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3July 2012
Welcome to Issue 106EditorialEDITOR
TECHNICALEDITORHarryButler
GAMESEDITORJoeMartin
ARTEDITORBillBagnall
PRODUCTIONEDITORJulieBirrell
CONTRIBUTORSAntonyLeather, CliffHarris,GarethHalfacree,JimKillock,
LucySherriff, MikeJennings,PaulGoodhead,RobertFlorence,SimonTreadaway,TracyKing
PHOTOGRAPHYDannyBird
AdvertisingGROUPADVERTISINGMANAGER
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+44(0)[email protected]
USADVERTISINGDIRECTORMatthewSullivan-Pond
CustomPCispublishedmonthlybyDennisPublishingLtd,30ClevelandStreet,LondonW1T4JD,acompanyregisteredinEnglandnumber1138891.
Entirecontents(c)DennisPublishingLtdlicensedbyFelden.
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INTEL IVYBRIDGE
36SandyBridgesusurperhasfinally
arrived,packedwithtiny22nmTri-Gate
transistorsandpromisinga reductionin
powerconsumptioncoupledwithevenmorespeed,whilekeepingthecorecountthesame.Buthowwell
dotheyoverclock,andhowmuchheatisgenerated
byallthosefast-switching,tinytransistors?We
takealookat Intelsnewchips,aswellasthebest
memorywithwhichtopartnerthem,andaready-
madeIvyBridgegamingrigfromScan.
44
4 July 2012
Welcome to Issue 106
12GOVERNMENTSNOOPING
Willthegovernmentreallybe
readingallouremails?JimKillockexplores
thefactsaboutCCDP.
14GOGINTERVIEW
WetalktoGoGsTrevorLongino
aboutitsnewlaunch,andhowyoupersuade
Windows98 gamestorun onnewPCs.
18ORGANICCOMPUTING
Researchersshowthepotentialtomaketechfromsalivaandbloodproteins.
46NVIDIAGEFORCEGTX690
Thenextfastestgraphicscardin
theworldisherealready.Wetakealookat
Nvidiasbonkersnewdual-GPUcard,which
isbasedonthecompanysnewKepler
GPUarchitecture.
60Z77MOTHERBOARD
SHOOTOUT
Whatmakesthebesthomefora brand-new
IvyBridgeCPU? Werevieweightnew
motherboardsbasedontheZ77chipsetinordertofindout.
96THEBITESIZEDHARDCORE
GAMERMANIFESTO
Notimeto playthroughthegrind?CliffHarris
exploresagapinthehardcoregamemarket.
98HANDSONWITHTHE
RASPBERRYPi
This29pieceofcircuitboardhasbeen
grabbingalotofheadlines,butwhatcanyou
actuallydowithit,andhow?GarethHalfacree
detailshowtoturnthePiintoamediacentre
or aNASbox,andevenshowsyouhowtooverclockit.
6098
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112
14
106
5July 2012
1ssue 106
106READERSDRIVES
MeetProjectStealthlowa
gorgeousPCwitha curvyaluminiumchassis,
all constructedwithout industrialmachinery.
114HOWTOMAKEADUSTFILTER
Allyouneedisapairoftightsanda
rubberband.
116MAKEAUSB3FRONTPANEL
Shortonhigh-speedportsatthe
front?MakeyourownUSBpanelusingaspare drive-bayblankingplate.
ReviewedthismonthHardware
CPU38 IntelIvyBridge
MEMORY
40 ThebestmemoryforIvyBridge
PC
44 Scan3XSVengeanceZ77OC
GRAPHICS CARDS
46 NvidiaGeForceGTX690
48 GainwardPhantomGeForceGTX
6802GBand4GB
HARD DRIVE
52 1TBWesternDigitalVelociRaptor
CPUCOOLER
53 NofanCR-95C
STEERINGWHEEL
54 ThrustmasterFerrariF1Wheel
IntegralT500
Customkit58 Roku2XS
58 64GBKingstonDataTravelerHyperXUSB3
58 GriffinBeacon(Androidversion)
59 SamsungNavibotVCR8895
59 ArcticChargingStation
59 StartechUNIDOCK3UGB
Z77motherboardLabstest63 ASRockFatal1tyZ77
Professional-M
64 AsusMaximusVGene
66 AsusSabertoothZ7767 BiostarTZ77XE4
70 GigabyteGA-Z77X-UD5H
72 IntelDZ77GA-70K
74 MSIZ77A-G43
76 MSIZ77A-GD65
Games88 TheLegendofGrimrock
90 Rayman:Origins
91 Gettysburg:ArmoredWarfare
92 Risen2:DarkWaters
95 RidgeRacer:Unbounded
33PRODUCTSREVIEWED
1898
6044
40
36
46
88
Regulars8
Fromtheeditor11 TracyKing12 Digitalrights14 Interview16 Incoming18 Science!20 Mobiletechwatch24 CPCEliteproducts56 Howwetest86 Grumpygamer96 Devperspective128 Retrotech
130 RobertFlorence
Community106 Readersdrives112 Howtofitmotherboardwaterblocks114 Howtomakeyourowndustfilter116 HowtomakeyourownUSBfrontpanel118 Forthewin!120 Letters125 Folderofthemonth126
Yourfoldingmilestones
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iwasoriginallygoingtotalkaboutIvyBridgethismonth,and
explainwhyitsstilltheCPUarchitectureofchoice,despite
doublingasanovenfilamentwhenitsoverclocked.However,
whileIwasdouble-checkingthepricesonourElitelist,Inoticedthat
thepriceofSSDshastumbledlikeaJengasetbalancedonadogs
back.Justincaseyouhaventspottedityet,youcannowbuyaCrucial
M4128GBforjust89.99incVATfromwww.ebuyer.com,anda256GB
versionofthesamedrivefor175incVAT.
ItisntonlyCrucialthatsdroppeditsprices
either.Thepriceofothermanufacturers
SSDs,includingthoseofSamsung,havealso
plummeted.Inshort,theressimplynoexcuse
fornotinstallinganSSDinyournextPCbuild
now.NotonlyareCrucials128GBand256GB
M4SSDssupremelyfast,buttheyalsooffer
morethanenoughstoragespaceforWindows,
plentyofsoftwareandagoodfewgamestoo.
ImentionthisbecauseImeetsomanypeoplewhohappily
performmassivePCupgradeseverynowandthen,swappingoutthe
motherboard,RAMandCPU,butkeepingthesame1TBharddrive
theyvehadforyears,andstillusingitasasystemdrive.Iknowweve
saidthisrepeatedly,andwereprobablystartingtosoundlikeabroken
record(anincrediblytediousrecordwithaconversationaboutstorage
devicesonit),buttheupgradethatwillmakethebiggestdifferenceto
yourPCischangngfromaharddisktoanSSD.
ThebiggestdifferenceyoullnoticeistheWindowsstartuptime,
whichissadlyalmostimpossibletobenchmarkconsistently,as
cachingalgorithmsmakeitslightlydifferenteachtime.However,its
astoundinglyquickerthanusinga harddrive,andImnotjusttalking
aboutthetimeittakesfortheWindowsdesktoptoappear.WhenyoubootupWindows7orVistaonastandardPConaharddrive,youalso
You might not have to junk yourmotherboard, CPU and RAM just yet.
An SSD upgrade may be all you need
havetositaroundandwaitwhiletheharddrivestopsfaffingaround
beforeyoucanactuallydoanything.
ClickaniconontheQuickLaunchbarstraightafterboot-upand
youllhavetowaitforyourharddrivetostopmuckingaboutbeforeyou
seetheresultofyouraction.Itsevenworseifyouclickonseveralapps
oneaftereachotherinanattempttogetthemallrunningatonce.
ThebenefitsofSSDscontinuewellafterboot-upthough.Game
levelsloadmuchquicker,whichmakesamassivedifferenceindata-
heavygamessuchasTheWitcher2,and
iTunesdoesntshamblealonglikeafattortoise
stuckbetweentwobrickseither.
IfyourestillusingaCore2Quadorfirst-gen
Corei7system,thenyoumaybetemptedto
gutyoursystemandinstallaloadofnewIvy
Bridgekitnow(evenifitdoesgethot),butif
yourPCstillusesaharddriveasabootdrive
thenIdinsteadadvisespendingjust90ona
smallupgradethatwillmakeaworldof difference.Theresstilla need
forfasterCPUs,ofcourse,butanupgradetoanSSDwillmakeamuch
morenoticeabledifferenceintermsofgeneraluse.
Forthisreason,andasaresultoffeedbackfromourreaders(see
Issue105,p123),wevedecidedtokitoutallthePCsinourElitesection
(exceptthebudgetPC)withasolid-statesystemdrive,aswellasa
harddrivefordata.Whena128GBcostsjust90,youdbeafoolnotto
makethejump.Imnowgoingtoremovemypreachershat.Buyan
SSD.Seriously.
BenHardwidgeistheeditorofCustomPC.HelikesPCs,realale
andWarhammer40,000.
[email protected] @MANSHARK
iTunes doesnt shamble
along like a fat tortoise
stuck between two
bricks any more
NO MOREEXCUSES
8 July 2012
from the editor
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Thismonthagainbroughtaslewofstoriesbasedonthe
ridiculousclaimthatWiFiandtechnologyissomehow
literallyfryingourbrains,givinguscancer,causingfatigue,
headachesordepression,andmorethan100othersymptoms;this
isbackedupbydubiousdataandparadedaroundasnewsbylink-
baitingeditors.Itsurfaceseveryfewyearsandeverytimeitdoes,Iroll
myeyessohardIgetaYahtzee.
Asatech-savvynon-idiot,youalmostcertainlydontbelievethat
electro-smog,alsoknownasthemoremedical-soundingbutequally
silly electrosensitivityis agenuinedanger.However,asyoullcertainly
besurroundedby severalcomputers,phones,aWiFinetworkandall
sortsofotherkit,heresthelow-down.
Electrosensitivityisfirstandforemostaself-
diagnosedcondition.Youdontgetabunchof
symptoms,gotothedoctorandareasked,
Hmm,haveyourecentlyinstalledanew
router?.Instead,youshowsomesymptoms,
getnowherewithyourGP,starttoscramble
aroundforcausesandsuddenlyremember
thateverythingstartedaroundthesametime
youboughtanewNetgearbox.
Correlationdoesntequalcausation.Itsthe
simplest,andsadly,oneofthemostcommon
fallacies,especiallywhenitcomestohealth.Ihaveafriendwhodidnt
eatcheesefortenyearsbecausehesufferedamigraineaftereating
RedLeicester.Turnsouthewasallergictothefoodcolouring.Ten
wretchedcheeselessyearsbecauseofasimplelogicalerror.
Electrosensitivityisthekingofallpost-hocfallacies.Were
surroundedbyincreasingnumbersoflow-hum-emittingtech,
invisiblewavesandphonemastsinthedistance.Thechancesof
developingsomesymptomsafterbeingexposedtoanewdevice(even
seeinganewWiFiconnectionisinthelist)are100percentifyoulive
evena vaguelymodernlife,aswealldo.Blamingelectromagneticradiationfromthosedevicesislikeblamingthecolourof yournewcar.
Theres no such thing as electro-smog,but link-baiting editors still churn out
stories about WiFi frying our brains
Theevidencesimplyisntthere.Therehavebeenmany
experiments,andoverandoveragain,thoseclaimingsensitivitywere
unabletodistinguishbetweenarealsignalandafakeone.Reviewsof
thoseexperimentsbyJamesRubinetal(PsychosomaticMedicine,
2005andBioelectromagnetics,2010),concluded:Wehavebeen
unabletofindanyrobustevidencetosupporttheexistenceof
[electromagnetichypersensitivity]asabiologicalentity.
Sowhydopeopleclaimotherwise,andwhyisitaproblemifthey
do?Its importanttorealisethatthesymptomsarereal.Physicalpain
ordiscomfort,orevenvisiblesymptomssuchasrashes,canhave
underlyingpsychologicalcausesbutthatdoesntmeantheyreallin
yourhead.Thepeoplereportingproblemsare
notlyingormad,anymorethansomeonewith
aphobia.However,itslikelythatthecauseisa
psychologicalone,andnotsurprisingly,the
treatmentwiththebestsuccessratefor
electrosensitivityis cognitivebehavioural
therapy(CBT),whileotheroptionssuchas
shielding,donothingbeyondplacebo.
Andtheproblem?Sameasalways.You
andI,andourpro-technologycommunities,
arethebadguysyetagainthemonstersin
thecloset.Somesufferers,fuelledbyscare-
lovingmedia,needlesslymovehouse,changetheirlifestylesorbuy
expensivebutworthlessshieldingequipmenttosavethemfromtheir
WiFiandgadgetry.SomecouncilshaveeventriedtooutlawWiFiin
schools,deprivingkidsofthebenefitsofamajortechnologyand
convenience.Evidencewillwinintheendbutinthemeantime,being
armedwiththefactsonelectrosensitivitywillbemorehelpfulwhen
tryingtoavoidaheadache.
GamerandscienceenthusiastTracyKingdissectstheevidence
andstatisticsbehindsomeofthepopularmediastories
surroundingtechandgaming @TKINGDOLL
11July 2012
Correlation doesnt
equal causation. Its the
simplest, and sadly,
one of the most
common fallacies
ATTACK OFTHE KILLER WIFI
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Jim Killock
ecently,storiesaboutthesinisterbut
innocuouslytitledCommunications
CapabilitiesDevelopment
Programme(CCDP)haveemergedin
theformofleaksandpartialconfirmationsto
Sundaynewspapers.Thesecondstory,
printedinTheSundayTimesonAprilFools
Day,hadmanypeopleaskingifthissupposed
planwasajoke.TheCCDP,itwasclaimed,isa
plantocollectasmuchdataaspossibleabout
whoyoutalktoonline,andwhen.Couldsuch
anoutrageousstoryreallybetrue?
Withinaday,ministerTheresaMaywas
wheeledout,justifyingtheideaby
remindingpeoplethattrafficdata
hadinthepastbeenusedto
investigateterroristsand
paedophilerings.ShetoldTheSun:
Imnotwillingtoriskmoreterrorist
plotssucceedingandmore
paedophilesgoingfreeDatalike
thishasalreadyhelpedlockawaymurderer
IanHuntley.Ithelpedcatchthegangland
thugswhogunneddownRhysJones.
Shealsoremindedpeoplethatthenew
planswouldntinvolvestoringactual
messagesyousend,justwhoyou
communicatewith(trafficdata).Bythetimeyoureadthis,wemayhavefirmerideasabout
GovernmentsnoopingCCDP wasnt an April Fools joke; its very real and it effectively
allows the government to see who everyone talks to online
whattheCCDPreallymeans,soplease
acceptmyapologiesinadvanceforanyerrors:
Internetpolicycanbeimplementedquickly
anddangerously.
CCDPhasitsrootsinaLabourideafrom
2009,calledtheInterceptionModernisation
Plan(IMP).Thisincludedaplantostoreall
yourtrafficdatainagiantnationaldatabase,
althoughthatpartwasquicklydropped.
However,theworryremainsthattheHome
Officewantsaccesstostoreddatainorderto
fishforsuspects,by scanningthroughdatait
canaccesseasily.
TheHomeOfficesjustification,thenand
now,forextendingthestorageoftrafficdata
isthatthefactthatthepolicedependonitfor
investigations.Formanyyears,thepolice
wouldlookatphonebillstoseewhothe
peopletheywereinvestigatingtalkedto.
Asourcommunicationsbegantomoveonline, ISPswereaskedto givepoliceaccess
totheirlogs.Theseincludeemailsend
andreceivedetails,accountIPaddresses
andsomedataaboutwebvisits.ISPsare
alsorequiredtokeepthesedetailsforup
to18months.
ISPsarentkeepingalltherelevant
informationanymore.Infact,Skype,Gmail
andFacebookaremuchmorelikelytohave
detailsaboutwhoyoutalktothanBTor
TalkTalk,sotheHomeOfficewantsto target
thesethird-partyapplicationsandcollect
informationfromthem.
WhenthecoalitionwasformedinMay
2010,manypeopleexpectedthe
approachtochange.Afterall,we
hadanewgovernmentwhosepartieshadopposedIMP.The
coalition,infact,saidinits
agreementthatwewillendthe
storageofInternetandemail
recordswithoutgoodreason.
However,byOctober,theHomeOfficesnew
strategydocumentstoldustheopposite.
Wewillintroduceaprogrammeto
preservetheabilityof thesecurity, intelligence
andlawenforcementagenciestoobtain
communicationdataandtointercept
communicationswithintheappropriatelegalframeworkWewillputinplacethe
R
THE WORRY REMAINS THAT THE
HOME OFFICE WANTS ACCESS TO
STORED DATA IN ORDER TO
FISH FOR SUSPECTS
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13July 2012
necessaryregulationsandsafeguardsto
ensurethatourresponsetothistechnology
challengeiscompatiblewiththe
governmentsapproachto information
storageandcivilliberties.
Soon,HomeOfficebudgetlineswere
reserving2billionfortheproject.Whathad
changed?Notverymuch.TheHomeOffices
OfficeforSecurityandCounter-Terrorism
(OSCT)stillexistsandisrunbythesame
officials,includingdirectorCharlesFarr,an
ex-AfghanistanMI6agent.OSCTpromoted
bothIMPandtheCCDP.
TheOSCThadbeentalkingtoindustry
andotherbodies,includingtheInformation
Commission,whichisinchargeofUKdata
protection.LastNovember,itsrepresentatives
metwiththeISPAssociation(ISPA)to discuss
howtheymightimplementtheCCDP.
Duringthisperiod,myorganisation,the
OpenRightsGroup,askedtheHomeOfficefor
ameetingtoseewhatitwasplanning,and
wasbrushedoff.Ourfreedomofinformation
requestsfordetailsofmeetingsandminutes
wereturneddownoncostgrounds.
TheOSCTandHomeOfficeappeartohave
learnedthatthepreviousconsultations,under
Labour,provokedtoomuchdebateand
opposition,andaquieter,moresecretive
approachwouldbemorelikelytodampen
oppositionandsucceed.Campaignerssuch
asORGandPrivacyInternationalhavehadto
relyonrumoursandleakstoestablishwhat
mightbehappening.
Thegreatestuncertaintiessurroundhowthegovernmentwilldealwiththeconcerned
companies,suchasGoogleandFacebook.
Whybotherinterceptingandstoringthisdata,
whenyoucansimplyaskforitdirectly?
Infact,thisalreadyhappens.Forexample,
Googlepublisheshowmanyrequestsitgets
fordataaboutitsusers.IntheUK,Googlesays
itreceivesover1,000requestsayear,andit
complieswitharound63percentofthese.
However,thispalesintoinsignificance
againstthe500,000annualrequestsmade
undertheRegulationofInvestigatoryPowersAct(RIPA).Mostofthesearebelievedtobe
requeststophonecompaniesaskingwho
hasregisteredaparticularphonenumber.
Asmallernumberwillbetrafficdata.
Meanwhile,Facebookcomplieswith
requestsinpart:itdoesntprovidethefull
detailsofeverymessageanindividualsends,
butwillgivesubscriberinformation.Whats
more,ifacompanydoesntcomplywithsuch
requests,theUKpolicecanusuallyask
throughinternational legalagreements.
AllRIPArequestsareself-authorisedbylawenforcement,andtheydontrequirea
magistrateorcourttocheckthattheyre
reasonable.Ontheplusside,thegovernment
acceptsthatthenumberofbodiesabletouse
RIPApowersshouldbemorelimited:thelist
onceincludedtheMilkMarketingBoard,and
stillincludesalllocalcouncils.
However,acompletelistof someones
friendsandassociates,alongwithalarge
proportionof theircommunications, is
muchmoreintrusivethanaphonebill,and
potentiallymoreopentoabuse.Strongersafeguardsareneeded, including
JIMKILLOCKisexecutivedirectorof
campaignorganisation
TheOpenRightsGroup
(www.openrightsgroup.org)
@jimkillock
independentsupervision.Afterall, the
Levesoninquiryhasalreadyshownthat
policeandjournalistscolludedandshared
informationinappropriately.
Targetedcollection,datafreezingor
retainingdataofgenuinesuspects,and
targetedinterceptionareallpossiblewithout
CCDP.Responsibleservicesmayco-operate,
andcross-borderagreementsensurethat
datacanbeobtainednomatterwhatthe
jurisdiction. Inthelongterm,thislegislation
willalsocausemassiveexpense,especially
giventhenumberofservicesthehardware
willneedtointerceptandread.
Whatisit?
TheCommunicationsCapabilitiesDevelopmentPlanaimstoaccessdetails
ofeveryonesonlinecommunications,but
notmessagescontent.Thegovernment
willseekpowerstocompelcompanies
suchasGoogletohandoverthisdata
undertheRegulationofInvestigatory
PowersAct.ItsexpectedtoaskISPsto
collectdatafromothercompaniesby
interceptingouronlinecommunications.
Whendidtheseplansstart?
TheCCDPisthesuccessortoLaboursInterceptModernisationProgramme,
debatedin2009.
Whospushingit?
TheHomeOfficesOfficeforSecurityand
Counter-Terrorism,underdirector
CharlesFarr.
Whatwillbestoredoraccessed?
Thetime,locationorIPaddress,and
dataaboutwhichuserscommunicates
withwhom.
WhatdoISPsstorealready?
ISPsstoretheIPaddressesofwebsitesyouvisit,thetime,fromandtodetailsof
youremailsifyouuseyourISPsemail
service,thetimesyoulogonandoff
yourInternetconnectionandyourhome
IPaddress.
Whatdoesthegovernmentintercept
already?
Thegovernmentalreadyhaspowers
underRIPA,anditalsohasthetechnology
fortargetedinterceptionof
communications.
WhatdoInternetcompaniesdotoday?
Mostmajorcompanieswillcomplywith
UKgovernmentrequests.Whentheyre
basedinacountrysuchastheUSA,there
areagreementsbetweenbothcountries
toensurethatinformationneededfor
investigationscanbehandedover.
Takeaction
Visitwww.openrightsgroup.org/issues/
ccdp
WHAT IS C CD P ?
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14 April 2012
Joe Martin
GoodoldgamesWere fond of GOG.com, as it tweaks classic games from the PCs rich heritage so
that they run on new machines. We catch up with GOGs Trevor Longino to discover
how GOG started, and why its committed to a DRM-free future
Trevor:DRMisntaneffectivetooltoprevent
piracy.Ifallyouwanttodoiscapturesomeof
youruserinfo,DRMisahugelyexpensiveand
overpoweredtooltogatherthatdata.Itslike
swattingaflywithasledgehammer.Viewing
itasadelayingtacticisprobablythemost
realisticunderstanding,buteventhat isnt
areasonablesolutionto piracy.Treating
everyonewhobuysyourgamepoorlytodelay
somepeoplefromcopyingitillegallywont
encouragegamerstobecomefansofyour
studio.Anygamingcompanyshouldbe
focusedonrewardingtheirmost faithful
gamers,andDRMdoesntdothat.
CPC:GOGpromoteseachgamewithnew
materials soundtracks,designdocuments
andsoon.Isiteverhardtoobtaintheseso
longafteragamesrelease?
Trevor:Yes,itdefinitelycanbe.Wegetthem
inanumberofways:webuyboxesoneBayor
gamecollectorforumsorcontacttheoriginal
devs;sometimeswereachouttofan
communitiesthathaveformedaround
populargamesandaskthemforhelp.Of
course,wefrequentlyfindsomeawesome
extracontentbutalsodiscoverthat,
unfortunately,therightsforwhoownsitandis
allowedtodistributeitareunclear.Whenthat
happens,wesadlycantreleasethecontent,
whichexplainswhysomehardcorefansofa
CPC:HowdidtheideaforGOG.com
comeabout?
Trevor:Theconceptofofferingold
gamesgerminatiedinthemindsof
MichalandMarcin,thetwoco-foundersofCD
Projekt.Originally,thepairstartedoffasretail
distributorsinPolandduringthemid-1990s,
andtheirfirstsuccesswastothwartpiracyby
offeringaseriesofclassicPCtitlesatbudget
prices.Thatpromptedaninterestingidea:by
sellinggamesat reasonablepricesthatwere
previouslyonlyavailableviapiracy,couldwe
stoppiracy?Alotofthetime,theysawthat
pirateswouldpayforgamesiftheyfeltitwas
worthit.
Sothenextcoupleofmonthswerespent
analysingthedigitalmarket,expandingthe
conceptandsoon.Welaunchedabetaofthe
servicein2008,whichranfortwoyearsand
releasedmorethan400games,sothatwas
verysuccessful.Wevehadmorethan6
milliongamesdownloadedandhavebeen
profitablefromourveryfirstmonth.
CPC: Howhavepublishersreacted?
Trevor:Therewereinitiallyconcernsabout
piracy,butthinkofanytop-tierAAAtitlefrom
thepastthreeyears:nomatterwhichDRM
systemituses,theresgenerallya day-one
crackavailablefor it.Therefore,whenwe
startedoutwetookthetimetomeetkey
playersintheindustryandexplainthatthe
bestwayto reviveback-cataloguecontent
wastomakethewholeexperiencehassle-
freefortheendusernoDRM,fullWindows
compatibility,flatpricesworldwideand
unlimitedre-downloads.
CPC:SomepublishersviewDRMasa
deterrent,othersseeitasawaytotrapuser
informationandsomeseeitasadelaying
system,sinceitsonlyamatteroftime
beforea crackcomesout.Whatsyourtake?
ClassicgamessuchasDungeonKeeper2areavailable
fromwww.gog.com
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15April 2012
particularfranchiseknowofareallycoolextra
thattheywantustoincludeinourgamebut
wecant.Soevenbeyondfindingtheextras,
gettinglegalclearancetoreleasethemcanbe
challengingaswell.
CPC:Youalsoupdatethegamestoworkon
modernsystems.Howdoyoudothis?
Trevor:Thiscanbeverytricky,because
weneverworkfromsourcecode.Were
usingthesameretailmastercopies
thatgamershavesittingontheir
shelves.Foranumberofthereleases
atGOG,sinceIstarted,weusedmypersonal
copiesofgamesluckily,Ihave500+games
andIbroughtthemallwithmewhenImoved.
Asforhowwegetallthosegamesworking
onmodernsystems,franklysometimeseven
Iwonderhowourprogrammersmanageto
makethoseoldgamesrunsowell!
Sometimeswecanuseexistingsystems,
suchasDOSBoxorScummVM,andwere
gratefulto theguysbehindthoseprograms
whohaveallowedustousetheirsoftware.
Fornon-DOSgames,wesometimeshave
to developourownsolutionsin-house.We
hadsomemajortroublewithrecentgames,
suchasThiefandAnachronox,bothofwhich
arenotoriouslydifficulttorunnowadays.We
hadtoreachouttothecommunitiesaround
thesegamesforhelp.
Anachronox inparticularrequiredmuch
workonourpart.Thegamerunsona
modifiedQuakeII engine, usinga custom-
madescriptinglanguage,so thereweretwo
mainproblems.
Thefirstwashowtomakethe
enginerunonmodernGPUdrivers
theOpenGLextensionshadtobe
fixed.Wehadoutsidehelponthatone,
asacommunitymembercontributed
acustomDLLfilethatworkedforboth
NvidiaandAMDGPUs.
Thesecondproblemwasscript-
related.Therewasonequestbug,for
example,wheresomethingcauseda
stackoverflowduringlocationtransition,and
preventedthescriptforthatlocationfrom
loading,resultinginquestfailure.Thereare
numerousworkarounds,butweneededa
permanentfix.Thankstothetestingteam
whodivedintothescripts,wefoundaviable
solution.Ourprogrammersthendivedinto
theworldofOpenGLandcodedafix
fortheproblem.
Ourtestlabhasthreeorfour
computerswithadifferent
configurationateachtestingstation,
includinglaptops,desktops,AMD
andNvidiacards,AMDandIntelchipsets,
32and64-bitOSes.Youcanseehowthiscan
becomecomplex,andregressiontesting
(makingsurebugswevefixedstayfixed)canbeamajorhassle.Soeventhoughwehave
morethan25differenttestingplatformsin
ourtestlab,theresalwaysaconfigyou
couldnttest.
FOR A NUMBER OF RELEASES
AT GOG.COM WE USED MY
PERSONAL COPIES OF GAMES
Theresanumber
ofmust-play
gamesonGOG,
includingOutcast
GOGletsyou
re-download
gamesasoftenas
youlike,forfree
TheDarkProjectwas
apaintotweakfor
newPCs
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GEFORCE GTX670REVEALEDSadly,wedidnt
havetimetoget
holdofoneof
theseandput
itthroughits
pacesbefore
wewentto
press,but
Nvidiahasnowstarted
fillingouttheGeForce
600-seriesrangeofGPUs
evenfurther.Thenew
GeForceGTX670hasseven
StreamingMultiprocessor(SM)units,rather
thantheeightfoundontheGTX680,resulting
inatotalof1,344streamprocessors.
Meanwhile,theGPUhasabaseclockof
915MHz,whichcanGPUboostto980MHz.
Both2GBand4GBflavourswillbeavailable,
andthedefaulteffectiveGDDR5speedis
6,009MHz.WellbereviewingtheGeForce
GTX670inournextissue.
CRUCIAL SSD ANDLLANOPRICE CRASH
Nowisthetimetojumpinandrelegate
yourclatteringharddrivetomedia
storageduties,ifyouhaventalready.
Crucialhasjustknockedloadsoffthe
askingpriceofitsaward-winningM4
SSDs(seeIssue104,p64).
The128GBM4nowcosts
89.99incVATfrom
www.ebuyer.
com,while
the256GB
flavournow
costsjust175inc
VAT. Therearenoexcusesnow!
Meanwhile,AMDhasalsobeenhitting
itsLlanochipswithaprice-beatingstick.
TheA8-3870KBlackEditionnowcosts
just85incVATfromwww.aria.co.uk
abargainforahalf-decentCPUandGPU
inoneunit.
We take a look at the latestnewly announced products
16 February 2012
NEW HARDWARE
OCZUPDATESVERTEX4 FIRMWAREOCZclaimsownersofitsVertex4seriesof
SSDscannowsqueezemoreperformance
fromthemwiththelatest1.4firmware
update.Accordingtothecompany,the
maximumwritespeedofthe128GBversion
willincreasemassivelyfrom200MB/secto
420MB/sec,whilethe256GBwillnowwrite
atamaximumof465MB/sec,increasing
from380MB/sec.Meanwhile,OCZsaysthe
maximumreadspeedswillincreaseform
535MB/secto550MB/secacrosstheboard.
OCZsaysthespeedboostcomesfroma
predictivereadalgorithm,whichanticipates
andrespondstocommandsnotyetissuedby
thehost.Youcangrabthe
newfirmwarefrom
http://tinyurl.com/
Vertex4Firmware,
buttheflashprocess
willdestroyallthedataon
thedrive,somakesureyou
performabackupfirst.
CORSAIR JOINS FANCLUBCorsairhastickedanotherstepoffitsPCdominationplanwiththe
announcementthatitsenteringthefanmarket,followingthememory
makersrelativelyrecentmoveintomakingcases,PSUs,SSDsand
peripherals.ThenewAirSeriesfanswillbeavailableintwocategorieshigh
airflow(forcases)andhighstaticpressure(forradiatorsandheatsinks),with
QuietandPerformancemodelsinbothcategories.Mostofthefansare
120mmmodels,althoughtheresalsoa140mmunitinthehighairflow
line-up,andtheyllalsobeavailableinblack,red,blueandwhite.
8/22/2019 Custom PC UK 2012-07
17/132Prices correct at timeof going topublishing (4thMay 2012)
www.cclonline.com/cpccall us on 08000 50 10 10
from 468.35 inc VAT [Code: VGA0566]
Gainward GeForce GTX 580 Phantom Edion
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HDMI, Dual DVI-I & DisplayPort
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1084 MHz Base Clock Speed1150 MHz Boost Clock Speed
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18/132
18 July 2012
Lucy Sherriff
alkaboutbleeding-edgetechnology.
ResearchersinIsraelhavemanaged
tobuildwhiteLEDsandtransistors
fromnothingbutbiological
componentsspecifically,proteinsfoundin
saliva,milkandblood.
Theideaofblendingtechnologyandbiology
isnothingnewthetermcyborgdatesbackto
1960afterall,whenitwascoinedbyUS
researchersManfredClynesandNathanS
Klineinanarticleaboutthemodificationsthat
wouldoptimisethehumanbodyforspace
exploration.However,thisworkturnsour
normalthoughtsaboutcyborgsinsideout.
Insteadofusingtechnologytomodifya
human,theteamatTelAvivUniversityhas
takenbiologicalcomponentsandusedthem
asthebuildingblocksfortechnology.
Althoughitsoundslikesomethingfroma
sci-fifuture,themotivationwasquitesimple:
silicon-basedcomputingisrunningout.
Mooreslaw,fabulousasitsbeenforthe
computingindustry,isrunningintodifficulties
thatcantbeeasilysolved.Physicsisgoingto
getinthewayatsomepoint,andsoon.
AsEladMentovich,achemistryPhD
studentatTelAvivUniversityandpartof
theresearchteam,says:Itsthegreat
challengefacingelectronicsandphotonics.
Thematerialisgettingsmallerandharder
tofabricate.
YouknowMooresLaw:theideathatthe
numberoftransistorswecanfitonachip
doublesevery18months,whiletheprice
halves.Thetroubleisthatattodays
dimensions,atomsarealreadygettinginthe
way,quantumeffectsarebecomingmore
thantheory,andtherestheheattoo.
Soalternativesarebeingsought.One
avenueofresearchisquantumcomputing,whichmightbealittlewhilecoming;another
OrganiccomputingMaking computer transistors from saliva, milk and blood may be the stuff
of Cronenberg films, but it isnt as far-fetched as you might think
isspintronics.Andtakingaleafoutofnatures
bookmightjustbepartofthesolution.
Mentovichsaysthatthewholeideawastolook
forsolutionsinnaturethatalreadyexistfor
problemswerestartingtofaceintechnology.
TomakeawhiteLEDisquitedifficult,he
begins.Youneedthreecolours red,green
andblueandtheymustcombine,butnot
interactwitheachother.Ifthathappens,you
getacolourthatsnotwhite.Ourambitionis
tofindsomethingbiologicalthatcanhavethe
sameeffect.Soweask:whatperformsthis
kindofseparationinnature?Thisisjustwhat
salivaisdoing.Salivasortsfoodintodifferent
groupsandthenyourbodycanprocessit.
Withalittlehelpfromthehumanworldofscience(moreonthatlater),theMucinprotein
insaliva,whichworkssowelltobegin
digestion,canalsokeepfluorescentdyesof
differentcoloursseparateintherightwayfora
tri-colourwhiteLED.Andwiththeadditionof
dyesorotherchemicals,Mentovichsays,the
colourofLEDitproducescanbecontrolled.
Putthreecoloursintoit,andyouget
automaticseparation.Soinsteadofavery
complicatedindustrialsystemforseparating
threecolours,wehaveaproteinthatdoesit
naturally,heexplains.
Emboldenedbyitssuccess,theteam
MentovichalongwithhiscolleaguesNetta
HandlerandBogdanBelgorodskydecided
tolookforotherusefulproteins.Andthey
foundoneintheblood:albumin.Thisprotein
canabsorboxygen,whichmeansthatthe
researcherscaneffectivelydopethe
semiconductorwithspecificchemicals,
enablingthemtotailorthematerialto
produceparticulartechnologicalproperties,
Mentovichexplains.Milkproteins,
meanwhile,formstrongfibresthatare
thebasisforbiologicaltransistors.
Usingthetissueoflivingcreaturescows,
pigsandultimatelyoneday,humansto
createtechnologycreatessomepowerful
mentalimages.Itconjuresupvisionsofslimyhumanspluggedintovastarrays,Matrix-
style,andcallstomindBladeRunnerandthe
replicants.Justthewordmucusmakesus
thinkoftherevoltingspectacleofDavid
CronenbergsfilmofNakedLunch(1991),
whichsawtheprotagonist,exterminatorBill
Lee,typinghismemoirsintothestickymouth
ofagianthallucinatedinsect/typewriterthats
probablyspyingonhimashestrugglesto
overcomeanaddictiontobugspray.
However,thevisceralreactionis
misleading.Theworkoftheseresearcherscouldleadnotjusttodevelopmentssuch
T
TheMucinproteininsalivacankeepfluorescentdyes
ofdifferentcoloursseparateinjusttherightwayfora
tri-colourwhiteLED
Insteadof usingacomplicatedindustrialsystemfor
separatingthreecolourstomakeawhiteLED,the
proteindoesitautomatically
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19July 2012
asfoldingcomputerscreens,butalsoto
compostablefoldablecomputerscreens.If
thecomponentsareorganic,thenrecycling
potentiallybecomeseasy.
Wevegonefromsilicontoplasticand
nowwerelookingatingredientsthatare
biodegradable,saysMentovich.Plentyof
fabsaremakingnoiseaboutgoinggreen,he
observes,butthefocushasbeenalmost
exclusivelyonenergyconsumed,carbon
footprintsandsoon.Instead,Mentovichsays
histeamismorelookingatwaystoconsume
lesstoxicchemicals.
Inreality,atotallycompostabletransistor
mightbesomewayoff.Moreimmediately,
replacingsomeofthesiliconincircuitboards
couldcleanupthefabricationprocess
considerably.Inaworldwithprotein-based
transistors,nosiliconwouldneedtobe
burnedtorecovertheotherpreciousand
semi-preciousmaterialsgold,copperand
sooninvolvedinbuildingcircuitboards.
AsMentovichsays,theblood,milkand
mucusproteinsbetweenthemprovidethe
basiccomponentsofaphotosystem.It
shouldbepossibletomakeanentire
optoelectronicdevicethatsbiodegradable.
Andatransistormadeofproteinsalsohas
highmobility,andrequireslowvoltageto
operate,headds.
Sohowisitdone?Thekeyisthatproteins
canself-assemble.Traditionalsemiconductors
aremadefromthetopdownthesurfaceofa
siliconcrystalisetchedwiththeshapesand
formsneededforaparticularcomponent.
However,theproteinsbuildthemselvesinto
semiconductorsfromthebottomup,whichgivesthemasignificantadvantage.Theycan
beflexiblewheresiliconisbrittle,andtheycan
bemademuchthinner.Mentovichpointsto
thecurrentstateofthesiliconart,whichhe
putsat18nm.Afilmofself-assembled
albuminproteinsisjust4nmhigh.
TheproteinstheIsraeliteamusesare
commerciallyavailablepowderedproteins
(Thelazyoption,Mentovichlaughs).Tocreate
asemiconductorfilm,thepowdermustbe
suspendedinasuitablepHbufferandcan
thenbepaintedontoanysurface.Evenonto
ablueLED,wheretherightproteinmixwill
changethelightfrombluetowhite.
Otherlabsareworkingwithproteinsina
similarcontext.Backin2008,researchersat
PurdueUniversityinLafayette,Indiana,
producedchainsofsemiconductingparticles
usingproteinsasgrowthtemplates(http://
tinyurl.com/GrowthTemplates).InSweden,
researchershavesucceededinproducing
electricalwiresmadefromproteins(http://
tinyurl.com/ProteinWires ),whileinRussia,
photosynthesisproteinshavebeentappedfor
theirabilitytogeneratephotocurrent(http://
tinyurl.com/PhotoCurrent ).
Mentovichstressesthatthisworkisalong
wayfromacommercialprocess,butsaysthat
mostoftheobstaclesinvolvecomplyingwith
industrystandards,ratherthantechnology.
WewonderedhoweasyitwouldbetoscaleMentovichandhiscolleaguesworkinthelab
LUCYSHERRIFFisajournalistwitha
degreeinastrophysics
whoknowsallaboutthe
latestscientifictech.
@lucysherriff
toanindustrialproductionprocess.You
knowhowindustrystandardsare,hemused.
Integrationiseasy,butcompatibilitywith
standardsishard.Itwouldtakehuge
investmentmany,manydollarstotake
thisintoindustry.Butthatsfineforus.Were
havingfunfindingoutwhatwecando.This
isntaboutspittingoutatransistor,butwecan
takeablueLEDandcoatitwithourproteins,
andmakeitawhiteLED.Soperhapsthefirst
stepisahybrid,butreally,wewanttomake
everythingoutofproteins.
Lookingtothefuture,Mentovich
speculatesthatelectronicsinsidethebody
wouldbepossible,musingonthepossibility
ofinternaldevicespoweredbythehuman
body.Thereissomedifference
betweenelectronics(inour
computers)andelectronicsinthe
humanbody.OneisIonicandthe
otheriselectronic.Proteinscando
both,somaybeitcanbethebridge?
Peoplehaveshownthiseffect
beforebutweneverthoughtsofarahead.I
thinkthathuman-machineinterfacewillbe
muchmorevagueinthefollowingyears.We
seeitnowlookatthenewglassesbyGoogle.
Canwejustmodifytheeye?Maybe
CronenbergsNakedLunchshowshowtogetaheadintechnology
PROTEINS BUILD THEMSELVES
INTO SEMICONDUCTORS FROM
THE BOTTOM UP
IsGooglesProjectGlassconceptanindicationofthe
futureofthehuman-machineinterface?
8/22/2019 Custom PC UK 2012-07
20/13220 July 2012
Gareth Halfacree looks at the latest mobile hardware
commontricktomakeeveryday
gadgetsseemfuturisticistomake
themtransparent,flexibleorboth.
However,justhowcloseareweto
humblesmartphonesechoingthoseused
bybillionairealcoholicinventor-cum-
superheroTonyStarkinIronMan2,orthe
disposableorigamiphoneofUltraviolet?
Closerthanyouthink.
STAGE 1: THE DI SPLAY
Thedisplayisthefirstpartofasmartphone
thatyousee.Traditionaldisplaysuseasolid
backgroundtoeitherreflectthelightofa
backlightsystem,ortoreflectambient
lightaswithelectronicpaperdisplays
suchasEInk.
Theydonthavetothough.Samsungs
displayarmhasbeenshowingoffalarge-
scaletransparentdisplaybasedonorganic
light-emittingdiode(OLED)technologyfora
while,creatinga46inmodeldesignedfor
retailenvironmentsincludingfridgeswith
animateddisplaysthroughwhichthe
productisvisible.
Thetechnologyisntlimited
tolarge-scaledisplayseither.
Little-knownheads-updisplay
specialistVuzixwaspresentat
theConsumerElectronicsShow
earlierthisyearwithaprototypefor
adisplaythatcouldintegratewith
eyeglasses,providingavirtual
overlayinfullcolour.
Noristhetechnologynew:in
2009,LGshowedoffaprototype
activematrixOLED(AMOLED)
displayattheFPDJapan
show;ithadanimpressive
15indiagonalandofferedthesamefull-motion
Truly transparent trinketsJust what would it take to make a completely transparent mobile device,
as seen in sci-fi flicks?
smartphones,isnobarrierthesedays.Atmel,
creatorofmicrocontrollers,memoryand
touchcomponentsforcomputersystems,
recentlyunveiledatouchsensordubbed
XSense.Basedonaflexiblefilm,anXSense
panelcanbeappliedtoanysurface
includingoneofSamsungsaforementioned
flexibledisplaysandcurvedtoalmostany
angle,whilereducingcomponentcostsand
decreasingtheweightofthehandset.
STAGE 2: THE ELECTRONI CS
Soa flexible,transparentdisplayispossible
butthatisntallyouneed.Behindthescreen
isadizzyingarrayofsystem-on-chip
processors,memorymodules,circuitsand
wires,butthesecanalsobemadeinvisible.
ResearchersfromRiceUniversity,
speakingattheNationalMeetingand
ExpositionoftheAmericanChemicalSociety,
claimtohavecreatedmemorychips
thatcanbefolded,exposedto
blisteringlyhightemperaturesand
soakedinwaterallwithouta
singlelostbit.Betteryet,the
chipsaretransparentand
canbestackedina3Darray
tocrammoredataintoa
smallerarea.
Thetechnologyisntquite
perfectedyet.Generally,
experienceasastandardPCmonitor.
Althoughtheprototypelackedbrightness
andcontrast,thetechnologyhasnow
significantlyimproved.
Sotransparencyisachievablewithtodays
technology,butwhataboutflexibility?Wecan
againlooktoSamsungforaclue:backin
2011,thecompanydemonstratedaflexible
AMOLEDdisplayaimedspecificallyat
smartphones.Usingabendablecircuit
substrateandditchingthetraditionalglass,
thecompanydemonstratedabrightand
clearhigh-resolutiondisplaythatcouldbe
curvedbackonitselfandevenhitwitha
sledgehammerwithnoilleffects.Recently,
LGhasdonethesamewithitselectronic
paperdisplays.
Eventouchsensitivity,a
requirementofmodern
A
Thesee-throughphone:ridiculousor
prescient?Plastic-backed,flexible
displaysarealreadypossible
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21July 2012
youcantseeabitofmemory,becauseitstoo
small,explainsJamesTour,whorunsthelab.
Butsiliconitselfisnttransparentifthe
densityofthecircuitsishighenough,youre
goingtoseeit.Asastartingpoint,however,
Toursworkis impressive,andif memory
chipscanbetransparent,sotoocan
processorsandotherintegratedcircuits.It
maytakeawhilebut,unlikethewarpdrive,
itseasytoseehowwecouldgetthere.
Youcanmounttransparentmemorychips
ontotransparentcircuitrytoo,thanksto
workcarriedoutbytheUniversityof
Cambridgeoninkjet-printedcircuits.
Byaugmentingtheconductive
polymersaddedtotheinkwith
graphene everyonesfavouritenano-
materialresearchersledbyAndrea
Ferrariwereabletocreateamaterial
thatcanbeprintedonanysurface,
includingtransparentandflexibleplastics.
Coupledwithclearplasticcasingand
atransparentscreen,youreleftwitha
smartphonethatyoucanbend,fold,and
seerightthrough.Well,almost.
STAGE 3: THE BATTERY
Behindthedisplayandtheelectronicsis
arguablythemostimportantpartofany
smartphone:thebattery.Buthowdoyou
makeaphonesbattery,withall itschemicals
andworryinglycorrosivecomponents,
disappear?Onceagain,weturntoscience
specifically,apaper publishedin the
Proceedingsof theNationalAcademyof
SciencesbyStanfordUniversityscientists
YuanYangandYiCui.
Workingontheprinciplethatthehuman
eyeisincapableofresolvingobjectssmaller
than50microns,YangandCuicreatedamesh-likeframeworkforbatteryelectronics
wherethegridis35micronswide.Theresult
isthatlightpassesthroughthetransparent
gapsbetweenthegridlines,whilethe
gridlinesthemselvesaretoosmalltosee.
Ittooktheapplicationofpolydimethylsiloxane,
atransparentmaterialmorecommonly
associatedwithplasticsurgeryandcontact
lenses,alongwiththecreationofamodified
gelelectrolytethatcouldactasaseparator
betweenelectrodes,butthepairsuccessfully
createdaprototypewith62percent
transparency.Evenwiththreecellsstackedon
oneanother,theprototypestilloffersaround
60percenttransparencyinvisiblelight.
Betterstill,theuseoftherubberymaterial
PDMSmeansthatthebatteryisveryflexible.
Mountedtoagraphene-basedprinted
circuitboardpopulatedwith transparent
integratedcircuitsandbehindatransparent,
flexibleOLED-baseddisplay,itcouldbe
possibletocreateasee-throughsmartphone
thatbendsintowhatevershapeyoudesire.
THE RE AL IT Y
Allthe aboveprototypes,productsand
researchhaveemergedoverthepastcouple
ofyears,butitcouldbealongtimebefore
theyreusedinreal-worldproducts.Thisisnt
tosaythatcompanieshaventtried,however.
Perhapsthefirstattemptatatransparent
smartphonewastheLGGD900Crystal,
releasedin2009.Designedaroundaslider-
stylelayout,thetophalfofthephonewasfairly
standard;however,thekeypad,whichcame
outfromunderthedisplayinportraitmode,
wasaglowingsee-throughmatrixofbuttons.
TheGD900wasntahugesuccess,however.
Sincethen,companieshaveshiedawayfrom
transparencyasagimmick,preferringtosell
theirdevicesbasedonslimness,screensizeorrawcomputationalpower.
GARETHHALFACREEisthenewsreporterat
www.bit-tech.net.He
knowsallabout the
latestnewsinPCandmobiletech.
@ghalfacree
Themostrecentattempttobringback
transparencywastheAsusEeePadMeMO,
anAndroid-based7intabletwithaBluetooth-
connectedpuckthatenablesthedevicetobe
controlledwhileitsinabag.Whileitslow-
resolutionandmonochrome,thepucks
displayisclearlytransparent andithasan
eye-catchingdesign.
Theresstillplentyofworktobecarried
outbeforeatrulytransparentsmartphone
canbemade.Workonflexibleand
transparentdisplaysneedstobecombined
tocreateonewiththebestfeaturesof
both,whilethetransparentbattery
needsfurtherdevelopmentbeforeit
canrivaltheefficiencyandcostofa
traditionalbattery.
Thechipswillneedtobecomesee-
throughtoo,andwhileToursresearch
showsthisispossible,itwillbeawhile
before a densesystem-on-chip,suchas
NvidiasTegra3orQualcommsSnapdragon
S4,canbemadesee-through.
Itsadirectioninwhichresearchersare
heading,however,anditcouldbearfruitin
thenot-too-distantfuture.Perhapstheminds
behindStarksimpressivegadgetwhich
wasactuallyasolidpieceofglasswitha3D-printedplasticframe,withalltheuser
interfaceelementsaddedbycomputer
werenttoofarfromthetruth.
WITH CLEAR PLASTIC CASING
AND A TRANSPARENT SCREEN,YOU HAVE A PHONE YOU CAN
BEND, FOLD AND SEE THROUGH
Believeitornot,thisisaRAMchip
YuanYangbelieveshescrackedthesecretofaflexible,
invisiblebattery
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G
HARD DISK
D
RA M
H
OPTICAL DRIVE
E
COOLING
I
OPERATING SYSTEM
C
APU
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25April 2012
AsCore i7motherboards andhigh-end graphics cards command a
premium price, hereare somecomponents for a Core i5 PC that offer
great performance andwont break thebank
NAME SUPPLIER MANUFACTURER REVIEWED PRICE (inc VAT)
A SilverStoneRavenRV03 www.scan.co.uk www.silverstonetek.com Issue103, p70 112
B MSI Z77A-G43 www.ebuyer.com http://uk.msi.com Issue 106, p74 76
C Intel Core i5-3570K www.scan.co.uk www.intel.co.uk Issue 106, p36 162
D 8GBPatriotG2PGD38G1600ELK www.pixmania.com www.patriotmemory.com Issue106,p40 38
E Arctic Freezer i30 www.dabs.com www.arctic.ac Issue104, p48 30
F SapphireAMDRadeonHD78502GB www.scan.co.uk www.sapphiretech.com Issue105,p40 193
G Thermaltake SP-530PCWEU www.scan.co.uk www.thermaltake.com Issue 97, p72 52
H SeagateBarracuda2TBST2000DM001 www.scan.co.uk www.seagate.com Issue104, p75 85
I Asus Xonar DG www.dabs.com http://uk.asus.com Issue 99, p108 24
J Crucial M4 128GB www.ebuyer.com www.crucial.com Issue 104, p64 90
K Lite-On IHAS124-19 www.cclonline.com www.liteonit.eu Issue 99, p108 14
L MicrosoftWindows7 HomePremium64-bit www.amazon.co.uk www.microsoft.com Issue 75, p46 110
TOTAL SYSTEM PRICE 986
A
G H I J L
PSU HARD DISK SOUND CARD SOLID STATE DRIVE OPERATING SYSTEM
F
GRAPHICS CARD
B D E
MOTHERBOARD RAM COOLINGCPU
C
OCZ ZX Series 850W Power SupplyFully modular cable management system
850W Continuous Power
Ultra quiet 140mm ball-bearing fan
+12VDC @ 70A Single Rail Design 80 Plus Gold Certified
CCL Code - PSU0225
124.96
Get FREENext Day Delivery
Use this Code: #CPC-Free
www.cclonline.com/cpc08000 50 10 10
P r i c e s c o r r e c t a t t i m e o f g o i n g t o p u b l i s h i n g . I m a g e s a r e f o r i l l u s t r a t i ve p u r p o s e s o n l y .
UPDATEDUPDATEDUPDATED
UPDATED
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26 April 2012
Our choice of the best hardware available
Gainward NVIDIA GTX 580 Graphics CardPhantom edition with Dual DVI,
HDMI and DisplayPort
783 MHz Core Clock
1536MB GDDR5 Memory
2010 MHz Memory Clock
Dual DVI-I, DisplayPort, HDMI
CCL Code - VGA0565www.cclonline.com
330.34
WEREAWARD
WINNERS!
PC Pro 2011Highly Commended
This PChas the potential to be the finest gamingmachine you can find as
well as an excellent all-round computer for officework, digital photography,
video production andmedia playback
NAME SUPPLIER MANUFACTURER REVIEWED PRICE(inc VAT)
A SilverStoneFortressFT02B-WUSB3.0 www.scan.co.uk www.silverstonetek.com Issue85,p88 209
B Asus Maximus V Gene www.scan.co.uk http://uk.asus.com Issue 106, p64 151
C Intel Core i5-3570K www.scan.co.uk www.intel.co.uk Issue 106, p36 162
D 8GBPatriotG2PGD38G1600ELK www.pixmania.com www.patriotmemory.com Issue106,p40 38
E Be Quiet! Dark Rock Advanced www.scan.co.uk www.be-quiet.net Issue 91, p 74 40
F PNY GeForce GTX 680 2GB www.scan.co.uk www3.pny.com Issue 105, p36 444
G Corsair Professional Series HX 650 www.dabs.com www.corsair.com Issue 97, p79 90
H SeagateBarracuda2TBST2000DM001 www.scan.co.uk www.seagate.com Issue104, p75 85
I Asus Xonar DX www.scan.co.uk http://uk.asus.com Issue 80, p63 57
JCrucial M4 256GB www.ebuyer.com www.crucial.com Issue 104, p64 175
K Lite-On IHAS123-19 www.cclonline.com www.liteonit.eu Issue 99, p108 14
L MicrosoftWindows7 HomePremium64-bit www.amazon.co.uk www.microsoft.com Issue 75, p46 110
TOTAL SYSTEM PRICE 1,575
G H I J L
PSU HARD DISK SOUND CARD SOLID STATE DRIVE OPERATING SYSTEM
F
GRAPHICS CARD
A
B D E
MOTHERBOARD CPU RAM COOL ING
C
UPDATED
UPDATED
UPDATEDUPDATED
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27April 2012
ainward NVIDIA GTX 680 Graphics Cardhantom edition with Dual DVI,
DMI and DisplayPort
1150 MHz Core Clock
2048MB GDDR5 Memory
3150 MHz Memory Clock
Dual DVI-I, DisplayPort, HDMI
CCL Code - VGA0594
519.98
Get FREENext Day Delivery
Use this Code: #CPC-Free
www.cclonline.com/cpc
08000 50 10 10
P r i c e s c o r r e c t a t t i m e o f g o i n g t o p u b l i s hi n g . I m a g e s a r e f o r i l l u s t r a t i v e p u r p o s e s o n l y.
Themost awesome components around,before reachingworkstation
territory.Weve included a dual 120mm liquid cooler kit as a base
example, but the case has space for a variety of water-cooling setups
G H I J K
PSU SOLID STATE DRIVE SOUND CARD HARD DISK OPERATING SYSTEM
A
NAME SUPPLIER MANUFACTURER REVIEWED PRICE(inc VAT)
A SilverStoneTemjinTJ07B-W www.scan.co.uk www.silverstonetek.com Issue63,p87 276
B Asus Maximus V Gene www.scan.co.uk http://uk.asus.com Issue 106, p64 151
C Intel Core i7-3770K www.scan.co.uk www.intel.co.uk Issue 106, p36 246
D8GBKingstonHyperXGenesis
KHX1866C11D3P1K2/8Gwww.overclockers.co.uk www.kingston.com Issue106,p40 41
E Nvidia GeForce GTX 690 2GB www.scan.co.uk www.nvidia.com Issue 106, p46 870
F Corsair H100 www.cclonline.com www.corsair.com Issue 91, p74 81
G Antec High Current Pro HCP-750 www.scan.co.uk www.antec.com Issue 9 7, p 78 102
H Samsung SSD 830 256GB www.scan.co.uk www.samsung.com Issue 104, p68 227
I CreativeX-FiTitaniumFatal1ty Pro www.amazon.co.uk www.uk.europe.creative.com Issue 62,p61 95
J SeagateBarracuda2TBST2000DM0001 www.scan.co.uk www.seagate.com Issue104, p75 85
K MicrosoftWindows7 HomePremium64-bit www.amazon.co.uk www.microsoft.com Issue 75, p46 110
TOTALSYSTEM PRICE 2,284
B D
MOTHERBOARD CPU RAM
C E F
GRAPHICS CARD COOLING
17
UPDATED UPDATED UPDATED UPDATED
8/22/2019 Custom PC UK 2012-07
28/13228 April 2012
Our choice of the best hardware available
Gainward GeForce GTX 560 Graphics CardPhantom edition with DVI,
HDMI and D-Sub
822 MHz Core Clock
1024MB GDDR5 Memory
DVI-I, D-Sub & HDMI
CCL Code - VGA0558www.cclonline.com
170.26
WEREAWARD
WINNERS!
PC Pro 2011Highly Commended
TYPE CPU MOTHERBOARD COOLER RAM
NAMEIntelCorei5-3570K Asus Maximus VGene ArcticFreezeri30
8GBPatriotG2PGD38G1600ELK
SUPPLIER www.scan.co.uk www.scan.co.uk www.dabs.com www.pixmania.com
MANUFACTURER www.intel.co.uk http://uk.msi.com www.arctic.ac www.patriotmemory.com
REVIEWED Issue 106, p36 Issue 106, p64 Issue 104, p48 Issue 106, p40
PRICE(incVAT) 162 151 30 38
TYPE GRAPHICS CARD GRAPHICS CARD GRAPHICS CARD
NAME SapphireHD68701GB SapphireAMDRadeonHD78702GB PNYGeForceGTX6802GB
SUPPLIER www.dabs.com www.scan.co.uk www.scan.co.uk
MANUFACTURER www.sapphiretech.com www.sapphiretech.com www3.pny.com
REVIEWED Issue 102, p61 Issue 105, p40 Issue 105, p36
PRICE(incVAT) 140 275 444
UPDATED UPDATED UPDATED
8/22/2019 Custom PC UK 2012-07
29/13229April 2012
ainward GeForce GTX 570 Graphics Cardhantom edition with DVI,
DMI and DisplayPort
750 MHz Core Clock
1280MB GDDR5 Memory
1950 MHz Memory Clock
Dual DVI-I, DisplayPort, HDMI
CCL Code - VGA0563
225.06
Get FREENext Day Delivery
Use this Code: #CPC-Free
www.cclonline.com/cpc
08000 50 10 10
P r i c e s c o r r e c t a t t i m e o f g o i n g t o p u b l i s hi n g . I m a g e s a r e f o r i l l u s t r a t i v e p u r p o s e s o n l y.
TYPE CPU MOTHERBOARD COOLER RAM
NAMEAMDA8-3870K GigabyteGA-A75M-UD2H GelidTranquilloRev.2
4GBCrucialBallistixSportPC3-12800C9
SUPPLIER www.aria.co.uk www.lambda-tek.com www.scan.co.uk www.overclockers.co.uk
MANUFACTURER www.amd.com www.gigabyte.com www.gelidsolutions.com www.crucial.com
REVIEWED Issue 104, p38 Issue 98, p34 Issue 100, p86 Issue 100, p96
PRICE(incVAT) 85 61 25 26
TYPE CPU MOTHERBOARD COOLER RAM
NAME Intel Core i7-3930K Asus Sabertooth X79 Corsair H80 16GB Corsair Vengeance
CAS9DDR3
SUPPLIER www.novatech.co.uk www.scan.co.uk www.dabs.com www.dabs.com
MANUFACTURER www.intel.co.uk http://uk.asus.com www.corsair.com www.corsair.com
REVIEWED Issue 101, p32 Issue 101, p70 Issue 101, p86 Issue 101, p40
PRICE(incVAT) 444 248 70 74
8/22/2019 Custom PC UK 2012-07
30/13230 April 2012
Our choice of the best hardware available
AMD FX-8120 Black Edition Eight Core ProcessorExperience the world's first native
8-core desktop processor
3.10GHz Clock Speed
Socket AM3+
Unlocked multiplier for
easy overclocking
CCL Code - CPU0061www.cclonline.com
127.42
WEREAWARD
WINNERS!
PC Pro 2011Highly Commended
TYPE 530W PSU 650W PSU 750W PSU 1.2kW PSU
NAMEThermaltake SP-530PCWEU
CorsairProfessionalSeries
HX650
AntecHighCurrent Pro
HCP-750
AntecHighCurrent Pro
1200W
SUPPLIER www.scan.co.uk www.dabs.com www.scan.co.uk www.ebuyer.com
MANUFACTURER www.thermaltake.com www.corsair.com www.antec.com www.antec.com
REVIEWED Issue 97, p72 Issue 97, p79 Issue 97, p78 Issue 96, p48
PRICE(incVAT) 52 90 102 198
TYPE BUDGET CASE MICROATX CASE AIRCOOLING CASE WATERCOOLING CASE
NAME AntecOneHundred SilverStoneTJ08-E SilverStoneRavenRV03 SilverStoneTemjinTJ07B-W
SUPPLIER www.lambda-tek.com www.scan.co.uk www.scan.co.uk www.scan.co.uk
MANUFACTURER www.antec.com www.silverstonetek.com www.silverstonetek.com www.silverstonetek.com
REVIEWED Issue 92, p59 Issue 98, p48 Issue 103, p70 Issue 63, p87
PRICE(incVAT) 47 83 112 276
8/22/2019 Custom PC UK 2012-07
31/13231April 2012
ntel Core i5 3570K 3.4GHz Processor
d Generation Intel Core i Series
vy Bridge) CPUs Now Available!
3.4GHz Clock Speed
4 Cores, 4 Threads
6MB Cache
Supports Intel HD Graphics
CCL Code - CPU0102
174.73
Get FREENext Day Delivery
Use this Code: #CPC-Free
www.cclonline.com/cpc
08000 50 10 10
P r i c e s c o r r e c t a t t i m e o f g o i n g t o p u b l i s h i n g . I m a g e s a r e f o r i l l u s t r a t i ve p u r p o s e s o n l y .
TYPE HARD DISK SSD NAS BOX
NAMESeagateBarracuda2 TBST2000DM001 Crucial M4 256GB SynologyDiskStationDS212j
SUPPLIER www.scan.co.uk www.ebuyer.co.uk www.dabs.com
MANUFACTURER www.seagate.com www.crucial.com www.synology.com
REVIEWED Issue 104, p75 Issue 104, p64 Issue 104, p50
PRICE(incVAT) 85 175 163
TYPE 24IN MONITOR 27IN MONITOR TRIPLEMONITOR STAND
NAME Dell UltraSharpU2412M Dell UltraSharpU2711 XFX TripleDisplayMonitor Stand
SUPPLIER www.scan.co.uk www.aria.co.uk www.scan.co.uk
MANUFACTURER www.dell.com www.dell.co.uk www.xfxforce.com
REVIEWED Issue 105, p64 Issue 81, p56 Issue 96, p58
PRICE(incVAT) 232 538 294
8/22/2019 Custom PC UK 2012-07
32/13232 April 2012
Our choice of the best hardware available
BenQ XL2420T 120Hz LCD MonitorThe latest revision of the Amazing BenQ
gaming monitor designed by Gamers
1920x1080 Full HD Resolution
2x HDMI, 1x VGA, DVI, DisplayPort
3D Ready Display
2ms Response Time
CCL Code - MON0593www.cclonline.com
196.60
WEREAWARD
WINNERS!
PC Pro 2011Highly Commended
TYPE KEYBOARD MOUSE STEERING WHEEL JOYSTICK
NAME Corsair VengeanceK60 Corsair VengeanceM60 LogitechG27 LogitechFlightSystemG940
SUPPLIER www.scan.co.uk www.ebuyer.com www.scan.co.uk www.scan.co.uk
MANUFACTURER www.corsair.com www.corsair.com www.logitech.com www.logitech.com
REVIEWED Issue 101, p46 Issue 104, p52 Issue 92, p108 Issue 92, p109
PRICE(incVAT) 85 49 200 262
TYPE SOUND CARD 2.1 SPEAKERS HEADSET 5.1 SPEAKERS
NAME Asus Xonar DX Corsair SP2500 Asus Vulcan ANC Logitech Z906
SUPPLIER www.scan.co.uk www.scan.co.uk www.scan.co.uk www.ebuyer.com
MANUFACTURER http://uk.asus.com www.corsair.com http://uk.asus.com www.logitech.com
REVIEWED Issue 80, p63 Issue 92, p79 Issue 98, p57 Issue 102, p50
PRICE(incVAT) 57 173 78 242
8/22/2019 Custom PC UK 2012-07
33/13233April 2012
ainward GeForce GT520 SilentFX Graphics CardREE Streetfighter 4 PC Game
ownload with this Graphics Card
Passive Silent Cooler
1024MB DDR3 Memory
1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x D-Sub
High Definition 1080p Display Support
CCL Code - VGA0537
33.98
Get FREENext Day Delivery
Use this Code: #CPC-Free
www.cclonline.com/cpc
08000 50 10 10
P r i c e s c o r r e c t a t t i m e o f g o i n g t o p u b l i s h i n g . I m a g e s a r e f o r i l l u s t r a t i ve p u r p o s e s o n l y .
TYPE RPG FPS STRATEGY UNDERDOG
NAME Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Deus Ex: Human Revolution Frozen Synapse Trine 2
DEVELOPER www.bethsoft.com www.square-enix.com www.mode7games.com http://frozenbyte.com
PUBLISHER Bethesda www.square-enix.com www.mode7games.com http://frozenbyte.com
REVIEWED Issue 101, p100 Issue 98, p96 Issue 96, p92 Issue 102, p98
PRICE(incVAT) 30 30 19 for two 12
TYPE AFFORDABLE CHAIR AWESOME CHAIR
NAME PledgeSolar SOL7MINFB CairoPlusErgonomicChair withHeadrest
SUPPLIER www.bestbuy-officechairs.co.uk www.chairoffice.co.uk
MANUFACTURER www.pledgechairs.com www.hhsolutionsuk.com
REVIEWED Issue 99, p77 Issue 99, p75
PRICE(incVAT) 188 236
8/22/2019 Custom PC UK 2012-07
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40THEBESTRAM
FORIVYBRIDGE
WetryoutfiveRAMkitswiththe newplatform
44SCAN3XS
VENGEANCEZ77OC
Wecheckoutapre-overclockedIvyBridgePC
50GAINWARD
PHANTOMGTX
6802GBAND4GB
Is4GBworthhaving?
46NVIDIAGEFORCE
GTX690
TwoKeplerGPUs,onePCBandaninsaneprice
521TBWESTERN
DIGITAL
VELOCIRAPTOR
Spinningat10,000rpm
58
ROKU2XS
TurnanyoldTVintoaNet-connectedsmartTVformediastreaming
58
KINGSTON64GB
DATATRAVELER
HYPERXUSB3
Readsat106MB/sec
53NOFANCR95C
Itmightlooklikeahugesaladspinner,butitsactuallyaCPUcooler
54
THRUSTMASTER
FERRARIF1
WHEELT500
550-worthofwheel
59ARCTICCHARGING
STATION
Powerupyourgadgetsonthemove
58GRIFFINBEACON
TransformyourBluetoothsmartphoneintoan IRdevice
59STARTECH
UNIDOCK3UGB
TimetodigoutthoseoldIDEdrives
34 July 2012
Our in-depth analysis of thelatest PC hardware
36
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35July 2012
HOWWETEST,P56
Intel IvyBridgeWetakealookatIntels
brand-newCPUarchitecture,
andalsoreviewthetwoflagship
unlockedchipstheCore
i5-3570KandCorei7-3770K 36
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36 July 2012
INTEL CORE
i7-3770K
HOW MUCH?Price246incVAT
Supplierwww.scan.co.uk
Manufacturerwww.intel.co.uk
SKUnumberCM8063701211700
IN DETAIL
Frequency3.5GHz
TurboBoostfrequency3.9GHz
CPUcoreIvyBridge
Graphicscore650MHzIntelHD4000
Manufacturingprocess22nm
NumberofcoresFourphysical,fourlogical
MemorycontrollerDual-channel1,600MHzDDR3
CacheL1:32KB+32KB(eachcore),L2:256KB(eachcore),L3:8MBshared
PackagingLGA1155
ThermalDesignPower(TDP)77W
FeaturesSSE,SSE2,SSE3,SSSE3,SSE4.1,SSE4.2,EM64T,EIST,ExecuteDisableBit,VT-x,AES-NI,TurboBoost2.0,AVX
andyBridgewasalwaysgoingtobeatough
acttofollow.Itstheonedownsideof
producingsomethingsodownrightamazing,
especiallyifyourbusinessmodelreliesonyou
knockingoutanewlineofCPUseachyear.Putone
footwrongandyouendupfollowingTheMatrixwith
TheMatrix:Reloaded.LuckilyforIntel,itsarch
competitorAMD droppedtheballwithitsBulldozer
architecture,givingIntelenoughbreathingspaceto
comfortablydelayIvyBridgeuntilitwasready.
Sonowitshere,whatsactuallyinanIvyBridge
chip?UnlikemostofIntelsnewcoressincethe
LGA775-era,IvyBridgeusesthesameLGA1155
socketasitsSandyBridge-basedpredecessors,but
theinsidesarenothinglikethoseofaSandyBridge
chip.Thebiggestinternalchangeisthemovefrom
32nmplanartransistorstoIntelsbrandnew22nm
Tri-Gatetransistors,whicharethefirsttoproperly
explorethethirddimension.
Likepaperthatsbeensquidged
inwardsfrombothsides,aTri-Gate
transistorhasapeakinthemiddle,rather
thansittingflat.Notonlydoesthisreduce
thewidthofthetransistoronthedie,butit
alsogivesitalongenoughgatelengthto
maintaina decentsignal.Intelsaysitsalsotakenthis
opportunitytotweaksomeofthelessvisibleaspectsof
theinternalstoo.Thisincludestinkeringwiththecores
toincreasethenumberof instructionsper clock(IPC).
Therehavebeensomechangesinotherpartsofthe
die,aswellastheCPUcoresthough.Forstarters,Ivy
BridgeisthefirstCPUtosupportPCI-E3,as longasit
hasa supportingmotherboard.Thiscaneithercome
viaaZ77motherboard(seep60),orviaaprevious-
generationmotherboardusingaseparatecontroller
chip.Thememorycontrollerhashadanupgradetoo,
withIvyBridgechipsnowofficiallysupporting
1,600MHzDDR3RAMasstandard.
Theotherbigchangeistheintegratedgraphics
processor,whichhasnowbeenupgradedtoIntelsHD
4000technology.Notably,thissupportsDirectX11in
hardware,butitalsoincreasesthenumberofexecutionunits(EUs)to16fromthe12inaSandy
BridgeHD3000system.Itcanalsonowoutputtothree
independentscreens(twodigital,oneVGA).Wehavent
hadaproperchancetolookattheHD4000graphics
systeminanydepthyet,butwellbetakingathorough
lookatit,andseeinghowitperformsincomparisonto
theGPUinAMDsLlanochips,inournextissue.
INT E L CORE i 7-3 770KPickingupfromtheCorei7-2700K,theCorei7-3770K
isIntelsnewflagshipconsumerchip.Ithasthesame
fourphysicalcoresasitsSandyBridgepredecessor,
anda furtherfourlogicalonesviaHyper-Threading.It
evenhasthesame3.5GHzclockspeed,whichagain
TurboBoostsupto3.9GHz,andthesame8MBpoolof
L3 cache.
Themainchange,however,isthethermaldesign
power(TDP)of just77W,comparedtothei7-2700Ks
95W.Thisisanamazingachievementforwhat
purportstobeaverypowerfulCPU.
PERFORMANCE
Atitsstockspeed,thereslittletoseparatetheCore
i7-3770KfromtheCorei5-3570Kin termsof single-
threadedperformance.InourGimpimageeditingtest,
only54pointsseparatedthetwochips,whichcanbe
mainlyattributedtothei7-3770Ksextraclockspeed.
Interestingly, however,thei7-3770Kwas morethan
200pointsaheadofthei7-2600Kinthistest,showing
theworkIntelhasperformedontweakingtheIPC.
Wherethei7-3770Kreallypulledawayfromthe
i5-3750K,however,wasinourmulti-threaded
Handbrakevideoencodingtest,withthescoreof3,461
puttingit301pointsinfront.Thisismainlythanksto
theextrafourlogicalcores.Ifyouusealotofheavily
multi-threadedsoftware,thenthisiswhereyoure
goingtoseethedifference.
ThisdifferencewasalsoseeninMaxonCinebench.Thei7-3770Ksscoreof7.91issignificantlyinfrontof
S
INTEL
TRI-GATE
Low power
consumption;
slightly quicker
than Sandy
Bridge; PCI-E 3
GARDEN GATE
Gets hot when
overclocked;
doesnt overclock
as far as Sandy
Bridge
LIKE PAPER THATS BEEN SQUIDGED
INWARDS, TRI-GATE TRANSISTORS
HAVE A PEAK IN THE MIDDLE
Incredibly fast and power-efficient,but gets toasty when you overclock it
Ivy Bridge
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37July 2012
L G A 1 1 5 5 P R O C E S S O R S
thei5-3750Ks6.32.Not ssurprisingly,however, Intels
SandyBridgeEarchitecturestillrulesthemulti-
threadedkingdom,withtheCorei7-3960XEEscoring
11.29inthistest.
WheretheCorei7-3770KpullsaheadoftheCore
i7-3960XEE,though,isingaming.ItsthefirstCPUto
clockupa minimumof100fpsinourArmaIItest,andit
wasalsothequickestinourShogun2CPUtest.
OVERCLOCKING
WeoriginallyhadhighhopesforIvyBridges
overclockingpotential,asSandyBridgewassuchan
incredibleoverclocker.However,westruggledtopush
theCorei7-3770Ktothesameloftyheights.Themain
culpritisheat,withtemperaturesrisingtodisturbing
levelswhenyoustartpushingupthemultiplier.
WewereunabletopushtheCorei7-3770Ktothe
5GHzpeakoftheCorei7-2600K,eventuallysettlingon
atopstableclockspeedof4.8GHzwitha48xmultiplier
andaCPUvoltageof1.34V.Wesimplycouldntpushit
anyfurther,regardlessofadjustmentstothe
multiplier,baseclock,core voltageorIGP.
Atthesesettings,however,thecoretemperature
wasdisturbinglyhigh,andthiswaswithaCorsair
H100dual120mmliquidcoolingsystem.Evenat
4.5GHz,theH100onlyreducedthecoretemperature
to85Conlowfansettings,asdemonstratedinthe
Scan3XSVengeanceZ77OC(seep44).
Ifyoureaimingto overclocktheCorei7-3770Kto
4.8GHz(andpossiblybeyond)thenyouregoingtoat
leastneedaliquidcoolingsystem,butyoushouldbe
abletocomfortablyhit4.4GHzwithadecentaircooler.
POWER CONSUMPTION
AlthoughheatisclearlyanissueforoverclockedIvy
Bridgechips,thepowerconsumptionwasremarkably
low.Ourtestsystemdrewjust244Wfromthemains
withtheCorei7-3770Kinstalledandrunningat
4.8GHz.Thats69Wlessthanitdrewwitha5GHzCorei7-2600Kandanincredible294Wlessthanwithan
overclockedCorei7-3960XEE.Idlepower
consumptionwassimilarlyimpressive,withour
systemjustdrawing99Wfromthemainsatstock
speed,and115Wwhenoverclocked.
CONCLUSION
ItsashamethatIvyBridgesheatissuesmeanitisnt
theclear-cutimprovementto SandyBridgethatwe
expected,buttheCorei7-3770KisstillagreatCPU,
withslightlyquickerperformancethanSandy Bridge,
andamazingpowerefficiency.Perhapsthemain
problemfortheCorei7-3770K,though,isthattheCore
i5-3750K(seebelow)costsafairamountlessandhas
alittlemoreoverclockingheadroom,whichgivesit
almostasmuchofaspeedadvantageasHyper-
Threadingwhen itsoverclocked.
IfyoualreadyhaveaCorei7-2600Kor2700K
system,thentheresnocompellingreasontoupgrade,
especiallygiventhelimitedoverclockingheadroom.
However,ifyoureoverhaulinganoldersystem,and
notlookingtooverclocktothentheCorei7-3770K
offersaworthwhileupgrade,particularlyifyoure
lookingforfastmulti-threadedperformanceand
donthavethebudgetforSandyBridgeE.
INT E L CORE i 5 -3 5 70KLiketheCorei7-3770K,theCorei5-3570Klooksvery
similaronpapertotheSandyBridge-basedCore
i5-2500Kitsdesignedtoreplace.However,ithas
aslightlyhigherstockclockspeedof3.4GHz
comparedto the2500Ks3.3GHz,andit willTurbo
Boostallthewayto3.8GHztoo.LiketheCore
i7-3770K,italsohasalowTDPof77W.
AswiththeSandyBridgearchitecture,themain
differencebetweenthetopendCorei5andi7chipsis
thatthei5CPUsdontsupportHyper-Threading,so
yougetthefourphysicalcoresandthatsit.Theyalso
haveslightlylessL3cache,withtheCorei5-3570Ks
fourcoressharinga6MBpool,comparedtothe8MBallocationintheCorei7-3770K.
38
INTEL CORE
i5-3570K
HOW MUCH?Price162incVAT
Supplierwww.scan.co.uk
Manufacturerwww.intel.co.uk
SKUnumberCM8063701211800
IN DETAIL
Frequency3.4GHz
TurboBoostfrequency3.8GHz
CPUcoreIvyBridge
Graphicscore650MHzIntelHD4000
Manufacturingprocess22nm
NumberofcoresFourphysical
MemorycontrollerDual-channelDDR3
CacheL1:32KB+32KB(eachcore),L2:256KB(eachcore),L3:6MBshared
PackagingLGA1155
ThermalDesignPower(TDP)77W
FeaturesSSE,SSE2,SSE3,SSSE3,SSE4.1,SSE4.2,EM64T,EIST,ExecuteDisableBit,VT-x,AES-NI,TurboBoost2.0,AVX
AnIvyBridgedieupclose.The
graphicscoreisontheright,while
theeightblueblocksatthetop
holdthe8MBofL3cache.Thefour
CPUcoressitbelowthese,andthe
memorycontrollerandSystem
Agentispositionedontheleft
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38/13238 July 2012
score: Core i7-3770K
score: Core i5-3570K
customPC
customPC
84
87
customPC
customPC
OVERALL
OVERALL
SPEED 4 4 / 5 0
FEATURES 1 4 / 1 5
VALUE 2 6 / 3 5
SPEED 4 3 / 5 0
FEATURES 1 2 / 1 5
VALUE 3 2 / 3 5
OVERCLOCK SETTINGS
Defaultfrequency Overclockedfrequency Otheradjusted
frequencies
Voltagesused
IntelCore i5-3770K 3.5GHz (35 x 100MHz) 4.8GHz (48 x 100MHz) RAM:1.6GHz CPU1.34V
IntelCore i5-3570K 3.4GHz (34 x 100MHz) 5GHz (50 x 100MHz) RAM:1.6GHz CPU, 1.4V
IntelCore i7-3960X
ExtremeEdition
3.3GHz(33 x 100MHz) 4.7GHz(38x123.75MHz)
CPU strap: 125MHz,RAM:1.98GHz
CPU:1.4V, RAM:1.65V
IntelCore i7-2600K 3.4GHz(34 x 100MHz) 5GHz(50 x 100MHz) RAM:1.6GHz CPU:1.38125V, CPU PLL:1.9V,VCCSA: 1.1V, VCCIO: 1.106V
IntelCore i7-2500K 3.3GHz(33 x 100MHz) 5GHz(50 x 100MHz) RAM:1.6GHz CPU:1.38125V, CPU PLL:1.9V,VCCSA: 1.1V, VCCIO: 1.106V
AMDFX-8150 3.7GHz (18.5 x200MHz)
4.818GHz (23.5 x205MHz)
RAM:1.61GHz CPU:1.45V, CPU/NB: 1.2V, NB:1.2V, NB HT: 1.25V, RAM:1.65V
PERFORMANCE
TheCorei5-3570Ksextra100MHzoverits
predecessorstooditingoodsteadinourbenchmarks
atstockspeed,asdidIntelstweakstothecore.Inour
Gimpimageeditingtest,theCPUclockedupan
impressivescoreof1,862147morepointsthanthe
i5-2500K.Notsurprisingly,though,itfellbehindthe
i7-3770Kinourmulti-threadedHandbrakevideo
encodingtest,withascoreof3,160comparedto4,245.
However,onceyoufactorinthemulti-taskingtest,
theCPUsoverallscoreof2,248wasonly155points
behindthei7-3770Koverallagoodresultforachip
thatonlycosts162.
Asweexpected,theCorei5-3570Kalsonoticeably
laggedbehindthei7-3770KinWPrimeand
Cinebench.TheCorei5-3570Kturnedouttobeagreat
gamingchi,though.Itsminimumof92fpsinArmaII
matchestheframerateoftheCorei7-2600K,andisa
comfortabledistanceinfrontoftheCorei5-2500Ks
86fps.Meanwhile,inourTotalWar:Shogun2CPUtest,
thei5-3570Kwasonlysecondtothei7-3770K,withits
28fpsminimumplacingitalongwayinfrontofthe
18fpsfromtheSandyBridgechips.
OVERCLOCKING
AswiththeCorei7-3770K,thei5-3570Ksuffersfrom
heatproblemswhenyoupushuptheclockfrequency,
butwefoundithasalittlemoreheadroominit,
possiblybecausethelackofHyper-Threadingsupport
meanttheCPUcoreswerentstressedtosucha
degreewhenrunningmulti-threadedbenchmarks.
WemanagedtogettheCPUtorunat5GHzusing
aCorsairH100,althoughthecoretemperaturewas
disturbinglycloseto theTJmaxtemperatureatwhich
theCPUthrottles.Nevertheless,itwasstableenough
torunourbenchmarksatthesesettings,andweonly
neededtotweakthemultiplierandsettheCPU
voltageto1.4Vtoachievethis.
ThisextraheadroomeffectivelygavetheCorei5-3570Kaheadstartoverthei7-3770Kinmanytests,
includingourGimpimageeditingtest,andevenour
multi-threadedHandbraketest,showingthatanextra
200MHzmakesagreaterdifferencethanHyper-
Threadingsupporthere.However,theCorei7-3770K
wasstillquickerinWPrime2.05andCinebench.
Whatsevenmoreremarkableis thatthechipstill
didntdrawthatmuchpowerfromthemainsatthese
settings.Oursystemdrew267WwiththeCPUfully
loaded,comparedto311WfromaCorei5-2500K
runningatthesameclockspeed.
CONCLUSION
Thereslittledoubtthatyoullneedapowerfulliquid
coolingsystemifyouwanttooverclocktheCore
i5-3570Kto itslimitsand,aswiththei7-3770K,theres
nocompellingreasontoupgradetoitfromaSandy
Bridgesystem.
However,at162incVAT,itsstillafastCPUthatalso
offersfantasticpowerefficiencyandgreatvaluefor
money. Ifyoureupgradinganoldsystem,andyou
arentusingheavilymulti-threaded3Drendering
software,thenthisisagreatCPUforthemoney.
BEN HA RDW IDG E
37
Theuseof22nmtransistors
enablesInteltofitmorediesonan
IvyBridgewafer
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39July 2012
LGA1 1 5 5 PROCESSORS
0 35 70 105 140
fps26
fps33
fps26
fps34
fps18
fps25
fps18
fps26
AMD FX-8150
Core i5-2500K
Core i7-2600K
Would not run
Would not run
0 35 70 105 140
fps107
fps122
fps100
fps119
fps69
fps82
fps92
fps108
fps86
fps106
fps61
fps70AMD FX-8150
Core i5-2500K
Core i7-2600K
GIMP IMAGE EDITING
Lower is better
0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000
2,308
2,392
2,127
2,225
2,228
1,077
1,916
1,862
1,805
1,714
1,715
887AMD FX-8150
Core i5-2500K
Core i7-2600K
Core i7-3960X EE
Core i5-3570K
Core i7-3770K
HANDBRAKE H.264 VIDEO ENCODING
0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000
4,229
4,245
4,208
3,903
3,063
3,461
3,160
3,985
3,211
2,997
2,520AMD FX-8150
Core i5-2500K
Core i7-2600K
Core i7-3960X EE
Core i5-3570K
Core i7-3770K
MULTI-TASKING
0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000
1,908
1,915
1,984
1,940
1,854
1,439
1,767
1,721
1,645
1,727
1,637
1,283AMD FX-8150
Core i5-2500K
Core i7-2600K
Core i7-3960X EE
Core i5-3570K
Core i7-3770K
WPR IME 2.0 5
0 3 6 9 12
7
9.783
5
7.303
9.985
9.484
6.2 60 6.927
7.754
4. 13 4 4. 93 2
6.130
7.459
9.484AMD FX-8150
Core i5-2500K
Core i7-2600K
Core i7-3960X EE
Core i5-3570K
Core i7-3770K
OVERALL
0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000
2,836
2,851
2,966
2,791
2,662
1,860
2,403
2,248
2,478
2,217
2,116
1,563AMD FX-8150
Core i5-2500K
Core i7-2600K
Core i7-3960X EE
Core i5-3570K
Core i7-3770K
CINEBENCH R11.5
0 4 8 12 16
9.73
8.22
13.61
9.78
7.71
7.95
7.91
6.32
11.29
7.49
5.93
7.95AMD FX-8150
Core i5-2500K
Core i7-2600K
Core i7-3960X EE
Core i5-3570K
Core i7-3770K
Idle
Stock speed Overclocked
4,787
Lower is better
PEAK TOTAL SYSTEM POWER DRAW
0 50 100 150 200 250
W115
W119
W210
W136
W131
W126
W99
W97
W179
W118
W114
W110AMD FX-8150
Core i5-2500K
Core i7-2600K
Core i7-3960X EE
Core i5-3570K
Core i7-3770K
Load
Lower is better
0 120 240 360 480 600
W244
W267
W538
W313
W311
W586
W166
W161
W289
W180
W162
W244AMD FX-8150
Core i5-2500K
Core i7-2600K
Core i7-3960X EE
Core i5-3570K
Core i7-3770K
Stock speed Overclocked
AR MA II : OPE RA TIO N AR ROW HEA D1,92 0 x 1,08 0, Very High sett ings , no AA, no AF
fps113
fps122
fps104
fps123
fps115
fps125
fps100
fps106
fps92
fps106
fps96
fps107
Core i7-3960X EE
Core i5-3570K
Core i7-3770K
TOT AL WA R: SHO GUN 2 CPU TES T1,92 0 x 1,08 0, def ault sett ings , no AA, no AF
fps35
fps40
fps34
fps43
fps30
fps38
fps29
fps33
fps28
fps36
fps23
fps30Core i7-3960X EE
Core i5-3570K
Core i7-3770K
Overclocked avgOverclocked minStock speed min Stock speed avg
results
TE ST KI TAsusMaximusVGene(IvyBridgeLGA1155),AsusMaximusIVGene-Z(SandyBridgeLGA1155),AsusSabertoothX79(LGA2011),AsusCrosshairFormulaV(SocketAM3+),4GB(2GBDIMMs)Corsair1,600MHzDDR3memory(CL9), AsusGeForceGTX5903GBgraphicscard;120GBPatriotWildfireSSD;1.05kWEnermaxRevolution85+powersupply.Seetablefor
overclocksandsettings.
8/22/2019 Custom PC UK 2012-07
40/13240 July 2012
venthoughtheIvyBridgecoreisjustaSandy
Bridgedie-shrinkonpaper,thereare
plentyofsmall,under-the-hoodtweaks
thatIntelhasmadetotheunderlying
design.Oneofthemoreobviousisofficialsupport
foranincreasedrangeofDDR3speeds.
Infact,memoryspeedsofupto2,800MHzare
supported,whichisamassiveincreasewhenSandy
BridgeonlyofficiallysupportedamaximumDDR3
speedof1,333MHz.Asaresult,wedecidedtofindthe
memorysweetspotforanIvyBridge-basedsystem
isitstill1,600MHz,orhaveIntelstweaksincreasedthe
gainsyoullseefromhigh-frequencymemory?
Tofindoutwhatmemoryyou
shouldbeslappingintoyour
newIvyBridgesystem,we
lookedatanumberof
differentkitsfroma
rangeof manufacturers.
Clockspeedsranged
from1,333MHzto1,866MHz
butallwere8GBkitsas;realistically,
thisshould bethecapacityyourelooking
atifyourespeccingupanewLGA1155build(see
Why8isthenew4,belowright).
Asusual,thekitscameinmanyshapesand
colours.Weveneverbeenconvincedthatsomeof
theostentatiousheatspreadersonmanyRAMkits
offermuchintermsofcoolingbenefits,butawell-
chosenkitcancertianlyaddawelcomesplash
ofcolourtotheinsideofaPC.
TheG.SkillRipjawsXkit,forexample,
wouldlookexcellentparkedinanAsusROG
board,thanksto itsbrightredanodisedfinish.
ThePatriotG2set,ontheotherhand,wouldpartnerwellwithoneofGigabytesnewblack
motherboards,thankstoitsblackPCBsandblue
detailing.Noneofthekits
heresportedridiculouslytall
heatspreaderseither,sotheywont
interferewithlargeCPUcoolers.
Totestthememory,weseteachkittoitsrated
speedintheEFIoftheAsusMaximusVGene(seep64)
thatweusedfortesting,settingthelatencytimings
manuall