Clear out the junk to
12 THE NEWS
Intel Optane; China bans VPNs; 3D TV is dead; Game Mode goes beta.
16 THE LIST
Maximum PC’s 40 favorite things
we saw at CES.
SPEED UP WINDOWS 10
A real test of core competencies.
R&D
60 AUTOPSY
We prize apart a PlayStation 4 Pro and peer at its pieces.
62 HOW TO
Set up a Twitter bot; colorize black and white photos; boost your NAS; make better audio recordings.
72 BUILD IT
Are four cores still king in the
26 40 52 gaming world? We find out.
BIG-SCREEN
SPEED UP
RECOVER
DEBUT
WINDOWS 10
YOUR DATA
Never before has the high-
Give Windows a shot in the
Nothing is lost until you’ve
LETTERS
end PC monitor market been
arm by cleaning up and
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optimizing your PC using
to retrieve files you thought
22 DOCTOR
so allow us to help you get a
the OS’s own built-in tools
were gone, and make sure
bigger and better view.
and free third-party apps.
others are deleted forever.
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editorial
Gordon Tuan
EDITORIAL Editor-in-Chief: Tuan Nguyen Executive Editor: Alan Dexter Senior Editor: Jarred Walton
Mah Ung Nguyen
Reviews Editor: Zak Storey Technology Editor: Bo Moore Contributing Editor: Chris Angelini Contributing Writers: Alex Campbell, Alex Cox, Nate Drake, Cat Ellis, Ian Evenden, Matt Hanson, Jeremy Laird, Chris Lloyd, Nick Peers Copy Editor: Katharine Davies Editor Emeritus: Andrew Sanchez
ART Art Editor: Fraser McDermott Image Manipulation: Gary Stuckey Photography: Future Photo Studio
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WE SPEND A LOT OF TIME Director of Marketing: Robbie Montinola my freshman year of college in 1988. I attended Dartmouth, and fussing about upgrade.” The answer might surprise I’ll be honest; I still love checking
West Coast Account Director: Brandon Wong,
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX EMAIL was in course.)
brandon.wong@futurenet.com West Coast Account Director: Tad Perez, tad.perez@futurenet.com
Director, Client Services: Tracy Lam
with hardware. Tinkering, tweaking, and
you: displays. my inbox and discovering email—
Director, Retail Sales: Bill Shewey
otherwise trying to squeeze out every we had a system named BlitzMail.
from friends, family, writers, Earlier this year, at CES, I witnessed
last drop of GPU and CPU performance. Ever y student was granted an email
readers, PR people, whomever—even
PRODUCTION
Head of Production UK & US: Mark Constance
You can find endless amounts of displays finally debuted, with some
address and access to the system.
if it has become a bit over whelming. a flurry of display announcements. 8K
resources that tell you what you should Production Assistant: Emily Wood Like most students, I didn’t use it at all. It’s hard for even me to believe, companies showing working demos. Between re years and my first job in PC Week’s lab in 1992 to actually
Production Controller: Vivienne Calvert
Project Manager: Clare Scott
and shouldn’t do with your hardware. but back then I was in the habit of HDR is on the rise, primarily in HDTVs,
FUTURE US, INC.
One Lombard Street, Suite 200, San Francisco, CA 94111
But very little attention is given to the
start usingaccounts, I’ve never had
operating system side of the computer, writing letters and postcards.
but it’ll no doubt show up in computer
Tel: (650) 872-1642, www.futureus.com
displays this year. Refresh rates are trouble keeping up. Until now. This is
which is unfortunate, because that’s I vividly recall the tipping point, going up, too, and a new HDMI spec was partially what inspired this month’s ultimately where the results matter the though. In 1re years and my first job
Global Chief Revenue Officer: Charlie Speight Vice President, Marketing & Operations: Rhoda Bueno
announced, delivering 4K resolution at an Finance Director: Ryan Lamvik cover stor y. Over the last 18 months, HR Generalist: Carla Marcos
most. So we’ve gone and done just that. in PC Week’s lab in 1992 to actually
astonishing 120Hz. The display industry I’ve begun to notice that my ability to
start using it. Like a lot of corporate Windows 10 is, without doubt, one of
quickly parse, read, and respond to
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It’s well made, stable, and chock-full of used for interoffice communications. But the volume wa989 in the middle
So, we took it upon ourselves to I need to develop new systems and
bring all the newest bad-ass displays shortcuts. I need to change my ways.
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actually want or use. Take, for example, of my sophomore year, I was eating
features—some of which you may not
I’m curious—are you finding
Apple’s Siri, Amazon’s Echo, or Google talking about how great email was tests. Some are better than others, but one result is consistent across the REPRINTS If so, what have you done to better Assistant. Sure, it can tell jokes, look up Future US, Inc., 4000 Shoreline Court, Suite 400, for chatting up women. I remember
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Cortana, the smart assistant not unlike
lunch with a few freshmen who were
into the lab, and run them through our yourself in the same boat as I am?
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board: Current displays have advanced manage your email life? Let me know
South San Francisco, CA 94080 information on Wikipedia, and search being shocked at the notion that significantly in just a few years. Website: www.futureus.com at George@maximumpc.com. Tel: 650-872-1642, Fax 650-872-2207
your computer, but I personally don’t these guys didn’t have the courage to pick up the phone. Little did I know.
XXXXXXXXX Which brings me to my sage advice:
Next Issue on Sale April 4, 2017
always the most expensive part of my Finally, the winners of last month’s disable it, freeing up system resources email the next day. I didn’t. It took build, because I spend all my computing challenge to identify the fake Google for other duties. three more years and my first job in PC Week’s lab in 1992 to actually time staring at it, and a good display will app icon. For those scoring at home,
get me what I need much faster. So I I’d be lying if I said that I took to
use it. I reckon my keyboard skills can
Invest in a display. A good display is
outlast your PC, for the most part. You the correct answer was Google are other areas of Windows 10 that you workplaces, email was commonly might upgrade this and that inside, but Storage. Here are the winners: Keith can dive into, and with a little know-how,
start using it. Like a lot of corporate Things don’t end there, though. There
the screen will be there for some time. Future is an award-winning international media Lucas (who was the first correct group and leading digital business. We reach more
gain just not increased performance used for interoffice communications.
response), Andy Man, Chris Brush
and create world-class content and advertising than 57 million international consumers a month
from your PC, but enough performance to remember going two or three hours
But the volume was manageable; I
What do I use? Two 32-inch 4K
displays. But with 8K on the way, I’m
solutions for passionate consumers online, on tablet
and smartphone, and in print.
witness actual usability improvements. without new email. That sounds ts. starting to get an itch. starting to get an itch.
Future plc is a public company quoted Non-executive chairman Peter Allen Chief executive Zillah Byng-Thorne
clearing out old system update files, and absolutely crazy now, but this was
Startup options, system services, es,
on the London
the era before SPAM even existed. nd
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(symbol: FUTR).
more—our crack team of experts show ow
www.futureplc.com
Tel +44 (0)1225 442 244
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take your rig by the horns. and came online, the postcard- and
Gordon Mah Ung is Maximum PC’s
©2017 Future US, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine
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may be used or reproduced without the written permission of
yourselves, “Well, I’ve done all that, (That lab job was also awesome Tuan Nguyen is expert, and all-around muckraker. Maximum PC ’s editor-in- chief, also known as “the pointy end of the
Some of you might be thinking to to
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Future US, Inc. (owner). All information provided is, as far as Future
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but tell me what’s going to give me because after four years of using a Mac in college, I was able to get
stick.” He’s been writing, marketing, and
welcome reader submissions, but cannot promise that they will be published or returned to you. By submitting materials to us, you
giant leaps in performance on my next back to PC gaming—after hours, of
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the beginning of the magazine, where the articles are small
12 MAXIMUM PC SPRING 2017 maximumpc.com
Commercial 3D memory finally arrives
Intel’s Optane Technology Ships
individual transistors. These first modules have two layers of memory cells, but three- layer cells are due later in the year. The exact physics and manufacturing method has yet to be revealed.
Intel’s announcements about Optane veer into hyperbole. It will “change the face of computing with an unparalleled combination of speed, endurance, and density.” These first modules are about three times faster than a standard SSD in random and sequential read. Write speeds are less impressive—still capable of beating SSDs, but by much slimmer margins. The 32GB module manages 1,600MB/s on reads and 500MB/s on writes. Latency is between SSD and DRAM. We have nothing on price yet, but they won’t be cheap. Expect to pay around five times the price of flash RAM, or twice that of DRAM.
Sure, they are fast, but you are right to feel a little underwhelmed at this point. This doesn’t beat emerging NVDIMM or NVMe technology,
and isn’t what we were promised. Early presentations about 3D XPoint spoke of speed boosts of up to a thousand times SSD, and touched on the long- held dream of unified RAM and storage. Alas, these claims have proved elusive. The tantalizing early proclamations were based on the core performance of the chips at the cell level. Once it goes through all the subsystems of the hardware and software, the speed is degraded considerably. Perhaps it might have been wiser not to publicize such appetizing claims in the first place.
Larger capacity SSD versions are currently being tested in servers by IBM and Facebook. Before the end of the year, we will see more mainstream applications, which currently
sport “Beach” codenames— Mansion Beach, Stony Beach, and Carson Beach—each a family of Optane SSDs running on PCIe or SATA. Its future as
a DRAM replacement is less obvious. Conventional modules are already cheap and fast, but its use in servers cannot be far away.
Optane is having a slightly difficult birth, and the 8000p is
a bit of a dull start. However,
a huge research budget and much effort has been poured into its success. This is just a taster. A single unified high- speed memory is still a long way away, but we do have commercial 3D memory that is already faster than NAND, and has an interesting roadmap. You will be hearing a lot more about Optane. –CL
THE LAUNCH
of an M.2 SSD memory module is not normally of much interest, but Intel’s new 8000p is based on the company’s new Optane technology, which has been several years in the making, and responsible for quite a few promises along the way. The modules come in 16GB and 32GB sizes, and you’ll need a specific set of hardware to run them: a Kaby Lake chip, a 200-series chipset, a compatible M.2 slot, and a compatible BIOS. They have been designed to boost Intel’s Rapid Cache Technology performance, and a small number of machines have been announced that are Optane- ready, among them Lenovo’s ThinkPad T570 and HP’s Envy Curved 34.
Optane is Intel’s brand name for the 3D XPoint technology,
a 3D memory system jointly developed by Intel and Micron. The tech has been in the labs since 2012. Memory cells sit in
a three-dimensional mesh, and use the change in resistance of the materials to store data. Importantly, there are no
Memory cells sit in a 3D mesh, and use the change in resistance to store data.
Not quite what we were expecting, but it’s a start.
quickstart
3D TV IS DEAD NO NEW HARDWARE IS BEING BUILT
THE LAST TWO BIG PLAYERS making 3D TVs— LG and Sony—are to drop their support with this year’s models. The format is dead, for the mass market at least. Lack of content was obvious; there was very little broadcast 3D, and even that has now stopped. Enthusiasm from consumers dropped off sharply, and the TV people’s attention has shifted to HDR and 4K. 3D content will live on, but only through VR.
3D TVs came on the back of 3D movies, which appeared in sporadic waves since the 1950s, each powered by new technology. The first wave lasted just three years, and the revivals fared little better. The current dalliance with 3D movies has at least attracted some
CHINESE BAN big budget titles, but there are signs that this is fading, too. The odds are that 3D will return
at some point, probably using yet another technology, but for now you had better start
ON VPN hoarding those 3D Blu-rays if you want any use out of your 3D TV. –CL S
Free trade for China,
GAME MODE
but no free Internet
GOES BETA
THE CHINESE MINISTRY
of Industry and
It’s all about
Information has announced the start of a 14-month campaign to target the use of
consistency
VPNs in China to “clean up” the Internet,
PRESS WINDOWS AND G in the latest
and encourage the “healthy” development
Windows Creator Update, and you
of the industry. Running a VPN business
enter the much anticipated Game
inside China will now require a state license,
Mode. As expected, it’s mostly about
and presumably close co-operation with the resource allocation, specifically CPU and GPU resources to the game, getting all authorities. President Xi Jinping recently
processor cores running effectively, and keeping the GPU focused on the game delivered a speech to the World Economic
graphics. The emphasis is not so much on performance increases—these are Forum on the benefits of opening up
marginal, at 2–5 percent—but to get Win 10 rigs, Xbox One, and the forthcoming world trade and world borders. The irony
Scorpio console to offer a consistent experience. The target standard is 900p is palpable.
to 1080p for Xbox One, and 4K at 60fps for Scorpio. The “Games” section in Details on the new rules are a little
“Settings” sports the Xbox logo, and here you can configure each game. Win32 vague, but the clear targets are businesses
support has been confirmed, too, which is welcome. You also have game inside China who provide VPNs for its
streaming via Beam, and a new Game DVR settings page. It’s about blurring the citizens. The firewall that surrounds
lines between platforms, and focusing on a consistent game experience. –CL China has also started blocking VPN sites. Large corporations are unaffected so far. VPNs are popular in China to access otherwise blocked sites, such as Google and
Tech Tragedies and Triumphs
YouTube, and evade censorship on specific
A monthly snapshot of what’s up and down in tech
subjects, principally anything concerning dissatisfaction with the state.
The Internet arrived in China in 1994, and the state started to attempt to control it in 1998; a firewall for the entire nation
TRIUMPHS
TRAGEDIES
followed in 2003. China’s efforts to control
DRONEGUN
BURNING LAPTOPS
the Internet were initially greeted with much
HP has recalled over 100,000 skepticism in the West. The Internet was
We now have ray guns that can shoot
laptop batteries over issues with seen as too porous and too distributed to
down drones with concentrated
electromagnetic radiation—not
overheating and possible fires.
be stopped. While it is still difficult to stop a
available to the public yet, though.
determined individual, the state has proved
WIN 7 NOT SECURE
remarkably effective at suppressing the INTEL BACKS 7nm It still has three years of official curious. In China, you expect to be tracked,
Intel is building a pilot plant
support left, but Microsoft has
warned that Windows 7 is now and self-censorship is natural.
to develop the 7nm process.
intrinsically insecure. Meanwhile, in the rest of the world, VPNs
Moore’s Law still has legs.
are free to use and popular, even if the
GOOGLE PARKING
APPLE SLUMP
Apple’s share of the market has they are put to. China has shown that it is
authorities aren’t always keen on the uses
Google Maps will now include
dropped to 6.1 percent of PCs possible to effectively control what it was
a color-coded guide to how
online, down from 9.6 percent once thought almost impossible to police.
difficult it is to park at your
barely a year ago. Let’s hope nobody else gets any ideas. –CL
destination. Handy.
14 MAXIMUM PC SPRING 2017 maximumpc.com
Jarred Walton TECH TALK
The Current State of Integrated Graphics
THE WORLD OF INTEGRATED GRAPHICS has a long and storied history, most of which can be summed up as: they’re too slow and lacking in functionality. For years, the most “popular” graphics chips have been Intel’s, not because they were fast but because they were ubiquitous.
The good news is that Intel started putting more into play, and by targeting a closed effort into improving graphics when it created HD
platform, manufacturers can do Graphics, in 2010. The latest iteration is its 600
more with less. The PS4’s custom series, in the new Kaby Lake CPUs, which is largely
AMD processor uses about two- the same as the 500 series. A huge chunk of the
thirds of the die space on graphics, processor is devoted to graphics—roughly one third
I ran tests on 15 modern games, and even at low the die. The PS4 also uses GDDR5, quality settings and 1280x720, less than half were AD with a 256-bit interface clocked at
with the relatively slow Jaguar CPU of the die. But even so, performance isn’t stellar.
cores relegated to one eighth of
playable. But there is some good news in that all 15 5,500MT/s, with over four times the games rendered without any noticeable errors. Less
bandwidth of a dual-channel DDR4- demanding games such as Overwatch, League of
2667 configuration, and the PS4 Pro Legends, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Dota 2,
should double GPU performance. and many indie titles are also definitely playable.
AMD’s Kaveri APU uses half the die
I’m eager to see what AMD does Perhaps more interesting is what Intel has
space on graphics functionality.
with the upcoming Zen APUs. Will been doing over the past seven generations of
it include a high-speed memory Core processors. Intel more than quadrupled its
Kaby Lake at 440Gflops, are less
cache, along with substantially mainstream integrated graphics performance GTX 1050 (1,733Gflops) and RX 460
than half the performance of the
more GPU cores? It could, and going from first-gen to third-gen Core, but since
I’ve seen rumors of an APU with then, most of the desktop parts (Broadwell being
(2,150Gflops) that represent entry-
potentially 1,024 Vega GPU cores— the exception) haven’t seen much improvement. In
level dedicated GPUs. That’s a big
twice the number found in AMD’s raw computational power, the fastest GT2 variants
part of why most gamers end up
current top APUs. Combined with of Intel’s HD Graphics have sat in the 400-450Gflops
running a dedicated graphics card.
stacked memory (a single 2–4GB range since Haswell’s HD 4600 in late 2012.
Other factors include sharing
HBM2 stack, perhaps), AMD could AMD is only slightly better, with its top APUs, like
system memory bandwidth. Even
end up surpassing the performance the A10-7890K, sitting at 887Gflops, while lower-tier
with two or three times as many
of its RX 460. Certainly, AMD has parts like the A8-7670K (581Gflops) and A6-7470K
GPU cores, without increasing the
the expertise to pull this off, but (410Gflops) are well off the pace. More critically,
memory bandwidth, a lot of potential
I’m not convinced it will be enough all of these parts, including desktop Skylake and
performance is lost. An HBM2 cache
is a potential solution, and Intel has
to capture the interest of gamers,
used eDRAM caches with its Iris
with price being a major factor. AMD
products, but few desktop users are
might end up cannibalizing sales of
interested in improving integrated
its $100-200 graphics cards in order
graphics when a quick upgrade to
to sell more $100-200 APUs.
A quick upgrade to a dedicated
a dedicated graphics card can more than double performance.
graphics card can more than Jarred Walton has been a
Consoles are a different matter,
PC and gaming enthusiast
double performance.
where economies of scale come
for over 30 years.
maximumpc.com
SPRING 2017
MAXIMUM PC MAXIMUM PC
MAXIMUM PC’s TOP 7 THINGS FROM CES
MSI AM4+ MOTHERBOARDS
AMD VEGA GPU
7 2017, AM4+ mobos are coming thick and fast. 3 With HBM 2.0 and impressive compression
With Ryzen launching in the first quarter of The future’s bright for AMD’s next-gen GPUs.
tech, that 4K screen might have a use after all.
RAZER PROJECT VALERIE
6 triple-screen gaming notebook touts a
Although not to everyone’s liking, this
total resolution of 11520x2160.
2 cards catch up. The PG27UQ combines 4K,
ASUS ROG SWIFT PG27UQ
Meet the future of monitors—once graphics
144Hz, G-Sync, and HDR in one sexy package.
AMD FREESYNC 2
5 rate. Similar to G-Sync, AMD is now
The revolution of AMD’s variable refresh
enforcing standards including low latency and HDR.
iBUYPOWER PROJECT SNOWBLIND
1 The transparent LCD screen was first seen at
Computex last year. Acting as a second display
LG NANO CELL via HDMI, you can run anything you want on it. TECHNOLOGY
4 LG is innovating on top
of quantum dot by shrinking the pixel size down to a single nanometer to improve viewing angles, even beyond the limits of IPS and VA.
16 MAXIMUM PC SP R I N G 20 1 7 maximumpc.com
Alex Campbell OPEN SOURCE
Vulkan Can’t Bring Games to Linux by Itself
FOR YEARS AND YEARS, being a Linux user meant giving up on the idea of playing top-tier games when they’re released. For the most part, that’s still true, but technologies are emerging that will make it easier for developers to distribute games for Linux. Unfortunately, these new- fangled technologies don’t solve all of the underlying issues.
The first big thing that offers promise is the Vulkan need. The formats allow them to graphics API, the spiritual successor to OpenGL. As
stop chasing library updates, and an open API, Vulkan has promised a cross-platform
distribute software images that are API for developers who want to develop for Linux,
known to run on the vast majority of Windows, Mac, and even mobile devices. (The API
unify distribution in the face of the early 2016, and hardware released during the year AD fracturing caused by each distro’s
Linux systems without issue. also shipped with support for the modern Wayland
These formats also aim to graphics server.) The API spec was published in
offered support for Vulkan. However, very few package management solution. games offered support, with most released in 2016
Debian, Ubuntu, and Mint have opting for DirectX 11 or 12. Id Software’s id Tech
Doomed? Actually, things are
deb; Fedora and openSUSE have 6-powered Doom was a notable exception, showing
looking up for Linux gamers, but
RPM; Arch and Manjaro use tar.xz; the blistering-fast performance that Vulkan offered.
there’s still much work to be done.
Gentoo builds everything from Epic’s Unreal Engine 4 also supports the API.
source because why the hell not? With a high-performance, modern graphics API
shy away from Linux development
This landscape is hell for software available for Linux, one would thing there would
is understandable. The market is
minuscule compared to the number
distribution (and creates a lot of
work that volunteers have to do). hasn’t come. A quick scan of a list of games with
be a tidal wave of AAA games for Linux. That wave
of gamers on Windows, and Linux
Unfortunately, the three new Vulkan support on Wikipedia shows eight games
presents a moving target in terms
competing formats—flatpak, snap, written for Vulkan. Only two of those (Dota 2 and The
of libraries and drivers. Anyone
and AppImage—suffer from the Talos Principle) are available on Linux. (Id’s Doom is
who’s broken something like Wi-Fi
same problem, in that there’s three curiously Windows-only, breaking from id’s history
or Bluetooth support because of an
of them. Hopefully, 2017 will see a of releasing shooters for Linux as well as Windows.)
update knows what I mean. That
clear winner pull ahead of the pack. There simply aren’t many games written for
means a huge headache for very
But even if one does, and developers Vulkan yet, but given time, that will change. The
little return for a game dev shop.
have a clearer and more stable percentage of those games that are released for
But there are a few new packaging
platform to target, the chicken Linux might not, however. The big reason developers
technologies that aim to fix that.
Universal Linux “container” (penguin?) or the egg problem will formats are one of the most likely persist: There aren’t many important new ideas for desktop
gamers on Linux because there users. They differ slightly from aren’t many games for Linux, and container technologies such as there aren’t many games for Linux
Linux is a moving target in Docker, and aim to unify the Linux because there aren’t many gamers. terms of libraries and drivers; application distribution space.
a huge headache for very little Alex Campbell is a Linux geek
These technologies promise to
allow developers to package their
who enjoys learning about
return for a game dev shop.
apps with the libraries that they
computer security.
maximumpc.com
SPRING 2017
MAXIMUM PC
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BY MATT HANSON
AVG AntiVirus vs. Bitdefender Antivirus vs. Microsoft Defender
No matter how careful you are online, you can still be at risk of picking up a nasty virus or other malware. If you don’t want to shell out for an expensive (and resource-hogging) antivirus app, there are plenty of free tools to keep you protected. Far from being cut-down and basic, even these free programs come with plenty of features to protect your PC. But are they too good to be true, and how do they compare to the built-in protection that Windows offers? We pit three of the most popular free antivirus tools against each other to find out.
AVG AntiVirus also comes
ROUND 1
ROUND 2
with a browser plugin for protection
Features
Ease of Use
when surfing
Defender has virus, malware,
We want our antivirus app to
the Internet.
and spyware detection and
be unobtrusive, and keep us
removal. Real-time protection
protected with the minimum of
monitors downloaded files.
fuss. In that regard, Windows
There’s no firewall. Cloud-
Defender has a huge advantage, based protection defends as if you’re running a recent against threats identified on
version of Windows, it is already
other users’ PCs. It comes
installed and configured.
Bitdefender
preinstalled, with no ads or pop-
Downloading and installing
Antivirus is
ups nagging you to upgrade.
Bitdefender is straightforward,
both speedy
The free version of AVG
scanning your PC during
and highly
features virus, malware, and
the process. The interface
effective
spyware protection, and real-
is streamlined and easy to
at spotting
time security updates. Unlike
understand, and the Autopilot
nasties.
Defender, it comes with a plugin
mode means you can leave it
to protect you from unsafe
alone to get on with protecting
links, downloads, and email
you. To scan specific files, just
attachments. A gaming mode
drag and drop them.
(that cuts down on resources
AVG’s interface has simple
used) is welcome, but if you
indications letting you know if
want firewall or phishing
your PC is protected, and a big
Windows
protection, you must pay.
button to scan your system. It’s
Defender is
Bitdefender offers similar
not as hands-off as the others,
preinstalled
features as AVG, plus comes
but installation is simple. You’re
with Windows,
with Autopilot mode, which
encouraged to install a browser
and never
configures security settings
plugin to protect you while
nags you to
on the fly, enables automatic
online, but it tries to change your
shell out for
updates, and more, with no
homepage and default search
an upgrade.
annoying pop-ups, but AVG’s
engine, which we don’t like.
gaming mode gives it the edge.
Tie:
Winner:
Windows Defender
AVG
and Bitdefender
20 MAXIMUM PC SPRING 2017 maximumpc.com
ROUND 3
ROUND 4
ROUND 5
And the
Winner
Virus Scanning
Scan Speeds
Resource Use
Is…
In the latest AV Comparatives
On our test machine, Windows
Antivirus software can be
benchmarks (which are Defender completed a Quick
very resource hungry. With
Every one of these AV tools company), Bitdefender blocked
carried out by an independent
Scan in one minute, scanning
Microsoft’s knowledge of
has something going for it, 1,618 out of 1,619 test cases
11,288 files. We then performed
Windows, you’d think Defender
be it Windows Defender’s successfully, with a protection
a deeper scan on a full 100GB
would have an advantage here.
convenience, Bitdefender’s rate of 99.9 percent. AVG didn’t
hard drive, which completed in
While performing a full scan, it
excellent detection rate, or catch quite as many, with 1,612,
26 minutes, 42 seconds. Next
took up a peak of 275MB of RAM,
AVG’s speed and lightness. If and 99.6 percent. Windows
up was Bitdefender, and the
with CPU use (a powerful quad-
you go with Bitdefender, you Defender caught 1,570 test
initial Quick Scan took just 49
core Intel Core i7) hovering
can be sure your PC is as well cases, for a protection rate of
seconds. With the free version
around 54.6 percent. When not
of Bitdefender, scan choices are
in use, it used 152MB of RAM.
protected as possible for a
free program, and if you just not quite as good as the other
97 percent. That’s still high, but
a bit limited, so we dragged and
Bitdefender was much more
stick with Windows Defender, two AV products on test.
dropped the entire 100GB folder
resource-intensive. When idle,
you’ll at least be protected AV Comparatives also took just seven minutes, 10
on to the program to scan. That
it used around 180MB of RAM,
against the majority of threats. tested the programs for false
but when scanning, it had peaks
However, the overall winner flags—these are safe files or
seconds, which is a lot quicker
of 780MB RAM use (though
of these tests is AVG. It comes websites that are incorrectly
than Windows Defender.
around 400MB for most of the
with plenty of features, has an identified as harmful, and Scan option, though it offers lots
AVG doesn’t have a Quick
scan time), and CPU usage
excellent detection rate, and blocked by AV programs. Both
spiking at 98 percent, averaging
decent scanning speeds. What AVG and Bitdefender passed
of ways to configure scans, so
about 70 percent. The price to
we really love, though, is how the tests with no wrongly
they only check the bits of your
pay for such fast scanning.
few resources it takes up when blocked files or websites, but
PC you want. The default is a
Meanwhile, we were very
running in the background, Windows Defender incorrectly
full, deep scan. This is advisable
impressed with the impact of
or even when scanning your blocked 23 cases. While it’s
with all AV products, to make
AVG. At idle, the software takes
sure your PC is completely safe.
up 130MB of RAM, while in use
computer. It does a great job
of protecting your PC, while Bitdefender (with Bitdefender
a close call between AVG and
However, with our custom scan
it only takes up around 160MB.
having almost no impact on just edging a win), Windows
of the 100GB hard drive, it took
Better still, CPU use never went
performance—like all good AV Defender’s performance was
9 minutes, 48 seconds. Much
higher than 14 percent—a far
products, you’ll hardly know rather disappointing.
faster than Windows Defender,
cry from the stress Bitdefender
but not as quick as Bitdefender.
puts the PC under.
it’s there.
Winner:
Winner:
Winner:
Bitdefender
Bitdefender
AVG
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THIS MONTH THE DOCTOR TACKLES...
> Workstation Power er > Mixing Memory y > Jumping to X9 X99
Workstation Power
render to 17 hours or so. You Hi Doctor. My son is a 3D digital
could use a cheaper CPU, but design student at Rochester
anything lower than the -2630 Institute of Technology (RIT).
will typically be outperformed We purchased a Lenovo P700
by a 6- to 10-core 3GHz-plus system for his design work and,
single-CPU system, which is of course, gaming. He uses
also more affordable. If you applications such as Maya,
have the budget to go higher RealFlow, and Adobe’s CC suite.
than the E5-2630, a quick rule He’s having an issue setting
of thumb for rendering is to up his hardware to reduce the
use Xeon CPUs that end in a 0 time it takes to render projects
(-2630, -2640, -2660, and so on). in Maya—they take as long as 30
“Keep in mind that many of hours to complete. I don’t think
the other tasks you mentioned adding more memory will help,
(gaming, Maya modeling, and and he’s already running dual
all Adobe software) do not work Xeon processors, with a pretty
well with dual-Xeon systems. good graphics card.
There is extra processing We looked for ways to
overhead when you have two better utilize both processors,
physical CPUs, and unless the but can’t figure that out. He
software is good at utilizing also thinks a second graphics
multiple cores at the same card might help, but can’t find
time—as rendering is—you documentation supporting his
Lenovo’s ThinkStation P700 may require higher-end CPUs for
often get better performance hypothesis. Any ideas you have
optimal rendering performance.
with one CPU than with two. In would be greatly appreciated.
following guidance: “If faster
with higher core counts, but
fact, for gaming and modeling/
–Dave Fantauzzo
render times from Maya are
the E5-2609 v3 is only one step
animation, four cores running
at high clock rates yield much THE DOCTOR RESPONDS : The
your primary concern, the
up from the lowest-end CPU of
better performance.” Doc is well versed in matters
solution isn’t quick or easy.
that generation. Upgrading a
You are correct that more
dual-Xeon setup isn’t as cheap
of hardware, but less familiar
RAM likely won’t help (32GB is
as adding RAM, but it’s the only
Mixing Memory
with Maya, and the resources
Dear Doctor, When it comes to its renderer exploits. To get you
typically plenty), and as Maya
thing that will help significantly.
memory, if I’m using the same the best answer, the Doc went
uses a CPU-based rendering
“For rendering, the Xeon
brand and speed, does it matter to his friends at Puget Systems
engine, upgrading the GPU
E5-2630 v3/v4 is usually the
if I install two 16GB modules in Auburn, Washington, who
won’t improve render times
lowest-end dual-CPU config
with a CAS rating of 14 and two test and write about optimizing
either. The weakest link in your
we recommend to one of our
4GB sticks at CAS 16? Both configurations for workstation
son’s dual-Xeon workstation
customers. Compared to the
would be DDR4-3200. Or would applications. Matt Bach, in
is the CPUs themselves. Two
E5-2609 v3s your son has today,
a slower data rate at CAS 12 be Puget’s lab, sent over the
Xeons can work very well for
a pair of E5-2630 v3s could be
rendering, as they scale nicely
expected to drop that 30-hour
better? I’m doing some gaming,
↘ submit your questions to: doctor@maximumpc.com
22 MAXIMUM PC SPRING 2017 maximumpc.com 22 MAXIMUM PC SPRING 2017 maximumpc.com
BIOS settings to default. If the
old Tarzan movies. If I overclock,
issue persists, you’re likely
it’ll be conservative.
out of luck. Don’t be surprised
I also have a Samsung M.2-
if this is the case; it could be
based boot drive and a Samsung
that the capacity differences
SSD for user data. If I use an
between 16GB and 4GB
external SSD for downloading
modules are simply too great.
Internet content, and that
In regard to your external
content is infected with a virus,
drive question—yes, any virus
would only the portable drive be
on one drive can potentially
affected, or could the contagion
affect other drives as well.
spread to other devices? A $60 external drive lost to cooties
The Right Connection
would be far better than the
Hello, I’m a long-time
permanent drives.
subscriber, going back to the
If this helps, I plan on buying
days of Boot. In the January
Gigabyte’s Z170X-Gaming 7 supports simultaneous use of its
a Core i7-6700K, an MSI Gaming
2017 issue, editor-in-chief Tuan
CPU_FAN and CPU_OPT headers.
M7 or Asus Maximus VIII Hero
Nguyen’s Lab Notes article
motherboard, a Corsair H110i
I should make the jump to GT cooler, a Samsung 850 EVO
“Short Circuits” intrigued me,
diagnostic software still thinks
X99? I still need to buy a new 500GB M.2, a Samsung 850
as I recently built a new system.
I’m using Windows 8.
motherboard and RAM. EVO 1TB, an MSI GeForce GTX
I double-checked and verified
I’d like to remove everything
I have a Core i7-4790K on the 1080, and a Be Quiet! Dark Base
that I was using both the CPU_
and reinstall from a Windows
Z97 chipset, and that’s working 900 chassis.
FAN and CPU_OPT headers,
10 Home disc. However, it is my
–Ray Nimeth
which Tuan warns against doing.
understanding that because
fine for me, but I’d like to take
advantage of the additional THE DOCTOR RESPONDS : Let’s
I’ve had the system for a
the laptop has UEFI, it requires
cores, PCIe lanes, and support start with your memory
month and have had no problem
the original OEM partitions to
for full-speed M.2 drives. I want question. The answer isn’t
whatsoever. It consists of a Core
boot. In other words, I can’t
to get the most from my ROG straightforward because
i5-6600K attached to a Gigabyte
delete the OEM partitions and
Swift PG279Q, a task I suspect it depends on a number
Z170X-Gaming 7 motherboard,
software before performing a
may require two GPUs. of variables. First, there’s
with a Corsair H60 CPU cooler.
full reinstallation.
However, I’ve heard that the your motherboard’s BIOS.
The radiator fan is connected to
Is there any way around this
LGA-2011 v3 interface won’t be Depending on how the firmware
the CPU_FAN header, while the
requirement, and how does one
used for Skylake-X and Kaby was written, it might choose
pump is connected to CPU_OPT.
get a laptop with no operating
Lake-X. And some of the new the slowest common memory
I left it as-is for the moment
system to perform its own
Z270 boards that are coming settings, the memory settings
because, like I said, zero
installation?
–Gerald Gibson
out look quite tempting as well, from a preset priority list of
issues. Thoughts? –Mike H.
especially with their support for slots on the board, the serial
THE DOCTOR RESPONDS :
Intel’s upcoming Optane tech. presence detect (SPD) settings
THE DOCTOR RESPONDS : Tuan
Updating an older system
I mostly do digital drawing from a random module, or
was having issues with an Asus
to Windows 10 sometimes
and gaming, though I do use it could refuse to boot when
board; that company’s support
requires a BIOS/UEFI update.
virtual machines from time to presented with conflicting SPD
folks advised against using both
For anyone else considering
time. Do you think I’d be better information. The memory chips
headers concurrently to avoid
this, depending on how old the
served making the jump to on those modules could also be
the problem he encountered.
laptop is, it may or may not
the enthusiast X99, or finding incompatible due to different
The Doc consulted Gigabyte
support Win 10, or you may run
some other use for my new CPU densities or capacities.
about your motherboard, and
into driver limitations.
and sticking with consumer So, there’s a lot that could go
was told that the CPU_FAN
That said, if you have an
platforms like Z270 or (gasp) wrong—if you have the option to
and CPU_OPT headers can be
optical disc drive, Windows
used together without an issue.
10 Home media, and the
AMD’s Ryzen?
–Jordan S.
avoid mixing kits, take it.
CPU_FAN is either for a heat
key, there should be nothing
THE DOCTOR RESPONDS : The Doc both, try installing the modules
If you already have them
sink or radiator fan that can
preventing you from starting
wouldn’t jump to X99 for gaming in alternate slots, so that the
ramp up and down based on
afresh. Update the UEFI by
alone; your fast quad-core CPU kits each populate one channel.
CPU temperature; CPU_OPT is
downloading the latest version
is fine for that. Plus, a single Check your manual for guidance
an additional header that can
from Lenovo’s website. Pop the
GeForce GTX 1080 or 1070 will on where to put the higher-
provide 100 percent power all
disc in your drive, and ensure
drive your QHD display well capacity modules. Should your
the time to the pump. Each has
your firmware is configured
enough in the latest games. system boot successfully at
its own IC to control amperage
to look there first upon boot.
Even if you do crave more low baseline settings, dial in
limits. You’re in the clear.
Or, visit http://go.microsoft.
com/fwlink/?LinkId=691209 graphics performance, two x8 manual settings for the data
slots are plenty for CrossFire rate, CL timings, command
Reinstalling Win 10
to download Microsoft’s media
or SLI. But virtualization does rate, and voltage (that is, don’t
I have a Lenovo laptop that
creation tool.
benefit from lots of cores and use XMP). Specify the lower of
came with an OEM copy of
cache. That could be reason the settings between both kits.
Windows 8 and a UEFI firmware.
Jumping to X99
alone for you to make the Should you run into trouble
I upgraded to Windows 10 on
Hey, Doc! I got my hands on a
switch, if the workload is booting up, try resetting the
my own, and it was working
Core i7-6850K for a great price,
well. Unfortunately, the OEM
and I’m wondering whether
important enough.
23
maximumpc.com
SPRING 2017
MAXIMUM PC
big screen group test
BIG-SCREEN DEBUT
Never before has the high-end PC monitor market been so vibrant and innovative. Allow Jeremy Laird to help you solve this particular paradox of choice
26 MAXIMUM PC SPRING 2017 maximumpc.com
A WINDOW INTO YOUR COMPUTING WORLD . That’s
refresh rates synched with the output of their video
what a PC monitor is. The question is, do you want
card. Then there’s the widespread adoption of far
your view to be a miserable, letter-box glimpse, or
higher resolutions, such as 4K or UHD.
a broad, expansive, and liberating vista?
Even more recently, there’s been a revolution in
OK, that’s a loaded way of posing the problem of
colors and contrast. HDR, or high dynamic range, is
screen choice. It ain’t all about size. In fact, at the
the latest technology to hit the display market. It’s
high end, generous proportions are a given. So it’s
already pretty much taken over the high-end HDTV
all the rest that you need to worry about: panel type,
segment. Now it’s beginning to assimilate monitors.
native resolution, and pixel pitch, for instance.
However, the process will be more complicated
But that’s just the basics. The PC monitor market
on the PC, as if the practicalities of implementing
is more complex than ever. That begins with a much
HDR weren’t already complex enough. Point being,
broader choice of shapes and sizes. You can go
you’ll be able to pick and choose between various
seriously big these days. You can also go seriously
aspects of what has become known as HDR.
wide, thanks to 21:9 aspect ratio panels. And you
An example is quantum dot technology. It’s
can go curved for a wrap-around experience.
a color enhancement feature that isn’t strictly
Meanwhile, several spectacular new image-
associated with increasing dynamic range, but
enhancement technologies have emerged over the
it’s part of the broader HDR toolkit that’s
last two years. It wasn’t that long ago that refresh
finding its way into PC monitors. So,
rates for LCD monitors were stuck at 60Hz. Now you
let’s dissect the high-end PC
can go up to 160Hz. Gamers can also opt for dynamic
display market.
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LET’S TAKE A TOUR around the recent history of same, what’s the point? Likewise, is a screen hooked
Above from left to right:
the high-end PC monitor. Remember when a 24- up to a PC while you sit on a couch 15 feet away a
The Asus PA329Q has
inch widescreen monitor with a 1920x1200 native monitor or a TV? Similarly, it’s possible to go too
advanced quantum dot
resolution constituted high end? We’re thinking big in terms of panel viewability. Beyond 40 inches,
technology, but it’s the
2004, and the Dell 2405FPW. You can get something
a screen situated at conventional monitor viewing
purist’s choice.
close to that for about 100 bucks today. Incredible.
distances requires a whole lot of head craning.
About three years later, Dell shook things up That said, many people who thought 30-inch
The Dell UP3017Q is
again with the 3007WFP, a 30-inch 2560x1600 beast
panels were too big 10 years ago are probably happily
one of the first OLED PC
that was so spectacular at the time, it was hard to running 32-inch or 34-inch monitors today. What
monitors to arrive—but
imagine anything bigger. But a further five years feels unwieldy at first, can soon make reverting to a
it costs a fortune.
down the road in 2017, and the 3007 is toast. smaller screen seem restrictive. On a similar note, Screen tech is advancing at breakneck speed. One
where do projectors fit in? A projector can never be a
LG’s 38UC99 is the
moment you’re marveling at the latest superwide direct replacement for a PC monitor, yet nothing can
latest superwide
curved monitor, the next you’re having your entire
compete with their sheer cinematic scale.
curved-screen wonder.
field of view saturated by staggering HDR visuals courtesy of a 55-inch UHDTV, and every monitor
POINTS OF VIEW
This HDTV is big and
you’ve ever used before suddenly seems tiny. Aspect ratio is another consideration. Superwide
beautiful, but do you
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Choices must 21:9-aspect monitors are gaining traction. They’re
really want a 50-inch
be made. You can’t have everything in one monitor. fantastic for movies. They work great with games.
screen as a PC monitor?