ininoutoutYOU WRITE, WE RESPONDYOU WRITE, WE RESPOND
102 MAXIMUMPC NOVEMBER 2005
We tackle tough reader letters on...
PZalman Cooler PDream Machine Pricing
P64-Bit Windows PRAM Drives
THE NEMESIS IS TOO EXPENSIVE?!
I found one thing in the September issue that just
doesn’t make sense. The Dream Machine costs
$12,870 yet gets spanked in every benchmark
except SYSmark2004 by the Monarch Nemesis
(reviewed in the same issue). Yet you call the
Nemesis (priced at $4,325) extremely expensive? By
the time software catches up with the hardware in
the Dream Machine, there will be much better hard-
ware available at a lower cost.
—Jim KellermanSENIOR EDITOR GORDON MAH UNG RESPONDS:
I think it’s pretty clear we were smitten with
the Monarch Nemesis, which received a 9
verdict and a Kick Ass award. You’re missing
the point of the 2005 Dream Machine exercise:
multi-core processors vs. single-core. If you
take a single-core machine and a multi-core
machine and run tests on them, the single-
core box will probably be faster. Put them
both on ice for three years and then run
benchmarks with 2008 applications, you’ll
likely find that the single-core box is exactly
the same speed, while the multi-core box is
far faster because developers have caught
up with the technology.
And, yes, we think the Nemesis is
extremely expensive. While it’s true that the
Dream Machine was even more expensive,
anything less would hardly be considered a
dream, would it?DIFFERENT STROKES FOR
DIFFERENT FOLKS
The name of the magazine is Maximum PC. I expect
the winners of any cooling test to be the ones that do
their job most efficiently or effectively. None of this
namby-pamby whining of, “Oh, it’s too big, and it’s
too loud, and my touch-typing fingers aren’t strong
enough to install it.” Repeat after me... Maximum
PC... I work for Maximum PC....
—J. WrenchskiASSOCIATE EDITOR JOSH NOREM RESPONDS:
The motherboard and CPU are the heart and soul
of any modern PC, and a lot of people feel very
uncomfortable about monkeying with a contrap-
tion that might destroy both of these cherisheditems. As such, ease of installation is an extremely
important consideration when evaluating a CPU
cooler, especially as a lot of the universal coolers
require motherboard removal for installation. You
haven’t felt true pain until you’ve removed your
mobo from your case, taken off the stock cooler
and then struggled to comprehend the asinine
instructions required to mount the cooler and make
your PC whole again. Plus, several of the coolers
we reviewed either blocked RAM slots, blocked
other components on the mainboard, or simply
couldn’t be mounted at all. That’s not “maximum,”
that’s rubbish, and we gave verdicts reflecting
every aspect of a CPU cooler’s experience.CAN I USE 64-BIT WINDOWS?
Can the 64-bit version of Windows XP play all thegames I own, and all my other software for that
matter? I need to know because I’m building a
computer for my kids and was going to put my cur-
rent copy of XP on that machine, and I don’t want
to buy another copy of the same thing. I want to
upgrade my game machine to 64-bit Windows.
—Jeff GarnerSENIOR EDITOR GORDON MAH UNG RESPONDS: You
can run more software on Windows XP x64 Edition
than you might expect, but I think the OS is still best
used as part of a dual-boot setup. If you want to buy
a different Microsoft OS with the same compatibility
as XP Pro/Home, you might try Media Center Edition.WE WANT MORE RAM DRIVES!
Back in the January 2003 issue of Maximum PC,Where’s
Zalman?
I’m writing in regards to your
CPU heatsink showdown
(September 2005). It’s always
nice to see an objective
review of a product type that
the buyer typically has to
learn about from the manu-
facturers’ websites. But I feel
as though you left out one
brand. Zalman products have
a reputation for fantastic cool-
ing, so my question is, whither
Zalman?
—Jesse Martin-AlexanderASSOCIATE EDITOR JOSH NOREM RESPONDS: We’ve received a lot of email about
Zalman’s absence from our roundup, and we were as surprised as anyone that the
company didn’t participate. Unfortunately, Zalman couldn’t get us new product in
time for our deadline, despite repeated emails and reminders.
The good news is that we have the new CNPS9500 LED CPU cooler in hand, as
well as the updated Resorator 1 Plus passive water-cooling kit. We couldn’t squeeze
them into this months issue, but look for the full reviews of both products in next
month’s issue.