Innehållsförteckning för March 2023 från Maximum PC

LIKE MANY OF YOU, I’m a member of quite a few WhatsApp groups across family, friends, and colleagues. One such group of journalists and PRs in tech has been spamming my chat with their attempts to take the latest CPUs and GPUs, and fit them into as small a PC as possible. In the past, that’s been a challenge, but this generation’s chunky RTX 4000-series cards in particular make it more difficult than ever. Undeterred, they’ve been swapping ideas on cases, egging each other on with ridiculous cooling solutions, and posting the results to Reddit where they’ve been lapping up praise. That’s why this issue, we’re doing our own small form factor build. You’ve no doubt looked at (or already bought) the latest gear from Intel, AMD, and Intel—now we…

APPLE’S TRANSITION to M2 brings two new MacBook Pros and two new chips: the M2 Pro, and M2 Max. We also have new M2-powered minis (Apple uses a lowercase ‘m’ here for some reason). This means Apple has now moved all its kit over to its own silicon bar the Mac Pro, which still sports Xeons. The M2 Pro is a double-size M2 built using a second-generation 5nm process. It has a 12-core CPU (up from 10), a 16-core neural engine, a 19-core GPU, and twice the memory bandwidth. The M2 Max adds a 38-core GPU and doubles memory bandwidth again, now reaching 400GB/s. The new MacBook Pros come in 14-inch and 16-inch versions. Memory options run from 16GB to 96GB, and storage from 512GB to 8TB, depending on your chip…

Burn-in, or the fear of it, isn’t my issue with OLED. I’ve been running an Alienware laptop with an OLED panel for the last 18 months with no issues. However, it is a contributing factor when it comes to panel brightness and that’s a problem with the first generation of OLED monitors. As with any new technology, OLED comes with novel metrics in terms of specifications and performance. Most notably, measuring OLED panel brightness is more complicated than with LCD monitors, including the latest mini-LED monitors with complex full-array dimming. OLED brightness varies depending on how much of the panel you are lighting up, with the net result that a single spec is no longer meaningful. A case in point is the Xeneon Flex, Corsair’s monster new 45-inch OLED monitor.…

WITH THE SYSTEM UP and running and ticking over exactly how we wanted it to, now’s the time to start loading it up with our favorite gaming applications so we can get the most out of it. As we already noted, the NUC 13 visually looks more like a console than a typical gaming PC. The subdued aesthetics help the case fit into a variety of setups. While there’s nothing particularly exciting going on with the design here, that minimalistic look means there aren’t many interiors that it wouldn’t suit. Now, we know looks aren’t everything, but if you were to use this as an overkill console, then it would need to either sit within a TV unit or look fairly discreet in that environment. However, the PC isn’t the…

GIVEN THE LAST two years of digital-only or poorly attended physical shows, it was great to see the Las Vegas Convention Center packed with new technology once again. Fighting through the accompanying throng of journalists, analysts, and industry professionals was less welcome, especially when the corridors were blocked by people inexplicably trying to claim a free skateboard but, overall, it was great to feel the buzz of the world’s biggest tech show return. We left with the impression that the industry, and the PC market in particular, was in rude health, with loads to look forward to this year. In terms of overall themes, there were some clear winners, such as Intel, AMD, and Nvidia, who all brought their latest-generation chips to laptop manufacturers eager to snap them up for…

WE ALL KNOW that a cluttered desk can be the sign of a cluttered mind, so the idea of adding yet another peripheral to your workspace might appear to only further compromise your efficiency. But this charming little device from Elgato aims to do just the opposite. Taking what was already great about the previous Stream Decks, the Plus variant adds a touch panel and four customizable dials for even more fine-tuning than before. The main purpose of the Stream Deck+ is that it’s essentially a cheat code for your PC. Consider it the ultimate shortcut device, in which you can access applications, create macro buttons, change settings, and launch commands—all on the fly and without leaving your current app. This not only makes it perfect for streamers (the clue’s in…

01. BIOS buttons If you like to tinker with your BIOS, you could accidentally get into a situation where the computer can’t start up. Enthusiast boards often offer handy buttons that reset your system to default settings or recover a backed-up configuration. Without these, the only way to undo a configuration error might be to open up the PC and press a button on the motherboard—or set a jumper. 02. Wireless antenna connectors If your board has built-in Wi-Fi, the backplate should include two screw-in antenna connectors. A small aerial unit is normally included in the box, and this will work fine for the average home. If you want the very best reception, you can replace this with any antenna assembly that uses the standard 3.5mm TS-9 connector. 03. Video Connectors…

YOU’LL NEED THIS VIRTUALBOX AND UBUNTU Time required: Two hours. THERE ARE PLENTY of reasons you should want to try out Linux, but in keeping with our first tutorial this month (see page 64), one of them is to make it harder for your activity to be tracked online. If you want to make sure you can’t be tracked, our best advice would be to use a different PC. You can do this even if you don’t have a second computer by setting up a virtual machine on your computer, which behaves as though it’s an entirely separate device. If set up properly, nothing that happens on your virtual machine will impact your main Windows installation, meaning that any websites you visit won’t be able to identify you. Here, we’re…

YOU’LL NEED THIS A LAPTOP COMPUTER A mobile phone (optional) IF YOU WANT A COMPACT LAPTOP, you’ll usually need to compromise by foregoing the numeric keypad on the right. The number keys at the top of the keyboard are a decent stand-in for occasional use, but for anything else, it’s worth adding an external keypad dedicated to digits. Thankfully, there are plenty of options, including programmable pads and phone apps. You can pick up a good numeric keypad, such as the Targus Numeric Keypad with USB Port Connector (tinyurl.com/54ud9ws7) for less than $25. This has a full complement of numeric and mathematical buttons, as well as Enter, Back, and Tab keys. If you’re doing data entry or spreadsheet work, adding a device like this can be much quicker than using the…

AFTER ‘UNLAUNCHING’ the RTX 4080 12GB, the Ada Lovelace AD104 GPU returns in the form of the RTX 4070 Ti—with the exact same specs as before but also a $100 price cut. Perhaps Nvidia hoped the price reduction would garner some goodwill, but as the generational replacement for the RTX 3070 Ti, we’re also looking at a $200 increase in price. And the 3070 Ti already felt overpriced. The good news is that you get a lot more performance from the 4070 Ti than from the 3070 Ti. It’s over 50 percent faster at 4K, and just under 50 percent faster at 1440p. It’s also close to the same level of performance offered by the previous generation RTX 3090, even though it has half the VRAM and half the memory interface…

MESH NETWORK systems can easily become expensive, especially when they incorporate newer technology such as Wi-Fi 6. The Atlas Pro 6, available in one, two, and three-node kits, is actually pretty reasonable when judged against the competition, with this three-node kit coming in at $350. For anyone living in a busy household with lots of connected devices, this could be considered money well spent, especially if it allows everyone to get a stable connection no matter which room they’re in. Each Atlas node is shaped like a tower, with sharp squared-off edges, and a perforated top. Thankfully, they’re relatively compact at 11-inches high and 3.4-inches wide, so will fit into tight spaces, and they look good enough in their white finish that you can put them anywhere without them being an…

BEING ABLE to claim you have the world’s fastest processor has an undeniably attractive ring to it. You might not make the most efficient, best value, or any other metric you care to pick, but if you make the fastest chip, you have major bragging rights. Intel has been claiming that crown for years, though it has had to fight increasingly hard for it recently, as AMD’s Zen-powered chips edge ever closer. But it’s not about to lose that crown without a fight. If your rival gets close, there is a simple tactic—take your best chip, then carefully select the best ones you can find, and crank the frequency up as far as you dare. Enter Intel’s Core i9-13900KS, which is an aggressively binned 13900K, and configured to run at…

Several prominent people at AMD mocked Nvidia’s snafu, with one proclaiming “We’re going to kick Nvidia’s ass!” Another tweeted an image of the dual 8-pin connectors on AMD’s RX 7900 card with the text, “Stay safe this holiday season.” Egg, meet face. AMD has had to acknowledge that batches of its reference RX 7900 XTX cards have an even bigger problem: they are overheating, throttling, and underperforming. AMD has vowed to replace the faulty cards but, by all accounts, the problem with the reference XTX cards is more widespread than Nvidia’s melting adapter. AMD’s full statement reads: “We are working to determine the root cause of the unexpected throttling experienced by some while using the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX graphics cards made by AMD. Based on our observations, we…

ALTHOUGH IT’S more console-sized than a regular PC, gaming isn’t the only thing this Intel NUC 13 build can do. Not only can this rig run your favorite triple-A titles at high frame rates but it also doubles up as one monster workhorse. That’s due to the Intel Core i9-13900K processor with a whopping 24 cores and a maximum turbo frequency of 5.8GHz. With a similar architecture to the impressive previous-gen i9-12900K, this newer iteration takes all that was great about the last flagship CPU and cranks it up even more. It features a hybrid architecture containing performance (foreground) and efficiency (background) cores. The i9-12900K had eight of each, but the i9-13900K has eight performance cores and 16 efficiency cores. So what does that mean? This is a great chip for…

YOU’LL NEED THIS A PC RUNNING WINDOWS 10 OR 11 Copy style of what’s needed. OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS, Microsoft has been peppering its operating system with nags, nudges, recommendations, and offers. You might say that’s only to be expected, given that these days, most people haven’t had to pay to get a new version of Windows, they simply upgraded for free. Perhaps that’s why Microsoft is increasingly trying other ways to recoup its costs, including splashing adverts across its operating systems (both Windows 10 and 11). They’re popping up in the Start menu, Cortana, Action Center, the lock screen, and more. Most of the adverts originate from Microsoft itself and tend to be offers for its paid-for subscriptions and suggestions to perform tasks within Windows, rather than promotions…

THIS MONTH, I was lucky enough to head out to Las Vegas for this year’s Consumer Electronics Show. You can read my full report on page 32, where I pick out the best products. As I mentioned in my editor’s intro, there were many more great products than I could cover in the 35 I was able to pick for inclusion in the ten-page feature. But here, I want to talk about the general trends I spotted at the show and why I think this year was one of the best for PC fans. There was a mountain of RTX 4000-series powered laptops on show from the likes of Lenovo, Acer, and particularly, Asus. While, at the time of writing, prices are being kept under wraps (although $3,000-$4,000 seems likely…

ON PAPER, the new Samsung Odyssey Neo G8 looks like one heck of a gaming monitor. This 4K beauty runs at up to a 240Hz refresh rate, packs a mini-LED backlight with 1,196 zones, can hit 2,000 nits of brightness, and achieves a 1ms response time. Numbers like that don’t come cheap, but at $1,299, the Neo G8 isn’t quite as pricey as you might expect. On the flip side, potential buyers should bear in mind the relatively tight 1000R curve on the VA panel in this 32-inch 16:9 aspect screen. Curved gaming screens aren’t for everyone, and they tend to work better on larger displays, such as the 55-inch Odyssey Ark (see review, Jan 2023 issue). You may also want to factor in the G8’s lack of USB-C connectivity,…

LAST YEAR, Intel launched the NUC 12 Extreme Dragon Canyon with its desktop Alder Lake CPU, which we proudly featatured on our May 2022 cover. Soon after, it teased the NUC13 Extreme, based on the recently-introduced Raptor Lake processors, and the result is this machine which has also made it on our cover. For anyone new to the NUC concept, these machines are meant for users who prefer a smaller PC with relatively little tinkering required. The systems come with a chassis, PSU, motherboard, and CPU included—our NUC13RNGi9 contains the Core i9-13900K (Core i7-13700K and Core i5-13600K models are available). That means you just need to pick the DDR5 RAM, storage, and discrete graphics card if required. Our writer Sam shows you how to build such a system starting on…

AS GOOD as your current PC setup may be, choosing a dependable collection of peripherals is vital to getting the most out of your rig. Think of it like putting budget tires on a Ferrari or asking an Olympic sprinter to run in a pair of boots. One such key peripheral in your setup that should be top-tier is the mouse. Roccat claims its Kone Air Wireless is ergonomic, lightweight, and great for gaming, while coming in at a budget price of just under $70. So let’s dive right in and find out whether Roccat has nailed it or missed the mark. There are plenty of Kone variants offered by Roccat, but this model is a stripped-down and light option, hence the Air Wireless name. When first holding it, you…

UNFORTUNATELY, THE much-delayed Forspoken might have needed more time in development, as the delivered experience makes for a rough adventure. There are some impressive mechanics buried deep within Forspoken, but they’re too often swallowed up by classic open-world chaff, a lackluster narrative, and some dreadful animation. The promise of effortlessly juggling several different spells, all while jumping around an attractive fantasy landscape, is held back by the unfortunate reality of what that’s actually like—a lovely dream that isn’t quite held up by its implementation. While much has been said about Forspoken’s narrative, which includes contributions from Gary Whitta (screenwriter of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story), and Amy Hennig (creative director of the Uncharted franchise), the game is underpinned by many standard RPG tropes. Protagonist Frey Holland, an orphan from…

“TWINKLE TWINKLE little star, how I wonder what you are?” a dying woman sings over the elevator tannoy as we climb through the decks of the doomed ship Ishimura. It’s a nursery rhyme horror cliche, for sure, but it fits Dead Space. This was never a series about exploring the wonders of the universe or space as a wild frontier where the worst evil we can imagine is corporate greed dominating the stars. No, this is a game about how space is downright scary; an abyss into which we gaze and see our nightmares reflected right back. Hard to marvel at the universe with a Necromorph’s blades in your gut. This remake feels petty much like a brand-new Dead Space. Sure, it’s got the same bleak atmosphere, overarching narrative, and…

THE 12GB GEFORCE RTX 4080 was poorly received. As a step down from the 16GB version, but with a premium price, it quickly vanished. Now it’s back, this time called the RTX 4070 Ti, and costs $100 less at $799. It has a claimed performance better than the 3090 Ti. Problem solved? Not quite. It still isn’t pushing pixels fast enough—struggling to match a 3090 Ti in tests that Nvidia hasn’t cherry-picked, it even drops near 3080 territory at times. The price/performance is still out of whack (see review, page 74). Dropping down the running order, Ada Lovelace isn’t panning out too well, casting a shadow over the forthcoming 4070 and 4060 Ti, which will presumably be slower still. The 4070 Ti is in limbo here, neither reasonable value nor…

EVERYBODY was impressed by the Ryzen 7 5800X3D, a Zen 3 chip with 96MB of L2 cache that was claimed to be the world’s fastest gaming processor at the time. We’ve been waiting for the Zen 4, and AMD has now confirmed three new versions—the Ryzen 9 7950X3D and 7900X3D, and the Ryzen 7 7800X3D. The top dog 7950XD has 16 cores and a maximum clock of 5.7GHz. That extra cache pushes the total to 144MB of L2, which is Threadripper territory. The middle chip has 12 cores and a top clock of 5.6GHz, while the Ryzen 7 has eight cores, a clock of up to 5.0GHz, and a TDP of 120W. They aren’t unlocked but settings such as the precision boost overdrive, curve optimizer, and memory can be tweaked.…

RECENTLY CELEBRATING its first birthday, Valve’s Steam Deck portable games console has arguably been the developer’s most successful piece of hardware to date. Fans of the machine not only extol its virtues as a great device for gaming on-the-go but also credit it for helping them get back into PC gaming in general. If you have the machine or you’re thinking of getting one, here are the best accessories to pair with your Steam Deck for the premier possible gaming experience. 5 JBL QUANTUM TWS EARBUDS There are plenty of wireless earbuds on the market with wildly varying prices, but these JBLs offer all of the features you’d want, and good sound quality, at a reasonable price. Those features include active noise-canceling, Bluetooth 5.2 support, plus a USB-C wireless dongle for use…

GIVEN THE troubles we had getting last month’s RTX 4080 build to work, we crossed our fingers for an easier build this time around. The issue is, small form factors don’t often go hand in hand with easy building. Fortunately, we got our hands on Intel’s latest NUC 13 Extreme kit and, as small form factor machines go, these are as user-friendly as things get. However, this model has changed a lot since we last had our hands on its predecessor, the NUC 12 Extreme. It’s grown in size but maintains a sleek and subtle appearance to disguise the power that lurks beneath. Our goal is to create a machine that does it all—offering overall power and an excellent gaming performance to make the consoles look weak, but that also…

WHEN YOU THINK of a PC setup, you may typically envisage a desktop ATX machine paired with a monitor, keyboard, and mouse. Yet not all PCs have the same uses, and this Intel NUC is a great example of this. Due to its smaller footprint, it offers greater versatility, meaning you could set it up in places where you wouldn’t usually put a desktop. For example, you could use this NUC 13 Extreme as a games console alternative, which we will touch on later, in a living room or a gaming room scenario. Granted, it’s far more expensive than a games console, yet it will provide the best gaming experience in that environment while also keeping the games console aesthetic, and still double up as a kick-ass PC! With a…

Inside every laptop, there’s a motherboard that does the same basic job as a desktop board. However, laptops are more minimally designed, with a focus on minimizing weight, size, and power consumption. Unscrew the casing from your laptop and it’s unlikely you’ll find any internal headers or expansion slots—the memory is often soldered in place. You’ll see fewer chips, too, as CPU manufacturers seek to maximize efficiency by building multiple components into one physical package. Alongside the CPU cores, a mobile processor might contain memory, storage, and networking controllers, so there’s no need for a separate chipset—it’s all bundled into one system-on-a-chip. An example of SoC design is the Apple Silicon architecture, used for the company’s M1 and M2 processors. These not only combine CPU and chipset functions, but they also have…

TIP OF THE MONTH SNAPDROP Anyone who’s ever used AirDrop on macOS or iOS will know just what a useful tool it is for sharing photos or documents quickly between two compatible devices. But did you know Snapdrop offers an almost identical experience on all sorts of devices? Go to Snapdrop.net to start receiving and sending files between Windows, Android, iOS, and macOS. It’s simple and your files are sent using WebRTC, so they’re encrypted. MAKE – USE – CREATE 64 How to block adverts in Windows 10 or 11. 66 Go incognito by running Linux in a virtual machine. 68 How to prevent your printer from being hacked. JUST A SMALL REJIG Is it just me, or does everyone’s desk or workspace inexplicably become messier over time, even though…

YOU’LL NEED THIS WEB-CONNECTED PRINTER Time required: 30 minutes ANY DEVICE THAT CAN connect to the internet needs to be kept secure. This is as true for printers as it is for laptops, phones, and tablets. Printers are increasingly becoming fully-featured online devices that download their own updates automatically, report how much ink you’re using, and if you have signed up for a subscription or membership scheme, order new cartridges just before your current ones run out. All of this makes life easier for you, but it also means you must add your printer to the list of devices you need to consider when assessing the security of your network. Fortunately, bigname printer manufacturers have a vested interest in keeping them safe. They don’t want to risk the reputational damage of…

I’M NOT GOING to reveal the brand responsible for this particular train wreck for reasons that will become clear. But the model in question is a 34-inch ultra-wide with miniLED backlight, 165Hz refresh, and an eye-popping peak HDR luminance spec well into four figures in terms of nits. Sure enough, it was a sizzler out of the box. At default settings, it was also clear the color saturation was out of whack, but I’ve learned not to panic at that sort of thing. Often there are alternative modes that get the screen running right without the need for calibration. Anyway, I flicked the switch in Windows to enable HDR and it was obvious something was up. At first, I thought it suffered from the same flickering problems that blight the Samsung…

LENOVO IS NO STRANGER to exciting new designs featuring multiple screens and quirky new functions, especially with its Yoga range of products. However, these attention grabbers shouldn’t take the limelight away from the company’s more conventional offerings. The Yoga Slim 9i follows a typical laptop format, albeit with a few tricks up its sleeve. With its ‘Oatmeal’ colorway and chrome finish, Lenovo appears to have gone down the premium route for the Yoga Slim 9i. Is this a sensible purchase, or should you opt for one of Lenovo’s more curveball options? Straight out of the box, we can safely say that Lenovo has hit the ‘premium’ nail on the head—and that’s before we’ve even booted up the laptop. Every contact point on this device is smooth and finished to a…

NETGEAR’S ORBI systems have carved out a niche at the top of the mesh router market with premium products and high-end price tags. The RBK763 three-pack (two satellites and a router) follows this route by being a bit more expensive than its WiFi 6 competition, but does it justify that with a performance to match? This three-pod system should offer enough coverage for most households at 7,500 sq. ft. These are relatively big and bulky devices at 8.3 x 6.6 x 2.5in, so not as compact as the Amazon Eero Pro, though this size does help with signal performance. The satellites may look nice, but they aren’t the easiest pieces of kit to hide away in your home. The Orbi phone app is all that’s needed and we were up…

WITH THE KEYBOARD market saturated with models featuring every type of design, gimmick, and accessory imaginable, it’s unusual for a larger peripheral manufacturer to think outside the box and create something that looks a bit different. But at first glance, that’s what Roccat has done with the Vulcan II Max, a 100 percent full-sized board with an exposed clean design and a vibrant RGB glow. Alright, it’s not particularly revolutionary, but it’s nice to see this exposed look once in a while. Construction-wise, the build quality is definitely a strong point for the Vulcan II Max. This is in part due to its aluminum face plate, but mainly comes down to the weight of the overall board. Weighing 2.86lbs, it has plenty of heft and, thanks to three large grip…