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WE TACKLE TOUGH READER QUESTIONS ON...94 MAXIMUMPC SEP 2019 maximumpc.com
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Cool Winners
I am writing about your
“Head to Head” article
comparing cooling options.
The bottom text shows the
winner for each category.
Clearly, “Air” cooling wins
three of the five categories.
The “All-in-One” one wins
once (actually, it tied once).
Yet, you rate the “All-in-
One” as the winner. How
can this be possible?
This is a contradiction—
why would you bother
rating each category, then
override your own rating?
–Jacob SimpsonEXECUTIVE EDITOR, ALAN
DEXTER, RESPONDS:
While this may be a little
confusing initially, if you
turn your eyes to the “And
the winner is...” box on the
pages in question, you’ll
find that we addressed
this very issue, and
explained why we favor
all-in-one setups over air
cooling. We don’t attribute
equal weighting to the
categories, or simply add
up the wins; it comes down
to what we feel is the best
option overall. We break
these head-to-heads into
categories, so that if one
area is more important
to you, you can focus onthat—if you’re mainly
after performance, for
example, a custom loop is
your best option. All three
methods of cooling have
their place, and there’s
absolutely nothing wrong
with air cooling (or, indeed,
custom loops), but given
the choice, we would
recommend an all-in-one
for the reasons stated.Color Accuracy
A while back, you had a
tutorial explaining how
to use the basic version
of the Datacolor Spyder5.
For someone who would
not only want to create
a custom setting in their
PC, but also calibrate
the display itself (in this
case, an HDTV, that would
eventually be upgraded to
a 4K UHD TV) via its own
color management settings
to accommodate multiple
inputs (gaming consoles,
TV, and so on), would the
Datacolor Spyder5PRO be
a better choice? Or would
you instead recommend
the X-Rite i1Display Pro
or X-Rite ColorMunki
Display? And, if I upgrade
to a projector, would any
of these choices work (I’m
assuming the Spyder5PRO
would not), or would I needto look at a completely
different calibration tool?
–Julian Parrilla GrajalesEXECUTIVE EDITOR, ALAN
DEXTER, RESPONDS:
Hardware calibration
devices are predominantly
used by photographers
and designers who need
to ensure the images
they’re working on can be
accurately replicated—
particularly useful when
it comes to printing
out the final image. Given
the professional remit,
it should come as no
surprise that such devices
command a premium
(the SpyderX Studio costs
$500), although older
units can be picked up for
much less—which would
be our recommendation if
you’re not a professional
image fiddler.
As to which of the ones
you’ve listed is better, that
largely comes down to
what you can afford, your
experience using them, the
level of support needed,
speed of operation, and
what you’re actually using
it for—the SpyderX Elite
supports calibrating for
motion work, for instance.
Projectors are a slightly
different ball game, asa traditional calibration
device sits on the display’s
surface, which in this
case means it’ll block the
image you’re trying to
calibrate. The good news
is that the latest models
allow for this: The SpyderX
Elite can be mounted in
front of the screen on a
stand, and can allow for
the resultant shadow,
while the X-Rite i1Display
Pro and ColorMunki can
calibrate projectors by
placing them much further
away, although we suspect
the SpyderX quality will be
better in this instance.4K Video Editing
I want to build a desktop to
monitor 4K videos off my
Mavic 2 Pro drone. I didn’t
see anything current when
I searched the archives.
Do you have a component
list for a good build? I was
thinking somewhere from
$1,500 to $2,000 without
monitor(s), if that will do a
good job. –Larry PenceEXECUTIVE EDITOR, ALAN
DEXTER, RESPONDS:We’ll
look at piecing together
a rig like this in a future
“Build It,” but if you’re
eager to get building, our
recommendations would
Best Coolers
Screen Calibration
Windows Security