MaximumPC 2008 07

94 | MAXIMUMPC | JUL 08 | http://www.maximumpc.com

A Better Best

of the Best

I am going to be building

my new system this sum-

mer and eagerly awaited

my May issue so I could look

at the Best of the Best list.

Unless I’m blind, I could not

find my beloved list any-

where in the magazine nor

online at MaximumPC.com.

Did I miss it someplace?

—Greg McIntire

Editor in Chief Will Smith

Responds: I have some good

news and some bad news about

the future of the Best of the Best

section. The bad news is that

we’ve removed the list from

the magazine. I’ve never been

particularly happy with how

little space we could devote to

the list in the magazine. I’d like to

be able to explain our reasoning

for the choices we make and

describe the hardware more, but

our space in the mag is limited.

The good news is that

we’re going to roll out a com-

plete overhaul of Best of the

Best on our website (www.

maximumpc.com), which

is scheduled to go live at

the end of June. In addition

to a greatly expanded and

improved Best of the Best

section, the redesigned site

will also feature regularly

updated hardware recom-

mendations for system

builders of all budgets.

Angling for Athlon

I was re-reading Gordon’s In

the Lab piece on overclock-

ing in the January issue and

there seems to be something

missing in his article—as

with most of the AMD vs.

Intel comparisons I read—

which is bang for the buck.

Certainly, it’s true that AMD

has hit a bump in the road

and hasn’t yet come up with

a strong top-end processor,

but most people don’t buy

state-of-the-art equipment.

AMD’s strong point has

always been that you get

more GHz for your dollar, so

I came up with a couple new

categories for your over-

clocking results chart to see

what people really get for

their money: Overclocked

speed and cost per GHz

after overclocking. I then

sorted the spreadsheet by

cost per overclocked GHz

and cost per stock GHz. My

conclusions:

 The Intel E2160 certainly

gives the most bang for

the buck, despite its older

technology.

 The Intel Q6700, at more

than twice the cost per

GHz of any of the other

CPU, and with only a mar-

ginal improvement over

the four other 3.xGHz

CPUs, is grossly over-

priced.

 The AMD processors take

four of the top six spots

for cost per stock GHz

and are very comparable

to the Intels even after

overclocking.

 The Athlon 6000+ and

6400+ are no slouches,

coming in at only around

3 percent fewer GHz than

the high-end Intels—after

overclocking. Perhaps

the reason that AMD’s

CPUs don’t overclock

as much as Intel’s is

PHOTO OF THE MONTH

Apparently Someone Didn’t Learn His Lesson

To enter, send your tech-related, high-res digital photo to [email protected].

We tackle tough reader questions on...

 Best of the Best

 Overclocking

Best of the Best

Overclocking

Best of the Best

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COMMENTS^

YOU WRITE, WE RESPOND

Last year, Associate Editor Dave Murphy built a budget rig in a cardboard box.

Reader Ken Gregory wins the no-prize this month for his homage to Dave’s folly.