100
GREATEST OF ALL TIMEMAXIMUMPC DECEMBER 2007
34
PCI
(1993) The PC had
been saddled with the pokey ISA bus
for more than a decade before a succes-
sor arose in the form of PCI. This 32-bit
slot proved perfectly capable of handling
all manner of peripherals and was the
standard for graphics connectors for
most of the ’90s.33
DELL ULTRASHARP 2001FP
(2003) Early LCDs looked pretty
on your desk but were too slow for gam-
ing. This 20-inch LCD from Dell was the
fi rst to approach CRTs in response time.32
GL QUAKE/QUAKEWORLD
(1996) These mods for Quake
(see #6) showed how far graphics could
be taken, even in this era of early 3D.
GL Quake’s tweaks changed the game in
unpredictable ways, while QuakeWorld
launched serious, lag-free multiplayer
twitch gaming.31
MATROX G400 (1999) Two of
anything is better than one, par-
ticularly when it comes to displays: The
G400 handily launched the multihead
craze with its dual VGA outputs.30
COMPAQ PORTABLE (1983)
It’s critical for two reasons: In
one machine, Compaq invented the PC
clone market and the portable computer.
Not bad for a company with no track
record at all.29
ADOBE PHOTOSHOP (1990)
This is the reason everyone looks
better in photographs than they do in real
life. It’s also reportedly the most pirated
application ever.28
ATX (1995) Finally evolving the
long-standard AT motherboard
formfactor, ATX solved some key prob-
lems with the AT mobo and case, like its
soldered power-supply connectors and
archaic connector selection. Want to see
how enduring ATX has been ever since?
Look inside your PC.27
AMD ATHLON 64 (2003) Intel’s
hegemony of the processor world
came to an abrupt, albeit temporary, end
in 2003, with this fi rst consumer 64-bit
CPU. While Intel retook the performance
throne with the Core 2 Duo’s release, A
features such as an on-die memory con-
troller are still groundbreaking.26
CD-ROM (1984) It was a short
hop from digital audio to com-
puter data, with software manufacturers
fi nally shipping titles (initially heavy on
reference books) on CD instead of fl oppy.
The optical disc format would eventually
lead to the fl oppy’s demise and remains
popular today.28