PCSpecialist Nebula Star Review
Up Close
Up Close
We’re so used to PCS rigs appearing in one of two standard affordable cases that the Lumin XC here was a lovely surprise. Curved tempered glass. Plenty of airflow. Looks extremely expensive, but isn’t. It’s superb.
Doesn’t that look more attractive than the usual cases supplied with affordable PCSpecialist systems? Full glass panorama, lots of RGB lighting. It’s really a high class case, way outperforming its price point.
Given how warm we know hardware can get, and the revised Intel Ultras especially, the amount of venting around the back is welcome. It gives you lots of expansion potential.
In keeping with PCSpecialists excellent product choice, the Z890 Prime at the heart of the Nebula Star has seven Type-A and one Type-C USB ports. Plenty for nearly everyone.
About the only thing that gives away the price point of the case is that you need to remove the roof and three screws to take the glass panel off. No hinges here. For 99% of people this just needs doing once to remove the InstaPak foam packaging.
On the Inside
Having done so you can see how well built the Nebula Star is. Every PCSpecialist system, whether in the thousands or three figures, has an attention to detail that’s staggering. Only cables that can’t be hidden remain visible.
We’ll always love easy access front panel USB ports. Partly because of the amount of data we need to move around for our testing, but also for usability. We’ve all got things we plug in an out on a regular basis. External storage, memory cards, peripherals too big to live permanently on our desks. With easy access front panel USB life is just easier.
The PCSpecialist DDR5 sticks might not win any aesthetic awards but we know how expensive RAM is, so having two sticks at this price is almost miraculous. Ergo we’re not going to complain about a lack of glitz. On top of the Core Ultra 5 250K CPU is the PCS AS-150 Air Cooler. Normally we see their FrostFlow offerings here, so we’re keen to discover how this performs.
The Zotac RTX 5060 Ti Twin Edge might be both light and, relative to 5080s etc, small, but PCSpecialist still install a support to ensure you haven’t even a hint of worry regarding graphics card droop.
Blackpool Lights
Just in case you worried everything was a bit black, the included fans are ARGB ones, bringing a glorious spectacle through the panoramic glass of the Lumin XC case.
