To provide the ultimate magazine for PC enthusiasts with a passion for performance hardware and customisation, delivered with wit, style and authority.
Timing is everything
Custom PC
BEYOND DDR5 • The tech inside GDDR6W could give us the next-gen memory for our future CPUs, says Richard Swinburne
TRIPLE NOMINATED • Tracy King asks why video game awards aren’t taken as seriously as the big movie award ceremonies
CORSAIR FLEXI-MONITOR UP FOR PRE-ORDER
GEFORCE RTX 4080 PRICE DROPS
AMD RELEASES FSR 2.2
FRACTAL GOES NORTH
AMD RADEON RX 7900 XTX/£999 inc VAT
AMD RADEON RX 7900 XT/£899 inc VAT
INTEL CORE i7-13700K/£449 inc VAT
HackSpace TECHNOLOGY IN YOUR HANDS
MSI MPG B650 CARBON WIFI/£337 inc VAT
THERMALTAKE TOUGHRAM XG RGB D5/£213 inc VAT (32GB, 6000MHz, dual-channel)
ACER PREDATOR XB323U/£640 inc VAT
EDIFIER G2000/£70 inc VAT
ROCCAT KONE AIR/£60 inc VAT
CYBERPOWER INFINITY X139 PRO/£3,699 inc VAT
WIRED2FIRE REACTOR EXTREME/£2,399 inc VAT
JBL FLIP 6/£129 inc VAT
AGPTEK CLEANING KIT/£12.99 inc VAT
KLIM OPTICS OTG CLIP-ON ANTI BLUE LIGHT GLASSES/£22.97 inc VAT
How we test
custom PC AWARDS
Raptor captors • Antony Leather tests half a dozen of the latest Z790 motherboards to find the best homes for Intel’s new chips
ASROCK Z790 PG LIGHTNING D4/£209 inc VAT
ASROCK Z790 PG RIPTIDE/£239 inc VAT
ASUS ROG MAXIMUS Z790 HERO/£659 inc VAT
ASUS ROG STRIX Z790-A GAMING WIFI D4/£388 inc VAT
MSI MAG Z790 TOMAHAWK WIFI DDR4/£329 inc VAT
MSI MPG Z790 CARBON WIFI/£530 inc VAT
DON’T MISS THE BRAND NEW ISSUE!
Top typing tools • Edward Chester takes six of the latest premium gaming keyboard models for a tap dance
ASUS ROG CLAYMORE II/£200 inc VAT
CORSAIR K100 RGB/£230 inc VAT
MOUNTAIN EVEREST MAX/£220 inc VAT
RAZER HUNTSMAN V2/£200 inc VAT
ROCCAT VULCAN II MAX/£200 inc VAT
STEELSERIES APEX PRO TKL (2023) /£190 inc VAT
Elite • Our choice of the best hardware available
BLOCKBUSTED • As large studios struggle to get AAA games out the door, Rick Lane asks how the next wave of revolutionary blockbusters will look
Victoria 3 / £41.99 inc VAT • DEVELOPER Paradox Interactive / PUBLISHER Paradox Interactive
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 / £59.99 inc VAT • DEVELOPER Infinity Ward / PUBLISHER Activision
SIGNALIS / £15.99 inc VAT • DEVELOPER Rose Engine / PUBLISHER Humble Games, PlayISM
VAMPIRE SURVIVORS / £3.99 inc VAT • DEVELOPER poncle / PUBLISHER poncle
RESEQUENCING RDNA • THE THIRD ITERATION OF AMD’S RDNA GRAPHICS ARCHITECTURE IS HERE, WITH AMD APPLYING THE MULTI-DIE CHIPLET APPROACH THAT REVOLUTIONISED ITS RYZEN CPU TO ITS GPUS. EDWARD CHESTER DIVES IN
2023 THE YEAR AHEAD • REECE BITHREY FILTERS THROUGH THE RUMOUR MILL, AND CHECKS THE ROADMAPS, TO FIND WHAT’S LIKELY TO HAPPEN FOR PC ENTHUSIASTS IN THE COMING YEAR
Hobby tech • The latest tips, tricks and news in the world of computer hobbyism, from Raspberry Pi, Arduino, and Android to retro computing
SB Components unveils square Roundy cousin
The Fediverse
LibreOffice gets RISC-V port
The benefits of AMD’s Eco mode • Case mods, tools, techniques, water-cooling gear and everything to do with PC modding
Antony’s 2023 wish list
How to Water-cool an RTX 4090 or 4080 • Antony Leather shows you how to remove the cooler from Nvidia’s new Founders Edition cards, and fit a waterblock
Retro tech ATI...