MaximumPC 2007 02

MAXIMUMPC

EDITORIAL
EDITOR IN CHIEF Will Smith
MANAGING EDITOR Tom Edwards
EXECUTIVE EDITOR Michael Brown
SENIOR EDITOR Gordon Mah Ung
SENIOR EDITOR Katherine Stevenson
ASSOCIATE EDITOR David Murphy
SPECIAL PROJECTS EDITOR Steve Klett
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Norman Chan, Paul Lilly, Tom
Halfhill, 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
PUBLISHER Anthony Danzi
646-723-5453, [email protected]
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Rob Smith
605-238-2503, [email protected]
WESTERN AD DIRECTOR Dave Lynn
949-360-4443, [email protected]
WESTERN AD MANAGER Derek Johnson
605-238-2327, [email protected]
EASTERN AD MANAGER Larry Presser
646-723-5459, [email protected]
EASTERN AD MANAGER GAMES Kristin Kelleher
646-723-5491, [email protected]
ADVERTISING COORDINATOR Jose Urrutia
650-238-2498, [email protected]
MARKETING COORDINATOR Michael Basilio

PRODUCTION
PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Richie Lesovoy
PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Dan Mallory

CIRCULATION
CIRCUL ATION MANAGER Peter Kelly
NEWSSTAND MANAGER Elliott Kiger
PRINT ORDER COORDINATOR Heidi Hapin
FULFILLMENT MANAGER Peggy Mores

Quick Start Nvidia and AMD

subpoenaed, but why? ........................... 08

Head2Head Gaming PC vs.

consoles—fi ght! ..................................... 16

WatchDog Maximum PC takes

a bite out of bad gear ............................. 20

How To Google Labs’ secret

applications unveiled! .............................. 54

Ask the Doctor Diagnosing

and curing your PC problems ................ 58

Contents

R&D How electronic paper works ... 60

In the Lab Quad FX memory

tests; Zune Marketplace...................... 62

In/Out You write, we respond.......... 94

Rig of the Month Ton

Khowdee’s Super Hornet .................... 96

Departments

Reviews

Gaming rig ABS Ultimate X8 III ....... 64

Videocard EVGA e-GeForce

8800 GTS ................................................. 66

MP3 player Samsung YP-K5 ......... 68

Media player Microsoft Zune ........ 68

Headphones Ultrasone iCans ........ 70

Earbuds Etymotic ety8 Bluetooth .... 70

HDTV tuners Pinnacle PCTV

HD Pro Stick; OnAir USB HDTV-GT ..... 71

Video streamers Sling Media

Slingbox Pro; Sony LocationFree

TV LF-B20 ................................................ 72

Cases Fatal1ty FC-ZE1; Cooler

Master iTower 930; NZXT Adamas ....... 73

FEBRUARY 2007 MAXIMUMPC

Wi-Fi NAS unit

Asus WL-700gE ....................................... 74

CPU cooler Zalman

CNPS9700 LED ........................................ 74

Speakers Abit iDome D

Digital 2.1; Bose Companion 5;

Altec Lansing FX5051 ............................ 76

Digital camera Olympus

SP-510 UZ ............................................... 78

07

Logitech Chillstream Gamepad ...... 78

Gothic 3 .................................................. 80

Medieval II: Total War ......................... 81

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance ................. 81

Gaming

68

70

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

PRESIDENT Jonathan Simpson-Bint
VICE PRESIDENT/COO Tom Valentino
VICE PRESIDENT/CIRCULATION Holly Klingel
CFO John Sutton
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 customerservice@
maximumpc.com or call customer service toll-free at 800.274.

Maximum PC ISSN: 1522-

74

80