Maximum PC - USA (2019-06)

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WE TACKLE TOUGH READER QUESTIONS ON...

94 MAXIMUMPC JUN 2019 maximumpc.com

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Dodecahedron Fun

It’s been too long and I’m

upgrading. I bought an Intel

Core i9-9900 CPU, and

it arrived in the all-time

strangest box I’ve ever

seen. I confess that it took

me a minute to figure out

how to open it (look for the

tape holding it together).

If I’d been given a choice

of saving $10 and getting

a regular box, I would've

gone that route. The rest

will be easy. –Steve G

EXECUTIVE EDITOR, ALAN

DEXTER, RESPONDS:

While Intel is the latest

to produce some frankly

ridiculous packaging, you

can’t lay all the blame

at its door, as AMD’s

Threadripper chips set the

level that Intel felt it had to

beat. It’s fairly obvious that

this has been done to make

the whole experience more

of an event for the end

user, which is particularly

relevant when you’re

dropping so much money

on something.

To be honest, we quite

like the packaging of this

(and AMD’s Threadrippers)

just because they are a bit

out of the ordinary. But

at the same time, you’re

right—we’re paying for this

packaging, and once you’ve

got the important thing

out of it (you know, the

actual chip), what are you

supposed to do with what’s

left? Display it on a shelf,

before throwing it in the

bin? That probably.

Sound Check

Phil Iwaniuk’s article

on soundcards (“The

Sound of Silence,” May

2019 issue) contains a

statement that gaming

audio “is compressed to

accommodate smaller

download sizes, so tends

to max out at CD quality,

44,100Hz sample rate and

16-bit linear depth.” CD

quality is not compressed.

The specs he quotes are the

red-book audio standard

for CDs, which carry

uncompressed audio.

What am I missing? Is

there a red-book standard

for compressed audio

I don’t know about? Or

does “compressed” mean

something different in

gaming? Please tell me

this isn’t just another

example of a computer

magazine making a hash

out of the art and science

of audio reproduction.

He also says HD audio

is “largely a marketing

conceit to sell headsets

with higher specs.” I

assume he’s referring

exclusively to its use in

games. The golden-eared

critics at Stereophile,

Absolute Sound, and other

high-end audio magazines

would disagree. They

say anyone can hear the

improvement that, say,

96kHz 24-bit sound makes

over “CD quality” audio.

–Thomas V. Lento

CONTRIBUTING WRITER,

PHIL IWANIUK, RESPONDS:

It’s an issue of semantics—

CD quality is the absolute

best you get in games that

don’t offer HD audio, but

there's a gamut: Many

games do compress their

audio files below that

of CD-quality standard.

And, yes, I’m talking

about gaming hardware

marketing—but I’d contest

that anyone can hear

the difference. We all have

different hearing levels.

If you’ve spent the last 20

years playing drums in a

thrash metal band, you’re

perhaps not going to notice

that high-end sparkle as

much as a teenager with

fresh, undamaged ears.

Smaller and Smaller

Can you make your print

any smaller? Why don’t

you just sell blank pages?

I would learn just as much

from them. –Tom Lamb

EXECUTIVE EDITOR, ALAN

DEXTER, RESPONDS:We

actually increased the

font size throughout the

magazine a few months

ago, but if you and other

readers are still finding it

hard to read, get in touch,

and we could increase the

size again.

New for Old Gear

Here’s a head-scratcher

for you. I don’t have as

much time for gaming as I

used to, and my game box

was a Z97/Core i7 platform

that’s obviously five years

old at this point. I had no

particular problems with

Puzzling Packaging

Audio Clarity

Keyboard Issues

The i9-9900K’s packaging

isn’t to everyone’s tastes.