Table of contents for May 2016 in Custom PC UK

Brrrrrr, bip. Brrrrrr, biddlybipbipscrawch. This month’s soundtrack to my life is currently coming from my newly repaired Sinclair ZX Spectrum, as it loads some of my old games. I’ve swapped the RF output for a composite output, replaced the keyboard membrane and resoldered the power connector. It all works perfectly again, and I’ve even managed to get it to speed-load Manic Miner from an iPod in 25 seconds, thanks to some speeded-up audio and a small headphone amplifier. It’s been fun. The games look terrible, of course, but what really struck me about playing with my old Spectrum again is that it’s a computer, rather than a games machine. On Pancake Day, I programmed in some BASIC code that a guy called Gary Plowman posted on Facebook, and it drew…

Its fans are half-height 120mm models that are just 15mm thick SUPPLIER www.scan.co.uk /SPECIFICATIONS Compatibility Intel: LGA2011, LGA2011-v3, LGA115x, LGA1366, LGA775; AMD: Socket AM3/3+,AM2/2+ FM2/2+, FM1 Radiator size with fans (mm) 273 x 120 x 37 (W x D x H) Fans 2 x 120mm Stated noise Up to 27dB(A) SilverStone’s new TD02-Slim sports a similar waterblock and design to the company’s other all-in-one (AIO) liquid coolers but, as its name suggests, its fans are half-height 120mm models that are just 15mm thick, instead of the usual 25mm. The radiator is only 22mm thick too – a good 8mm thinner than many other half-height radiators. The total thickness of just 37mm is around 20mm slimmer than most double 120mm AIO liquid coolers. Not many cases that need such a…

SUPPLIER www.box.co.uk /SPECIFICATIONS Chipset Intel Z170 CPU socket Intel LGA1151 Memory support 4 slots: max 64GB DDR3 (up to 3600MHz) Expansion slots Three 16x PCI-E 3, four 1x PCI-E 3 Sound Realtek ALC1150 Networking Intel I219-V Gigabit LAN Overclocking Base clock 98– 341MHz, CPU multiplier 8-80x; max voltages, CPU 1.55V, RAM 2.2V Ports 6 x SATA 6Gbps (Z170), 1 x M.2, 1 x USB 3.1 Type-A, 1 x USB 3.1 Type-C, 2 x USB 3, 4 x USB 2, 1 x LAN, 8-channel surround audio out, line in, mic, optical S/PDIF out, 1 x HDMI 1.4, 1 x DVI-D, 1 x PS2 Dimensions (mm) 305 x 244 If you fancy having RGB lighting on your motherboard, but Asus’ lighting-equipped offerings, such as the Maximus VIII Formula or Hero, aren’t…

If, like ourselves, you were taught to look after your toys as a child, then Risk Legacy may pose a challenge. The whole concept is that the game is both disposable and changeable. Parts of the game get ripped up and thrown in the bin, you scribble on the board and stickers get stuck on the cards, all of which then has an impact on later games. It’s initially a bit nerve-wracking, but once you’re in the swing of it, you start actively competing to stamp your own marks on the game, lest your fellow players beat you to it. It makes for great fun for the 15 or so games that it lasts, and at the end of it, you’ll have a board that’s completely unique to you and…

With a similar size and weight to a large can of beer, the Boom 2 is a capable speaker. Audio is tight and controlled, with punchy bass notes underneath a warm mid-range. It’s a mix that makes for a satisfying experience, especially with country or light rock music. The physical package is impressive too. Its waterproof mesh exterior is IPX7-rated, meaning it can be fully submerged for up to half an hour. Battery life is very good too – we measured just over 11 hours of continuous play. There’s also a dedicated app, which isn’t vital for use, but cleverly enables up to three devices to connect to the Boom 2 so you can set up collaborative playlists. Naturally, you pay for this quality, but if you’ll get a lot…

SUPPLIER www.overclockers.co.uk /SPECIFICATIONS Connection Wired, USB Cable 1.8m, braided Material Plastic, aluminium Switch type Cherry MX Brown (Black, Blue and Red available) Backlighting Red Ports No Wrist rest No Extras Programmable keys, media keys, dedicated volume keys, Windows key lock With an aluminium faceplate and raised keys, the Attack X3 has more than a little Corsair influence in its design. Sadly, while it’s strong, it lacks the finesse of Corsair’s offerings thanks to the flimsy plastic top and bottom sections, as well as its bulky design. The reinforced cable and solid grip are welcome, but the red backlight is quite garish, bleeding badly through dual-character keys and reflecting harshly off the metal. There’s no wrist rest or key puller either, but you can’t expect everything for £85 inc VAT,…

SUPPLIER TBC /SPECIFICATIONS Connection Wired, USB Cable 1.5m, braided, detachable Material Plastic Switch type Cherry MX RGB Red (Brown available) Backlighting RGB, per-key Ports No Wrist rest No Extras Programmable keys, N-key rollover, media keys, Windows key lock, key removal tool, repeat rate adjustment Cooler Master’s brand-new MasterKeys Pro S really takes advantage of its lack of a numeric keypad, having no extra keys or bulk and thus a very small footprint. Its minimalist aesthetics will stylistically fit practically anywhere, but belies both the quality of its materials and its surprisingly large feature set. The smooth, matt plastic is mark-resistant and hefty steel reinforcement means it’s robust and reassuringly weighty. It grips smooth surfaces with ease even with its feet extended, and the detachable cable completes the picture of an…

You can create your own per-key static colour patterns SUPPLIER http://gaming.logitech.com /SPECIFICATIONS Connection Wired, USB Cable 1.8m, braided Material Plastic Switch type Romer-G Backlighting RGB, per-key, game-controlled Ports No Wrist rest No Extras 12 macro keys (0 dedicated), 26-key rollover, dedicated media keys, Windows key lock The G810 Orion Spectrum follows the G910 Orion Spark but, with its matt black finish and simple design, it has a more grown-up, understated feel. The material picks up fingerprints easily, but it’s undeniably solid. The feet can also be set to two different heights, which is useful, as the G810 feels flat without them. The key feature is the set of Romer-G switches. With a 45cN actuation force and tactile feedback, the closest comparison is Cherry MX Browns and, after spending some…

SUPPLIER www.cclonline.com /SPECIFICATIONS Connection Wired, USB Cable 2m, braided Material Plastic Switch type Razer Clicky (Silent available) Backlighting Green, per-key, game-controlled Ports 1 x USB 2, headphone/mic combined jack Wrist rest No Extras Programmable keys, 10-key rollover, media keys, Windows key lock The Razer BlackWidow Ultimate 2016 uses Razer’s Clicky switches, which are based on the Cherry MX Blue design but have a higher actuation point and longer lifetime rating. The experience is very similar, however, with a just as distinctive and satisfying a click. Razer’s tactile feedback is again more noticeable, especially when the key resets, which can occasionally be mildly distracting, but if you generally like a solid click from your switches, you’ll like these ones. Build quality is a little lower than that of the more…

SUPPLIER www.overclockers.co.uk /SPECIFICATIONS Connection Wired, USB Cable 2m, braided Material Plastic Switch type SteelSeries QS1 Backlighting RGB, per-key, game-controlled Ports 2 x USB 2 Wrist rest No Extras 6 dedicated macro keys, programmable keys, n-key rollover, media keys, Windows lock, replacement keycaps In a group of high-quality keyboards, the Apex M800 lacks the premium feel of many of its competitors. It isn’t weak or flimsy – just lacklustre; the textured black plastic is run-of-the-mill and it could really do without the glossy black trim around the keys, which just gets smudged immediately. The cable is also fixed and has no reinforcement at the connection. The swappable rubber feet that lock into place are great though – grip is flawless. The QS1 switches have only 3mm of travel and SteelSeries…

Many such documents don’t specify an end date to this legal gagging order We’ve reached a critical point in the evolution of games. Despite still being considered a new art form, video games haven’t been a new idea for a long time. Gaming has been popular entertainment for over 40 years, in fact, with the earliest examples going as far back as the 1950s. In other words, gaming is a timeline with which we can clearly trace its evolution. At the same time, we’re very fortunate that the vast majority of this history still exists within living memory. Most of its important figures – Nolan Bushnell, Clive Sinclair, Shigeru Miyamoto – are still very much alive. If we want gaming was early days, we can still ask someone who was…

DEVELOPER Red Hook Studios/ PUBLISHER Red Hook Studios/ WEBSITE www.darkestdungeon.com Darkest Dungeon is probably the most misanthropic game we’ve ever played. It doesn’t like itself. It doesn’t like the characters it tears apart both physically and psychologically, and it likes the player least of all. It’s a game you admire rather than enjoy. Make no mistake, Darkest Dungeon is well made. It starts with the player inheriting a wealthy mansion estate from a long-lost family member. Unfortunately, your inheritance is a poisoned chalice – the estate is cursed and the mansion filled with all manner of nasty creatures. To claim your inheritance, you must first rid the estate of its denizens by hiring parties of heroes and guiding them through randomly generated dungeon maps, clearing them of monsters. It’s a…

Gimp We use Gimp to open and edit large images. Unlike our previous Gimp test, this one uses more than one CPU core, although it’s still more sensitive to clock speed increases than more CPU cores. Handbrake H.264 video encoding Our heavily multi-threaded Handbrake video encoding takes full advantage of many CPU cores, pushing them to 100 per cent load. LuxMark OpenCL This GPU compute test is the only synthetic part of our suite, although the renderer is based on the real LuxRender physically based rendering software. As 3D rendering is a specific workload that not everyone will use, and because OpenCL support isn’t standard in most software, this section is given just a quarter of the weighting of the other tests in the final score. Heavy multi-tasking Our new…

Many people will prefer to take the risk than lose their overclock As soon as news broke that Supermicro had made overclocking possible on Intel’s non-K series, sixth-generation (Skylake) processors via the base clock, the floodgates of BIOS updates opened and all motherboard makers enabled the same feature. Highly affordable Core i3 chips were getting excellent 40 per cent overclocks and, given the stagnation of PC sales, you’d think Intel wouldn’t mind – a sale is a sale, right? But no. In an act of anti-consumer, bean-counter cynicism, Intel has decided to take away this unofficial feature and replace it with, yep, nothing. There’s no Pentium Anniversary Edition or Core i3 K-series chip to plug the obvious gap in the market, just kthxbye. I’m mainly firing my forked tongue at…

The closest genre to ‘violent’ that Etchells could find was ‘shoot-em-ups’ It isn’t every day that a research paper lands on my desk that’s been written by friends, but I find myself in the interesting position of writing a column about the recent work of scientist Pete Etchells, who I know and respect. Bit awkward. You may have heard of the paper, or at least seen some of the headlines. It was on the Reddit front page for a while, and has attracted a lot of interest. ‘Is there an association between video games and aggression?’ asks The Guardian in a piece written by Etchells. The gist is that there was a longitudinal study (one that lasts years) undertaken by University of Bristol to ‘chart the health’ and lifestyles of…

SUPPLIER www.scan.co.uk /SPECIFICATIONS Chipset Intel Z170 CPU socket Intel LGA1151 Memory support 4 slots: max 64GB DDR3 (up to 3600MHz) Expansion slots Two 16x PCI-E 3, four 1x PCI-E 3 Sound Realtek ALC1150 Networking Killer E2201 Gigabit LAN Overclocking Base clock 98–341MHz, CPU multiplier 8-80x; max voltages, CPU 1.8V, RAM 2V Ports 6 x SATA 6Gbps (Z170), 1 x M.2, 2 x USB 3.1 Type-A, 4 x USB 3, 1 x LAN, 8-channel surround audio out, line in, mic, 1 x HDMI 1.4, 1 x DVI-D, 1 x PS2 Dimensions (mm) 305 x 244 If you’re on a tight budget, opting for a Skylake Z170 system is thankfully becoming more affordable all the time. There are now plenty of motherboards below the £100 mark, such as this Z170-Gaming K3…

Unusually for a gaming peripheral, the packaging of the Kanga is refreshingly free of hyperbolic marketing speak. It’s a simple rubber-backed fabric mat, and it covers the basics well. The black fabric upper is very tightly woven, which makes it an ideal tracking surface for the majority of today’s gaming mice – all three of our test mice tracked perfectly on it. The fabric’s slight grain does provide a noticeable touch of friction, however, to which you’ll need to become accustomed if you’re used to the glide of a less textured mat. The only downside is that the Kanga’s edges aren’t rounded or bonded, a feature commonly seen on more premium mats. As such, the fabric upper and rubber backing may peel apart over time, but you can’t expect everything…

Cherry MX Cherry’s German-built MX switches are the most popular ones on the market. They have a sterling reputation, but they’re pricey. Cherry MX Reds are light, with a 45cN actuation force, and linear, meaning there’s no discernible feedback at the actuation/reset point. The Brown varieties are just as light but have tactile feedback, with a detectable bump as they’re actuated. Blue switches are a little heavier at 50cN, and have both tactile and audible feedback, making a distinctive click sound on every press. Blacks are just like Reds but heavier at 60cN – they’re not seen in this roundup but are available on some models. All Cherry MX switches have an iconic cross-shaped plunger and 4mm of total travel, although actuation and reset points vary. The standard variety has…

SUPPLIER www.amazon.co.uk /SPECIFICATIONS Connection Wired, 2 x USB Cable 2m, braided Material Plastic, aluminium Switch type Cherry MX RGB Red (Brown available) Backlighting RGB, per-key Ports No Wrist rest Yes, removable The Corsair K70 RGB’s brushed aluminium unibody faceplate adds allure, class and strength like no other keyboard’s faceplate. The cable is non-detachable but secure and thick, and the keyboard’s power draw requires two USB ports, despite having no pass-through feature. Grip is excellent, and even the non-mechanical buttons – a dedicated brightness control, a Windows key lock and a set of dedicated media keys – are well made with solid action. The K70 uses Cherry MX RGB switches, and our sample had the Red variety, which offered its usual high standard of quality and consistency; it’s also available…

The LEDs are very bright and shine between the keycaps attractively SUPPLIER www.box.co.uk /SPECIFICATIONS Connection Wired, USB Cable 1.5m, braided, detachable Material Plastic Switch type Cherry MX Brown (Blue and Red available) Backlighting Dual-colour (red/blue), per-key Ports No Wrist rest No Extras Programmable keys, n-key rollover, media keys, Windows key lock, key removal tool, repeat rate adjustment, replacement keycap The Quick Fire XTi has an all-plastic exterior but it’s reinforced inside and feels satisfyingly solid. Its cable is detachable too, and it isn’t prone to slipping across desks. The chassis is also no bigger than necessary, and there are no extra macro keys making it oversized. It’s completely plug and play too, requiring no software, but it still has macro support. The P1-P4 buttons above the numeric keypad provide…

SUPPLIER www.amazon.co.uk /SPECIFICATIONS Connection Wired, 2 x USB Cable 1.8m, braided Material Plastic Switch type Cherry MX RGB Brown Backlighting RGB, per-key, game-controlled Ports Headphone, mic Wrist rest Yes Extras 8 dedicated macro keys, programmable keys, EasyShift+, n-key rollover, media keys, Windows key lock Roccat’s Ryos MK FX is the largest keyboard on test, partly because it has both a left column of five macro keys, as well as three macro keys below the spacebar. They’re all very convenient to reach from a standard WASD position, but they’re also flat and stiff in order to prevent accidental actuation. In addition, the Ryos MK FX has a wide trim around the keyset, including a built-in comfortable wrist rest, although it’s sadly not detachable . Like the K70 RGB, the Ryos…

SUPPLIER www.box.co.uk /SPECIFICATIONS Connection Wired, USB Cable 2m, braided Material Plastic Switch type Kailh Red Backlighting RGB, per-key Ports 2 x USB 2, headphone, mic Wrist rest Yes, removable Extras Programmable keys, n-key rollover, media keys, Windows key lock, key removal tool, repeat rate adjustment The MK-90’s £100 price is attractive for a mechanical, RGB keyboard. The MK-90 even has a comfortable, detachable, soft-touch wrist rest, a keycap puller, and dual USB 2 and audio jack pass-through ports. These ports are at the back, but printed markings make finding them easy. The MK-90 also has respectable, if not outstanding, build quality, and the soft-touch material isn’t a fingerprint magnet. The Kailh switches feel spongier than the Cherry Reds they’re designed to mimic, though, lacking the proper light, clean and…

 SUPPLIER www.overclockers.co.uk The Cherry MX Red switches are smooth, consistent and linear /SPECIFICATIONS Connection Wired, USB Cable 1.7m, braided, detachable Material Plastic Switch type Cherry MX Red Backlighting White, per-key Ports No Wrist rest No Extras 8 dedicated macro keys, n-key rollover, media keys, dedicated volume keys, Windows key lock, repeat rate adjustment Xtrfy’s XG1-R LED opts for quality and simplicity over a massive feature list. It’s a respectable approach, but it still needs to justify its £114 price tag. The deal isn’t sweetened by any extras or accessories, but from a build quality perspective, the XG1-R LED impresses – the matt black plastic feels solid and the board is robust at all points, including the flick-out legs, and the cable is detachable too. Grip, however, is a little weak…

Hands on with Bitspower’s X99E-ITX/ac waterblock As I mentioned in last month’s column, Bitspower has released a full-cover waterblock for the only LGA2011-v3 mini-ITX motherboard on the market – the ASRock X99E-ITX/ac, and this month the company was kind enough to send me one. ASRock pitched in with the motherboard too, so I set about seeing how well the two parts worked together. Given that the motherboard is close to bulging with all the ports and features squeezed onto it, it’s amazing that anyone attempted to water-cool it, so it isn’t surprising that Bitspower didn’t make a single-piece waterblock for it, which is the usual method for making a full-cover mini-ITX waterblock. Instead, it’s used separate custom CPU and VRM waterblocks, which attach to the PCB, and the two blocks…

/MEET THY MAKER Name Christian Ost (aka Complx) Age 26 Location Pennsylvania, USA Occupation Package designer Main uses for PC Gaming, design work and rendering Likes Gaming and racing sims Dislikes Problems with the projects on which I work CPC: What originally inspired you to build Node? Christian: The original inspiration came after I used a 3D printer to produce some projects for work, as well as seeing the 3D printer demo models at my local hardware store. A friend of mine also approached me about making a similar project; he wanted a full tower with all the bells and whistles found on modern cases. Unfortunately, after working on the original idea for a few months, the project hit a dead end. A few months later, I pulled up the…

Pushmi-pullyu I’ve been reading Issue 146, and I have a question about the Skylake build. In step 6 (titled ‘fit fans on cooler’) of the build guide, it says: ‘Most all-in-one liquid coolers require you to fit their fans, so go ahead and do this now before you install the radiator. In our case, we’ll be fitting the fan from the top, screwing the radiator into position at the same time.’ The supporting picture shows the fan being installed on the Kraken in a push configuration. However, steps 8 and 9 show the radiator being installed to the top of the case, and the fan being installed outside the case, in the roof mount, in a pull configuration. It’s slightly confusing. To me, it means that step 6 isn’t required,…

Corsair launches VOID Surround headset Corsair has released a new surround-sound headset designed for PC gaming. The new VOID Surround has a standard 3.5mm jack output for connecting to consoles, but comes with a USB Dolby Headphone 7.1 adaptor for connecting to a Windows PC. According to Corsair, the VOID Surround is ‘built from the ground up to redefine comfort and enable marathon gaming sessions’, promising ‘a revolutionary new ear cup shape and top of the line microfibre fabrics and memory foam’. The Surround also has a cast aluminium construction, and features large 50mm neodymium drivers, as well as a unidirectional noise-cancelling microphone. The VOID Surround is available now for £80 inc VAT from www.corsair.com Valve releases VR test If you’re getting excited about VR gaming, Valve has released a…

Even Crysis 3 couldn’t stop the Fangbook SUPPLIER www.cyberpowersystem.co.uk /SPECIFICATIONS CPU 2.7GHz Intel Core i7-6820HK Memory 16GB 2133MHz DDR4 Graphics Nvidia GeForce GTX 980 8GB Screen 17.3in 1,920 x 1080 Nvidia G-Sync IPS Storage 256GB Samsung SM951 NVMe M.2 SSD, 2TB hard disk Weight 3.9kg Networking Gigabit Ethernet, dual-band 802.11ac Wi-Fi Ports 6 x USB 3, 1 x USB 3.1 Type-C, Gigabit Ethernet, 4 x audio, SD card slot, HDMI, mini-DisplayPort Dimensions (mm) 428 x 295 x 47 (W x D x H) Operating system Windows 10 Pro 64-bit Warranty One year parts and labour, including one month of collect and return cover CyberPower’s Fangbook 4 SK-X17 brings the joys of active sync tech to the mobile world, featuring Nvidia’s G-Sync tech in order to eliminate stuttering and tearing…

Mechanical keyboards have flourished over the past couple of years, attracting hordes of enthusiasts and gamers with their solid clicks and precise action. So it’s no surprise that so many companies want to get a slice of the action. There’s now more choice than ever before, and we’re also seeing many features introduced with this new wave of keyboards, such as RGB lighting and ridiculous levels of key customisation. There’s also a wider variety of switches coming to the forefront, as both companies and customers seek alternatives to Cherry. In theory, as a mechanical keyboard is a long-term investment, having so much choice available means you’re more likely to find one that’s perfect for you. However, with so many companies, styles, switches and features vying for your attention, the waters…

SUPPLIER www.scan.co.uk /SPECIFICATIONS Connection Wired, USB Cable 1.8m, braided Material Plastic Switch type Cherry MX Blue (Black, Brown and Red available) Backlighting Orange Ports No Wrist rest No Extras 21 macro keys (13 dedicated), n-key rollover, dedicated media keys, Windows key lock, key removal tool, 4 replacement keycaps The Asus Strix Tactic Pro is the least expensive keyboard on test, and it shows in a few places. It’s generally solid but less so than most of the others on test, and its grip is a little compromised when the rear legs are extended. Also, the plastic body, thumb-activated macro keys and dedicated media keys all feel a little cheap. That said, you get plenty for your money – a fully mechanical key set with n-key rollover, backlighting, 13 dedicated…

SUPPLIER www.box.co.uk /SPECIFICATIONS Connection Wired, USB Cable 2m, rubber Material Plastic Switch type Cherry MX Silent (Blue, Brown and Red available) Backlighting RGB, per-key Ports 1 x USB 2 Wrist rest Yes, removable Extras Programmable keys, n-key rollover, media keys, Windows key lock, key removal tool, replacement FPS and MOBA keycaps The Strafe doesn’t have the same aesthetic draw as the aluminium-clad K70 RGB, and the top edge is a little excessive in size, but it’s fairly smart-looking with its sharp angles. It’s generally solid and the textured plastic finish resists fingerprints well. The rear feet, however, feel flimsy and they significantly lower the board’s grip on the left when extended. You’d have to play aggressively for the keyboard to move, but other keyboards have better grip. Uniquely, the…

SUPPLIER www.amazon.co.uk /SPECIFICATIONS Connection Wired, USB Cable 1.5, rubber, detachable Material Plastic Switch type Cherry MX RGB Brown (Black, Blue and Red available) Backlighting RGB, per-key Ports No Wrist rest No Extras Programmable keys, n-key rollover, media keys, dedicated volume keys, key removal tool, repeat rate/delay adjustment, replacement spacebar Ducky is a Chinese company with a high reputation for quality, and the Shine 5 shows why. It’s built like a brick and the feet and cable are detachable to minimise potential breakages. The dedicated volume and calculator keys in the top right add no bulk and the bezel around the keys is thin. Meanwhile, a lovely brushed-metal effect provides a smart appearance that will suit any environment. The Cherry MX RGB Brown switches in our sample were great for…

SUPPLIER www.amazon.co.uk /SPECIFICATIONS Connection Wired, USB Cable 2m, braided Material Plastic Switch type Razer Silent (Clicky available) Backlighting RGB, per-key, game-controlled Ports 1 x USB 2, headphone, mic Wrist rest No Extras 5 dedicated macro keys, programmable keys, 10-key rollover, media keys, Windows key lock Razer’s core BlackWidow design is very familiar now – it’s a little bulky down the bottom but not excessively. The smooth, matt plastic on this Chroma edition resists grubby fingers well, and you can tell the keyboard is well reinforced too. Likewise, the captive cable is rigidly attached – a necessity given the extra connections needed to serve the handy pass-through ports. Razer’s mechanical keyboards use either its Stealth (orange) or Clicky (green) switches. Kailh manufactures them, but Razer has a hand in the…

The indicators in the top right corner aid usability SUPPLIER www.cclonline.com /SPECIFICATIONS Connection Wired, USB Cable 1.8m, rubber Material Plastic Switch type Tt Certified Brown (Blue available) Backlighting RGB, per-key Ports No Wrist rest No Extras Programmable keys, n-key rollover, media keys, Windows key lock Getting a mechanical, RGB-backlit keyboard for under £90 is almost unbelievable, yet the Poseidon Z RGB manages this feat, and it’s pretty well built too. The smooth, matt black plastic and small profile mean it’s also aesthetically inoffensive, and the grip is good too. The cable is flimsy, and there are no extras in the box, but you can’t ask for everything for this price. Meanwhile, the Tt-Certified Brown switches are Kailh’s version of Cherry MX Browns with Tt eSports’ seal of approval. The…

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.…

It’s no secret that Intel has been trying to break into the maker market. The company’s Quark chip, a process shrink of the ancient Pentium microarchitecture, proved a poor alternative to mainstream microcontrollers in the Galileo (see Issue 128). Then its successor, the Edison (see Issue 141), paired the Quark with an Atom core in an attempt to rectify performance issues, but lost out to rivals thanks to a maker-unfriendly form factor and high-density connections. Will Intel’s third attempt, the Genuino 101, finally win over the maker community? While Intel’s previous attempts were ‘Arduino Certified’ devices, the 101 is an actual Arduino: in the US, it’s known as the Arduino 101 while it gets the Genuino 101 moniker overseas thanks to the ongoing trademark dispute between Arduino.cc and Arduino.org (see…

VR fundamentally changes how you experience the virtual world Back when I was at university studying politics, my flatmates had a nickname for me – ‘VR James’ – earned because I spent so much time playing and making levels for Doom and other games. Technology was improving so markedly at that point that it truly didn’t seem long until virtual reality (VR) gaming would take over from viewing games on a monitor. In reality, it’s taken more than 20 years to get usable and enjoyable VR. The great experience now possible is no doubt due to the hard work of the clever folks at HTC and Oculus, but we also shouldn’t underestimate the importance of the development of powerful GPUs, with even today’s sub-£250 graphics cards struggling to hit a…