MaximumPC 2006 10

FUTURE US, INC 4000 Shoreline Court, Suite 400, South San Francisco, CA 94080 http://www.futureus-inc.com PRESIDENT Jonathan Simpson-Bint VICE PRESIDENT/CFO Tom Valentino VICE PRESIDENT/CIRCULATION Holly Klingel GENERAL COUNSEL Charles Schug PUBLISHING DIRECTOR/GAMES Simon Whitcombe PUBLISHING DIRECTOR/MUSIC AND TECH Steve Aaron PUBLISHING DIRECTOR/BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Dave Barrow EDITORIAL DIRECTOR/TECHNOLOGY Jon Phillips EDITORIAL DIRECTOR/MUSIC Brad Tolinski DIRECTOR OF CENTRAL SERVICES Nancy Durlester PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Richie Lesovoy Future US, Inc. is part of Future plc. Future produces carefully tar- geted special-interest magazines, websites and events for people who share a passion. We aim to satisfy that passion by creating titles offering value for money, reliable information, smart buying advice and which are a pleasure to read or visit. Today we publish more than 150 magazines, 65 websites and a growing number of events in the US, UK, France and Italy. Over 100 international editions of our magazines are also published in 30 other countries across the world. Future plc is a public company quoted on the London Stock Exchange (symbol: FUTR). FUTURE plc 30 Monmouth St., Bath, Avon, BA1 2BW, England http://www.futureplc.com Tel +44 1225 442244 NON-EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN: Roger Parry CHIEF EXECUTIVE: Stevie Spring GROUP FINANCE DIRECTOR: John Bowman Tel +44 1225 442244 http://www.futureplc.com REPRINTS: For reprints, contact Ryan Derfl er, Reprint Operations Specialist, 717.399.1900 ext. 167 or email: [email protected] SUBSCRIPTION QUERIES: Please email maxcustserv@cdsfulfi ll ment.com or call customer service toll-free at 800.274. Maximum PC ISSN: 1522-

MAXIMUMPC

FUTURE US, INC
4000 Shoreline Court, Suite 400, South San Francisco, CA 94080
http://www.futureus-inc.com

PRESIDENT Jonathan Simpson-Bint
VICE PRESIDENT/CFO Tom Valentino
VICE PRESIDENT/CIRCULATION Holly Klingel
GENERAL COUNSEL Charles Schug
PUBLISHING DIRECTOR/GAMES Simon Whitcombe
PUBLISHING DIRECTOR/MUSIC AND TECH Steve Aaron
PUBLISHING DIRECTOR/BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Dave Barrow
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR/TECHNOLOGY Jon Phillips
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR/MUSIC Brad Tolinski
DIRECTOR OF CENTRAL SERVICES Nancy Durlester
PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Richie Lesovoy

Future US, Inc. is part of Future plc.
Future produces carefully tar-
geted special-interest magazines,
websites and events for people
who share a passion. We aim to
satisfy that passion by creating titles
offering value for money, reliable
information, smart buying advice
and which are a pleasure to read or
visit. Today we publish more than
150 magazines, 65 websites and a
growing number of events in the US, UK, France and Italy. Over 100
international editions of our magazines are also published in 30
other countries across the world.

Future plc is a public company quoted on the London Stock Exchange
(symbol: FUTR).

FUTURE plc
30 Monmouth St., Bath, Avon, BA1 2BW, England
http://www.futureplc.com
Tel +44 1225 442244

NON-EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN: Roger Parry
CHIEF EXECUTIVE: Stevie Spring
GROUP FINANCE DIRECTOR: John Bowman
Tel +44 1225 442244
http://www.futureplc.com

REPRINTS: For reprints, contact Ryan Derfl er, Reprint Operations
Specialist, 717.399.1900 ext. 167
or email: [email protected]

SUBSCRIPTION QUERIES: Please email maxcustserv@cdsfulfi ll
ment.com or call customer service toll-free at 800.274.

Maximum PC ISSN: 1522-

EDITORIAL
EDITOR IN CHIEF Will Smith
MANAGING EDITOR Katherine Stevenson
EXECUTIVE EDITOR Michael Brown
SENIOR EDITOR Gordon Mah Ung
SENIOR EDITOR Josh Norem
SPECIAL PROJECTS EDITOR Steve Klett
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Tom Halfhill, Todd Haselton,
Tom McDonald
EDITOR EMERITUS Andrew Sanchez

ART
ART DIRECTOR Natalie Jeday
ASSOCIATE ART DIRECTOR Boni Uzilevsky
PHOTO EDITOR Mark Madeo
ASSOCIATE PHOTOGRAPHER Samantha Berg
CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER Sandra Silbereisen

BUSINESS
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Anthony Danzi
646-723-5453, [email protected]
SOUTHWESTERN AD DIRECTOR Dave Lynn
NATIONAL SALES MANAGER, ENTERTAINMENT Isaac Ugay
NORTHWESTERN AD DIRECTOR Stacey Levy
EASTERN AD MANAGER Larry Presser
ADVERTISING COORDINATOR Jose Urrutia
MARKETING MANAGER Cassandra Magzamen
MARKETING COORDINATOR Michael Basilio

PRODUCTION
PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Richie Lesovoy
PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Dan Mallory

CIRCULATION
FULFILLMENT MANAGER Angela Martinez
NEWSSTAND COORDINATOR Alex Guzman
BILLING AND RENEWAL MANAGER Betsy Wong

Quick Start AMD buys ATI; what’s the fallout? ................................... 8

Head2Head AMD’s Athlon FX- vs. Intel’s Core 2 Extreme ..................... 16

WatchDog Maximum PC takes a bite out of bad gear ............................. 22

How To Make Your Own Machinima ............................................. 63

Ask the Doctor Diagnosing and curing your PC problems .............. 68

Contents

R&D Dig into the secrets of SMART ........................................... 72

In the Lab The problem with HD-DVD and Blu-ray .......................... 76

In/Out You write, we respond........ 118

Rig of the Month Alex Wiley’s Batman Begins mod ........................ 120

Departments

Reviews

Desktop PC Falcon Northwest’s Mach V ...................................................... 78

Desktop PC Digital Storm’s Twister Ultra 4 .......................................... 80

Blu-ray drive Pioneer BD-R 101A ............................................... 82

Digital camera Fujifilm FinePix V10 ............................................... 82

Motherboard Asus P5W DH Deluxe....................................... 84

Wi-Fi Routers Linksys WRT300N; Netgear WNR854T ............... 86

Hard drive Samsung HD400LJ ...... 88

MP3 player Creative Zen V Plus ..... 88

OCTOBER 2006 MAXIMUMPC

Mid-tower cases Tuniq 2; Ultra Aluminus .......................................... 90

Earbuds Creative Zen Aurvana; Etymotic ER-6 Isolator; ExtremeMac FS1; Sennheiser MX 55 VC Street ......... 92

Portable drives Seagate 160GB; Maxtor OneTouch III Mini; Western Digital Passport 120GB ............ 94

Powerline networking Zyxel PL-100; Netgear HDX-B101 ........ 96

Skype Phones Linksys CIT200; New Tech Dualphone .............................. 98

7

102

Titan Quest ............................................ 100

Prey .......................................................... 102

Gaming

98

78

MaximumPC 2006 10

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