Custom PC

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Custom PC

Editor	Gareth Ogden
Categories	Computing
Frequency	Monthly
Circulation	24,000+
First Issue	2003
Company	Dennis Publishing Ltd.
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Website	www.custompc.co.uk/
ISSN	unknown

Custom PC (usually abbreviated to CPC) is a UK based computer customization magazine published by Dennis Publishing Ltd. The first issue was released in October 2003 and is published monthly. Audited circulation figures are just over 24,000 (ABC, Jul-Dec 2004). The editor is Gareth Ogden.

The magazine contains many monthly articles as well as current hardware news and games testing.

1 Sections
2 Editorial team
3 Printing / Ditribution
4 External links

[edit] Sections

The magazine includes several 'news and views' sections as well as tutorials and sections devoted to magazine readers. The most current regular sections includes:

Customised

Intoduction by the editor Gareth Ogden

Download

Comment and news from the computing world including editorial content from experts. Contributors include Ben Hardwidge, James Gorbold and Nahul Sood. The section normal starts with news on the latest release (or pre-release) computer hardware (e.g. the latest graphics card or processor). Other sections are:

If Only It Was True: A lighthearted satire of the current issues relevant to the computer hardware industry.
Competition: Each week a distorted closeup of a piece of hardware reviewed in the magazine is printed. The winning reader can win from a selection of prizes; as of Issue 033 Zalman headphones, Imon multimedia system or a Zalman PSU.
Big in Japan: Katie Lee's monthly roundup of the 'weird and wonderful' gadgets from the far east (e.g. Japan and China). Past gadgets include SD card storage boxes, super quiet mice, widescreen phones and biometric keyboards.
This Month We're Laughing At: A small section revealing what's causing the most mirth among the CPC editorial team.
Rumor Control: Any the unsubstantiated computer news that the editorial team have heard.
Win... (Photo Competition): Readers submit photos of themselves sporting a copy of the magazine/a Custom PC T-Shirt in various locations around the world, the winner is the person who has their picture taken in the most exotic location, they can win various pieces of high-end computer hardware.
Driverwatch: Review of the latest Nvidia or ATI (one per month) driver release, including benchmarks of the performance compared to the previous driver release.
Where's Wendel: Competition inviting users to track down a small image of Jonathon 'Fatal1ty' Wendel hidden in the magzine. The winner receives a Gigabyte Power Cooler Pro Heatsink and Fan.
Folding@Custom PC: Custom PC encourages readers to use their idle computers for the purpose of scientific research - Folding@Home is a program created and run by Stanford University that can uses spare processor cycles to analyise how proteins 'fold'. Each month the magazine features a league table of their top folders, the CPC team is currently ranked in the top 20 teams worldwide.

Game News

Round up of PC gaming news, although Custom PC is mostly devoted to hardware and PC modding there is normally 2 or more pages devoted to gme news each month.

Little gamers: PC gaming related comic strip involving 2 cartoon characters.
Top 10 PC Games: List of the top ten most sold games in the last month.
Coming Soon: A list of upcoming titles with their curently published release dates.

CPC Elite: A 4 page spread of CPC's latest recommendations for the best hardware in several categories (Motherboards, processors, cases etc.).
Reviews: CPC Approved Award

CPC Magazine review the latest hardware and software (including games), they rate the product with their own rating system, and CPC give their stamp of approval (including a recommended award for excellent products) to any product that they feel excels in its particular category

Custom Kit: 4 pages of short reviews of computer gadgets and accessories.
Lab Test: Each month CPC tests related hardware from different manufacturers / different specs (such as graphics cards or hard-drives) comparing them to discern the best choice. The tests include extensive benchmark comparison tables.

Games Test

Review of the latest games plus a Tune up section for each which gives tips on getting the best performance from the game.

Hands On

Step by step guides to computer modding or other computer related tasks. The difficulty of each is registered on a ladder of difficulty; escape from:

Colditz - (hardest)
The taxman
Broadmoor
Your other half
Responsibility - (easiest)

Analysis: Several in depth articles on computer related topics (normally 3 er issue)
Extreme Customisation: Expert submitted article about their compute modding project. Featured mods are usually very good or different.
Letters/Q&A: Readers letters and questions, each letter normally gets a personal reply from the editor. Each month a star letter' prize is awarded to one, the prize is normally a 1GB stick of Corsair RAM.
Reader's Drives: Readers of the magazine get the chance to show of their computer modification skills. Each month a different reader is photographed with his rig and answers questions on its specification and how it was constructed. Featured modders win a prize pack of assorted computer hardware.
Input/Output: Last page editorial comment from a regular contributor discussing his/ her own vviews on a PC related topic.

[edit] Editorial team

List of the editorial staff as of Issue 033:

Associate Publisher:- Paul Rayner
Editor:- Gareth Ogden.
Deputy Editor:- James Gorbold.
News and Features Editor:- Ben Hardwidge.
Reviews Editor:- Alex Watson.
Reviews Writer:- Chris Lee.
Art Editor:- Bill Bagnell.
Production Editor:- Julie Birrell.
Regular Contributors:- Stuart Andrews, Daniel Emery, Phil Hartup, Chris Lee, Katie Lee, James Morris, Bill Owen, Rahul Sood.
Photography:- Danny Bird, Linda Duong, Chris Wood
Regular Art & Production Contributors:- Magic Torch, Mike Harding, Nancy Yuill, Vitalia, Al Milway.