PCSpecialist | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net KitGuru.net - Tech News | Hardware News | Hardware Reviews | IOS | Mobile | Gaming | Graphics Cards Wed, 15 Nov 2023 12:05:45 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://www.kitguru.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/cropped-KITGURU-Light-Background-SQUARE2-32x32.png PCSpecialist | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net 32 32 PCSpecialist Fusion Black Friday Prebuilt PC Review https://www.kitguru.net/desktop-pc/mat-mynett/pcspecialist-fusion-black-friday-prebuilt-pc-review/ https://www.kitguru.net/desktop-pc/mat-mynett/pcspecialist-fusion-black-friday-prebuilt-pc-review/#respond Wed, 15 Nov 2023 12:00:45 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=637159 The Fusion prebuilt desktop PC from PCSpecialist has seen it's price slashed for Black Friday

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The Fusion prebuilt PC from PCSpecialist has seen its price drop to £899 for Black Friday. Today we're putting this machine through our usual testing to find out just what sort of performance it is capable of. Featuring an AMD Ryzen 7 5700X CPU and an AMD Radeon RX 7600 GPU, alongside 16GB of Corsair Vengeance memory – can this cut price computer provide value for money and a great gaming experience?

Timestamps

00:00 Start
00:47 Pricing / warranty
01:48 The spec and build
08:17 Design and aesthetics
08:57 Cable management and BIOS
09:40 Benchmarks
12:10 Game tests
15:12 Mat’s thoughts on gaming experience
16:25 Thermals / Noise / Power
18:11 Closing thoughts

Specification

  • Case – PCS SPECTRUM II ARGB MID TOWER CASE (PWM)
  • Processor (CPU) – AMD Ryzen 7 5700X Eight Core CPU
  • Motherboard – ASUS® PRIME B550-PLUS
  • Memory (RAM) – 16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
  • Graphics Card – 8GB AMD RADEON™ RX 7600 – HDMI, DP – DX® 12
  • SSD Drive – 1TB SOLIDIGM P41+ GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD
  • Power Supply – CORSAIR 550W CV SERIES™ CV-550 POWER SUPPLY
  • Processor Cooling – PCS FrostFlow 150 Series High Performance CPU Cooler
  • Sound Card – ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO
  • Network Card – 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
  • Wireless Network Card – WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6E AX210 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
  • Operating System – Windows 11 Home 64 Bit

The core specs are confirmed in the following CPU-Z and GPU-Z screenshots:

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PCSpecialist Topaz Spark Review (Ryzen 5 7500F/RX 6700) https://www.kitguru.net/desktop-pc/dominic-moass/pcspecialist-topaz-spark-review-ryzen-5-7500f-rx-6700/ https://www.kitguru.net/desktop-pc/dominic-moass/pcspecialist-topaz-spark-review-ryzen-5-7500f-rx-6700/#respond Wed, 18 Oct 2023 10:53:29 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=634084 It's a hugely impressive prebuilt system that comes in at just £999

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It's been a while since I last looked at a prebuilt system, but the PCSpecialist Topaz Spark has certainly caught my eye. This gaming PC ships with a six-core Zen 4 CPU, RX 6700 graphics, 32GB DDR5 memory and a 750W 80+ Gold power supply – all for £999. Surely it's too good to be true? We put this system through its paces to find out…

Specification:

  • Case: CORSAIR 3000D AIRFLOW MID TOWER GAMING CASE
  • Processor (CPU): AMD Ryzen 5 7500F Six Core CPU (3.7GHz-5.0GHz/38MB CACHE/AM5)
  • Motherboard: ASUS® PRIME B650-PLUS (DDR5, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) – ARGB Ready!
  • Memory (RAM): 32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB DDR5 6000MHz (2 x 16GB)
  • Graphics Card: 10GB AMD RADEON™ RX 6700 – HDMI, DP – DX® 12
  • 1st M.2 SSD Drive: 1TB SOLIDIGM P41+ GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 4125MB/s R, 2950MB/s W)
  • Power Supply: CORSAIR 750W RMe SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD
  • Power Cable: 1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
  • Processor Cooling: PCS FrostFlow 100 V3 Series High Performance CPU Cooler
  • WIRELESS INTEL® WI-FI 6E AX210 2,400MBPS/5GHZ, 300MBPS/2.4GHZ PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
  • Windows 11 Home 64 Bit – inc. Single Licence [KK3-00027]

Taking a closer look at the system, we start with the Corsair 3000D Airflow case. We've not reviewed this one but it's an affordable, compact mid-tower with a tempered glass side panel and vented front panel so we shouldn't have any concerns about airflow. PCSpecialist has fitted two 120mm fans in the front acting as intakes, while there's a single 120mm in the rear acting as exhaust, with some assistance provided by the 120mm CPU air cooler.

The CPU itself is a new one to KitGuru, as we've got the Ryzen 5 7500F. This is essentially a Ryzen 5 7600X, offering the same 6-core 12-thread configuration, but with slightly shaved down clock speeds and no iGPU. A six-core Zen4 CPU at this price range is certainly appealing so it'll be interesting to see how that performs in our testing. The 7500F is also cooled by a PCSpecialist-branded FrostFlow 100V3 air cooler in our system, but due to stock it will be replaced by a DeepCool AG400 ARGB cooler for any retail purchases. Both are fairly standard-looking 4-heatpipe tower coolers so I have no concerns there but it is worth noting.

Paired with the CPU we find 32GB of Corsair Vengeance DDR5 memory, running at 6000 MT/s. It has to be said the timings aren't the tightest, as this is a CL40 kit, however I think it is hugely impressive to get 32GB at this price point. It's arguably overkill for now, but the longevity this provides is pretty remarkable at the £999 price-point. When we initially spoke to PCSpecialist about taking this review unit they were planning on including a 16GB kit, but told us they could do 32GB for basically the same price – so why not?!

To provide the graphical grunt, PCSpecialist has opted for an AMD Radeon RX 6700, and we have the Sapphire Pulse model to be specific. This isn't the same thing as the RX 6700 XT, it's cut-down in terms of core-count and has 10GB GDDR6 memory, but we're still expecting it to do a very solid job once we get to our game benchmarks.

All that hardware is plugged into the ASUS Prime B650-Plus motherboard. We've not reviewed this one but it didn't give me any problems in my testing and taking a quick look into the BIOS shows most things left on Auto, though XMP and ReBar were enabled as we'd expect. The BIOS version isn't the absolute latest, as there was one newer update prior to the system shipping to me, but it was still from August 2023 so we can't knock PCSpecialist too hard there.

One thing not immediately visible is the SSD. PCSpecialist has opted for a single M.2 drive, and this has been installed in the primary slot underneath the integrated heatsink. Specifically we have a 1TB Solidigm P41 Plus that we have reviewed in the past. It's not the fastest drive in the world, but it will get the job done. That is the only drive in the system though, and with the sizes of current games, 1TB won't get you too far these days – but we appreciate there are some limitations with the £999 price tag. The good news is another M.2 slot is very easily accessible just underneath the graphics card, and this operates at PCIe 4.0 x4 speed, so adding another 1 or 2TB drive down the line would be a doddle.

Round the back of the case we can get a look at the power supply, a Corsair 750TXm semi-modular 80+ Gold unit. As it happens, the final spec of this system will actually be changed to a Corsair RMe series due to low stock of the TXm model, but that's actually an upgrade – PCSpecialist is clearly not skimping here, 80+ Gold efficiency is great at this price-point and 750W is more than enough for the current spec and will carry forward if you upgrade the CPU and GPU down the line, so I'd say it's a very shrewd move.

General cable management is fantastic as well. We can see everything has been tied neatly down behind the motherboard tray and nothing looks unsightly, while the GPU and motherboard 24-pin cables round the front have been tied together and tucked away as best as possible. I can't fault the overall build in general – nothing fell loose in transit, no cables were left unplugged or anything like that, it was a flawless setup experience.

The only other point to mention is relatively minor but if you like a bit of an RGB light show with your PC, the Topaz Spark won't float your boat – the only bit of lighting in the entire system comes from the RGB memory, so for the most part it looks pretty dark and stealthy. Some may like that, some may not, but that's what PCSpecialist has opted for.

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PCSpecialist debuts Luna configurator for all-white PC builds https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/matthew-wilson/pcspecialist-debuts-luna-configurator-for-all-white-pc-builds/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/matthew-wilson/pcspecialist-debuts-luna-configurator-for-all-white-pc-builds/#respond Tue, 06 Jun 2023 16:00:10 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=618662 Over the years, we've seen a rise in the popularity of white PC components and white-themed builds. Now, PCSpecialist is launching the Luna series, its first all-white PC configuration tool, allowing users to easily create a new white build.  The Luna configurator will offer users a selection of white PC cases to use as the …

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Over the years, we've seen a rise in the popularity of white PC components and white-themed builds. Now, PCSpecialist is launching the Luna series, its first all-white PC configuration tool, allowing users to easily create a new white build. 

The Luna configurator will offer users a selection of white PC cases to use as the base for their build, alongside multiple options for fans, coolers, memory, graphics cards and motherboards. There is even an option for custom braided cables, which you'll likely want when going for a themed build like this.

The PCSpecialist configurator offers options for both Intel and AMD-based systems and all will ship with Windows 11 by default, although you can choose to have Windows 10 instead, or to not have an OS installed if you'd prefer to set that up yourself.

You can check out the full PCSpecialist Luna system configurator for prices and delivery time estimates.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Are any of you thinking about buying a pre-built PC rather than building one? 

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KitGuru’s GPU Benchmark System: 2023 update! https://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/dominic-moass/kitgurus-gpu-benchmark-system-2023-update/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/dominic-moass/kitgurus-gpu-benchmark-system-2023-update/#respond Tue, 28 Mar 2023 11:00:42 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=597089 KitGuru has updated our GPU test rig for 2023, thanks to PCSpecialist

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It's that time again where we are updating our GPU test system for 2023. This time around, we have teamed up with PCSpecialist, who specced and built our brand new rig. With plenty more graphics card reviews to come this year, it's crucial our testing is as accurate and up-to-date as possible, so here we go over the details of the new GPU benchmarking system!

Specification

  • Corsair 5000D Airflow Tempered Glass Gaming Case
  • Intel Core i9-13900KS
  • Gigabyte Z790 Gaming X AX
  • 32GB Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB DDR5 6000MHz
  • 500GB Seagate Firecuda 530 Gen 4 PCIe NVMe
  • 4TB Seagate Firecuda 530 Gen 4 PCIe NVMe
  • Corsair 1600W Pro Series Titanium AX1600i Digital Modular PSU
  • Corsair iCUE H150i Elite RGB High Performance CPU Cooler
  • Windows 11 Home

While our previous test rig is still no slouch with an Intel i9-12900K, we felt it was time to upgrade to a new generation, with PCSpecialist putting together this new system for 2023. At its heart is Intel's flagship CPU, the i9-13900KS, which we've locked at 5.6GHz on all P-cores. We could of course have opted for the recent 7950X3D, but in truth we had specced this system a month before the launch of the new Ryzen chips, and the difference is a couple of percent, so we are very happy with the i9-13900KS in our new rig and it absolutely crunches through our benchmark suite.

Of course, an Intel 13th Gen CPU means we have opted for an Z790 motherboard, specifically the Gigabyte Z790 Gaming X AX. It's proven rock solid in my testing so far, as mentioned the CPU is locked at 5.6GHz on all cores without a hitch. As someone who frequently swaps graphics cards, the PCIe ‘EZ-Latch' feature is actually a real highlight for me, and of course there's plenty of storage support for our M.2 drives.

Naturally, we've gone for DDR5 memory here too, in the form of 32GB Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB DDR5 6000MHz CL36. This is simply a very solid memory kit at a good speed, it keeps the system chugging along nicely – and we have the bonus that the RGB lighting synchronises with the other Corsair components that we'll get to shortly.

One of those includes the Corsair iCUE H150i Elite RGB High Performance CPU cooler. This is a 360mm AIO and simply provides more than enough cooling power to handle the 13900KS while gaming – even under a sustained load in Cyberpunk 2077, I did not see the CPU package temperature exceed 65C, so this combination will do the job very nicely indeed.

As for our storage, we have two M.2 drives populating the motherboard. The first is a 500GB Seagate Firecuda 530, simply to act as a boot drive for Windows. We then have a 4TB Seagate Firecuda 530 which will house our game library. 4TB may seem excessive but I've lost count of the number of games that now take up over 100GB of space – I'm talking Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Red Dead Redemption 2, Forza Horizon 5 and many more – and I typically test between 16-20 games per GPU review at any one time, so this ensures we have plenty of speedy storage on hand.

All of that goodness is housed in the Corsair 5000D Airflow chassis. This is both a spacious and air-flow focused case, two things that are ideal for testing GPUs as obviously RTX 4090s are absolutely huge these days, and we want to make sure any GPU is supplied with plenty of fresh air. To help with that, we've added three Corsair LL120 RGB fans in the front of the case, all three bringing in fresh air. The three AIO fans in the roof are set to exhaust, as is one other 120mm in the rear.

That just leaves the PSU then – a very important part for a modern day system considering how much power CPUs and GPUs can suck down these days. We opted for the Corsair AX1600i, with its Titanium efficiency and of course, 1600W capacity. Now even with a 13900KS and 4090, we won't be drawing that much juice, but I'd much rather have too much headroom than not enough. It's also handy to have a PSU that can support having both a 12VHPWR connector and 3x 8-pins all plugged in at once, so I can easily swap between different GPUs without fiddling around with the power cables or using adapters.

So that is the low-down on KitGuru's updated GPU benchmark system for 2023! We have to say a big thanks to PCSpecialist for putting this together for us, we have plenty more GPU reviews lined up and they will using this new rig going forward, so stay tuned…

Configure your own PC at PCSpecialist HERE.

Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.

KitGuru says: The new test system is fantastic and has already been put to work as we prepare for the next round of GPU launches…

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PCSpecialist Odin i7 Ti Air Review (12700K/3070 Ti) https://www.kitguru.net/desktop-pc/kris-butterill/pcspecialist-odin-i7-ti-air-review-12700k-3070-ti/ https://www.kitguru.net/desktop-pc/kris-butterill/pcspecialist-odin-i7-ti-air-review-12700k-3070-ti/#respond Wed, 08 Jun 2022 11:32:03 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=563242 We check out a prebuilt system from PCSpecialist, offering an i7 and 3070 Ti for £1849

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PCSpecialist (PCS) is well known in the United Kingdom for producing some of the finest custom PC builds targeting the enthusiast audience. We have reviewed many of their builds over the years and have been generally impressed with their attention to detail and competitive pricing, as well as their consistency in selecting a balanced component configuration which work well together. This time PCS told us they wanted to focus on a sub-£2k build that worked well for gaming at 1440p. This system comprises an Intel Core i7-12700K, RTX 3070 Ti, 32GB of DDR4 memory, along with a 1TB SSD and 2TB hard drive. 

Specification

  • Case: Cooler Master MasterBox TD500 Mesh ARGB (Black Colour)
  • CPU (Processor): Intel® Core i7-12700K
  • Graphics Card (GPU): Gigabyte GeForce® RTX 3060 Eagle OC 8GB
  • CPU Cooling: PCS Frost Flow 150 Series CPU Cooler
  • Motherboard: Gigabyte Z690 UD DDR4 (LGA1700, USB 3.2, PCIe 5.0) – ARGB Ready
  • Memory (RAM): 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4/3200MHz Dual Channel Memory
  • PSU (Power Supply): Corsair CX-M Semi Modular 650W 80+ Bronze Certified Gaming Power Supply
  • M.2 SSD Drive: 1x 1TB Samsung 970 Evo Plus M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD
  • SATA HDD Drive: 1x 2TB Seagate Barracuda SATA-III HDD 7200RPM
  • Operating System: Windows 11 Home 64 Bit
  • Warranty Service: Standard Warranty 3 Years' Labour, 1 Years' Parts, 1 Month Collect and Return plus Life-Time Technical Support
  • Price: £1849 from PCSpecialist HERE

The PCSpecialist Odin i7 Ti Air arrives in a rather plain box with very little information on the outside to indicate what has just landed on our doorstep. Opening up the packaging, we find our system is well packaged, surrounded by foam, and complimented with an accessories box. PCSpecialist also included foam packing to the inside of the case for transport, helping to protect the components further, especially the graphics card to prevent it from swaying about in its PCIe slot.

The accessories box includes all the additional cables, brackets, and screws from our components and it’s great to have these included so that any potential future upgrades can be accommodated without having to try and source any extra screws or mounting hardware. It’s here that we also find our PSU dust filter, component manuals, and power cord.

Moving on, the Cooler Master TD500 Mesh ARGB feels like a well-built chassis, and in terms of aesthetics, with that ‘sliced' tempered glass side panel it is a rather attractive case. Given this is a mesh case, airflow isn’t badly restricted to the front intake so we are expecting to see good thermal performance later on.

The case has scope for future upgrades too, supporting two 360mm radiators, and it can hold up to four 2.5-inch drives or two 3.5-inch drives and two 2.5-inch drives. It also includes three ARGB fans, a magnetic dust filter to the top, an easily removable front panel to provide access for cleaning, and a slot in the PSU dust filter. The TD500 also comes with two USB 3.0 ports, headphones, and mic jacks for the front I/O.

The Intel Core i7-12700K is a 12-core, 20-thread CPU comprising eight Performance cores and four Efficiency cores. The 12700K offers solid performance and better value than the 12900K, though if you were looking to save a bit of cash, the i5-12600K could also be one to consider. That said, I can’t fault PCSpecialist for going with the 12700K as it is a great CPU and should perform very well in both gaming and productivity tasks.

PCSpecialist has opted to pair that CPU with the Gigabyte Z690 UD60, an ATX, DDR4-based motherboard. This has been chosen instead of a DDR5 option and I think this is a good area to save some of the cost, as the benefit to DDR5 is still minimal, especially for gaming. The motherboard includes three M.2 slots, all capable of PCIe Gen 4 at x4 speeds, one via the CPU and two via the chipset. One is populated but there’s plenty of room for further storage expansion down the line as we also have six SATA connectors too. Sadly there is no onboard WiFi, so PCSpecialist has used a dedicated WiFi card in the lower PCIe slot.

As for memory, we have 32GB of Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 at 3200 MHz, with memory timings of 16-18-18-36. Corsair Vengeance memory kits are tried and trusted and perform very well, but if you were looking for RGB lighting then you are out of luck here. PCSpecialist has kept it nice and simple, no fuss, just a memory kit that just does exactly what it says on the box.

For our Windows drive, we have a Samsung 970 Evo Plus NVMe SSD with 1TB capacity, meaning that there is plenty of space left for files, documents, and games… but if that’s not enough we also have a 2TB Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM spinning drive.

For graphics goodness, PCS has opted for a Gigabyte Eagle OC RTX 3070 Ti, an 8GB card with Gigabyte's WindForce 3 alternate-spinning cooling solution. It offers 6144 CUDA cores, GDDR6X memory, and 19000MHz memory clock speed with a core clock of 1800MHz, including a 30MHz boost from the reference design. PCSpecialist also includes an anti-sag bracket which is a nice touch from them.

The Corsair 650W CX-M semi-modular power supply has been used in the Odin i7 Ti Air, again another trusted component from Corsair- but it is only an 80+ Bronze rated unit meaning that it sits at the lower end of the efficiency scale. Being semi-modular allows for most unneeded cables to be kept out of the equation and while we would have preferred to see a Gold-rated unit here, it’s not a deal-breaker.

The TD500 does come with three pre-installed 120mm ARGB fans, PCSpecialist has added in a rear exhaust 120mm non-ARGB fan,  while our CPU is cooled by the PCS Frost Flow 150 featuring a push-pull configuration. On closer inspection the Frost Flow 150 is actually a rebranded ID-Cooling SE-225-XT, which seems well regarded online, so it will be interesting to see how it performs later on. The CPU cooler lines up nicely to the rear fan too, meaning that any warm air is going to be exhausted straight out the back of the case.

If you saw Dominic's recent video on the PCSpecialist Magnus Spark, he commended them for their cable management with that system, and it’s no different here, PCS has done an exceptional job keeping everything really nice and tidy.

Price: £1849 from PCSpecialist

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PCSpecialist Magnus Spark Review (i5-12400F/RX 6600) https://www.kitguru.net/desktop-pc/dominic-moass/pcspecialist-magnus-spark-review-i5-12400f-rx-6600/ https://www.kitguru.net/desktop-pc/dominic-moass/pcspecialist-magnus-spark-review-i5-12400f-rx-6600/#respond Fri, 08 Apr 2022 11:53:48 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=556279 This system is £999, packing an i5-12400F, RX 6600, 16GB DDR4 & 1TB SSD

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We've all seen how the price of PC components, particularly GPUs, skyrocketed over the last 18 months, making it almost impossible to build a solid gaming PC on any sort of a budget. Things have been improving recently however, and PCSpecialist is attempting to capitalise on this with the Magnus Spark prebuilt system. Offering an entire PC for £999, this prebuilt packs Intel's hexa-core i5-12400F, an RX 6600 GPU, 16GB DDR4 memory and a 1TB SSD. It sounds good on paper, but what's it like to use in the real world?

Specification

  • PCS P209 ARGB MID TOWER CASE
  • Intel® Core™ i5 Six Core Processor i5-12400F (2.5GHz)
  • ASUS® PRIME B660-PLUS D4 (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s)
  • 16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
  • 8GB AMD RADEON™ RX 6600 – HDMI, DP – DX12
  • 1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2200 MB/R, 1500 MB/W)
  • CORSAIR 550W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD
  • PCS FrostFlow 100 RGB V3 Series High Performance CPU Cooler
  • 1x 120mm Black Case Fan
  • WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
  • Windows 11 Home 64 Bit

Starting with the case used for the system, this is an own-brand chassis from PCSpecialist, dubbed the PCS 209 ARGB. It's a compact mid-tower, and you can definitely tell it has been built to a price, with fairly thin and cheep-feeling steel used throughout. It's not really the end of the world as most people will simply put this on the floor or on their desk and only ever touch the power button, but it's safe to say the case is one area where PCSpecialist has cut back on cost.

There is a tempered glass side panel though, but slightly more worrying for me is the fact that front panel is completely solid, with just small perforated sections on the sides to allow airflow into the chassis. We'll look at thermal performance of the PC later in this review.

The overall build in the chassis is well done though, with excellent cable management throughout, and there's also plenty of space towards the front of the case to allow for a bigger GPU if you wanted to upgrade down the line. Everything is very stealthy in appearance too, with no hints of colour until the system is powered on, where we see the CPU cooler does light up with RGB LEDs, while there's an LED strip on the front of the case too.

Getting into the components then, we'll start with the motherboard. PCSpecialist has gone with the ASUS Prime B660-PLUS D4, with the ‘D4' denoting the fact that this uses DDR4 memory. It's not a board that will blow you away with its VRM or featureset, but it's proven absolutely rock solid during my testing and I have no real complaints. The only potential negative is the fact that it doesn't have integrated WiFi, so PCSpecialist is using a PCIe add-in card, and this has been placed in the second x16 slot. For most people this is unlikely to be an issue, but say you are one of the few who wants to use a secondary PCIe device, like a capture card, this could prove problematic.

We've also got 16GB of Corsair Vengeance DDR4 memory, clocked in at 3200MHz, with 16-18-18-36 timings. It's a very solid memory kit in my opinion, there's absolutely no need for DDR5 at this price-point and 16GB is going to be plenty for the everyday gamer or user.

Next to that sits a compact air-cooler which is another PCSpecialist-branded part, called the FrostFlow 100 RGB V3. It's a typical tower air cooler in the style of the Hyper 212, with four heatpipes and a single 120mm RGB fan, which should be absolutely fine for the i5-12400F. On the topic of cooling as well, we can note a single 120mm intake fan at the front, with another 120mm exhaust  in the back of the case.

Storage is provided by a 1TB PCS-branded PCIe SSD, and a quick Google suggests Netac is the OEM. It's only a PCIe 3.0 x4 SSD, rated for 2200MB/s reads and 1500MB/s writes, but do note the placement of the SSD in the bottom right of the motherboard – we will discuss this further later in the review.

For the grunt of this PC then, we've already mentioned the i5-12400F, a six-core Alder Lake CPU with all of its cores being of the Performance variety, so there's no Efficient cores here. It's still a very solid processor though, and the Prime B660-Plus D4 motherboard had no issues maintaining it's 4GHz all-core boost during Cinebench's prolonged stress test. Obviously as it is not a K-SKU though, it is not overclockable.

Then for the GPU, we have the AMD RX 6600, specifically the XFX Swift model, which uses a dual-fan cooler with a metal backplate. I did a full review of the RX 6600 and while it's certainly not going to set the world alight, based on current prices I'd say it is the best value card on the market right now, and it is still absolutely fine for 1080p and even some 1440p gaming, as we will get to later.

Powering the whole system is a 550W Corsair TXm PSU, of the semi-modular variety. This is an 80 Plus Gold unit which is great to see, no corners have been cut here with a cheapo 80 Plus Bronze unit, so that is always reassuring. Also, we do have to give PCSpecialist immense credit for the superb cable management at the back of the chassis too, maybe KitGuru modder James Dawson could do an equally stellar job, but I know for sure that I couldn't!

Be sure to check out our sponsors store EKWB here

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PCSpecialist offering up to £200 savings in early Black Friday deals https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/matthew-wilson/pcspecialist-offering-up-to-200-savings-in-early-black-friday-deals/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/matthew-wilson/pcspecialist-offering-up-to-200-savings-in-early-black-friday-deals/#respond Mon, 15 Nov 2021 16:57:24 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=539684 The early Black Friday deals are continuing to roll in. With the absence of DIY PC components available at the moment, many are turning to pre-built gaming PCs to get their upgrade. If you're currently in that camp, then it is worth checking out the new deals from PCSpecialist, offering up to £200 in savings.  …

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The early Black Friday deals are continuing to roll in. With the absence of DIY PC components available at the moment, many are turning to pre-built gaming PCs to get their upgrade. If you're currently in that camp, then it is worth checking out the new deals from PCSpecialist, offering up to £200 in savings. 

PCSpecialist's Black Friday deals include two gaming desktops and two gaming laptops. All four systems ship with Windows 11 and offer the latest graphics solutions from AMD or Nvidia depending on the model.

For desktops, you have the choice between the PCSpecialist Fusion and the PCSpecialist Vortex. Both are mid-tower gaming PCs, but the former is AMD-focused, while the latter is an Intel/Nvidia system. The Fusion comes with a Ryzen 5 5600X, 16GB of RAM and an AMD Radeon RX 6600 graphics card for £1,099, down from its original £1,299 price tag. The Vortex ships with a Core i7-11700, 16GB of RAM and an RTX 2060 Super for £1,199, down from its original price of £1,399.

For laptops, the Black Friday deals include the PCSpecialist 17.3″ Elimina Pro and the 15.6″ Recoil Pro. The former comes with an 11th Gen Core i7 processor and up to RTX 3060 graphics for £999, while the latter ships with an 11th Gen Core i7 and an RTX 3080 for £1,949.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Are any of you currently looking to pick up a new gaming PC or laptop? Will you be shopping around during the Black Friday sales? 

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PCSpecialist Gladius i7 (RTX 3080 / i7-10700K) System Review https://www.kitguru.net/desktop-pc/gaming-rig/luke-hill/pcspecialist-gladius-i7-rtx-3080-i7-10700k-gaming-system-review/ https://www.kitguru.net/desktop-pc/gaming-rig/luke-hill/pcspecialist-gladius-i7-rtx-3080-i7-10700k-gaming-system-review/#respond Wed, 14 Oct 2020 12:30:08 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=489614 Looking for a prebuilt gaming system? This packs an RTX 3080 and i7-10700K for £1999

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Nvidia’s RTX 3080 is hot on the shelves, well if you can find any shelves with it on, and PCSpecialist has updated one of their key gaming systems to include the new powerhouse graphics card. If you’re in the market for a high-end gaming pre-built, should the Core i7-10700K and RTX 3080-equipped PCSpecialist Gladius i7 be on your shopping list?

Specifications:

    • Processor: Intel Core i7-10700K
    • Motherboard: ASUS ROG STRIX Z490-F Gaming
    • Memory: 16GB Corsair Vengeance RGB PRO 3200MHz C16 DDR4
  • Graphics Card: 10GB Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080
  • System Drive: 1TB Samsung 970 EVO Plus PCIe NVMe SSD
  • Storage Drive: 1TB Seagate Barracuda 7200 RPM 3.5” HDD
  • CPU Cooler: PCS FrostFlow 240 Series RGB AIO Cooler
  • Power Supply: Corsair RM750x 750W 80Plus Gold Fully Modular PSU
  • Case: NZXT H511 (Black)
  • Extra Case Fans: 3x Corsair LL120 RGB LED Fans + Controller Kit
  • Network Card: 802.11n 300Mbps PCIe WiFi Card
  • Operating System: Windows 10 Home

Price: £1999 inc. VAT as reviewed.

Be sure to check out our sponsors store EKWB here

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KitGuru updates GPU benchmarking system with PCSpecialist! https://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/dominic-moass/kitguru-updates-gpu-benchmarking-system-with-pcspecialist/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/dominic-moass/kitguru-updates-gpu-benchmarking-system-with-pcspecialist/#respond Fri, 19 Jun 2020 11:00:05 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=472593 It's time to upgrade! KitGuru has a new rig for benchmarking GPUs

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It's been over two years since we last updated our GPU benchmarking system, so with the recent release of Intel's Comet Lake-S desktop platform, we thought it was high time to make the switch and prepare ourselves for the next generation of GPUs. PCSpecialist put together a brand-new system for us, built around the ten-core i9-10900K processor, and here we go over all the details.

Specification

  • Case: Fractal Meshify S2 Blackout Tempered Glass
  • Processor (CPU): Intel Core i9 Ten-Core Processor i9-10900K
  • Motherboard: ASUS ROG Maximus XII Hero Wi-Fi
  • Graphics card (GPU): Varies
  • Memory (RAM): 32GB Corsair Vengeance DDR4 3600MHz (4 X 8GB)
  • 1ST Storage Drive: 2TB Samsung 860 QVO 2.5″ SSD, SATA 6Gb/s
  • 1ST M.2 SSD Drive: 500GB Samsung 970 Evo Plus M.2, PCIe NVMe
  • Power Supply: Corsair 1200W HX Series Modular 80 Plus Platinum
  • Processor Cooling: Corsair H115i RGB Platinum Hydro Series
  • Operating System: Windows 10 Home 64 Bit

With our previous GPU benchmarking system based on Intel's ageing, and now discontinued, Core i7-8700K processor, we wanted to bring the system up to date in 2020, and that is exactly what we have done by building this new machine around the Comet Lake-S flagship – the i9-10900K. Leo recently reviewed this processor and found it to be a stellar gaming CPU, and that is exactly what we are looking for here. We are well aware that Ryzen processors can offer better all-round value, but our sole purpose for this machine is to benchmark graphics cards, and to that end the i9 is the best chip for the job.

As the i9-10900K is a 10-core beast, we also need a very solid motherboard to ensure unwavering stability, and that is what we have got with the ASUS ROG Maximus XII Hero. Leo also reviewed this board just last week, and it walked away with our ‘Must Have' award, so we can't say better than that. It's proved easy to work with and we dialled in a 5.1GHz all-core CPU overclock without a hitch.

Alongside the CPU and motherboard, PCSpecialist equipped this system with 32GB Corsair Vengeance DDR4 memory, running at 3600MHz CL18. Our previous GPU benchmark rig had 16GB memory, and we'd still say this is enough for the majority of gaming systems. However, upping the capacity to 32GB means we can be confident we won't be memory-limited during our testing, while the 3600MHz frequency offers good speed.

Cooling the i9, we have Corsair H115i RGB Platinum 280mm AIO. This not only adds some RGB pizzazz to the system, but it offers more than adequate cooling. Temperatures after a 30-minute 3DMark Time Spy stress test didn’t go above 60C for the processor, and as this machine is going to primarily be running games, it is more than enough for our needs.

Other things to note include our storage drives, starting with a 500GB Samsung 970 EVO Plus, which houses our OS and key applications like Steam and Origin, while a 2TB Samsung 860 QVO provides more than enough storage for our games library. We also have a beastly 1200W Corsair HX1200 PSU, which is almost certainly overkill for our needs. However, it again provides peace of mind that we will never be running into issues with power draw, which is prudent after rumours suggest Nvidia's next-gen flagship will have a 350W TDP.

So that is the key system hardware covered, but another thing to discuss is the choice of case. This marks a shift for us as our previous system was an open-air test bench, using a Streacom ST-BC1 frame. While open test benches are convenient and means chassis cooling and airflow is simply not a factor, I’ve been wanting to test in a case for a while, for one simple reason – it provides ‘real world’ data that you just don't get from an open bench, as almost everybody buying a new graphics card is going to put it inside a case. This way, we know the data we are presenting is going to be more relevant for more people, than when we used our open bench.

Of course, we also wanted a high airflow case so the graphics card isn’t going to be choked, so here we have the excellent Fractal Design Meshify S2. This uses two 140mm intake fans at the front, with one exhaust at the rear, while the two fans from the AIO are also exhausting through the roof.

So there we have it – the new KitGuru GPU benchmarking system. We've got a lot of content and testing planned over the next couple of months, and of course next-gen hardware is not too far away now. Stay tuned for more reviews, game benchmarks and head-to-head comparisons in the coming weeks!

We'd also like to say a special thank you to PCSpecialist for building this machine for our testing. We've reviewed a number of their systems over the years, with the most recent being the Vortex S3, and I am certainly impressed with the build quality on show with this machine. To configure your own system from PCSpecialist, visit their website HERE.

Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.

KitGuru says: Let us know your thoughts on this new machine, and if there are games you'd like to see us benchmarking in our GPU reviews, please do let us know!

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PC Specialist Official FNATIC AMD Ryzen PC https://www.kitguru.net/desktop-pc/gaming-rig/leo-waldock/pc-specialist-official-fnatic-amd-ryzen-pc/ https://www.kitguru.net/desktop-pc/gaming-rig/leo-waldock/pc-specialist-official-fnatic-amd-ryzen-pc/#respond Mon, 17 Feb 2020 08:41:16 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=452044 How good is this official Fnatic pre-built system from PC Specialist?

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PC Specialist has begun 2020 with an exclusive deal to supply gaming PCs to Fnatic, a leading Esports organisation based here in the UK. These PCs have an AMD theme for both CPU and GPU and use hardware from top notch brands including Asus, Corsair and Samsung. The Official Fnatic PC will be available across Europe from PC Specialist’s store and also on the UK high street at Currys PC World.

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Specification
CPU AMD Ryzen 7 3700X
CPU cooler PC Specialist 120mm Frostflow RGB
Motherboard Asus ROG Strix B450-F Gaming
Graphics AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT 8GB
Memory 16GB Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro DDR4-3200MHz (2x8GB)
SSD 500GB Samsung 970 EVO Plus M.2 NVMe
Storage 2TB Seagate Barracuda 7,200rpm HDD
Case Corsair Crystal 465X
Power supply Corsair 650W TX650M 80 Plus Gold
OS Windows 10 Home

After we had unpacked the PC Specialist Fnatic PC we checked out the features and found the quality was pleasingly high. Every part is a properly branded component with the case, DDR4 memory and power supply coming from Corsair, the motherboard from Asus and the SSD from Samsung. We had a few question marks over the 120mm All In One CPU cooler, the reference AMD RX 5700 XT graphics card and the fact the Asus motherboards uses a B450 chipset.

 

PC Specialist assured us their 120mm AIO would do a decent job on the Ryzen 7 3700X CPU and as you will see from our testing they were quite correct. When it comes to the B450 chipset we had mixed views as the obvious match for a Ryzen 3000 CPU is an X570 model. You pay a significant premium for X570 and the only feature you definitely miss with B450 is the absence of PCI Express Gen 4. On the other hand with B450 you don’t need a noisy active cooler on the chipset so on balance we are fine with PC Specialist saving money and choosing the Asus B450 motherboard.

Build quality is very tidy and passed our critical eye without problem. One change we suggest is that the assembly people use side cutters on the cable ties to avoid nasty sharp ends, but that is a fairly minor point.

Be sure to check out our sponsors store EKWB here

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PCSpecialist and Fnatic team up to bring a new line of gaming PCs https://www.kitguru.net/desktop-pc/james-dawson/pcspecialist-and-fnatic-team-up-to-bring-a-new-line-of-gaming-pcs/ https://www.kitguru.net/desktop-pc/james-dawson/pcspecialist-and-fnatic-team-up-to-bring-a-new-line-of-gaming-pcs/#respond Tue, 28 Jan 2020 10:06:47 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=449029 PCSpecialist has teamed up with one of the world’s most recognised esports gaming outfits, Fnatic, to produce the Official Fnatic Gaming PC...

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PCSpecialist has teamed up with one of the world’s most recognised esports gaming outfits, Fnatic, to produce the Official Fnatic Gaming PC. The new gaming PC series from PCSpecialist and Fnatic will not only power Fnatic's gaming facilities but also be available for consumer purchase across Europe.

As well as producing the official Fnatic Gaming PC, the new partnership between PCSpecialist and the esports giant will see PCSpecialist provide all Fnatic’s players with top of the line gaming equipment that will be used in practice and during tournaments, such as the upcoming Intel Extreme Masters CS:GO battle next month.

“We have the perfect hardware partner in PCSpecialist, the team understands what our players need from the equipment and expertly deliver a platform that exceeds expectations, giving our players the tools to be able to perform at the highest level,” said Patrik Sättermon, Chief Gaming Officer at Fnatic.

PCSpecialist and Fnatic have teamed up to create the ultimate gaming PC for both professionals and consumers alike. The new Fnatic Gaming PC will power Fnatic’s facilities around the world, including locations in London, Berlin and Kuala Lumpur, allowing Fnatic pros to train at the highest level using the best possible equipment.

 

Fnatic Training facilities PC specs:

  • AMD Ryzen™ 7 3700X Processor
  • AMD Radeon™ RX 5700 XT Graphics
  • 16GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB Pro 3200MHz RAM
  • 500GB Samsung 970 EVO PLUS M.2 NVMe SSD
  • ROG Strix B450-F Gaming motherboard
  • 2TB Seagate Barracuda HDD
  • Windows 10 Home

Fans of the Fnatic esports team in the UK and across Europe will be able to get their hands on this premium gaming PC to hone their own gaming skills at home. The Official Fnatic Gaming PC is now available to purchase from the PCSpecialist website, where customers can configure the build to their own personal specifications. Alternatively, UK customers can pick up the Official Fnatic Gaming PC in store at Currys PC World.

“Gaming has always been a big part of PCSpecialist’s DNA, so to have one of the world’s leading esports organisations on-board as a partner is extremely exciting and one which we’re incredibly proud of,” commented John Medley, Commercial Manager, PCSpecialist Ltd.

Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.

KitGuru says: Are you an aspiring pro gamer looking for a new system to hone your skills on? If you are, then head over to the PCSpecialist online store and check out some of the high spec gaming systems they have available.

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PC Specialist updates its Black Friday deals https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/damien-cox/pc-specialist-unleashes-its-black-friday-deals/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/damien-cox/pc-specialist-unleashes-its-black-friday-deals/#respond Fri, 23 Nov 2018 09:30:23 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=395476 Update (23/11/18): Now that Black Friday is officially here, PC Specialist has lowered prices event further on its range of laptops and desktops. Best of all, inputting a voucher code of PCSBF will net prospective buyers another £20 off the deal price. The only caveat is that the discount code cannot be used on Next …

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Update (23/11/18): Now that Black Friday is officially here, PC Specialist has lowered prices event further on its range of laptops and desktops. Best of all, inputting a voucher code of PCSBF will net prospective buyers another £20 off the deal price.

The only caveat is that the discount code cannot be used on Next Day or Review Systems, but it does include standard delivery on all of the setups below. Amendments have also been made below to the price of the systems, as well as the Apollo S1 ditching the Fractal Focus G chassis for the Corsair 275R. In turn, this has shaved another £100 off the listing, bringing the setup below the £1,000 mark.

Original Story (19/11/18): Black Friday is still a couple of days away, but that hasn’t stopped PC Specialist from cutting prices early, saving you pennies across a range of gaming systems. Four builds in particular are receiving the special treatment, packed with Corsair, Nvidia and Seagate hardware.

Optimus IX for £979

The Optimus IX is perfect for gamers on the go, packing a 15.6-inch Full HD screen at 144Hz refresh rate. Under the hood sits a 6-core Intel Core i7-8750H, paired with 8GB of Corsair RAM and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 Ti. Windows 10 arrives on the 256GB ADATA SU800 M.2 SSD, with a 1TB Seagate HDD acting as a secondary storage device. While the original pricing sits at £1,055, the deal has pushed it into triple digits costing just £979.

Recoil II for £1,299

For those wanting more screen real estate, PC Specialist is bringing the price of its Recoil II down – which received a staggering score of 9.0 here at KitGuru. Specifications aren’t too different from the Optimus IX, however the screen has been bumped up to 17.3 inches at the same high refresh rate. Memory is doubled at a total of 16GB, sitting alongside an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060. While the primary SSD is still 256GB, the Recoil II houses an Intel 760p M.2 NVMe solution still coupled with a Seagate 1TB HDD for £1,299.

Apollo S1 for £1,099 £999

Desktop enthusiasts can turn their attention to the Apollo S1, an AMD-powered system sporting the 8-core Ryzen 7 2700X. Corsair once again handles the 16GB of DDR4 RAM, while Nvidia endows the setup with a GTX 1060. ADATA returns with a 256GB SU800 M.2 SSD containing Windows 10 Home, while Seagate covers the secondary storage solution with a 1TB HDD. All of this is contained in Fractal’s Focus G Gaming Case for £1,099.

Vortex Alpha for £1,499

Most of the savings can be seen at top-end, with the Vortex Alpha. Within a Corsair Crystal Series 460X RGB Gaming Case lies Intel’s latest Core i7-9700K 8-core processor and Nvidia’s brand new RTX 2070. Corsair throws in 16GB DDR4 RAM across two lanes, while Intel and Seagate take care of storage with a 256GB 760p M.2 NVMe SSD and 1TB Seagate Barracuda. Prospective buyers can save a cool £200 during PC Specialist’s Black Friday event, grabbing the system for £1,499.

KitGuru Says: As usual, now is pretty much the best time to go portable, upgrade your desktop or grab a gift for a loved one. Do you have your eye on a new setup?  

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PCSpecialist rolls out new racing simulators https://www.kitguru.net/peripherals/matthew-wilson/pcspecialist-rolls-out-new-racing-simulators/ https://www.kitguru.net/peripherals/matthew-wilson/pcspecialist-rolls-out-new-racing-simulators/#respond Fri, 13 Jul 2018 15:57:57 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=379753 Over the years, hardware makers have been trying to come up with new ways to make gaming more immersive. Emerging technologies like Virtual Reality show promise, but for racing game fans, nothing quite beats a full racing simulator setup. The folks at PCSpecialist have teamed up with Milltek to produce a brand new racing simulator, …

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Over the years, hardware makers have been trying to come up with new ways to make gaming more immersive. Emerging technologies like Virtual Reality show promise, but for racing game fans, nothing quite beats a full racing simulator setup. The folks at PCSpecialist have teamed up with Milltek to produce a brand new racing simulator, which will be available in the UK.

This partnership is a result of PCSpecialist's ongoing cooperation with PowerMaxed Racing. Milltek is well-known in the motorsport scene, and with some help from their technical experts, PCSpecialist has developed a professional grade simulator frame, all designed, developed and hand-finished here in the UK. There will be two options for potential buyers, one for a single-monitor setup and another to support multi-monitors.

The frame itself is from Milltek, while the seat comes from Cobra Motorsport. The pedals, gear shifter and wheel all come from Fanatec.

The PC itself is fully configurable, the standard system comes with a Core i3 processor, 4GB of RAM and integrated graphics. However, buyers can upgrade up to a Core i7-8700K, up to 64GB of DDR4 RAM and up to a GTX 1080Ti or Radeon Vega 64.

Pricing starts at £3,288 for the single-monitor frame racing sim, and jumps to £3,465 for the multi-monitor frame. Upgraded seats, peripherals and PC hardware will all be available and will have an impact on the final price. You can see PCSpecialist's full racing sim configurator, HERE.

KitGuru Says: I've only had the chance to try out a fully kitted racing simulator a couple of times, but it was a really cool experience. Are any of you big fans of racing sims? Are you thinking about getting one of your own?

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PCSpecialist Vulcan Pro (8700K & 1080 Ti) System Review https://www.kitguru.net/desktop-pc/dominic-moass/pcspecialist-vulcan-pro-8700k-1080-ti-system-review/ https://www.kitguru.net/desktop-pc/dominic-moass/pcspecialist-vulcan-pro-8700k-1080-ti-system-review/#respond Tue, 13 Feb 2018 08:50:38 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=363419 Looking for a GTX 1080 Ti and 8700K system for less than £2000? You need the PCSpecialist Vulcan Pro

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There is no doubt that the PC components market is currently in turmoil. Ethereum mining has driven GPU prices through the roof – to frankly absurd levels – while a global NAND/DRAM shortage has pushed DDR4 memory prices up and up. If you're looking to build a high-end gaming PC, I can't remember a worse time to do it. PCSpecialist, however, wants to carry that burden for you by offering its Vulcan Pro system – complete with GTX 1080 Ti and i7-8700K – for just £1749.

With the rest of the spec boasting 16GB of Corsair Vengeance RGB RAM, 1.5TB of storage space – 512GB of that thanks to a speedy NVMe drive – as well as a Corsair H80i V2 liquid cooler, the PCSpecialist Vulcan Pro looks like a well-rounded system that offers fantastic value for money. Can it live up to its potential and deliver the goods? Let's find out.

Specification:

  • Case: InWIN 101 MID TOWER GAMING CASE
  • Processor (CPU): Intel® Core™i7 Six Core Processor i7-8700k (3.7GHz) 12MB Cache
  • Motherboard: ASUS® TUF Z370-PLUS GAMING: ATX, LGA1151, USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs – RGB Ready
  • Memory (RAM): 16GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 8GB)
  • Graphics Card: 11GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1080 Ti – HDMI, 3x DP GeForce – GTX VR Ready!
  • 1st Hard Disk: 1TB WD BLACK 3.5″ WD1003FZEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
  • M.2 SSD Drive: 512GB WD Black™ M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 2050MB/s R | 800MB/s W)
  • Power Supply: CORSAIR 650W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
  • Processor Cooling: Corsair H80i V2 Hydro Cooler w/ PCS Liquid Series Ultra Quiet Fans
  • LED Lighting: 2x 50cm RGB LED Strip
  • Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit – inc Unlimited Downloads or a physical copy on either a USB or DVD

If we were being picky, there are a couple of minor flaws within the PCSpecialist Vulcan Pro system. First of all, the InWin 101 chassis is perhaps not the most well-built case on the market. It's only a budget case after all – retailing for £67 – but its steel panels do feel a bit flimsy. I'm also convinced that the case's plastic feet would snap off the moment any force is applied to them.

Given the 101's compact nature – it barely fits an ATX motherboard due to the placement of the PSU at the top of the case – cable management is tricky. As you can see in the images above, there are a few trailing front panel connectors which are visible at both the top and the bottom of the motherboard. Matters aren't helped by the fact that the single intake fan (positioned on the right hand side of the case, next to the motherboard) uses a rather ugly black, red and yellow cable.

In short, while the case does sport a lovely tempered glass panel and interesting internal layout, the high-end parts do feel a bit out of place in this lower-tier chassis.

However, those points are – as I mentioned – only valid if we were being picky. The simple fact of the matter is there is no possible way any individual could build a system with this selection of components for less money than what PCSpecialist is offering. At £1749 – which includes the cost of building, shipping and honouring the 3-year included warranty – I make that to be at least £250 cheaper than the cost of buying all the individual components separately.

Because of that, it is very easy to forgive the rather average case. Keeping the cost down there has obviously allowed PCSpecialist to go big on the components that really matter – namely, the graphics card and processor.

Testing

As demonstrated by the above charts, the combination of GTX 1080 Ti and i7-8700K emphatically delivers the goods. You're guaranteed high frame rates at 1080p and 1440p resolutions, while 40FPS seems a rough average for 4K gaming using ‘very high' settings.

PCSpecialist could've overclocked the CPU, though, as it has been left at stock clocks. This means the all-core turbo frequency for the chip is 4.3GHz, when we know these chips can easily hit north of 5GHz.

However, the benefit to not overclocking becomes obvious when we get to thermals – a maximum temperature of just 63C for the i7-8700K is almost unheard of. The blower-style graphics card doesn't perform as well as a more sophisticated card would, but it gets the job done.

Another consequence of these impressive thermal results is that noise levels are far from a concern. The system emits a gentle hum while idling which is audible but far from intrusive. The thing is, it doesn't really get much louder under load as the liquid cooler is more than capable of taming the stock-clocked CPU. As such, even quiet music would drown out the noise from the Vulcan Pro.

Lastly we come to power consumption. A peak reading of just 339W puts the power draw at just over 50% of the Corsair 650W TX-M's rated capacity, which ensures optimal efficiency and low noise levels as the fan is not having to spin much, if at all. Adding in a second GTX 1080 Ti for SLI is also a possibility, though that would be stretching the power supply to its limits.

Closing Thoughts

To my mind, the PCSpecialist Vulcan Pro is undoubtedly a high-end gaming system that appeals thanks to its competitive price – at just £1749, there is simply no way an individual could build the same system for less money. In fact, by my calculations, the total cost of the Vulcan Pro's components is over £2000. With that in mind, the Vulcan Pro is actually a fantastic bargain.

On another day, in a time where GPU prices are more sensible, we may well have been a bit more critical of the relatively flimsy case, or the front-facing cable management. However, as it stands, we just can't argue with this combination of parts considering the price.

As such, if you had even the faintest thought of building your own high-end system in the coming days or weeks – don't, at least not until prices return to normal. Instead, go with the PCSpecialist Vulcan Pro and you'll get it built, shipped and covered by warranty for £250 less than what you'd pay if you built it yourself.

You can buy the Vulcan pro for £1749 HERE.

Pros

  • Simply unbeatable value given the current climate.
  • i7-8700K and GTX 1080 Ti is a winning combination.
  • Impressive thermals.
  • Low noise levels.
  • Compact.

Cons

  • InWin 101 case is a bit basic.
  • CPU could've been overclocked.

KitGuru says: Even with a couple of minor flaws, these are very quickly forgotten when you consider the price of the Vulcan Pro. At £1749, there's just no way you're going to get a better deal on a high-end gaming PC given the current market situation.

Be sure to check out our sponsors store EKWB here

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PC Specialist Magma LX System – Ryzen 7 1700, GTX 1070Ti https://www.kitguru.net/desktop-pc/briony-hannam/pc-specialist-magma-lx-system-ryzen-7-1700-gtx-1070ti/ https://www.kitguru.net/desktop-pc/briony-hannam/pc-specialist-magma-lx-system-ryzen-7-1700-gtx-1070ti/#comments Tue, 30 Jan 2018 12:34:49 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=361379 Its spec'd cheaper than you can buy the components for new. How does it perform?

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The Magma LX from PC Specialist is a high end gaming PC with plenty of power and some impressive RGB lights. The water cooled Ryzen CPU, M.2 SSD, 16GB of Ram and GTX 1070Ti sound like a match made in heaven for triple digit FPS.

But is this PC as good as it sounds? In this review we put it through it's paces to find out if this £1479 prebuild is the perfect investment for someone serious about PC gaming. 

Gallery:

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PC Specialist Magma LX Specifications: 

  • Case: CORSAIR CRYSTAL SERIES 460X RGB GAMING CASE
  • Processor (CPU): AMD Ryzen 7 1700 Eight Core CPU (3.0GHz-3.7GHz/20MB CACHE/AM4)
  • Motherboard: ASUS PRIME X370-PRO (DDR4, 6Gb/s, CrossFireX/SLI) – RGB Ready!
  • Memory (RAM): 16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 8GB)
  • Graphics Card: 8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1070 Ti – DVI, HDMI, 3 x DP – GeForce GTX VR Ready!
  • Storage: 2TB SATA-III 3.5″ HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE, M.2 SSD Drive 256GB SAMSUNG PM961 M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 2800MB/R, 1100MB/W)
  • Power Supply: CORSAIR 650W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
  • Processor Cooling: Corsair H100i V2 Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
  • LED Lighting: 2x 50cm RGB LED Strip
  • Operating System: Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit – inc DVD & Single Licence

Be sure to check out our sponsors store EKWB here

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PCSpecialist Apollo X01 (i7-7820X & 1080 Ti) System Review https://www.kitguru.net/desktop-pc/dominic-moass/pcspecialist-apollo-x01-i7-7820x-1080-ti-system-review/ https://www.kitguru.net/desktop-pc/dominic-moass/pcspecialist-apollo-x01-i7-7820x-1080-ti-system-review/#respond Thu, 21 Sep 2017 10:38:14 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=346436 An i7-7820X and a GTX 1080 Ti - a winning combination from PCSpecialist?

The post PCSpecialist Apollo X01 (i7-7820X & 1080 Ti) System Review first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
With Intel's X299 platform having been on the market for a couple of months now, it is about time we reviewed a pre-built system based around a Skylake-X processor. PCSpecialist have obliged by sending over their Apollo X01 system which sports an i7-7820X 8-core CPU, an ASUS ROG Strix X299-E motherboard and a GTX 1080 Ti – all of which creates quite a versatile system.

When using such powerful components, there is always the risk that a system becomes an object of brute force and lacks any finesse. However, PCSpecialist has avoided this pitfall by building in the lovely Corsair 460X – a compact mid-tower chassis that sports two tempered glass panels and 3 pre-installed RGB fans.

Accordingly, the Apollo X01 looks to have married power with beauty in a very appealing fashion. Of course, a system like this does not come cheap, and you will find yourself in need of £2149 if you want to be the proud owner of an Apollo X01.

Specification

  • Case: CORSAIR CRYSTAL SERIES 460X RGB GAMING CASE
  • Processor (CPU): Intel® Core™ i7 Eight Core Processor i7-7820X (3.6GHz) 11MB Cache
  • Motherboard: ASUS ROG STRIX X299-E GAMING: ATX, USB 3.1, SATA 6 GB/s, WIFI – RGB Ready!
  • Memory (RAM): 16GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 8GB)
  • Graphics Card: 11GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1080 Ti – HDMI, 3x DP GeForce – GTX VR Ready!
  • 1st Hard Disk: 1TB WD BLACK 3.5″ WD1003FZEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
  • M.2 SSD Drive: 256GB WD Black™ M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 2050MB/s R | 700MB/s W)
  • Power Supply: CORSAIR 650W TXm SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
  • Processor Cooling: Corsair H100i V2 Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
  • LED Lighting: 2x 50cm RGB LED Strip
  • Operating System: Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit – inc DVD & Single Licence

Price: £2149

Before coming to what I like and dislike about this system, it is worth taking a moment to ponder who the Apollo X01 is aimed at. The use of Intel's i7-7820X, an 8-core 16-thread monster, certainly suggests that prospective buyers are likely to want to execute heavily multi-threaded tasks – be it encoding, rendering, what have you – and run them fast.

Following on from that, the GTX 1080 Ti clearly implies that this system is also intended for gaming – why else would you stick in Nvidia's fastest consumer card? However, the use of an 8-core CPU with the 1080 Ti leads us to the conclusion that the Apollo X01 has to be seen as an all-rounder type of PC, one that is just as comfortable blitzing through 4K games as it is rendering 4K video footage.

To my mind, that makes the Apollo X01 quite a niche system. After all, if you are purely interested in a gaming PC then you would be best served by a i7-7700K and the Z270 platform. If you are purely interested in getting the most computational power available to you, Threadripper and X399 is currently the platform to go for. And if you want great value, Ryzen 5 or 7 processors are substantially cheaper than their Intel X299 counterparts, especially when you factor in motherboard cost as well.

Therefore, I reckon anyone considering the Apollo X01 has to be looking for the best of both worlds with zero compromises. This is demonstrated by the use of the i7-7820X – the 8 physical cores obviously pack a punch, and yet its single-core performance is still better than Ryzen or Threadripper – while the GTX 1080 Ti is required for the best gaming experience. Thus, prospective buyers would likely be content creators or similar – those who want very quick render times by day, but also the single-threaded speed offered by Skylake-X for gaming come night time.

Now, if you happen to fit into that small market niche, and don't want to consider saving some cash by going for Ryzen, the Apollo X01 will serve you admirably. It is well-built, with solid cable management, while the three Corsair RGB fans can be quickly adjusted via the dedicated front panel buttons.

There are one or two quirks here and there, the main one being the use of dual-channel RAM, something which does feel like a waste when Intel's HEDT platform is well-known for its quad-channel abilities. A more minor point is the fact that the two 50cm RGB strips don't synchronise with the Corsair fans given they connect to the ASUS motherboard, meaning the X01 houses two different RGB ecosystems instead of one unified system. Whether or not that will bother you will depend on your view of RGB lighting and its place in the modern desktop.

Testing

As you can see, the Skylake-X and GTX 1080 Ti combo makes for a very quick PC. Users get the benefit of 8 fast cores when it comes to computational workloads, while Skylake-X's superior IPC (when compared to Ryzen) coupled with Nvidia's flagship GPU means gaming – even at 4K – is handled just fine.

Thermal dynamics

Ambient: 22C

By now, Skylake-X is well-known for its lacking thermal performance, shall we say. However, I am pleased to say the Apollo X01 has avoided this pitfall as I did not see the CPU package temperature go above 64C. This is because the CPU is not overclocked – as I received it, every CPU-related setting in the UEFI had been left to ‘auto'. This does mean users aren't quite getting the most out of this processor, but it also means this Corsair 240mm AIO can cool it very well.

As for the graphics card, the 1080 Ti that comes as part of the Apollo X01 is a very basic model from Palit. It uses a blower-style cooler, so it is similar to the Founders Edition card in that respect, but it uses a cheap plastic shroud and lacks any modcons like RGB lighting or semi-passive fans that we might expect from other, more premium, aftermarket cards. Still, it cools just fine as I saw a maximum temperature of 83C while running Fire Strike's stress test.

Closing Thoughts

On the whole, the PCSpecialist Apollo X01 is a well-built PC with a very fast core spec.

As I mentioned above, that core spec consists of an Intel i7-7820X (8-core 16-thread) and a GTX 1080 Ti – a combination which clearly says ‘no compromises here', as demonstrated by the huge Cinebench score and gaming benchmarks which you can see above.

That being said, the Apollo X01 is likely to have limited appeal, most obviously because Ryzen 7 processors can still offer 8-cores and 16-threads but at a much lower cost. Those after the fastest gaming PC, and nothing else, would also be best served elsewhere, by the i7-7700K.

Nonetheless, if you are looking for a system with as little compromise as possible – most likely to be used for heavy workloads during the day and 4K gaming by night – then the PCSpecialist Apollo X01 comes well recommended. It isn't perfect, but it PCSpecialist can build it for you cheaper than you could do yourself, so overall it is a solid buy.

You can buy the Apollo X01 for £2149 over HERE.

Discuss on our Facebook page, over HERE.

Pros

  • Excellent computational performance thanks to i7-7820X.
  • GTX 1080 Ti offers great gaming performance.
  • Looks good in the Corsair 460X case.
  • Cheaper to have PCSpecialist build it than it would be to do yourself.

Cons

  • Dual channel memory feels a waste.
  • RGB LED strips aren't synchronised with the RGB case fans.

KitGuru says: If you are looking for a solid all-rounder, something that is equally capable of executing heavily-threaded tasks as it is playing games, then the PCSpecialist Apollo X01 is likely to appeal. It isn't perfect, but it is definitely a very powerful machine.

Be sure to check out our sponsors store EKWB here

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PC Specialist Vortex VI Laptop Review (6700K/GTX1080 SLI) https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/laptops/leo-waldock/pc-specialist-vortex-vi-laptop-review-6700kgtx1080-sli/ https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/laptops/leo-waldock/pc-specialist-vortex-vi-laptop-review-6700kgtx1080-sli/#comments Wed, 14 Dec 2016 13:56:11 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=314613 KitGuru has reviewed a handful of high end gaming laptops that fail to deliver the level of performance you might expect to see from one or two GTX 1080 graphics chips. Our working theory is that 45W mobile Intel CPUs such as Core i7-6820HK and 6920HQ simply do not have the grunt to keep the …

The post PC Specialist Vortex VI Laptop Review (6700K/GTX1080 SLI) first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
KitGuru has reviewed a handful of high end gaming laptops that fail to deliver the level of performance you might expect to see from one or two GTX 1080 graphics chips. Our working theory is that 45W mobile Intel CPUs such as Core i7-6820HK and 6920HQ simply do not have the grunt to keep the GPUs humming along at full speed. Today we have a chance to test that theory as PC Specialist has delivered its Vortex VI laptop which combines dual GTX 1080s with a desktop Core i7-6700K, which is slightly faster than the mobile chips at 4.0GHz/4.2GHz and has double the TDP at 91W.

The form factor of Vortex VI is pretty much exactly what you would expect from a gaming laptop. It is big and chunky, with a 17.3-inch 4K IPS panel, weighing in at 5.7kg for the bare laptop and an additional 1.1kg for each of the two 330W power adapters.

If you select a lower specification with dual GTX 1070 GPUs you can instead have a pair of 230W power adapters. With Vortex VI the link between power, performance, heat, cooling and noise is absolutely clear and completely unavoidable.

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PC Specialist Vortex VI Specification:
Chassis & Display Vortex Series: 17.3″ Matte 4K IPS LED Wide screen (3840×2160)
Processor (CPU) Intel Core i7 Quad Core Processor i7-6700k (4.0GHz) 8MB Cache
Memory (RAM) 32GB HyperX Impact 2133MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card 2 x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080, 8.0GB GDDR5 Video RAM, DX12.1
Free Watch Dogs 2 with select GTX 10 Series GPUs
M.2 SSD Drive 512GB Intel 600p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 1775MB/s Read 560MB/s Write)
Hard Disk 1TB WD Black 2.5″ WD10JPLX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
Card Reader Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)
AC Adapter 2 x Vortex Series 330W AC Adaptor
Power Cable 2 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Sound Card Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless Gigabit LAN & Killer Wireless-AC 1535 M.2 Gaming 802.11AC + Bluetooth 4.1
USB Options 5 x USB 3.0 ports + 1 x USB 3.1 port
Battery Vortex Elite 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (5,800 mAh/89.21Wh)
Keyboard Vortex Elite Series backlit UK keyboard with number pad
Operating System Windows 10 Home 64 Bit – inc DVD & Licence
Anti-Virus BullGuard Internet Security – Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Notebook Mouse integrated 2 button touchpad mouse
Webcam integrated 2.0 MP Full HD Webcam
Warranty 3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)

As we show in our video the chassis is well laid out with a mass of modern ports and connectors. There is no optical drive.
Left side: 2x USB 3.0, 1x USB 3.1, headset jacks, dual Ethernet.
Right side: 1x USB 3.0, 2x Mini DisplayPort, 2x USB 3.1 ThunderBolt 3 type C, card reader.
One USB 3.0 and HDMI on the rear along with power connectors.

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Inside the chassis there is scope for adding storage as there are two hard drive slots and two M.2 slots however our main interest lays in the cooling system. The air intakes are on the bottom of the chassis and they feed air to the triple coolers, one each for the CPU and two GPUs. Each heat sink employs two flat, wide heatpipes to shift the heat to the exhausts at the rear of the chassis.

Testing

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When we started testing the Vortex VI we ran into a snag in Gears of War 4 as the game warned us that graphics driver 372.54 has ‘compatibility problems with Gears of War 4’. We tried to install driver 376.09 however it threw up a message that we had to use a driver from the vendor i.e. Clevo where the most recent driver is 368.83. After a certain amount of conversation we installed a previous Nvidia driver 375.95 which worked just fine.

We later discovered the problem lay with Nvidia driver 376.09 and has now been fixed. We like to share this sort of detail with KitGuru readers.

Take a look at our graphs and you will see the Vortex VI stomps through games in an indecent fashion. If you leave G-Sync enabled the frame rate will be capped at 60fps and the image quality is excellent, but it has to be said during our testing without G-Sync there was absolutely no sign of tearing.

Frame rates at 1080p are excellent however the gaming experience at 4K is better and that would be our recommendation.

The two GTX 1080s have a base clock of 1,582MHz and boost to 1,771MHz and while pure graphics performance is a little lower than MSI GT80S Titan and Asus GX800VH, the overall performance is greatly assisted by the use of a fully fledged desktop Core i7-6700K. The key point is that the Vortex VI has only five percent lower performance than Asus GX800VH when it is using its liquid cooling dock and the GPUs are boosted to 1,898MHz (which is 120MHz higher than the Vortex VI).

That is stellar performance from an air cooled laptop that uses modest clock speeds to drive the graphics along and it proves that a desktop CPU can make a significant difference.

Cooling Performance.

Temperatures: Synthetic Worst Case Scenario (below)

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Temperatures: Real world General Gaming Scenario (below)

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Stressing the Vortex VI with AIDA 64 pushed the CPU to 95 degrees and the two GPUs to 89 and 90 degrees, which was clearly less than ideal.

Stressing the CPU alone gave a temperature of 67 degrees, so CPU cooling is clearly fine in isolation. Stressing the two graphics cards when gaming increased the CPU temperatures to 76 degrees, even though it was doing very little work.

On the face of it this is quite some problem but in the real world we found that during a Grand Theft Auto V gaming session the maximum CPU temp was 75 degrees while the GPUs ran at 60 and 62. The takeaway here is that synthetic tests are far harsher than actual game play and that Clevo has balanced the cooling in this chassis to a fine degree.

When you consider the laptop draws 460W in 3D Mark that is no mean feat and we were suitably impressed.

Acoustics performance.
The Vortex VI is rather noisy. The fans spin up once the temperatures pass 50 degrees, which is any time the laptop is working the least bit hard, and then ramp up harder above 60 degrees. When you start to play a game this takes about half a second.

After a gaming session the system cools down and the fans slowly, slowly, slowly spin back down over a period of five to ten minutes. Once the GPU temperature drops below 50 degrees the laptop is effectively silent.

The noise is unwelcome but the fan curve is elegant and well thought out by those clever people at Clevo.

Closing Thoughts.

The PC Specialist Vortex VI is big, heavy and hardly a thing of beauty however it packs performance by the bucketload. The engineering sophistication of Asus GX800VH blew us away, but the end result is a truly massive piece of hardware. By contrast the Vortex VI seems a little crude with its three air coolers and black plastic chassis but it can be slipped in a sturdy bag and delivers the same level of performance.

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The CPU, GPUs, storage, memory and massive array of USB 3.0 and 3.1 ports are all top notch. The 4K IPS panel with its matte coating is stunningly good.

Our sole complaint, apart from the noise levels from the cooling system, is the touch pad which was hyper sensitive on our particular review sample.

This is a superb gaming laptop that delivers the goods. We have little doubt Vortex VI will be updated to use Kaby Lake in the near future but we doubt that will impact performance or price in any meaningful way.

You can custom configure a PCSpecialist Vortex VI HERE

You can buy the PCSpecialist review specification system HERE (£3,599 inc vat)

Pros:

  • Epic CPU performance.
  • Dual GTX 1080s power 4K game play.
  • Matte IPS panel with G-Sync looks terrific.
  • Heaps us USB 3.0/3.1 connections.
  • Surprisingly good battery life.
  • Backlit keyboard is good.

Cons:

  • Cooling system is rather noisy.
  • Weighs 8kg in total.
  • Touchpad is too sensitive.

KitGuru says: The most powerful laptop we have reviewed, and its actually more practical than the flagship behemoths we recently reviewed from MSI and ASUS.

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Be sure to check out our sponsors store EKWB here

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PCSpecialist Defiance III 17.3 Laptop (w/ GTX 1060) https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/laptops/dominic-moass/pcspecialist-defiance-iii-17-3-laptop-w-gtx-1060/ https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/laptops/dominic-moass/pcspecialist-defiance-iii-17-3-laptop-w-gtx-1060/#comments Thu, 15 Sep 2016 12:52:24 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=305972 Here at KitGuru we have already seen the monster that is the Asus ROG GX800VH – featuring dual GTX 1080s. However, with the price expected to be upwards of £5000, it is out of reach for most laptop gamers. That is where the PCSpecialist Defiance III comes in. It sports a Pascal GTX 1060 GPU, quad-core …

The post PCSpecialist Defiance III 17.3 Laptop (w/ GTX 1060) first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
Here at KitGuru we have already seen the monster that is the Asus ROG GX800VH – featuring dual GTX 1080s. However, with the price expected to be upwards of £5000, it is out of reach for most laptop gamers. That is where the PCSpecialist Defiance III comes in. It sports a Pascal GTX 1060 GPU, quad-core i7 processor and 16GB DDR4 memory, all in an attractive chassis. At £1349, it is still an investment, but do its features make the price worthwhile?

Given that the PCSpecialist Defiance III utilises a desktop GTX 1060, which we reviewed here, we can expect great performance on the 1080p, 17.3in display. A 512GB M.2 SSD is accompanied by a 1TB SSHD, and given the array of USB ports (Type-C and Type-A) also included, the Defiance III looks like a very exciting proposition on paper.

We put the Defiance III through its paces and see how it fares.

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Specifications

  • Chassis & Display Defiance Series: 17.3″ Matte Full HD IPS LED Widescreen (1920×1080)
  • Processor (CPU): Intel® Core™ i7 Quad Core Processor 6700HQ (2.6GHz, 3.5GHz Turbo)
  • Memory (RAM): 16GB HyperX IMPACT 2133MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 8GB)
  • Graphics Card: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1060 – 6.0GB GDDR5 Video RAM – DirectX® 12.1, G-SYNC
  • Storage: Hard Disk 1TB SEAGATE HYBRID 2.5″ SSHD Drive, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (5400 rpm). M.2 SSD 512GB SANDISK X400 M.2 2280 (up to 540MB/R, 520MB/W)
  • Memory Card Reader: Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)
  • AC Adaptor: 1 x 200W AC Adaptor
  • Sound Card: Intel 2 Channel High Def. Audio + MIC/Headphone + SoundBlaster X-Fi MB3
  • Bluetooth & Wireless: GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® AC-8260 M.2 (867Mbps, 802.11AC) + BLUETOOTH USB
  • Ports: 5 x USB 3.0 PORTS AS STANDARD
  • Battery: Defiance Series 4 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (60WH)
  • Keyboard: DEFIANCE SERIES RGB BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD
  • Operating System: Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit
  • Notebook Mouse: INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
  • Webcam: INTEGRATED 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
  • Warranty: 3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)

Be sure to check out our sponsors store EKWB here

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PCSpecialist Lafité Ultrabook Review https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/laptops/dominic-moass/pcspecialist-lafite-ultrabook-review/ https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/laptops/dominic-moass/pcspecialist-lafite-ultrabook-review/#comments Mon, 03 Aug 2015 07:46:00 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=259953 Ultrabooks have become increasingly popular over the last few years thanks to their portable yet powerful nature. However, prices remain high – in many cases you can be paying over £1000 for a new Ultrabook. PCSpecialist's Lafité aims to change that. Priced at just £499, Lafité ships with the latest Broadwell-U CPU, a 1080p display …

The post PCSpecialist Lafité Ultrabook Review first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
Ultrabooks have become increasingly popular over the last few years thanks to their portable yet powerful nature. However, prices remain high – in many cases you can be paying over £1000 for a new Ultrabook. PCSpecialist's Lafité aims to change that. Priced at just £499, Lafité ships with the latest Broadwell-U CPU, a 1080p display panel and SSD storage. Is this the Ultrabook you should be getting?

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Specifications

  • Chassis & Display: Lafité Silver Aluminium Chassis: 13.3″ Matte Full HD IPS LED (1920 x 1080)
  • Processor (CPU): Intel® Core™ i3 Dual Core Processor i3-5010U (2.10GHz)
  • Memory (RAM): 8GB KINGSTON SODIMM DDR3 1600MHz (1 x 8GB)
  • Graphics Card: INTEL® HD GRAPHICS 5500 (Only with Intel® Core™ CPUs)
  • Memory – Hard Disk: 240GB KINGSTON V300 SSD, SATA 6 Gb (450MB/R, 450MB/W)
  • Dimensions (W x D x H): 325mm x 219mm x 18mm
  • Weight: 1.42Kg
  • Card Reader: Integrated 2 in 1 Memory Card Reader (SD, MMC)
  • Sound Card: Realtek 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
  • Bluetooth & Wireless: GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® AC-3160 M.2 (433Mbps, 802.11AC) + Bluetooth
  • USB Options: 1 x USB 3.0 PORT + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
  • Battery: Lafité Series 4 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (6,300mAh)
  • Power Lead & Adaptor: 1 x UK Power Lead & 40W AC Adaptor
  • Keyboard Language: LAFITÉ SERIES INTEGRATED UK KEYBOARD
  • Operating System: Genuine Windows 8.1 64 Bit – inc DVD & Licence DPK
  • DVD Recovery Media: Windows 8.1 (64-bit) DVD with paper sleeve
  • Office Software: FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365
  • Anti-Virus: BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY – FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
  • Notebook Mouse: INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
  • Webcam: INTEGRATED 720P 30 FPS HD WEBCAM
  • Warranty: 3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
  • Insurance: 1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft

Being an Intel certified Ultrabook, PCSpecialist have had to meet a few criteria to get that certification. Perhaps the most obvious of these criteria is the thin and light chassis, which is very portable and attractive. Lafité weighs just 1.42KG, and is a mere 18mm thick. Both figures are hugely impressive, and mean you will have absolutely no problems carrying Lafité around with you. It is so light it is barely noticeable when carried in a rucksack, for instance.

The silver aluminium design also adds a touch of class, though there are inevitable comparisons with the MacBook Air – especially considering Lafité has the same tapered chassis design and a black island keyboard. Still, such comparisons are no bad thing as MacBooks are well constructed laptops in their own right. Given that the outer chassis is also completely devoid of any logos or branding, Lafité looks simple and clean while the aluminium feels durable and classy.

In terms of connectivity ports, what we have is a fairly standard affair for a thin and light laptop. The left edge features a charging port, 1x USB 2.0, a combo audio jack and a reset pinhole. The right edge has an SD card reader, 1x USB 3.0, a HDMI port and a Ethernet port. So there are not masses of options, but anything more is getting unreasonable for a laptop which is just 18mm thick.

Once the lid has been opened, the black Island keyboard greets you, which contrasts nicely against the silver body of the laptop. The keyboard itself is in a standard UK configuration, though it is important to note the power button is part of the keyboard rather than a separate button positioned elsewhere. There is next to no key travel, but this has to be expected from such a thin laptop. It takes some getting used to but is still usable.

My main area of contention is the trackpad, as it makes a noticeable ‘sweeping' sound as you use it. It is not awful, but it is not the smoothest trackpad I have ever used. Responsiveness improved when I adjusted the pointer speed in Windows, but with the default settings it is somewhat sticky.

Inside, we have a Core i3-5010U CPU – the U denoting Ultra Low Power, as the CPU has 15W TDP. This is paired with 8GB of single-channel RAM, while storage is provided by a 240GB Kingston V300 SSD. This makes for a very responsive and speedy system, and a competitively priced one at that.

You will have no problems at all with general tasks like media playback or web browsing, with the PCMark Vantage score below is a real testament to how good a general computer Lafité is. Some fairly light Photoshop work is also comfortable, but that is only really an added bonus as Lafité is not meant for any serious imaging work.

It should go without saying that Lafité is not a gaming machine. It crawled through 3DMark Fire Strike as slowly as you would expect, so just to be extra clear – you will not be gaming on this Ultrabook. The general system responsiveness, though, is exceptional, which makes Lafité a great option for office tasks, particularly as it is so portable.

Benchmarks

vantage
firestrike
cloudgate
handbrake

As for the benchmarks, I have already mentioned that Fire Strike was far too demanding for the integrated Intel HD 5500 graphics as you can clearly see by the scores. Cloud Gate was able to run more smoothly but Lafité is in no way, shape or form going to be handling the latest games. The Handbrake encoding time of less than 8 minutes is noteworthy in that it is the fastest I have seen so far.

Battery life

battery

In the PCMark 8 battery benchmark test, Lafité lasted just over four and half hours. This is a very strong score, and you can be assured of all day battery life when using Lafité for everyday tasks as office jobs are not battery-intensive at all.

Closing thoughts

All in all, PCSpecialist's Lafité is a very capable Ultrabook at a very competitive price.

For £499, you get a thin and light aluminium chassis, which houses the latest Broadwell-U i3 processor, 8GB RAM and a 240GB SSD for storage. Of course, as Lafité is from PCSpecialist, it can be configured with different processors and storage options to name but a few. Our specific review model costs £499.

main

Lafité is very attractive and slim – weighing just 1.42kg and measuring just 18mm thick. Despite that, it is still very responsive and fast thanks to the Kingston SSD and i3-5010U. These components are a great combination, which makes Lafité a perfect solution for almost anybody looking for a laptop for general computing tasks.

You can buy the pre-configured model I tested from PCSpecialist for £499 inc VAT, or you can configure your own laptop here.

Discuss on our Facebook page, over HERE.

Pros

  • Ultra-thin and ultra-light.
  • Attractive aluminium chassis.
  • Very affordable Ultrabook solution.
  • Sharp 1080p display.
  • i3, SSD and 8GB RAM make for a nippy system.

Cons

  • Trackpad is a bit noisy and can feel sticky.
  • Limited storage space.

KitGuru says: PCSpecialist have made a great Ultrabook with Lafité. It is super-portable and can handle everyday computing with consummate ease.
MUST-HAVE2

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PCSpecialist Optimus Nebula Review https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/laptops/leo-waldock/pcspecialist-optimus-nebula-review/ https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/laptops/leo-waldock/pcspecialist-optimus-nebula-review/#comments Wed, 29 Apr 2015 15:59:34 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=247292 The new Optimus Nebula laptop from PC Specialist delivers the latest GTX 960M graphics in a mid-sized 15.6” chassis at a price that is aimed squarely at the mainstream user. Driving the graphics along we have a Core i7 CPU, 8GB of DDR3 RAM and a 120GB SSD with a 1TB data drive in the …

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The new Optimus Nebula laptop from PC Specialist delivers the latest GTX 960M graphics in a mid-sized 15.6” chassis at a price that is aimed squarely at the mainstream user. Driving the graphics along we have a Core i7 CPU, 8GB of DDR3 RAM and a 120GB SSD with a 1TB data drive in the background which gives us the makings of a competent gaming laptop.

_4960178_4960182_4960188_4960197
_4960174_4960193_4960159_4960166

It is worth saying up front that I stumbled over the spec during the video and the Optimus Nebula comes with Intel 802.11/ac Wi-Fi. For some reason my notes said 802.11/n which would be a bit weird in this day and age as every decent laptop has /ac. There is almost nothing to dislike about this laptop and the possibility the Wi-Fi was lacking was potentially significant, however this is not the case.

The Clevo chassis is wrapped in a matt black rubberised covering that feels good yet doesn't attract oily fingerprints like certain laptops we have seen in the past. Continuing the good news the keyboard feels good, the touchpad works effectively and there is a fingerprint reader between the mouse buttons.

If we ignore the rubber feet the chassis has a thickness of 26mm which is split 20mm for the base and a mere 6mm for the screen panel. It is peculiar to see the degree of flex in the screen, presumably due to its skeletal nature, but this shouldn't be a problem so long as you avoid dishing out the rough treatment.

PC Specialist 15.6” Optimus Nebula Specification:

  • Screen: 15.6″ IPS LED 1920×1080
  • Processor Type: Intel Core i7 4720HQ
  • Hard Drive Supplied: 1TB Toshiba MQ01ABD100
  • Solid State Drive: 120GB Kingston HyperX 3K
  • Memory: 8GB 1600mhz DDR3
  • Operating System: Windows 8.1
  • Graphics Chipset: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M
  • Graphics Memory: 2GB GDDR 5
  • Chipset: Intel HM87 Express
  • Audio: SoundBlaster Cinema2
  • Speaker(s): 2 x Speakers
  • Microphone: Built-in
  • LAN Card: Realtek Gigabit
  • LAN Speed: 10/100/1000
  • Wireless NIC: Intel Wireless AC-7265 (a/b/g/n/ac)
  • Bluetooth: v4.0
  • Line In Jack(s): 1
  • Card Reader: SDXC/HC
  • Web Camera: 2.0MP Full HD
  • 28.5mm thick
  • Product Weight (g): 2.6Kg (w/Battery)
  • Warranty: 3 Years (1 year parts, 3 years labour)

Along the front of the Nebula there are some activity LEDs, and the ports and connectors are arranged on three sides of the chassis with two USB 3.0 and headset jacks on the left side along with what looks like a DVD drive. On the rear there is a third USB 3.0, HDMI and mini DisplayPort and the jack for the power brick. Turning to the right hand side we have a fourth USB 3.0 port, VGA, Ethernet, an SD card reader and a slot for a 3G or 4G modem card.

The modem/SIM card slot connects with an internal M.2 slot and you can buy a 3G card for £29 or 4G for £59. Both models on offer come from Huawei.

Perhaps the most surprising thing is the dummy DVD drive. Inside the chassis there are two SATA connectors with one used for the boot drive, in this case a 120GB Kingston HyperX SSD, although the baseline spec includes a hard drive. The second connector is used either for an optical drive or to add a data drive via a drive caddy which for some reason looks like a DVD drive. You can press the non-functioning eject button as much as you like without necessarily realising there is a 1TB hard drive inside.

To get inside the chassis and see the layout of the components and cooling system requires the removal of a series of screws and then a bit of judicious pulling at the plastic bottom cover. While this is quite easy it is good to report that it simply won't be necessary for most users as the battery can be replaced once you have removed a couple of screws. That's not as simple as a locking latch but realistically you will rarely if ever change the battery so it doesn't cause us a problem.

Once you have the Nebula open you can see there are actually three M.2 slots inside. One for the Wi-Fi card, one unused mSATA and one for the modem card slot. The reason PC Specialist elected to install the data drive in the DVD bay, rather than using an M.2 SSD, is to balance cost against performance. We aren't fussed about the absence of a DVD drive but it feels neater to have a tiny M.2 card connected directly to the motherboard.

The other point that becomes clear when you look inside the chassis is the way the coolers for the CPU and GPU are separated. The CPU cooler exhausts to the right (as you sit as the keyboard) while the GPU exhausts to the left.

Firing up the Optimus Nebula is a very pleasing experience. It is fast and responsive and while it cannot match some of the power houses we have seen with SSD RAID it is certainly quite lively. PC Specialist has installed very little software (we saw a trial version of Bullguard) so there is no bloat to slow Windows and the combination of SSD, Core i7 and GTX 960M hardware drives the laptop along at a brisk pace.

Perhaps it would help to have dual channel DDR3 but honestly, the single channel memory didn't have any obviously negative effect and our feeling is that the balance of the Optimus Nebula is exactly what you need for day-to-day use.

Testing
3dmark fire strike
pcmark8
thief
tomb raider

Gaming at 1080p is a lovely experience with the Optimus Nebula. It would be a short-sighted move to pay £119 and upgrade to a 4k screen as that would undoubtedly make the hardware struggle.

Clearly we have seen faster laptops at KitGuru but this model delivers 60fps gaming and that is all we need to keep us happy.

Thermal Dynamics
The Intel CPU idles at 40 degrees while the GTX 960M ticks over at 35 degrees. Under load the two cooling systems clearly operate independently with the GPU cooling kicking in when the temperature hits 70 degrees and stabilises at 74 degrees. The fan is audible but not intrusive.

It is a similar story with the CPU where the fan spins up when the temperature touches 80 degrees and stabilises at 90 degrees.
Of course those temperatures are inside the chassis but on the outside the temperatures barely rise above ambient. The worst case scenario in the region of the two fan exhaust vents was a trivial matter of 33 degrees.

Acoustic Performance
acoustics performance

When the Nebula is idling it is pretty much silent apart from the occasional burst of fan noise, which presumably indicates that Windows decided to do some thinking for a moment or two. Under load the fans are quite audible however they are not particularly intrusive. The CPU cooler is slightly louder than the GPU cooler but neither is a cause for concern.

Battery life
It is intriguing to see a laptop apparently named after Nvidia battery saving technology. In fact it is a coincidence as PC Specialist had an Optimus laptop while the name was a twinkle in Nvidia's eye. The combination of Intel and Nvidia power saving technologies along with a decent sized battery mean you get nearly three hours of battery life under intense conditions. Take things more easily and you can expect the Nebula to make it through the working day on a single charge.

Closing Thoughts

The PC Specialist Optimus Nebula is cool, calm and collected, and while it is not especially quiet when it is working hard it is certainly a good all rounder.
650px
We know full well that a combination of Core i7 and SSD make for a decent laptop and we can add GTX 960M to that list. This is a sensible laptop that can be used for day-to-day duties as well as gaming and the price is low enough that it won't cause a shock.

You can buy direct from PCSpecialist for £849.00 inc vat.

Discuss on our Facebook page, over HERE.

Pros:

  • Excellent GTX 960M gaming performance.
  • Core i7 grunt always delivers the goods.
  • Full HD IPS panel with matte coating is a good all-rounder.
  • Good value for money.
  • Kingston HyperX SSD.
  • 1TB of HDD storage.
  • Good, solid keyboard.
  • Reasonably light weight and fairly slender chassis.
  • Option of adding a 3G or 4G card.

Cons:

  • The screen flexes at the bottom.
  • Oddball fake DVD drive caddy for the add-in hard drive.

KitGuru says: There is almost nothing to dislike about the Optimus Nebula – this is an admirable all-rounder that delivers the goods.
MUST-HAVE2

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Winner of the PCSpecialist Optimus V Gaming Laptop Announced https://www.kitguru.net/tech-news/announcements/luke-hill/winner-of-the-pcspecialist-optimus-v-gaming-laptop-announced/ https://www.kitguru.net/tech-news/announcements/luke-hill/winner-of-the-pcspecialist-optimus-v-gaming-laptop-announced/#respond Wed, 07 Aug 2013 11:44:05 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=146396 The person who has won the excellent PCSpecialist Optimus V laptop has been announced. Could it be you? And the winner is… STEVEN LISSEMORE Congratulations Steven! We hope you enjoy gaming on your new PCSpecialist Optimus V gaming laptop! Make sure you post a picture on our Facebook page when it arrives. Make sure you …

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The person who has won the excellent PCSpecialist Optimus V laptop has been announced. Could it be you?

And the winner is…

laptop

STEVEN LISSEMORE

Congratulations Steven! We hope you enjoy gaming on your new PCSpecialist Optimus V gaming laptop! Make sure you post a picture on our Facebook page when it arrives. Make sure you all head on over to the PCSpecialist Facebook page to congratulate Steven.

Thanks to everybody who entered! If you weren't lucky enough to win this time, how about standing a chance of getting your hands on MSI's Z87-GD65 Gaming motherboard? Check out the competition here with details on how to enter.

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Picking the perfect system with PC Specialist https://www.kitguru.net/desktop-pc/faith/picking-the-perfect-system-with-pc-specialist/ https://www.kitguru.net/desktop-pc/faith/picking-the-perfect-system-with-pc-specialist/#comments Sun, 31 Mar 2013 16:42:00 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=130202 KitGuru is all about providing rock solid buying advice. Sure, we like to have a laugh (and the +50,000 folks who love our content over on Facebook are treated to as many jokes and cartoons as they are serious articles), but – at our core – we are all about helping you make more intelligent …

The post Picking the perfect system with PC Specialist first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
KitGuru is all about providing rock solid buying advice. Sure, we like to have a laugh (and the +50,000 folks who love our content over on Facebook are treated to as many jokes and cartoons as they are serious articles), but – at our core – we are all about helping you make more intelligent choices.

So here's a question that we've all tried to answer at some stage: Which processor should I buy and what system should I build around it?

There are many components that you can upgrade in your PC later, but the boot drive, mainboard and CPU are worth ‘getting right' from the start.

In our most recent survey, almost 2,000 loyal KitGuru readers told us that if price was no object, then their next CPU would be from Intel [80% to be precise – Ed], which got us wondering about ‘complete specifications'. What would the ‘whole PC' look like?

Given that you're an enthusiastic bunch, it's fair to assume most of you would be heading toward the ‘K' options from Intel. Sure, you might consider an X79 based 3820 which can also be overclocked (but not in quite the same way), but most of you will stick with the regular Core i5 and Core i7 variants.

So here's a question for you?  When you move from one processor to another – upgrading from one PC specification to another – what are you actually buying?  Do you get more ‘bang for your buck' by going for the cheapest possible CPU, buying the most expensive in the range or is there, in fact, a ‘sweet spot' in the middle.

To answer this question properly takes a lot of time, effort and money.

Specifically, you will need to build around half a dozen systems – each with some subtle differences – so the entire range represents the spread of ‘sensible choices'.

It could be difficult, unless you have access to the R&D facilities of one of the UK's largest system builders like PC Specialist.

Fortunately, we do.

Throughout the PC Specialist production facility, you will find an array of custom build PCs
Throughout the PC Specialist production facility, you will find an array of custom build PCs

PC Specialist

It's a fair schlep all the way to Huddersfield to meet up with PC Specialist's marketing uber-guru, John Medley, but well worth while.

John is used to specifying award winning sytems and the recent effort we analysed in the KitGuru Labs was very impressive. Certainly one of the best ‘manufacturer builds' we have ever seen and cost effective to boot.

Established 10 years ago, PC Specialist has grown into the largest system builder of its kind and it has now shipped tens of thousands of systems to all parts of the UK.

If you put www.pc.co.uk into a browser, you will get PC Specialist. That is a pretty cool URL to own.

The company itself is based around 5 miles south of central Huddersfield, along a river valley that has clearly been the centre for generations of thriving businesses dating back well over 100 years.

Huddersfield is a gorgeous town with affordable housing - from terraced houses around £60,000 to detached mansions with swimming pools at £450,000
Huddersfield is a gorgeous town with affordable housing – from terraced houses around £60,000 to detached mansions with swimming pools at £450,000. i.e. The price of a shoe box in London.

John gave us a tour around a large warehouse, with goods-in, storage, R&D, sales, support and production. Then he explained that they also have the 2 warehouses opposite. No messing around, this is a substantial operation.

Three of these units house PC Specialist - but they are already in the process of finding bigger accommodation
Three of these units house PC Specialist – but they are already in the process of finding bigger accommodation.

Its partnership with Intel is classified as ‘Platinum', which means they are buying a huge volume of processors and providing great advice for their customers. Also good news.

After a lengthy discussion at KitGuru HQ, we went through the specifications with John and then asked his R&D guys to build them ‘as if they were for regular customers – ordering over the phone'.

Brand new systems are kept warm and quiet during intensive burn testing - which helps screen out weak components before shipping. PC Specialist has a HUGE nursery for these baby systems.
Brand new systems are kept warm and quiet during intensive burn testing – which helps screen out weak components before shipping. PC Specialist has a HUGE nursery for these baby systems.

Sure, the specs change for each CPU set-up, but the changes were staggered – so you won't find a massive leap in price going from one to the next.

The idea is that each system represents a definite ‘Next rung on the ladder' option for someone buying a brand new PC from a major system house.

Our job is to take this range, subject it to a series of standardised benchmark tests, and then present to the results to you – dear reader – complete with the superb, high quality KitGuru photography that you're used to.

After going through each system in detail, we then analyse the results together and apply some ‘retail logic' to decide which Intel-based system represents the best value for money at the start of 2013.

For Cinebench, all the systems ran side by side. We switched to Iiyama HD screens for 3D Mark
For Cinebench, all the systems ran side by side. We switched to Iiyama HD screens for 3D Mark

.System Specifications

We have a spread of 6 machines from £499 at the low end, through to a top spec system at £1,499 at the high end.

The processors involved are:-

  • Core i3 3220 paired with a GT620
  • Core i5 3570k using Intel's integrated HD 4000 graphics
  • The same kind of specification, but with a GTX650 Ti
  • Then we move the 3570k to a more popular set up, with a GTX660 Ti booting off an SSD
  • The last of the 3570k systems comes with an SSD, 16GB of memory and a GTX670 at just over £1,000
  • Finally, we have a water-cooled, overclocked 3770k with a GTX680 – representing the pinnacle of what's possible with Intel Core i7 processors – without breaking the bank at £1,499


Here's a run down of each system – complete with a series of photos.  You can see them online at PC Specialist here.
.

Guru 500 System (Intel Core i3 3220/ nVidia GT620)

Built around what is arguably Intel's best processor under £100 (street price, incuding VAT to regular consumers), this system represents the most popular kind of specification you would find in a department store etc. Simple, no fuss, clean build and it will do a job for you – if all you need is a basic system.

At this level, customers will be thinking about whether or not to add in a graphics card. To give us something to compare with the Intel HD 4000 integrated graphics processor later, PCSPECIALIST included nVidia's GT 620 – which is one of the best selling low end cards on the market.

cpuz_GURU 500 PC

  • Intel Core i3 3220
  • Asus P8H61-MX
  • 8GB Samsung 1333Mhz
  • 1GB nVidia GeForce GT 620
  • 1TB SATA III
  • FSP 450W
  • Intel Stock Cooler
  • Microsoft Windows 8 Standard (64-bit)

£499 inc VAT, delivery and standard warranty (1 year collect and return – and 3 years labour only)

Guru-500-SideGuru-500-Inside-Detail

Guru 650 System (Intel Core i5 3570k / Intel HD4000)

Moving up £150 at this level gets you a serious improvement in specification. As discussed earlier, it's more important to get your CPU right than your graphics card. On that basis, PCSPECIALIST have left the nVidia GeForce GT620 off this system and increased the CPU to a 3570k – relying on the HD4000 engine for in game performance.

This is the kind of choice you might make if you need to get a system ‘now' for £650 – but want to add in a decent card later – maybe a GTX660 or Radeon HD 7850. Although the jump is (financially) small, you now have one of the most popular processors available. The stock cooler has been exchanged for a decent heatpipe model, the H61 chipset has given way to a Z77 and the memory is faster.

cpuz_GURU 650 PC

  • Intel Core i5 3570K
  • Asus P8Z77-V LK
  • 8GB Kingston HyperX 1600MHz
  • Integrated Intel HD 4000
  • 1TB SATA III
  • FSP 450W
  • Spire Triple Copper Cooler
  • Microsoft Windows 8 Standard (64-bit)

£649 inc VAT, delivery and standard warranty (1 year collect and return – and 3 years labour only)

Guru-650-FrontGuru-650-Side-Closed

Guru-650-Side-OpenGuru-650-Inside

Guru 800 PC (Intel Core i5 3570k / nVidia GTX650Ti)

If you didn't have to hold back on the graphics card on system 2, then the GTX650Ti is a good choice for casual gamers. If you get into gaming and want to belt away on more demanding games later, then you can always add in a second card and enable SLi. PCSPECIALIST has also improved the chassis on this build – perfect for those that like Corsair's ‘less is more' approach to case design.

cpuz_GURU 800 PC

  • Intel Core i5 3570k
  • Asus P8Z77-V LK
  • 8GB Kingston HyperX 1600MHz
  • 2GB nVidia GeForce GTX 650Ti
  • 1TB SATA III
  • FSP 450W
  • Spire Triple Copper Cooler
  • Microsoft Windows 8 Standard (64-bit)

£799 inc VAT, delivery and standard warranty (1 year collect and return – and 3 years labour only)

Guru-800-frontGuru-800-Side-Closed

Gurur-800-Side-OpenGuru-800-Inside-Detail

Guru 1000 PC (Intel Core i5 3570k / nVidia GTX660Ti)

With a budget of £999, you can start to afford the better things in life. The addition of water-cooling, courtesy of the Corsair H40, means that you can now throw extra clocks/voltage at your 3570k without being too concerned about overheating. Graphics have also taken a serious boost as we move to the one of the gaming community's favourite sons, nVidia's awesome GTX660 Ti.

But the benefits of spending close to a grand don't stop there – you will also be booting and running your primary applications off a 120GB Kingston SSD, which will speed everything up and there's still plenty of room for future upgrades with this chassis. Love or hate the chassis overall, your mates will certainly believe you have stolen Batman's PC.

cpuz_GURU 1000 PC

  • Intel Core i5 3570K
  • Asus P8Z77-V LK
  • 8GB Kingston HyperX 1600MHz
  • 2GB nVidia GeForce GTX 660Ti
  • 120GB Kingston HyperX
  • 1TB SATA III
  • Corsair TX650
  • Corsair H40
  • Microsoft Windows 8 Standard (64-bit)

£999 inc VAT, delivery and standard warranty (1 year collect and return – and 3 years labour only)

Guru-1000-FrontGuru-1000-Side-Closed

Guru-1000-Side-OpenGuru-1000-Inside-Detail

Guru 1250 PC (Core i5 3570k / Nvidia GTX670)

In KitGuru's recent round up of top graphic cards, the only thing standing against the GTX670 was price. It's an awesome gaming card, blazing through most games with ease, but regular folks can end up paying anything from £300 to £400 for this kind of card.

Alongside the 2GB GTX670 installed as standard, this system also comes with 16GB of DDR3 memory, which will make light of rendering with heavy duty applications like Adobe After Effects. The mainboard has been upgraded, the water cooler is the more powerful Corsair H60 and PC Specialist engineers have applied their own overclocking knowledge to take the box to 4.4GHz when it ships – but there's likely to be most headroom in there for you to explore yourself, if you know your clocks and voltages.

cpuz_GURU 1250 PC

  • Intel Core i5 3570k @ 4.4GHz
  • Asus P8Z77-V
  • 16GB Kingston HyperX 1600MHz
  • 2GB nVidia GeForce GTX 670
  • 120GB Kingston HyperX
  • 1TB SATA III
  • Corsair TX650
  • Corsair H60
  • Microsoft Windows 8 Standard (64-bit)

£1249 inc VAT, delivery and standard warranty (1 year collect and return – and 3 years labour only)

Guru-1250-FrontGuru-1250-Side

Guru-1250-Side-OpenGuru-1250-Inside

Guru 1500 PC (Core i7 3770k / nVidia GTX680)

While the X79 series of 39xx processors may well ‘El Presidente' as far as Intel chips go, the Core i7 3770k is definitely a Don. A Godfather. The chip to which all Z77 ‘Capos' report in to.

By now, in our testing, we have moved up to £1,499 and the kit is getting serious. Games will bow down before the GTX680, whose job it is to render everything the 4 core, 8 thread, turbo charged, water-cooled Intel Core i7 3770k can through at it. For most people, this kind of specification would represent ‘as good as it gets'.

For someone buying a family PC, it is the equivalent of using a Bentley Mulsanne Turbo to run a taxi service. But PCSPECIALIST have included it for one reason only, price. While in the real world a Fiat might cost £11k, a Jaguar £22k and the Mulsanne around £300,000, this ‘Bentley' of a processor works out to be only 3x the price of a Fiat and 2x the price of a Jaguar. Like getting a Mulsanne for £44k. Bargain. Sort of.

cpuz_GURU 1500 PC

  • Intel Core i7 3770K @ 4.4GHz
  • Asus P8Z77-V
  • 16GB Kingston HyperX 1600MHz
  • 2GB nVidia GeForce GTX 680
  • 120GB Kingston HyperX
  • 1TB SATA III
  • Corsair TX750
  • Corsair H60
  • Microsoft Windows 8 Standard (64-bit)

£1,499 inc VAT, delivery and standard warranty (1 year collect and return – and 3 years labour only)

Guru-1500-FrontGuru-1500-Side-Closed

Guru-1500-Side-OpenGuru-1500-Inside-Detail

So there you have it: Six systems, selling as standard units from PC Specialist, representing the difference you will get if you move from £499 up to £1,499. We know what our preferences are, but what will the tests reveal?

Benchmarks

Standard applications like Office and your favourite browser are not likely to tax the processing capabilities of a mobile phone, let alone a desktop PC.

If you go as far as spending more than a few hundred pounds on a desktop, then you will be running games, professional applications or both. On that basis, we are using 3D Mark 2011, 3D Mark Fire Strike and Cinebench 11.5 to create an overall picture of what you're getting for your money.

The first test we ran on all systems, is the ever popular 3DMARK 11, a well respected benchmark from Futuremark. One that most enthusiasts have used at one time or another. There are several tests used which stress the processing power as well, so a decent CPU will help boost the final score.

3dmark11

3dmark11_GURU 500 PC3dmark11_GURU 650 PC3dmark11_GURU 800 PC3dmark11_GURU 1000 PC

3dmark11_GURU 1250 PC3dmark11_GURU 1500 PC

Interesting to see the Intel HD4000 beat the Nvidia GTX620 in this particular test. All other results scale as we would expect, right up to the GURU 1500 featuring the GTX680, which scores almost 10,000 points.

Next, we decided to run the latest benchmark from Futuremark, 3DMARK. This benchmark makes extensive use of all the new features in DirectX 11 including tessellation, compute shaders and multi-threading. Scores in this test will be lower than in 3DMARK 11, as the graphical intensity is more demanding.

3dmark

3dmark13_GURU 500 PC3dmark13_GURU 650 PC3dmark13_GURU 800 PC3dmark13_GURU 1000 PC

3dmark13_GURU 1250 PC3dmark13_GURU 1500 PC

The GURU 500 and GURU 650 systems struggle a little to score well in this intensive Fire Strike section of the 3DMARK benchmark. The GURU 1000, 1250 and 1500 score well, as we would expect with the higher end discrete graphics cards.

CINEBENCH is a real-world cross platform test suite that evaluates your computer's performance capabilities. CINEBENCH is based on MAXON's award-winning animation software CINEMA 4D, which is used extensively by studios and production houses worldwide for 3D content creation. MAXON software has been used in blockbuster movies such as Spider-Man, Star Wars, The Chronicles of Narnia and many more. This is a great indication of real world graphics performance, especially for more intensive tasks such as video editing or 3D rendering.

cinebench

cinebench_GURRU 500 PCcinebench_GURU 650 PCcinebench_GURU 800 PCcinebench_GURU 1000 PC

cinebench_GURU 1250 PCcinebench_GURU 1500 PC

The results indicate clear scaling advantages as we move up the range of Intel processor. When we get to the GURU 650 system, rendering performance has basically doubled (3220 to 3570k). The final result from the GURU 1500 is much higher, as the system adopts the high end Core i7 3770k processor with 4 physical cores and hypertreading for a total of 8 logical processors. This is the system you would want if you are demanding ultimate performance for 3D rendering and video encoding tasks.

Gamers would be very satisfied with the higher specification GTX650ti and GTX660ti systems, with the GTX670 rig priced at a slight premium. There is no doubt the GTX670 is a very powerful video card however, and if you need more CUDA power it makes for a wise investment.

The lower cost systems (Guru 500 and Guru 650) we looked at are ideal for all round work station systems at home, just be aware that Intel HD4000 and nVidia GT620 graphics are not going to power the latest Direct X 11 games at 1080p with high image quality settings. This is one of the reasons you pay extra.

If you are looking for a new system are are in the United Kingdom, then head over and check out the PC SPECIALIST website – they have a variety of builds to suit every demand and budget. visit at this link.

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PC Specialist Vortex III HD7S 17.3″ Laptop Review (i7/7970m) https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/laptops/zardon/pc-specialist-vortex-iii-hd7s-17-3-laptop-review-i77970m/ https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/laptops/zardon/pc-specialist-vortex-iii-hd7s-17-3-laptop-review-i77970m/#comments Fri, 06 Jul 2012 08:58:38 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=98566 If you are in the market for a new gaming laptop then today's review will be particularly interesting. UK system builder PC Specialist sent us their latest high end 17.3 inch Vortex III HD7S system complete with LED backlit screen, Solid State drive, Intel Core i7 processor, Killer 1102 wireless, BluRay drive and AMD HD7970M …

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If you are in the market for a new gaming laptop then today's review will be particularly interesting. UK system builder PC Specialist sent us their latest high end 17.3 inch Vortex III HD7S system complete with LED backlit screen, Solid State drive, Intel Core i7 processor, Killer 1102 wireless, BluRay drive and AMD HD7970M discrete graphics. The Vortex III HD7S also ships with Onkyo speakers and THX audio certification to enhance the multimedia experience.

Should you be shortlisting the Vortex III HD7S for your next mobile system?

PC Specialist are a certified Microsoft partner and an Intel Premier provider, focused on offering a variety a systems to cater to the widest possible audience. They have options to configure a laptop or desktop computer. You can also narrow down the systems to all in one PCs, mini pc's, home theater computers and home servers. If you fancy a tuned configuration they they also sell a variety of overclocked systems.

It is worth pointing out that not everyone has the time or inclination to build a computer from the ground up and that is when a high grade system builder comes into play. If you are in the market for a new laptop system then it is almost impossible for an end user to source all the components.

The Vortex III HD7S 17.3 inch laptop is built inside a Clevo chassis and on paper looks extremely impressive.

Specifications:

Screen: 17.3” Full HD LED Widescreen (1920 x 1080)
Processor: Intel Core i7-3610QM
Memory: 8GB Kingston Hyper-X 1600MHz SODIMM
Graphics: AMD Radeon HD 7970
Boot Drive: 90GB Kingston Hyper-X 3K SSD
Storage Drive: 750GB WD Scorpio Blue HDD
Optical Drive: Sony BC-5550H Blu Ray ROM/DVD-RW

Wireless: Killer 1102 Wireless NIC
Keyboard: Backlit Keyboard
Operating System: Windows 7 64bit

Price: £1249.00 inc VAT & delivery

The asking price is certainly competitive, but can PC Specialist impress us with the build quality and component selection?

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