Table of contents for April 2016 in Custom PC UK

It’s a bit like building a fence between the memory and the GPU There are two main complaints I hear from former PC gamers who have retired to the console life, never to return to our glorious haven of dazzling graphics and proper controls. The first is the amount of money required to keep up with the relentless update cycle. The second is that they once bought a cheap graphics card, but then found it couldn’t play any of their games properly. It’s what happens when people insist on advertising cheap GPUs, such as Nvidia’s newly announced GeForce GT 710 (see p15), as gaming cards. Nvidia reckons the GT 710 is up to 80 per cent faster than some integrated graphics setups in games, which sounds impressive, but it’s irrelevant…

The Asus GX700 is, technically, a new Republic of Gamers laptop. It’s also absolutely bananas. It’s the first laptop we’ve seen to come with its own water-cooling module, the Hydro Overclocking System, which is a mighty lump of mesh and metal that connects to the laptop with a row of self-sealing valves and a heavy, reassuring lever. On the inside is a pair of radiators and fans that chill the CPU and GPU. They vent heat backwards and allow the GX700 to run its high-end hardware at proper desktop speeds and beyond. The GX700 and the cooling module are huge and imposing. In fact, the machine includes its own wheeled carrying case. It’s unprecedented cooling hardware for a laptop headed for the production line, but it’s needed to cool the…

You’ll need a large vent or fan grille above or next to the rear I/O cutout SUPPLIER www.scan.co.uk / MODEL NUMBER CW-9060023-WW /SPECIFICATIONS Compatibility Intel: LGA115x, LGA1366; AMD: Socket AM3+, AM3, AM2+, AM2, FM2+, FM2, FM1 Cooler size (installed) (mm) 167 x 200 x 84 (W x D x H) Fans 1 x blower fan Stated noise 36-42dB(A) Small form factor hardware is very much at the forefront of Corsair’s plans for 2016. For starters, the company is expected to a release a 600W SFX PSU, which would point to Corsair possibly making more mini-ITX cases that accommodate small PSUs, such as its existing Bulldog. However, another part of Corsair’s small form factor equation is the H5 SF – an all-in-one liquid cooler that’s designed specifically for small form…

Weighing in at 235g and containing a capacious 9,400mAh battery, the Enerplex Jumpr Stack 9 is a serious power bank; it was able to charge our test Nexus 5X nearly three times over off a single charge. At £90, it’s also seriously expensive, but it feels well made and it has good features, such as built-in, ruggedised micro-USB and Lightning connectors. There’s also a standard USB port, and all three outputs can be used simultaneously. Additionally, metal contacts on the top and bottom of the Stack 9 enable you to chain multiple units together into a single uber power bank. Given the capacity and expense of just one Stack 9, however, you’d have to be an off-grid oligarch to find this feature useful. It’s a great product, but very expensive…

With retro styling designed to invoke the spirit of the famous 1980s machine, the Vega is an all-in-one ZX Spectrum emulator that plugs straight into your TV. A catalogue of 1,000 games is pre-installed, and while the majority are forgettable, some classics such as Knight Lore, Jetpac, Skool Daze and Sabre Wulf are present. A USB port is needed for power, but if your TV doesn’t have one available, you’ll need a spare smartphone charger handy, as there’s no wall plug adaptor in the box. That isn’t the only sacrifice either. The controller feels cheap and there’s little going on that you couldn’t achieve with emulation software, plus many of the best early Spectrum games, such as Valhalla and The Hobbit, require a full keyboard, and thus aren’t compatible with…

The OSD menus are very well designed, and jam-packed with useful features SUPPLIER www.overclockers.co.uk /SPECIFICATIONS Screen size 27in Resolution 3,840 x 2,160 Panel tech IPS Inputs 1 x DisplayPort, 1 x mini-DisplayPort, 4 x HDMI 1.4 USB None Audio 2 x 2W speakers, 3.5mm in/out Power supply Internal OSD control Buttons Unlike Asus’ ROG Swift PG27AQ, which supports G-Sync (see p42), the PB279Q is aimed more at general use than gaming. It’s a 27in IPS monitor with an effective 10-bit (8-bit with dithering) panel that supports a 5ms response time. There are some immediately noticeable differences in the design between the PG27AQ and the PB279Q. The latter’s bezel is a lot thicker, and the stand has none of the red trim or shining LEDs. Clearly, someone at Asus thinks…

SUPPLIER www.scan.co.uk /SPECIFICATIONS Screen size 27in Resolution 5,120 x 2,880 (60Hz) Panel tech IPS Inputs 2 x DisplayPort, 1 x mini-DisplayPort USB 1 x USB 3 input, 5 x USB 3 outputs Speakers 2 x 16W Harman Kardon PSU Internal OSD control Physical buttons Extras Card reader Dell’s 27in Dell UP2715K offers a compelling alternative to the 4K displays on test this month, with a higher resolution and even smaller pixels. The standard 4K resolution of 3,840 x 2,160 is exactly four times 1,920 x 1,080, and if you similarly multiply 2,560 x 1,440, you end up with the Dell’s 5,120 x 2,880, or 5K, resolution. There’s a small problem though. Driving this number of pixels at 60Hz requires more bandwidth than a single DisplayPort 1.2 cable can handle,…

The contrast particularly stands out as the best of any IPS display on test SUPPLIER www.box.co.uk /SPECIFICATIONS Screen size 32in Resolution 3,840 x 1,440 Panel tech IPS Inputs 1 x DisplayPort 1.2, 1 x HDMI 2, 1 x DVI, 1 x D-Sub USB 1 x USB input, 2 x USB 3 output Speakers 2 x speakers, 3.5mm in/out Power supply Internal OSD control Touch Most people use their computers for a wide range of activities, including gaming, working, watching movies and web browsing. A good all-round display needs to cater for all of these options, while keeping an eye on value for money as well, and the Philips Brilliance BDM3275UP is a contender for this description. It’s a massive 32in screen, with a 10-bit IPS panel and a 4ms…

It was the brightest display on test, with a colorimeter result of 412.5cd/m² SUPPLIER www.dabs.com /SPECIFICATIONS Screen size 27in Resolution 3,840 x 2,160 Panel tech IPS Inputs 1 x DisplayPort, 1 x mini-DisplayPort, 1 x HDMI 2, 1 x HDMI 1.4 USB 1 x USB 3 input, 4 x USB 3 outputs Audio 3.5mm output, no speakers Power supply External OSD control Touch When a manufacturer says a display is designed for professional graphics work, it isn’t just a label they can stick on the box to justify an inflated the price. Using a colorimeter, we can compare the brightness levels, contrast and colour reproduction of a screen to see how it measures up with more affordable displays. In most cases, it’s easy to see where the extra money…

The past was behind her DEVELOPER Everything Unlimited Ltd / PUBLISHER Everything Unlimited Ltd / WEBSITE www.thebeginnersgui.de Davey Wreden’s follow-up to The Stanley Parable is a natural successor to that game’s hilarious deconstruction of choice and consequence, and a fascinating departure from it. The Beginner’s Guide presents itself as a playable documentary, exploring the short, experimental games made by a reclusive game designer who goes by the moniker Coda. However, both the origins and purpose of the game are ultimately dependent on the player’s interpretation. Starting in a game that resembles a half-finished Counter-Strike map, the player explores Coda’s game design experiments sequentially; these become increasingly bizarre until, according to Wreden, Coda abruptly ceases making games and disappears. Like the Stanley Parable, the experience is strung together by an unseen…

It’s common knowledge that the Internet has a nasty side. From petty and vindictive arguments in comments sections to flaming in online games, the Internet can be a hostile and volatile place. Indeed, a whole lexicon has arisen around the subject of how to avoid the worst excesses of interacting online, such as ‘don’t read the comments’ and ‘don’t feed the trolls’. The ugly side of the Internet is viewed as part of its essential nature, an unfortunate but necessary evil in its capacity as a free and open platform. Sure, someone swearing at and insulting you in a comment isn’t very nice, but it boils down to words on a screen from someone thousands of miles away; how hurtful can that be? The truth is – very. What’s considered…

There’s only one rumoured graphics card on the near horizon – a Radeon card with dual Fury GPUs At the risk of sounding like I’m writing an advert for my employer, there’s never been a better time to upgrade your PC. While it’s true that I work for one of the largest PC retailers in the UK, my argument isn’t simply based on trying to increase sales, but on solid intel that there aren’t many major product launches on the horizon. On the CPU front, for example, Intel is now producing enough Skylake CPUs to start easing the shortage experienced last year and, as a result, the price difference between Skylake and Haswell chips has begun to narrow. Intel does have lots of products up its sleeves for later in…

There was no way to upgrade the mediocre GPU, and it only worked with a single, £2,000 Sony laptop. Yikes! Tech manufacturers have been trying to make external graphics systems for years, and they’ve always failed, but this year someone finally got it right. Let’s start with a little history. I saw one of the first serious attempts at external graphics at CES 2007 from Asus, called the XG Station. It featured a strange, orange L-shaped housing with a dial and LED display that could adjust the settings of the enclosed GeForce 8600 GT (later a GeForce 7900 GS). This box was connected to the PC via an ExpressCard – a single 1x PCI-E connection providing a pedestrian bandwidth of 250MB/sec. Fast forward to 2010 and, just ahead of Computex,…

What’s classified as ‘geeky’ is what most people call ‘hobbies’ Ba ba baaa Star Waars ba ba ba Staaaar Wars, to the tune of, duh, Star Wars. Everyone’s now a bit Star Wars obsessive, partly because The Force Awakens is actually quite good, and partly because it isn’t as bad as Revenge of the Sith. However, with a reinvigorated Star Wars culture comes a whole convoy of bandwagon journalism, including this absolute corker from The Independent: ‘Star Wars fans and video game geeks “more likely to be narcissists”, study finds.’ The University of Georgia, according to the article, found that people who take part in ‘geeky events’ are really up ourselve … themselves. It’s a study of people who engage in various types of ‘geeky’ activities, from LARPing and D&D…

We hit 4.4GHz using a base clock of 119MHz and a 1.375V vcore SUPPLIER www.scan.co.uk / MODEL NUMBER BX80662I36100 /SPECIFICATIONS Frequency 3.7GHz Core Skylake Packaging LGA1151 Manufacturing process 14nm Number of cores 2 x physical (4 threads) Cache L1: 4x 32KB, L2 2 x 256KB, L3 3MB (shared) Memory controller Dual-channel DDR3L, DDR4, up to 2133MHz Features SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4, SSE4.2, AES, AVX, AVX2, EM64T, F16C, Quick Sync Video Apart from the odd surprise such as the Haswellbased, multiplier-unlocked Pentium G3258, Intel’s CPU offerings have been consistent in terms of overclocking abilities for a number of years. We usually get two K-series models per quad-core generation that are multiplier-unlocked – a Core i5 and Core i7, with a raft of non-K-series CPUs ranging from Core i7s all…

Bluetooth has become the de facto standard for simple audio streaming around the home, but what if you want to hook your old hi-fi into the loop? Well, that’s exactly what the Startech Audio Receiver enables, and it does it very well too. It’s unobtrusively small, sports analogue 3.5mm and digital optical outputs, and it can pair with a device via NFC, removing any need for fiddling about in any option menus. Audio snobs may scoff that the Audio Receiver doesn’t support flashy aptX audio compression, but in our testing, audio sounded clear and detailed – there wasn’t a significant loss in quality when compared with a wired 3.5mm connection. Cheaper, non-NFC models are available on the market, but if you value NFC for easy communication between devices, the Audio…

Test results show 310cd/m² brightness, exceeding the quoted specification SUPPLIER www.amazon.co.uk /SPECIFICATIONS Resolution 3,840 x 2,160 Panel tech IPS Inputs 1 x DisplayPort 1.2, 1 x Mini-DisplayPort, 1 x HDMI 1.4, 1 x DVI-D USB None Speakers Stereo speakers, 3.5mm in/out Power supply External OSD control Buttons Acer has dared to be rather different with its design of the S277HK, which adopts a unique L-shaped stand made from chunky solid metal, with the 27in screen supported on the right-hand side rather than the centre. It has a very thin bezel surrounding a metallic chassis at the front, with a look that’s more in keeping with Macs than PCs. It’s undoubtedly stylish, with a glossy white rear casing and all the ports indented in a small section in the middle.…

SUPPLIER www.scan.co.uk /SPECIFICATIONS Screen size 27in Resolution 3,840 x 2,160 Panel tech IPS Inputs DisplayPort 1.2, HDMI 1.4 USB 1 x USB 3 input, 2 x USB 3 outputs Audio 2 x 2W speakers, 3.5mm in/out Power supply External OSD control Joystick Extras Nvidia G-Sync support We only covered the Asus PG27AQ a few months ago, where it immediately grabbed a well-deserved place on our Elite List. It’s the first 4K display to offer G-Sync, Nvidia’s adaptive-sync technology, with an IPS panel. G-Sync only works with Nvidia GPUs, of course, but it works really well, eliminating tearing and stuttering artefacts and, unlike some FreeSync displays, it still works at lower frame rates. Speaking of which, 4K displays currently only go up to 60Hz, unlike some 2,560 x 1,440 displays,…

Subjectively, the picture quality looks bright and colourful SUPPLIER www.ebuyer.com /SPECIFICATIONS Screen size 28in Resolution 3,840 x 2,160 Panel tech TN Inputs 1 x DisplayPort 1.2, 1 x HDMI 2, 1 x HDMI 1.4, 1 x MHL-HDMi, 1 x DVI-D, 1 x D-Sub USB 1 x USB 3 input, 2 x USB 3 outputs Speakers 2 x 3W speakers, 3.5mm in/out Power supply Internal OSD control Buttons Extras AMD FreeSync support TN technology is traditionally much cheaper than IPS tech. TN panels are also known to be better for gaming due to lower response times, while early IPS screens had much higher response times, leading to noticeable ghosting However, IPS has the key advantage of superior viewing angles, often with much better overall picture quality. And now, the advantages…

SUPPLIER www.amazon.co.uk /SPECIFICATIONS Screen size 34in (219) curved Resolution 3,440 x 1,440 Panel tech IPS Inputs DisplayPort 1.2, HDMI 2, MHL-HDMI, HDMI 1.4 USB 1 x USB 3 input, 4 x USB 3 outputs Speakers 2 x 7W with DTS audio, 3.5mm in/out Power supply External OSD control Joystick Most of this Labs test has been dedicated to 4K screens with the same 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio as 1080p displays, but there’s an alternative option, in the form of 21:9 ultra-wide curved displays, such as the 34-inch Philips BDM3490UC. With a resolution of 3,440 x 1,440, the overall pixel count is much lower than that of a 4K panel. It’s precisely 880 pixels wider than a 2,560 x 1,440 screen, with 440 pixels added to each side. The Philips…

Build a home theatre PC The parts you’ll need to build an affordable, home theatre PC that’s ideal for putting in the lounge and playing back all manner of video formats. This machine will handle general computing and media tasks with no trouble, and its dual-core Skylake CPU can even handle 4K video playback. Meanwhile, its super-quiet Noctua CPU cooler prevents it from making a racket. Build a budget gaming PC The parts you’ll need to build a budget machine capable of playing the latest games at maximum settings on a 1080p monitor, and even some games at 2,560 x 1,440. The machine has a discrete graphics card, a Skylake dual-core CPU and DDR4 memory. Meanwhile, the ASRock Extreme4 motherboard enables base clock overclocking via a BIOS update. Build a…

In 2011, Belgian developer Larian Studios decided to go independent. The creator of the long-running Divinity series of fantasy RPGs broke away from its various regional publishers, and began work on two new games; the strategy game Divinity: Dragon Commander, and the cooperative RPG Divinity: Original Sin. Larian decided to build its own tech, referred to in-house as the Divinity Engine. ‘We were using Gamebryo back then, which we’d used to ship the Dragon Knight saga in 2010,’ says Swen Vincke, Larian founder and creative director. ‘We’d had quite a few problems with Gamebryo – typical middleware problems. We weren’t in control of the tech. Gamebryo was following a different roadmap from where we wanted it to go, so we said, “at some point we’re going to have to take…

01 TEST PARTS OUTSIDE CHASSIS In order to avoid having to dismantle the system once you’ve already built it, due to a dead-on-arrival item, test the components outside the case first. Such occurrences are rare, but the test takes ten minutes and you can just sit the bare system on a non-conductive surface, such as your motherboard box, a wooden desk or a sheet of cardboard. The ASRock Z170 Extreme4 is ideal for testing in this way, as it has on-board power and reset buttons as well as an LED POST code display that can help you identify problems. 02 INSTALL CPU AND MEMORY Removing the CPU socket protection cover, unhook the lever pull it up and lift the socket lid. Orientate the CPU so its shape matches that of…

The Guitar boasts a quad-core 1.3GHz ARMv7 chip, sitting alongside a PowerVR SGX544 graphics processor REVIEW LeMaker Guitar The last LeMaker product I reviewed was the Banana Pro back in July 2015, and if you thought the Chinese-based electronics company had finished drawing inspiration from the Raspberry Pi Foundation when it dropped the ‘Banana Pi’ branding, the Guitar will soon disabuse you of that notion. Based in no small part on the Raspberry Pi Compute Module, the Guitar serves to fill a gap in the market, being an affordable computer-on-module (COM) in a 204-pin SODIMM form factor. So far, so Compute Module. However, while the Raspberry Pi Foundation has been slow to replace the Compute Module’s aging single-core ARMv6 BCM2835 system-on-chip processor, the Guitar boasts a quad-core ARMv7 chip running…

/MEET THY MAKER Name Robert Deluce (Deblow) Age 40 Location Huddersfield Occupation Printer and graphic artist Main uses for PC Gaming, watching shows such as Game of Thrones, photo and video editing, social media and general web browsing Likes Movies, TV shows, art and drawing, console and PC gaming, comics, motorbikes, and collecting statues and figures of my favourite characters and monsters from movies and games Dislikes Currants and sultanas, depressing TV soaps, needles, cricket and not having a Dislike button on Facebook CPC: What originally inspired you to build Alternate? Robert: Some of the design inspiration came from my love of motorcycling; one of my favourite bikes is the Honda CBR600RR – I love its shape and angles, along with shape of most Lamborghinis. Meanwhile, Batman’s Tumbler Batmobile inspired…

SUPPLIER www.overclockers.co.uk /SPECIFICATIONS Chipset Intel Z170 CPU socket Intel LGA1151 Memory support 4 slots: max 64GB DDR3 (up to 3733MHz) Expansion slots Three 16x PCI-E 3, three 1x PCI-E 3 Sound SupremeFX 2015 Realtek ALC1150 Networking Intel Gigabit LAN, 802.11ac Wi-Fi Overclocking Base clock 40–650MHz, CPU multiplier 8-83x; max voltages, CPU 1.7V, RAM 2V Ports 6 x SATA 6Gbps (Z170), 2 x SATA 6Gbps (ASMedia) 1 x M.2, 1 x U.2, 6 x USB 3, 1 x USB 3.1 Type-A, 1 x USB 3.1 Type-C, 4 x USB 2, 1 x LAN, 8-channel audio, line in, mic, 1 x HDMI 1.4, 1 x DisplayPort Dimensions (mm) 305 x 244 We have high expectations for Asus’ Maximus VIII Formula, given its predecessors’ prowess, and it looks like we won’t be…

Unlike most fitness hardware, the Sport Coach is designed for cross fitness enthusiasts, rather than runners and cyclists. The app with which the Coach interacts enables you to plan a gym workout program, and audio cues will then guide you through it via earphones. It’s a smart idea, but the execution lacks finesse. You can’t add custom exercises, for example, and the earphones have to be told that you’ve switched equipment via a button, rather than noticing via its on-board sensors. In terms of audio quality and comfort, though, the Coach is the best set of fitness buds we’ve tested. This alone makes the asking price almost seem worth it, but there’s still a lingering feeling that you’re paying above the odds because of the sub-par app. SUPPLIER www.currys.co.uk…

While most power banks are content with simply jump-starting a dead phone, the Cobra JumPack aims a little higher. In a pinch, it can even jump-start a stricken car. Indeed, the Cobra is more of an emergency measure than an everyday power bank – there’s a bright, built-in torch, which can flash rapidly to attract attention, for example, and it includes jump leads. Given these leanings, it’s forgivable that the JumPack is less efficient than the Enerplex Jumpr Stack 9 when charging our test phone, providing 40 per cent less charge, despite having only 20 per cent less rated capacity. The price of £80 inc VAT may seem expensive, then, especially for a device you’ll hope to never use, but if you ever did find yourself sitting stationary at the…

A revolution in display technology has been unfolding recently, with improved panel techniques leading to superior image quality, higher resolutions, faster refresh rates and lower prices across the board. As a result, 4K screens are now not only cheaper but better than ever, and some even have support for AMD’s FreeSync and Nvidia’s G-Sync technologies, which lock a monitor’s refresh rate to a video card’s frame rate, eliminating tearing and stuttering artefacts. In addition, some consumer displays now have 10-bit colour lookup tables, allowing for 1.07 billion on-screen colours, and the superior viewing angles of IPS panels are now used in a wide range of 4K displays, improving viewing angles and image quality, and with much better response times than previous IPS panels. Even software support has improved. Windows 10…

SUPPLIER www.scan.co.uk /SPECIFICATIONS Resolution 3,840 x 2,160 Panel tech TN Inputs D-Sub, DVI, HDMI 2, DisplayPort USB 1 x USB 2 input, 2 x USB 2 outputs Speakers None Power supply External OSD control Buttons Extras AMD FreeSync support With launch prices of several thousand pounds, 4K displays have earned a reputation for being hideously expensive, and you didn’t even get a 60Hz refresh rate on some early 4K models. As the technology has become more mainstream, and production lines have matured, though, you can amazingly now pick up a 4K screen under for under £300 inc VAT. That’s exactly what AOC has managed to achieve with the U2879F. It’s the most affordable 4K display we’ve ever seen, and the cheapest on test by around £100, behind both Iiyama’s…

Icons, text and graphics look perfectly normal without scaling in Windows SUPPLIER www.scan.co.uk /SPECIFICATIONS Screen size 40in Resolution 3,840 x 2,160 Panel tech MVA Inputs 1 x DisplayPort 1.2, 1 x HDMI 2, 1 x HDMI 1.4, 1 x MHL-HDMI, 1 x D-Sub USB 1 x USB w input, 2 x USB 3 output Speakers 2 x 6W speakers, 3.5mm in/out Power supply Internal OSD control Buttons The proper screen size for a display is always a matter of both personal taste and personal space. However, all the other displays on test this month are dwarfed by Iiyama’s X4071UHSU-B1, which rivals TVs in terms of size. Indeed, it even includes a remote control. What’s more, it appears to offer amazing value for money. The secret is its 10-bit MVA…

The stand is tough, rigid, and capable of a full range of motion SUPPLIER www.overclockers.co.uk /SPECIFICATIONS Screen size 32in Resolution 3,840 x 2,160 Panel tech IPS Inputs 1 x DisplayPort 1.2, 1 x mini DisplayPort, 2 x HDMI 2 USB 1 x USB 3 input, 3 x USB 3 outputs Speakers 3.5mm in/out, optional soundbar Power supply Internal OSD control Buttons Extras AMD FreeSync support Gamers with Nvidia GPUs have the option of a great 4K display in the form of the Asus PG27AQ (see p42), a 27in IPS model that supports G-Sync. For gamers with AMD GPUs, though, there are three displays on test that support FreeSync, but only the Samsung U32E850R has an IPS panel (Samsung calls this technology PLS, but it effectively works the same way…

They’re essentially single-player experiences with a few cooperative actions Almost any game can be improved by adding a cooperative mode. There’s something about playing a game with a friend, regardless of its genre or structure, that simply makes it more fun. It’s a universal recipe for japes and in-jokes, turning serious games into comedies and comedy games into absolute riots. Yet while cooperative modes almost naturally make most games more enjoyable, the addition of an extra player doesn’t necessarily result in an exceptional cooperative game. Indeed, after the release of Valve’s superb Left 4 Dead, the explosive trend of forcing a cooperative mode into almost every game put me off cooperative gaming for a long time. Over Christmas, however, I found myself drawn back into cooperative gaming by a couple…

There are a few issues to consider before applying any of the BIOS files we discuss below. Firstly, overclocking your CPU in this way will temporarily disable the integrated Intel graphics and, as a result, you’ll need to use a discrete graphics card. This situation isn’t an issue if you’re building a gaming system, but it currently isn’t possible to build a CPU-only system that’s overclocked in this way. Secondly, the CPU will be unable to take advantage of any power-saving measures such as C-States, and Turbo Mode will be disabled too – the CPU will be fixed at its maximum frequency. As such, power consumption will be higher, although we measured an idle power load increase of less than 10W for the PC as a whole, even at our…

Full cover mini-ITX blocks A few years ago, if you wanted to cool more than the CPU in a mini-ITX machine, you had to buy a universal VRM waterblock, or do as I did a while back and create your own. Since then, though, we’ve seen the release of full-cover waterblocks for some of the more popular dinky boards available, such as Asus’ Maximus Impact series. With single inlets and outlets, these blocks usually route the coolant over several hotspots or simply have direct flow over the CPU, while dealing with the chipset and VRMs via heat conduction through the waterblock, which makes contact with these other hot spots on the PCB. It seems that sales of these first blocks have been good enough for boards based on Intel’s X99…

MILESTONES THIS MONTH TOP 20 OVERALL TOP 20 PRODUCERS WHAT IS FOLDING? Folding@home uses the spare processing cycles from your PC’s CPU and graphics cards for medical research. You can download the client from http://folding.stanford.edu and our team’s ID is 35947. Once you pass a significant milestone, you’ll get your name in the mag. You can also discuss folding with us and other readers online at the www.bit-tech.net forums.…