MaximumPC 2009 03

MaximumPC 2009 03, MaximumPC

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//-->TESTED: FASTEST VIDEOCARD EVERThe dual-GPU GTX 295 doubles your fun!CPU COOLING MAGNIFICENCECool Core i7 with Zalman’s masterpiece!MINIMUM BS • MARCH 2009CopyDVDsMOVIEYOURBlu-rayTOO!And PlayThem Anywhere!Free your movies from DRM shackles—play them on any device and stream themto any room in your home!PCPCPCPHENOM II: FULL REVEALWINDOWS 7 HANDS-ON!We test the hell out of AMD’snewCore i7 challengerHow does the Vistasuccessorstack up?Unleash your PC’s Potential…TryEach issue ofMaximum PC features:IBrutally honest productreviewsIHard-hitting editorialsITips to blast yourmachine’s performanceIInsightful andinnovative How-To’sT2REeFial IssuEsrIA CD loaded with newsoftware, utility andgame demosReserve your2 FREETrial Issues today!There’s no obligation.To order, head to:www.maximumpc.com/archiveMARCHFEATURESDEPARTMENTSWHERE WE PUT STUFFCONTENTS22Let It RipQuickStart08NEWSThe DECE may be the solutionto your downloaded video woesevery dayIn the Lab73REVIEWS90LAB NOTES96RIG OF THE MONTHLETTERSWe show you how to rip yourfavorite movie DVDs and watch themanywhere—Blu-ray too!14THE LISTTen websites we check16DEATHMATCHRoku Netflix Player36Phenom Is BackAMD hopes to erase bad memorieswith the release of Phenom IIvs. Blockbuster OnDemand MediaPointPlayer18WATCHDOG68DOCTOR94COMMENTS482008 GamingAwards58Windows 7R&D64WHITE PAPERUp close andpersonal with the memristorOur assessment of the most populargames of 200865AUTOPSYPCI Express soundcard66HOW TOKeep your electronics cool ina closed cabinet84We take the latest Microsoft OS for onehelluva spinwww.maximumpc.com|MAR 09|MAXIMUM PC|05MAXIMU PXIMUMMAXIMUMPCEDITORIALEDITOR IN CHIEFWill SmithDEPUTY EDITORKatherine StevensonMANAGING EDITORTom EdwardsSENIOR EDITORGordon Mah UngONLINE EDITORNorman ChanASSOCIATE EDITORNathan EdwardsASSOCIATE ONLINE EDITORAlex CastleEDITOR AT LARGEMichael BrownEDITORIAL ASSISTANTSBenson Hong, Florence IonCONTRIBUTING WRITERSAlex Castle, Tom Halfhill, Paul Lilly,Thomas McDonald, Quinn Norton, Andy SalisburyEDITOR EMERITUSAndrew SanchezARTART DIRECTORNatalie JedayASSOCIATE ART DIRECTORBoni UzilevskyPHOTO EDITORMark MadeoASSOCIATE PHOTOGRAPHERSamantha BergCONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERCaydie McCumberBUSINESSVICE PRESIDENT/PUBLISHING DIRECTORStacey Levy650-238-2319, slevy@futureus.comGROUP SALES DIRECTORGabe Rogol650-238-2409, grogol@futureus.comWESTERN ADVERTISING DIRECTORDave Lynn949-360-4443, dlynn@futureus.comEASTERN ADVERTISING DIRECTORJustin Schiller646-723-5453, jschiller@futureus.comMIDWEST MANAGER CONSUMER SALESJodi Sosna212-217-1358, jsosna@futureus.comMARKETING MANAGERKathleen Castaillac650-238-9218, kcastaillac@futureus.comADVERTISING COORDINATORJose Urrutia650-238-2498, jurrutia@futureus.comPRODUCTIONPRODUCTION DIRECTORRichie LesovoyPRODUCTION COORDINATORDan MalloryPRINT ORDER COORDINATORJennifer LimCONSUMER MARKETINGDIRECTOR CONSUMER MARKETINGRich McCarthyGROUP CIRCULATION DIRECTORPeter KellyNEWSSTAND DIRECTORBill SheweyCONSUMER MARKETING OPERATIONS DIRECTORLisa RadlerRENEWAL AND BILLING MANAGERMike HillBUSINESS MANAGERElliot KigerSR. ONLINE CONSUMER MARKETING DIRECTORJennifer TrinkerCUSTOMER SERVICE MANAGERMike ManriqueA THING OR TWO ABOUT A THING OR TWOED WORDNvidia:It’s time toKill CUDATFUTURE US, INC4000 Shoreline Court, Suite 400, South San Francisco, CA 94080www.futureus-inc.comPRESIDENTJonathan Simpson-BintVICE PRESIDENT/CFOJohn SuttonVICE PRESIDENT INTERNET DEVELOPMENTTyson DaughertyGENERAL COUNSELCharlotte FallaEDITORIAL DIRECTORJon PhillipsEDITORIAL DIRECTOR/GAMES GROUPStephen PierceEDITORIAL DIRECTOR/MUSICBrad TolinskiHUMAN RESOURCES DIRECTORNancy Durlester DuBoisFuture US, Inc. is part of Future plc.Future produces carefully targetedspecial-interest magazines, websites andevents for people who share a passion.We aim to satisfy that passion by creatingtitles offering value for money, reliableinformation, smart buying advice andwhich are a pleasure to read or visit. Todaywe publish more than 150 magazines, 65websites and a growing number of events in the US, UK, France andItaly. Over 100 international editions of our magazines are also pub-lished in 30 other countries across the world.Future plc is a public company quoted on the London Stock Exchange(symbol: FUTR).FUTURE plc30 Monmouth St., Bath, Avon, BA1 2BW, Englandwww.futureplc.comTel +44 1225 442244NON-EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN:Roger ParryCHIEF EXECUTIVE:Stevie SpringGROUP FINANCE DIRECTOR:John BowmanTel +44 1225 442244www.futureplc.comREPRINTS:For reprints, contact Marshall Boomer,Reprint Operations Specialist, 717.399.1900 ext. 123or email: marshall.boomer@theygsgroup.comSUBSCRIPTION QUERIES:Please email customerservice@maximumpc.com or call customer service toll-free at 800.274.3421Maximum PC ISSN: 1522-4279he first real 3D accelerator I owned was a 3dfx Voodoo card. This was back in1995. DirectX and Direct3D had yet to be released to the public, and OpenGLwas only used for CAD and scientific rendering apps. Developers wanting toharness the power of Voodoo’s hardware had to write games with Glide, 3dfx’s ownapplication programming interface. At the time, Glide offered 3dfx a major competitiveadvantage to help 3dfx sell videocards: If a gamer wanted to see the kick-ass 3D effectsin his favorite games, he had to play the game on 3dfx hardware—they were the onlyboards that accelerated Glide-only games.The 3dfx/Glide domination ended when id Software and other game developersbegan releasing titles that used the OpenGL and Direct3D APIs, whichdidn’t require 3dfx hardware (but worked with 3dfx chips througha Glide translation layer). OpenGL and Direct3D opened the door forother 3D chip companies to build competitive products, and thus ATI,S3, Matrox, and Nvidia entered the fray with hardware of their own.PHENOM IIWith every new OpenGL or DirectX game released, Glide slowlyPage 36became a liability for 3dfx. As competitors embraced new technologiesand embarked on a period of incredibly rapid improvements, 3dfx re-ZOMBIE TRANSFORMATIONmained tied to its Glide past, and, as a result, was slow to embrace newrendering enhancements, such as 32-bit color and antialiasing. Ultimately,zombiewillthis contributed to 3dfx’s demise and allowed Nvidia and ATI to flourish.Today Nvidia stands at a crossroads with two closed, proprietary4ID PCAPIs that have mainstream potential: the general-purpose computingPage 90CUDA API, and the PhysX physics-acceleration API, which sits on top ofCUDA. These are both promising technologies, but only owners of Nvidia hardwarecan harness their power. Meanwhile, two emerging open standards mirror what Nvidiais doing with CUDA: OpenCL and Microsoft’s general-purpose GPU computing API,which will ship with DirectX 11. A small number of consumer applications use GP-GPU computing today, but the applications for the tech are endless—grossly simplified,these APIs let graphics chips perform CPU-like functions. The question Nvidia needs toask is simple: Will developers write their GP-GPU computing apps using a proprietaryAPI that works on only a subset of PCs—those stuffed with Nvidia hardware—or willthey use an open API that will work on every PC on the market?Nvidia’s path is clear: The GPU giant needs to stop trying to convince us that closedAPIs are good and instead embrace OpenCL and Microsoft’s solution. It needs to portPhysX to run on one of the open APIs, then use PhysX as a platform to advertise thekind of power that Nvidia delivers to owners of ATI and other GPUs.By focusing on what it’s always done well—building kick-ass hardware—insteadof force-feeding us closed APIs, Nvidia will thrive. As for CUDA? It’s served its purpose,but its time has passed. It’s time to kill CUDA.DING DONG!LETTERS POLICYPlease send comments, questions, and smokedalmonds towill@maximumpc.com.Include your full name, city ofresidence, and phone number with your correspondence. Unfortunately,Will is unable to respond personally to all queries.www.maximumpc.com|MAR 09|MAXIMUMPC|07MAXIMUPXIMUMTHE NEWSA New Dawn for DRM?Want to buy movies once and then play them on all your devices?So do we, and so does the DECE—WILL SMITHdds are you’re carrying at leasta couple devices that double asportable media players. We’d alsobet that if you’ve spent anytime at all trying to watch video onsuch a device—be it a cell phone,personal media player, smart-phone, laptop, or pretty muchanything that’s not a DVDplayer—you’ve experiencedcompatibility problems.Right now, you need athorough understanding ofthe codec, resolution, andcontainer capabilities ofall your devices in order toperform an advanced tasklike ripping a video for use onan alternate player or streamingcontent from your PC to, say, yourXbox 360 (by the way, we show youexactly how to do that on page 22).If you’re a savvy user, these issues canbe mastered. But what about the other 90percent of people? What about all the folkswho buy DVDs and can’t figure out how toconvert them to an iPhone-friendly format?That’s where the Digital EntertainmentContent Ecosystem—DECE for short—comes in. DECE was formed in the summerof 2008 with the sole purpose of creatinga standard that allows you to purchase amovie once and play it on all your devices.It sounds simple, but it’s actually an incred-ibly complex problem, both politically andtechnically. We’re excited because DECEsays it’s going to base its standard on theexperience every customer should haveinstead of profit streams and rights manage-ment. “We want to give normal consumersthe flexibility to stream content remotely,make copies of content on multiple devices,and even burn physical media,” says MitchSinger, DECE president.The promise is this: You purchase amovie, whether it’s a download to yourQUICKSTARTTHE BEGINNING OF THE MAGAZINE, WHERE ARTICLES ARE SMALLOWith the participation of large movie studios such as Sony, Paramount, and NBC Universal, we’reoptimistic about DECE’s plans to make digital content more flexible.PC, a DVD or Blu-ray disc, or somethingyou buy on your cell phone. Then, basedon that purchase, you unlock the abilityto download the same content in differ-ent, but similar, formats for playback on allthe other devices in your home. If you buya DVD, you’ll be able to download otherstandard-definition versions to stream toyour living room as well as versions suitablefor portable devices, like the PSP or iPhone.The unifying idea behind DECE is that buy-ing digital content should be as simple asbuying DVDs—you don’t need to wonderwhether the DVD you bought will work inyour player, you know it’ll just work.DECE is in the very early stages today.While the promise is exciting, the partnercompanies—including Microsoft, Intel, Par-amount, NBC Universal, Comcast, Samsung,and HP, to name just a few—have barelybegun to work on the technical nuts andbolts; the eventual format doesn’t even havea name yet. While the DECE has widespreadindustry support, some heavy hitters are ab-sent from the group, notably Apple. With alarge user base shackled to the iTunes Storeby hardware and DRM, Apple has a vestedinterest in maintaining the status quo. We’llkeep you updated on DECE news as wehear more from the nascent organization.08|MAXIMUMPC|MAR 09|www.maximumpc.comMAXIMUPXIMUM [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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