Cooling, Cases, and Cutting-Edge Cards – Our Weekly Picks

Building in the MasterBox TD300 Mesh has been an absolute joy. This compact mid-tower (micro-ATX) case combines postmodern angular style and high airflow in one package. The front panel’s polygonal mesh isn’t just for looks – it provides excellent ventilation and dust filtering, with two ARGB SickleFlow 120mm fans pre-installed to bathe your build in customisable lighting. As a PC builder, I appreciated the removable top panel and clever interior layout – you can pop off all the panels (front, top, sides) which makes assembly and cable routing far easier in a small case. Despite its modest size, the TD300 Mesh fits surprisingly beefy hardware (GPUs up to 344mm and tower coolers up to 166mm). The build quality feels solid for the price, with a tempered glass side to show off your handiwork. The sharp, faceted design and the way the ARGB glow bounces off that front mesh just scream “gaming PC” in the best way.

In daily use, the airflow-focused design really pays off – components run cool, and even with multiple fans spinning, the case remains quiet thanks to that mesh breathing freely. I’ll admit cable management in the back is a tad tight (mini-tower life), but Cooler Master provides plenty of tie-down points and cutouts to keep things tidy. I was able to build a clean-looking system without much hassle. One small thing to note: this case only supports Micro-ATX or Mini-ITX motherboards (that’s how it stays so compact), so plan your build accordingly. Overall, if you’re after a stylish compact case with great airflow and builder-friendly touches, the TD300 Mesh is an easy recommendation – and at under £50–£60 on sale, it’s a total steal for budget-conscious builds.

2. Arctic Liquid Freezer III Pro 360 AIO Water Cooler

This 360mm all-in-one liquid cooler is an absolute monster in the best possible way. I upgraded my CPU cooling to the Arctic Liquid Freezer III Pro 360, and let me tell you – it’s been keeping my processor chillier than a penguin’s toes. Arctic took their already legendary Liquid Freezer II series and turned everything up to 11. The radiator is a thick 38mm unit (larger surface area = better cooling) paired with three high-static-pressure 120mm Arctic P-fans. Even under heavy loads, my CPU temperatures stay impressively low, allowing higher boost clocks without throttling. As a bonus, there’s a quirky little 60mm fan built into the pump head that blows directly onto your motherboard VRMs – a unique feature that actually helps keep your CPU power delivery stable when overclocking. In practise, that meant extra peace of mind pushing my Core i9; I saw VRM temps a few degrees cooler than with my previous cooler. Despite all this cooling power, the Liquid Freezer III Pro is surprisingly quiet. At typical fan speeds, I barely notice any noise, and even when ramped up, it’s less whiny than some competitors. Multiple reviewers have noted this cooler delivers flagship performance at a mid-range price – and I have to agree. With an ~£85 price tag at CCL, it undercuts many big-name AIOs while often outperforming them.

Installation was straightforward, though do allocate a bit of time for it – Arctic pre-installs the fans and routes the cables nicely, but the unit is large. You’ll want a case with room for a 360mm rad that’s about 63mm thick with fans. I had to shuffle one drive cage to front-mount it – not a huge deal. The mounting hardware supports all modern sockets (I used the included Intel 1700 kit, but AM4/AM5 is in the box too), and they even give you pre-applied MX-6 thermal paste which is excellent quality. One thing I love is the attention to detail: the Liquid Freezer’s hoses are long and flexible, and there’s minimal cable clutter (only a single splitter to connect pump and fans to your motherboard). It made for a neat build. As for downsides, there really aren’t many: just make sure your motherboard’s top M.2 slot heatsink isn’t overly tall, because the pump/block is a bit chunky. Otherwise, it’s smooth sailing. With a 6-year warranty and Arctic’s proven reliability, this cooler is a champ for high-end CPUs. If you’re running intense workloads or just want extra headroom for summer gaming sessions, the Liquid Freezer III Pro 360 will handle it with icy ease!

3. ASUS GeForce RTX 5090 ROG Astral OC 32GB GDDR7 Graphics Card

Brace yourself – the ROG Astral RTX 5090 OC is an absolute beast of a graphics card. This is ASUS’s flagship take on Nvidia’s latest RTX 5090, and it pushes everything to the extreme. The Astral is huge – it’s a 3.8-slot card with an overbuilt heatsink and ASUS’s first-ever quad-fan cooler design. Yes, four fans! diligently force air through a dense vapour-chamber heatsink that uses some clever phase-change thermal pads for extra heat transfer. The result? Despite a monster 575W TDP, the card stays surprisingly cool and quiet for its size. In our gaming tests, the RTX 5090 frankly obliterated every framerate hurdle – we’re talking 30–40% higher performance than even the RTX 4090 from the last generation. In 4K gaming, this card averaged over 100 FPS at ultra settings in a suite of games. Even notorious GPU crushers like Cyberpunk 2077 with path-tracing stayed above 60 FPS at 4K (DLSS 4 certainly helps). It’s also pre-overclocked out of the box (“OC” edition), meaning it runs at towering clock speeds right away – great for bragging rights and a few extra frames. With 32GB of brand-new GDDR7 memory, it’s totally future-proof for high-resolution textures and next-gen games. I threw some 8K content at it just for fun, and while 8K gaming is still on the fringe, this card didn’t shy away – truly the realm of excess.

Now, all this power does come with some caveats. Size and power draw are the big ones: this card will dominate the space inside your case (make sure you have enough clearance and good airflow). And with ~575W consumption at full tilt, it’s mandatory to have a quality PSU (we recommend at least a 1000W). The Astral uses the newer 12VHPWR (12+4 pin) connector, and early units had some adaptor melting issues if not plugged in perfectly – so you’ll want to use a proper ATX 3.0 cable and ensure it’s seated firmly (our build team will do this for you if you buy from CCL!). For most gamers, it’s total overkill – an RTX 5080 or 5070 will more than suffice at 1440p or 4K. But if you’re the kind of user who chases ultimate performance (4K 144Hz or even dabbling in 8K, heavy content creation, AI research, etc.), the RTX 5090 Astral is as good as it gets in 2025. Despite the cost and power needs, I can’t help but be in awe of it. The engineering ASUS put into the Astral – from the die-cast metal frame and reinforced PCB, to the custom quad-fan cooler – shows that this card was built to push boundaries. It’s the final frontier of GPUs, and using it feels like holding a piece of the future. Just make sure your case has a sturdy support bracket – this thing is a brick! All in all, the ROG Astral RTX 5090 gets a hearty nod from our staff for those who simply want the best and aren’t afraid to go big.

4. Gigabyte B650 AORUS ELITE AX V2 Motherboard (AMD AM5)

If you’re building an AMD Ryzen 7000-series system or newer and want a board that hits the sweet spot of features vs. price, the Gigabyte B650 AORUS Elite AX V2 is a fantastic choice. I used this board in a recent mid-range build and was seriously impressed with what ~£160 gets you here. First off, it’s fully compatible with Ryzen 7000 and next-gen 8000 and 9000 series CPUs (BIOS updates will keep it ready for future chips), thanks to the AM5 socket. Gigabyte packed in a robust 12+2+2 phase VRM power design, which means stable power delivery even for higher-end chips like the Ryzen 9 – my Ryzen 7 7700X had no issues boosting to max on this board. Despite B650 being a mid-tier chipset, the AORUS Elite AX V2 doesn’t skimp on connectivity: you get DDR5 memory support (up to 192GB), PCIe 5.0 for your primary M.2 NVMe SSD, plus two more PCIe 4.0 M.2 slots for additional drives. In my build I threw in a Gen5 SSD and two Gen4 SSDs – all worked flawlessly and the board’s generous heatsinks kept them cool (Gigabyte’s M.2 Thermal Guard is a nice touch to prevent SSD throttling). This board is ATX sized and fits nicely with most cases. It also includes Wi-Fi 6E and 2.5GbE LAN onboard, which is awesome – I got super-fast Wi-Fi out of the box without needing an extra card, and the Bluetooth 5.3 is handy for my wireless peripherals. The rear I/O is stacked: plenty of USB ports (including a Type-C), HDMI/DisplayPort for backup graphics output, and a modern audio codec. I also love Gigabyte’s quality-of-life features like Q-Flash Plus, which lets you update the BIOS without a CPU installed (came in handy when I updated for a newer BIOS revision), and the PCIe EZ-Latch on the x16 slot – no more prying at the PCIe clip, you just push a tab to release your GPU. Little things like that show Gigabyte had builders in mind.

During assembly, the AORUS Elite AX V2 felt premium. The PCB is sturdy, the heatsinks are chunky, and even though it’s not an “RGB” overloaded board, it has a clean black aesthetic with subtle accents that look great in a windowed case. Gigabyte provides a lengthy 5-year warranty, which speaks to their confidence in durability. In use, the board has been rock-solid – no weird hiccups, memory (EXPO profile) worked at rated XMP speeds, and the fan headers (including hybrid water-pump headers) allowed me to set up a smart cooling curve easily via Smart Fan 6 software. For cons, there’s really not much: being a B650, the main GPU slot is PCIe 4.0 (not 5.0), but honestly that has zero impact on current GPUs’ performance. And you might find slightly fewer USB ports than an expensive X670E board, but again, all the important ones are there (even a high-speed 20Gbps USB-C front header for your case). In summary, the AORUS B650 Elite AX V2 is one of those boards that hits the mark for a gaming or creator build in the mid/high-range – it’s loaded with high-end features, yet leaves you budget room to spend on a better GPU or CPU. After building with it, I’m confident recommending this to first-time builders and veterans alike; it offers an easy, trouble-free setup and plenty of performance headroom. It’s no wonder this board has been a staff favourite – it really nails value for money.

5. Horizon Core i5 RTX 4060 Pre-built Gaming PC

Sometimes you just want to get to gaming right away without fiddling with parts, and for that, our Horizon Core i5 RTX 4060 pre-built is a gem. We in the CCL staff often suggest this model to friends and family who ask for a capable yet affordable gaming PC. Why? Because it’s carefully specced to offer maximum bang for your buck. For around £700 (down from £800 – a great deal), you’re getting a 6-core Intel Core i5-12400F processor, an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 8GB graphics card, 16GB of DDR4 memory, and a speedy 1TB Gen4 NVMe SSD – all assembled, tested, and ready to rock, with Windows 11 Home pre-installed. The Core i5-12400F might not be the newest chip on the block, but it’s a proven gaming champ – its 6 cores and high boost clocks handle everyday tasks and modern games without breaking a sweat. Paired with the RTX 4060, this rig is tailor-made for 1080p gaming at high settings. I played a bunch of titles on a Horizon 4060 PC here in our office: Apex Legends, Fortnite, Elden Ring, Forza Horizon 5 – you name it – and the experience was fantastic. In esports and lighter games, you’ll easily hit 100+ FPS at 1080p. In more demanding AAA games, the RTX 4060’s DLSS 4 support means you can often crank settings to Ultra and still get silky frame rates thanks to Frame Generation. (For instance, Spider-Man: Remastered was well over 140 FPS at very high settings, and Cyberpunk with ray tracing balanced settings hovered around 60–70 FPS with DLSS – impressive for a mid-tier card.) Essentially, the RTX 4060 offers performance on par with what the old RTX 2080 flagship did a few years ago, but at a fraction of the cost and power draw – that’s a huge win for mainstream gamers.

What I really appreciate about this Horizon pre-built is thatall the hard work for you. The cable management is tidy, the components are all well-balanced (quality PSU, a motherboard with room to upgrade, adequate cooling with a nice case airflow, etc.), and it comes with a 3-year warranty for peace of mind. So not only do you save time, you also get after-sales support if anything ever goes wrong. During my inspection, I noticed the case even has room if you want to add another stick of RAM or a second SSD later – so upgrades are easy down the line. The system also runs surprisingly quiet; under full gaming load the fans ramped up a bit but nothing obnoxious, and temperatures stayed well within safe limits. For cons, there’s not much to complain about given the price point. The only things I’d note: since it’s a value-oriented build, it uses DDR4 memory (which is actually fine and keeps the cost down – DDR4 is still great for gaming) and the CPU is a locked (non-K) model, meaning you won’t be overclocking – but again, that’s totally expected in this range. And Windows 11 Home is installed without bloatware, just a clean OS ready to go, which is a big plus in my book. All told, this Horizon Core i5 RTX 4060 PC is perfect for 1080p gamers who want high/ultra settings and smooth performance, or even entry-level 1440p gaming in many titles. It’s also a strong home/office PC that will handle productivity and schoolwork with ease. We’re proud of this one – it’s one of those systems we designed to hit a sweet spot, and based on customer feedback (and our own testing), it really delivers. If you’re after a plug-and-play gaming PC in the ~£700 range, the Horizon 4060 should be high on your list.

6. 1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2 NVMe SSD

Storage might not be as flashy as GPUs or CPUs, but the Samsung 990 Pro SSD manages to steal the show in its own way. Simply put, this is one of the fastest PCIe 4.0 drives you can put in a PC or PS5, and as a self-proclaimed storage nerd, I’ve been thrilled with its performance. The 1TB 990 PRO is rated for up to 7,450 MB/s reads and ~6,900 MB/s writes, and in real-world use it feels every bit that fast. Windows boots in seconds, games and levels load almost instantaneously (if a game supports DirectStorage, this drive really shines), and working with large files is a breeze. What’s more impressive are the random I/O speeds – Samsung advertises 55% better random read/write performance over the previous 980 Pro, and it shows: things like game asset streaming and OS responsiveness are noticeably snappier on my system since upgrading. As a content creator on the side, I also appreciate the throughput when scrubbing 4K video and large project files. This little gumstick drive punches well above its weight! If you’re thinking of a PS5 upgrade, the 990 Pro is perfect for that too – it meets Sony’s requirements easily and then some (and the new firmware ensures it won’t overheat; I’ve had zero throttling issues thanks to Samsung’s smart thermal controls with a nickel-coated controller and heat-spreader label).

Samsung has also focused on efficiency and reliability with this SSD. It boasts 50% higher performance per watt than the last gen, meaning it delivers top speeds without guzzling power or running excessively hot. In my testing, the drive’s controller temp stayed stable even during long file transfers – a sign of that optimised design (my case has decent airflow over the M.2 area, which helps). The 990 Pro comes with a 5-year warranty and a high endurance rating (over 600 TBW for the 1TB model), so it’s built to last. Samsung’s reputation in the SSD world is top-notch – they’ve been the #1 flash memory maker for years and manufacture all their own components, which gives me confidence that this drive will keep my data safe. I know there were reports of a firmware bug early in its release that caused the drive to appear to wear out quickly, but Samsung addressed that promptly with an update (mine shipped with the fixed firmware, and health is 100% after months of use). So, no worries there. From a value perspective, the 990 Pro was initially pricey, but with recent discounts it’s around £90 at CCL for the 1TB – an awesome price for bleeding-edge storage. You could opt for slightly cheaper Gen4 SSDs, but I genuinely think the small premium for Samsung’s Magician software, support, and that last inch of performance is worth it – especially if you heavily use your storage or just want one of the best NVMe drives available. Bottom line: whether you’re looking to speed up your gaming rig or need a high-performance scratch drive for work, the Samsung 990 Pro delivers relentless speed and unwavering reliability. It’s a staff pick because it makes everything on your PC feel fast and smooth – and who doesn’t love that?

Conclusion

Thanks for checking out this week’s Staff Picks! We hope you found these reviews helpful and maybe even spotted your next upgrade. Feel free to reach out to our team if you have any questions about these products – we’re always here to help fellow enthusiasts. If you don’t want to miss future picks (plus hot deals and occasional giveaways), be sure to subscribe to our newsletter or follow CCL on social media. Happy building and gaming, and see you next week for more of our staff’s favourite tech! Cheers!