Overclockers UK Spectra Gaming Indigo Prebuilt (12900KF + 3080)

1. Introduction2. Test Setup3. 3DMark, Blender & Cinebench4. Memory, Storage & PCMark 105. Game Benchmarks6. Clocks, Thermals, Noise & Power7. Closing Thoughts8. View All Pages

If you're looking to get your first custom gaming PC, the Overclockers UK Spectra Gaming range of prebuilts offers an easy entry point into this potentially confusing market. OCUK has quite smartly taken the focus away from the array of individual components that a PC is made up of, and instead focuses on the core gaming performance on offer.

It's been quite interesting to assess one of these systems, as they are aimed at the every day user who maybe doesn’t keep up with the latest in PC hardware, who wouldn’t want to spec out an entire system on their own, and who certainly wouldn’t build it themselves. In other words, the target market is almost the opposite to our typical KitGuru reader, who would absolutely want full control over the spec of their PC, so that has been an interesting step back for us.

We've reviewed the top of the line Indigo model, priced at £2499.95. Offering an Intel i9-12900KF, RTX 3080 and 32GB DDR4, as gaming PCs goes this one is very performant, offering plenty of grunt for high refresh-rate 1440p or even 4K gaming. We like the Phanteks P500A chassis, too, with excellent thermals on offer, while the build quality is solid.

 

There is, however, room for improvement with the Indigo. For starters, an 80 Plus Bronze power supply, in a system priced at two and a half grand, with an i9 and RTX 3080, is just a bad look in my opinion. This needs to be an 80 Plus Gold unit, at a minimum in 2022. Additionally, only 1TB of storage space – even if it is, admittedly, a very fast NVMe drive – will prove quite limiting. After I installed the ten games I chose for benchmarking purposes, I was left with just 40GB of remaining space. And cable management leaves a fair bit to be desired, especially compared to some other high-end prebuilts we’ve reviewed in the past.

I don’t think any of those are fundamental issues, though the PSU is definitely the first thing I’d change, and for who the Indigo is targeted towards, I think a prospective customer would certainly be happy with the level of gaming performance on offer – the RTX 3080 and Intel i9 is certainly a potent combination for 1440p or 4K gaming.

There's no denying that OCUK is charging a premium for the convenience of the Spectra range, however. We priced up a near identical spec to the Indigo and came to a total price just over £2090 at the time of publication, making it about £410 cheaper than the Indigo’s actual asking price. Of course, we do have to factor in the warranty, and the fact that OCUK is building the system and shipping it out to you. Even then, this on the steeper side for a gaming prebuilt.

You can buy the Spectra Gaming Indigo for £2499.95 from Overclockers UK HERE. You can see the full range, with prices starting at £559.99, HERE.

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Pros

• Very fast, great for 1440p or 4K gaming.
• Balanced selection of components.
• Easy process for those new to custom PCs.
• 3-year collect and return warranty.

Cons

• 80 Plus Bronze PSU looks poor for this level of system.
• A single 1TB drive will fill up quickly.
• Cable management isn't the best we've ever seen.
• Fairly steep premium over DIY pricing.

KitGuru says: The Spectra range makes things easy to understand for those who don't keep up with the PC market. There are a few things we'd tweak though, and you also pay fairly handsomely for the convenience factor.

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