Table of contents for August 2016 in Custom PC UK

Where else are you going to get a 10-core CPU or a fast single-GPU 4K gaming card? How much do youreckon the graphics card on our front cover costs? Go on, have a guess. You know it isn’t going to be cheap,but you also know there’s no‘Titan’ or ‘Ti’ branding in the name. I’m guessing you’d hazard an estimate at a price of just under £400.At least,that would have been my first guess.But nope,it costs over £600. Not only that, but it turns out that Nvidia expects you to pay a hefty premium for one if its own reference coolers too. That isn’t the silliest price tag in this issue though. This month appears to be a month when Nvidia and Intel think they can stick any price on their…

Roccat unveils new gaming keyboard Roccat has gone back to basics with the design of its new Suora mechanical gaming keyboard, which aims to do away with superfluous frills and deliver the essentials. The new compact building features aluminium alloy casing and has a frameless structure, with no palm rest, thumb keys or media keys. That isn’t to say there are no frills at all – you get a blue backlight with 11 brightness levels, which you can also set to a breathing effect. The Suora will also support Roccat’s acclaimed Swarm software, is due for release in July 2016. UK pricing hasn’t been announced yet, but Roccat recommends a retail price of €99 for the new keyboard. Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 coming soon Hot on the heels of the…

The JBL Xtreme kicks out one hell of a din, thanks in part to the large bass drivers mounted at each end. In fact, the bass is so powerful that it dominates music played through the speaker. The mix is still controlled enough to be pleasant, but it won’t satisfy picky listeners. Weighing over 2kg, the Xtreme is also right at the top end of what we’d call portable – it will be more at home in the garden than in a backpack. Also, we’re growing used to seeing waterproof, submergible Bluetooth speakers these days, so it’s a little disappointing that, given its name, price and rugged looks, the JBL Xtreme is only rated as splashproof. Still, if you have the money, and you like your outdoor music with thumping…

Drop the brightness and you hardly need to make any other adjustments SUPPLIER www.ebuyer.com /SPECIFICATIONS Screen size 27in Resolution 2,560 x 1,440 Panel tech IPS, 165Hz Inputs 1 x DisplayPort, 1 x HDMI 1.4 USB 4 x USB 3 ports Speakers Stereo 2W speakers Power supply Internal OSD control Buttons Active sync tech G-Sync The XB271HU is Acer’s flagship 27in high refresh rate gaming display, and it starts this shootout with a big bang. Like several of the monitors on test, its standout feature is its high-speed IPS panel. The Predator can blaze along at 165Hz, theoretically even surpassing most TN models, which max out at 144Hz. What also really makes the Predator, and some of the other monitors on test, such a tempting proposition is its host of…

How we test To test airflow performance we used a digital anemometer that can record air speed down to 0.1m/sec. It’s placed behind a large 120mm Monsta radiator, with both objects fixed in position for repeated testing. The fan is attached to the front of the radiator and we measure the speed of air passing through it. This reading is a good indication of static pressure and how well the fan will perform on radiators and heatsinks, as well as when it’s pushing air through your case – exactly the types of scenarios you’ll encounter. To measure noise, we used a digital sound meter. To eliminate the effect of ambient noise and to be able to measure fans that have hard-to-measure sub-30dB(A) noise levels, we simply moved the sound meter…

SUPPLIER www.overclockers.co.uk /SPECIFICATIONS Max speed 1,200rpm Stated noise 19dB(A) PWM No LEDs Yes Extras Anti-vibration mounting pins, 4-pin PWM to 4-pin Molex adaptor The Spectre Pro is one of BitFenix’s premium 120mm models and it comes in both 3-pin and 4-pin PWM versions, with a range of colours. Our model is also illuminated with attractive white LEDs, which can be switched or off using a 2-pin extension cable that can be hooked up to a lighting controller. Alternatively, you can just disconnect the LEDs if you prefer them off. You also get anti-vibration mounting pins and a 4-pin PWM to 4-pin Molex adaptor in the Spectre Pro’s box. Meanwhile, the frame of the fan is made up of two parts, which BitFenix claims will dampen vibration, while its reinforced…

SUPPLIER www.overclockers.co.uk /SPECIFICATIONS Max speed 1,000rpm Stated noise 13dB(A) PWM No LEDs No Extras Braided 50cm cable, anti-vibration mounting pins Noiseblocker’s BlackSilent XL-1 spins at 1,000rpm, and has seven attractive glossy blue blades, along with a sleeve bearing. It also includes four rubber anti-vibration mounting pins. Noiseblocker claims its Bayer Makrolon rotor sports anti-dust technology too, although we couldn’t put it through its paces for long enough to confirm its effectiveness. Noiseblocker claims a 5V startup voltage, but our sample was spinning happily from 4V, where it was inaudible too. You can hear some slight bearing noise at 5V, but the sound quality is generally excellent. It’s also quietest fan on test at this voltage, at just 43dB(A), while managing to shift more air than the Be Quiet! and…

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. The ASRock Extreme4 motherboard is also capable of base clock overclocking via a BIOS update.…

The Banner Saga 2 directly continues the story that ended abruptly in the original game. Retaining the same colourful art style, evocative writing and gut-wrenching decision making, the sequel improves the combat and carries over the consequences of choices made in that initial act. The sequel kicks off in the aftermath of the climactic battle of The Banner Saga, framing its story around one of two possible main characters, depending on which of them survived the fighting. From there, your crimson-bannered caravan continues its arduous journey to the city of Abberrang, where the human clans and towering Varl gather for a final stand against the endless waves of statue-like Dredge pouring down from the North. As with the previous game, Stoic’s ability to tell a compelling story is the main…

EVENT Maker Faire UK 2016 I’m in Newcastle for the Maker Faire UK’s seventh event, and there’s plenty on the schedule. While the atmosphere is, as always, hectic during the setup day on Friday, the list of attractions includes some heavy hitters you’re not likely to see at the smaller Mini Maker Faires dotted around the country: Tesla coil demonstrations from Lords of Lightning, and an indoor Robot Wars-like battle arena, to name just two. ‘I’d heard about the first couple of Maker Faires in Austin and the Bay Area, and we were looking for something to be the anchor event for our Science Festival, which we were running in those days,’ Ian Simmons, director of science communications at the Life Science Centre in Newcastle tells me as makers and…

While the trademark battle rages between Arduino.cc and Arduino.org, an increasing number of devices bearing the former’s new international branding, Genuino, are hitting the market – the MKR1000 is the latest one. Announced with great fanfare and a giveaway last year, the Genuino MKR1000 – known as the Arduino MKR1000 in the USA – is Arduino’s answer to Wi-Fi-enabled devices such as the NodeMCU and Particle Photon. Based on an Atmel ATSAMW25 board that in turn is soldered onto a 25 x 64.6mm motherboard, it isn’t exactly compact, but the designers have worked hard to make use of every inch of that space. The board arrives in a box the size of a bulky pack of chewing gum, but without any protection: no padding, no ESD bag, not even the…

Custom PSU braids While braiding your entire PSU cable by cable is often seen as a rite of passage for many modders, even I refuse to spend an entire weekend doing it. I’d much rather be outside or, at the very least, messing around with some acrylic, tweaking a water-cooling system or cutting some holes in a case. Thankfully, there’s a number of ways to add some colour to your PSU’s cables. PSU manufacturers themselves often offer individually sleeved kits in a range of colours to replace a PSU’s modular cables. Similarly, third-party cable manufacturers offer kits in an even greater array of colours, mixing and matching some colours if you’re feeling adventurous. However, CableMod has gone the extra mile with a system that could make braiding your PSU cables…

MSI shows off Kaby Lake MSI hid a Kaby Lake board around the back of its booth. Its ‘Z2T0’ (aka ‘Z270’) Anniversary Edition board (it’s MSI’s 30th anniversary) was shown with a launch date of November 2016. The Z2T0 Anniversary sports the same LGA1151 socket as existing Skylake boards – socket inter-compatibility is expected for upcoming Kaby Lake CPUs. Otherwise, the board sported many of the same features as MSI’s Skylake boards – I really struggled to spot any differences! Asus ROG Avalon Asus’ ROG Avalon is a modular PC chassis concept that reinvents the motherboard and removes all the cabling you would find inside your typical PC. All the connectors are flipped underneath the board, with adaptors facing downwards, leaving only the CPU and memory sitting on the top.…

Follow your noise Thank you for another excellent magazine. Custom PC continues to be the standout publication of choice. I had been waiting for a comprehensive case review for some time, and was delighted to see it was a feature last month. However, I was disappointed that acoustics were not part of the review. Everyone would agree that CPU and GPU cooling are the two most important elements, but decibels are increasingly an important consideration. In all of my previous builds, I’ve sought a balance between cooling and noise and I’m aware this is the case for many others as well. For future case reviews, could acoustics be a consideration, or maybe we could even have another case review in the near future looking at ‘quiet’ cases and cooling. JON…

A 4-pin header can control RGB LED strips SUPPLIER www.overclockers.co.uk /SPECIFICATIONS Chipset Intel X99 CPU socket Intel LGA2011-v3 Memory support 8 slots: max 128GB DDR3 (up to 3333MHz) Expansion slots Three 16x PCI-E 3, one 16x PCI-E 2, three 1x PCI-E 2 Sound Realtek ALC1150 Networking Intel I218-V Gigabit LAN Overclocking Base clock 80–300MHz, CPU multiplier 12-80x; max voltages, CPU 1.92V, RAM 1.9V Ports 10 x SATA 6Gbps (Z170), 1 x SATA Express 6Gbps, 1 x M.2, 1 x U.2, 8 x USB 3, 1 x USB 3.1 Type-A, 1 x USB 3.1 Type-C, 8 x USB 2, 1 x LAN, 3 x surround audio out, line in, mic Dimensions (mm) 305 x 244 While Broadwell-E is backwards compatible with most X99 motherboards launched when LGA2011-v3 first landed in…

Unlike nearly every all-in-one liquid cooler, the Ion has a large side window SUPPLIER www.overclockers.co.uk / MODEL NUMBER 5060175587077 /SPECIFICATIONS Compatibility Intel: LGA115x, LGA1366, LGA2011, LGA2011v3 Radiator size (installed) (mm) 128x286x40(WxDxH) Fans 2 x 120mm, 1,650rpm Stated noise 29dB(A) Understanding and identifying all the components you need to construct a complete water-cooling system can seem quite daunting for the first time, and it isn’t surprising that all-in-one liquid coolers have been so popular as a result. Custom kits still hold the ultimate in cooling prowess and aesthetics, though, and while EKWB’s Predator blurred the lines between custom and ready-made systems, complete kits such as XSPC’s RayStorm Pro Ion AX240 bundle allow you to dive into proper custom water-cooling hardware with a minimum of fuss. The RayStorm Pro Ion AX240…

Despite only measuring 2cm² and weighing 14g, the Skeye Nano Camera Drone impressively packs a camera, Micro SD slot and battery into its tiny innards. Thoughtfully, it’s also bundled with a 2GB Micro SD card and a USB card reader, making the £60 asking price look reasonable. Not surprisingly, though, performance isn’t great. Images from the camera are poor quality, and the battery only lasts 3-4 minutes. Its small size also makes it twitchy to fly, and we found ourselves recalibrating the link between the drone and the remote every time we crashed it (which was often). It might provide some fun for one afternoon, but it will quickly find itself gathering dust afterwards. SUPPLIER www.firebox.co.uk…

FreeSync works from 40Hz all the way up to 144Hz, dealing with tearing and stuttering SUPPLIER www.overclockers.co.uk /SPECIFICATIONS Resolution 2,560 x 1,440 Panel tech IPS, 165Hz Inputs 1 x DisplayPort, 1 x HDMI 2, 1 x HDMI (MHL), 1 x DVI-DL USB 4 x USB 3 ports Speakers Stereo 5W speakers, 3.5mm in/out Power supply Internal OSD control Buttons Active sync tech FreeSync The Acer XF270HU at first appears to just be the FreeSync version of the XB271HU, with both monitors sporting high-speed IPS panels, fully adjustable stands and a form of adaptive sync tech. However, Acer has cut a few costs elsewhere on this screen, so the £170 price difference isn’t just down to the cost of implementing G-Sync. In terms of specs, the XB271HU’s refresh rate goes…

SUPPLIER www.overclockers.co.uk /SPECIFICATIONS Max speed 1,200rpm Stated noise 16dB(A) PWM No LEDs Yes Extras Braided cable, 3-pin to 4-pin Molex adaptor, anti-vibration mounting pins, 20cm 7V extension cable One of the racier-looking fans on test, Aerocool’s DS Edition sports blade strips that look great when they’re spinning, and four LEDs shine into the blades too. The DS Edition also includes anti-vibration mounting pins, a 3-pin to 4-pin Molex adaptor and a 20cm 7V speed reduction cable – not bad for a tenner. There were no funny sounds before the blades started spinning, but while Aerocool states a startup voltage of 3V, we measured it at 5V. While the fan was the loudest on test at 5V, it managed 1m/sec of airflow at 54dB(A), showing good efficiency, although the Noiseblocker…

SUPPLIER www.scan.co.uk /SPECIFICATIONS Max speed 1,450rpm Stated noise 23dB(A) PWM Yes LEDs No Extras Red, blue and white fan rings Corsair’s SP (static pressure) series is designed to perform well with heatsinks and radiators. They’re popular with water-cooling enthusiasts as a result, but while they’ve dropped in price recently, they still cost £13 a pop. Our sample offered PWM control and also sported three replaceable rings in blue, white and red. There are no LEDs or other extras, although it has built-in rubber anti-vibration mounts. The fan itself has seven fairly wide blades and uses a hydraulic bearing. It comes in a few flavours too, from a monstrous 2,350rpm version to the Quiet Edition here, which maxes out at 1,450rpm. It’s still one of the most powerful fans on…

SUPPLIER www.scan.co.uk /SPECIFICATIONS Max speed 1,200rpm Stated noise 19.7dB(A) PWM No LEDs No Extras None SilverStone’s 120mm AP122 costs just £5 – less than half the price of many other fans on test. It has an impressive total of nine blades crammed into a basic plastic frame, but it doesn’t include any other parts except mounting screws. The Air Penetrator grille at the rear is designed to channel the exhaust air in a straighter path than usual, which SilverStone claims will promote high pressure – ideal for use with heatsinks and radiators. The AP122 uses a sleeve bearing and has a stated maximum speed of 1,200rpm, putting it in the faster tier of fans on test. SilverStone quotes a 9V startup voltage, but we found it started spinning at…

Guns are extremely simple yet versatile tools to possess in a virtual world This month I’ve been playing Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture (see p82 ), the latest game by Dear Esther developer TheChineseRoom – the British developer known as the pioneer of the‘walking simulator’genre.Rapture takes place in a stunning,distinctly British slice of countryside, and uses this environment as a backdrop to tell a story. There’s plenty to like, but it’s hamstrung by the world being almost completely static, with hardly any possible interaction, like a film set where the director is terrified the façades will collapse if the actors touch them. Rapture isn’t the only game of its ilk that suffers from this problem.I don’t really like the term ‘walking simulators’, preferring instead to call them ‘first-person adventures’,…

A year after launching as a PlayStation 4 exclusive, TheChineseRoom’s spiritual mystery set in the quaint British countryside has finally arrived on the PC. Set in 1984, Rapture takes place in and around Yaughton, a fictional Shropshire hamlet that epitomises rural England. It’s quiet, pleasant, surrounded by idyllic countryside and ever so slightly xenophobic. There’s just one problem with Yaughton (aside from the xenophobia) – everybody has disappeared, and it’s your job as unnamed first-person protagonist to figure out what’s happened. It’s easily one of the most beautiful games you will play on your PC this year. The rendering of rural England is an astounding achievement, from the undeniably British road signs catching the summer sunlight, to the whitewashed pub with hanging baskets out front and a beer garden out…

Competitive chess requires almost no motor skills The idea of video games as competitive sports isn’t new. Wherever there are games, people will offer bets or prizes. Computers resulted in more and different types of games, but the tendency towards competition remained. The earliest known competitive video gaming contest was Spacewar in 1972, with a prize of a year’s Rolling Stone subscription.Eight years later,over 10,000 Space Invaders players took part in an Atari US competition. Competitive gaming had arrived,but it wasn’t until a large-scale Quake tournament in 1997 that eSports as a genre was born. The prize was a second-hand Ferrari, and the following year it was $15,000 US cash. The same year, the first league was founded and eSports began to grow as a real business.In 2016, eSports Twitch…

It can use ray tracing principles to simulate sound moving in VR space SUPPLIER www.scan.co.uk /SPECIFICATIONS Graphics processor Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080, 1607MHz (1733MHz boost) Pipeline 2,560 stream processors, 64 ROPs Memory 8GB GDDR5X, 10GHz effective Bandwidth 320GB/sec Compatibility DirectX 12, OpenGL 4.5 Outputs/inputs Dual-link DVI, 1 x HDMI 2b, 3 x DisplayPort 1.4 Power connections 1 x 8-pin Size 267mm long, dual-slot Writing this review has involved an awful lot of double-takes and having to double-check some of our figures. From the super-fast frame rates to the surprisingly low power consumption, there have been quite a few moments where we’ve said ‘hang on, that can’t be right’. But sure enough, the GTX 1080 is indeed a feat of silicon engineering that stomps over all its predecessors. Likewise, the…

It features plastic and aluminium constriction SUPPLIER www.scan.co.uk The lounge has long been a target of the PC gaming industry, but it’s never quite cracked it. However, Corsair is hoping its Lapdog, along with some other products, such as its Bulldog mini-ITX gaming chassis, could make gaming from your sofa more practical. Several iterations of the Lapdog will be available, including keyboard and mouse bundles, but it will also come as a vacant unit as reviewed here. The idea is simple; the Lapdog provides a secure home for one of Corsair’s K70 or K65-series keyboards and offers a large mouse mat, all in a chassis with a cushioned base designed to sit on your lap. The base is magnetic, enabling you to quickly remove it to access an…

The Energie 6k might look like a standard 6,000mAh external battery, albeit one with a built-in charging cable, but it has a trick up its sleeve – a flick-out, American, type-A plug adaptor on its rear. It’s a sound idea, as it means it can entirely replace a normal wall charger as well as functioning as a battery, cutting down on the amount of clobber you need to carry (or remember) when travelling. The obvious drawback for us limeys is the need for an adaptor to use the 6k in the UK. TYLT bundles one with the unit, but using it feels clunky, as the adaptor is a bulky separate item, robbing the battery of its simple all-in-one premise. This drawback, in combination with the high price, mean the 6k…

How we test When testing a monitor, we first consider the design and build quality. We also check the range and quality of stand adjustments – height, rotation, tilt and pivot, so we also look at the range and quality of the movements. Next, we assess the selection of video outputs, and look at extras such as ports, and speakers. We also consider the on-screen display (OSD), and the controls used to navigate it. Then we move on to image quality, using both subjective and objective tests, the latter conducted with an X-Rite i1 Display Pro colorimeter. First, we reset each display to its default settings, so we can assess its out-of-the-box performance. Nearly all monitors arrive with the brightness set too high for daily use, but that’s an easy…

Running a game at 90Hz is a pleasant step up from 60Hz in terms of smoothness SUPPLIER www.scan.co.uk /SPECIFICATIONS Screen size 27in Resolution 2,560 x 1,440 Panel tech IPS, 144Hz Inputs 1 x DisplayPort, 1 x mini DisplayPort, 2 x HDMI 1.4 USB 2 x USB 3 ports Speakers Stereo 2W speakers, 3.5mm out Power supply Internal OSD control Joystick Adaptive sync tech FreeSync The Asus MG279Q is a cheaper FreeSync sibling to Asus’ flagship G-Sync monitor, and it cuts a few corners to make up for the £210 price difference. Build quality is the main issue, with the MG279Q’s frame feeling a little plasticky. The choice of a slightly greyer plastic than usual doesn’t help either, with black monitors arguably looking more stylish, although that’s really a matter…

Gaming is great fun with the combination of a 144Hz refresh rate and G-Sync support SUPPLIER: www.overclockers.co.uk /SPECIFICATIONS Screen size 27in Resolution 2,560 x 1,440 Panel tech TN Inputs 1 x DisplayPort 1.2, 1 x HDMI 1.4 USB 4 x USB 3 ports Speakers No, 3.5mm headphone out Power supply Internal OSD control Buttons Active sync tech G-Sync The S2716DG represents Dell’s first foray into gaming displays with active sync technology. You’d be forgiven for looking right past it in a store, as there are none of the telltale gamer giveaways when it comes to design. It’s as sleek and stylish, yet business-like, as we would expect from Dell. The only hint that the S2716DG isn’t meant for office use is the glossy plastic back, where we’d normally…

SUPPLIER www.overclockers.co.uk /SPECIFICATIONS Max speed 800rpm Stated noise 9.8dB(A) PWM No LEDs No Extras Anti-vibration mounting pins, 3-pin to 4-pin Molex 7V adaptor The Be Quiet! nifty-looking Shadow Wings series of fans comes in a range of speeds, with either PWM or 3-pin power connections, and this test sample’s maximum speed of just 800rpm makes it the slowest fan on test. There’s a handy 7V adaptor in the box, but it only works if you connect it to a 4-pin Molex power connector. You also get anti-vibration push-pin mounts that secure to each of the fan’s four rubber mounts, while the all-black blades sport grooves that Be Quiet! claims can focus airflow. The claimed startup voltage was spot on, with the blades beginning to turn at 5V. At this…

SUPPLIER www.ebuyer.com /SPECIFICATIONS Max speed 1,500rpm Stated noise 22dB(A) PWM Yes LEDs No Extras 30cm 4-pin extension cable, 4-pin Y-splitter adaptor, low-noise adaptor, anti-vibration mounting pins Noctua’s NF-F12 is the fastest and most expensive fan on test, but it has loads of accessories. There’s a fan-speed reduction cable that cuts the speed from 1,500rpm to 1,200rpm, a Y-splitter cable that enables you to power two fans from a single 3-pin or 4-pin header, plus anti-vibration pins and an extension cable. There’s some serious design work behind the NF-F12, with varying angles between the rear guide vanes, which Noctua says will spread noise over a wider, more agreeable spectrum. There are also vortex notches that perform a similar task, while reducing turbulence and noise. Noctua uses its own oil-pressure bearing…

SUPPLIER www.amazon.co.uk /SPECIFICATIONS Max speed 1,000rpm Stated noise 17.78dB(A) PWM No LEDs Yes Extras None The Pure S 12 LED has no fancy fan blade tech – just a seven-blade design and a standard sleeve bearing. It sports blue LEDs, but there are no accessories except mounting screws. Its plain exterior hides some serious power though. Despite Thermaltake stating a startup voltage of 9V, the fan started spinning at just 2V – the lowest result on test. It was silent when starting up too, with no clicking or jerking. It barely shifted any air, though, even at 5V, where the noise measured just 45dB(A) at close range. It was inaudible more than 12in away, but its airflow measured just 0.2m/sec – the joint lowest result on test, at 483rpm.…

You can always tell the quality of a Doom game by the number of naughty giggles it elicits. The original game still causes a cackle when you carve open an imp’s chest with a well-placed blast from the rocket launcher, while 2004’s Doom 3 is barely capable of stirring a grin with is plodding pace and peashooter weapons. It took all of five minutes for 2016’s Doom to have us honking with laughter, when we attacked a stunned imp from a high ledge, which caused our green-suited marine to pin it to the ground and stamp its skull into mush. This latest reboot of the 1993 classic frames itself as ‘going back to the roots’ of the original game, and it certainly feels more like the original games than Doom…

Gaming has always been driven by what we see. The very name of the medium ‘video game’ suggests a visual format, where players take control of actions on screens which had hitherto only allowed for passive engagement. Since its earliest days, the mainstream game industry has been dominated by the relentless push to improve on that visual satisfaction, evolving from 2D to 3D, pixels to polygons, mipmaps to normal-maps and static to real-time lighting. When new gaming hardware is revealed, it’s sold to upon its ability to show you something you’ve never seen before. But the experience of gaming would be much hollower without its aural counterpart, from the early bleeps and bloops of games such as Computer Space and Pong, through the Chiptune soundtracks of the 1980s and 1990s…

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.…

When the GTX 1080 finally went on sale on 27 May, it sold out within minutes Anew GPU launch, especially the first variant of a new architecture,such as the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 (see p26), is always cause for excitement. The Internet had been positively ablaze with rumours and speculation for a few months beforehand, which Nvidia then stoked by announcing some details of the first Pascal gaming GPU at DreamHack on 7 May. With positively glowing online media reviews appearing on 17 May,it should come as no surprise that when the GTX 1080 finally went on sale on 27 May, it sold out within minutes. At £620 for a Founders Edition card, which is what us old-timers used to call‘reference cards’, the GTX 1080 sets a new precedent for…