Custom PC UK

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...