MaximumPC 2013 05

MaximumPC 2013 05, MaximumPC

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//-->ACER W700PG. 80Ambitious x86tablet takes aimat UltrabooksMONITOR CHALLENGE144Hz vs. 60Hz:Which is betterfor gaming?PG. 48NVIDIA GTX TITANSupercomputer GPUfor the masses!See full reportPG. 40MINIMUM BS • MAY 2013 •www.maximumpc.com65programs thatwill meet yourevery need—whilecosting zilch!PG. 24BUILD ITA budget boxworthy of Crysis 3PG. 66WINDOWSBLUEWill it xWindows 8?PG. 8where we put stufftable of contentsACER W700PG. 80Ambitious x86tablet takes aimat UltrabooksMONITOR CHALLENGE144Hz vs. 60Hz:Which is betterfor gaming?PG. 48NVIDIA GTX TITANSupercomputer GPUfor the masses!See full reportPG. 40MINIMUM BS • MAY 2013 •www.maximumpc.comPG. 24BUILD ITA budget boxworthy of Crysis 3PG. 66WSWill it xWindows 8?PG. 8SOFTWAREFREE FOR ALL65 free programs tohelp you work, play,and be creative.NVIDIA'SGTX TITANWe test the new Titan,the fastest single-GPUvideocard in the world.IN THE LAB72DIGITAL STORMBOLT TITAN74ASUS ARES II2X HD 797083SAMSUNG 840 PRO512GB SSD85SILVERSTONE RL04MID TOWERmaximumpc.comMAY 2013MAXIMUMPC5MORE)R24! "'& %#¨evcso¨ ©¨ §65Illustration byGeorg Zumbulev40e4vinsideMAY 2013QUICKSTART8NEWSSpeculations abound aboutWindows Blue; HP shifting focusto tablets; recent triumphs andtragedies of the tech world.65432y¨ ( ©# !£¢ ¡ 1¦ ¥¤$FEATURES241416THE LISTEight tech heroes.HEAD TO HEADAntivirus brawl: Windows Defendervs. Avast.Android OSR&D54AUTOPSYPicking apart the MicrosoftSurface Pro.59HOW TOInvestigate system hang-upswith Process Explorer; getstarted with screencasting.66BUILD ITA Crysis 3 rig on a budget.REFRESH RATECHALLENGEHow do 144Hz and 60Hzmonitors rate in real-worldtaste tests?LETTERS20DOCTOR92COMMENTS+a thing or two about a thing or twoeditorialMAXIMUMPCEDITORIALEditor-in-Chief:Katherine StevensonDeputy Editor:Gordon Mah UngSenior Editor:Josh NoremOnline Managing Editor:Jimmy ThangAssociate EditorTom McNamaraContributing Editors:Nathan Edwards, Alex CastleContributing Writers:Michael Brown, David Murphy, Alan Dexter, TomHalfhill, Justin Kerr, Thomas McDonald, Quinn Norton, Jon ThompsonCopy Editor:Mary RicciIntern:Chris ZeleEditor Emeritus:Andrew SanchezARTArt Director:Richard KoscherContributing Photographer:Mark MadeoBUSINESSVice President, Consumer Media:Kelley Corten, kcorten@futureus.comVice President, Sales & Business Development:Nate Hunt,nhunt@futureus.comEastern Regional Sales Director:Michael Plump, mplump@futureus.comRegional Sales Manager:Stacy Gaines, sgaines@futureus.comRegional Sales Manager:Christina Grushkin, cgrushkin@futureus.comAdvertising Coordinator:Heidi Hapin, hhapin@futureus.comVice President, Marketing & Sales Development:Rhoda BuenoDirector of Consumer Marketing:Lisa RadlerConsumer Marketing Manager:Sharon LaszloNewsstand Director:Bill SheweyPRODUCTIONProduction Director:Michael HollisterProduction Manager:Larry BrisenoProduction Coordinator:Jose UrrutiaProject Manager:Jennifer LimFUTURE US, INC.4000 Shoreline Court, Suite 400, South San Francisco, CA 94080Tel: 650-872-1642, www.futureus.comChief Operating Ofcer:Rachelle ConsidineVice President, Finance & Business Management:Lulu KongVice President / General Manager, Digital:Charlie SpeightGeneral Counsel:Anne OrtelSUBSCRIBER CUSTOMER SERVICEMaximum PC Customer Care,P.O. Box 5159, Harlan, IA 51593-0659Website: www.maximumpc.com/customerserviceTel: 800-274-3421Email: MAXcustserv@cdsfulllment.comBACK ISSUESWebsite: www.maximumpc.com/shopTel: 800-865-7240REPRINTSFuture US, Inc., 4000 Shoreline Court, Suite 400,South San Francisco, CA 94080Website: www.futureus.comTel: 650-872-1642, Fax 650-872-2207GordonMah UngWELCOME TOTHE PC PARTY!(OR, HOW THE PCWINS. AGAIN.)AS THE 2013chairman of the PC-platformFuture 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.comNon-executive Chairman:Peter AllenChief Executive:Mark WoodGroup Finance Director:Graham HardingTel +44 (0)20 7042 4000 (London)Tel +44 (0)1225 442244 (Bath)©2013 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.welcoming committee, I would like toofcially welcome the PlayStation 4 tothe party. Punch and pie will be servedafter the meeting. Sure, we’ve had ourdisagreements in the past (one dayyou’ll learn how to use a mouse andkeyboard), but I’m certain you’re goingto love the PC platform.There’s plenty of company, too, aseven your frenemy, the Xbox 720 (notits real name), appears headed to ourgathering! There will be more punchand pie when it arrives—or rather,comes back,as the original Xbox wasa PC until it decided to explore itsprocessorality. Let’s just say Power PCleft a bright red ring on its face.Since you’re both now in the club,we can all agree that the PC platformis superior, without the usual grum-bling and kvetching we hear from thepeanut gallery, right? I know, thosehabits die hard, as we’re still misin-formed by headlines such asForbes'sclaiming, “Why Sony's Next Console IsTruly Next-Gen and Your PC Isn't.” Hip-ster nerd, please. Can’t we just agree,as Sony does, that the PS/4 uses PCparts (albeit “supercharged”)? In mostpeople’s book, that still makes it a PC.Just as the Macintosh has actually hadpeople fooled for years because it is,essentially, a PC.Since the PS/4, Xbox 720 (or whateverit will be called), and the Macintosh areofcially part of the PC platform, thematter seems to be settled: The PC isthe superior architecture.Now we just have to get to workspreading the word of the PC platform’sgreatness to the remaining skeptics.These are fertile grounds, too, includingthe vast majority of tablet and smart-phone partisans, who simply don’t be-lieve the PC can win on those fronts, too.Because, well, you know, performancedoesn’t matter in phones and tablets,so that old PC model of performanceimprovement and upgrade cycles is ir-relevant. Umm, yeah.Let’s not get sidetracked, though,because today is a day to celebrate newmembers to the platform. So, welcomeaboard, PlayStation and Xbox, we’rehappy to have you here.Gordon Mah Ung is Maximum PC’sdeputy editor, senior hardware expert,and all-around muckraker.submit your questions to:comments@maximumpc.commaximumpc.comMAY 2013MAXIMUMPC7quickstartthe beginning of the magazine, where the articles are smallThe Light is Green forWindows BlueMicrosoft’s hybrid Service Pack/Feature Pack for Windows 8begins to take shapeYOU DON’T HAVEto be Sher-lock Holmes to detect thatMicrosoft’s agship operat-ing system has some kinksto work out. In its defense,Windows XP was arguably inworse shape when it debutedin October 2001. And Vista hadjust a few issues to work out,as well. What’s unexpected isthe extent of this new update,dubbed Windows Blue (whichwill apparently get a publicpreview in mid-summer be-fore a full release in August).What’s more, it’s reported tobe the beginning of an annualupdate process, similar to OSX’s—but without a price tag.It took nearly two years forMicrosoft to release Windows7’s Service Pack 1, and it wasmostly bug xes. But whileMicrosoft won’t ofcially con-rm the contents of WindowsBlue or discuss its long-termstrategy with it, its existenceis practically a forgone con-clusion. Let’s draw a sketch ofwhere MS is reportedly goingwith Blue.POWER PLAYWindows 8 is actually a prettysnappy operating system. Itboots quickly, programs openand close without unusual de-lay, and it’s a generally stableexperience. However, batterylife could be better, particu-larly for the Intel-based Sur-face tablet. In the three anda half years since Windows 7came out, mobile computinghas driven a deep wedge intothe front line of desktop com-puting. Apple came out witha popular tablet, and Sam-sung et al followed suit withAndroid-based competitors.Microsoft and its traditionalx86 partners weren’t able toadapt quickly enough (thoughHaswell may change things).Windows Blue will apparentlytweak Windows 8’s energyconsumption to compete withplatforms that didn’t exist afew years ago.integration with Bing Search(which is actually a pretty goodservice for hunting down par-ticular images and video clips).You’ll probably get a shortlistof recommended programswhen you search for media.FINDERS KEEPERSAnother issue is the ModernUI’s Search function, whichhas a habit of not nding thingsthat it should. The search func-tion in Start button replace-ments like Classic Shell seemto work as well as before, sothe problem probably doesn’trun too deep. Windows 8’sSearch mainly has problemsdetecting data that’s linked toModern apps (which are kindof a big deal). We expect MSto x this issue, plus improveBUT WAIT, THERE’S MOREThe new features don’t stopthere. We’re told that MS willalso bundle Internet Explorer11. But other than its versionnumber, we know nothingabout it. It would be nice to seean extensions/add-ons library,though. Windows Live Mail,MS’s free desktop email client,is expected to get an update. Theother programs in MS’s down-loadable “Windows Essentials”package, like Messenger, Writ-er, and Movie Maker, will prob-ably also get some polish.ALL IN THE FAMILYIf the rumors are to be believed,this plan doesn’t end with Win-dows 8. We’ve heard that MSintends to extend this annualupdate initiative to WindowsServer 2012, Microsoft Ofce,Outlook.com, and possibly oth-er large projects. Corporate ITtends to want a less-frequentrelease cycle because thatmakes things easier to main-tain and troubleshoot. So, it’sunclear how a relatively fastschedule will play out in thebusiness sector, whose supportcontracts and bulk licensingearn MS billions of dollars peryear.–Tom McNamaraWindows Blue will apparently bundle Internet Explorer 11 and improve desktop Search, as well asincrease performance and fix bugs.8MAXIMUMPCMAY 2013maximumpc.comAndroid Apps onWindows 8You may have heard about Bluestacks, aprogram that allows you to run Androidapps on x86 Windows PCs. Its developerannounced in February that it added sup-port for Windows 8. This boosts the Win-dows 8 apps population from less than50,000 to over 800,000. And the upcomingWindows Blue is reportedly overhaulingWindows 8 Search to integrate apps.It is not yet clear what advantage youwill gain from running mobile apps onyour desktop, since the bulk of themare just miniaturized versions of desk-top programs, but it probably increas-es Google and Android’s visibility. IfBluestacks can recognize your webcamas a phone camera, that’s like a billionmore people who can send you photoswith Instagram filters.–TMTomHalfhillFastForwardCOUNTINGCORESHow many cores does a quad-core processor have? If you answered“four,” you flunk.Sorr y, that’s not fair. Usually a quad-core processor does indeed have fourcores. But these days, it may have fiveor even eight cores. Depends how wecount them.Things are getting confusing be-cause chip designers are tr ying newtricks to save power. For example,Nvidia’s Tegra 4 is the first quad-coresmar tphone processor to integratefour of ARM’s Cor tex-A15 cores on onechip. But actually, it hasfiveof thosecores. Four are optimized for high per-formance and do the heav y lifting whenthe software workload is demanding;they scream at 1.9GHz. The fifth core isoptimized for low power and runs alonewhen the workload is light; it hums at700–800MHz.So, is the Tegra-4 a quad-core pro-cessor or a five-core processor? At myday job atMicroprocessor Report,myboss and I debated this question. Hesays it’s a quad-core because only fourcores can run at once. “Yeah,” I said,“but it still hasfive!”The confusion will only get worse.SamsungrecentlyintroducedtheExynos-5 Octa, a smartphone processorwith eight CPU cores. Four of them areCortex-A15s and four are Cortex-A7s,in paired con gurations that ARM calls“Big.Little” (see my February 2012 col-umn). Under heavy workloads, the biggerA15 cores shoulder the burden. Underlight workloads, the A15s slumber to savepower, and the littler A7s take over. It’san eight-core processor, but I can see thelogic in calling it a quad-core if only fourare awake at once.Although these examples are smart-phone processors, PC processors willsoon play similar tricks. For power ef-ficiency, it’s great. But beware of themarketing hype—you may not get all thecores you’re counting on.POP QUIZ:Dell Buyout Meets ResistanceSince we mess with computers for a living, theMaximum PCstaff generallygets its financial acumen from 1990s buddy comedies likeTaking Care ofBusiness.Connoisseurs of film will of course recall Charles Grodin’s pre-scient nugget: You never accept the first offer. In February, life imitated artas a number of groups holding large amounts of Dell stock decided that thebuyout valuation of $13.65 per share was surely in jest.TheNew York Timesreported that Southeastern Asset Management,which owns 8.5 percent of Dell, would like a price closer to $24. Invest-ment firm T. Rowe Price, which is not known for courting drama, has 4.4percent of Dell’s shares and publicly criticized Michael Dell’s current offer,according to Reuters.–JKHP Shifts Focusto TabletsAt the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media& Telecom Conference (say that threetimes fast) in February, Hewlett-PackardCEO Meg Whitman stated that HP would beshifting resources from PCs to tablets. Shedid not go into much detail, unfortunately,so we don’t know the degree to which thiswill affect the company’s PC manufactur-ing or long-term pipeline—which is kindof a big deal, since HP is currently thebiggest PC maker in the world. But Whit-man asserted that the market had shiftedfrom the desktop to the mobile space. Thisannouncement came on the heels of HPreleasing its rst Android tablet, the $169Slate 7, which can be found in a mouth-watering Creamsicle orange (ice creamcenter not included).–TMTom Halfhill was formerly a senioreditor forBytemagazine and is nowan analyst forMicroprocessor Report.maximumpc.comMAY 2013MAXIMUMPC9 [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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