Asus ROG Strix SCAR 17 (2023)

SMALL BUT MIGHTY

IT TOOK NVIDIA over two and a half

Intel Refreshes

Chips, branding, and organization get a new look

MICROSOFT DOES LISTEN

PROPOSED CHANGES TO FILE EXPLORER DITCHED

NEW 12VHPWR DESIGN FOR 4090

New designs for the troublesome power connector

Tech Triumphs and Tragedies

A monthly snapshot of what’s good and bad in tech

APPLE’S EXPENSIVE GAMBLE

Could this be the tipping point for AR?

THE THIRD ARC CHIP

New GPU sits exactly in the middle

Ryzen 7000 Goes Pro

THE PRO VERSION of processors often lag behind

ChatGPT Easily Spotted

The AI engine behind ChatGPT is a remarkable

PCIe 7.0 Gets Mapped-out

PCIe 5.0 isn’t universal yet, and PCIe 6.0

Revisiting the slow but capacious hard disk drive

WE DON’T TALK ABOUT hard disk drives (HDDs) much these days. When you’re after maximum performance, solid state drives (SSDs) are so much faster But HDDs still have a place, particularly if you have large archives of movies, videos, photos, and other files that don’t need a lot of speed.

THE LIST

THE BEST NVME SSDS FOR GAMING

Can Apple save us all from overpriced GPUs?

APPLE? SAVING ANYONE FROM OVERPRICED ANYTHING? The simple answer is no. But the new Game Porting Toolkit, shown at the most recent installation of Apple’s World Wide Developer Conference, gives a glimpse of a future where Nvidia and AMD find it harder to hold us all to ransom.

DOCTOR

THIS MONTH THE DOCTOR TACKLES...

LETTERS

WE TACKLE TOUGH READER QUESTIONS ON...

THE KICK-ASS MICRO PC

Small case + i5-13600K + RTX 4060 Ti =?

PLAY CLASSIC RETRO GAMES ON YOUR PC

Discover how to emulate old computers, consoles and even arcade machines with Nick Peers.

50 WAYS TO WORK FASTER

The best way to achieve more is to work smarter, which is why we’ve put together 50 productivity tips based on our editors’ and readers’ advice

Corsair Xeneon 27QHD240

PERFORMANCE GEAR LAID BARE

WINDOWS 11 TAKE OUT THE TRASH

Microsoft is increasingly stuffing Windows 11 with cruft: tabloid news stories, AI assistants, needless apps. Barry Collins shows you how to streamline the operating system

HOW TO

STEP-BY-STEP GUIDES TO IMPROVING YOUR PC

Next-level Windows file management

YOU’LL NEED THIS TWO OPEN-SOURCE APPS, WHICH REQUIRE

Repair and colorize old photos

YOU’LL NEED THIS SCANNER, SOME OLD FAMILY PHOTOS

Replace passwords with passkeys

YOU’LL NEED THIS GOOGLE ACCOUNT A smartphone Time

LAB NOTES

GUY COCKER, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 Ti

The tightly regimented mid-range Ada card delivers no surprises

AMD Radeon RX 7600

Shakes up the entry-level gaming gpu market

Asus ROG Ally

The first in line for the Steam Deck’s throne 

MSI Z790I Edge Wi-Fi mini-IT X

The best mobo for your small form factor PC?

Alienware 34 AW3423DWF

The best just got better—and cheaper

Netgear Nighthawk A8000

Plug in and get ready for Wi-Fi 6E

Razer Audio Mixer

It isn’t for everyone, but the Razer Audio Mixer takes the hassle out of stream audio mixing

HyperX Cloud III

A comfy headset, but doesn’t stand out in the sub-$100 gaming category 

Diablo IV

Almost buries everything that makes it great

Chrome Remote Desktop vs. Microsoft Remote Desktop

What’s best for accessing your computer from afar?

THE BUILDS

THIS MONTH’S STREET PRICES...