Maximum PC

Maximum PC is the magazine that every computer geek, PC gamer, or content creator should read every month. Get Maximum PC digital magazine subscription today for punishing product reviews, thorough how-to articles, and the illuminating technical news and information that PC power users crave. Maximum PC covers every single topic that requires a lightning-fast PC, from video editing and music creation to PC gaming; we write about it all with unbounded enthusiasm for our collective hobby.

Maximum PC

LOUNGING AROUND

Qualcomm aims for your desktop • Another ARM-based processor to enter the frame

NEW BABY SURFACE • FASTER, LONGER-LASTING AND STILL AS THIN

WIN11 WITH NO MINIMUM • New preview build shows how easy it is

Tech Triumphs and Tragedies • A monthly snapshot of what’s good and bad in tech

APPLE LAUNCHES M2 CHIP • 4bn more transistors for second-gen silicone

INTEL SHOWS ITS NODES • Gelsinger’s grand plan starts to take shape

Zen 4 will be 35 percent faster

Supercomputer goes exascale

Goodbye Internet Explorer

AMD’s FidelityFX Super Resolution 2.0 • LAST YEAR, AMD launched FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR), an upscaling algorithm promising improved performance, possibly inspired by Nvidia’s DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling). Rendering at a lower resolution then upscaling can boost performance, and is almost a requirement to play games at 4K and maxed out settings, especially with ray tracing.

THE LIST THE TOP FIVE CAPTURE CARDS

GPU prices come back down to Earth • WHEN IT COMES TO PRICES, good news stories are hard to come by right now. Ironically, the one exception is graphics cards, which are now returning to RRP—albeit the recommended pricing is still pretty painful. But contrary to expectations of higher prices, there is reason to think that trend could be reversed. Cheap GPUs for everyone? If not this year, then maybe next.

DOCTOR THIS MONTH THE DOCTOR TACKLES…

LIVING ROOM LEGEND • Want to play your Steam library from the sofa on a console-sized PC? Guy Cocker has all the components, accessories, and build info you need for leaned-back bliss

WHAT’S IN THE BOX?

HEAD IN THE GAME • BUILD YOURSELF A COMPACT, CONSOLE-LIKE LIVING ROOM GAMING PC.

SOFA, SO GOOD

8 BEST COUCH GAMING ACCESSORIES

PHOTOREALITY CHECK • Real-time photorealism is the holy grail of gaming. And it’s coming to the PC sooner than you think, says Jeremy Laird

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE 76%

AMD ZEN 4 UNWRAPPED • Welcome to the modern age

A FAREWELL TO SOCKET AM4?

A NEW DAWN FOR INTEGRATED GRAPHICS

MOAR POWAAA!

THE ROAD AHEAD

THE NEED FOR PCIE 5.0

TO AVX-512 OR NOT TO AVX-512

CENTERFOLD PERFORMANCE GEAR LAID BARE

BUILD A PI-POWERED MEDIA CENTER • Make your own home entertainment hub with a Raspberry Pi, free software, and a few programmable LEDs. Jonni Bidwell shows you how

KODI ACADEMY • New versions of Kodi and LibreELEC are out, but only for recent Pi owners

SETTING UP KODI • LibreELEC is probably the easiest Linux distro you’ll have ever installed, and Kodi will be ready for action in no time

HI-FIDELITY KODI • Integrate the world’s most popular streaming site into Kodi and see how the Pi fares at high-resolution

TRIPPING THE LIGHT FANTASTIC • Add a touch of pizzazz to your media center with a border of colorful, picture-reactive LEDs

HOW TO STEP-BY-STEP GUIDES TO IMPROVING YOUR PC

Clean Out Windows 11

Machine of the Month: Oric-1 & Oric Atmos

3D map effect with GIMP

AMD’s refreshed mid-tier machine • Is the new Radeon RX 6650 XT worth adding to your rig?

LAB NOTES

Editor’s...