MaximumPC 2011 02

MaximumPC 2011 02, MaximumPC

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//-->Videocard ShockerEVGA’s GeForce GTX 580smashes our Lab records!p. 76From the abacus to the iPhone, we revealthe 10 most influential mobile devicesp. 14History's Best HandheldsWe explain what parts to buy andhow to put it all together!p. 64SILENCE YOUR PC!1Killer01WebsitesMINIMUM BS • FEBRUARY 2011www.maximumpc.comYou must see todayAmazing. Bizarre. Stunning.We name the Internet's mostawesome destinations!p. 24PCPCPCTablet Shootout!Two new Androidtablets: Can eithercompete withthe iPad?p. 78Intel’s Sandy BridgeChipzilla’s stellar new $300CPUoutperforms its $1,000 processor!p. 38DEATHMATCH:BOXEE VS. GOOGLE TVp. 16WHERE WE PUT STUFFFEBRUARYFEATURESCONTENTS24101 Destinations38Intel’s Next LeapWe test the new, high-performanceSandy Bridge CPU.Sit back and point your browser to thesemust-see websites.46MakerBotQuickstartImagine printing any object you desire.DEPARTMENTS08NEWSComcast vs. Level 3; new chips andlower prices from AMD.14THE LISTThe 10 most important handhelddevices of all time.16DEATHMATCHBoxee Box vs. Logitech Revue.R&D54WHITE PAPERGraphene: The material thatwill likely change our world.55AUTOPSYInside the OnLive microconsole.57HOW TOClear up drive space without deletinggames or media; take control of the Windowscontext menu.A quiet gaming PC.64BUILD ITIn the Lab73REVIEWS92LAB NOTES96BEST OF THE BESTLETTERS3820DOCTOR94COMMENTSwww.maximumpc.com|FEB 2010|MAXIMUM PC|05MAXIMU PXIMUMMAXIMUMPCEDITORIALEditorial Director:Jon PhillipsEditor in Chief:George JonesDeputy Editor:Katherine StevensonSenior Editor:Gordon Mah UngReviews Editor:Michael BrownSenior Associate Editor:Nathan EdwardsOnline Managing Editor:Alex CastleOnline Features Editor:Amber BoumanOnline Associate Editor:Alan FacklerContributing Writers:Seamus Bellamy, Loyd Case, Gord Goble,Nathan Grayson, Tom Halfhill, Paul Lilly, Thomas McDonald, DavidMurphy, Quinn Norton, Zack SternCopy Editor:Mary RicciPodcast Producer:Andy BaumanEditor Emeritus:Andrew SanchezARTArt Director:Natalie JedayContributing Art Director:Boni UzilevskyPhoto Editor:Mark MadeoAssociate Photographer:Samantha BergContributing Photographer:Patrick KawaharaBUSINESSVP Tech and Living/GM:Kate Byrne, kbyrne@futureus.comNational Sales Director:Jane Evans, jevans@futureus.comRegional Sales Director:Anthony Losanno, alosanno@futureus.comWest Coast Sales Manager:Greg Ryder, gryder@futureus.comEast Coast Account Executive:John Ortenzio, jortenzio@futureus.comIntegrated Sales Director:Joe Pomparelli, jpomparelli@futureus.comSenior Marketing Manager:Andrea Recio-Ang, arecio-ang@futureus.comMarketing Associate:Robbie Montinola, rmontinola@futureus.comAdvertising Coordinator:Jose Urrutia, jurrutia@futureus.comCONSUMER MARKETINGVP Consumer Marketing:Rich McCarthy, rmccarthy@futureus.comCirculation Director:Crystal Hudson, chudson@futureus.comNewsstand Director:Bill Shewey, bshewey@futureus.comConsumer Marketing Operations Director:Lisa Radler, lradler@futureus.comRenewal & Billing Manager:Mike Hill, mhill@futureus.comSr. Online Consumer Marketing Director:Jennifer Trinkner,jtrinkner@futureus.comCustomer Service Manager:Mike Frassica, mfrassica@futureus.comPRODUCTIONProduction Director:Michael HollisterProduction Manager:Larry BrisenoSenior Production Coordinator:Dan MalloryPrint Order Coordinator:Jennifer LimFUTURE US, INC.4000 Shoreline Ct., STE 400, South San Francisco, CA 94080Tel: 650-872-1642, Fax: 650-872-2207Email:comments@maximumpc.comWebsite:www.maximumpc.comPresident:John MarcomVP/CFO:John SuttonDirector of Human Resources:Nancy Durlester DuboisSUBSCRIPTIONSTo Subscribe:Tel 800-274-3421www.maximumpc.com/customerserviceMaximum PC ISSN: 1522-4279Customer Service:Tel 800-274-3421www.maximumpc.com/customerserviceBACK ISSUESTel 1-800-865-7240REPRINTSReprint Management Service – 717-399-1900, ext. 100A THING OR TWO ABOUT A THING OR TWOED WORDFresh Start fora New DecadeI’m old-fashioned in that I spend a little time during the holidays makingalist of resolutions and goals for the New Year. I try not to, um, overpromise, but I also try to be more ambitious than saying I want to eatbetter, drink less, blah blah blah. (By the way: I blame the Internet and printdeadlines for all sins.)I’m not going to get into all of my personal goals, but I will publicly committo the following technological resolutions for 2011:BUILD A SANDY BRIDGE GAMING PCI’m embarrassed to admit that I’m run-ning a fairly old gaming rig at home—an overclocked Core 2 E6850 CPU pairedwith a GeForce 460 card and a 128GB solid state drive. Hey, it works greatfor gaming. Thankfully and conveniently, my shame is tempered by thefact that, based on our initial Lab tests, Intel’s new Sandy Bridge archi-tecture looks very promising. I’m shooting for February or March forthis resolution.BUILD A MODERN HOME SERVERUntil now, I’ve been relyingon a blend of Internet services (Carbonite, if you’re curious) andan external drive to back up the four computers on my homenetwork. That’s going to change this spring when I finally buildout a Windows Home Server based on Microsoft’s new Vailrelease candidate. Automated backup and media streaming willjust be the tip of the iceberg here. Hopefully.CUT THE CABLE2011 is going to be the tipping point for IP-basedTV and movies. Between Netflix, the pro sports packages that arepopping up, and services like Hulu, I think we’re finally going to haveaccess to almost everything we want to watch via the Internet. I’mlooking forward to lopping $100 off my monthly bills, that’s for sure. I’mpenciling in this project—and a related cover story—for the summer.A KITCHEN PCThus far, I’m less than thrilled with my kitchen computingoptions. I’ve tried the all-in-one route, but it felt too big. I’ve tried a tablet, butit was too mobile. Touch-screen is the way to go, for sure. The answer may beas simple as mounting a smaller all-in-one on a swing arm or suspending itfrom the ceiling. It might also boil down to a more stable eye-level mount fora tablet. And don’t forget about music. I think I’ll wait for the tablet market toboil down in the summer before tackling this one.How about you? What are your tech resolutions for the coming year? Letme know atgeorge@maximumpc.comand I’ll publish some of your emailsnext month (or the month after).THISMONTH’SAWESOMEIntel’sSandy BridgePAGE 38101 AmazingWebsitesPAGE 24EVGA GeForceGTX 580 SCPAGE 76Future produces carefully targeted maga-zines, websites and events for people with apassion. We publish more than 180 maga-zines, websites and events and we exportor license our publications to 90 countriesacross the world.Future plc is a publiccompany quoted on theLondon Stock Exchange.www.futureplc.comChief Executive:Stevie SpringNon-executive Chairman:Roger ParryGroup Finance Director:John BowmanTel +44 (0)20 7042 4000 (London)Tel +44 (0)1225 442244 (Bath)©2010 Future US, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this magazinemay be used or reproduced without the written permission of FutureUS, Inc. (owner). All information provided is, as far as Future (owner)is aware, based on information correct at the time of press. Readersare advised to contact manufacturers and retailers directly with re-gard to products/services referred to in this magazine. We welcomereader submissions, but cannot promise that they will be publishedor returned to you. By submitting materials to us you agree to giveFuture the royalty-free, perpetual, non-exclusive right to publish andreuse your submission in any form in any and all media and to useyour name and other information in connection with the submission.LETTERS POLICYPlease send comments and questions togeorge@maximumpc.com.Include your full name, city of residence, andphone number with your correspondence. Unfortunately, George isunable to respond personally to all queries.www.maximumpc.com|FEB 2010|MAXIMUMPC|07MAXIMUPXIMUMTHE3, Comcast DebateNEWSLevelBoils OverWe hate to break it to Blockbuster andyour local mom-and-pop video rentalstore, but the future of content con-sumption lies in streaming media, not physicaldiscs, and Netflix is at the forefront of this newfrontier. While announcing quarterly financialresults, Netflix cofounder and CEO Reed Hast-ings told investors, “In fact, by every measure,we are now primarily a streaming company thatalso offers DVD-by-mail.”With around 17 million subscribers toserve, many of whom are tapping into Netflixvia game consoles, set-top boxes, and evenmobile devices, it takes a cooperative effort toshuttle all those bits of code from point A topoint B. Level 3 Communications, which oper-ates one of the world’s largest communicationsand Internet backbones—also known as a Tier 1provider—recently inked a multi-year deal toserve as the primary content delivery network(CDN) for Netflix and is responsible for mostof the traffic originating from Netflix that endsup in your home after passing through yourISP. One of those ISPs, Comcast, now wantsto charge Level 3 to deliver that content to itscustomers, and Level 3 is pissed.QUICKSTARTTHE BEGINNING OF THE MAGAZINE, WHERE ARTICLES ARE SMALLNetflix-partner Level 3 accuses Comcast of setting up an Internet‘toll booth’ to stream Netflix traffic—PAUL LILLYAccording to Level 3, the real reason Comcast set up a so-called Internet ‘toll booth’ is because the cableprovider feels threatened by the online distribution of movies and TV shows. This might be especially truefollowing Netflix’s recent debut of a $7.99/month streaming-only plan in the United States.PEERING, LEVEL 3, AND COMCASTTo better understand the dispute betweenLevel 3 and Comcast, we first need to makesense of how the flow of Internet traffic works.Level 3 and Comcast are Internet backboneproviders, and both inevitably end up flingingtraffic through each other’s network. This isknown as peering, and typically companiesdon’t charge each other for this mutuallybeneficial exchange of information.Level 3 is accusing Comcast of “putting upa toll booth” on the Internet in the form of arecurring fee to transmit streaming media toComcast’s customers. In an open statement,Level 3 warned that “this action by Comcastthreatens the open Internet and is a clearabuse of the dominant control that Comcastexerts in broadband access markets as thenation’s largest cable provider.” Level 3 alsocontends that Comcast’s so-called toll boothruns contrary to the FCC’s proposed InternetPolicy principles, “as well as Comcast’s previ-ous statements” on the whole net neutralitydebate. Not wanting to disrupt the flow ofNetflix traffic, Level 3 said it had no choice butto accept Comcast’s fees, albeit under protest,until the FCC rules on the matter.COMCAST RESPONDSNow that Level 3 has brought the whole mat-ter public, Comcast is going to great efforts toconvince anyone who will listen, particularlythe FCC, that this dispute has nothing to dowith an open Internet, online video, or allegedtoll booths. It isn’t even about net neutrality,Comcast says.“Indeed, if anything, it is Level 3 that isseeking ‘non-neutral’ treatment that wouldfavor its traffic over those of all its competi-tors,” Comcast Chief Sharon Gillett wrote in aletter to the FCC.Comcast complains that the suddenincrease in traffic Level 3 wants to ferry throughComcast on a peering basis will throw thingsgrossly out of balance. What’s more, Comcastsays, “Level 3 is trying to game the process ofpeering—one that worked well and consensu-ally, without government interference, for overa decade—in order to gain a unique and unfairadvantage for its own expanding CDN service.”So where does the FCC stand on all of this?At the time of this writing, the FCC was stillreviewing arguments from both sides and hasyet to comment, but you can bet that when itdoes, everyone will be listening.08|MAXIMUMPC|FEB 2011|www.maximumpc.comMAXIMUPXIMUMFAST FORWARDAMD IntrosNew Chips,Cuts PricesAnticipating the launchof Intel’s Sandy Bridgechips, AMD has intro-duced three new chipofferings ranging fromtwo to six cores.AMD has introduceda new dual-core 3.2GHzPhenom II X2 565 chipfor $112, a new triple-core 3.3GHz Athlon IIX3 455 for $87, and anew hexa-core 3.3GHzPhenom II X6 1100T for$265. The price of theprevious top-end 3.2GHz1090T Phenom II X6has dropped from $295to $235.AMD’s desktop lineupis priced well but thechips’ prices are fairlycompressed. The com-pany has no less than 12Phenom II CPUs spreadbetween $90 and $265. Inthe Athlon II lineup, thereare 17 CPUs between $66and $143.–GUFTC TalksDo-Not TrackThe Federal TradeCommission isendorsing a proposalgiving consumersthe right to opt out ofwebsite tracking. Just asthe popular do-not-callregistry protects us frombothersome phone callsby telemarketers, a do-not-track mechanismwould protect our onlineactivities from the pryingeyes of third parties.A lack oftransparency aboutwhat kind of onlinedata is collected, howlong it’s kept, and howit is used is behind theproposal. As describedby the FTC in itstestimony to Congress,a browser setting wouldlet consumers opt outof having their datatracked or receivingtargeted advertising;once activated, thatpreference would besignaled to any websitesthey visit.Lawmakers andbusiness owners thatoppose the proposalsay the mechanismcould hurt the Interneteconomy.–KSTOM HALFHILLTwitter UseDissectedFor the first time ever, thePew Research Center’sInternet & American LifeProject conducted a studythat exclusively examinesTwitter users, and this issome of what they found:uOut of all Inter-net users, 8 percent useTwitter.uThe most activedemographic belongsto 18- to 29-year-olds,of which 14 percentuse Twitter.uMinority Internetusers (African-Americansand Latinos) are morethan twice as likely touse Twitter as are whiteInternet users.uUrban residentsare roughly twice as likelyto use Twitter as ruraldwellers.So, what does it allmean? Perhaps nothing tothe average user, but forcompanies and marketingheads, the survey results,surprising as some ofthem are, could come inhandy. Full results are at–PLaspect of performance for another.In microprocessors, those aspects arespeed, cost, and power consumption. AMD’s firstFusion processors are a prime example. They’redeservedly winning great reviews for theirgraphics performance, making the integratedgraphics of Intel’s Atom processors look likeslo-mo instant replay. However, AMD is paying aprice in power consumption.True, AMD did a good job of reducing power tolevels appropriate for netbooks and subnotebooks:9W or less for C-series Ontario chips, and 18W orless for E-series Zacate chips. But when combinedwith AMD’s Hudson south-bridge chip, Ontarioburns more power than Intel’s Atom N550 PineTrail-M chipset, and Zacate burns more power thanthe Atom D525 Pine Trail-D chipset.Even a single-core 1.5GHz Zacate uses 5Wmore power than a dual-core 1.8GHz Atom D525.Although AMD’s new Bobcat processor core hassome advantages over Atom, those features aren’tenough to offset twice as many Atom cores running20 percent faster.Graphics performance is a different story. AMDderived the integrated graphics in these first Fusionchips from the Radeon HD 5430 discrete GPU. Somebenchmarks suggest that these Fusion GPUs are 30times faster than Atom’s integrated graphics.Fusion processors are smaller thansimilarly integrated Atom Pineview processors(75mm2versus 87mm2), but they pack twice asmany transistors and are heavily weighted to-ward graphics. Die photos reveal that the FusionGPU occupies 34 percent of the chip, whereaseach Bobcat core occupies only about 6 percent.In a sense, these aren’t x86 processors with in-tegrated graphics; they are graphics processorswith integrated x86 processors.Clearly, AMD is trading power for superiorgraphics. In the sub-$500 notebook market, AMD isgambling that most users will value graphics overbattery life. And if AMD’s chip-level power manage-ment is effective, users may not even sacrifice muchbattery life when running software that doesn’tstrenuously exercise the graphics.TAMD Trades Powerfor Punchy Graphicshere’s no such thing as a free lunch, espe-cially in engineering. Usually, the biggestengineering problem is trading off oneIf you’re afteran inexpensivehexa-core, you’llbe happy toknow that AMDnow has four tochoose from forless than $300.Tom Halfhill was formerly a senior editorforBytemagazine and is now an analyst forMicroprocessor Report.www.maximumpc.com|FEB 2011|MAXIMUMPC|09MAXIMUPXIMUM [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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