Hold on to your socks because the latest issue of PC Format is in the shops and on the digital shelves right now, and it has been specifically designed by a team of advanced cyborgs to blow them off. Your socks, that is.

So how have we managed this advanced form of sock removal? For a start we look at Nvidia’s new GTX 680 and dig deep into the Kepler architecture behind it to see if it’s going to be as revolutionary as Nvidia promise.

We also have an in-depth round-up of the best SSDs out there, and analyse the current state of the market for solid state drives. If you’ve long coveted the performance increases that come with SSDs but been put off by high prices and capacity limitations, then make sure you read this.

Elsewhere in the issue we have a fantastic group test of surround sound headphones. Can these headsets really replace our 5.1 speaker systems? You’ll be surprised by the results…

We’ve also got some fantastic practical guides to create your very own triple-screen stand for the ultimate gaming experience. We also guide you through building the perfect home server – as well as explaining why this is so important. Also, if that isn’t enough we look at the latest version of Windows 8 and show you how to get it up and running on your PC quickly, easily and for free.

Reviews-wise we test out the latest Ivy Bridge motherboards, the MSI Z77A-GD65, ASUS ROG Maximus V Gene and the ASUS Sabertooth Z77, and put AMD’s new 7800 series cards – the Radeon HD 7870 and the Radeon HD 7850 – through their paces.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg – there’s plenty more in issue 265. It’s an absolute stonker of an issue, so make sure you get your hands on it.

Never miss an issue again, and grab a subscription to PC Format magazine today.
Or, grab a digital subscription of PC Format magazine via Zinio (for desktop or Android smartphone and Tablet) or if you’d prefer, via Apple Newsstand (for iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch).

Alternatively, you can order a single issue of PC Format magazine over at myfavouritemagazines, or a digital issue from Zinio.

The main feature and group test this issue looks at the best high-end platforms – Intel LGA 1155, LGA 2011 or AMD AM3? If you need the best performance around, then we reveal the platform that makes the most sense – with a wealth of high-end benchmarks to prove it. We’ve got reviews of the best motherboards for each platform along with reviews of the main processors.

We’ve got a special guide on optimising your PC for the perfect performance this issue as well. Whether you need to improve the sound insulation, cooling or windows performance, we show you how to go about getting your machine up to speed.

This issue we’ve also got a round-up of the best stereo and 2.1 speaker sets. Whether you’ve got £20 or £170 we reveal the best treat for your ears.

What were the best games of the last twelve months? We scour our hard drives for the titles that stood out as being the best of the bunch. Apart from picking four of our own favourites from 2011 we also unveil our game of the year.

PC Format 264 also boasts some great reviews of the latest hardware around, including the high-end Radeon HD 7950 and the more budget oriented Radeon HD 7770 and 7750. We have a pair of stunning new screens in the labs from BenQ and AOC too, both of which are determined to rewrite quality screen pricing. Plus we’ve got the best chassis ever made, the Cooler Master Cosmos II Ultra.

It’s a cracking issue. Treat yourself to a copy. You clearly deserve it.

Never miss an issue again, and grab a subscription to PC Format magazine today.
Or, grab a digital subscription of PC Format magazine via Zinio (for desktop or Android smartphone and Tablet) or if you’d prefer, via Apple Newsstand (for iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch).

Alternatively, you can order a single issue of PC Format magazine over at myfavouritemagazines, or a digital issue from Zinio.

The latest issue of PC Format is in the shops and on the digital shelves right now. Here’s what you’ll find inside:

Now, it may seem quite obvious to us all that a rig with the main components totting up to around £3,000 would be able to slap a £300 machine silly, but what if we told you it wasn’t so cut and dried? In PC Format issue 263 we’ve side-stepped our usual benchmark obsession in favour of a more experiential test, and the results are surprising to say the least. We’ve taken two rigs, one three grand and one three ton, and sat four industry guinea pigs in front of them. It’s a blind test and then some, could you tell the difference?

Sitting in the expens-o-rig is AMD’s latest graphical behemoth, the £430 Radeon HD 7970 and we’ve got a full, in-depth review of it this issue. The standalone review is backed up by its CrossFire credentials thanks to  Overclocker’s Ultima 9450i Mosasaur MKII rig, which just so happens to be packing two of the blighters. Yup that’s right, a machine with £960-worth of polygon-pushing promise.

We’ve also got a pair of £200 monitors, of the non-TN variety, one MVA Phillips and one IPS Viewsonic. And both of them rather desirable – the screen market is moving at an incredible pace at the moment, and prices appear to be heading south on a daily basis. We’ve also got Corsair’s latest line-up of peripherals, including new headset and its first ever mouse and keyboard for gamers.

Our special report in PC Format 263 sees us putting our overclocking hats on again to give you the lowdown on getting the most out of your components. We’ve checked out the best OC processor and GPU as well as the best software to make things super simple. Inside we show you how to hit 4.8GHz with a Core i5 2500K, and even manage to get it booting running at 4GHz (although it wouldn’t benchmark at this speed reliably).

There’s also a host of gaming goodness in there too, as well as all the fun of home networking, including the best NAS devices and setting up your own torrent server.

So there’s a lot to read, hurry up and get your issue!

Never miss an issue again, and grab a subscription to PC Format magazine today.
Or, grab a digital subscription of PC Format magazine via Zinio (for desktop or Android smartphone and Tablet) or if you’d prefer, via Apple Newsstand (for iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch).

Alternatively, you can order a single issue of PC Format magazine over at myfavouritemagazines, or a digital issue from Zinio.