ALL GOOD THINGS

WELCOME to our final issue of 2021. What

Intel goes hybrid

Alder Lake brings big changes to Intel’s desktop chips

Windows 11’s HVCI and VBS Performance Penalty

WINDOWS 11. The mere mention of those two words is enough to cause plenty of pain and suffering to computer enthusiasts ever y where. Now we’re stuck tr ying to decide between the new UI and improved security or sticking with the old and trusted Windows 10 for the next four years

Third Culture Kids & The Internet

Maximum PC talks all things TCK & Social Media

Compression, streaming, and internet connections

FAR CRY 6, INCLUDING ITS HD TEXTURE PACK, is a 50GB download. RedDead Redemption 2 is currently taking up 119GB on our gaming PC, and Halo: The Master Chief Collection is a little bit more. Final FantasyXV Windows Edition and Microsoft Flight Simulator also take up almost 150GB each, whereas Call of Duty: Modern Warfare breaks the 200GB barrier

DOCTOR

THIS MONTH THE DOCTOR TACKLES

GEAR of the YEAR

IT FEELS LIKE only yesterday we were gearing

LETTERS

WE TACKLE TOUGH READER QUESTIONS ON

THE BUILDS

THIS MONTH’S STREET PRICES

JUST HOW DO YOU BECOME A PC MODDER?

Kris Butterill gives us his personal take on how to get star ted PC modding

PREDICTING THE UNPREDICTABLE

Ian Evenden investigates how supercomputers and machine learning are revolutionizing the science of predicting extreme weather events

CENTERFOLD

Netgear RBKE960 Mesh Router System

PHOTOGRAPHY AND THE EVOLUTION OF IMAGE MANIPULATION

FROM EDITS TO FORGERY, CAMERA TRICKERY TO ‘PHOTOSHOPPING’, SAM LEWIS DELVES INTO THE ART OF IMAGE MANIPUL ATION

A SNAP FROM THE PAST

THINK IMAGE MANIPULATION today and Adobe’s Photoshop software

THE EMERGENCE OF PHOTO MANIPULATION

THE TERM ‘FAKE NEWS’ might have been popularized

HISTORIC IMAGE RETOUCHING

Back in the 19th century, image manipulation was

MODERN EDITING

IT’S FAIR TO SAY that the camera has

IMAGE EDITING SOFTWARE FOR THE PC

$239.88 prepaid annual plan, $21.99 prepaid monthly plan,

HOW TO

STEP-BY-STEP GUIDES TO IMPROVING YOUR PC

Dual lighting in Photoshop

YOU’LL NEED THIS

Machine of the Month: Sinclair ZX80 & ZX81

YOU’LL NEED THIS

Security and the Internet of Things

YOU’LL NEED THIS

Create efficient backups in Linux

YOU’LL NEED THIS

Downsizing

Going to a slightly smaller ATX chassis

LAB NOTES

Thankyou & Goodbye It’s been a hell of

Reviewed…

76 Intel Core i9 12900K 78 XFX Radeon

Intel Core i9-12900K

Finally, Team Blue’s Hybrid 10nm design is here

XFX Radeon RX 6600 Speedster SWFT 210

Not the fastest card on the block

MSI GE76 Raider

Strong, sharp, and bulky. This is no shy beast

Monoprice Dark Matter 27-inch IGZO 180Hz Gaming Monitor

Getting more gaming monitor for your money

NZXT H510 Flow

Compact Brilliance

Razer Huntsman V2 Analog

Pure precision or gimmicky overkill?

Corsair M65 RGB Ultra Wired Mouse

A modern take on a classic design

HyperX Cloud II Wireless

Durable, comfortable and a reliable timeless design

Far Cry 6

Over and over again, but Deathloop was last month