PCSpecialist Zircon Elite R Review
Up Close
Up Close
Two of the hallmarks of a PCSpecialist system are; 1) that you are supplied with all the extra cables, screws, and connectors. It’s like you brought the parts yourself. 2) That the components are well protected with stout foam and the famous Instapak packaging.
The area where the Zircon Elite R is saving you heaps of cash is the case. This is the PCS Prism II. It is.. a case. No more no less. No front panel Type-C. Thin magnetic dust covers. A very awkward to remove side panel. It’s perfectly fine if you don’t need something which looks flashy when it’s turned off. We’d be tempted to use the PCSpecialist customisation service to upgrade it though, even if it costs a few extra quid.
Around the back we have the TUF connectors and the standard display outputs from the RX 9070.
Too often a more affordable motherboard meant a dearth of USB ports. We’ve often spoken about the excellence of the ASUS TUF range. The B850 Plus WiFi shows off it’s chops here too. 9 USB Type A and a single Type-C are more than enough for almost everyone.
Inside
Naturally when the majority of the money goes into actual performance there isn’t much to note in the flash and flair departments. The Wakefield builders still make the effort to ensure all your cables are tucked away as neatly as possible. An element that we’ve seen from the most affordable to the most expensive models. As you’ll see at the bottom of this page, once it’s powered up it looks a lot more interesting. RGB doing the heavy lifting today.
The PCS FrostFlow 100 V3 is a great cooler considering it’s just a modern take on the old 120mm tower cooler we all grew up with. We’re not entirely sure what this mark is. It doesn’t affect performance though, as we’ll soon see. Once everything is lit up you can’t spot it. Cool air getting into your case makes a significant difference to your temperatures. We know many builds that assume just having good coolers is enough. Thankfully PCS know their onions and so you get two ARGB fans pulling cold air through the front of the Prism II case. It always bears repeating that you aren’t guaranteed to receive a particular brand of graphics card with a PCS rig. Instead you get whatever they have in stock. Our review sample came with the Gigabyte RX 9070, which is cool as it’s one of the ones we haven’t already reviewed.
The Zircon Elite R wouldn’t be a modern gaming system if it didn’t have a wealth of RGB options. The included fans are all ARGB, and even the FrostFlow 100 v3 can give you all the colours of the rainbow. Sweet.
