of our benchmarks. In
our Media Benchmarks, the Scan scored 1,521 when multitasking, which overtook the UKGCs result of 1,329.
The gap was more significant in the video encoding
benchmark, though, with the Scan scoring 3,013 compared
to the UKGCs 2,507. The UKGC only pulled ahead in the
image editing test, where it scored 2,374, compared to the
Scans 2,214. However, Scan was the clear winner in the
62
overall test: its Media Benchmarks score of 2,249 easily

bettered its rivals result of 2,070.
The Scans overclocked graphics card also helped
the machine to continue to lead the way in the gaming
benchmarks. In Battlefield 4 at 1,920 x 1,080, the Scans
39fps minimum was 2fps quicker than its rival, and that gap
was maintained in the average.
In BioShock Infinite at 1,920 x 1,080, the Scans minimum
of 58fps was also 2fps ahead. Meanwhile, Crysis 3 is our
toughest game benchmark, but both systems hit playable
minimum frame rates in this game at 1,920 x 1080. The
Scan machine returned 32fps, with the UKGC PC being 2fps
slower. However, while the Scan machine has a slight edge
in games, the UKGC PC is still quick enough to play current
games at maximum settings at 1,920 x 1,080.
The situation didnt change when we overclocked the
graphics cards. Scans card and its extended 145 per cent
power limit were able to hit improved core and boot speeds
of 1,130MHz and 1,195MHz respectively, and we improved
the memory speed from 1,502MHz to 1,752MHz.
We were able to tweak the UKGCs card from its stock
speeds too, with 70MHz added to its 980MHz and
1,033MHz core and boost clocks, and an additional 250MHz
added to the memory. Afterwards, the Scan hit a minimum
of 42fps in Battlefield 4 at 1,920 x 1,080, with the UKGC
machine being 3fps behind. The gap between the two
machines widened slightly in our Crysis 3 benchmarks. At
1,920 x 1,080, the Scans 34fps minimum was 3fps ahead
of its rival. Again, however, both frame rates are playable.
Interestingly, though, the situation wasnt as clear-cut
when we tried to overclock the Pentium processors further.
Scan achieved its 4.5GHz speed by pumping a hefty 1.4V
through the processor, and we werent able to get the chip
to run stably at 4.6GHz. Plus, we were loath to add more
voltage to the chip, given the amount already involved.
The UKGC system was more receptive. The original
4.6GHz overclocked was managed with a 0.31V vcore, and
we were able to hit 4.8GHz by using a vcore of 1.335V. That
overclock saw the UKGC machine improve its overall Media
Benchmarks score to 2,121, but that still isnt enough to
overhaul the Scans result.
The UKGC system was, at least, able to overhaul its rival
in one area: storage. The Corsair SSD might not break any
speed records, but its sequential read and write scores of
510MB/sec and 338MB/sec outpace the 190MB/sec and
135MB/sec scored by the Scans hard disk. The SSDs
512KB read and write scores were sometimes six times
the speed of the Scans hard disk too.
The SSD also helped the UKGC to an impressive boot
time of 17 seconds, while the Scans hard disk could only
manage a 44-second boot. The Scan fell behind in thermal
tests too, perhaps because of its overclocked graphics card
and lack of exhaust fan. When running at stock speeds, the
Scans CPU and GPU delta Ts of 59C and 61C were warmer
than the respective 54C and 38C of the UKGC, particularly

when it came to graphics card cooling. That pattern followed
through to the overclocked benchmarks.
Scans system took back the advantage in noise tests
though. When running at its factory speeds and tested at
idle and load, the 3XS machine averaged 44.8dB in our lab,
with the UKGC system outputting around 47.8dB. Neither of
these PCs are especially noisy, but the Scan is definitely the
quieter PC.
Warranty
Both these systems include generous warranties, but Scan
wins in this category. Its 3XS machine comes with a threeyear return-to-base package that includes parts and labour
coverage for the entire period, with on-site coverage for the
first year. The UKGC system also includes three years of
return-to-base cover, and labour is covered for three years
too, but parts are only covered for a year.
G IM P IM AG E E D IT ING
Verdict
The UKGC machine gets off to a good start with a higher
overclock, and it wins points by including an SSD, but in
real-world use, its beaten by Scans 3XS machine in
almost every department, which offers faster memory,
a more versatile motherboard, a bundled operating
system, and better application and games performance
across the board.
The Scan machine is quieter, and its processor stayed
ahead of the competition even without additional
overclocking. The case is smaller too, although that also
means the UKGC has a more versatile interior in some
departments. These are both good PCs for the money,
and they both demonstrate the overclocking ability of
this bargain processor too but the faster, quieter Scan
is a more complete machine thats more deserving of
your cash.
MIKE JENNINGS
BATTLEFIELD 4
1,920 x 1,080, Ultra detail
2,214
Scan
2,372 2,374
UKGC
0
625
1,250
1,875
39 fps 47 fps
Scan
42 fps
2,500
UKGC
39 fps 48 fps
H AN D B RAK E H .2 64 V IDE O E NC ODING

0
3,013
Scan
2,507
UKGC
0
800
1,600
15
30
45
3,200
1,920 x 1,080, Ultra detail with depth of eld
58 fps
Scan
1,521
Scan
1,329
UKGC
0
400
800
1,200
60
B I O S HO CK : I N F I N I T E
2,624
2,400
51 fps
37 fps 45 fps
56 fps
UKGC
1,367
1,600
71 fps
62 fps
77 fps
70 fps
60 fps
20
40
74 fps
60
80
CR Y S I S 3
1,920 x 1,080, Very High detail
O VE R AL L
2,249
Scan
32 fps
Scan stock
2,070 2,121
UKGC
0
600
1,200
1,800
2,400
Scan
59C
UKGC
54C 60C
0
15
30
45
Stock speed min
38C
0
17
Stock speed
34
51
68
Overclocked
SCAN
Overclocked min
52
Overclocked avg
238 W
43 W
249 W
45 W
UKGC
52C
39
41 W
Scan
UKGC
49 fps
26
T O T A L S Y S T E M PO W E R CO N S U M PT I O N
60
61C 65C
13
Stock speed avg
Max speed GPU delta T
Scan
46 fps
31 fps
Max speed CPU delta T
52 fps
30 fps
UKGC
T E M P E R AT U RE
48 fps
34 fps
203 W
47 W
0
Stock idle
250 W
65
Stock load
130
195
Overclocked idle
260
Overclocked load
UK GAMING COMPUTERS
SPEED
DESIGN
HARDWARE
VALUE
19/25 21/25
20/25 23/25
OVERALL SCORE
83%
SPEED
DESIGN
HARDWARE
VALUE
18/25 20/25
19/25 23/25
OVERALL SCORE
80%
63
E L I T E / THE BEST KIT
Elite
Our choice of the best hardware available
Build a budget PC
Core components
The parts youll need to build either PC. This kit list gives you a solid PSU, a decent quality case and the OEM
version of Windows 7 Home Premium.
PRICE
NAME
SUPPLIER
FEATURED
Xigmatek Midgard II
Issue 113, p74
60
XFX Pro Series 550W Core Edition
www.novatech.co.uk
Issue 122, p50
47
500GB Seagate Barracuda ST500DM002
www.scan.co.uk
Issue 104, p72
34
Lite-On IHAS124-04
www.cclonline.com
Issue 99, p108
12
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit OEM
www.ebuyer.com
Issue 75, p46
70
64
4
(inc VAT)
All-purpose PC
The parts youll need to add to the core components to build a general-purpose PC. This machine will handle
general computing tasks with no trouble, and will also cope with basic gaming, although youll have to lower the
detail settings. It features high-speed memory to boost the performance of the AMD APUs graphics system.
PRICE
NAME
SUPPLIER
FEATURED
Gigabyte GA-F2A88XM-D3H
www.dabs.com
Issue 126, p22
49
AMD A10-7850K
www.scan.co.uk
Issue 127, p17
125
8GB Corsair Vengeance

Pro Series 2,400MHz DDR3
www.scan.co.uk
Issue 132, p22
68
SilverStone Argon AR01
www.scan.co.uk
Issue 132, p57
24
TOTAL
(inc VAT)
489
Gaming PC
The parts youll need to build a budget machine capable of playing the latest games at maximum settings on a
1080p monitor. The machine has a discrete graphics card, a highly overclockable dual-core CPU and high-speed
memory. Meanwhile, the Z97 motherboard gives you headroom to upgrade to a faster CPU later.
PRICE
NAME
SUPPLIER
FEATURED
ASRock Z97 Pro3
Issue 130, p50
77
Intel Pentium G3258
Issue 132, p17
53
AMD R9 270X 2GB
www.scan.co.uk
Issue 126, p50
130
Corsair Vengeance Pro

Series 2,400MHz DDR3
www.scan.co.uk
Issue 132, p22
68
www.scan.co.uk
Issue 132, p57
24
TOTAL
(inc VAT)
575
Recommended extra
A solid state drive will make a huge difference to the responsiveness of Windows, as well as boot-up times.
We strongly recommend adding one to any build.
NAME
SUPPLIER
FEATURED
Crucial M500 240GB
www.scan.co.uk
Issue 128, p42
PRICE
(inc VAT)
84
Build a mid-range PC
Work PC
The parts youll need to build a solid quad-core PC with plenty of upgrade potential. This kit list gives you an all-in-one liquid
cooler and a K-series Core i5 CPU, meaning you can overclock it and get some serious processing power. Weve managed to
get the Core i5-4690K Haswell CPU up to 4.8GHz, so it has some serious performance potential. Also included is a solid
Antec PSU, a 512GB SSD and 8GB of high-speed memory. The core configuration assumes you wont be doing any serious
gaming, however, and it relies on Intels integrated graphics.
PRICE
NAME
SUPPLIER
FEATURED
NZXT Phantom 530
Issue 127, p44
98
Gigabyte Z97X-SLI
www.cclonline.com
Issue 130, p54
90
Intel Core i5-4690K
www.scan.co.uk
Issue 132, p18
167
Corsair Vengeance Pro

Series 2,400MHz DDR3
www.scan.co.uk
Issue 132, p22
68
Corsair H75
www.scan.co.uk
Issue 126, p30
60
Antec HCG-520M High Current Gamer 520W
www.cclonline.com
Issue 122, p43
76
Seagate Barracuda 2TB ST2000DM001
www.scan.co.uk
Issue 104, p75
58
Lite-On IHAS124-04
www.cclonline.com
Issue 99, p108
12
Crucial MX100 512GB
www.ebuyer.com
Issue 131, p17
150
www.ebuyer.com
Issue 75, p46
70
TOTAL
(inc VAT)
849
Gaming PC
The graphics card youll need to play current games at their maximum settings at 1080p and 2,560 x 1,440.
66
6
PRICE
NAME
SUPPLIER
FEATURED
1,920 x 1,080
AMD R9 270X 2GB
www.scan.co.uk
Issue 126, p50
130
2,560 x 1,440
Nvidia GeForce GTX 770 2GB
www.scan.co.uk
Issue 126, p55
227
(inc VAT)
Build a performance PC
Work PC
The parts youll need to build a high-quality, fast PC thats ideal for multi-threaded workloads. This kit list features a highquality, beautifully built case, and has a Core i7-4790K CPU. This processors support for Hyper-Threading effectively splits
the resources of the CPUs four physical cores into a further four virtual cores, meaning it can effectively handle eight threads
at once. Theres also a solid 750W PSU, giving you plenty of headroom for overclocking and adding multiple graphics cards,
and a Corsair H80i all-in-one liquid cooler.
PRICE
NAME
SUPPLIER
FEATURED
SilverStone Fortress FT02B-W USB 3.0
www.scan.co.uk
Issue 85, p88
174
Asus Maximus VII Ranger
www.scan.co.uk
Issue 131, p20
125
Intel Core i7-4790K
www.scan.co.uk
Issue 132, p19
247
Corsair Vengeance Pro Series 2,400MHz DDR3
www.scan.co.uk
Issue 132, p22
68
Corsair H80i
www.scan.co.uk
Issue 116, p64
74
XFX Pro Black Edition 750W
www.scan.co.uk
Issue 122, p60
95
www.scan.co.uk
Issue 104, p75
58
Lite-On IHAS124-04
www.cclonline.com
Issue 99, p108
12
Samsung SSD 840 EVO 500GB
www.scan.co.uk
Issue 128, p52
187
www.ebuyer.com
Issue 75, p46
70
TOTAL
(inc VAT)
1,110
Gaming PC
The graphics card youll need to play current games at their maximum settings at 2,560 x 1,440 and beyond.
PRICE
NAME
SUPPLIER
FEATURED
2,560 x 1,440
www.scan.co.uk
Issue 126, p55
227
2,560 x 1,440, 5,760 x 1,080 and 3,840 x 2,160

AMD Radeon R9 290 4GB
www.scan.co.uk
Issue 126, p58
281
(inc VAT)
*Note: Multiple graphics cards are required to run Crysis 3 smoothly at 5,760 x 1,080 and 3,840 x 2,160, and Battlefield 4 at 5,760 x 1,080.
Recommended extra
A discrete sound card gives you higher-quality sound when playing back or recording music.
NAME
SUPPLIER
FEATURED
Creative Sound Blaster Z
www.scan.co.uk
Issue 116, p42
PRICE
(inc VAT)
60
6
67
Build an LGA2011 workstation

Multi-threaded workstation
The parts youll need to build a PC with serious power in multi-threaded workstation software, such as 3D
rendering apps and optimised distributed computing software. The kit list features a 6-core LGA2011 CPU, which
will also be overclockable using the motherboard and cooler listed. Also supplied is 16GB of RAM, a whopping
1TB of solid state storage and a 1.2KW PSU, which will give you loads of headroom for adding multiple GPUs.
PRICE
NAME
SUPPLIER
FEATURED
Corsair Obsidian 750D
www.cclonline.com
Issue 123, p30
122
Asus Rampage IV Extreme Black Edition
Issue 124, p42
360
Intel Core i7-4930K
Issue 123, p51
420
AMD R9 270X 2GB
www.scan.co.uk
Issue 126, p50
130
16GB Kingston HyperX Predator 1,866MHz

KHX18C9T2K4/16X
www.dabs.com
Issue 123, p56
137
Corsair Hydro H105
Issue 128, p19
90
Corsair Professional Series AX1200i
www.scan.co.uk
Issue 111, p40
238
Samsung SSD 840 EVO 1TB
www.scan.co.uk
Issue 128, p52
315
www.scan.co.uk
Issue 104, p75
58
Lite-On IHAS124-04
www.cclonline.com
Issue 99, p108
12
Microsoft Windows 7 Professional OEM (or

Windows 8.1 if youre using a 4K monitor)
www.ebuyer.com
Issue 75, p46
102
TOTAL
4K gaming PC
(inc VAT)
1,984
This LGA2011 system can support multiple graphics cards with a decent number of PCI-E 3 lanes, making it an
ideal foundation for high-resolution PC gaming, replacing the graphics card listed above with two or more highspec cards. We recommend using Windows 8.1, rather than Windows 7, if youre using a 4K monitor.
NAME
SUPPLIER
FEATURED
2 x EVGA Superclocked ACX GeForce GTX 780 3GB
www.scan.co.uk
Issue 123, p54
TOTAL
68
68
PRICE
(inc VAT)
758
2,742
Build a mini PC
Core components
The parts youll need to build either PC. This kit list gives you a solid PSU, 8GB of RAM, an overclockable Haswell
CPU, an all-in-one liquid cooler and Windows 7 Home Premium. Also included is a graphics card that can play
current games at their maximum settings at 1080p (and some at 2,560 x 1,440), and a 512GB SSD.
PRICE
NAME
SUPPLIER
FEATURED
Intel Core i5-4690K
www.scan.co.uk
Issue 132, p18
167
Corsair Vengeance Pro Series 2,400MHz DDR3
www.scan.co.uk
Issue 132, p22
68
Corsair H75
www.scan.co.uk
Issue 125, p30
60
www.dabs.com
Issue 133, p20
181
Crucial MX100 512GB
www.ebuyer.com
Issue 131, p17
150
www.scan.co.uk
Issue 104, p75
58
Lite-On IHAS124-04
www.cclonline.com
Issue 99, p108
12
Antec HCG-520M High Current Gamer 520W
www.cclonline.com
Issue 122, p43
76
www.ebuyer.com
Issue 75, p46
70
MSI GeForce GTX 760 Gaming ITX
U PDATE
(inc VAT)
Mini-ITX PC
The parts youll need to build a pint-sized powerhouse.
PRICE
NAME
SUPPLIER
FEATURED
www.scan.co.uk
Issue 127, p24
69
MSI Z97I Gaming AC
www.cclonline.com
Issue 131, p18
107
See Issue 121, p92 for a full guide to building a mini-ITX PC with this case and motherboard
TOTAL
(inc VAT)
1,018
Micro-ATX PC
The parts youll need to build a mini PC that doesnt take up as much room as a full-sized desktop.
PRICE
NAME
SUPPLIER
FEATURED
Fractal Design Arc Mini R2
www.cclonline.com
Issue 127, p46
71
www.cclonline.com
Issue 133, p18
147
D
U PDATE
TOTAL
(inc VAT)
1,060
69
6
9
Cases
PRICE
TYPE
NAME
SUPPLIER
FEATURED
Budget ATX
Xigmatek Midgard II
Issue 113, p74
60
Sub-100
ATX quiet
Fractal Design Define R4
www.scan.co.uk
Issue 127, p42
68
Sub-100 ATX
performance
NZXT Phantom 530
Issue 103, p70
98
Sub-200 ATX
SilverStone Fortress FT02B-W USB 3.0
www.scan.co.uk
Issue 85, p88
174
Water-cooling ATX
SilverStone Temjin TJ07B-W
Issue 63, p87
220
Mini-ITX tower
www.scan.co.uk
Issue 127, p24
69
Mini-ITX cube
Antec ISK600
Issue 126, p28
47
Micro-ATX
Fractal Design Arc Mini R2
www.cclonline.com
Issue 127, p46
71
Water-cooling
micro-ATX
Parvum Systems S2.0
Issue 129, p22
140
(inc VAT)
Graphics cards
NAME
SUPPLIER
FEATURED
1,920 x 1,080
gaming
AMD Radeon R9 270X 2GB
www.scan.co.uk
Issue 126, p50
130
2,560 x 1,440
gaming
www.scan.co.uk
Issue 126, p55
227
High-end gaming*
AMD R9 290 4GB
www.scan.co.uk
Issue 126, p58
281
4K gaming
2 x EVGA Superclocked ACX GeForce

GTX 780 3GB
www.scan.co.uk
Issue 123, p54
758
Mini-ITX
MSI GeForce GTX 760

Gaming ITX
www.dabs.co.uk
Issue 133, p20
181
* Handles all games at 2,560 x 1,440, and some at 4K and 5,760 x 1,080
70
70
PRICE
TYPE
U PDATE
(inc VAT)
Power supplies
PRICE
TYPE
NAME
SUPPLIER
FEATURED
Budget 550W
XFX Pro Series 550W

Core Edition
www.novatech.co.uk
Issue 122, p50
47
Mid-range 520W
Antec HCG-520M High

Current Gamer 520W
www.cclonline.com
Issue 122, p43
76
High-end 760W
Corsair Professional Series

AX760i
www.ebuyer.com
Issue 122, p53
135
High-end 1.2kW
Corsair Professional Series

AX1200i
www.scan.co.uk
Issue 111, p40
238
(inc VAT)
Networking
PRICE
TYPE
NAME
SUPPLIER
FEATURED
Router
Asus RT-AC68U
www.scan.co.uk
Issue 128, p88
163
Wi-Fi adaptor
Asus PCE-AC68
www.scan.co.uk
Issue 128, p88
64
TYPE
NAME
SUPPLIER
FEATURED
Hard disk
Seagate Barracuda 2TB

ST2000DM001
www.scan.co.uk
Issue 104, p75
58
250GB SSD
Samsung SSD 840

EVO 250GB
www.cclonline.com
Issue 128, p52
95
512GB SSD
Crucial MX100
512GB
www.ebuyer.com
Issue 131, p17
150
1TB SSD
Samsung SSD 840

EVO 1TB
www.scan.co.uk
Issue 128, p52
315
NAS box
Synology
DiskStation DS214
Issue 131, p48
220
(inc VAT)
Storage
www.dabs.com
PRICE
(inc VAT)
71
Monitors
PRICE
TYPE
NAME
SUPPLIER
FEATURED
24in monitor
Dell U2414H
Issue 129, p43
192
27in monitor
ViewSonic
VP2772
www.cclonline.com
Issue 129, p60
582
29in monitor
Asus
PB298Q
www.cclonline.com
Issue 129, p52
367
4K monitor
Asus
PB287Q
www.scan.co.uk
Issue133, p44
569
TYPE
NAME
SUPPLIER
FEATURED
Basic mechanical
keyboard
Func KB-460
www.ebuyer.com
Issue 126, p36
70
Mechanical gaming
keyboard
Corsair Vengeance K70
www.scan.co.uk
Issue 125, p34
90
Mechanical MMO
keyboard
Corsair Vengeance K95
www.cclonline.com
Issue 123, p64
118
Gaming mouse
Mionix Naos 8200
www.scan.co.uk
Issue 125, p74
60
Wireless gaming
mouse
SteelSeries
Sensei Wireless
www.ebuyer.com
Issue 130, p26
116
Flight stick
Saitek X-55
Rhino H.O.T.A.S.
Issue 131, p29
180
(inc VAT)
Peripherals
72
72
PRICE
(inc VAT)
Audio
PRICE
TYPE
NAME
SUPPLIER
FEATURED
PCI-E sound card
Creative Sound Blaster Z
www.scan.co.uk
Issue 116, p42
60
USB sound card
Asus Xonar Essence One
www.amazon.co.uk
Issue 118, p44
330
2.1 speakers
Corsair SP2500
www.scan.co.uk
Issue118, p75
167
Headset
HyperX Cloud
www.ebuyer.com
Issue 130, p32
70
SUPPLIER
FEATURED
www.scan.co.uk
Issue 133, p60
599
(inc VAT)
Systems
PRICE
TYPE
NAME
Budget gaming PC
Scan 3XS Z97

Performance GT
Dream PC
Scan 3XS Bear
www.scan.co.uk
Issue 125, p58
6,999
Devils Canyon
gaming PC
YoyoTech
XDNA Power
www.yoyotech.co.uk
Issue 132, p66
2,790
4K gaming PC
Overclockers UK
Infinity Vesuvius
Issue 131, p62
4,108
Mini-ITX
gaming PC
Scan 3XS
Z87 Nanu 250D
www.scan.co.uk
Issue 129, p62
1,849
Gaming laptop
MSI GT70
2PC Dominator
Issue 129, p26
1,320
Sub-1,000
gaming PC
PC Specialist
Vanquish DS Red
www.pcspecialist.co.uk
Issue 130, p62
999
D
U PDATE
(inc VAT)
73
73

' ##

&&"

$
%%%&&"

$
" " " " " " " "
$"
Games
Featured this month

Inverse look p77 / Divinity: Original Sin p78 / Sniper Elite 3 p80 / Valiant Hearts p81
The Wolf Among Us: Season One p82 / The Engine Room Essence p84
76
OPINION
R I C K L A N E / INVERSE LOOK
IN PRAISE OF
GAME CHARACTERS
Strong and memorable characters can make the difference between
good and bad storytelling in games, says Rick Lane
heres a wide array of games released in the past six or
seven years that have weaved wonderfully entertaining
tales, from modern classics such as BioShock and Portal,
to BioWares unique and brilliant Mass Effect trilogy. More
recently, Telltales adventure games have added to the pile of
fantastic, story-driven experiences, and there are innumerable
indie titles, such as To The Moon and Kentucky Route Zero, which
are majestically written and plotted.Even this years Wolfenstein,
a game about shooting Nazi robot dogs with laser guns, punched
above its weight in the story department.
All these games share the same reason for their storytelling
success characters. Thankfully, strong and
memorable characters are slowly becoming
more commonplace, but games havent always
had great characters, and it would be easy to
slip back into bad habits.
For a long time, games viewed stories in a
very mechanical manner, where writing was
designed to fit within a particular set of levels
or missions. Narratives were driven by objectives. You can even
see this setup in a game such as Thief, where the story
accommodates for the mission setting. The difference with Thief,
of course, is that it introduced Garrett, and its Garretts character,
over and above the plot, that sustains our interest.
You can still see this style of storytelling today, most obviously
in Call of Duty. These stories follow the exact same plot structure
as Thief, except theyre devoid of any interesting characters. As
such, its impossible to care about the characters world-saving
missions, and the now traditional death of a comrade scene in
the third act is now ineffective. Compare this situation to a game
such as Portal, which is arguably the epitome of the level-based

narrative, but brings it together through the magnificent
character of GLaDOS.
Meanwhile, BioShock has also helped to break the mould of
bad storytelling, not simply because it featured great characters,
but also because it used, abused and inverted the traditional
structure so masterfully that it couldnt really be bettered,
forcing other games to try a different tack. Consequently, games
with strong storytelling have moved on even further from Portal,
where theyve gone from being interesting because of good
characters, to being driven by characters.
Mass Effect 2 is my favourite example;
spending hours establishing relationships
between you and your crew, earning their
loyalty for the sake of undertaking an extremely
dangerous mission. Then, when that mission
comes, it isnt the objective that interests you,
but simply trying to keep the friends youve
made alive. The Walking Dead took this idea
even further, creating a game thats entirely about characters.
Were even at the stage where characters can play a vital role
without a scripted story. Strategy games such as Crusader Kings
and XCOM are made more interesting by the fact that you control
recognisable individuals, who grow and change, and live and
die, depending on your actions, rather than whole armies.
The importance of characterisation in meaningful and
relatable games cant be underestimated. We can help to ensure
that game developers continue down the route of good
characterisation by being aware of the difference it can make to
a game, and praising it where we see it.
BioShock has also helped

to break the mould of
bad storytelling
Rick Lane is Custom PCs games editor.
@Rick_Lane
77
G A M E S / REVIEW
Divinity: Original Sin/29.99
inc VAT
DEVELOPER Larian Studios / PUBLISHER Larian Studios
n early quest you encounter in Divinity: Original

Sin involves arranging a marriage between two
cats. One is Unsinkable Sam, a former ships cat
who now chases mice at the local inn. The other is the
Mayors pampered feline, who worries that Sam might not
be capable of providing for their future kittens. The only
solution involves finding Sams old diamond-studded collar,
lost on his final voyage, which is of course located in a deep,
dark cave, guarded by an enormous crab-monster.
This quest epitomises the games attitude towards
isometric role playing. Divinity is a fantasy game that simply
wants you to have fun, and for the most part it excels in this
quest. Its cheerful, witty writing and charming presentation
complement rich, indulgent RPG systems. Occasionally, its
a little too indulgent, though, causing Original Sin to trip over
the hem of its wizardly robe once too often, falling just short
of classic territory.
Original Sin puts you in control of a pair of brave, noble
Source Hunters, who are scouring the land of Rivellon,
weeding out nasty Sourcerers (who are different from
Sorcerers, as they embrace the mystical energies of The
Source to power their magic). Eventually, their mission
leads them to discover that the very fabric of time is under
threat from a dimensional rift, and they proceed on a
journey across Rivellon to recover the fabled Star Stone,
which can be essentially used as a temporal plaster, in
order to save the universe.
Its an adventure that involves battling undead kings,
solving magical murder mysteries and infiltrating religious
cults. Its incredibly generic fantasy hokum, but Divinity
embraces these conventions with its tongue affectionately
stuck in its cheek. No aspect of the game demonstrates
this attitude better than the writing, which isnt always
brilliant, lacking the sharpness of Telltales games, or
the nuanced work of BioWare, but its full of raw,
unbridled enthusiasm.
et bears a
Almost every character you meet
asily
unique trait that makes them easily
identifiable and fun to engage in
OVERALL SCORE
hop
conversation. Whether its a shop
e
vendor making hideous cheese
puns, a baffled undead soldier
ne
who speaks with a stutter, or one
of your own party companionss
er
who sees evil Sourcerers in her
/ VERDICT
soup,
everyone
is
written
with
Jaunty, opulent and
energy and colour, regardless of
fun, Divinity is
almost perfect for
their significance in the story.
whiling away
mals
You can even talk to the animals
summer evenings.
ock the
in the game, provided you unlock
Its only marred
arty
Pet Pal ability for one of your party
by its flawed
p further
members. This ability opens up
documentation,
navigation and
fering
dialogue choices, alongside offering
inventory
some wonderfully innovative ways to
management.
solve certain quests.
86%
78
The open-ended approach to questing is another strong

point. Like most other RPGs worth their salt, quests can be
solved through combat and diplomacy, but they can often
also be completed through whats probably best termed as
investigation. Stumble across a locked door in a house, and
there will likely be a key hidden somewhere in the building,
which you can find manually by moving objects using the
games physics system.
This door might conceal evidence linked with a murder,
or another clue to the solution
solutio of a mission. Furthermore, if
youre stuck in a dungeon,
dungeon why not try talking to one of
the rats scuttling about? It might point you towards a
secret switch. All of these
th
touches are made
immensely enjoy
enjoyable by the intricate detail
Larian has inves
invested into every house, town and
dungeon. The game
g
feels like a fine collection
of fantasy miniatures.
mini
While Divinity
Divini looks for inventive solutions
where possibl
possible, combat is inevitable, and its
also brilliant fu
fun, although you need to pack
plenty of mag
magical firepower. They key to
Divinitys combat
co
is using the elements
(classical, not
no chemical). Alongside various
powers are four
fo schools of magic, each
specialising in E
Earth, Air, Fire and Water, which
can be combined to create devastating effects.
Throw a firebal
fireball into a cloud of poisonous
spores and it will cause an explosion that burns
M
your enemies. Meanwhile,
a puddle of water
created by a rain sspell can be frozen to give
enemies the litera
literal slip, or electrified to stun
them into submission. Its a wonderful system with which

to experiment, and it adds a layer of exciting unpredictability
to the otherwise fairly traditional turn-based combat.
The only downside, of course, is that its possible to miss
out on some of these capabilities because of your character
specs, and Divinity isnt particularly great at explaining these
limitations to you. Granted, character builds are flexible and
not defined by class, and there are elemental weapons and
arrows that melee/archery specialists can use. However,
you cant rely entirely on looting those weapons, and
characters really need to be tailored to specific purposes
to overcome what can be pretty difficult fights.
Indeed, clarification is a general problem with Divinity,
revealing itself mostly in what well call Divinitys
troublesome trinity documentation, navigation and
inventory management. The biggest issue is navigation.
Divinity almost entirely dispenses with traditional quest
markers, which is fine in itself, as it encourages you to
explore the world. However, it doesnt replace them with
anything else. Theres no ability to ask townsfolk for
directions, and no rough approximation of the location of
an important dungeon; nothing.
Compounding this problem is the fact that Divinity isnt an
open-ended game in terms of where you can go. Theres a
pretty strict path through the game, which is dictated by the
levelling system. Its all too easy to bump into an opponent
A door might conceal evidence

linked with a murder, or another
clue to the solution of a mission
who will beat you into mulch, and you end up bouncing off
these opponent blockades like a bluebottle trying to get
out of a window.
Furthermore, inventory management is extremely
fiddly, with no obvious way to group-move items between
characters, meaning every item has to be moved and
tweaked individually. Meanwhile, notes and books you
collect are stored as physical items in your inventory,
unnecessarily taking up space when they could easily be
stored as pages in your journal.
All these issues combine to further slow down
whats already a time sink of a game. What should be a
sumptuous RPG experience can instead feel frustrating
and ponderous. Its a shame. A little streamlining here, and
a little direction there, and Divinity: Original Sin would be
a bona fide classic. Instead, its a flawed masterpiece.
Nevertheless, it confirms Larians place as a developer
on the way up. So close, Larian. So close.
RICK LANE
79
G A M E S / REVIEWS
Sniper Elite 3/39.99
inc VAT
DEVELOPER Rebellion / PUBLISHER Rebellion / WEBSITE www.sniperelite3.com
aking a game about shooting people is bread and

butter for the game industry, so making a game
about sniping people should be a doddle, right?
Not so. A sniper, after all, sits in one spot for hours, possibly
even days at a time, waiting for a target. It isnt a profession
that fits naturally into traditional game design frameworks.
Rebellion has improved its work with this concept over
the course of three Sniper Elite games, and with Sniper
Elite 3, its certainly made progress. Set during the 1943
conflict for North Africa, Sniper Elite 3 tells the story of
crack-shot Karl Fairburne as he hunts an elusive German
general through the sandy wastes.
However, story is probably the wrong word, as Sniper
Elite 3 is really a series of missions strung together by
a little contextualising narration. Little detail is given to
characters aside from the arrangement of their internal
organs, although the game is at least tonally consistent.
Its about popping Nazi heads in efficient and stylish
om for empathy.
fashion. There isnt much room
y of room for
Fortunately, there is plenty
y listened to
sniping. Rebellion has clearly
ar levels of
feedback regarding the linear
te 3 provides
Sniper Elite V2, so Sniper Elite
eight enormous sandboxes in which
ay
a virtual sharpshooter can play
lude
soldiers. These missions include
man
a hilltop castle with the German
army camped in front of it, a
huge desert town swarming
OVERALL SCORE
75%
/ VERDICT
Getting closer
with every shot,
Sniper Elite 3
marks a further
improvement for
Rebellions
sharpshooting
series.
80
with the enemy, an airfield and various other exceptionally

designed locales. In fact, Sniper Elite 3 gets so much out of
its desert setting that it never actually features a mission set
in the desert proper.
Precisely how you approach these missions is up to you,
although sadly the level design isnt quite matched by the
games systems. Stealth is just about functional, but only
because the AI doesnt provide much of a challenge unless
the game is set to Hard. Fairburne isnt the nimblest of folk
either, and the clumsy controls also mean that going into an
area with all guns blazing is out of the question.
That said, the game is called Sniper Elite, and thankfully,
sniping is where it excels. You can use ambient sounds such
as planes flying overhead to mask your shots, and even
tamper with machinery to provide a cloud of noise in which
to hide. Alternatively, relocating to a new spot after a shot
will also enable you to pick off those pesky Germans
without alerting enemy forces. It really
ge
gets across the idea of being a silent
hu
hunter a ghost that snatches away a
life and vanishes into the sands.
Sni
Sniper Elite V2 was notorious for its
X-Ray camera, which showed you the
grisly path your bullet takes through an enemys
body, but S
Sniper Elite 3 proves theres much
more to the
th series, providing a unique if
slightly clunky take on the stealth
game genre.
RICK LANE
LAN
Valiant Hearts/11.99
inc VAT
DEVELOPER Ubisoft Montpellier / PUBLISHER Ubisoft / WEBSITE http://valianthearts.ubi.com
aliant Hearts is a side-scrolling, puzzle-adventure

game that tells the personal stories of a French
farmer named Emile and his German son-in-law
Karl, who are drafted to fight on either side of the conflict.
During the course of their adventures the pair also
encounter Freddie, an American volunteer to the French
army, and Anna, a Parisian ambulance driver.
Primarily, its a character piece, showing the war
OVERALL SCORE
through the eyes of these different individuals. Despite
the fact that theres virtually no dialogue and only a
small amount of narration, it carries off this part of its
goal well through the remarkable animation provided
by Montpelliers excellent UbiArt technology. It
captures the traits of the characters perfectly Annas
/ VERDICT
warmth, Freddies determination, Emiles fatigue and
A valiant effort at
Karls reluctance. Unfortunately, its marred by the
depicting WWI in a
minimal narration from voice actors who arent suited
game environment,
but its fear of the
to their roles. Put it this way Emile is the first French
dark ultimately
farmer weve encountered to sport a cockney accent.
proves its undoing.
The mechanical parts of Valiant Hears are less
engaging. The majority of the play time is given over
to solving puzzles. Half of these puzzles involve
collecting items from the far corners of levels and using
them in a certain order to remove some sort of obstacle,
while the rest are more focused and require the
cooperation of a faithful war dog who accompanies all
the characters at some point on their journey.
60%
Of the two types, the latter is the strongest. Being able

to order around a second character enables Ubisoft
Montpellier to build more complex scenes without
resorting to scattering puzzle components far and wide. In
addition to the puzzling aspect, there are also action setpieces where you must navigate the maze of WWI trenches
without being shot, bombed or gassed, which are further
interspersed by stealth sections and bizarre musical car
chases in which you must evade obstacles to the rhythm of
several pieces of classical music.
In case youre wondering, yes, those parts feel very oddly
placed in a game about one of mankinds most brutal wars,
and they epitomise Valiant Hearts biggest problem.
The technique of using cheerful animation to depict the
horrors of war has been used effectively before, particularly
in the Israeli film Waltz With Bashir.
However, Bashir uses it to emphasise the horror and
absurdity of war; Valiant Hearts uses it to soften the blow,
to make the war more palatable.
This issue can be seen in the musical sections, but also in
the way Valiant Hearts refuses to let your characters kill
anyone, which often feels contrived. Moreover, it frequently
tries to lighten the mood with an almost slapstick approach
to the wars destructive power. It finds some grit in the final
act, and its conclusion is powerful, but by that point its too
late, leaving the game feeling disingenuous as a whole.
RICK LANE
81
G A M E S / REVIEW
The Wolf Among Us: Season One/18.99
inc VAT
DEVELOPER Telltale Games / PUBLISHER Telltale Games / WEBSITE www.telltalegames.com/thewolfamongus
e reviewed the first episode of The Wolf Among

Us towards the end of last year, but Telltale has
now completed the whole first run of its fantasy
detective story, so we can get a perspective of the series as
a whole. The Wolf Among Us takes the conversation and
consequences framework of Telltales massively
successful Walking Dead series and applies it to an
adaptation of Bill Willinghams Fables comics.
In Fabletown, displaced fantasy characters struggle to
survive in human society. You play Bigby Wolf, Fabletowns
sheriff, investigating a case of murder and corruption that
leads into the heart of a noir-fantasy society. The Wolf
Among Us doesnt fit the adventure structure Telltale
has created as well as The Walking Dead though.
Bigby unravels the mystery almost entirely through
interrogation; building and breaking relationships with
other characters through compassionate, dismissive or
aggressive conversation styles.
There isnt much active investigation happening on
the players part. The few points where youre invited to
search for clues, or put anything together yourself, are
extremely simplistic, and your sleuthing only becomes
more railroaded as the episodes progress.
That said, The Wolf Among us is still a wickedly
entertaining ride. Fabletown provides a far more
interesting backdrop for storytelling than The Walking
Deads Argh, zombies! setting, enabling greater
OVERALL SCORE
80%
/ VERDICT
Dark, vibrant, taut
and thrilling, The
Wolf Among Us is
only let down by
mechanics that
dont altogether
match its
detective theme.
82
complexity of plotting beyond simply who lives and who

dies. Bigbys conflicted character also better suits the
various dialogue roles available. The struggle between his
human and wolfish halves means that the game still works
well whether you play him as the terror of Fabletown, or a
man trying to atone for his dark past (or a mixture of both).
The writing and visual style are both as sharp and
arresting as youd expect from Telltale too, and each
episode is an enjoyable little adventure in its own right. The
conclusion doesnt have the same emotional resonance as
the devastating denouement of The Walking Dead: Season
One, but its more intellectually satisfying. Many of your
choices come back to either help you or haunt you in
catching the criminal, and Telltale is keen to show you the
effects of your decision making.
The game regularly informs you when characters will
remember what youve said or done. To a certain extent,
this is a narrative trick to keep the tension high, but more
often than not, it feels as though The Wolf Among Us
honours the choices it offers. Either way, its sufficiently
subtle about leading you down a particular route so that
you dont notice.
The Wolf Among Us is another example of Telltales
storytelling prowess, and its fun to play, but to mark it out as
a true great, it really needs its own systemic structure, rather
than rigidly adopting that of The Walking Dead.
RICK LANE

!

!

!

G A M E S / ANALYSIS
Dawn of War introduced

several new features,
such as melee combat and
implausible armour
R I C K L A N E / THE ENGINE ROOM
Essence
Rick Lane speaks to Relic about the engine powering
the Company of Heroes RTS games
istorically, strategy games
arent generally known for
being visually spectacular.
The amount of calculation beneath
the surface of an RTS game usually
means the graphics renderer has a
limited power budget. Its only fairly
recently, as GPU power has grown
exponentially, and multi-threading
has enabled separation the of
graphical rendering and systemic
computation, that the number of
exceptions to this rule has grown.
Arguably the biggest exception
is Relics Essence engine, which
grabbed the attention of strategy
gamers when it powered the 2006
World War II RTS Company of Heroes
(CoH), a game with the style and
spectacle of the most action-packed
shooter. But Essences life didnt start
out this way. Its roots lie in a game
called Impossible Creatures, another
84
RTS in which players combined the

DNA of animals to create the worlds
weirdest army.
According to Remy Saville, former
lead programmer on CoH 2, the
engines biggest job was to enable
the content creators to make great
stuff designers, artists and audio.
To this end the engine was very data
driven, allowing the content team to
add audio and effects, create new
units and build different behaviours
without the help of a programmer,.
They could even create a unit that
builds other units.
Relics approach to designing
Essence is similar to Epics strategy
with Unreal Engine, building
technology that lends greater
creative power to designers, without
having to constantly rely on
programmers to implement their
ideas. As part of this approach, a
central feature of Essence is

component-based architecture,
where instead of having a unit (such
as a tank) that has properties added
to it, individual properties are
combined to make a unit.
You basically add abilities [to
game elements] on the fly, and you
assign models to them, Saville
explains. So you can say Well, its
a unit, okay, and it looks like this
model has hit points and the ability
to move, and then you can build up
whatevers needed.
Such an architecture enables
designers to create, test and iterate
on a wide range of game assets,
including the many units that
strategy games often require. But it
also means programmers are freed
up to work on constructing new
systems rather than babysitting
designers. We needed an engine that
Essence 3.0 simulates both

the breaking and reforming of
ice, enabling the player to set
up devilish winter traps
Left: Essences
component-based
architecture helps
designers to build
and test game
assets, such as
vehicles, without
being babysat by
programmers
could provide cinematic quality,

says Saville, so we spent a great
dealof time working on our particle
system and our effects system,
sothat explosions could look
beautiful. The presentation was
extremely important.
As such, Company of Heroes
spectacle wasnt driven primarily
by polygon count or fancy new
rendering technologies, but by
designing toolsets, and that helped
to organise the games workload in
an efficient manner. But this is only
the beginning of the story for
Essence. With those foundations laid
in Company of Heroes, Relic has
spent the last eight years gradually
building new technologies into the
engine. This process began with
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II,
which was developed in an offshoot
build of Essence. Alongside typical
updates, such as more detailed
material lighting, it catered to that
games specific requirements by
introducing new systems such as
complex melee combat animations.
More significant additions were
made for Company of Heroes 2.
Running on Essence 3, CoH 2
introduced a technology that Relic
calls TrueSight, which is an
innovative take on the fog of war
feature frequently seen in RTS
games. Relic had planned to

incorporate TrueSight into the first
CoH game, but found it too
technically demanding. Each
individual soldier is tracing what he
can see, so he can reveal that to the
player, Saville explains, but points
out that with dozens of guys on a
dynamic battlefield, its hard to make
that run on a regular computer.
Another major inclusion was
ColdTech, which consists of several
different technologies designed to
simulate the harsh Russian winters
endured by both sides on the Eastern
front. The first of these technologies
was the simulation of ice, using a
combination of several systems and
rendering techniques. Theres the
look of the ice, which involves
specular lighting, reflection and
material texturing, so it doesnt
merely appear as a plain, glass-like
surface. More important than the
look of the ice, however, is how it was
designed to play into the game.
If you can trick your enemy into
sending his tank across [the
battlefield], you can use your mortar
to destroy the ice, which would
normally be very ineffective against
a tank, but it can be very effective as
a trap, Saville points out. Designwise, the introduction of ice has
other effects. AI path finding needs
Right: Soldiers and

vehicles in CoH 2
leave permanent
tracks in the snow,
and deep snow
also affects their
movement speed
to be adjusted to avoid dynamically

changing holes in the ice, and water
must be simulated beneath the ice,
so theres an area into which soldiers
and vehicles can sink when the ice
breaks. Relic even added the ability
for the ice to refreeze during a
mission. Its faster than real time,
but the ice has to slowly rebuild itself
and refreeze so you can drive over it
again, Saville explains.
Alongside ice, the other major
component of ColdTech was snow
simulation, rendering the thousands
of flakes required to portray a
convincing blizzard, and also
showing the player the effects of
their armies tramping across
pristine snowy landscapes. Every
time you drive your tank over deep
snow, it leaves nice little tracks so
you get to see where all the traffics
been in the game, Saville says.
Essences most recent outing was
in the expansion to Company of
Heroes 2 Western Front Armies,
which was released a couple of
months ago. According to creative
director Quinn Duffy, a big focus
in this expansion was making
adjustments and advancements to
the games AI, which was the focal
point for much of the criticism
directed at Company of Heroes 2.
The AI is handled dynamically in
terms of how it understands data. It
used to use more scripts for building,
but now looks at unit stats what
kind of damage, armour penetration,
cost and all those things and it
understands what its building and
how to use it much more effectively,
based on data, says Duffy. He also
claims this system means the AI can
adjust strategies when developers
make changes to unit stats without
anything having to be rescripted.
Regarding Relics long-term plans,
Essence will be around for the
foreseeable future. Relic says its
been working on some prototypes
for new technologies that may be
added to the engine, but wont go
into detail about them. However,
Duffy is proud of the teams work on
the engine, and the techs ability to
convey strategic systems in a tactile
and theatrical manner. Its always
mind-boggling to me, he says. I just
love how the team works together to
solve these problems.
85
OPINION
J I M K I L LO C K / DIGITAL RIGHTS
DRIP feed
The government can now keep records of your digital life, thanks to a
new bill thats been passed by Parliament, warns Jim Killock
here should Parliament
draw the line when it comes
to keeping records of your
digital life? Thats the question your
MPs debated in July this year, in just
one day. At the end of it, they decided
it was appropriate to ram the Data
Retention and Investigatory Powers
(DRIP) Bill through both houses in
three days, drawing the line at
keeping phone and email records,
and IP addresses, for up to a year. As
Tom Watson MP said in the debate:
Most reasonable people will
conclude that Parliament has been
insulted by the cavalier way in which
a secret deal has been used to ensure
that elected representatives are
curtailed in their ability to consider,
scrutinise, debate and amend the Bill.
It is democratic banditry, resonant of
a rogue state. The people who put this
shady deal together should be
ashamed.
In the process, the UK government
also claimed the right to order any
company in the world to hand over
data about UK citizens, opening up
the likelihood that China and Russia
will be able to justify asking for
information about their own
dissidents, and weakening the ability
of international companies such as
Google to resist them.
The debate came about because of
a European judgement that wiped
out the existing laws compelling
86
every EU country to keep Internet,

email and phone logs. Called the Data
Retention Directive, the law had been
challenged by digital rights groups in
Austria and Ireland on human rights
grounds. They asked the Court of
Justice of the European Union (CJEU)
to rule on the compatibility of data
retention with the EU Charter of
Fundamental Rights. It had already
been taken to national courts in
Germany, Czech Republic, Bulgaria,
Romani and Cyprus on constitutional
grounds, and each had ruled that
blanket data retention was a breach
of their citizens rights.
The case took a long time, and the
court made it plain that it was not
convinced by the submissions that
governments, including those of the
UK, had made to defend the directive.
It asked for evidence that blanket
data retention was necessary to fight
crime; t didnt get very good answers.
Judgements are preceded by an
opinion of the Advocate General, and
its extremely unusual for the two to
differ significantly. As such, the
critical opinion of the AG should have
flagged up that there was a problem
with the directive to the UK
government. In the end, the UK was
completely taken by surprise by the
CJEU deciding that the directive
breached our right to privacy. It
shouldnt have been surprising: all
the signs were there.
But lets delve deeper, because the

really shocking part is that Parliament
and the Home Office deliberately
ignored what the court said, and
re-legislated a similar data retention
regime with no regard for the courts
demands. The CJEU made ten broad
points in the judgement, four of
which are fundamental, and hard to
reconcile with the new Bill.
Restrict retention to data that is
related to a threat to public security
and in particular restrict retention
to a particular time period,
geographical area or suspects or
persons whose data would
contribute to the prevention,
detection or prosecution of serious
offences (paragraph 59).
Provide exceptions for persons
whose communications are subject
to an obligation of professional
secrecy (see paragraph 58 of the
judgement).
Empower an independent
administrative or judicial body to
make decisions regarding access to
the data on the basis of what is
strictly necessary (paragraph 62).
Restrict access and use of the data
to the prevention, detection or
prosecution of defined, sufficiently
serious crimes (paragraphs 60-61).
Its clear that the key point for the

court was stopping blanket data
retention, and limiting retention to
cases of need. So how did Parliament
and the Home Office react? The
Home Office made bland statements
to Parliament, and claimed the court
wasnt talking about the UKs use of
retained data, which is somehow
special and better protected than the
rest of Europes data.
The Home Office also claimed we
have world-class safeguards, but
the UKs safeguards over access of
retained data involve one trained
police officera single point of
contact (SPOC) who authorises
people who want data. The SPOC will
generally give advice about what
data would be useful, as well as what
would be considered too intrusive,
but they cant be considered
independent. The result is a huge
number of data requests in the UK,
as David Davis explained in the
Commons debate:
The Americans, with whom we
can partially compare, use only
39,000 to 57,000 references in a given
year. In Europe, the country that least
admires the privacy of its nationals is
France. Its total metadata approvals
is 35,95836,000. If we add in all
the other approval processes, it still
comes to less than half of ours
There are 100,000 prosecutions
for indictable offences that face
custodial sentences in the UK each
year. About 80,000 end up in prison.

We are talking about 500,000-odd
approvals to deal with fewer than
100,000 prosecutions.
The underlying reasoning for the
UKs attachment to data retention
was spelled out by Jack Straw, who
attempted to mock opponents of
suspicion-free retention:
Where there is a suspect for a
crime, it is for a crime that has been
committed in the past. The police will
not know who that suspect is until
they come to the polices attention,
at which point they have to get
historical evidence. These days, part
of that historical evidence will be in
data records. They have to be able to
access everybodys data records in
order to find those of one particular
person, because the police, no more
than the rest of us, are not given
powers of clairvoyance with which
to anticipate who is and who is not to
be a suspect.
That may sound plausible, and it
certainly seemed to convince many
MORE INFORMATION
https://wiki.openrightsgroup.org/wiki/Data_
retention_directive
http://www.greens-efa.eu/data-retention12640.html
http://bit.ly/cjeudataret
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Europe
MPs. But Jack Straw is effectively

arguing that if any data might lead to
solving crime, then that data ought to
be kept in order to solve future crimes,
and anyone opposing data being kept
is hindering criminals.
Its an argument that admits
there are no limits to mass
surveillance. Why not install
cameras in every household? Why
didnt we log every letter sent, and
every book sold? Why are these steps
too far, while data retention is
justifiable? Theyre in essence the
same kind of information.
Thats why the courts are trying to
draw a line between whats truly
necessary, and whats merely
convenient. At this point, hardliners
will object that some crimes wont be
solved: a point which may be true in
rare cases.
More often, though, cases might
be a little harder to solve, but hardly
impossible. We also have to
remember that this debate takes
place in the context of greater
availability of digital logs, created
by companies and devices that we
agreed would keep records about us.
Immediately after the bill passed,
David Davis and Tom Watson MP
announced they would challenge it
in court. They have every chance of
succeeding: the only question is
whether the UK plays the same trick,
and introduces more legislation,
making the same mistakes.
Jim Killock is executive director of campaign organisation The Open Rights Group (www.openrightsgroup.org)
@jimkillock
87
F E AT U R E / CUSTOMISATION
HOW TO
BUILD A 1080P GAMING

SYSTEM FOR 549
With the recent release of the unlocked Pentium G3258 and Asus new BIOS
updates, Antony Leather has put together an awesome 1080p gaming system,
complete with a 4.6GHz CPU and an SSD, for under 550
f you dont have much money to spend on a gaming PC, your options
have recently involved a 70 LGA1150 motherboard, an Intel Core i3
CPU and a fairly lowly graphics card. Alternatively, AMD CPUs such
as the FX-6300 are overclockable, but will still set you back 75. Once
you factor in a motherboard, youll be left with little change from 130,
leaving few options for graphics cards. However, thats all changed with
the release of Intels Pentium G3258 CPU.
The Pentiums overclocking potential is key to its performance;
at under 50, its noticeably cheaper than both the FX-6300 and
any LGA1150 Core i3 CPU. However, at stock speed, its performance
isnt up to much and, until recently, you needed to opt for an expensive
88
Z97 motherboard to be able to alter its unlocked multiplier.

Thankfully, Asus has recently begun dishing out BIOS updates to its
recent LGA1150 motherboards, which enable you to tap into the Pentiums
unlocked multiplier on models with much cheaper chipsets. The result
is that, instead of spending 80 on a motherboard, you can now spend
as little as 40 and still obtain a huge overclock. This makes a Pentium
G3258 a very appealing option, and one that will also give you more cash
to spend on other components, particularly graphics cards and SSDs. In
fact, for under 550, weve managed to include a powerful Radeon R9
270X graphics card and a 240GB Crucial M500 SSD, making for a speedy
1080p gaming system.
COVER
STORY
SHOPPING LIST
Case
PRICE 62 inc VAT

SSD
PRICE 57 inc VAT

CPU cooler
PRICE 84 inc VAT

CPU
PRICE 24 inc VAT

Hard disk
PRICE 48 inc VAT

PSU
PRICE 34 inc VAT

Motherboard
PRICE 47 inc VAT

Optical drive
Graphics card
PRICE 13 inc VAT

SUPPLIER www.cclonoline.com
Corsair Graphite 230T
Intel Pentium G3258
Asus H81M-Plus
PRICE 40 inc VAT
Memory
8GB (2 x 4GB) 1,333MHz

Corsair XMS3
Extras
Windows 7 Home Premium OEM
(70 inc VAT from www.ebuyer.com)
XFX TS Series 550W
Sapphire R9 270X
Vapor-X OC
PRICE 140 inc VAT
BitFenix Alchemy LED strip

(from 4.99 inc VAT from www.
overclockers.co.uk)
240GB Crucial M500
500GB Seagate barracuda
LG GH24NSB0
TOTAL PRICE:
549 inc VAT

Molex-to-3-pin fan splitter adaptor
(2.99 inc VAT from www.candccentral.
co.uk)
HARDWARE CHOICES
We made a couple of key hardware choices
with our 1080p gaming system, specifically
the CPU, memory, motherboard and graphics
card, which well talk about in more depth in a
minute. The rest of our specification draws
heavily from our current Elite list, with a few
new additions. Firstly, weve chosen Corsairs
Graphite 230T case, which helps keep our
system wallet-friendly and matches standout looks with good cooling. It also makes a
great base if you plan on upgrading in the
future too.
Also, as an SSD can make a huge
difference to any system in terms of general
responsiveness and load times, weve
included a 240GB Crucial M500. This has
mor manageable
a more
capacity than a
120GB SSD, which
you may find
restrictive if you
play a lot of games
(Battlefield 4 takes
up over 25GB on its
own), but weve
also thrown in a
500GB Seagate
Barracuda to make
sure larger data
needs are covered, along

with an LG DVD burner
for software
installation.
As our system
isnt going to draw more
than 300W under load, a PSU
in the region of 500W
will be perfectly
ample for our needs.
Weve opted for our
current Elite-listed PSU
from XFX, which has been
renamed the TS 550, but its still
the same PSU and, at 47 for 550W of stable
power, it fits the bill brilliantly.
When we looked at the Pentium G3258
last month, we found that it ran so cool when
it was overclocked that even the Intel
reference cooler managed to keep it under
90C at 4.8GHz, although its noisy in the
process, and you
can get it much
cooler for not
much more
money. As such,
weve opted for a
SilverStone Argon
AR01, which picked up
an Approved award in our CPU cooler

Labs test last month for LGA1150 cooling,
and at 24, its not going to hurt your
wallet either.
With money saved on our CPU
and motherboard combination,
we had some spare cash for a
good graphics card. We opted for
AMDs R9 270X 2GB in the
form of a Sapphire R9 270X
Vapor-X OC. This card has
enough grunt to handle
current games at maximum
settings, including
Crysis 3 and Battlefield
4 at 1,920 x 1,080; its
very quiet too.
The CPU
Intels Pentium G3258 is the key component
in our build. Its cheap, but it doesnt perform
too well at stock speed. Youll need to
overclock it to get the best out of it and, as
we saw in our recent review, its possible to
achieve a frequency of 4.8GHz with it in
many cases.
Once overclocked, it performs well
above its price tag, particularly in games and
software that are lightly threaded. It wont
89
win any awards in video editing

benchmarks due to its lack of
Hyper-Threading and the fact it
only has two physical CPU
cores, but for the majority of
tasks, it offers a better bang
per buck than any other CPU. Its
also very power-frugal, consuming
far less power than a fully fledged
K-series CPU, even when its overclocked,
which allows you to use a modest CPU
cooler too. Use of the Pentium G3258 does,
however, require a BIOS update to be applied
to many older LGA1150 motherboards.
The motherboard
Rather than opting for a pricey
Intel Z97-based motherboard
in order to overclock the
Pentium G3258, Asus has
recently offered BIOS updates
for its cheaper motherboards,
which give them access to
unlocked CPUs multipliers
too. This tweak means that,
instead of spending nearly
100 on a motherboard, you
can save nearly 60 and opt for a

considerably cheaper board.
As such, weve chosen Asus
H81M-Plus, which retails
for a very reasonable 40.
Of course, 40 wont buy
you much in the way of creature
comforts, so the motherboard is
small and pretty basic. This
motherboard also needs to be using
the latest 2001 BIOS in order for it to work
with the Pentium G3258, and this update has
to be applied using a Windows-based tool as
well, rather than the EFI.
You have a couple of options here; you can
use an older Haswell CPU
(perhaps borrowing one from
a friend) to boot the system
and update the BIOS.
Alternatively, you can speak to
the retailer concerned to make
sure the motherboard offers
the latest BIOS before you buy
it (local retailers may even be
able to upgrade it for you).
Another option is to take
advantage of the several
eBay shops that sell replacement BIOS chips

that have been pre-programmed with the
latest version, allowing you to replace yours
with one thats equipped with the newer
version. These chips are available for under
10, including postage.
The memory
You have two options with the memory for
this system. Our chosen motherboard only
supports up to 1,333MHz memory, but Z97
motherboards can combine the Pentium
G3258 with 2,400MHz memory. Therefore,
if you think you might upgrade the
motherboard in the future, its worth opting
for a 2,400MHz kit, even though you wont be
able to tap into the higher speeds just yet
the 2,400MHz kit will happily slow down to
1,333MHz on the cheaper board.
For now, weve opted for 1,333MHz RAM.
Its a little cheaper than 2,400MHz memory,
and it will likely affect some benchmarks but,
as the motherboard doesnt support faster
memory, this is a sacrifice you have to pay
for saving a tidy sum on the cost of the
motherboard. In terms of capacity, 8GB is the
sweet spot for most gaming systems now.
BUILDING THE SYSTEM

by removing the CPU socket
01 Start
protector, inserting the CPU and
These connections are fiddly, so its best

to hook them up before you install the
motherboard in the case.
applying the thermal paste thats included

with the CPU cooler. Well also be updating
the BIOS on our motherboard so that it
supports the new Pentium G3258, so we
the motherboard in the case,

04 Mount
planting it onto the preinstalled pins,
and screwing it into the standoff holes where
motherboard, but the fan itself can be

mounted in front of the heatsink or behind
it if you need more clearance for your
memory modules.
used an older LGA1150 CPU in this step. Youll

find it easier to install Windows, flash the
BIOS, shut down the machine and then install
your Pentium CPU before you mount the
motherboard in the case, rather than flashing
the BIOS once the rest of the system has
been built.
the AR01 cooler and memory
02 Install
modules. You want the fan to be
blowing towards the rear I/O ports on the
90
the cases front panel power

03 Connect
connectors to the motherboard.
appropriate. You can then hook up the rest

of the connectors, such as the USB 3 and
audio front-panel cables. Youll also need
to hook up the three fans at this point. The
motherboard has two power headers for
fans, so youll need a Molex-powered fan
splitter cable to power the three case fans,
as well as the CPU coolers fan.
the CPU fan and rear fan to

05 Connect
the power headers on the
generation Haswell CPU. Once youve

installed Windows, dont activate the OS
before you install the Pentium G3258 if
youre using another CPU first, as Windows
Activation can throw a hissy fit if you then
install another CPU. Head over to www.asus.
com/uk and download the latest BIOS for the
H81M-Plus. When we went to press, it was
version 2001.
motherboard. Youll need to buy a multi-way

Molex-to-3-pin fan adaptor to hook up the
while also ensuring that stray cables dont

impede airflow in the case.
09
rest of the fans. These adaptors are very

cheap, and will enable you to provide power
for the Corsair 230Ts two front fans.
Some LED strips dont include

adhesive pads, so weve used two
standard double-sided adhesive pads to
secure our white LED strip to the bottom of
the case.
get the H81M-Plus talking to any of

01 ToIntels
newer LGA1150 CPUs, you need
to update the BIOS in Windows, rather than
the EFI. Run the Updater tool and locate the
BIOS update file we put ours on the
desktop so it was easy to find.
the PSU, graphics card, SSD,

06 Install
hard disk and optical drive. The drive
You can connect the LED strip to a spare

Molex connector and then fix it in your
chosen location.
turn on your system and
10 Finally,
make sure all the fans and lights are
working properly.
bays in the 230T case are all tool-free, and
theres plenty of room for the PSU too.
the tool using the new BIOS and

02 Run
let the program finish its work dont
be tempted to do anything else while its
working, and dont turn off your PC until the
program instructs you to do so. Once its
done, switch off the system, install your
Pentium G3258 and youll be met with the
usual POST screen.
your excess cables neatly

07 Route
through the provided holes and
secure them to the rear of the case, leaving
enough length to get to the connectors on
your hardware. Route the 4/8-pin EPS 12V
Flash the BIOS

If your motherboard still has its original BIOS,
youll need to flash it using a previous-
OVERCLOCKING
Overclocking the Pentium G3258
connector to your CPU around the back of
the motherboard tray, and hide any spare
connectors in this space too.
the power connectors to
08 Connect
your hardware using the cable holes
provided. Secure any bunches with cable
ties, which will make for a tidier system,
Giving your new system a boost via

overclocking is a pretty easy job, and its
perfectly safe too.
Weve opted for modest overclocks that
should be achievable on most systems.
However, if you experience stability issues,
then lower the clock speeds and try again.
These settings will enable most Pentium
G3258 chips to run at 4.6GHz.
the Del key as soon as you see a

01 Tap
display. Youll then be taken into the
EFI head for the AI Tweaker section.
91
youre in the AI Tweaker section,

02 Once
go to the CPU Core Ratio option,
select Sync All Cores and then set the 1 Core
Ratio Limit to 46.
You should now see both CPU core ratios
set to 46 on the main screen.
such as Cinebench R15. If you experience

stability issues, leave the voltage set to 1.27V,
drop the clock speed to 4.5GHz and repeat
the process. If youre feeling brave, you could
also increase the CPU voltage (as providing
more power can enable you to overclock a
CPU further), but dont take it any further than
1.3V on this motherboard.
the benchmark a few times and allow it to

complete. If there are any artefacts on the
display, or other errors, head back into
Catalyst Control Center and reduce each
clock speed by 25MHz. Keep reducing the
speeds until you achieve a smooth
benchmark run.
Performance
Overclocking the Sapphire R9
270X-Vapor OC
your graphics card a boost is
06 Giving
even easier than overclocking your
sure your memory is running at

03 Make
1,333MHz. You may need to set the
CPU, requiring a few changes in AMDs

Catalyst Control Center once youve installed
the latest AMD graphics drivers from http://
support.amd.com/en-us/download. Right
click on the desktop, select Catalyst Control
DRAM Frequency Ratio to 100:133 in order to

do so.
down, set the CPU Core

04 Lower
Voltage mode to Manual and input
1.27V. You now need to save your settings
and exit, and then head into Windows to test
your overclock and make sure its stable.
Center and locate the Performance section.

Here, youll be able to run Overdrive,
which allows you to boost clock speeds.
Start by increasing the power to 50, the
GPU Clock to 1,150MHz and the Memory
Clock to 1,500MHz.
After that, download Unigines Valley
benchmark from http://tinyurl.com/valleybenchmark. This benchmark offers a great
way to stress-test your graphics card. Run
Overclocking the CPU and graphics card

provided huge gains in all of our benchmarks.
In Unigine Valley, the benchmark score
increased from 2,413 to 2,694 just by
overclocking our graphics card a boost of
12 per cent, with even more of a gain being
seen with once the CPU was overclocked.
In our Media Benchmarks, the overall score
rose from 1,545 to a massive 2,095 once
wed overclocked our Pentium
G3258 to 4.6GHz a huge
increase of 38 per cent. Our
game tests saw healthy boosts
too, with Crysis 3s minimum
frame rate rising by 10 per cent
and Battlefield 4 by 9 per cent.
Even at stock speed, though,
the mighty Sapphire R9 270X
Vapor-X OC card managed
playable frame rates in both
games, with Crysis 3 running
at Very High settings, and
Battlefield 4 running at Ultra
settings with 4x AA enabled.
In short, despite having a cheap
motherboard and CPU, this cut-price PC will
have no trouble running the latest games at
maximum settings at 1,920 x 1,080, with
smoothly playable frame rates. Whats more,
when its overclocked, it manages superb
performance in Windows software, and its
240GB SSD makes using Windows a
pleasantly responsive experience too.
RESULTS
next job is to gauge the stability
05 Your
of your overclock. Download Prime95
from http://tinyurl.com/prime95test and
run the smallfft test for at least two hours.
After that, run a CPU-intensive benchmark
GI MP I MAGE E D I TI NG
U NI GI NE V A LLE Y 1. 0
1,682
CPC 1080p gaming PC

0
600
1,200
2,367
1,800
2,400
1,920 x 1,080 Default Settings
HAN DB R AKE H . 2 6 4 V I D E O E NC O D I NG
1,754
CPC 1080p gaming PC

0
650
1,300
2,600
1,200 1,395
350
700
1,050
1,400
30 fps
CPC 1080p gaming PC
2,800
550
1,100
2,095
1,650
2,200
LOAD P OWE R C O NS U M P TI O N
161W
CPC 1080p gaming PC

60
Stock speed
120
Overclocked
180
10
20
30
40
B A TTLE F I E LD 4
1,920 x 1,080, 4x AA, 16x AF, Ultra settings
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ou awaken in the woods.

Beside you is a chest. There
is an exit to the north. You
might be thinkingexamine chest.You
have to examine the chest before you
exit north, because there wouldnt be
a chest if it wasnt important in the
game, and you dont want to miss your
chance to find out. The chest in my
particular story here will turn out to
contain a secret compartment, which
you must then open to extract a tinder
box and,oh I dont know,an apparently
blank scroll. You might then try to exit
north, but you cant. A sleeping dragon
blocks your path.
If these are familiar tropes, youve
played either atextadventureor a
game that evolved from the genre.
Textadventureswere devised in an
era when graphics were too resource-
intensive for liberal use, and owning a

home computer often meant dabbling
in bedroom coding.
Anyone with basic (or BASIC)
programming knowledge could create
atextadventure. Using the simplest
conditional logic, a coder could create
an explorable world limited only by
the imagination of the writer.
If thetexton the screen said there
were exits to the north and south, the
player simply types N or S to travel in

that direction. If the player was
informed of the presence of an object
or character, they could interact with
it using predefined verb-noun
commands: talk elf; examine bucket;
drink potion; hit self. Gameplay was
no more sophisticated than typing in
the right text to progress, or not (the
repercussions of the latter being a mild
ticking off, or death).
There is a small mailbox here

Colossal Cave
Adventure was
released back
in 1976, but you
can still play this
JavaScript edition
of the CPC version
at http://java.cpclive.com
The first text adventure was a cave

exploration game based on a real
location. Adventure, also known as
Colossal Cave Adventure or just
ADVENT (1976, CRL), was written in
Fortran by Kentucky-based developer
(and caver) Will Crowther for his
young daughters. A year later,
graduate student Don Woods

stumbled across the game at Stanford
and rightly decided that it needed
elves, so he obtained permission to
expand it. A classic genre was born.
It took a few years, however, for the
home computing marketing folks to
catch up. It wasnt until Adventure
International, a new company
founded by developer Scott Adams
(not the Dilbert guy), released
Adventureland in 1982 that the true
potential for interactive stories was
realised. The first commercially
available text adventure, it took
players on a magical journey of
treasure collection via dragons,
wizards and limbo.
Part of the appeal of early text
adventures was discovering what
syntax was allowed.
As the genre evolved, so too did

the players ability to experiment with
instructions. The Zork series (19771979, Infocom) had a more elaborate
parser system, enabling commands
such as all, except, with and and
for combinations as stunning as
unlock the door with the gold key then
go south.
The Zork series has

a more elaborate
parser system
than previous text
adventures
Thorin starts singing about gold

The Hobbit (1982, Beam Software)
used an even more sophisticated
parser called Inglish, allowing for a
normally constructed sentence with
standard grammar. You could attempt
to playfully tickle Gollum with ring if
that took your fancy. Figuring out or
accidentally stumbling across the
right combination of instructions was
incredibly difficult, particularly as the
The Hobbit
employed static
graphics to illustrate
various locations,
like an incredibly
slow-loading
pop-up book
title was notoriously buggy. The

Hobbit also employed static graphics
to illustrate various locations, like an
incredibly slow-loading pop-up book.
Delightfully, the code in many text
adventures didnt differentiate
between objects already discovered,
and those from an un-played part of
the game. This meant a player could
type examine bucket. and if the
prompt returned you do not have the
bucket here, bingo a small window
of insight into the future! Of course,
that information was generally
useless, but it provided a thrill
nonetheless a sense of having gamed
the system, along with the old hack
of pressing the Break key during
loading to bring up the source code.
Early spoilers.
These naive explorations of game
structure and code were an important
step for many future developers.
Game designer and producer Georg
Backer, who worked for Lionhead on
major titles, including Fable I, II and III,
and Black and White, said text
adventures were a major source of
inspiration for him.
I grew up with Zork and
Hitchhikers, he says, and remember
thinking that I wanted to make games
with immersive stories and clever
parsers. Some of my earliest coding
experiments in QBasic, GW-BASIC and
then C were text adventures. Backer
suggests that the appeal of text
adventures was in the combination of
story and interesting mechanics:
Games now dont always present a
coherent relationship between those
two things. Text adventures were
uncomplicated in input, but as
complex in output as the writer
wanted, without graphical restraints.
That isnt to say a simple input
system is without challenges. Backer
explains that there was a point where
I was too scared to look at how a parser
worked in terms of analysing the
sentences, because a part of me sort of
knew that a lot of it is smoke and
mirrors the illusion of AI. As a player
Id type in silly things like I dont want
to play this stupid game anymore to
see if the writer had predicted that
phrase. But once you get behind the
curtain, from a programmers
perspective, a little bit of clever
assumption of what players might do

could be magic.
The king of clever parsing was
Infocoms The Hitchhikers Guide to the
Galaxy. As well as creating the bestselling Zork series, Infocom developed
the now-legendary game (and a few
titles in between the two, including
the scratch-and-sniff sex comedy
Leather Goddesses of Phobos, which I
urge you to completely ignore) in 1984.
Designed by Infocoms Steve Meretzky
in conjunction with the late Douglas
Adams a passionate advocate of
computer games who would go on to
create the bizarre but incredible
Starship Titanic (1998, Simon and
Schuster) the game version of the cult
novel was an instant bestseller.
Full of brutally difficult puzzles, the
game followed the plot of the book
only as much as was necessary to
engender a sense of familiarity. Even
the most diehard Adams fan gained
no advantage when faced with the
conundrum of how to get the Babel
Fish out of the dispensing machine.
The writers deliberately foiled the
player at every turn, in what may be
most accurately described as a game
designed to be lost, not won. Developer
Sean D Soll, who worked on Starship
Titanic and the Hitchhikers
anniversary editions, endorses that
sentiment. The joy in the game is in
savouring it. Its hard, but its
b e aut i f u l ly, i nt e r na l ly, s e l f consistently hard, he says.
The king of clever

parsing was
Infocoms The
Hitchhikers Guide
to the Galaxy
In March this
year an HTML5, a
30th anniversary
browser edition
was released by
the BBC
Despite its difficulty, the game

persists. Unofficial emulator versions
floated around for years until Comic
Relief launched an official online
version in 1998, which then moved to
Douglas Adams own site, hosted by
Mike Nesmith (yep, from the 1960s
pop band The Monkees). The game
was so popular it crashed the servers.
In 2004, the 20th anniversary
edition was launched by the BBC. By
the time the BBC had stopped
counting, it had run 50 million moves
and doubled traffic to Radio 4s site
the first thing to ever beat The Archers.
Part of Hitchhikers enduring appeal
may be because, sentimentally, we can
immerse ourselves in a world created
by a beloved writer no longer with us,
but also because we can interact with

his words.
Soll agrees, recalling that Douglas
wanted a playable version of HHG
inside Starship Titanic. It wasnt
included in the end, but while working
on it, I played through to the Heart of
Gold, which was as far as Id ever got. I
found the box next to the NUTRIMAT,
which doesnt contain what its
supposed to contain. Its the setup for
a later punchline. At that point I
stopped playing.
Fast forward to 2004, when I was
working on the 20th anniversary
edition as technical director and
server-side programmer, and had just
got saving and loading working. I set
up some run-throughs, and played
through further than Id ever been. I
got to the planet Traal, and the payoff
happened for the bit that Id read seven
years earlier. I just laughed and
laughed and laughed. I never thought
Id hear another one of Douglas jokes.
In March this year, an HTML5, a 30th
anniversary browser edition, was
released by the BBC (you can try it for
yourself at http://tinyurl.com/
hitchtext), enabling players new and
old to try to find their way out of the

dark room before a bulldozer crashes
unexpectedly into their face.
Soll claims it contains an as-yetunfound Easter egg, a piece of writing
by Douglas Adams that no one has
seen before.
Hitchhikers isnt the only legacy
from the text adventure era. Memes
created decades ago are still around
today. Adventure coined Xyzzy as a
generic magic word akin to
abracadabra, and you are in a maze of
twisty little passages, all alike.
Similarly, Zork was the originator of
the punchline you are likely to be
eaten by a Grue, a guaranteed laugh
at the right sort of (LAN) parties. The
DVD for season two of Graham
Linehans IT Crowd contains a text
adventure Easter egg, written by Tim
Browse, and comedian Limmys
Adventure Call parodies text
adventures via the medium of a
phone-in show Google kill jester for
a highlight.
Visual novels, such as Soul Gambler, account for around 70 per cent of PC game sales in Japan
The adventure evolves

Like any popular game-type, subgenres were spawned that eventually
equalled or sometimes eclipsed the
original. Multi-user dungeon (MUD)
games developed alongside text
adventures and expanded simple
quests into multiplayer RPGs. Rogue
(1980) was a text adventure of
a different sort, being an explorable
graphical interface with characters
or objects made from ASCII art, and it
spawned the entire roguelike
sub-genre. Contemporary roguelikes,
such as the Diablo series, contain
all the elements of 1980s gameplay:
procedurally generated dungeons,
real-time combat and fantasy
world quests.
While spin-offs developed along
graphical lines, which was a necessity
for the 1990s console era, text
adventures tried to reinvent
themselves as interactive fiction.
Their focus on puzzles and adventure
gave way to pages of description and
dialogue in contemporary settings,
such as Adam Cadres Photopia (1998),
an experiment in narrative with
multiple-choice dialogue.
In Photopia, the player/protagonist
begins in a GTA-style world, a drunken
The focus on puzzles and adventure gave

way to description and dialogue in Photopia
car journey, before being transported

to an alternative planet-colonising
plot in a different colour of text. Its
more story than game, as the creator
freely admits, and its a part of the
continual branching of sub-genres.
One such branch is visual novels,
which are heavy on static graphics and
account for around 70 per cent of PC
game sales in Japan.
In the modern west, the new more
output than inputgenre of interactive
fiction seemed destined to remain
niche, but the recently popularity of
interface Twine has prompted a small
but significant resurgence. Without
the need for coding, authors can create
interactive novels, or experiment with
dialogue trees and publish directly to
Sacrilege is an HTML sex/relationship emulator set in a nightclub.

Its a far cry from examine table, but the principle remains the same
HTML. One example is Cara Ellisons

Sacrilege (2013), a sex/relationship
emulator set in a nightclub. Its a far cry
from examine table, but the principle
remains the same.
We rarely think of reading as
playing, or typing as a relaxing
pastime, and yet text-based games are
stubbornly still enjoyed by millions
the world over.
The next steps are likely to be
e-reader and tablet adventures, using
touchscreen keyboards or perhaps
even voice commands, Siri-style. And
when all else fails and theres nothing
left to play, you can always go back into
the woods.
You were eaten by a Grue. Play
again?
F E AT U R E / ANALYSIS
VOICE CHANGE
OF
Rick Lane speaks to Jennifer Hale about the evolving role

of voice actors in the games industry
Voice actor Jennifer Hale has worked in the games

industry for almost 20 years. Since assuming the
role of Katarina in the 1994 game Quest For Glory
IV, Hale has lent her voice to dozens of games,
including massive titles such as Metal Gear Solid
and BioShock Infinite. Her major roles include
Bastila Shan in Knights of the Old Republic, Samus
Aran in Nintendos Metroid Prime games and, perhaps most notably
of all, Commander Shepard in the Mass Effect trilogy.
ales range and prolificacy has made

her one of a curiously small number
of recognisable names in game
acting. Alongside a few other actors
such as Nolan North and David Hayter, the
appearance of Hales vocal talents have a
visibility that few gaming actors possess.
Perhaps more importantly, though, her
career has also given her a unique insight
into the nature of acting for games and
how it fits into game development. Shes
seen how its changed, how its still
changing and how it can improve further.
After starting out acting for film and TV,
Hale gradually got into acting for games
during the mid-to-late 1990s, assuming
98
roles in games such as X-Wing

Wing
Versus Tie Fighter and Baldurs
ldurs
Gate. It looked interesting
g to
me, and it was a little
confusing and baffling and
nd
I didnt quite get it, but it
looked like fun, she says.
As time went on, Hale took
on more work in the game
e
industry, enjoying the
pace and intensity of
voice acting for games
compared to that of TV
and film. The pace of
film and TV is so much
slower than that of
games and animation, she says. In

animation, were doing an entire episode in
a matter of hours. In TV, that takes a week,
and then in animation, we get a script
thats maybe 30-35 pages long, and we
share the load among the cast. We all take
turns doing our lines, we interact and we
share the weight. In a game, you go into
that same session, with the same amount
of time, but youre doing everything.
Hale notes that a typical voice session
for a game can last as long as four hours,
during which shes constantly acting.
Moreover, game actors often work with
contextual information. Theyll
little contex
have been shown some concept
usually hav
characters, and will have character
art for chara
traits and environment settings
explained to them, but rarely do they
explaine
see the game in action, or where
get to se
and how their acting will be used.
have to know who I am first of all,
I hav
how that person gets what they
know ho
want and know where I am
physically.
What are they up
phy
against?
What are the obstacles in
ag
their way? Where are we in the
th
Hale has worked with BioWare since
the Baldurs Gate days, but Bastila Shan
in Knights of the Old Republic was her
first BioWare role in which the character
was fully voiced
Naomi Hunter was one of Hales earliest major

gaming roles, in 1998s Metal Gear Solid. She
reprised the role in 2008s Guns of The Patriots
Bulletstorms feisty, foul-mouthed Trishka

Novak is another example of Hales diversity
a far cry from the reservedly British Bastila
Shan or the arrogant Rosalind Lutece
arc of the story? Whats just happened?

What do I want? Where am I going? What
are the possible things that could happen?
And thats for each and every line.
Acting for games also throws up other
challenges specific to the medium,
particularly in role-playing games, where
the same character might react to
situations or respond to conversations in
wildly different ways depending on the
players choices. How does an actor take on
that role, where the ends of the extremes
are so vastly different from one another? Is
it even the same character at that point?
Hales reply is immediate. Nope, its
different approaches to life, but the same
essential human underneath; you wake up
some days and you may want to punch
someone in the face, but you dont. Or you
wake up some days, and think, I feel
magnanimous and fabulous, but youre
still the same person, so thats how I work
with that one.
Another occasional issue is the quality of
the script that has to be read. Mainstream
developers are large studios with tight
deadlines in which the writer isnt always
the first consideration and, as Hale points
out, you can have a lot of cooks in the
kitchen that know nothing about cooking.
In these instances, Hales response is to
look towards the characters motivations.
Hale recalls working on BioShock Infinite,

voicing scientist Rosalind Lutece, as one of
her favourite experiences in the industry
Hales role in Mass Effect brought her to the

attention of many gamers, with a strong
performance as the games female Shepard
You go back to the core humanity of the

situation. I go back and find an inherent
reason why this person may be speaking so
awkwardly, she explains. Whether theyre
from somewhere else, or maybe they have
a touch of Aspergers you can find a
reason. They may just be incredibly
YOU WAKE UP SOME

DAYS AND YOU MAY WANT
TO PUNCH SOMEONE
IN THE FACE
uncomfortable where they are. People say
weird stuff when theyre not comfortable.
Examples of great writing and acting
combinations are now becoming more
common though. Hale points to various
reasons for the improvement in game
writing and acting, such as actors recording
together rather than separately, and having
better collaboration between writers and
actors. Hales favourite innovation of recent
years, however, is full-body motion capture.
It raises the level, because you get all
those elements, she enthuses. You get to
embody the physicality of the character.
Before Mass Effect, Hale was probably best

known for her role as Samus Aran in the
Metroid games
You get to interact with the other actors

and move about in a space. Granted, that
space is a giant black box, sometimes with
the occasional pew, and a million lights and
cameras everywhere, and its like being
stared down by a giant swarm of robots
while you work, but its great. Its one of my
favourite ways to work.
Hales love of motion-capture stems
from what she views as a common
misunderstanding of voice acting in
games, which is that people specifically
refer to it as voice acting. Thats the
smallest piece of it its acting, acting,
acting, and in capital letters ACTING. Its
acting on steroids, since we dont have the
benefit of other people with which we can
interact, or the benefit of a set.
In addition, Hale believes that, partly as
a consequence of this misunderstanding
over the reality of voice acting, some
studios dont always get the most out of
actors and their potential for creating a
lasting connection with an audience. I
think its interesting to see how major
studios are a little slow to come on board
with the notion that fans really connect to
certain characters because of the voice
actors, because of us, Hale says. Theyre
quick to discount us, and I think thats a
mistake, but I think theyre beginning to
see our value as a group.
99
C U STO M I SAT I O N / HOBBY TECH
G A R E T H H A L FAC R E E S
Hobby tech
The latest tips, tricks and news in the world of computer hobbyism,
from Raspberry Pi, Arduino and Android to retro computing
T U TO R I A L
Doorbell Relay
f youre a regular Hobby Tech reader,
youll remember the Pythonpowered Twitter-connected
doorbell I built in Issue 130. Although it
worked absolutely fine, there was room for
improvement; a press of the button would
generate a Twitter alert but if my phone was
switched off Id never know anyone was there
a problem to be fixed.
Even if youre not interested in changing
your doorbell, you may find this tutorial handy.
It uses relays, which let you control almost any
device from almost any other device.
Kit list
Raspberry Pi
28.07 inc VAT from http://cpc.farnell.
com (SC12590)
Relay, transistor, resistor and diode
2.50 inc VAT from http://oomlout.co.uk
Through-hole side-entry two-way
terminal blocks
0.18 inc VAT each from http://cpc.
farnell.com (CN14693)
Prototyping wire
2.50 inc VAT from http://oomlout.co.uk
100
A wired, battery-powered doorbell

A nice button
6.47 inc VAT from http://cpc.farnell.com
(SW04565)
1 Learning about relays

A relay is basically a switch: it makes or breaks
an electrical connection between two
contacts by physically moving a piece of
metal. While a switch needs you to give it a
poke, however, a relay moves by turning a coil
into an electromagnet, meaning that your
microcomputer or microcontroller
can switch it on or off.
Relays enable
you to control
devices that
you otherwise
wouldnt be able to
control. Mains-rated
relays, for example, enable a
Raspberry Pi or Arduino to switch
250V loads on and off safely.
When relay shopping, youll see two figures
one giving the rating of the relay in amps at a
certain direct current (DC) voltage, and the
other giving a rating for alternate current (AC)
voltage. In this example, were switching a
doorbell speaker unit thats driven by a pair

of AA batteries; in other words, the little 120V
2A relay sold by hobby specialist http://
oomlout.co.uk will be more than sufficient
for the task.
WARNING: Be exceedingly careful before
playing with mains power and relays. A mains
supply is quite capable of killing you outright.
Practice with safe low-current, low-voltage
DC loads, and if you graduate to mains power,
If youve already built Issue 130s Twitterconnected doorbell then youll love this quick and
easy upgrade
This symbol means the command

should all be on one line
This schematic shows how

the relay and switch should be
connected to the Raspberry Pi, but
remember to pay attention to the
physical pin numbers in the notes!
A relay is basically a switch, but one you can control

from a microcomputer or microcontroller, with no
touching required
To finish the build, connect the other coil pin

on the relay to +5V (physical pin 2 on the Pi)
and connect the diode between the two coil
pins, with the solid line facing the side
connected to +5V. You can test the circuit at
this point by using Python or the terminal to
turn GPIO 4 on and off; you should hear the
relay click each time. If not, you may need a
lower-value resistor; try a 1K Ohm resistor in
place of the bundled 2.2K Ohm one.
Finally, cut the wire thats currently sitting
between your doorbells button and the
sounding unit. Connect one of the sounding
units wires to the common pin of the relay,
and the other to the normally open (NO) pin.
The terminal blocks can be extremely handy
for this job.
Modify the code to include the relay upgrade, add your Twitter details as per the instructions in Issue 130,
and youre done
make sure you dont work on a live circuit and

that the circuit is fully enclosed in an insulated
case before you power anything on. I dont
want to lose a reader.
2 Building the circuit

If youve already built the doorbell circuit from
Issue 130, youre ahead of the game; if not,
take your button either one retrieved from
your existing doorbell or purchased
separately and connect one terminal to a
ground pin on the Pis GPIO header and the
other to GPIO 23 these are physical
pins 6 and 16 respectively.
Next, youll need to connect a
transistor to the Pi. Wire the emitter
to a ground pin, the base to GPIO 4
(physical pin 7 on the Pi) via a
For permanent installation, a prototyping
board, such as the pictured Ciseco Humble Pie,
is a sound investment
resistor, and the collector to one of the relays

coil pins. If youre not sure which pin is which
on the transistor or relay, look up the product
data sheet.
3 The program
If you dont already have a copy, download the
original doorbell script from Issue 130 to the Pi
with the following commands:
curl https://raw.githubuser
content.com/ghalfacree/bashscripts/master/doorbell.py >
doorbell.py
chmod +x doorbell.py
Then open it in a text editor to add the
following beneath the existing GPIO.setup
line:
GPIO.setup(4, GPIO.OUT)
Finally, add the following beneath the line
that prints Doorbell detected:
GPIO.output(4, True)
time.sleep(0.5)
GPIO.output(4, False)
Make sure to match the indentation of the
rest of the code - eight spaces. Save the file
then run it with:
sudo ./doorbell.py
Press the button; all being well, you should
hear the original doorbell chime at around the
same time you receive your Twitter alert.
101
REVIEW
Phenoptix MeArm
ve been playing with budget
robotics this month, courtesy of a
review sample of the impressive
MeArm miniature robotic arm kit. Designed
by Phenoptixs Ben Gray and Jack Howard,
the MeArm aims to be the go-to device for
low-cost robotics work, and it achieves its
goal admirably.
The framework of the MeArm is
constructed from laser-cut acrylic, with
almost exactly a single A4-size sheet going
into each arm. That isnt a lot, and it puts an
upper limit on the arms size, but it makes the
MeArm extremely cost-effective to produce.
It also means that any hacker, maker or
tinkerer with access to a laser cutter can have
a go at producing their own arm from either
wood or acrylic; the design files, plus the
source code for driving it, are provided under
an open licence for free.
If, like myself, you opt for the pre-cut kit
from Phenoptix, youll receive a pile of plastic
parts, a bag of metal nuts and bolts, and a set
of four hobby servos. If you havent come
across a servo before, theyre like motors;
whereby a motor turns continuously when
power is applied; however, a servo can be set
to specific angles by altering the frequency
of a pulse-width modulation (PWM) signal.
These particular teeny-tiny hobby servos
would be bad for wheels, as theyre limited to
turning 180 degrees, but theyre great for use
in a robotic arm.
However, there are no assembly
instructions. The design of the MeArm is
currently in flux, as Gray and Howard come
up with new ideas and revise the arm based
on user feedback. The version of the arm Ive
received is v0.4; by the time you read this
article, its not impossible that youll be
buying v0.5. Official instructions for the
v0.3 build exist, though, and an officially
sanctioned build guide created by a
customer, and linked from the product page,
is currently the best source of information for
making the v0.4 release.
Once youve found the instructions, be
prepared to spend a fair while building the
arm. Simply peeling the protective backing
paper off the acrylic parts eats up time, and
while most parts are keyed to make them
difficult to insert the wrong way around, its
still possible to make some mistakes along
the way. However, these mistakes are
usually easy to fix, as I found out when I
102
The MeArms infrastructure arrives as a collection of

bewildering acrylic parts, laser-cut from a single A4 sheet,
plus a sizeable collection of nuts and bolts
Despite a lack of official instructions for

the v0.4 revision, assembly is relatively
straightforward, and mistakes are easy to fix
tried to use the arm to pick up an object, only

to realise that the actuator for the jaws was
upside down.
During construction, I found myself
increasingly admiring Gray and Howards
cleverness. The number of individual parts is
kept as small as possible through clever
tricks, such as varying the thickness of holes
so that some parts spin freely on the bolts,
while others act as nuts. Even washers arent
necessary, with small circular spacers cut out
of the same acrylic sheet as the main body.
Once the arm is constructed, youll need to
break out your existing hardware to make
use of it. Each of the four servos one to

rotate the base, one to move the shoulder,
one to move the elbow and one to open and
close the jaws needs to be given its angle
via a PWM signal.
The easiest way to get started is with an
Arduino and a set of four potentiometers
connected to the analogue inputs; you just
connect the four servos to PWM output
pins, ground and +5V, load Grays sample
sketch, and you can move the arm
by twiddling the knobs.
When you know your arm is working, you
can start to get clever. My friend Bob Stone
Some bolts need nuts, but in other

areas, the acrylic parts act as nuts,
thanks to cleverly undersized holes
Its starting to look a little like

a robot arm or the worlds
strangest crane
The finished article,

awaiting connection to
a microcontroller or the
optional Adafruit I2C
servo controller. Note that
I needed to assemble the
jaw actuator the other
way up after this photo
was taken!
The MeArms jaws are a marvel of engineering,

constructed from a handful of parts and a
single servo
has produced code for connecting the

MeArm to the Adafruit 16-channel PWM
driver board, allowing it to be driven from
devices that lack direct PWM support
primarily the Raspberry Pi and ordered
around via Cartesian coordinates. Another of
his projects allows you to record motion input
from a Nintendo game controller, and have
the arm repeat said motion as many times
as required.
As long as the controlling device can
provide stable and accurate PWM signals,
the movement of the MeArm is smooth
and pleasing.
Im not ashamed to say that I spent an
inordinate amount of time picking up small
objects (an AT-to-PS/2 convertor, a pocketsize aluminium LED torch and a precision
screwdriver) when Id constructed the kit,
and placing them elsewhere for no good
reason. While giggling.
Those giggles are the main reason I can

heartily recommend the MeArm as a toy and
a learning platform, and the price is just the
icing on the cake: the complete kit costs just
24.99 inc VAT from www.phenoptix.com,

while the fixings and servos can be
purchased separately if you want to cut your
own framework from acrylic or wood.
NEWS IN BRIEF
BFuse hits Tindie

Originally a home for products that had enjoyed
the limelight on crowd-funding sites and entered
small-scale production, Tindie has turned into a
fully fledged makers marketplace. The latest
product to catch my eye on the site is the BFuse, a
programmable fuse designed to act as a protected power supply for breadboard
prototypes. Designed by Kaktus, a 28-year-old electrochemistry student from the
Czech Republic, the BFuse is an undeniably niche yet extremely tempting device
capable of measuring current up to 6A. The BFuse is available as a kit of parts from
www.tindie.com for 11.16, with shipping to the UK starting at 1.17.
103
REVIEW
Nvidia Jetson TK1

Nvidia embraces the hobbyist market, with a board sporting a quad-core ARM
CPU and a GPU with 192 stream processors
he Nvidia Jetson TK1 is a bit of an odd

duck, to put it mildly. Launched in the
USA during the Graphics Developer
Conference at the headline-grabbing price of
$192 a dollar per stream processor the
boards UK release was delayed due to
various red-tape issues. However, the board
is now finally available in the UK via www.
maplin.co.uk, but at a considerably inflated
cost of 199.99 inc VAT.
The choice of Maplin as a retail partner is
just part of why the Jetson feels like a curious
product. At first glance, its a good choice:
between all the hi-fi and vehicle-modding
equipment, Maplin still sells hobbyist
products ranging from electronic kits to the
Raspberry Pi. At 199.99, though, the Jetson
sits at the very top of the companys offerings
out of the reach of many hobbyists.
An investigation of the board reveals
a design inspired more by Nvidia internal
reference builds and previous partner-only
developer boards than by observation of
the hobbyist market. The 125-way generalpurpose input-output (GPIO) header sounds
impressive, but uses an uncommon 2mm
pin spacing; worse, the bulk of its pins are
reserved for add-on modules, such as touchsensitive panels and flat-screen displays,
leaving only seven available for true GPIO use
as standard. To cap it all off, it all runs on 1.8V
The Jetson is basically a whole

computer with a full-on GPU,
but on a PCB that measures
just 130 x 130mm
/SPECIFICATIONS
logic rather than the common

3.3V (Raspberry Pi) or 5V (most
Arduinos) flavours, meaning youll be
messing around with transistors and
logic converters when you want to add
other components.
So, its more of a professional-grade
development board? Not really; although
many of its features will appeal to
professionals, the only operating system
available for the Jetson and which is
supplied pre-flashed onto its 16GB NAND
module is Linux 4 Tegra, a direct port of
Canonicals Ubuntu Linux distribution. With
the only devices to have been announced
with the same Tegra K1 processor being
Android-based, the lack of Android support
is jarring, and makes the Jetson entirely
unsuitable for engineers looking to evaluate
the chip for such projects.
Reading thus far, youd be forgiven for
thinking I have nothing nice to say about the
Jetson TK1. Youd be wrong though; I just
wanted to get the negatives out of the way
first. The Jetsons major selling point is its
performance per watt, which it delivers in
spades. After a brief setup period, consisting
merely of running a script file to install the
various drivers required for an accelerated
desktop, I was up and running in the familiar
Unity user interface. Free registration in the
Nvidia developer programme with Im a
journalist thankfully accepted as a valid
reason for wanting access, with no firm
CPU 2.3GHz Nvidia Tegra K1; four Cortex-A15

cores, one low-power Shadow Core
GPU 192 Nvidia Kepler stream processors,
running at 852MHz
Memory 2GB 933MHz DDR3L RAM on a 64-bit
bus, 4MB ROM
Storage 16GB NAND flash (SD card, SATA
expansion available)
Networking Realtek RTL8111GS Gigabit Ethernet
Ports RS-232, HDMI, USB 3, micro-USB 2,
Ethernet, analogue audio in and out, SATA
with four-pin power, JTAG, 125 x GPIO, 1x
mini PCI-E slot
Power consumption ~3W idle, ~14W full load
(CPU and GPU)
OS Linux 4 Tegra (Canonical Ubuntu 14.04)
Size (mm) 133 x 133 x 30 (W x D x H)
Weight 120g (excluding PSU)
104
projects in mind
allowed me to download
the CUDA toolkit, complete
with various examples of
GPGPU offload projects.
Lets start with the CPU. I can honestly say
that the Jetson TK1 is the most responsive
single-board computer Ive ever used. Its
95th percentile time of 7.31ms in the
SysBench single-threaded benchmark is
nearly six times faster than a Raspberry Pi,
and its also even ahead of Intels Atompowered MinnowBoard and AMDs APUpowered Gizmo (11.49ms and 9.87ms
respectively.) When you start using multithreaded applications, the four 2.3GHz
Cortex-A15 cores work to great effect.
Its when you introduce the GPU that it
really gets interesting though. The Tegra K1 is
Nvidias first Tegra chip to include the same
An SD card slot enables you to expand storage

beyond the supplied 16GB of flash memory
The bundled smoke particle

simulation ran at over 40fps
A single SATA port and a 1x mini PCI-E slot provide

basic expansion capabilities
FPS game Nexulz, running at 720p, never dropped

below 30fps on the Jetson
The 125-way GPIO header sounds impressive, but it

uses an uncommon 2mm pin spacing
stream processors as its desktop and laptop

GPUs. As a result, it can cope with GPGPU
tasks like a respectable desktop GPU: the
bundled smoke particle simulation ran at over
40fps, while the general particle simulation
ran at over 125fps. Various other demo
programs showed just how big a speed
increase the new stream processors can
offer: a stellar sim was unusable on the CPU
but very responsive under CUDA.
So far, so like any other GeForce-equipped
device, which brings us to power draw. During
testing, the Jetson TK1 idled with a total power
consumption of 3W, while under the load of
first-person shooter Nexuiz, running at 720p
with maximum settings, and never dropping
below 30fps, that figure rose to just 7W. Even
loading the board with a split CPU-GPU
financial calculation only made the system
peak at 14W significantly less than the idle
power draw of my AMD A10-5800 desktop.
Okay, so the Jetson isnt for everyone. Its
expensive, its GPIO is surprisingly limited,
theres only one OS, and did I mention it was
expensive? However, its a lot more tempting

if youre a CUDA developer looking to move
into the embedded space, or an embedded
developer looking to do heavy computation
on-device, such as car manufacturer Audi,
which has boasted that it has turned a 100W
computer vision platform into a 10W
computer vision platform with the Jetson TK1.

Plus, if youre a Linux-head looking for the
most powerful SBC you can buy, its also a
no-brainer.
Am I pleased Ive had the chance to play
with the Jetson? Absolutely. Would I rush out
to buy one at 199.99? No.
NEWS IN BRIEF
AsiaRF breaks funding goal

The AsiaRF, an ultra-compact Linux-based single-board
computer, has successfully completed its crowd-funding
campaign via Indiegogo with $7,386 raised of its original
$6,000 goal. Priced at $38 ($15 for early bird backers), the
AsiaRF Tiny packs a Ralink RT5350 processor alongside
32MB of RAM, Ethernet and 802.11n wireless onto a board barely larger than the
Ethernet connector itself. Running an OpenWRT variant, its creators hope it will find a
home in Internet of Things (IoT) projects around the world.
Paul Lai, the project founder, has indicated that the device will begin shipping in the
coming weeks.
105
V I N TAG E
DOSBox
m a big fan of real-metal vintage
computing. Theres nothing quite
like having the original hardware to
go with the software, and although
emulation is undeniably handy and in some
cases, demonstrably superior to the original
implementation, thanks to features such as
save-states and graphics filtering, theres
nothing quite like using the real, original
device for me.
Thats why I feel a little dirty in admitting
that one of my favourite vintage computing
toys in the whole world is DOSBox.
An open-source project launched over
a decade ago, DOSBox simulates an IBMcompatible PC with a relatively limited clone
of MS-DOS installed.
Impressively, it does so at a hardware level:
using DOSBox, its possible to execute 32-bit
x86 DOS programs on any architecture for
which DOSBox is available, including ARM
and PowerPC.
Before you get too excited, though, yes,
DOSBox works on a Raspberry Pi; no, its not
very fast. I had a brief attempt at playing
Frontier: Elite II via DOSBox when the Pi
was first launched, and quickly gave up
thanks to a frame rate that appeared to be
measured in seconds per frame, rather than
frames per second.
Perhaps the biggest feature of DOSBox is
that its simulation, while partial, is highly
compatible towards its target era. I can
remember moving from a 233MHz Intel
Pentium MMX chip to a Pentium II; overall
system performance shot up, but certain
games and applications Id used previously
no longer worked.
I felt the loss particularly hard when I
could no longer use D-Zone, a CD-ROM
containing a collection of Doom levels, which
used a proprietary compression package
that wouldnt operate, thanks to changes
in how the new Pentium chips handled
certain timings.
DOSBox, on the other hand, handles
D-Zone and the rest of my DOS packages
without any trouble. I can speed up or slow
down the emulation, filter the video output,
and even capture screenshots and live video
as and when I feel like it. I can even mount a
No revisitation of DOS-based gaming would be complete without a quick blast of ids classic FPS, Doom
Those who were around for MS-DOS will find

DOSBox a familiar environment, although not all
features are implemented
Configuration is achieved via a well-documented

text file, although graphical front-ends are also
available
folder on my hard drive formatted as ext4

in Linux, a concept MS-DOS would never
understand and transfer files to and from
floppy disk images captured by my KryoFlux
(see Issue 131).
For the real vintage connoisseur, theres
also the option to set different graphics
modes. Some older games, in particular my
favourite post-apocalyptic rogue Alpha Man,
look considerably better when running on a
Colour Graphics Adapter (CGA) system than
on a higher-resolution Video Graphics Array
(VGA) system.
Whats more, DOSBox enables me to
easily switch between the two graphics
modes, as well as switching between
different scalers that can improve the look
of low-resolution graphics.
DOSBox isnt perfect. The software was
designed specifically for playing games, and
non-gaming packages may not work as
expected especially those that address
hardware other than the sound card,
graphics card, mouse, joystick and modem.

With that said, however, I rarely run into
compatibility problems.
I do have several original machines running
MS-DOS, from an 8086-based HP 200LX
palmtop to a souped-up Commodore 28616 with optional 287XL math coprocessor, yet
I still find myself preferring to use DOSBox
instead. When its coupled with a classic
keyboard from the DOS era, such as the IBM
Model F (see Issue 123), and a USB adaptor
for 9-pin joysticks, it almost feels like a real,
old PC. Almost.
You can download DOSBox for Windows,
OS X and Linux from www.dosbox.com
completely free of charge, along with
optional front-ends to make configuration as
simple as possible.
There are also official ports of DOSBox for
platforms as unusual as BeOS and OS/2 to
RISC OS and Solaris, along with third-party
ports available elsewhere for tablets,
smartphones and so on.
Gareth Halfacree is the news reporter at www.bit-tech.net, and a keen computer hobbyist who likes to tinker with technology.
106
@ghalfacree
R E T R O T E C H / VINTAGE KIT
Photo: Konstantin Lanzet
SOUND BLASTER 16
Ben Hardwidge travels back to the time when massive sound cards
doubled up as CD-ROM and joystick controllers
hat first amazed me about the Sound Blaster 16, as it
came out of the box, was the sheer size of it. Measuring
over a foot long, this 16-bit ISA card took up nearly the
whole width of the family 486s desktop chassis. Thats big for a
sound card, you might, think, but it wasnt just a sound card.
In the early 1990s, we started to see the beginning of the
crossover from floppy disks to optical media, and CD-ROM drives
were starting to offer a whole load of advantages, which isnt
surprising when you consider that one CD-ROM contains around
500x the amount of data as a floppy disk. The problem was that
not everyone had a spare IDE channel for a CD-ROM drive. At this
time, many PCs just came with one IDE channel,
enabling you to hook up one master and one
slave drive to it.
As such, many CD-ROM drives came in kits
containing an additional IDE controller card and,
if you were feeling flush, you could buy a Sound
Blaster 16 CD-ROM kit, with a dual-speed
CD-ROM drive that used the sound card as an
IDE controller. Those pins you can see on the
edge of the card above? Theyre IDE connectors one for Panasonic
drives, one for Mitsumi drives and one for Sony drives. You might
also spot the big socket on the bottom right of the backplate,
which is for plugging in a 15-pin joystick being a joystick
controller was another one of the cards other many talents.
Theres also another rack of pins in the middle right, to which
you could hook up a wavetable daughterboard, such as a Yamaha
DB50XG, which made MIDI music in games sound amazing. The
Sound Blaster 16 had an integrated MIDI synthesiser chip of its
own (the OPL chip in the middle) as well, although it only offered
basic FM synthesis, which sounded comparably weak.
The big deal about the Sound Blaster 16, though, was what the
number at the end of its name represented 16-bit audio. If youre
not clued up on your audio tech, the number of bits available
massively affects the dynamic range (the difference between the
quietest and loudest sound) of audio,as well as the signal-to-noise

ratio, as it effectively limits the number of possible integer values
per sample. Before the Sound Blaster 16, 8-bit audio was the norm,
and while the novelty of sampled audio was great for a few years,
it also sounded poor.
As a point of comparison, 8-bit audio gives you a maximum
dynamic range of 48dB, while 16-bit audio gives you a maximum
dynamic range of up to 96dB. The theoretical range of human
hearing is around 120dB, but thats only assuming youre under
laboratory conditions, and not sitting next to a noisy computer
in a standard house. With the ability to support 16-bit/44.1KHz
sampling, a feature only previously supported
by expensive pro audio sound cards, the Sound
Blaster 16 effectively brought CD-quality audio
to the mainstream PC.
Today, we might have 24-bit samples at silly
frequencies, but actually, as long as youre using
good equipment, they wont sound much better
than 16-bit/44.1KHz samples to the human ear.
Comparatively, the jump from 8-bit to 16-bit
audio was much bigger, with the Sound Blaster 16 effectively
completely changing our expectations of mainstream PC audio.
At this time, most games still only offered 8-bit audio samples
to maintain compatibility with older cards such as the Sound
Blaster Pro, but that all changed as time went on. Soon, other
brands of sound card, and motherboard audio systems, were
advertising Sound Blaster 16 compatibility.
The Sound Blaster 16 brand went on to live a long life, from its
launch as a colossal ISA card in 1992, to smaller ISA cards and later
to PCI cards. We were still selling them at the computer shop in
which I worked in 1999. Whats most amazing, really, is that PC
audio hasnt really changed since the Sound Blaster 16 for most
people. Sure, we now have HD audio, and surround-sound
systems, but if youre using stereo speakers with your PC, youre
most likely to be playing 16-bit/44.1KHz audio through them.
Being a joystick
controller was another
one of the cards other
many talents
107
MODDING
A N TO N Y L E AT H E R S
Customised PC
Case mods, tools, techniques, water-cooling gear
and everything to do with PC modding
Devils Canyon under
water cooling
The latest CPUs from Intel,
specifically the Core i5-4690K and
Core i7-4790K, have been received
fairly well by enthusiasts. There isnt
much performance to be gained over
their immediate predecessors, but
they do represent a decent upgrade
from older CPUs. However, Intels
focus on overclocking and cooling
is the thing that I found most
interesting about the new chips.
Several websites have reported
that Intel has simply speed-binned
previous Haswell Core i5 and Core i7
CPUs, tweaked the power delivery,
improved the thermal interface
material and the end result is retail
CPUs that should all overclock to
4.8GHz fairly easily.
While I cant say whether or not
this is true, an easy overclock to
4.8GHz simply wasnt possible with
many Ivy Bridge and initial Haswell
CPUs, so while there isnt much of
a performance increase in
instructions per cycle, the fact that
youll likely end up with a CPU that
can overclock to 4.8GHz on air is a
pretty good feature in its own right.
Weve certainly seen all three new
CPUs hit these clock speeds in our
own tests, including the Pentium
G3258. They all run much cooler than
their predecessors too, despite the
108
Core i5 and Core i7 having higher

TDPs. But does this new thermal
interface material allow the heat
to escape quickly enough for water
cooling to provide a decent benefit,
and improve overclocking potential?
To find out, I decided to test out an
Intel Core i5-4690K using a good air
cooler, an all-in-one liquid cooler and
a full-on custom water-cooling loop,
recording both the temperatures
and the maximum overclock. To
start, I attempted to better the
4.8GHz wed managed using a
Corsair H75 with XSPCs RayStorm D5
Photon RX240 V3 water-cooling kit.
Booting into Windows at 4.9GHz
with this kit is fairly easy on Asus
Can water cooling

enable you to
stably overclock a
Devils Canyon CPU
beyond 4.8GHz?
Maximus VII Gene (see p22), and can

be achieved at the 1.33V we needed
to hit 4.8GHz. Getting it stable was
another matter though. In the end,
I needed to apply a lofty 1.47V vcore
to achieve a trouble-free CPC
benchmark run. The CPU reached
85C in CoreTemp using Prime95s
smallfft test a delta T of 61C using
the water-cooling kit. With
the Corsair H75, it quickly topped
90C, however, so its clear that water
cooling does provide a benefit if you
really want to push a Devils Canyon
CPU to the limits.
So what about temperatures?
Well, at 4.9GHz and 1.47V, most air
coolers simply wont cut it. In fact,
even the H75 was a little too warm

for comfort, and it was also louder
than the water-cooling kit too.
Dropping down to a much more
easily achievable 4.8GHz and 1.33V,
the water-cooling kit maxed out at
a delta T of 50C, while the H75
managed a respectable but still
toasty 58C. Since I knew a highperforming air cooler could match
the H75, I also decided to try a more
modest air cooler in the form of the
award-winning SilverStone Argon
AR01. Unfortunately, the CPU
temperature quickly topped 90C
under Prime95 and settled at 94C
equivalent to a delta T of 70C, which
is 20C warmer than when using the
XSPC water-cooling kit.
The toasty temperatures when
using the SilverStone Argon AR01
compared to water cooling show
that the thermal transfer between
the CPU core and the CPU cooler is
actually very good. If you increase
the cooling power, you also see a big
decrease in temperatures at least at
extreme clock speeds. Comparatively,
we saw a far smaller difference
between coolers when using Ivy
Bridge and initial Haswell CPUs, so
an overclocked Devils Canyon CPU
certainly benefits from water cooling.
BitFenix opens modding

spare parts shop
One reason why Lian Li has become
synonymous with PC modding is
because it sells countless spare parts
Lian Lis spare motherboard trays make

it much easier to make a PC case from
scratch, removing the hassle of aligning the
motherboard and expansion slots
but BitFenix plans to open a

European store, which should be
open soon. For now, however, you
can check out https://parts.bitfenix.
com to see all the bits on sale.
Opteron Prime by Hukkel
for its cases. If you want to replace

your blank aluminium side panel
with a windowed version, need
another hard disk rack, or even a
motherboard tray to get you started
on a scratch-built PC, you can buy all
manner of components that are
useful for both Lian Li cases and
modding other cases too. Whats
more, BitFenix has now decided to
adopt a similar strategy.
The companys Prodigy chassis is
already one of my favourite cases,
due to its versatility for water cooing,
and the fact it has quite a few add-on
parts available for it, such as
replacement front panels, sidewindow panels and even a complete
soundproofing kit. However,
BitFenix has now gone one step
further and opened a store on its
main website, which exclusively
offers spare parts for its cases.
At present, 18 case models are
listed, including the Prodigy,
Phenom, Shinobi and Ronin, with
the Prodigy alone having 34
individual components available for
it. These parts include spare hard
drive trays, dust filters, the infamous
Prodigy case handles and even a
standard accessory box. This is great
news, especially as the parts arent
expensive either Prodigy side
panels currently retail for
just $9.99.
The availability of spare
parts is particularly useful if
want to spray your case or try out
different colours you could grab
some spare parts and spray them
without having to dismantle your
PC. Weve mentioned the price in
dollars because the store is only
available to US customers at present,
BitFenix plans to
open a European
spare parts
store soon
Antony Leather is Custom PCs modding editor
Finally, heres one of the best watercooled PCs Ive ever seen. Bit-tech
forum user Hukkel is an avid
Folding@home (see p120) user but,
not content with folding on GPUs,
hes turned his attention to 16-core
AMD Opteron CPUs. Courtesy of
sponsorship from Supermicro, hes
also bagged a quad-CPU H8QGL-iF
motherboard and one of the biggest
cases weve ever seen in the forum
a SuperChassis CSE-748TQ-R1K43B.
Incredibly, thanks to some help
from EK Waterblocks, Hukkel
managed to water-cool the entire
PC, including all four CPUs. He didnt
just use any old tubing either; hes
equipped the PC with acrylic tubing
for some added eye candy. You can
see all of Hukkels incredible Folding
project at http://tinyurl.com/
Operton-Prime
Hukkels Opteron
Prime mod is built
for multi-core CPU
performance in
Folding@home
@antonyleather
109
M O D D I N G / HOW TO GUIDES
How to
Give your case a
carbon fibre look
Give your case the carbon fibre look,
as Antony Leather shows you how to
wrap your case
TOTA L P R OJ E C T T I M E / 6 H O U R S
arbon fibre is very much the material of the moment, not
just because its extremely strong, but also because it looks
fantastic. However, professionally painting your case in a
carbon fibre dip can be very expensive, plus youll be without your
case for several days too. Whats more, theres also no way to spray
your case at home to achieve a carbon fibre effect.
Thankfully, theres a way to achieve a similar effect thats fairly
cheap, mess-free and doesnt involve paint fumes or sending away
your case. Vinyl wraps are readily available in a range of colours, but
textured carbon fibre film wrap looks like real carbon fibre, and it can
be heated for bending and stretching around curves too. So, even if
your case isnt completely square, its possible to cover its front
panels, plastic fixtures and fittings.
You can apply the film to just your cases extremities, or you can
completely dismantle your case to create a complete carbon fibre
look, inside and out. This guide covers both methods, so you can
decide on the best one for you.
1 / DECIDE ON COLOUR
While natural carbon fibre is black and grey, the vinyl wrap is available in a
range of colours. Our choice was black 3M textured vinyl unlike the glossy
vinyl, the textured material can be heated, making it very flexible when
dealing with tight bends and curves.
2 / MEASURE SURFACE AREA

Youll need a large amount of wrap, even for a small case. To see how much
you need, work out the surface area of all the panels (including internal
areas if you want to cover the insides). You also need to factor in at least 12mm
of excess around the edges for folding, or the vinyl wont stick properly.
TO O L S YO U L L N E E D
3.2mm/6mm rivets
and rivet gun /
www.ebay.co.uk
Scalpel and
point-tip blade /
Most hardware stores
Dremel or drill with

4/5mm drill bit /
Most hardware stores
3M carbon fibre
textured vinyl /
www.ebay.co.uk
110
3 / CHECK FOR SCREWS AND RIVETS

Many plastic fixtures may be screwed to the case, so its useful to
know how much you can detach to make your job easier. If you want to
completely dismantle your case, youll need to locate all the rivet joints so
that you can drill them out to separate the main panels.
4 / FIND REMOVABLE PLASTIC SECTIONS
5 / IDENTIFY CURVES AND TRICKY AREAS
Some sections may just pop off, such as this top roof vent on our BitFenix
Prodigy, but side windows, power buttons and front panel surrounds should
all either detach after youve loosened pins or removed screws.
Curved areas can be tricky to cover, even when heating the vinyl to make it
more pliable. You may not want to cover the whole case in the material, so
leaving out some sections such as carry handles could both improve the
aesthetics and make your work easier.
6 / CLEAN CASE
7 / TEST ON A SIDE PANEL
Thoroughly clean all the areas you intend to cover, even if the case is new,
as any particles of dirt can result in bumps and imperfections in the vinyl.
You can use a little soapy water, or a common household cleaning spray, but
make sure the case is completely dry afterwards.
If you havent applied a wrap before, test your skills with a small section
on a side panel and practise bending the vinyl around curves. It can be
removed and reapplied quite easily, so you dont need to worry about
wasting material.
8 / REMOVE REMAINING PARTS
9 / USE SIDE PANEL AS A TEMPLATE
Youll be covering most of the exterior of the case, as well as the inside, so
remove any front grilles and dust filters, leaving you with just the case shell.
Grilles are often too complex to cover with vinyl, so put them to one side
until youre done.
Use your side panels as templates, cutting around them to get the required
size of vinyl. Again, youll need to leave at least 12mm around the edges so
that you can bend the vinyl over the side panel edges to create a neat finish.
111
10 / LAY DOWN PROTECTION
11 / USE A SCALPEL
As youll probably be using a knife to cut and trim the vinyl, lay down a
protective layer if youre working on a delicate surface. Thick cardboard,
poster mounts or cork tiles are very handy here.
A scalpel with a new, point-tip blade is essential for getting a clean finish
when trimming the edges. You can use it to cut long edges, cut out corner
sections, and even reopen screw and rivet holes. Be especially careful not
to cut towards you, as the blades are incredibly sharp.
12 / CUT THE CORNERS
13 / REMOVE ADHESIVE COVER
One common mistake when applying vinyl is bending the corner sections
so they overlap, resulting in bulges and exposed edges that eventually start
peeling. Cutting a line into the corner, from the edge of the vinyl, enables
you to bend it over the panel in sections, which will prevent creases too.
Once youve cut the vinyl to size, lay your side panel over it one last time
to double check your measurements. Once thats done, lay the vinyl face
down and remove the backing film to expose the adhesive side.
14 / LAY FILM OVER SIDE PANEL
15 / FOLD OVER THE CORNERS
Place the side panel directly onto the vinyl. This might sound like a recipe for
trapped bubbles, but the 3M vinyl is almost bubble-free, and its also easy
to work out any bubbles to the edges.
Rotate the side panel and inspect it for bubbles, pushing them outwards
until the panel is smooth. You can then begin to roll over the edges, cutting
away any excess with the scalpel as you go.
112
16 / APPLY TO CURVES
17 / HEAT THE VINYL
On smaller curves around side panels and runners, you should be able to
lightly stretch the vinyl with your hands and, in one movement, lift it over the
edge and tuck it away. If this part goes wrong, dont be afraid of lifting it and
trying again.
For more complicated curves, you can use a hairdryer or a heat gun to warm
the vinyl for a few seconds. It will quickly take a film-like form, making it
much more flexible and amenable to stretching over tight curves, so it can
be tucked away.
18 / STRETCH AND BEND TO SHAPE
19 / APPLY TO EXTERIOR OF CASE SHELL
Try not to stretch the vinyl too much, or you risk warping the carbon fibre
design pattern. You can add more heat to work the vinyl around tight
corners, which can be a very difficult job without the added heat.
The side panels are usually fairly easy targets for vinyl. Remove any buttons
beforehand, as youll need to cut out the holes later, then reinsert them. If
you wont be dismantling your case, you can now apply the vinyl to the rest
of your case.
20 / DRILL OUT RIVETS
21 /DISMANTLE CASE
For the more adventurous folks among you, de-riveting your case gives
you unimpeded access to each section of your case. A drill or a Dremel with
a drill-bit attachment can make short work of your cases rivets.
After youve drilled out the rivets, the sections should just pull away from
the remaining parts. It also helps to take a photo at each step, so you know
exactly how to put your case back together afterwards.
113
22 /APPLY VINYL TO REST OF CASE
23 /PARTS TO AVOID
Apply vinyl to the rest of the case, looking at how the sections will go back
together and avoiding adding vinyl to both sides of joins. Its quite thick
material, so it can potentially prevent sections of the case from meeting
properly during reassembly.
As an example of vinyl-covered parts not meeting properly, our Prodigy

has a roof vent, which didnt quite fit properly with vinyl mounted all the way
inside. You may also have to remove vinyl from some side-panel runners
and grille surrounds, as it can prevent some from sliding back into place.
24 /TRIM THE EDGES
25 /CUT OUT SLOTS AND SCREW HOLES
Whether youre removing an unwanted vinyl section or just tidying up, trim
the edges using a scalpel blade. Keep the blade at a fixed angle, around 45
degrees to the edge of the surface, and firmly cut along the waste material.
Reopen any button, LED or rivet holes, again using the scalpel. Rub your
fingers over the hole first, which should give you an outline with which to
work. Cut around the outside edge of the hole to trim the vinyl as much as
you can.
26 /RIVET SECTIONS IN PLACE
27 /YOURE DONE
Riveting your case is very easy you just need the right size rivets. For the
Prodigy, we used 3.2mm rivets with a length of 6mm, which are cheap, and
rivet guns arent particularly expensive either. Reassemble the case, insert
rivets into the holes, and pinch them together with the gun.
Hopefully you now have a bubble-free, sleek-looking, carbon fibre-effect

case. You can wrap your case in other patterns too, such as wood or
chrome, but the 3M textured carbon fibre is particularly attractive and
easy to fit.
114
M O D D I N G / READERS DRIVES
Readers Drives
The Baby Grand

In his mission to accommodate
a server and a gaming PC in the
space of a single desk, Savell
Martin constructed his own
desk chassis from scratch
CPC: What inspired you to build
The Baby Grand
Savell: Originally I had a server rack
in the spare room, but my missus
wanted to convert the spare room
back into a bedroom, and this
meant I had to remove the rack. Id
always wanted to build a PC desk
since I saw the L3P desk back in the
day, so this was a
golden opportunity.
Planning started
immediately after I
convinced the missus
to let me build it, and
I never looked back.
/MEET THY MAKER

Name Savell Martin
Age 28
Location Reading,
Berkshire
Occupation IT trade show
technician
Main uses for PC(s) Work
and gaming on the PC, and
media serving for my
digital life on the server!
Likes Building custom PCs,
cycling, spending quality
time with friends and being
in South Africa good
steak and sunshine!
Dislikes Rain, winter,
mornings and poor
Internet connections
116
CPC: Where did the

name come from?
Savell: The original
name for the desk was
Ethos & Cube names
of both the PCs inside.
But, due to its shape
and the piano-hinged
lid, my wife drew
comparisons with a
baby grand piano, and
she wasnt the only
one. The name stuck,
so its now, proudly
called The Baby Grand.
CPC: What is The Baby
Grands purpose?
Savell: Firstly, Id
always wanted to
make a desk mod and
to be able to sit at a
proper gaming desk,
rather than a laptop or a standard

desktop PC. Secondly, it seemed an
opportune way to restore order to
the spare bedroom. I chose top-end
hardware in the gaming PC section,
as I didnt want to be upgrading
again any time soon, but I chose
low-powered parts for the server
section, so I could keep down
energy consumption; its
predominantly a media server.
CPC: What difficulties did you
come across?
Savell: I started by constructing the
desk itself, along with my friend
and carpenter, Chris Bond, which
we built according to our specs.
It was only once it had been
constructed and placed in the
room that we realised the
dimensions werent quite right.
We had to chop around 100mm off
the top to reduce the depth of the
desk, remove the top drawer and
drop one section of the desks depth
into that drawer space, making one
end deeper than then other. The
shallower end enables me to sit
comfortably at it, with enough
space for my legs beneath, while
also not being too high for me to
comfortably use my peripherals.
These amendments called for some
design and hardware changes, but
the final layout is much better than
the original concept.
Also, standard PSU cables werent
long enough to reach to all the
necessary places, even with
extensions, which meant I had to
make all my own cables. Making
these cables was probably the most
time-consuming part of this build,
but it enabled me to learn another
new skill.
CPC: What materials did you use,
and why?
Savell: Wood, lots of wood! We used
oak MDF for the base and sides, and
real solid oak for the legs and lid.

The glass top is custom made to fit
the shape, and I sourced bespoke
motherboard trays to fit the
hardware components. One of
them is a half-height tray for the
server, so I could fit it at the
shallower end of the desk. Each tray
has been etched with the names
Ethos and Cube.
The Baby Grand had to function
as both a PC desk and a piece of
furniture, and I think the end result
speaks for itself.
We stained the wood to match
the furniture already in the room,
while the glass top still allows it to
be a feature of the room. Also, I
didnt like the look of the 5.25in bay
devices, so we made a cover that
SYSTEM SPECS
GAMING PC
CPU Delidded Intel Core
i7-4670K
GPU 2 x Nvidia GeForce
GTX Titan
Storage Samsung 840 Evo
250GB SSD, SilverStone external
dual-bay enclosure with 2 x 2TB
Western Digital hard drives
Memory 16GB 1,866MHz Corsair
Dominator Platinum
Motherboard Asus Maximus VI
Formula
PSU 1,000W Seasonic Platinum
Cooling EK Supremacy Clean
CSQ waterblock, 2 x EK-RES X3
250 reservoir, 2 x EK-FC Titan acetal+nickel GPU waterblocks,
EK-FB KIT Asus M6F
motherboard waterblock, 2 x
XSPC D5 Vario Pumps with
EK-D5 Dual Top, XSPC AX360
triple radiator, XSPC AX480
quad radiator, acrylic tubing,
Bitspower Deluxe white fittings
ROJECT LOG AT :
SE E TH E FU LL P/BabyGrandMod
http://tinyurl.com
also acts as a 5.25in drive mounting.

On top of the PC and server, I
managed to fit a full 48-port switch
in the lip of the desk, and a 2U UPS
down the side, as well.
CPC: What tools and machinery
did you use?
Savell: The main new tool that
came in handy for a number of
tasks was the heat gun, which
helped when making the PSU
cables, sealing the ends in place. It
also worked perfectly for bending
the acrylic tubing, which effectively
gave me complete control of the
flow of the water. The cabling

required a number of different tools
too, such as wire strippers and
crimpers. Fortunately, Chris Bond,
being a carpenter, had all the gear.
He helped me out big time, and
taught me many of the skills I
needed to complete the project.
CPC: How long did The Baby Grand
take to build?
Savell: Around 18 months total, but
the work wasnt continuous. I
would do quite a bit of work one
weekend and then not touch it for
another month, sometimes longer.
SYSTEM SPECS
SERVER PC
CPU Intel Core i5-4670T
GPU Intel HD Graphics
Storage 5 x Western Digital Red
3TB hard drives
Memory 16GB Corsair
Vengeance Arctic White
Motherboard Asus Z87
Sabertooth
PSU 660W Seasonic
Cooling Noctua NH-L9i
117
M O D D I N G / READERS DRIVES
Life always has a way of keeping

you busy, and sometimes I would
be waiting for parts before I could
continue, which would push back
the schedule.
CPC: What have you learned from
the build process?
Savell: Lots! So much, I cant even
say. For a start, although Id used allin-one liquid coolers before, The
Baby Grand contains my first
water-cooling loop. Putting the loop
together involved lots of reading
and watching guides online. Id
BE A WINNER
To enter your machine for possible inclusion in
Readers Drives, your mod needs to be fully working
and, ideally, finished based in the UK. Simply log on to
www.bit-tech.net and head over to the forums. Once
youre there, post a write-up of your mod, along with
some pics, in the Project Logs forum. Make sure you
read the relevant rules and advice sticky threads before
you post. The best entrant each month will be featured
here, where well print your photos of your project and
also interview you about the build process. Fame isnt
the only prize; youll also get your hands on a fabulous
selection of prizes see the opposite page for details.
118
question my hardware choices, and

get others to help out with their
advice when it came to ordering
parts for the loop too.
The loop took a few attempts to
get working well even seemingly
small factors would affect how it
functioned. For example, initially,
I fitted the tube reservoir that
connects to the pumps the wrong
way around, so the anti-cyclone
filter was on the inlet.
This didnt work too well, and
the pumps sucked in lots of air.
Turning it around made the world
of difference.
Then there was the first setup
where I didnt have a drain port
fitted, and I was thinking, Oh I
didnt think of this. How can I get
the liquid out without covering my
desk? Ive now fitted a drain port
and its all happy again. The last
time I drained the loop, I decided to
twist a reservoir slightly sideways
to align a stop port right at the very
top. This made filling so much
easier, so I was able to almost
completely fill the reservoirs.
Also, I learned the hard way
about corrosion and algae build-up,
so Ive spent a fair amount of time
cleaning the loop. However, due to

the drain port and positioning of
the outlets, Ive been able to drain
and refill the loop without
damaging any of the parts. Ive
learned so much about carpentry,
sealing and various other skills
Im now a veritable expert in
applying wood veneer!
CPC: Are you happy with the end
result, and is there anything youd
do differently if you built it again?
Savell: Im ecstatic with the end
result. There are a few changes Id
make from the start next time,
though, such as making sure we
dont have to cut the desk in half.
Advance planning is key, right
down to the small, seemingly
mundane details. When I started,
I wasnt confident about building
a full water-cooling loop, so the
original plan was to use all-in-one
liquid coolers. As Ive mentioned,
there were some modifications and
different hardware required to get
it right, but I really love the desk
and I wouldnt get rid of it for
anything. Plus, my wife thinks its
a work of art, and I cant ask for
more than that!
Win all these prizes!

Weve teamed up with some of the worlds leading PC manufacturers and retailers to offer
this great range of prizes to each lucky Readers Drives winner. If your creation is featured in the
magazine then youll walk away with all of the prizes listed on this page, so get in your entries!
Corsair graphite Series 230T case and RM

550w Modular power supply
om
TOTAL VALUE 150 inc VAT / MANUFACTURER www.corsair.com
Corsair believes that a great PC starts with a great case.

se.
The Corsair Graphite Series 230T is a compact
expression of this core philosophy. With stylish
looks and a choice of three different colours, it
packs in a remarkable number of features to
provide builders with tonnes of room for
expansion and amazing cooling potential. Like all
Corsair cases, its built using the finest materials
and finished to the highest standards, so it will
withstand several years of upgrades. Plus, to
make sure it stand outs from the crowd, the
230T features Corsairs new Air Series LED
high-airflow fans, providing distinctive lighting
with low-noise, high-airflow cooling.
Just as a quality case is essential to building a
quality PC, a high-performance, a high-quality
power supply is also a vital ingredient. The all new
RM series has been built from the ground-up to
deliver unmatched reliability alongside 80Plus
Gold efficiency, and all with the absolute minimum of
noise. It uses specially optimised quality parts to reduce
sound at the component level, and its completely silent
below 40 per cent load, thanks to its Zero RPM fan mode. Itss
ibilit
also fully modular, allowing for the maximum amount of flexibility
during installation. With a Corsair Graphite 230T case and an RM 550W Modular power supply
at the heart of your build, youll have the foundations for a truly awesome gaming machine.
Mayhems coolant
and dyes
VALUE 50 inc VAT /
MANUFACTURER www.mayhems.co.uk
Cooling performance is only one part of the

equation when it comes to kitting out your
rig with custom water-cooling gear. The
other major bonus is that all those tubes and
gleaming fittings just make your PC look
damn sexy, and they look even better when
they're pumped full of fancy coloured
coolant. As such, we're particularly pleased
to have the folks at Mayhems now on board
with Readers' Drives; they're currently
offering two 1-litre bottles of Mayhems'
Pastel Ice White coolant, along with a
selection of five dyes, so you can choose
the colour that best complements your PC.
Check out the blue coolant in our own mini
PC mod on the cover of Issue 109 for an
example of what's possible with some
Mayhems coloured coolant.
Phobya Modding Kit

VALUE 50 inc VAT MANUFACTURER www.phobya.com, www.aqua-tuning.co.uk
The Phobya modding kit is designed with the modder in mind, offering
great value for money and quality products. The kit includes Nano-G 12
Silent Waterproof 1,500rpm multi-option fans,
which use an innovative fan-blade design.
As standard, the fans include braided black
cables to keep your case looking as neat as
possible. The fans are also supplied with a
special cable that lets you run the fan at 5V
rather than 12V, reducing the noise
emitted in order to help you to build
a silent system.
The kit also includes the
60cm Phobya 3-pin Molex to
4x 3-pin Molex Y-cable. This pre-
braided extension cable gives you extra routeing options in your case,
and it also enables you to run up to four fans from one compatible
motherboard header. Meanwhile, the Phobya SATA 3
cables included in the kit offer the same
great quality braiding as the rest of the
Phobya range, while also securing your
connection with latched connectors.
As well as this, the kit includes the
Phobya SlimGuide Controller, which
gi
gives you the option to vary
the speed of other fans in
your case, while the Phobya
TwinLEDs let you shine a
light on your mods.
119
CO M M U N I T Y / FOLDING
Folding@Home
Join our folding team and help medical research
The 1 billion points man

Simon Treadaway catches up with Nelio
ver the past few months,
you may have noticed
Nelio storming up the
leaderboard, and becoming the
first member of the team to break
the 1 billion points milestone,
producing around 6 million points
a day. Weve had lots of interest in
the kit Nelio uses to produce these
results, and weve now managed
to get a peek at some of the
hardware at his disposal.
CPC: So who is Nelio?

Nelio: My name is Neil, and Im
an infrastructure analyst at an
international oil and gas company.
CPC: Why did you start folding?
Nelio: I found it through Custom PC
in 2007, and I thought it would be
great to aid with medical research.
I began folding several months
after my grandfather was diagnosed
with Alzheimers. Then the need to
score more points than everyone
else got me.
WHAT IS FOLDING?
Folding@home uses the spare processing cycles from
your PCs CPU and graphics cards for medical
research. You can download the client from http://
folding.stanford.edu and our teams ID is 35947. Once
you pass a significant milestone, youll get your name
in the mag. You can also discuss folding with us and
other readers on the www.bit-tech.net forums.
120
CPC: What are the specs of your

folding machines?
Nelio: I have two Dell PowerEdge
M620s, each with 256GB of RAM
(16 x 16GB RDIMMs) and two Intel
Xeon E5-2697 v2 CPUs running at
2.7GHz (48 CPU threads with
Hyper-Threading).
I also have 12 Dell Precision R7610s,
each with 128GB of DDR3 RAM and
two Intel Xeon E5-2687W v2 CPUs
running at 3.4GHz (32 CPU threads
with Hyper-Threading). Theres also
an HP Z820, with 128GB of DDR3
RAM and two Intel Xeon E5-2687W
CPUs running at 3.1GHz (32 CPU
threads with Hyper-Threading).
All of the above are running
Debian distros of Linux set to
bigadv. There are some other
machines too: a Dell PowerEdge
M600 and M610, three Dell Precision
T5500 Workstations and a little
8-core Optiplex desktop, but their
contribution is insignificant
compared with the kit listed above.
In total, I currently have 24
systems folding, with roughly 648
CPU threads. Ive been able to run
the M620s and R7610s for much
longer than I expected, so Ive been
really lucky in that respect.
CPC: Whats your best folding kit?
Nelio: The Dell M620 blade servers
have some serious CPU power in
them. I have two of the M620s in
a rack at our DR site with Debian
on them, and they pump out
between 400,000 and 600,000

each using bigadv!
CPC: Will you keep up your current
production level?
Nelio: Ive been really fortunate to
have access to this kit for so long, to
be honest I thought Id lose them to
business workloads months ago.
CPC: Any tips for fellow team
members?
Nelio: Keep plugging away. It takes
a while to get into it and start
producing serious points. Theres
loads of great info on the Custom PC
folding section of the bit-tech
forums, and other sources on the
Internet, to help you tweak and get
the best from your kit. Its quite
impressive how much some people
know about it.
STATS
Team rank 1
World rank 287
Score 1,184,671,626
Work units 84,759
Daily points average 5,720,786
TOP FOL DER S: This months

shout-outs go to Cmaxx,
Laguna2012, Andrew_Dixon and
TrilithiumInjector. If you fold under
any of these names, email
folding@custompcmag.org.uk
MILESTONES THIS MONTH

USERNAME
POINTS
MILESTONE
USERNAME
POINTS
MILESTONE
USERNAME
POINTS
MILESTONE
USERNAME
POINTS
MILESTONE
Elbertus
20000
Mem
300000
Rhddrk
5000000
dd
20000000
DoMiNiuS
30000
Philip_King
300000
KevinWright
7000000
Chris_Waddle
30000000
JimMitchell
30000
TheSquidgster
300000
th3_F15T
7000000
Laguna2012
30000000
loopy
40000
padiham_folding
400000
Vaio
7000000
NavyBlue
30000000
yevad
40000
taveirne
400000
BIllyTheCat
8000000
Roveel
30000000
Parmesan
50000
adbygrave
500000
Dickie
8000000
TheFlipside
60000000
Sharkoonhunter
50000
marcusclegg
500000
Andrew_Dixon
10000000
DocJonz
700000000
Benjaminod
60000
STIG
500000
Cmaxx
20000000
Nelio
1000000000
Hapex
70000
conwarmer
600000
blotty
80000
toothytech
700000
TheRepublic
ofKirkup
Anonymous
800000
80000
srackstr
800000
atpark
90000
stevec83
800000
Techie_Taylor
900000
tutting
900000
BrentwoodComputers.com
100000
ghodula
100000
kiiight
1000000
Chrissebooboo
200000
gKitchen
2000000
FlamingWolfman
200000
Skidder
2000000
Sparrowhawk
200000
Allan_Smith
3000000
techknowledgey
200000
SLOcaliKID
3000000
Epwin
300000
TrilithiumInjector
3000000
IanMcDiarmid
300000
clanseven
5000000
THE NEXT OVERTAKE

WORLD
RANK
TEAM NAME
POINTS
DAILY
POINTS
AVERAGE
TIME UNTIL
OVERTAKE
www.
overclockers.com
16,614,401,632
10,561,118
4.2 years
TSC! Russia
12,608,012,690
9,942,838
11.5 months
Maximum PC
Magazine
11,561,154,346
11,069,227
4.3 months
Custom PC &
bit-tech
11,164,671,695
14,128,898
Curecoin
8,040,020,697
68,675,813
1.9 months
Hardware.no
10,224,241,680
18,056,581
8 months
TOP 20 OVERALL
RANK
USERNAME
TOP 20 PRODUCERS
POINTS
WORK UNITS
RANK
DAILY POINTS AVERAGE
OVERALL SCORE
1,098,623,481
82,744
Nelio
5,326,257
1,098,623,481
DocJonz
705,325,975
163,652
DocJonz
1,029,509
705,325,975
coolamasta
537,000,703
152,182
Scorpuk
718,461
333,129,223
Dave_Goodchild
451,087,484
115,689
coolamasta
591,637
537,000,703
Scorpuk
333,129,223
10,547
NavyBlue
488,818
35,936,279
StreetSam
306,959,192
82,427
piers_newbold
449,731
236,200,664
Nelio
USERNAME
phoenicis
250,044,587
95,660
johnim
448,307
162,211,727
piers_newbold
236,200,664
27,873
PC_Rich
394,969
146,903,524
Wallace
212,477,027
6,204
Slavcho
394,813
132,407,118
10
zz9pzza
211,014,628
15,794
10
TheFlipside
259,697
63,033,086
11
Ben_Lamb
166,053,146
2,891
11
Cmaxx
234,978
22,156,702
12
johnim
162,211,727
74,743
12
clanseven
232,923
5,966,907
13
Christopher_N._Lewis
152,197,972
35,787
13
KevinWright
218,223
75,814,452
14
Lordsoth
152,122,965
83,794
14
Chris_Waddle
179,037
37,815,397
15
PC_Rich
146,903,524
63,810
15
Laguna2012
174,044
32,500,307
16
Slavcho
132,407,118
28,944
16
TrilithiumInjector
147,578
3,650,260
17
Lizard
131,878,662
60,132
17
Andrew_Dixon
146,432
10,212,579
18
JEE6
119,791,313
5,408
18
Desertbaker
145,413
36,048,846
19
r3x
119,107,020
19,141
19
Wallace
136,221
212,477,027
20
The_M2B
117,322,155
49,596
20
mmorr
135,647
26,360,206
121
OPINION
JA M E S G O R B O L D / HARDWARE ACCELERATED
NVIDIA 1, AMD 0
Nvidia doesnt just design GPUs anymore. It offers a complete ecosystem,
and gamers are lapping it up, says James Gorbold
ver the past few years, Nvidia has been building up
a whole ecosystem of applications and technologies
to add value to its GeForce GPUs. The parent of all
these initiatives is GeForce Experience, a brilliant piece of
software that automatically configures the graphics settings
in games to provide the best blend between visual quality
and a high frame rate.
When GeForce Experience first launched a couple of years
ago, it was mocked by some hardcore PC enthusiasts, because
it made GPU tweaking too easy, but Im guessing that these
mockers are the same strange people that
look back with envy to the days of
overclocking via jumpers rather than the
BIOS. And, for the record, Ive been
overclocking since 1994, and Im much
happier doing it with todays BIOS software
and Windows apps than with a pair of pliers.
GeForce Experience also includes a
number of other goodies including
ShadowPlay, which enables you to record
your favourite gaming moments without
incurring the horrific performance penalty
of other recorders such as Fraps. For example, try recording a
game at the native resolution in Fraps and youll see around
a 40 per cent drop in the frame rate, making most games
unplayable.
This month, with the announcement of the Shield tablet,
GeForce Experience has added yet another ace to Nvidias
armoury of technology to convince gamers that GeForce, not
Radeon, is the way to go.
This new feature, called GameStream, enables you to
wirelessly stream games from your desktop PC to your Shield
tablet, meaning youre no longer limited to the chair in front
of your PC, because you can also play PC games from the
comfort of the sofa in your living room. Couple the Shield

tablet with the optional gamepad and an HDMI lead to your
TV, and youll effectively have a fully fledged gaming PC in
your living room.
GameStream puts the Shield in a whole different category
from other tablets, as it provides the best of Android and PC
gaming. It also poses a threat to Valves long-delayed Steam
OS. The ability to stream PC games is, after all, a big feature of
Valves new OS, plus there are currently few games available
for Steam OS compared to Windows.
Other Android and iOS tablets dont have
the ability to stream PC games either, which
also helps the Shield to stand out. Rather
than thinking of the Shield as yet another
tablet in an already crowded market, I see it
as the near-perfect games console, with the
potential to offer far better graphics than an
Xbox One or PlayStation 4, and with the
added advantage of being portable for when
you want to leave the house.
I know Im not alone in seeing the value of
the ecosystem that Nvidia now offers with
its GeForce cards. To be fair, AMD has been offering some
fantastic game bundles with its Radeon cards, and Mantle is
interesting, even if it makes little difference to the frame rate
with a high-end graphics card.
However, since the virtual currency mining bubble burst
at the end of the first quarter of this year, the share of the GPU
market occupied by AMDs Radeon products share has
dropped significantly. I think these figures demonstrate that
we dont just want fast graphics cards anymore we want
graphics system that can do a whole lot more. Nvidia has been
working towards this goal for years, but I wonder when AMD
is going to wake up to the new reality.
I see Shield as the nearperfect games console,

with the potential to offer
far better graphics than an
Xbox One or PlayStation 4
James Gorbold has been building, tweaking and overclocking PCs ever since the 1980s. He now helps Scan Computers to develop new systems.
122

Custom PC - October 2014 UK

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REVIEWED: Nvidias new Jetson hobby board

4K MONITOR GROUP TEST

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Dennis Publishing Limited

Publishing & Marketing

The paper used in this magazine

DONT TRY THIS AT HOME

C U STO M P C / ISSUE 133

94 Text adventure evolution

Rick Lane catches up with voice actor

102 Build a robotic arm

104 Nvidia Jetson

a quad-core CPU and a full-on GPU

110 How to give your case a

carbon fibre look

116 The Baby Grand

PNY OTG Adapter

4K monitor Labs test

From the editor

Divinity: Original Sin

B E N H A R DW I D G E / FROM THE EDITOR

APPLE RETINA PUTS

I was so impressed by the iPad Retina Mini that I bought one,

You can scale up icons and

T R ACY K I N G / SCEPTICAL ANALYSIS

females chose a male avatar (yes, the conflation of sex and

You cant know if those

HELP TEST OUR

Im thinking of using with Asus

Ben replies: There isnt a great deal of

percentage is correct if the figures

Ben replies: Youre quite right Richard

I was very, very drunk

Settling old scores

Me? Criticising NAS articles, on a train, with

I have a lot of respect

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No, Ben, youre not alone, now there

Gareth: Sure. You dont even need a Pi: you can

Gareth: Cheers! Sparks official website is

kiddser Woo! Septembers

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me while I sightsee. The Longest

Send your feedback and correspondence to

Ben replies: I wonder if you might have

WHENS THE NEXT MAG COMING OUT?

Veteran water-cooling firm Swiftech has launched a new all-in-one

Reviewed this month

Plextor M6e M.2 SSD 256GB/165

CI-E storage may have been available through

The M6e exceeds

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