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Review: PCSpecialist Myrmidon II

by Parm Mann on 9 June 2020, 14:01

Tags: PC Specialist, Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA)

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qael2c

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Conclusion

...buying built works out a couple of hundred pounds cheaper than the DIY route.

Though it is easy to get carried away when speccing a PC based around the world's fastest gaming processor, PCSpecialist has managed to exercise restraint with its Myrmidon II base unit.

Attractively priced at £1,850, the rig takes Intel's latest and greatest mainstream processor, Core i9-10900K, and pairs it with the essentials of a gaming-focussed build. These include 16GB of DDR4 memory, a 1TB M.2 SSD and GeForce RTX 2080 Super graphics.

There's enough ammunition to drive high-quality gaming at demanding resolutions, and if you happen to agree with most of the core components, buying built works out a couple of hundred pounds cheaper than the DIY route. The caveat is that PCSpecialist's £1,850 spec does include a few weak spots; the chassis lacks front USB-C, the SSD can be deemed sluggish by today's standards, and it certainly ought to be quieter when idle.

Bottom line: keen pricing makes Myrmidon II an attractive proposition, but a few tweaks are needed to elevate the build from perfunctory to polished.

The Good
 
The Bad
Keen £1,850 price tag
Intel's best mainstream processor
High-res, high-quality gaming credentials
Three-year warranty
Zero bloatware
 
No front USB-C
SSD sluggish by today's standards
Ought to be quieter when idle
Packaging should be better


HEXUS.where2buy

The Myrmidon II base unit is available to purchase from PCSpecialist.

HEXUS.right2reply

At HEXUS, we invite the companies whose products we test to comment on our articles. If any company representatives for the products reviewed choose to respond, we'll publish their commentary here verbatim.

PCSpecialist issued the following right2reply:

All PCSpecialist orders will always ship with a contained expanding foam insert pack to ensure protection of the internal components and also to ensure minimal risk of damage during transit.

Our packaging has been specially designed to our specifications for transporting computers and notebooks. In this case, the reviewed PC was dispatched without this insert and we have investigated this internally. We strive to provide the best quality to our customers and we will ensure that it is rectified in future orders.



HEXUS Forums :: 5 Comments

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Could have saved ~£250 with 10600k instead of the 10900k and that's most of the difference between a 2080 Super and a 2080 Ti.

Choked off front intake and poorly configured fans seems to be the default on prebuilts these days, not much point mentioning it.
“High-end Core i9-10900K gaming for under £2K.”

With two seriously powerful “gaming” consoles about to be released (thanks to Zen2 and RDNA2) - and a price that will seriously undercut any ‘medium’ gaming PC (let alone this £2000 option), I suspect there's going to be a general rethink amongst a not so insignificant number of current PC owners. Quite frankly, c£1000+ for a graphics card is insane.
Prices are insane, but whilst people are willing to spend over 1K on a smartphone every 2 years, then I can't see the prices coming down much with the 30 series. I mean, if you are an enthusiast gamer then you get more use/value out of a 1K GPU than a week abroad even if you swap it out every generation, so there are far more people willing to pay these prices than a lot realise. Hell even I caved and bought a 2080 last time…
Gimme a 3700x and a 2080Ti
Just a joke: 16GB of DDR4 memory in a £1,850 combo