PCWorld September 2017

INSIDE: THE BEST WEB BROWSERS
S E P T E M B E R 2017
Threadripper
Yes, its
that good
PLUS: 6 Ways to Clear Space on Your Android Device

CONTENTS
SEPTEMBER 2017
DEPARTMENTS FEATURES
7 News
83 4 Reasons Why I Switched from Google to Bing
27 Reviews & Ratings
101 Heres How
112 Tech Spotlight 91 10 Alternative Browsers
SEPTEMBER 2017 PCWorld 3

MASTHEAD
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Matt Egan

EDITOR IN CHIEF, CONSUMER BRANDS Jon Phillips
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EDITORIAL
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COPY EDITOR Sue Voelkel
DESIGN
DESIGNER Rob Woodcock
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FOUNDER David Bunnell
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CEO, IDG COMMUNICATIONS Michael Friedenberg
4 PCWorld SEPTEMBER 2017

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News TECH NEWS AND TRENDS THAT WILL
AFFECT YOU TODAY AND BEYOND.
Consumer Reports Surface

Laptop flap is based on data
from past Surface models
CR says it is indicting the Surface brand as a whole but acknowledges its method is
not 100 percent perfect. BY MARK HACHMAN
W
hen Consumer Reports Surface devices (including Surface 3, Surface
stopped recommending Pro 3, and the early Surface Book), according
the Microsoft Surface to a report (go.pcworld.com/atr) the
Laptop and latest publication released recently.
Microsoft Surface Book, it did so based not Microsoft apparently privately confirmed
on those specific products reliability. Rather, this as well, via an internal memo obtained by
the company used reliability surveys of earlier Thurrott.com (go.pcworld.com/mob), which
CREDIT: MICROSOFT SEPTEMBER 2017 PCWorld 7

NEWS SURFACE L APTOP FL AP
shows that while return rates of products like Devices corporate vice president Panos Panay
the Surface Pro 3 and Surface Book were wrote (go.pcworld.com/pp).
initially atrocious, they improved substantially
over time. Later Surfaces, like the Surface Hub, Why this matters: Consumer Reports
also never really suffered from the same issues. extrapolated reliability reports from products
In addition to removing its recommended like the Surface 3, Surface Pro 3, and early
rating from four Microsoft Surface devices, Surface Bookall of which suffered from
Consumer Reports stated it wouldnt some hardware flawsto unrelated products
recommend any Surface products at all. like the Surface Laptop, which wasnt even in
Devices receiving the no-confidence vote production during the time of the survey.
include the Microsoft Surface Laptop, with The question is whether, in an analogous
128GB and 256GB of storage, and the situation, a Chevrolet Malibu sedan that had
Microsoft Surface Book, with 128GB and suffered repeated manufacturing defects would
512GB of storage. Consumer Reports also cause the publication to stop recommending
predicted that 25 percent of all Surface the Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck. While a
laptops and tablets will generate problems specific warning about the Surface Book might
within the first two years of ownership. be defensible, claiming that a quarter of Book
Though it named four specific products, a and Laptop buyers will experience problems
Consumer Reports spokesman said it was seems like a leap of logic.
penalizing the Surface brand as a
whole. We cant recommend
any of [Microsofts] laptops or
tablets until we get data that
shows better reliability, a
Consumer Reports spokesman
said in an email.
Microsoft, for its part, said
that the company respectfully
disagreed with Consumer
Reports findings, and that its
real-world return and support
rates are on a par with competing
devices and significantly lower Consumer Reports pulled its recommendation of the Surface
than 25 percent, Microsoft Laptop, even though the notebook wasnt covered in the survey.

CAN PAST SURFACE Consumer Reports then generated a reliability
PERFORMANCE rating for the brand as a whole.
PREDICTTHE FUTURE? Essentially, our analysis isnt of the
Consumer Reports, which bases its reliability Surface laptops or any specific model line or
reports on surveys that it sends to its family, a Consumer Reports spokesman
subscribers, compiled data on 90,741 tablets explained in an email. Rather we conduct
and laptops that its members bought from annual laptops and tablets brand reliability
2014 until the beginning of 2017, it said. That surveys. We are not making claims about a
data included devices from a variety of specific laptop or tablet model released at a
manufacturers, including Microsoft Surface specific point in time. We are making
devices. reliability predictions at the brand level,
The reliability predictions represent based on the devices purchased between
extrapolations made from data reported on 2014 and the first quarter of 2017.
older devices, such as the Surface 3, Surface The spokesman acknowledged the
Pro 3, and other devices sold during that problem with using past data on a new
time, the CR report said. Actual problems that product that wasnt even shipping when the
consumers experienced included freezing or survey took place. Its not 100 percent
unexpected shutdowns, and touchscreens perfect, the spokesman said of the
that werent responsive enough, the publications methodology.
publication said. Using that past data, Still, the spokesman added, it represents
the best data the
company has on the
brand as a whole. Our
analysis revealed that
Microsoft as a brand has
a comparatively worse
reliability rate than other
brands, so we cant
recommend Microsoft
tablets and computers
no matter the model
family, the Consumer
Reports spokesman
The Microsoft Surface Pro 3 tablet suffered some early hardware problems. said. This wouldnt

NEWS SURFACE L APTOP FL AP
necessarily change if Microsoft came out with CONSUMER REPORTS HAS

a brand-new tablet or computer next week. BEEN HERE BEFORE
Consumer Reports findings surprised Consumer Reports is no stranger to controversy.
many at Microsoft and elsewhere, which had The publication made headlines earlier this year
seen steadily increasing reliability metrics from when it said it uncovered issues with the battery
generation to generation. Surface Pro 3 life of Apples MacBook Pro (go.pcworld.com/
owners had struggled through battery issues amb). Its testing used a developer setting that
(go.pcworld.com/bi1) and overheating (go. included an undiscovered bug (go.pcworld.
pcworld.com/oh), while the Surface Pro 4 and com/bug), however, which affected its results.
Surface Book suffered screen flickering (go. Those tests prompted CR to withhold a buying
pcworld.com/sf) and their own power recommendation, though CR later reinstated the
problems (go.pcworld.com/pip). But by 2017, recommendation after the bug was resolved.
the Surface Book had become fairly reliable. Microsoft has its own side of the story. The
Given that the Surface Laptop began company maintains an internal testing facility
shipping in June, after the survey concluded, and generates its own estimates of how its
many wondered how Consumer Reports Surface devices compare to its competition
could reach its conclusions. I own and have which is basically Apple. Its internal defect rate
used every version of Surface products for was not even close to 25 percent, according
extensive periods of times, not just reviews, to Microsoft employees. Surface Computing
Patrick Moorhead, principal analyst at Moor vice president Panos Panay wrote that the
Insights, said in an email. Moorheads incidents per unit were less than 1 percent,
experiences, while anecdotal, are far more or presumably less than 1 out of 100devices.
positive. Since 2012 I have only had an issue Consumer Reports noted that it ranked the
with two systems: software issues with new Surface Pro very highly in recent tests,
Windows RT systems in 2012 and in 2016 with including display quality, battery life, speed,
the first batch of Skylake-based systems. After and ergonomics. (PCWorlds Surface Pro
six months, the Skylake driver issues review [go.pcworld.com/psp] nicked the
disappeared. tablet for lack of innovation, while our Surface
Moorheads largely trouble-free Book review [go.pcworld.com/sbr] was more
experience extends to Microsofts latest positive). The CR spokesman also acknowl-
models. I have both the Surface Pro (5) and edged in an email that models within a brand
Surface laptop and have not experienced an may vary, and that changes in design and
issue with stock (non-beta) software. manufacturing might affect future reliability. By
then, though, the damage had been done.

Facepalm: Intels upcoming
Coffee Lake CPUs wont work
with todays motherboards
Builders and upgraders are crying foul as they lose their ability to upgrade-in-place
on an older motherboard. BY GORDON MAH UNG
G
et ready to facepalm, Intel fans. the company flat-out said the new CPU wont
The companys upcoming work with todays motherboards.
Coffee Lake CPUs apparently When asked by Evan Jensen ...will the
wont work with existing stocks Z270 Supercarrier get support for the
of motherboards, a manufacturer confirmed upcoming @intel Coffee Lake CPUs?
on Wednesday. Asrocks official twitter account, @ASRockInfo
In a Twitter post by Asrock last Saturday, replied: No, Coffee Lake CPU is not
IMAGE: ISTOCK SEPTEMBER 2017 PCWorld 11

NEWS INTEL COFFEE L AKE
Motherboard maker ASRock says Z270 owners will not be able to run Intels upcoming Coffee Lake CPU.
compatible with 200-series motherboards. Why this matters: The vast majority of new
PCWorld reached out to Asrock for CPU sales are in new systems, and they likely
comment on the tweet but has not heard wont be impacted by the incompatibility.
back. Intel officials declined to comment on However, theres also a very large and very
the statement by Asrock, saying that it doesnt vocal crowd of builders and upgraders who
comment on future products. still swap out older, slower CPUs for newer,
So was the post just a rogue and faster CPUs to maximize their investment. An
uninformed social media post? A hack? upgrade-in-place doesnt sell an Intel chipset,
Nope. but it at least keeps them on the Intel
According to at least one reliable source platform. If consumers are forced to dump an
outside of Intel, the new Coffee Lake CPU will existing Z270 motherboard for a newer Z370
indeed not be compatible with Z270 boards, to get a six-core Coffee Lake CPU, Intel risks
even though the chipsets with the upcoming driving them into the arms of AMD and its
Z370 appear to be the same, PCWorld was Ryzen CPUs.
told.
The source added that there are hopes in WHY INTEL, WHY?
the industry that Intel will change its mind on Again, Intel officials would not comment, but
compatibility. Tomshardware.com said it had there are many reasons for such a move.
independently confirmed (go.pcworld.com/ The most cynical reason is market
ic) the news with Asrock officials as well. segmentation, which is a fancy way of saying

the company just wants consumers to buy a that stampede is less likely to occur.
new motherboard with the new CPU. In some ways, Asrocks slip of the tongue
Another reason is support issues. Intel is could convince Intel to change its mind on
an engineering-conservative company and compatibility. As of this morning, Asrocks
doesnt like to say CPUs will work with Twitter post had not been removed.
something unless all of the ts are crossed and No matter what the reason, the news
the is dotted. Its entirely possible that Coffee couldnt come at a worse possible time. With
Lake could officially support Z370 only, but the company under full assault by AMDs
unofficially work just fine with previous Ryzen (go.pcworld.com/amdr) and Ryzen
chipsets and motherboards. Intel has done Threadripper (go.pcworld.com/rts), keeping
this with previous generations of CPUs by the base happy and loyal is a given.
unofficially allowing motherboard vendors to
support them.
Of course, theres also the chance that it
really isnt compatible. Although Coffee Lake
is based on the same 14nm process as Kaby
Lake and Skylake and appears to use the
same chipset, its believed to be Intels
first six-core chip in a mainstream
platform. More cores means more
power consumption, and Intel
may never have planned
for the Z270 to
support the
power
requirements for
Coffee Lake.
Motherboard makers are
likely unhappy with the news, too. As word
spreads that Z270 wont work with the next
CPU, consumers, especially enthusiasts, may
decide against buying a Z270-based
If you have an ASRock Z270 Extreme 4 board,
product, knowing thats its essentially youre apparently out of luck on a Coffee Lake
outdated. If the new CPU were compatible, upgrade.

NEWS
Microsoft slips four more

features into the Fall Creators
Update with Build 16251
With Windows 10 Build 16251, Microsoft tells us that Windows 10 Fall Creators
Update isnt quite over. BY MARK HACHMAN
M
icrosoft isnt quite finished new Cortana capabilities and more
developing (go.pcworld. communication between Windows and
com/fd) Windows 10s Fall yourphone.
Creators Update after all: If theres a theme to the new build (go.
Four new features were added as part of pcworld.com/nbr), its following up on
Windows 10 Insider Build 16251, including promises that Microsoft made earlier. At its

Build developer
conference, Microsoft
promised that phones and
Windows would begin to
communicate with one
another, so tasks begun on
the phone could be
completed on the desktop.
Voice commands to shut
down and reboot your PC
have also been enabled via
Cortanawho now has
greater freedom to provide
answers without launching
a browser. Finally, if you do
need to reboot your PC, Cortana now slides out a preview pane.
you can program your PC
to skip the authentication process. or a short reply, shell automatically launch
an Edge webpage. To me, this always felt
Why this matters: Microsoft pledged to like giving up. Now, Cortana will slide out an
make the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update a additional pane with, say, a weather forecast
tool for connectivity as much as creativity, with (as you can see in the image above). If there
several key features (go.pcworld.com/svf) is no card available, shell show the result
that are slowly rolling out to Insiders. (Several, with a little arrow next to it to launch a
such as Timeline, we have yet to see, webpage.
however.) Personally, I like Cortanas new Youll notice that the pane looks like a
capabilities more than anything else, though webpage, with the traditional Bing
the phone-to-PC connectivity is a welcome navigation elements along the top of the
foundation for future improvements. pane. The only controversy here is that
Cortana wont launch a webpage anymore
CORTANAS PANE without your input. If this annoys you,
IN THE SIDE incidentally, you can leave feedback for
One of Cortanas minor annoyances is that Microsoft by way of the in-Cortana
when she cant display the answer as a card feedback tool.

NEWS FALL CREATORS UPDATE
NOW EVERYONE CAN

TELL CORTANA TO SHUT While Word and other Office
UP DOWN apps can be found on your PC
In Insider Build 14986, Microsoft included the as well as your phone, however,
capability to turn off your PC orally with a your web browsers havent
Cortana command. Well, apparently. With talked to one another.
Build 16251, Microsoft said it fully enabled
it. Now, you can lock, sign out, shut down, or that your phone was your PC. Now, with
turn off your PC. To prevent mischievous Windows Phones essentially dead (go.
coworkers, friends, or YouTube videos from pcworld.com/ped), that vision has evolved to
messing with you, some of the voice your phone mirroring your PC. While Word
commands require an additional oral and other Office apps can be found on your
confirmation. PC as well as your phone, however, your web
browsers havent talked to one another. Now
PICK UP WHERE YOU LEFT they do.
OFFON YOUR ANDROID In the new build, you can take your
PHONE Android phonesyes, Androidopen a
For years, Microsofts vision of the future was webpage, then share the page to your PC
using the native Share button. Its not
automatic, probably because
Androids Chrome browser doesnt
natively talk to Edge. Youll have a
choice: either Continue Later, and the
webpage will be stored within the
Action Center, or Continue Now,
which will automatically open up the
webpage within Edge.
Note that the existing Creators
Update allows your Android phone to
alert your PC if the phone has low
battery, or respond to messages. That
capability requires Cortana to be
Sharing a webpage allows you to pop up the webpage on running on both the phone and the PC.
your PC, or save it for later. With the new build, you dont need

Cortana, but Microsoft will ask you to install a
Microsoft Apps for Android app that bridges
the two devices.
AN IMPROVED BOOT
PROCESS ELIMINATES
THE LOGIN
To its credit, Windows continually tries to
shave off seconds from your boot time,
even as it occasionally forces a reboot to
apply patches. By way of apology,
Microsoft hasnt just eliminated the login
process from updates, but also given you
the option to do so on a normal power
shutdown via the Start menu.
Its not something that will be allowed in a
business environment, where security is
paramount. But at home, with your approval,
its a handy convenience.
PORTRAIT MODE IN special feature branch that essentially

CONTINUUM VIA MOBILE provides bug fixes. Well, at long last, theres
BUILD 15235 one small, new feature: portrait mode for
Remember Windows 10 for phones? While Continuum.
Windows phone hardware sales have Apparently, theres a dedicated group of
essentially ended for Microsoft, the company people who want to see this:
continues to maintain the mobile OS via its Are you [a] Windows Insider who is
loving the convenience of Continuum by
carrying your PC in your pocket? Microsoft
To its credit, Windows wrote in a blog post (go.pcworld.com/wbp)
continually tries to shave off announcing the new build. We have heard
seconds from your boot time, your VERY PASSIONATE feedback and just
even as it occasionally forces a made it better.
reboot to apply patches.

NEWS
Microsoft will save

Microsoft Paint, making it
a downloadable app
Paint and Paint 3D will continue to live in peace. BY MARK HACHMAN
S
tand down, everyone: Microsoft Microsoft would release MS Paint in the
Paint isnt going away after all. Windows Store as a free app. MS Paint is
Microsoft signaled an about- here to stay, it will just have a new home soon,
face in a recent blog post (go. in the Windows Store where it will be
pcworld.com/bpp) by Megan Saunders, a available for free, Saunders wrote.
general manager within the Windows Saunders acknowledged the pleas of
Experiences group. Instead of deprecating Paint fans who didnt want this longtime app
Paint in Windows 10 (go.pcworld.com/ to go away. Today, weve seen an incredible
dpw)which seemed to many to be the first outpouring of support and nostalgia around
step toward oblivionSaunders said MS Paint, Saunders wrote. Her next words
18 PCWorld SEPTEMBER 2017 IMAGE: MICROSOFT

were almost sentimental, as she affirmed in the future.
Paints continuing existence: If theres Paint was born with Windows 1.0 in 1985,
anything we learned, its that after 32 years, as a licensed version of ZSofts PC Paintbrush
MS Paint has a lot of fans. Its been amazing to (go.pcworld.com/zpc). Microsoft updated
see so much love for our trusty old app. Paint over subsequent versions, adding
Microsoft had previously classified the Paint support for JPEG, TIFF, and other file formats.
app as deprecated within the upcoming Though far more sophisticated imaging tools
Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, meaning have risen around it, Paint always served as a
Microsoft would officially cease development quick-and-dirty photo editor and drawing tool.
on it, and it could be removed from the OS
either with the release of the FCU or in the Why this matters: Well never know whether
future. It seems Microsoft still plans to remove Microsoft always planned to bring Paint back as
ityet allow users access to it if they so choose. a Store app, but theres no doubt it kick-saved
Saunders didnt say when Paint would be what appeared to be an embarrassing goal
transitioned over to a Store app, nor did she against the company. Whether it be a head-
mention whether it would still be developed scratching Solitaire subscription (go.pcworld.
or just preserved in amber. Saunders did say com/sss) or just the preservation of a beloved
that Paint3D, Microsofts new 3D content utility, the lesson is clear: PC users dont like
creation app, will remain and receive updates their apps being messed with, Microsoft.

NEWS
Confirmed: Windows 10 may

cut off devices with older CPUs
Microsofts policy puts all older hardware at risk. BY MARK HACHMAN
N
o Windows 10 Creators Update recently that any hardware device that falls out
for you, Microsoft saysat of the manufacturers support cycle may be
least, not if you happen to be ineligible for future Windows 10 updates.
the unlucky owner of certain In the case of the four Clover Trail
older Atom-based Windows devices, and processors (go.pcworld.com/ctx)part of
other aging models in the future. After stories the Cloverview platformthat have fallen into
arose of failed attempts to upgrade (go. Intels End of Interactive Support phase, they
pcworld.com/tu) such hardware to the will be ineligible for the Windows 10 Creators
Creators Update, Microsoft confirmed Update, Microsoft confirmed. Instead, theyll
20 PCWorld SEPTEMBER 2017 IMAGE: MICROSOFT

simply be offered the Windows 10 aresupported, lest we lose access to
Anniversary Update, plus security updates upcoming versions of Windows 10.
through January 2023, the end of the original
Windows 8.1 support period. IS THIS MORE THAN
The problem, however, is that Microsofts SWEEPING ATOM UNDER
language opens up the possibility that any THE RUG?
unsupported hardware device could be Microsoft appears to be doubling down on its
excluded from future Windows 10 updates. belief that up-to-date hardware requires an
Recognizing that a combination of hardware, updated operating system, and vice versa.
driver and firmware support is required to Microsoft said last year (go.pcworld.com/ly1)
have a good Windows 10 experience, we that it would restrict the latest Intel Kaby Lake
updated our support lifecycle policy to align and AMD Ryzen silicon to Windows 10.
with the hardware support period for a given Recently, the company has blocked patches
device, Microsoft said in a statement. If a (go.pcworld.com/bp) on PCs that try to run
hardware partner stops supporting a given older Windows operating systems on modern
device or one of its key components and hardware.
stops providing driver updates, firmware As new silicon generations are
updates, or fixes, it may mean that device will introduced, they will require the latest
not be able to properly run a future Windows Windows platform at that time for support,
10 feature update. Microsoft said in January, 2016. This enables
us to focus on deep integration between
Why this matters: For years, the rule of Windows and the silicon, while maintaining
thumb was that you could run virtually any maximum reliability and compatibility with
operating system on top of any Intel or AMD previous generations of platform and silicon.
(or even Cyrix) hardware. Chances are that it Microsofts Clover Trail stance sets limits
would run, if slowly. Over time, though, on what those previous generations can
things changed. As malware became more expect. If a processor platform falls out of
potent, running a supported Windows support by a chip vendor, Microsoft may drop
operating system became more important. it from its OS list.
Now, theres Windows as a Service: If Whats unclear, though, is whether
Windows 10 never really goes away, what Microsofts new position represents a funda-
limits PC builders is supported hardware, mental shift in policy, or a rather narrow focus
apparently. Now we have to worry about how on Intels troubled Atom processors. At
long all of our PC hardware components one time, Atoms Clover Trail architecture

NEWS WINDOWS 10
(go.pcworld.com/acta) represented the future headphones, monitor, and morethat a

of Intel processors within the smartphone and manufacturer discontinues or fails to actively
tablet markets. But Intel could never quite support could drop out of Windows updates.
develop the system-on-chip with logic and While this would certainly encourage new PC
communications that rivals like ARM provided, and hardware purchases, it would also
and Intel essentially killed the Atom (go. infuriate millions of PC users whose otherwise-
pcworld.com/iek) platform in 2016. Without a functional legacy devices fell by the wayside.
healthy customer base to support, Intel A related question is whether Microsoft will
apparently decided to refocus its resources refuse to support any other Intel processors that
away from the Clover Trail architecture. have reached EOIS status. Intel has published
Devices that use Intels Clover Trail chips an enormous list of legacy Core processors (go.
require additional hardware support to pcworld.com/lcp) on its site, which includes
provide the best possible experience when dozens if not hundreds of chips that have
updating to the latest Windows 10 feature already fallen into the EOIS bin. The most
update, the Windows 10 Creators Update, recent EOIS chip appears to be the Core
Microsoft said in a statement. However, i7-990X, a 32-nm Gulftown processor most
these systems are no longer supported by recently sold during the first quarter of 2011. But
Inteland without the necessary driver chips including the Ivy Bridge (2012) archi-
support, they may be incapable of moving to tecture are already at end-of-life status, and
the Windows 10 Creators Update without a presumably headed for EOIS status next. Its not
potential performance impact. clear whether moving a chip to an EOIS status is
Specifically, the Clover Trail chips have decided on a chip-by-chip basis, or if theres a
moved into the End of Interactive Support, fixed timeline by which chips move from offi-
(EOIS) which is defined (go.pcworld.com/ cially supported to end-of-life and then to EOIS.
def) as Intel Customer Support Agents no Intel representatives declined to comment
longer respond to telephone, chat, on whether other chips beyond the four
community support forums, or email inquiries Clover Trail processors were affected,
for this product. Self-help is provided by referring questions to Microsoft.
Intels support community, generally made up If theres an upside, its that Microsoft said
of other users. it will actively work with chip vendors to find
Whats worrying about Microsofts support for older hardware. We know issues
statement, though, is its broadness. like this exist and we actively work to identify
Conceivably, any devicemicroprocessor, the best support path for older hardware,
hard drive, network controller, sound card, Microsofts statement added.

Adobe Flash will die by 2020,
Adobe and browser makers say
Now about Java BY MARK HACHMAN
A
dobe Flash, one of the most HTML5 that it was time to phase out Flash.
controversial elements of the Adobe and Macromedia provided
web, will be phased out by innovation to the web, through browser
2020, Adobe said recently. plug-ins, before the underlying web
Browser makers, including Microsoft and standards could support the interactivity and
Google, simultaneously announced plans for creativity our digital media publishers and
a gradual phaseout over the next few years. consumers craved, the company said in a
Adobe said that enough progress had blog post (go.pcworld.com/bpo). By the
been made within open web standards like end of 2020, we firmly believe that all of these

NEWS ADOBE FL ASH
required media capabilities and standards will as possible.

be widely deployed and natively available to For many, though, Flash was simply seen
customers within browsers. at least as a nuisance, and at worst a serious
Specifically, Adobe Flash Player will be security risk.
end-of-lifed by 2020, the company said, Flash-based exploits have circulated for
meaning that it simply wont work. That will years, in a game of cat-and-mouse between
have dramatic effects on sites like hackers and Adobe itself. Apples Steve Jobs
Newgrounds, which evolved into a repository famously banned Flash from the iPhone (go.
for Flash-authored (and HTML5) content. pcworld.com/fip), claiming that Flash hurt
Facebook also addressed the issue of Flash- battery life and also was a security risk. In
based games running on its site; while those 2015, for example, hackers jumped on a Flash
games will work until 2020, the company exploit (go.pcworld.com/fe) as an
urged developers to shift to HTML5 as soon opportunity to infect computers with
In 2015, Mozillas Firefox blocked Flash by default.

malware. In response, Mozillas Firefox > In mid to late 2019, Microsoft will disable
blocked Flash by default (go.pcworld.com/ Flash by default in both Microsoft Edge
mfb) until Adobe issued a patch. Security andInternet Explorer. Users will be able to
issues aside, PCWorld also found that Flash re-enable Flash in both browsers. When
slowed down browsers (go.pcworld.com/ re-enabled, Microsoft Edge will continue
fsd) by as much as 80 percent. torequire approval for Flash on a
Over time, browser makers either began site-by-sitebasis.
blocking Flash by default or at least asking > By the end of 2020, Microsoft will remove
users to enable it, a feature known as click-to- the ability to run Adobe Flash in Microsoft
run. Today, sites need to ask your permission Edge and Internet Explorer across all
to run Flash within Google Chrome and supported versions of Microsoft Windows.
Microsoft Edge. (Edge remembers your Users will no longer have any ability to
choice for future visits.) enable or run Flash.
BROWSER MAKERS Google said that it will quietly phase out

ACT FAST Flash as well, though the process will go on
In a blog post (go.pcworld.com/bpx), quietly behind the scenes. If the site migrates
Microsoft laid out its timeline for phasing to open web standards, you shouldnt notice
outFlash support from Edge: much difference except that youll no longer
see prompts to run Flash on that site, Google
> Through the end of 2017 and into 2018, said in a blog post (go.pcworld.com/bpy) by
Microsoft Edge will continue to ask users Anthony Laforge, a product manager with
for permission to run Flash on most sites the Google Chrome. If the site continues to use
first time the site is visited, and will Flash, and you give the site permission to run
remember the users preference on Flash, it will work through the end of 2020.
subsequent visits. Internet Explorer will
continue to allow Flash with no special What this means for you: Little, if anything.
permissions required during this time. Browser makers are bending over backward
> In mid to late 2018, Microsoft will update to ensure that your browser encounters as
Microsoft Edge to require permission for little Flash as possible before its phased out
Flash to be run each session. Internet in 2020. Flash had its day, but its time has
Explorer will continue to allow Flash for come.
allsites in 2018.

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build the next generation of great teachers. Get resources
to explore whether teaching is right for you at teach.org.
Reviews & Ratings
TESTED IN PCWORLD LABS
WE PUT HARDWARE & SOFTWARE
THROUGH RIGOROUS TESTING
Ryzen Threadripper: AMDs

monster stomps on other CPUs
AMDs monster CPU stomps and smashes punier competition. BY GORDON MAH UNG
A
MDs 16-core, 32-thread Ryzen ever unleashed upon mankind.
Threadripper 1950X ($999 on
Amazon, go.pcworld.com/ WHAT IS THREADRIPPER?
a50) is an angry Godzilla Ryzen Threadrippers name tells you its
stomping his way through downtown Tokyo. lineage: the ground-breaking Ryzen 7 (go.
Those puny 8-core, 6-core, and 4-core CPUs? pcworld.com/r7), Ryzen 5 (go.pcworld.
Theyre just tanks and army trucks to be com/r5), and Ryzen 3 (go.pcworld.com/r3)
punted across the city. CPUs that have made AMD a contender
Yes, its that good. But before you buy, again, after years of watching Intel dominate.
theres a lot you need to know about what is While Intel currently builds its CPUs
arguably the most powerful consumer CPU around a monolithic piece of silicon for all of
CREDIT: AMD SEPTEMBER 2017 PCWorld 27

REVIEWS AMD RYZEN THREADRIPPER
AMDs new Ryzen Threadripper is based on the same dual 4-core complex (CCX), so instead of one chip,
you get two.
its cores, AMD has designed Ryzen to be of a Threadripper and there are four chipsare
modular at the chip level. The basic building those two other 8-core dies just waiting to be
block of all Ryzen CPUs are two 4-core enabled? Nope. Its no secret that Threadripper
complexes, or CCXes, joined by AMDs reuses hardware from AMDs 32-core, server-
high-speed Infinity Fabric interconnect. Every focused Epyc CPU (go.pcworld.com/ecpu),
Ryzen 7, for example, has an 8-core die. but AMD isnt giving us 32-core consumer
To get to 16 cores in Threadripper, AMD CPUs today. Two of those chips are actually
uses the same high-speed Infinity Fabric to dummy pieces to add structural support for the
join two 8-core dies. The 12-core version also cooler that will be clamped onto the CPU.
joins two 8-core dies, but each of the 4-core
CCXs has one processor core disabled. WITH GREAT CORES, COME
But wait: Youve seen pictures of the inside GREAT RESOURCES
AMD actually doubles down twice with
Threadripper specs, giving you double the
But wait: Youve seen pictures amount of CPU cores and double the amount
of the inside of a Threadripper of memory channels. It also vastly increases
and there are four chipsare the PCIe lanes.
those two other 8-core dies just For example, the mainstream Ryzen line
waiting to be enabled? Nope. supports dual-channel DDR4 memory.

Threadripper supports quad-channel DDR4. available to connect up to seven different
Unlike Intel, whose strategy is to disable simultaneous PCIe devices. That means up to
features on its Core-series CPUs to push four GPUs along with three NVMe PCIe drives.
people to its pricier Xeon chips, AMD leaves Compare AMDs generous approach to
in support for ECC RAM to help correct Intels careful rationing: The $1,000 (go.
single-bit errors. AMD also says Threadripper pcworld.com/amdg) 10-core Core i9-7900X
should technically be able to support up to (go.pcworld.com/ci97), for example, has a
2TB of RAM, although the company hasnt decent 44 lanes of PCIe, but the $599 8-core
validated this because there are no DIMMs Core i7-7820X has only 28. Even AMDs
that support the capacity yet. cheapest Threadripper so far, the 8-core
As for PCIe, while the mainstream Ryzen Threadripper 1900X, features a full 64 lanes of
chips offer a pedestrian 20 lanes for support of PCIe support.
graphics cards or SSDs, Threadripper offers a
whopping 64 lanes. Of those 64, four are used THE LINEUP
to connect to the south bridge, leaving 60 Despite many unsubstantiated rumors of a
Base Boost XFR PCIe Memory

Cores Threads Clock Clock Boost lanes TDP channels Price
Ryzen 16 32 3,400 4,000 4,200 64 180 4 $999

Threadripper
1950X
Ryzen 12 24 3,500 4,000 4,200 64 180 4 $799

Threadripper
1920X
Ryzen 8 16 3,800 4,000 4,200 64 180 4 $549

Threadripper
1900X
Ryzen 7 8 16 3,600 4,000 4,200 16 95 2 $499

1800X
Ryzen 7 8 16 3,400 3,800 3,900 16 95 2 $399

1700X
Ryzen 7 1700 8 16 3,400 3,700 3,800 16 65 2 $329
Ryzen 5 6 12 3,600 4,000 4,100 16 65 2 $249

1600X
AMDs Threadripper lineup is sparse, but its enough to upset Intels Core i9 lineup.

large lineup of Threadripper CPUs, AMD is read the manual. As expected, Threadripper
officially launching only three CPUs today (the brings a new CPU socket, officially called
8-core Threadripper 1900X will ship in a few sTR4. While the mainstream Ryzen features
more weeks). The lineup (see on the the pin-grid array familiar with AMD fans,
preveious page and below) is sparser than Threadripper moves to an LGA, or land-grid
Intels currently, but an unintentional leak (go. array, that will be more familiar to Intel fans.
pcworld.com/ul by motherboard vendors LGA moves the delicate pins to the
indicates the company has lower-wattage, motherboard instead of the CPU. Which is
non-X versions coming, too. better? From a customer point of view, it
Intels own lineup looks more impressive, probably depends. Mash a pin on a $550
but thus far, the company has shipped only motherboard badly, and you trash the
the 10-core Core i9-7900X and its 8-core, motherboard. Mash it on a $999 CPU, and
6-core, and 4-core siblings. you trash the CPU.
One thing we do know: Installing a
INSTALLATION: READ THE Threadripper is unlike anything youve done
MANUAL. SERIOUSLY. before. That doesnt mean you need to sweat
No matter how many systems youve built, if bullets, but dont just dive into it without first
you buy Threadripper, do yourself a favor and reading the documentation and watching a
Turbo
Base Turbo Boost PCIe Memory
Cores Threads Clock Boost Max lanes TDP channels Price
Core i9-7980XE 18 36 2,600 4,200 4,400 44 165 4 $1,999
Core i9-7960X 16 32 2,800 4,200 4,400 44 165 4 $1,699

Core i9-7940X 14 28 3,100 4,300 4,400 44 165 4 $1,399
Core i9-7920X 12 24 2,900 4,300 4,400 44 140 4 $1,199
Core i9-7900X 10 20 3,300 4,500 4,500 44 140 4 $999

Core i7-7820X 8 16 3,600 4,500 4,500 28 140 4 $599
Core i7-7800X 6 12 3,500 4,000 N/A 28 140 4 $389
Core i7-7740X 4 8 4,300 4,500 N/A 16 112 2 $339
Core i5-7600X 4 4 4,300 4,200 N/A 16 112 2 $242
Intels new Skylake-X and Kaby Lake-X CPUs look impressive as a group, but only the lower-end (4-core to
10-core) parts have shipped so far.

manual-reading and video-watching should
be these:
You must keep the plastic orange carrier

onthe CPU. The CPU cant be installed
without it.
You must use the torque wrench thats
packed into the bottom of the Threadripper
box (see above).
Pay attention to the correct sequence for
installing and uninstalling the CPU.
Failure to use the included torque wrench could To install it, you open the socket by loosening
result in a machine that wont POST. AMD also
includes an adapter bracket that fits many popular three T20 Torx screws with the AMD-provided
Asetek-based coolers. wrench. Remove the top-level protective plate
and insert the entire CPU with the orange plastic
proper installation video (go.pcworld.com/iv) carrier. Slide the CPU until it clicks into place or is
(preferably not ours (go.pcworld.com/noo), clearly at the bottom of the assembly.
which we did dead-tired and blind). Once youre sure the CPU is in the carrier
The three essential takeaways from your correctly, remove the protective cover over
the socket and gently lower
the CPU into place. Finally, you
carefully tighten all three Torx
screws with the provided
AMD torque wrench.
One more time: Dont try
to muddle through this
without at least familiarizing
yourself with the process.
MEET THE NEW

GAME MODE
There are two covers in the sTR4 socket. Leave the black one that Before we get to the all-
protects the delicate pins until youre ready to put the CPU in place. important performance

access between both memory controllers.

The benefit is greater memory bandwidth,
but often higher latency. Some games, AMD
says, just want low latency.
To address this, AMD has introduced a
new Game Mode that switches the system to
Non-Uniform Memory Access (NUMA), or
what AMD calls Local Mode. Local Mode
essentially shunts all memory access to one
memory controller to lower latency. Memory
access that goes to the other memory
controller is possible, but its done with
higher latency.
Threadrippers crazy core count has
another unintended consequence: AMD
says some older games crashed in its tests.
This isnt a problem with Threadripper,
A Threadripper CPU is ready to be installed. AMD notes, but the games themselves,
because they just cant handle the number
section, you should know about of CPU cores.
Threadrippers new Gaming Mode. Most To address this problem, Game Mode
people dont buy 16-core CPUs to play video essentially tells Windows to recognize only 8
games, but the world is a-changing, and of the 16 CPUs in the system. An updated
many professional gamers and streamers Ryzen Master Utility lets you switch between
need the ability to play games at high frame Game Mode when its needed for older
rates and also edit the content once its done. games, and Creator Mode when you want all
When it designed Threadripper, AMD of your CPU cores and more memory
says it realized the high-thread-count CPU bandwidth.
didnt always perform at its best for some Does it work? Yes. Although we wont get
games. Remember, its made using two into its impact on gaming until later, we did
separate chips, each with its own dual- measure the modes impact on latency and
channel memory controller. Out of the box, memory bandwidth.
Threadripper supports Uniform Memory However, Game Mode has the opposite
Access mode, which spreads the memory effect on memory bandwidth. Because Game

The new Game Mode helps address legacy games that cant handle the crazy core count and also
switches to a NUMA memory mode.
Mode enables NUMA/Local Mode, you give quality settings. AMD just wants gamers to
up a significant amount of memory bandwidth have more granular control so they can wring
Whats right? Well, its complicated. Gears more performance out of the new CPU. Some
of War Ultimate, AMD says, likes low memory may be put off by this complexity, but if youre
latency, so Game Mode should be on for that really buying a 16-core, 32-thread CPU just for
game. Rise of the Tomb Raider likes more conventional gaming, youre doing it wrong.
CPU cores, so maybe youll want it off. Far Cry A regular Ryzen or Kaby Lake CPU is probably
4 likes low core-to-core latency, so maybe better for that purpose.
youll want to switch on Game Mode.
If this all sounds way too complicated HOW WE TESTED
when you just want to play a game, know that None of this matters without solid
for the most part this is just being nit-picky. performance. Our Threadripper 1950X was
Any modern game paired with a modern tested with an Asus ROG Zenith Extreme
powerful GPU and a Threadripper CPU will X399 motherboard, a ThermalTake Floe Riing
run fine at normal resolutions and visual (yes, thats how its spelled) 360 cooler,

Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080, Samsung 960 Pro Getting the Core i9-7900X to run at
SSD, and 32GB of DDR4/3200 RAM. DDR4/3200 was also problematic, as it
These last two items actually differ from our effectively overclocks the CPU to 4.3GHz on
standard configuration, which is a HyperX all cores in our BIOS. So, instead, we ran the
Savage SATA SSD and 32GB of DDR4 at JEDEC Core i9 system using the XMP default setting
2133 speeds. To minimize the impact of the of DDR4/2666.
SATA SSD versus a PCIe SSD, we used a HyperX This isnt ideal, but as memory increasingly
Savage SSD as the target and source drive for ties itself to a platforms performance, well have
any tests where storage might have an effect to continue to search for a happy medium.
primarily our encoding test using Handbrake
and Adobe Premiere Creative Cloud. APPLICATION
The memory configuration was a little PERFORMANCE
stickier, as weve tested previous CPUs with all Pull up a chair, because everyone wants to
DIMM slots filled. On Ryzen, that limited the see how Threadripper does on pretty much
memory clock speeds, as only JEDEC speeds everything. Were going to start with single-
are allowed when fully loaded with RAM. That application performance and some synthetic
hurts Ryzen, particularly because Infinity benchmarks, then move on to multitasking
Fabric is directly tied to the speed of the and gaming.
memory controller.
BLENDER
PERFORMANCE
Lets kick this off where AMD
started the Zen hype train
almost exactly a year ago:
Blender. This is an open-
source 3D modelling
application that actually gets
decent use in indie films for
effects scenes. Heck, even
NASA uses it (go.pcworld.
com/nui) for its models these
days. Blender loves CPU
Thats no moon, thats a Ryzen Threadripper below a Ryzen 7 and to threads, but weve found that
the left of an LGA 2011 V3 Core i7 CPU. it doesnt always scale as well

way back to the Amiga but is
Blender 2.78B continually updated and
BMW CPU Render (sec) supported. Its no surprise, but ray
Ryzen Threadripper
tracing is a CPU-intensive task, and
159
1950X Zen throwing more CPUs at it makes it
Core i9-7900X
Skylake-X 203 go faster.
Core i7-6950X
207 Against the Core i9-7900X, the
Broadwell-E
Core i7-6900K Threadripper 1950X is 35 percent

Broadwell-E 279
faster running the internal
Ryzen 7
1800X Zen 300 performance benchmark. Against
Core i7-6800K
Broadwell-E 385 the 8-core Ryzen 7 1800X, youre
Ryzen 5
412
looking at an 85-percent
1600X Zen
Core i7-7700K
performance boost. From a multi-
440
Kaby Lake threading point of view, its all win
Core i5-7600K
Kaby Lake 600 here for the Threadripper 1950X.
S H O R T E R B A R S I N D I C AT E B E T T E R P E R F O R M A N C E Before you pop the champagne,
when only a single thread is used
as commercial products such as Maxons this turns into a battle of overall clock speed
Cinema4D. Still, more cores generally means and IPC, or micro-architecture efficiency. When
more performance, and the first win goes to its all about single-threaded clock speeds, its
Threadripper 1950X for handily rendering all about Intels 7th Gen Core i7-7700K, which
Mike Pans popular BMW benchmark file (go. jumps to the front. Skylake-X, with its very high
pcworld.com/bf) 22 percent faster than the Turbo Boost Max 3.0 cores, comes in second.
10-core Core i9-7900X. Threadripper pulls in about 14 percent slower
We know we just said Blender doesnt than the Core i9-7900X, which is within striking
always scale perfectly, but when you look at distance.
the score from the 8-core, 16-thread Ryzen 7
1800X compared to the 16-core, 32-thread CINEBENCH R15
Threadripper 1950X, Threadripper takes just PERFORMANCE
over half the time to render the image. CineBench R15 benchmark is based on the
same engine Maxon uses in its Cinema4D
POV-RAY PERFORMANCE professional application. Like the previous
Our second test is also free: the Persistence of two applications, its all about the thread
Vision Ray Tracer. This application dates all the count, so again Threadripper 1950X triumphs

Corona Renderer test (go.

CineBench R15.038 pcworld.com/crt). Its a
Multi-threaded performance new plug-in renderer for
Ryzen Threadripper
3,022
Autodesk 3ds Max and is
1950X Zen
Core i9-7900X
touted as being
2,180
Skylake-X unbiased and high-
Core i7-6950X
Broadwell-E 2,107 performance. As the test
Ryzen 7
1,606 is new to us, our sample
1800X Zen
Core i7-6900K set is extremely limited.

Broadwell-E 1,554
Given that AMD is
Ryzen 5
1600X Zen 1,247 promoting it, however,
Core i7-6800K
Broadwell-E 1,137 the results arent
Core i7-7700K
951
surprising: Corona
Kaby Lake
Core i5-7600K
Renderer loves CPU cores
691
Kaby Lake and gives the
LO N G E R B A R S I N D I C AT E B E T T E R P E R F O R M A N C E
Threadripper 1950X a
21-percent advantage.
with a score almost 39 percent faster than the
Core i9-7900X. GEEKBENCH 4
As with POV-Ray, we also run CineBench PERFORMANCE
R15 single-threaded to get another dimension Geekbench is one the most popular free
of CPU performance. When youre talking benchmarks around. We dont typically use it
CPU efficiency or IPC and high-clock speeds, to gauge performance of desktop CPUs. Its
the momentum again shifts back to Intels recently been gaining some traction,
7th-gen Kaby Lake CPUs and Core X, though however, as the latest version does away with
Skylake-X is still just 12 percent faster than many of the controversial aspects of the
Threadripper. Note, too, that Threadripper previous version.
1950X manages to hang tight with Intels The results put the Threadripper 1950X
original consumer 10-core, the Core in front, but not by much, never mind its
i7-6950X, which cost $1,723 when released. six-core advantage. Does this mean
Threadripper 1950X isnt as fast as the
CORONA RENDERER previous tests show? No. More than
PERFORMANCE anything else, it probably shows that
One final rendering benchmark is the newish Geekbench 4.04 doesnt scale with

review, Intel said its
Geekbench 4.04 analysis showed that the
Multi-threaded performance new mesh design on Core
i9 was the issue. The
Ryzen Threadripper
1950X Zen 29,408 mesh design makes it
Core i7-6950X
Broadwell-E 28,746 easier and faster for Intel
Core i9-7900X to connect multiple cores,
Skylake-X 27,952
but there is a penalty in
Core i7-6900K
24,395
Broadwell-E WinRAR and some games
Core i7-6800K
Broadwell-E 19,830 as well.
Ryzen 7
19,812 Intels mesh is similar to
1800X Zen
Core i7-7700K
AMDs Infinity Fabric in
Kaby Lake 17,724
some ways, so its entirely
FX-8370
Vishera 9,718 possibly WinRAR is
LO N G E R B A R S I N D I C AT E B E T T E R P E R F O R M A N C E revealing an Achilles heel
in both designs.
available core count. Or that it just doesnt
like something about the Ryzen design, as 7-ZIP PERFORMANCE
the Ryzen 7 doesnt do well either. Fret not, AMD fans: The good news is you can
And no, this isnt the older 4.04 version. just use 7-Zip, because its all roses there.
The latest 4.1 version did add some updates Threadripper 1950X is again large and in
for AMDs micro-architecture, but apparently charge with a 22-percent lead over its Core i9
not enough. nemesis. Although 7-Zip doesnt scale as well
as the 3D tests, Threadrippers still a healthy
WINRAR PERFORMANCE 73 percent faster than the 8-core Ryzen 7
Speaking of applications that seem to have no 1800X.
love for Threadripper 1950X, here are the
results of WinRAR 5.40s internal benchmark. VERACRYPT PERFORMANCE
Theres no mixup: WinRAR just doesnt One other test that AMD has touted is
perform very well on Threadripper. VeraCrypt. Based on TrueCrypt, VeraCrypt
WinRAR seems to be fair in that it picked up where its popular free predecessor
doesnt like Skylake-X much either, instead fell apart. As its new to us, our sample set is
putting the two Broadwell-E chips clearly in tiny, but it shows a whopping 45-percent
front. Why? At the time of our Core i9 advantage for Threadripper.

ADOBE
PREMIERE Adobe Premiere CC 2017
4K video CPU encode to Blu-ray (sec)
CC 2017
PERFORMANCE Ryzen Threadripper
166
1950X Zen
Besides 3D rendering,
Core i9-7900X
video encoding is one of Skylake-X 207
the top reasons people Core i7-6950X

Broadwell-E 222
buy mega-core chips. To Ryzen 7
272
1800X Zen
test that we take a short Core i7-6900K
288
project that PCWorlds Broadwell-E
Core i7-6800K
video team shot on a 4K Broadwell-E 394
Sony Alpha camera and Core i7-7700K

429
Kaby Lake
export it using the 1080p FX-8370
Vishera 714
Blu-ray preset, with the
S H O R T E R B A R S I N D I C AT E B E T T E R P E R F O R M A N C E
maximum render quality
option checked.
Both the target and the source of our test likely pay for it.
dont actually reside on the PCs local drive. For those who use the GPU, we ran the
Instead, we store it on a Plextor M8e PCIe same project using the GTX 1080 for the heavy
SSD thats moved from machine to machine lifting. Our encode times are drastically cut
for testing. This essentially makes the storage down using GPU rendering, but if you think the
subsystem irrelevant in the performance CPU doesnt matter, think again. Compared to
discussion. an 8-core CPU, for example, the Threadripper
The first result uses CPU encoding rather 1950X is still 37 percent faster.
than the CUDA engine on the GPU. Scoff all
you wantmany professionals still say CPU HANDBRAKE
encoding gives you the best quality. The PERFORMANCE
results put the Threadripper 1950X in front with Our last encode test uses the free and popular
a score about 20 percent faster than the Core Handbrake encoder to convert a 30GB file
i9-7900Xs. Against the 8-core Ryzen 7 1800X, using the Android Tablet preset. Handbrake
its 39 percent faster. Our encode times are tends to love CPU cores and threads, but
relatively short given the video projects short weve found the scaling starts to peter out as
duration, but any professional whod like to you approach crazy amounts of cores. In this
shave off 20 percent on a 5-hour encode will test, the 16-core Threadripper 1950X is only

15 percent faster than the Core i9 chip. Still, We found by running Cinebench first, and
when you notch a win, you notch a win. then starting Blender and keeping it in the
foreground, we could obtain easily
MULTITASKING repeatable results. The results here are the
PERFORMANCE average of three runs each, but we could
Before we move on to gaming performance, reproduce the results days later.
we wanted to present how well these CPUs Threadripper 1950X, with 32 threads at its
do when tasked with running multiple, disposal, finished the Blender render about
multithreaded workloads. For that we 19 percent faster than the Core i9-7900X. In
decided to run Blender and Cinebench CineBench R15 it was 46 percent faster than
simultaneously. Multitasking tests can be the Core i9-7900X.
difficult to pin down. AMD recommends
manually setting the affinity of each core to GAMING PERFORMANCE
the various applications to increase the Do people really buy $1,000 mega-core
reliability of the results. Most people wont do CPUs exclusively to play games? Probably
that, however, so we decided to see if we not, but how well each CPU performs in
could obtain repeatable results just by gaming benchmarks is still an important
clacking off one benchmark and then another. metric for many (like it or not).
3DMARK
Handbrake FIRESTRIKE
0.9.9 Encode 1080p (sec)
PERFORMANCE
Ryzen Threadripper
1950X Zen 875 First up is the venerable
Core i9-7900X 3DMark FireStrike test. This is a
Skylake-X 1,027
bit old and mostly a GPU test,
Core i7-6950X
1,130
Broadwell-E but the overall score factors in
Ryzen 7
1800X Zen 1,355 CPU performance too. The
Core i7-6900K
1,429
overall winner is the 10-core
Broadwell-E
Ryzen 5
Core i7-6950X (theres a reason
1,713
1600X Zen
it cost $1,723). A close second
Core i7-6800K
Broadwell-E 1,934 is the Threadripper 1950X in
Core i7-7700K
Kaby Lake 2,518 Creator Mode. We did flip the
switch for Game Mode and
performance dropped. Why?

Remember, Game Mode tells Windows it has would we say that? If you look at the results of
access to only eight cores, so 3DMark uses the elderly FX-8370 CPU, which was a dog in
only eight of them. every single test, its humming nearly as well
Drilling down into the Physics test results, as the $1,000 CPUs here.
you can see the direct impact of Game Mode.
With all cores used by Windows, TOM CLANCYS RAINBOW
Threadripper pulls out in front. With half of SIX SIEGE PERFORMANCE
them off in the OS, its just slightly faster than Moving on to something newer, we used Tom
an 8-core Ryzen 7 1800X. Clancys Rainbow Six Siege at 1920x1080
This isnt a knock on AMDs Game Mode, resolution and the medium-quality setting to
but clearly, for games that really need more make it less about the GPU.
CPU cores, set it to Creation Mode instead. The Threadripper 1950X exhibits the
familiar pattern weve seen in Ryzen-Core
TOMB RAIDER face-offs in the past: Intel has 10 percent or
PERFORMANCE more better performance. Considering that in
Turns out Tomb Raider with a GTX 1080 at the past weve seen AMDs defecit be 15 to
1080p and set to Ultimate really doesnt care 20 percent in some games at low resolution,
about the CPUits purely a GPU test. Why this isnt bad. But can Game Mode make a
difference?
Yes. With Game
3DMark FireStrike Mode activated, the
1.1 Overall
gap between the
Core i7-6950X
19,494 top-performing Core
Broadwell-E
Ryzen Threadripper i7-6950X and

1950X Zen 19,047
Threadripper closes
Core i7-6900K
18,872
Broadwell-E to about 5 percent.
Core i9-7900X
Skylake-X 18,721 Thats right on the
Core i7-7700K
18,117
heels of the Core
Kaby Lake
Ryzen Threadripper
i9-7900X, which
17,601
1950X Zen Game Mode
likely takes a
Ryzen 7
1800X Zen 17,112 performance hit from
Core i7-6800K
17,070 its mesh
Broadwell-E
interconnect.

RISE OF THE TOMB RAIDER game optimization has not yet proven to be
PERFORMANCE the cure-all AMD promised. In the grand
Just as in Rainbow Six, the Threadripper 1950Xs scheme of things, this isnt a big deal, but itll
performance in Rise of the Tomb Raider is a bit vex AMD fans.
underwhelming in Creation Mode, but flip on
Game Mode and its a ball game. Well, at least CONCLUSION
its in the ball game and trying. In this short-attention-span world, youre
probably looking for the quick answer.
ASHES OF THE Unfortunately, the real answer has three parts,
SINGULARITY: ESCALATION since CPUs fulfill a variety of purposes.
PERFORMANCE The first is single-threaded or very lightly-
Our last gaming test is Ashes of the threaded use, such as most photo-editing
Singularity: Escalation, which is the poster applications. In that category, the more spry
child for how to use a CPU in gaming. quad-cores outpace Threadripper 1950X,
Unfortunately for AMD, its all about Intel though its relatively high clock speeds keep it
here: The Core i9-7900X has a commanding very much in contention.
lead over Threadripper 1950X. Game Mode The second is gaming, where we see the
helps inch the Threadripper 1950X closer, but familiar deficit of previous Ryzen launches.
Intel still wins by 12 percent. AMD argues that in social gaming, such as
Why? Some of it is pure clock speed streaming and recording while gaming, more
differences. But we expected this to be cores are betterand wed tend to agree. But
closer, especially considering that the in conventional gaming, Intel leads. The good
developer of Ashes was one of the first to news is that AMDs new Game Mode can
optimize for Ryzen earlier this year. Granted, help close that gap to the point that it doesnt
even matter.
That brings us to
Ashes of the Singularity: the last category:
Escalation 2.3 multithreaded
19x10 crazy CPU focused (Fps)
Core i9-7900X
performance. In
Skylake-X 50.4
every single
Ryzen Threadripper
1950X Zen Game Mode 45 multithreaded test
Ryzen Threadripper
1950X Zen 41.2 we ran (including
multitasking
multithreaded

tests), Threadripper 1950X outpaced all You buy a 16-core CPU for work. Real
comers by significant margins. It simply work. Real work means modelling, encoding,
destroys any 8-core CPU and makes you and doing five things simultaneously, because
question how the 10-core Core i9-7900X its work.
can dare to be priced the same as the For that, Threadripper 1950X is an
Threadripper 1950X. incredible breakthrough in performance and
This last point is very much the entire cost. Just four years ago, consumers paid
reason for Threadripper 1950Xs existence. $1,000 to get a 6-core CPU. Today, the same
Frankly, no one should buy a $1,000, 16-core $1,000 (go.pcworld.com/6cpu) gets you 16
CPU just to play conventional gaming or run cores. Thats something to be applauded
lightly threaded applications. Its the wrong loudly by anyone who cares about
tool for the job. performance.

Best web browsers of 2017:
Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and
Opera go head-to-head
We take a look at the performance and features of the big four internet browsers to see
which one will serve you best in 2017. BY IAN PAUL
T
he web browser is by far the web app or a website.
most important piece of software Thats why its important to make sure
on your PCat least for most youve always got the best tool for the job,
users. Unless youre at a and in 2017 that does not include Internet
workstation crunching numbers or editing the Explorer. If you still want the built-in option for
next Star Wars you probably spend the Windows that would be Edge, but its hard to
majority of your computer time staring at a stick strictly with Edge when youve got other

REVIEWS BEST WEB BROWSERS
choices including Googles Chrome, machine, a built-in PDF viewer, built-in

MozillaFirefox, and Opera. Google Translate functionality, a task
Lets take a look at the four major (and manager, and the always handy Paste and go
modern) browsers to see how they stack up context menu item.
in2017. (If none of these internet browsers If theres one complaint people have
strike your fancy, head over to PCWorlds about Chrome its that the browser eats up
roundup of 10 intriguing alternative available memory. Our browser testing in
browserson page91.) 2015 (go.pcworld.com/bt) showed that
Chrome was definitely a memory beast, but
CHROME two years later it fared pretty well in our tests.
The current peoples
champion, Google MOZILLA
Chrome tops the For users who love
metrics charts of both extensibility but want
StatCounter and greater privacy than a
NetMarketShare by a huge Google-made
margin. Googles browser has built a browser can provide,
dedicated fan base thanks to its massive the open source Mozilla
extensions library, and the fact that it just gets Firefox is your best bet. Firefox paved the
out of your way to put the focus on web way for other browsers to become
content, not the browsers trimmings. extensible, and while Firefoxs add-on
Chrome isnt quite as simplistic as it catalog is pretty good, it now pales in
oncewas, but its still very easy to use. There comparison to the Chrome Web Store. Like
isnt much to Chrome except a huge URL Google, Firefox has a sync feature.
barknown as the OmniBarplus a space Where Firefox has really shined in recent
forextensions, a bookmarking icon, tabs, years is with the browsers incognito mode
andthats it. (go.pcworld.com/bim). All browsers have a
Yet Google still finds a way to hide all private mode that lets youbrowse without
kinds of features inside the browser, any of your activity beinglogged in your
includingdeep integration with Googles saved history. But most of the time these
services. This allows you to sync your private modes still allow websites to track
bookmarks, passwords, open tabs, and more your activity for that specificsession. Firefox
across devices. Chrome also has multi- does away with this by including an ad and
account support if you need it on a family tracker blocker when using incognito mode.

OPERA Youll see below that its
Before Chrome, performance is
Opera was a popular getting better, but
choice among power thats not all there is
usersa position to the browser in
former Opera CEO Jon 2017. The Edge
Stephenson von extensions library is tiny
Tetzchner is trying to take back with Vivaldi (go.pcworld.com/lit), its
(go.pcworld.com/viv). Opera today is really sync functionality is near nonexistent, and it
one of the more under-rated browsers doesnt get updates nearly fast enough
around. Its based on the same core though that is expected to change with the
technologies as Chrome (the Blink rendering Fall Creators Update (go.pcworld.com/fcu).
engine and the JavaScript V8 engine), which Despite its shortcomings, Edge has
means it can run many Chrome extensions several helpful features that will appeal to
theres even an extension for installing some. Edge is deeply integrated with
extensions from the Chrome Web Store. Windows 10s inking capabilities, as well as
Operas also got a few unusual features with OneNote, making it easy to clip a
like Turbo, which saves on load times and webpage, annotate it, and save it to a
bandwidth by compressing webpages on notebook. Cortana is also a big part of Edge.
Operas servers. Its also got a nice security You can use Microsofts digital assistant to
feature called domain highlighting that hides quickly search for information, compare
most of the URL so that users can see easily prices, or get a quick calculation.
and clearly if theyre on Google.com or Like Chrome, Edge has a casting feature.
google.com.scam.comwith scam.com Theres also a nifty set-aside tabs feature to
being the actual website. stash a collection of websites, the ability to
More recently, Opera introduced its own read ebooks (great for tablets), and an MSN.
take on the social sidebar (go.pcworld.com/ com-ish new-tab page.
mro) with one-click access to services such as
WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and BENCHMARKS
Telegram. Like Chrome and Firefox, Opera Thats enough of an overview for our four
also has its own cross-device syncing feature. contestants, lets get down to business. To
see which browser is worthy of your
MICROSOFT EDGE bandwidth in 2017 we used a variety of
Microsoft Edge is still a work in progress. testing tools. For judging JavaScript we used

JetStream, and the now

unsupported Octane 2.0 and Jetstream
SunSpider 1.0.2
benchmarking tools. Then we Chrome 60
110.34
turned to WebXPRT 2015 and
Opera 46
113.22
Speedometer to challenge our
Firefox 54
browsers under simulated 108
web app workloads. Edge 15
163.79
Finally, we took a look at LO N G E R B A R S I N D I C AT E B E T T E R P E R F O R M A N C E
CPU and RAM usage. Similar

to what we did in 2015, we
loaded a set of 20 websites in SunSpider
a single window in quick
succession using either a Chrome 60
432.5
batch file or the command line Opera 46
384.9
depending on the quirks of
Firefox 54
the browser in question. Once 365.9
all tabs began loading, we Edge 15

119.1
waited 45 seconds, and then S H O R T E R B A R S I N D I C AT E B E T T E R P E R F O R M A N C E
checked the CPU and RAM

usage. The idea was to see the
amount of system resources Octane 2.0
the browser would use during
Chrome 60
a heavy workload. 16,651
One difference from 2015 Opera 46
21,847
is that Flash was turned off for Firefox 54
21,731
each browserbenchmarks
Edge 15
were done with and without 19,588
the plugin in 2015. In recent LO N G E R B A R S I N D I C AT E B E T T E R P E R F O R M A N C E
years, most browser makers

have de-emphasized Flash, enabling it as web is moving to a Flash-free existence we
click-to-play (go.pcworld.com/ctpl) and decided to live the dream right now.
blocking nonessential website elements (go. For these tests our rig was an Acer Aspire
pcworld.com/we) that use Flash. Since the E15-575-33BM laptop loaded with Windows

10 Home (Creators Update), a 1TB hard drive, Again, higher is better for these tests.
4GB RAM, and an Intel Core i3-7100U. Each Finally, we come to the memory and CPU
browser was tested over a hard line internet test. Slamming an average PC with 20 tabs of
connection. mostly media rich sites all at once is certainly
going to chew up a good chunk of CPU and
EDGE MAKES BIG GAINS memory. These browsers did not disappoint
Looking at both Jetstream and SunSpider, in that respect.
Edge won top marks by a wide margin. Despite its reputation, however, Chrome
SunSpider has been deprecated for some was tops here, using less than 40 percent
time and is no longer supported, but the CPU power, followed by Edge. The results
result was still surprising. For Octane 2.0, were similar for memory with Chrome using
which is also no longer supported, Firefox the least. Take those impressive Edge
and Opera vied for top spot, with Chrome the numbers with a healthy dose of skepticism,
laggard by a wide margin. For this set of however, as during testing the PC froze, and
benchmark scores higher is
better with the exception of
SunSpider. Speedometer
Moving on to the more
Chrome 60
modern Speedometer test, 93.6
which quickly iterates through a Opera 46

89.9
bunch of HTML 5-based to-do Firefox 54
40.36
lists, Chrome came out on top.
Edge 15
Googles Blink-based cousin 55.73
Opera came in second, with LO N G E R B A R S I N D I C AT E B E T T E R P E R F O R M A N C E
Edge and Firefox way behind.

The numbers were much closer
20 tabs CPU usage (%)
for WebXPRT 2015, which uses
a wide number of web apps,
Chrome 60
36.8
from photo collections to
Opera 46
online note-taking to data sets. 54.6
Edge came out on top there, Firefox 54

60.3
while the others were closer Edge 15
41.6
together with only a few points
separating the back three.

PC performance under heavier workloads,

Once again, Edge gets but its not great if you want dozens of sites to
honorable mention for making load as quickly as possible.
some serious gains in
performance and earning some AND THE WINNER IS...
truly impressive scores. So who wins? Heres the way we see it.
Once again, Edge gets honorable
we couldnt access task manager as swiftly as mention for making some serious gains in
with the others. The fact that the whole PC performance and earning some truly
slowed to a crawl suggests Edges numbers impressive scores. But when you factor in
dont tell the whole story. Based on that customizability and how Edge fared in the live
experience, power users with multiple tabs site stress test, it still has some work to do
open in Edge would feel some serious pain like offering a wider extension library and the
trying to get work done. ability to sync across devices.
As for Firefox, you may notice that the As in our previous showdown, Chrome
browser chewed up CPU usage, but was continues to capitalize on these strengths,
relatively low in memory usage. The reason and even improves in the performance
for that, as Mozilla reminded us, is that Firefox department by addressing its past resource
alone is transitioning from one browser issues, making it, once again, our first choice.
process to four. Whereas Chrome and Edge Opera again earns second place since it
use multiple processes for each tab. The idea performed relatively well in the live stress test,
behind the latter is that individual tabs and can be set up to take advantage of nearly
running on separate processes wont take all the same conveniences Chrome can.
down the whole browser if they crash. That As for Firefox, its also a fine choice.
approach does use more memory, however. Mozillas browser definitely gets the job done,
Mozilla is trying to find a middle ground. On its very customizable, and its open source
the one hand, Firefox helps maintain overall roots puts the browser in a league of its own.

Alienware 17 R4:
Worth its weight in gold
Not exactly portable, but its got game in spades. BY HAYDEN DINGMAN
I
f theres any gaming laptop as this laptop besides set it on a desk and forget
recognizable year to year as Razers about it.
Blade line, its probably Alienwares.
Following a redesign a few years back, THE BUILD: BIGFOOT
the humbly named Alienware 17 has stayed The Alienware 17 R4 (currently priced at
pretty much the same ever since, at least on $2,549 on Amazon; go.pcworld.com/az17)
the outside. is still so big. Just staggeringly huge. With so
And you know what that means: Time to many following Razers lead and slimming
hit the gym if you want to do anything with down to actual laptop size as opposed to
IMAGE: ALIENWARE SEPTEMBER 2017 PCWorld 49

REVIEWS ALIENWARE 17 R4
so-called desktop replacement carrying it through the airport was a

proportions, I keep expecting Alienware to Herculean effort. I left it in my hotel for six
do the same. days, and it was great for some late-night
But no. Year after year, Alienwares laptops gaming, but phew. Never again.
remain giganticthe better to disperse heat, Size aside, its quite a pretty machine.
and therefore utilize the full (or fuller) potential Alienwares standard chrome-and-black color
of all those expensive parts inside. scheme is still one of my favoritesstraddling
I get it. Really, I do. Youre paying for the line between flashy and professional.
performance, you want that performance, Alienware also has an eye for the small details,
and Alienwares 17-inch laptop will give it to from its understated type-logo underneath
you. (More on that later.) But its damn near the display to the row of macro keys
impossible to haul anywhere, so dont buy unobtrusively arrayed to the left of the
this machine thinking youll use it like a keyboard.
laptop. Or put it on your lap at all, really. And if you love RGB LEDs, Alienwares the
During this review I had occasion to take competition to beat on that front. The
the Alienware 17 out of the country, and here keyboard is only zone-lit, which is a shame,
the absurdity of the situation really hit home. It but there are also RGB LED light strips
didnt even properly fit in the 17-inch laptop embedded in both sides of the laptop and in
case I use for my Blade Pro day-to-day, so I just the lid, as well as underneath the trackpad.
shoved the Alienware 17 in as best I could That last bit is weirdly usefulI like a backlit
and prayed. And at just over 9.5 pounds, keyboard, so of course Id appreciate a backlit
trackpad. The better to guide
your fingers with, right?
Again, flashy, but in
that vaguely high-tech
way only Alienware really
attempts.
The display presents a
tough choice for enthusiasts:
The Alienware 17 comes in
both 1440p and 4K models,
but the 1440p version also
boasts a 120Hz refresh rate
and integrated G-Sync. Its

also slightly brighter, at 400 nits to the 4K
models 300 nits. Personally Id go for speed Alienware 17 R4
over resolution, especially at 17 inches, but
PROS
everyone has different preferences, I know. Worthy of the desktop replacement moniker
In either case, you can also opt for Excellent performance even under full load
Display comes in 1440p/120Hz and 4K variants
integrated Tobii eye-tracking. I spent a bit of
CONS
time with this during my review, and have also Tons of fan noise despite larger size
spent time with the stand-alone desktop Extra-large hinge/vent area makes an enormous
laptop even more so
version. Its kind of novel navigating your Some of the lower-tier models make baffling
choices (like only 8GB of RAM)
desktop with your eyes, and I imagine even
BOTTOM LINE
more useful for those with disabilities, but I There are rough edges, from the keyboards zone
dont think its must-have technology for the backlight to loud fans to its enormous size, but the
Alienware 17 R4 is still one of the few machines that
average user. As for its use in gaming, there can truly function as a semi-portable desktop
experience.
are a few high-profile titles like Deus Ex:
$2,599
Mankind Divided, but its far from pervasive.
My two biggest complaints pertain to the
rear of the machine. Instead of a normal space-age lid, Ventilation Row looks like it was
laptop setupwhich is to say, hinge at the slapped on as an aftermarket part. Its also
very backthe Alienware 17 instead has the part and parcel with the Alienware 17s size
hinge set in approximately 1.25 inches. problems, as the laptop isnt just the size of
Now, theres a reason for this: heat. The the 17-inch screen, but that plus this fat ol
fans all vent through this section at the rear of hinge-and-vent outcropping on the back.
the chassis, meaning it gets uncomfortably Its surprisingly loud, too. I thought
warm. Not something youd want to touch, placing the fans behind the screen might
nor something youd want venting right next dampen the sound a bitif so, its not by
to the keyboard. much. Even under a moderate load the
Its ugly, though. Compared to the Alienware 17 can get noisy, and under full
load (like when gaming) it all but requires a
headset or headphones. On a positive note,
Now, theres a reason for this: the fans are less high-pitched and whiny than
heat. The fans all vent through Ive experienced in thin laptops like the Blade
this section at the rear of the Pro (go.pcworld.com/bpro), but you wont
chassis, meaning it gets appreciate the difference much when its
uncomfortably warm. drowning out your game.

My other big complaint is that power (as mediocre battery life. In our standard
well as the proprietary Amplifier port, HDMI rundown test, wherein we loop a 4K video file
out, and ethernet) plugs into the rear vent until the battery dies, the Alienware 17 lasted
area, on the back of the laptop. Alienware is 3 hours and 8 minutes under loadnot bad
hardly alone in this, especially when it comes for a laptop of this size, but certainly not
to these massive desktop-replacement enough to last you through the day.
devices, but wow it can be annoying to try to
plug in your laptop when you cant even see PERFORMANCE:
the port. BATTLE OF THE 1080S
Speaking of which: The power adapter is Its worth it, though. Oh goodness me, its
also gigantic, adding another 2.5 pounds to worth it.
your carry weight. Again, this isnt an The performance gap between slim Blade
Alienware-specific issue, and is typical for a Pro-style laptops and these behemoth
desktop replacement. Its just one more desktop replacements has narrowed in recent
contributing factor to the Alienware 17s yearsand the competition will likely get
dubious portability. Hauling around the even more fierce as Nvidias new Max-Q (go.
laptop is bad enough. Hauling around the pcworld.com/mq) parts hit the mainstream.
laptop and the charger? Injurious. But theres still nothing quite like a so-called
Its not optional, either. Like most gaming desktop replacement for getting desktop-
laptops, the Alienware 17s excellent quality performance.
performance (Ill get to that) comes at a cost: The Alienware 17 we reviewed came
equipped with an Intel Core i7-7820HK, an
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080, and 16GB of
DDR4 RAM clocked at 2,400MHz, plus
500GB of SSD storage and an additional 1TB
of hard-drive space. Weve seen some
laptops more powerful than this one, but its
up there.
(Note: One oddity is that the Alienware
17s baseline model comes with just a single
8GB stick of RAM. Dont do that to yourself.
Opt for at least 16GB.)
That i7-7820HK is the
Alienware 17s strongest

difference between
HandBrake the two is only
0.9.9 Encode (Sec) 100MHz, with the
Origin EON17-X 7700HQ clocked at
(Core i7-6700K) 2,280
2.8GHz (3.8GHz
HP Omen 17
2,292
(Core i7-6700HQ) Turbo) and the
Alienware 17 R4
(Core i7-7824HQ) 2,337 7820HK at 2.9GHz
Dell XPS 15 (2017)
2,743 (3.9GHz Turbo).
(Core i7-7700HQ)
Asus Zephyrus GX501

The advantage
(Core i7-7700HQ) 2,783
still goes to the
MSI GT72S Dragon
(Core i7-6700HQ) 2,927 7820HK, though,
Asus G752VS-XB72K
(Core i7-6820HK) 2,940 and you can see it
Razer Blade (2016) clearly in our
(Core i7-6700HQ) 3,060
HandBrake test. We
feed a 30GB file
through HandBrake
to see how long it
Rise of the Tomb raider
Very High 1920x1080 (Fps) takes for the system
to render it down to
Origin EON17-X
128.8
(Core i7-6700K) an MP4, using the
Asus G752VS-XB72K
(Core i7-6820HK) 104.9 Android Tablet
Asus Zephyrus GX501
104.8 standarda CPU-
(Core i7-7700HQ)
Alienware 17 R4
intensive task. Our
(Core i7-7820HQ) 102.2
7820HK-toting
HP Omen 17
(Core i7-6700HQ) 95.5 Alienware 17? A little
Acer Predator 15
(Core i7-6700HQ) 61.2 under 39 minutes. An
Acer Predator 17 Alienware 15 with a
(Core i7-6700HQ) 59.5
7700HQ? Almost
Alienware 13
59.1
(Core i7-6700HQ) 46, for a difference of
about 7 minutes. The
same goes for other
asset. Most laptops top out at the 7700HQ laptops like the Gigabyte Aero 15
i7-7700HQa perfectly respectable (go.pcworld.com/ga15) and the Asus ROG
processor in its own right. Indeed, the Zephyrus GX501 (go.pcworld.com/gx5).

Then theres the

GTX 1080, a Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
powerhouse in its 19x10 Ultra 4K texture pack (Fps)
own right. Here we Asus Zephyrus GX501
(Core i7-7700HQ) 156.7
see some interesting
Alienware 17 R4
154.9
behavior vis-a-vis (Core i7-7824HQ)
Origin EON17-X
Nvidias crop of (Core i7-6700K) 154.8
Max-Q laptopsand Asus G752VS-XB72K
144.7
(Core i7-6820HK)
the performance HP Omen 17
(Core i7-6700HQ) 118.9
advantage when you
MSI GT72S Dragon
buy a full-size (Core i7-6700HQ) 95.4
desktop replacement MSI GS63VR Titan

(Core i7-6700HQ) 92.7
like the Alienware 17. Alienware 13
(Core i7-6700HQ) 87.3
See, in short
benchmarks of the
Max-Q laptops match
or even outpace the
3DMark Fire Strike
Alienware 17. By Ultra 1.1
short I mean pretty
Origin EON17-X
5,252
much any in-game (Core i7-6700K)
benchmark, as these Alienware 17 R4

(Core i7-7820HK) 4,960
typically only run for a Asus Zephyrus GX501
4,091
(Core i7-7700HQ)
minute or two. Asus G752VS-XB72K
3,998
Looking at Rise of the (Core i7-6820HK)
HP Omen 17
Tomb Raider, for (Core i7-6700HQ) 3,837
instance, youll see MSI GS63VR Titan

2,641
(Core i7-6700HQ)
that the Alienware 17 Acer Predator 15
(Core i7-6700HQ) 2,637
ran at 102.2 frames per
Alienware 13
second, and Asuss (Core i7-6700HQ) 2,633
Max-Q 1080-sporting LO N G E R B A R S I N D I C AT E B E T T E R P E R F O R M A N C E
GX501 at 104.8.
The same matched-or-slightly-exceeded fps versus the GX501s 156.7 fps. Interesting,
behavior is seen in Middle-earth: Shadow of right? If Max-Q is that good, it seems like it
Mordor, where the Alienware 17 posts 154.9 would completely negate the need for an

oversized laptop like the Alienware 17. 17 vents like a pro, and the result is going to
But Max-Q works only in short bursts. be better graphics, and a better and more
Remember, the key advantage to a laptop like consistent frame rate. Of course, you could
the Alienware 17 is heat management and do better if you opted for a desktop
ventingan aspect that doesnt make much replacement with a desktop-class CPU, like
difference in the short term but makes a huge the Origin EON17-Xbut itll sure cost you.
difference in the long(er) term.
Enter 3DMark, with its longer BOTTOM LINE
benchmarks. Here, you consistently see the There are rough edges. Zone backlighting is a
Alienware 17 outpace its Max-Q competitor. bit outdated, the fans are loud, battery life is
In 3DMarks latest TimeSpy benchmark, the average, and the extra inch-plus of venting
Alienware 17 scored a 6,538 versus the adds insult to injury in terms of the Alienware
GX501s 5,489. The same gap exists in Fire 17s size. Id love to see Alienware branch out
Strike Ultra, where the Alienware 17 posted and bring its unique aesthetic to a thin,
4,960 to the GX501s 4,091. lightweight Max-Q laptop one of these days.
In fact, the GX501 performs more like a But the Alienware 17 plays to the com-
1070 in these longer tests. The afore- panys strengths: performance, performance,
mentioned Alienware 15, which packs a 1070 performance. This machines got it in spades,
in addition to its i7-7700HQ, put up scores of handily outpacing what weve seen of the
5,386 and 4,097 in TimeSpy and Fire Strike new Max-Q crop so far and proving the
Ultra, respectively. As my colleague Gordon importance of good thermals. Its one hell of a
Ung so succinctly put it: In Alienwares desktop replacement.
machine, the 1080 gives you full 1080
performance all the time.
Im not here to throw Max-Q under the
bus. On the contrary, I think a Max-Q laptop
with its lighter-weight design is probably
more practical for most people day-to-day.
Pound for pound, Max-Q has the
performance edge.
Alienware gives you desktop
performance, though, and under greater
duress. All that heat management
adds pounds, but the Alienware

REVIEWS
Best cheap laptops:

We rate thebest-sellers on
Amazon andBest Buy
Heres what wed tell our non-nerdy friends if they asked which laptops are really the
best deals on Amazon and Best Buy. BY GORDON MAH UNG
E
ver get that text message out of advice. Their kids are going off to college,
the blue? You know: Hey, Im at and they need your all-knowing tech help
Best Buy right now. What do you right now. Because with great computer
think of this Acer laptop versus knowledge comes great responsibility, I
this Dell laptop? One says it has four cores, always wade into the specs, and provide
while the other has 8GB of RAM. Help! quick-take buying recommendations based
Yes, its that time of the year when friends on what I can discern from the configurations
and family hit you up for computer-buying and prices.
56 PCWorld SEPTEMBER 2017 IMAGE: AMAZON

So, in the spirit of offering you the same difference to the average consumer will likely
expert advice Id give to my nearest and be negligible. The Core i5 boasts a 700MHz
dearest, Ive combed through the best- advantage, or roughly 30 percent. In practical
selling budget laptop lists from both terms, the Core i3 might exhibit a step or two
Amazon and Best Buy, and weighed the pros slower performance, but for general
and cons. Both lists change quite rapidly, so computing use, the average person usually
Im basing this on a snapshot in time cant tell the difference.
namely, the best-selling laptops on the Thats because a systems hard drive is
morning of July 21, 2017. usually the bottleneck to performance. And at
This years Amazon top five is dominated this price, youre almost always going to get a
by Intel, with three out of five running its hard drive (No. 4 on this list being the
processors and the remaining two running exception). Relatively ancient hard-drive
AMD. At Best Buy, where people spend a technology is about as slow and cumbersome
little more, Intel dominated the top five even as using a record player over an MP3.
more decisively, with just a lone AMD entry. Fortunately, the Aspire E 15 is easy to service,
Are these reviews? Absolutely not. But I so if you can afford to upgrade to a solid-state
still think theres a lot of value in helping out drive (SSD), do it.
those who cant tell an Atom from a Core i7. Graphics performance, which mostly
impacts gaming, is also sacrificed in this
AMAZONS TOP FIVE budget Aspire. Rather than a dedicated
1. Acer Aspire E 15 graphics chip in the laptop with its own
While last years buyers preferred a beefed up memory pool, the Aspire E 15 uses Intels
version of the Acer Aspire E 15 (which is No. 5 integrated HD 620 graphics. It results in
this year), consumers have voted for lower nearly half the graphics performance of the
cost with this years $349 Aspire (go.pcworld. beefier Aspire E 15 (No. 5 this year) but its
com/asp). This years top seller gives you a really not a deal breaker. It will still handle
dual-core, 7th-generation Intel Core i3-7100; most light-duty gaming such as Minecraft
4GB of DDR4 RAM; a 1TB 5,400rpm hard just dont expect miracles.
drive; and a DVD burner. Other notable specs One final thing to note is that of the 10
include the screen, which is pretty good for laptops in this story, the Aspire E 15 is among
the price, with a 15.6-inch 1920x1080, or full the heaviest at 5.3 pounds. The only other
HD, panel. laptop to weigh this much is the No. 5 Acer
A Core i3 might not sound as impressive Aspire E 15. Still, overall this is a fine notebook
as a Core i5, but the actual performance and we give it a Thumbs Up, but we gotta say,

REVIEWS BEST CHEAP L APTOPS
the No. 2 is also pretty appealing for budget about two-thirds of a comparable Intel GPU,
shoppers on Amazonthis is the real fight. based on reports. That means, for the most
part, gaming will be limited to lower
2. HP Notebook 15 resolutions and lower game settings.
The theme here is cheap and HPs Notebook On the storage front, you get a 500GB
15 (go.pcworld.com/hpn) pushes the price 5,400rpm hard drive, a DVD burner, and a
for a 15.6-inch laptop down to $252. Dayum. screen resolution of 1366x768.
Costing $100 less than the Acer takes some The upshot is that this a serviceable
effort, which meant passing over Intels pricier laptop, but one that will generally have lower
CPUs for an AMD A6-7310 quad-core chip. performance and perhaps slightly less battery
Although a quad-core may sound better than life than the Acer Aspire E 15.
a dual-core, the underlying design matters At the same time, you save $100, which
too. can go toward rent, or a couple of weeks
Performance data for the A6-7310 is worth of lunches.
limited, but its based on AMDs Puma
architecture. For the most part, the A6-7310 is 3. Asus Chromebook
sandwiched between the performance of an C202SA-YS02
Intel Atom or N series Celeron and a Core Asuss Chromebook C202SA (go.pcworld.
i3. So, not bad, but not great. com/ac1) is one of those laptops that reminds
And despite the Radeon R4 name, you why Chromebooks rule the budget-
graphics performance of the APU looks to be laptop category (see our full review (go.
pcworld.com/frr) for details). Besides their
popularity in education, Chromebooks just
offer a lot of value.
The Chromebook C202SA, for instance,
is intended for schools, which means its
semi-ruggedized, or at least made to take
more of a beating with its rubber-covered
corners and spill-proof keyboard.
Inside the C202SA
is an Intel Celeron
N3060 CPU, which can
be thought of as an Atom CPU
on steroids. Its the primary CPU running

trade-off for semi-rugged features may well
be worth it.
In the end, this one is easy: thumbs up.
4. HP 14-inch Laptop
The No. 4 seller on Amazon, HPs 14-inch
Laptop (go.pcworld.com/hp14), is a
complicated laptop story. The first thing
that grabs you is the price: Its a Windows
10 Home laptop for $219. The second
thing is the screen: Its a higher-
resolution 1920x1080 panel that makes
the 1366x768 screens you get in this
price range seem janky. Even better, it
uses superior IPS technology. IPS
gives you excellent off-axis viewing,
most Chromebooks today and is fine for most and rarely, if ever, provides a bad
tasks. The C202SA has 4GB of RAM, which is experience, whereas so-called IPS-like or
preferable to the 2GB of RAM you typically wide-viewing angle panels run the gamut
see in low-end Chromebooks. from bad to good.
Storage is handled by 16GB of eMMC Even the AMD E2-7110 CPU isnt half bad.
chip-based storage technology thats similar Like the AMD A6-7310, its slower than Core
to an SSD but slower. As slow as eMMC can i3, but generally slightly faster than a Celeron
be, its still way better than a hard disk drive N CPU. So whats the catch? Storage. HP
and a key reason for budget Chromebooks outfits the creatively named 14-inch Laptop
responsiveness. with a 32GB eMMC drive. While eMMC can
If youre new to Chromebooks and worry yield a more responsive feel than a hard drive,
about 16GB vs. 32GB or more, dont be. the limited space is problematic on a
ChromeOS is a very lightweight OS with Windows-based laptop.
deep ties to the cloud. Its why you can have a This laptop will basically give you a great
16GB Chromebook and use it for years screen to look at and reasonable
without running out of space. responsiveness from its eMMC drive, but the
The only real negative of the C202SA is its minute you fill up the drive (which wont take
bulk, but if the user is a child (or klutz), the long), the experience is going to take a dive.

Its really a shame, because with just a little difference here. The main one is the graphics.
more storage space or a hard drive option With a GeForce 940MX, youre getting
(along with the eMMC), this could be an reasonable graphics performance from a
incredible bargain laptop. As it is, you need budget laptop. The second difference is
to really consider this laptops limitations storage. This particular Acer Aspire E 15
before you buy one. Our verdict: thumbs dumps the hard drive for a 256GB M.2 SSD.
down. That means this laptop will likely feel and act a
lot more responsive than dog-slow hard disk
5. Acer Aspire E 15 drive-based laptops in most use cases.
Take last years best-selling Acer Aspire E 15 Although we havent confirmed it, Amazon
(go.pcworld.com/aa15), update the CPU, customers have reported that a hard drive
add a USB Type C port, and you pretty much upgrade is a snap on this model.
have the No. 5 Amazon laptop. Acer also doubles the RAM from the base
Yes, it looks the same as the No. 1 selling model to 8GB. The CPU is Intels latest
Acer Aspire E 15 above, but theres a world of 7th-generation Core i5-7200U, which is the

beyond the budget realm. Its enough to
leave less-tech-savvy folk confused as hell.
Fortunately, though, I can help.
1. Lenovo IdeaPad 110

Lenovos IdeaPad 110 (go.pcworld.com/
ip110s) is more or less the equal of the HP
Notebook 15 thats the No. 2 best seller
on Amazon. It has the same CPU, an
AMD A6-7310; the same
amount of RAM, 4GB;
and the same size hard
drive, 500GB. With the same
size and same resolution panel, the main
difference is the price.
same chip used in laptops that cost twice as On the date we locked this down, this
much as the Aspire E 15. laptop was going for an amazing $199. Thats
If there were two things to ding about this a steal. When it isnt on sale though, its
laptop, it would be the weight and the price. typically $279, which makes it a little less
At 5.3 pounds, its not as light as the palatable.
competition. And at $579, it stretches the Sure, among the top five at Best Buy, its
definition of budget laptop.
Still, if you want snappier
performance at a good price and
dont care about the weight, the
Acer Aspire E 15 is a thumbs up.
BEST BUYS TOP FIVE

At Best Buy, the list of best-selling
laptops offers a far more
interesting mix. It runs the gamut
from Apple to AMD, pits an
Intel Celeron CPU against
a Core i3, and extends

the cheapest of the Windows laptops, but RAM, and a 128GB PCIe SSD. The
$279 is pretty close to Amazons top seller, construction of the laptop is top-notch, too,
the Acer Aspire E 15, which gives you a with an aluminum shell and outstanding
higher-resolution screen, and slightly more trackpad and keyboard. For the most part,
performance. So when not on sale, wed say this is a slightly sped-up version of the
the IdeaPad 110 is a wobbler for us. MacBook Air 13 that Apple first introduced
When on sale for $199, however, its an in 2015.
impressive amount of hardware for the price Overall, the MacBook Air 13 yields zippy
and an easy thumbs up. performance for general computing, with
only heavier chores such as gaming and
2. Apple MacBook Air 13 photo-editing being issues. Battery life is also
Apple has a reputation for overcharging for legendary thanks to a giant battery and a
its hardware and that rep is normally well compromised screen. The screen, in fact, is
deserved. The MacBook Air 13 (go.pcworld. probably the main negative of the hardware
com/mba13) you see here though (and at (well, that and the fact that youre buying
the price we stumbled upon) is almost hardware introduced two years ago).
reasonably priced. Even though its only 13 inches diagonally,
Inside you get an Intel 5th-generation, the display is an unimpressive 1440x900 in
dual-core Core i5-5250U, 8GB of LPDDR3 resolution using TN technology. Although TN

is unsuitable for critical photo-editing (IPS
panels are preferred for that), the one Apple
uses isnt that bad.
The important factor is the price, though.
Last year Apple was hawking this same basic
laptop for $1,000, but on the day we froze
our pricing, it was on sale for $699, which
actually makes it a competitive laptop.
If youre looking at Apples full asking
price of $1,000, wed point you to Dells
XPS 13 or HPs Spectre X360 13T, or
No. 5 on this list as much better
value. But for $699, the
MacBook Air 13 earns a thumbs up.
3. Samsung Chromebook 3 Chromebooks.

While Samsungs Chromebook 3 (go. The Chromebook 3s screen is just
pcworld.com/sc3) isnt as rugged as the 1366x768, but at only 11.6-inches diagonal,
Asus Chromebook C202 on Amazons list, it you wont notice its low resolution that much.
can be had for 25 percent less. Internally, its If youre picking between the
basically the same and should yield the same Chromebook 3 and the Asus C202, it mostly
performance with its Intel Celeron N3060 comes down to aesthetics and features like a
and 4GB of RAM. The Samsung even gives spill-proof keyboard (Asus). The Samsung
you twice the amount of storage with its Chromebook 3 is a little thinner but,
32GB of eMMC, although thats a minor win interestingly, slightly heavier.
since you really dont need local storage on a Either way, this is a decent Chromebook
Chromebook. that gives you more than a typical budget
Performance of both the Samsung and Chromebook from just a year ago. Thumbs up.
Asus Chromebooks is fine and more than
enough for basic browsing tasks. The 4GB of 4. HP 15.6-inch Laptop
RAM helps out those who like to have a ton of HPs 15.6-inch Laptop (go.pcworld.com/
pages open, as well. We generally prefer hp156) (if you ignore its boring name) is
Intels Celeron N series (basically Atom) over actually quite a decent laptop when on
the ARM chips weve seen in many sale, but when it isnt, its punching out of

its weight. 15.6-inch expanse but its not a deal breaker.

The 15.6-inch HP gives you a Core In fact, this is a decent performance laptop at
i5-7200U, 8GB of RAM, and 2TB of storage. the price we found on Best Buy ($449).
The Core i5 is indeed faster than a Core i3, Its main problem is when its not on sale.
but its still just a dual-core CPU and most The non-sale price is $549, which puts it
people just wont notice the difference in squarely in the territory of the No. 5 best seller
common browsing and Office chores. on Amazon: Acers Aspire E 15. For $29
The screen is a bit subpar with its more, the Acer gives you a GeForce 940MX
1366x768 pixels stretched out over a graphics card, a higher-resolution 1920x1080
screen, and a 256GB SSD.
So consider this laptop a thumbs up on
The Yoga 720 also gives you the sale, and a wobbler when not.
latest Thunderbolt 3 over USB-C
unlike the MacBook Air 13, 5. Lenovo Yoga 720
which uses the now-dying Like the No. 2 on the Best Buy best-selling list,
Thunderbolt 2 standard. the MacBook Air 13, Lenovos Yoga 720 (go.

pcworld.com/ly720) is hardly a budget technology, which is preferable to the TN
laptop at $759 on sale, but it also shows you technology in the MacBook Air 13.
just how much more value there is in PCs. The Yoga 720 also folds backward for use
Unlike the MacBook Air 13 that still rolls as a tablet and features 10-point touch and
a 5th-gen CPU, the Yoga 720 features pen support. Thats just way more versatility
Intels latest 7th-gen dual-core Core than the MacBook Air 13 offers.
i7-7500U. You also get 8GB of RAM (the If the MacBook Air 13 were priced at its
same as the MacBook Air 13) and twice the typical $1,000, there would be no
amount of storage at 256GB using an comparison between the two in
ultra-fast SSD. In practical, everyday use, performance, storage, and versatility. The
performance between the Yoga 720 and only time it gets close between the Yoga
MacBook Air 13 wont be noticeably 720 and the MacBook Air 13 is when you
different, but in more difficult tasks, the can find the MacBook Air 13 on sale at $749,
Yoga 720 will be faster. and the Yoga 720 is off sale at $849. Even
The Yoga 720 also gives you the latest then, youre still getting double the storage,
Thunderbolt 3 over USB-C unlike the Thundebolt 3, a touchscreen, pen support,
MacBook Air 13, which uses the now-dying and a higher-resolution IPS panel for just
Thunderbolt 2 standard. $100 more.
The screen on the Yoga 720 is higher The Yoga 720 is a thumbs up, on sale or
resolution at 1920x1080 and features IPS not.

REVIEWS
WD My Passport SSD: Worthy

competition for Samsungs T3
WDs USB 3.1 Gen 2 SSD vies with Samsung for the top spot in small, fast, and spacious
portable storage. BY JON L. JACOBI
U
ntil WDs My Passport SSD the T3 is still a little faster. More on the why
showed up on our doorstep, of that later.
Samsungs T3 (go.pcworld.
com/st3) USB 3.1 (Gen 1, PRICE AND DESIGN
5Gbps) portable SSD was the last word in Small and fast costs more. At the time of this
super-svelte, high-capacity storage. Now writing, the My Passport SSD was available
theres at least a conversation. The My only from Best Buy, with the 256GB version
Passport SSD even adds a little spice to the costing $100, the 512GB version priced at
debate by using a Type C USB 3.1 $200, and the 1TB version we tested going
(10Gbps) interface. The extra bandwidth for an even $400. Thats not cheap, but
made no difference in performance, and roughly on par with the T3.

Samsung T3, but perhaps more interesting.
WD My Passport SSD The drive uses a USB Type C port, but
comes with a C-to-A adapter for use with
PROS
Far faster than standard USB hard drives and older systems.
thumbdrives
Note that while WD, unlike Samsung,
Handsomely styled
Very compact bundles some pretty fair backup software, we
CONS dont recommend external SSDs for backup.
Slightly slower than Samsungs T3k
HIgh cost per gigabyte
Thats because all of the high-capacity USB
BOTTOM LINE
SSDs weve used will occasionally, and
This external USB 3.1 10Gbps SSD is small, fast, seemingly arbitrarily, decide they no longer
good-looking and capacious. Its a great product,
but its slower with smaller files and folders than its contain data. Recreate the partition and
main competitor--Samsungs similarly expensive T3.
re-format, and theyre good to go, but the
From $100
data is gone. Weve experienced this type of
failure with both the Samsung T1 and T3, as
The My Passport SSD is roughly 3.5 well as the Sandisk Extreme 900, with no
inches long, 1.75 inches wide, and a mere discernible reason as to why.
0.4 inch thin. We
cant think of
anything offhand
CrystalDiskMark 5
Sequential throughput write (MBps)
thats of a similar size,
WD My Passport
though an oversized 431
lighter comes to Samsung T3

409
mind. The important TerraMaster D2-310
741
bit is that it fits handily
in the palm of your
hand, and readily into
all but the smallest of
CrystalDiskMark 5
pockets. Sequential throughput read (MBps)
The drive weighs WD My Passport
457
only a few ounces,
Samsung T3
and the two-tone, 421
half-beveled design TerraMaster D2-310

519
looks quite nice. A LO N G E R B A R S I N D I C AT E B E T T E R P E R F O R M A N C E
bit gaudier than the

REVIEWS WD MY PASSPORT SSD
PERFORMANCE
The 1TB My Passport SSD 20GB copies
Chart subhead Sky Diver 1.0 Overall (Demo Mode Off)
is a bit faster than the
Samsung T3 according to 20GB folder write
89
CrystalDiskMark, as 136
shown overleaf. However, 125
both our 20GB copy tests 20GB folder read

89
and the AS SSD 130
benchmark mildly 102
disagree. 20GB write
44
In our 20GB files and 69
folder tests (see the chart 68
below), the WD My 20GB read
30
Passport SSD lags 49
significantly behind the 53
Samsung T3, especially
SANDISK EX TREME 90 0 USB W D M Y PA S S P O R T S S D SAMSUNG T3
when reading. The
Sandisk Extreme 900
included in the
comparison uses two M.2 SATA SSDs in RAID
0 to boost performance.
In the AS SSD test, the WD My Passport
SSD reads a bit faster, but writes
considerably slower than the Samsung
T3. The Kingston HyperX Savage is a
top-notch internal SSD that we
included in the chart to show
the relative performance
of SATA 6Gbps and
USB 3.1.
If youre wondering
how a USB 3.1 Gen 1 The beveled top
gives the WD My
drive (the Samsung) can
Passport a nice look,
keep up with or surpass a Gen 2 drive, and better grip.

450MBps is pretty
AS SSD much the sustained
Sequential throughput write (10GB/MBps) limit.
Kingston HyperX The only way
Savage 489
you can start to
Samsung T3
398
utilize USB 3.1 Gen
WD My Passport
320 2s full 10Gbps
S H O R T E R B A R S I N D I C AT E B E T T E R P E R F O R M A N C E bandwidth is with
more than one drive
coupled in RAID, as
AS SSD with AFTechs
Sequential throughput read (10GB/MBps) Blackbird VS-2SSD,
Kingston HyperX
Sandisks Extreme
515
Savage
900 (go.pcworld.
Samsung T3
426 com/e900), and
WD My Passport
453 TerraMasters
DS-310; or by using
PCIe NVMe SSDs
with a PCIe to USB
its not the busits the drive. No SATA drive, bridge chip as does Akitios Thunder 3 PCIe
such as those we believe to be inside the WD SSD.
My Passport SSD (WD wouldnt say what was
in the drivethis is supposition based on NICE JOB
performance) and Samsung T3, is going to WD has done a very nice job with the My
transfer data at much over 500MBps, even Passport SSD. Its slightly faster than the T3
attached directly to the SATA bus. Add a reading, highly portable, and handsome.
bridge chip and USBs overhead, and But its slower than the T3 with small files,
so all things being equaland yes, were
talking pricethe T3 is the better buy. Not
WD has done a very nice job that youll be disappointed with either.
with the My Passport SSD. Its Both are so much faster than a hard drive,
slightly faster than the T3 youll swear off spinning platters forever.
reading, highly portable, and Oh, wait...except for backup. And capacity.
handsome. And price per GB.

REVIEWS
The 15 best new PC games of

2017, and their release dates
Plenty of new PC games are still coming in 2017. These are the ones were most interested
in. BY HAYDEN DINGMAN
I
ts getting harder and harder to So its worth being selective. Weve
delineate between the busy spring and looked ahead at the upcoming months and
the busy fall. The game release lull that plucked out 15 new games, sorted by release
used to last from May through date, that were looking forward to as 2017
September is now more like late June to early enters its final stretch. This is far from an
August, and even July saw its fair share of exhaustive list, and there are a few
new game releases. There are just so many conspicuous absences since indie titles dont
upcoming PC games nowadays. Youll never usually announce a launch date months in
catch up on that backlog! advance. But still, weve covered the major
70 PCWorld SEPTEMBER 2017 IMAGE: ISTOCK

tentpole releases plus a few smaller titles that through the air, ambushing people from
are near and dear to us. above, on maps inspired by Santa Monica,
If you tend to organize the calendar based CA, and other real-world locales. I cant say
on game releases rather than astrological Im a fan of the edgy voice acting, but the
signs, it turns out autumn is closer than you recent beta played great and a well-
might think. coordinated team can pull off some great
stunts.
LAWBREAKERS Well see if it can pull peoples attention
Release date: Out now from Overwatch though. The two games
Yes, if were going to draw the line in 2017 to arent that similar butwell, tell that to
indicate when the big fall game releases Battleborn.
start, it would fall on August 8the day Cliff
Bleszinski and the team at Boss Key released STARCRAFT REMASTERED
sci-fi shooter LawBreakers (go.pcworld.com/ Release date: Out now
lb1; $30 on Amazon, go.pcworld.com/lba2). Its not often I look forward to a remaster, but
Featuring high-speed movement in the its hard not to get excited about StarCraft:
vein of classic 90s shooters, LawBreakers Remastered (go.pcworld.com/rem; $14.99
focuses on verticality. Maps are dotted with on Battle.net, go.pcworld.com/bnet).
low-gravity areas where youll go flying Blizzard has overhauled all the units, maps,

REVIEWS BEST UPCOMING PC GAMES
game like no other

fighting game Ive ever
playedby which I mean
its way more
complicated. Almost
every aspect of your
character is under your
control, from your stance
to the specific moves you
put into each combo.
Moves are governed by a
deck system, and you
chain cards together to
audio, and more just in time for StarCrafts build out combos to match your preferred
20th anniversary. Oh, it also runs in native 4K fighting style. Its incredibly intimidating.
(go.pcwotrld.com/n4k). Whats not to love? Its incredibly powerful too. Once you get
And it goes beyond aesthetics, too. New the hang of it you realize theres a world of
Story Interludes will apparently illustrate potential, as you experiment with what
parts of the story that used to be confined to combos work for you and what dont. Its an
text, and Blizzard has added some quality-of- evolving processone youll undertake as
life features like cloud saves, matchmaking, you uncover the games world and story,
and leaderboards. From what I can tell, this occasionally running into other players in its
looks like a remaster done right. seamless Journey-style multiplayer. Will they
ABSOLVER
Release date: August 29
Absolver (go.pcworld.
com/abs; $15 on Steam,
go.pcworld.com/abss is
one of those near and
dear projects I
mentioned in the intro. An
indie game published by
Devolver, its a fighting

fight you? Help you out? Thats half the fun. Personally, Im looking forward to it as an
excuse to return to XCOM 2, since the games
XCOM 2: WAR OF THE launch issues meant I never really sank my
CHOSEN teeth into it the way I did with its predecessor.
Release date: August 29 So far, War of the Chosen ($40 on Amazon,
Things were so quiet after XCOM 2s (go. go.pcworld.com/wotc) sounds like a pretty
pcworld.com/xco) launch that Id started to great excuseand it better be, because at
think Firaxis had moved on to other projects. $40 this is priced less like an expansion and
Not so! Like XCOM: Enemy Within, XCOM 2 more like an entirely new game.
($60 on Amazon, go.pcworld.com/xca) is
getting a meaty expansion that overhauls DIVINITY: ORIGINAL SIN II
basically the entire game, with new factions, Release date: September 14
new unit types, new boss enemies, more Im loathe to designate one of this falls
persistent campaign elements, and the releases as my Most Anticipated, but
ability to finally use alien soldiers in your Divinity: Original Sin II (go.pcworld.com/dos;
army. Its an ambitious undertaking for one of $45 on Steam, go.pcworld.com/doss) would
the 10 best PC games of 2016 (go.pcworld. be right up there. The original was
com/10b). incrediblenot a throwback like so many

other modern isometric CRPGs (see: Pillars of Its hard for me to be too excited about a
Eternity, go.pcworld.com/poe), but instead a Dishonored 2 spin-off given how disastrous
glimpse of where CRPGs could go in the Dishonored 2s PC port was at launch (go.
future. Systems-driven, open-ended, co-op, pcworld.com/d2). Im willing to give Arkane
and full of emergent chaos. the benefit of the doubt, though, especially
The second turns up the dial on all those since stand-alone expansion Death of the
factors. With a more flexible spell-crafting Outsiders (go.pcworld.com/doto) story
system, character backgrounds that are seems quite a bit more interesting than
factored into dialogue, split-screen Dishonored 2 proper. Playing as Billie Lurk,
multiplayer (go.pcworld.com/ssm), and an youll team up with Dishonored antagonist
entire Dungeons & Dragonsstyle tabletop Daud towell, its pretty self-explanatory: Kill
mode (go.pcworld.com/dds), Divinity: the Outsider.
Original Sin II is an ambitious project that Hard to feel bad for the guy,
could set the bar for CRPGs to come. Its considering the Outsider is the most
currently in early access ahead of launch. annoying character in the whole series. I
wont miss his whiny voice, provided I do
DISHONORED: DEATH OF actually get the chance to put a knife to
THE OUTSIDER him. Fingers crossed Dishonored: Death of
Release date: September 14 the Outsider ($30 on Amazon, go.pcworld.

structure, and
imaginative win
conditions that just dont
fit into the historical Total
War mold.
The upcoming
sequel, Total War:
Warhammer II (go.
pcworld.com/tww, $60
on Amazon) is more of a
stand-alone expansion,
adding four new races
(Lizardmen, High Elves,
com/doa) actually runs halfway decent. Dark Elves, and a fourth yet to be announced)
and a new map. And if you own both the
TOTAL WAR: original and the sequel, you can combine
WARHAMMER II them into one enormous cross-game
Release date: September 29 campaign. Pretty wildand theres still one
I was surprised by Total War: Warhammer. Ive more game to come in this planned trilogy.
been a fan of the historical Total War games
for a long time now, but Warhammer seemed CUPHEAD
like a pretty strange tangent, and not Release date: September 29
necessarily one that would appeal to me. Hopefully this is the last Coming Soon list I
Spoiler: Its one of the best
Total War games in years (go.
pcworld.com/btw1)
certainly since Shogun 2. The
freedom of divorcing from
history gave Creative
Assembly the leeway to
experiment with all kinds of
crazy units, new army
compositions, unique faction
restrictions, a loose campaign

ever put Cuphead (go.pcworld.com/ch1) on. of More-dor joke to describe upcoming

The Max Fleischerinspired cartoon-platformer sequel Shadow of War (go.pcworld.com/
has been making appearances on these lists of sow; $60 on Amazon, go.pcworld.com/
mine for at least two years now, perpetually six sowa), but its not without meritthis is
months from release. But this timethis definitely a case of Dont mess with a
timeits hopefully releasing for real. winning formula. Monolith has taken the
I cant really fault the developers. It sounds Nemesis System and the open-world Mordor
like Cuphead went through a huge overhaul of the first game and expanded it in a million
halfway through development, moving from a directions (go.pcworld.com/emd), but
boss-rush type game to a full-fledged moment-to-moment its stillpretty much the
platformer. Hopefully it survived the pivot same game as before. Which is to say, Lord of
intact and plays as good as it looks. the Rings crossed with Assassins Creed.
The Nemesis System is still great though,
MIDDLE EARTH: giving you army after army of unique orcs to
SHADOW OF WAR fight against, as well as customized
Release date: October 10 strongholds that reflect their personalities.
I keep using this dumb Middle Earth: Shadow And for the lore buffs? It seems like Monoliths

December. Now,
nearly a year later,
were closing in
on its latest
release date.
Hopefully the
delay was worth
the wait. Its been
a while (almost a
year) since I put in
any hands-on
time with The
Fractured But
taking many more liberties (go.pcworld.com/ Whole, but what past-me played was
tml) with the Lord of the Rings universe this excellenta more varied, more complex
time aroundnamely, Shelob can shed her version of its already-solid predecessor Stick
spider skin and turn into a pale-skinned of Truth (go.pcworld.com/sot), but with
woman. Whether those changes are a good superheroes instead of swords and sorcery.
thing or not? Well, well have to wait until Best case scenario: Ubisoft delayed
October to find out. almost a year to pump out Nosulus Rifts (go.
pcworld.com/nr) for everyone. We can
SOUTH PARK: THE onlyhope.
FRACTURED BUT
WHOLE
Release date: October 17
South Park: The Fractured But
Whole (go.pcworld.com/sp2;
$60 on Amazon, go.pcworld.
com/spa) joins the same
ignominious club as Cuphead,
victim to delay after delay. Get
this: We were originally
supposed to see The
Fractured But Whole last

DESTINY 2 releases about a month after the consoles, so

Release date: October 24 youll have to be a bit more patient if you want
After playing a bit of Destiny 2 (go.pcworld. to hold out for the prettiest version. Youll get
com/d22; $60 on Amazon, go.pcworld. to test it out first thoughtheres a beta
com/d2a) during E3, I called it one of the scheduled for August 29. Keep an eye out.
prettiest PC games ever. I knowI was
surprised too. After all, this is Bungie, a studio ASSASSINS CREED ORIGINS
that hasnt actually released a game on PC Release date: October 27
since Halo 2. Okay, Ill say it: I expected Assassins Creed
Its brilliant looking though, especially Origins (go.pcworld.com/aco1; $60 on
running at 4K. And it plays surprisingly well. I Amazon, go.pcworld.com/acoa) to be a lot
wasnt sure what to expect, given how more imaginative for 2017. After taking a year
console-oriented the original Destiny was, but off from the grind and reworking Assassins
guns feel powerful, kills feel snappy, and theres Creed from the ground up, I expectedwell,
a momentum to its action that I really enjoyed. something. Instead, what I played at E3 (go.
This is how you blend a shooter and an RPG pcworld.com/ae3) feels quite a lot like old
not The Division (go.pcworld.com/td2). Assassins Creed, but in a different era and
Unfortunately the PC version of Destiny 2 with a larger map.

If Divinity II isnt my most
anticipated (or, heaven forbid,
it turns out to be terrible) then
Wolfenstein II: The New
Colossus (go.pcworld.com/
wnc, $60 on Amazon,
go.pcworld.com/wnca) takes
the award. Its 2014
predecessor, Wolfenstein: The
New Order ($20 on Amazon,
go.pcworld.com/wno), is one
Maybe thats enough, though. Ptolemaic of my favorite shooters (go.pcworld.com/fs3)
Egypt is at least an interesting setting, and a of the past decade and pretty high on the list
reworked combat system at least promises to of my favorite games, perioda near-perfect
be interesting for people who prefer to fight blend of dumb 90s-style shooting with
their way through Assassins Creed games Escape From Butcher Bay-esque stealth
instead of proceeding stealthily. And hey sequences. And that blend makes perfect
maybe there are more surprises we havent sense once you find out that a lot of Butcher
heard about yet. Heres hoping. Bay alums worked on this new-era
Wolfenstein.
WOLFENSTEIN II: Wolfenstein II seems like it might recapture
THE NEW COLOSSUS the same magic, bringing the Nazi threat to a
Release date: October 27 conquered America, continuing with its

alt-history into the 1970s, and with an science fiction stories, Call of Duty is finally
opening level that features longtime returning to the setting that started it all in Call
protagonist B.J. Blazkowicz slaughtering of Duty: WWII (go.pcworld.com/codw, $60
Nazis in a wheelchair (go.pcworld.com/snw). on Amazon, go.pcworld.com/codwa).
Get this: Every time you fire your weapon, the And you know what? I cant wait. Im
recoil pushes your wheelchair back. unabashedly excited. Yes, its still Call of
Those small details and creative scenarios Duty. Yes, were probably in for a theme park
are what I love about Wolfenstein, and while I version of World War II, hitting the same old
generally try to avoid hype Im finding it Normandy-centric sights weve seen in
difficult to be blas about The New Colossus. World War II games since the Medal of
Honor days.
CALL OF DUTY: WWII But its been almost a decade since we
Release date: November 3 had a big-budget World War II game. Played
Back to World War II. After running the any 2007 games lately? Technologys
modern warfare setting into the ground, then changed a lot in the ensuing years, and I
churning out a few years of bad-to-decent cant wait to see the D-Day landings done up

with all the bells and whistles of a modern last half-finished Star Wars Battlefront (go.
engine and hardware. Call of Duty is pure pcworld.com/swb3). This is the true
popcorn entertainment at this point, but BattlefrontII successor.
thats fine with me. Space battles? Check. An actual single-
player campaign? Check. Class system?
STAR WARS BATTLEFRONT II Check. Maps spanning the entirety of the Star
Release date: November 17 Wars canon? Check, check, check. With a
Will Star Wars Battlefront II (go.pcworld.com/ script penned by Spec Ops: The Line writer
swb; $60 on Amazon, go.pcworld.com/ Walt Williams and a vastly expanded scope,
swba) be any good? Hard to say, but what I Battlefront II looks like it could finally win
saw of it at E3 indicates at least one truth: This overfans of the 2005 Battlefront II (still
is the game DICE shouldve made (go. confusing) and give EA a much-needed
pcworld.com/dic) two years ago. Forget the winfor the year.

News, tips, and reviews about smart homes,
home security, and home entertainment.
TechHive helps you find your

tech sweet spot.
We steer you to smart-home tech products youll love
and show you how to get the most out of them.
www.techhive.com | Follow us
FEATURE
4 REASONS
WHY I
SWITCHED
FROM
GOOGLE
TO BING
Whether you choose to switch
search engines as a protest or
just because you like Amazon gift
cards, its easy to do.
By Mark Hachman

FEATURE SWITCHING FROM GOOGLE TO BING
T
hree years ago, I switched from Google search to Bing.
There, I said it. No longer do I Google something; I Bing it.
And I havent looked back since.
Maybe youre considering doing the same, Meanwhile, Microsofts Bing search engine
either over ire about the recent diversity- was getting no respect. Bing it? Please.
memo controversy, or some other aspect of But Bing doggedly continued to improve.
the search giant that has rubbed you the It added social connections and cards
wrong way. Here are some points to consider. identifying key topics and related searches. It
The move away from Google wasnt easy. improved speed and reliability. Then one day,
Sometime in the late 1990s, I was invited to when I wanted to dig up older stories I had
test out Googles search engine. I moved from written using Googles search engine, I found I
poring though filing cabinets to typing queries had better luck finding them using Bing.
in a search box. If it was out there on the web, So I switched.
Google promised that it would find it. Switching from Google to Bing is easily
Over the years, Google became smarter done in just a few seconds. I provide instructions
and more responsive. Google Instant at the end of this story (go.pcworld.com/inst).
auto-suggested search results before I fin- But before that, here are some of my favorite
ished typing them. Google it became part (even bizarre) reasons to switch to Bing.
of my vernacular. Number one? Microsoft will pay you.
Just some of the things

you can redeem your
Microsoft Rewards
search points on.

1. SEARCH AND
MAKE MONEY
WITH
MICROSOFT
REWARDS
Im cheap. Ill generally
pass up a $12 artisanal
beef slider at the food
trucks near my office in
favor of a less expensive
salad that could stuff a
throw pillow. I often wear
the same pants two days
in a row to save on my
water bill. I use coupons.
So if Microsoft wants
to pay me about $5 a
month to do what I
If you want even more points, take five minutes out of your day to check
normally do? Sign me up.
out the rewards and quizzes Microsoft Rewards offers.
The concept behind
Microsoft Rewards (go.pcworld.com/mr, If that isnt enough, youll automatically
formerly Bing Rewards) is simple: As you accumulate points by using the Windows 10
search, Microsoft gives you points. Edge browser, up to 900 points per month.
If you have a Microsoft account (its free to And if that isnt enough, youll get a point for
sign up) you can earn five points per Bing every dollar you spend on the Microsoft
search on a desktop PC, up to 150 points per Windows and Xbox online stores, or in a
day. In the same way, you can earn up to 100 brick-and-mortar Microsoft Store location.
points per day on mobile, with five points The best part? The points can be
credited to you per search. (These numbers redeemed for things youll actually use.
may not match up to what you see, as Micro- For roughly 475 credits (the value varies)
soft tends to vary the values every so often.) Microsoft will give you $5 to spend at Amazon,
Bing searches are automatically triggered via Target, Burger King, Starbucks, or other mer-
Cortana on a Windows Phone, or the Bing chants. You can also redeem your rewards (go.
Search app for Android or iOS. pcworld.com/ryr) for a 5% coupon at the

Microsoft Store, discounts on Windows apps, itself wasnt worthwhile. But it is. My personal
or even a free month of Xbox Live Gold. Use belief is that Bing delivers slightly more useful
Bing frequently enough, and you may reach information than Google in general search. (To
Silver or Gold status, which confers a dis- be fair, Ill emphasize general: Sometimes Ill
count on points redemptions. try a search in Google if I cant find what Im
All this for just using Bing during your day. looking for in Bing. As of August 2017, Id say
For even more points, you can visit Bing.com Bings ability to find an old news story of mine is
or click the Microsoft Rewards medallion icon slightly worse than it used to be, though its still
for quick quizzes and suggested searches. It very good.)
all adds up quickly. And dont worry: Using Bing doesnt
prevent you from using other Google ser-
2. SEARCH RESULTS: AS vices, like Gmail, as often as youd like.
GOOD OR BETTER THAN If I search for a term like Notre Dame
GOOGLES football, Bing makes better use of that vast,
I wouldnt even mention Bing Rewards if Bing white space on the right side, displaying
Context is key, and Microsoft has made this a priority with Bing.

3. BING HAS IMAGE CHOPS
That goes for image searches, too. Bing was
first to implement the infinite scroll in Bing
Images, where users could simply scroll and
scroll and never reach the end of their search
results. Today, Bings image search adds an
extra layer of search filters that Google users
must drill down to find, including options to
show only pictures with faces, for example, or
display images in a particular layout. And if you
need to find a licensed photo to illustrate a
newsletter, Bing makes that information more
Bing includes social media links, too.
easily accessible than Google does.
About the only reason to use Googles
contextual information about the school, its image search is if youre hunting down ani-
history, news, and more. (Both engines show mated GIF images, as this is an option Bing has
me the recent scores, but Googles card yet to offer.
displays a more complete upcoming schedule.)
Bings lead widens when you search for 4. BING SHOWS MORE
celebrities, as it includes videos as well as VIDEO, IF YOU CAN BEAR
images and biographical information. And TO LOOK
though Microsoft could do a better job of For whatever reason, the conventional wisdom
highlighting this information, Bing provides is that Bing is the porn search engine of choice.
one-click links to a
celebs social media
pages for what
theyre thinking
about, right now.
There are excep-
tions, of course. But, in
general, Bing performs
as well as Google on
most of my common, Bings Image Search page is attractively formatted, with lots of jumping-off
day-to-day searches. points for further exploration.

Wander through some of

Reddits Microsoft forums, and
itll eventually come up. Heck,
The Daily Dot even dedicated
an entire article to it (go.
pcworld.com/tdd).
Part of the reason is that, even
with filtering turned off, Google
now takes a rather puritanical
attitude toward filtering copy-
righted videos (go.pcworld.
com/syr), while Microsoft has
adopted a more libertarian
approach. Bing simply shows you
videos about your search topic
from around the web, whether it
be baseball or boobs.
Thats not to say that Bing is Microsofts Bing treats you like an adult, if thats what youre
a shadowy corner of the web searching for. (Note that you can filter out X-rated searches on
both Bing and Google.)
full of smut and depravity.
Thumbnail images of anything Bing thinks is tages intrigue you, great. Heres how to switch.
for adults only are blurred out by default. But if As you probably know, Microsoft and
youre searching for something tagged Not Google each offer their own browsers to go
Safe For Work, be aware that Microsoft will along with their own search engines. With
show it to you (assuming your search filtering Microsofts Internet Explorer or Edge and
options allow for it, of course). Googles Chrome, the browsers are precon-
Oddly enough, neither Google nor figured to use their respective search engines
Microsoft shrinks much from violence. Both by default, accessible via the search bar at the
turned up what I assume to be complete top of the screen. (Of course, you can visit
videos of various hostage beheadings from the Bing.com or Google.com and search there
Middle East, none of which I cared to watch. anytime youd like.)
Switching Chromes search provider to
MAKE THE SWITCH Bing is relatively simple: In the upper-right
If youre a lifelong Googler and Bings advan- corner of the browser, youll see a tiny menu

To change your search provider in Chrome, click the vertical ellipsis (the three vertical dots) icon in
the top right, then scroll down to Settings. Then go down to this section, here.
icon that looks like three horizontal lines on

top of each other. Click it. Near the bottom of
the drop-down menu, youll see Settings.
About halfway down the Settings page, youll
see a box for selecting your search engine.
Microsoft hides its search engine configu-
rations as well. If you have Internet Explorer
configured to use Google, go to the URL bar
and click the magnifying-glass (search) icon.
At the bottom right of the drop-down menu,
click Add. Click the tiny Bing icon at the
bottom left to set Microsofts search engine
once again as your default.
About the only change that Bing currently
foists upon you is sending you to Bing Maps,
not Google Maps. And if youre searching for
videos, guess what: Googles YouTube isnt
exactly Bings first choice.
Bing offers as-good-as-Google search
capabilities, plus many little added conve-
niences and rewards to entice you to switch.
Doing so takes just seconds. Are these
Edge should be preconfigured to Bing. (It will be
enough to make you try out Bing yourself? Its locked to Bing if you use Windows 10 S on the
worth a few minutes of your day to check. Surface Laptop or an educational machine.)

THE CLOSER WE GET, THE MORE WE SEE
Experience the worlds most amazing animals
in one app. WWF TOGETHER the new free app
from World Wildlife Fund. Download it today.
worldwildlife.org/together
10
ALTERNATIVE
BROWSERS
THAT PROVE THERES

LIFE AFTER CHROME,
FIREFOX, EDGE, AND
INTERNET EXPLORER
BY IAN PAUL

FEATURE 10 ALTERNATIVE BROWSERS
S
ometimes it
feels like theres
only room for
four choices
when it comes to web
browsers on Windows:
Firefox, Google Chrome,
Microsoft Edge, and Internet
Explorer. Youll find some
people running Opera, too,
but for the most part its all
about the big four. included some inspiration from Neon.
Despite the seemingly small world of web When you first open up Neon (go.
browsers, theres an entire alternative universe pcworld.com/n) its clear this browser is not
out there. All of them are fighting for your your typical tabs-at-the-top affair. In fact, you
attention with unique features and dont even open new tabs in Neon the way
specializations around new interface you do in other browsers. To open a website
concepts, privacy, music, social media, and you just start typing the URL or click on one of
more. If youre looking to shake up your the link bubbles.
web-surfing experience, consider these 10 Opera Neon, just like the official Opera,
great browsers not named Firefox, Chrome, uses Chromes Blink rendering engine.
or Internet Explorer.
2. VIVALDI
1. OPERA NEON Underpinnings: Chromium
Underpinnings: Blink rendering engine Focus: Power users
Focus: Re-imagining the browser Vivaldi (go.pcworld.com/v) is a Chromi-
Opera Neon (go.pcworld.com/on1) um-based browser that targets hard-core
debuted in early 2017 as an experiment in power users. From the moment you install
interface design and new browser features. it, the browser helps you customize its look
Opera describes it as a proving ground to suit your needs, including color choices,
similar to the way concept cars predict the tab position, and start page image. Its a
future of automobiles. In fact, Opera very simple browser at the moment that
released a new version of its mainstream takes cues from current and former Opera
browser in May (go.pcworld.com/nv) that features (Operas former CEO is leading the

client for Vivaldi, like several
browsers of old, including
Opera (go.pcworld.com/o).
So far, however, Vivaldi has
only managed to provide its
own brand of webmail.
As Vivaldi is built on
Chromium, it is compatible
with extensions from the
Chrome Web Store.
Vivaldi effort). 3. MAXTHON

Vivaldi has a speed-dial feature for quick Underpinnings: Trident and WebKit
access to favorite sites, a built-in note-taking Focus: Multi-device browsing and social
app, and a side panel for viewing a secondary The biggest feature for Maxthon (go.
webpage. Vivaldi also has some features that pcworld.com/max) is its cloud-based
any power user will appreciate, such as account, called Passport, which syncs brows-
mouse gestures and keyboard shortcuts, ing data across your devices. Thats a com-
saved tab sessions, tab stacks, user interface mon feature among the major players, but not
scaling, and adaptive interface colors. as common in the world of alternative brows-
There were early dreams of a built-in mail ers. Passport also has a feature called Cloud

Push that lets you

share content with
your friends via
email or text
message.
Maxthon comes
with a built-in RSS
reader, notepad,
password manager,
a virtual email
mailbox service
called UUMail, and
AdBlock Plus. Theres also a reader mode to networks, or drag content to the right to
read articles more easily without all the search for it.
distractions of a typical website. Torch is also a media-pirates dream, with a
Maxthon isnt a single-engine browser, built-in tool for downloading audio and video
instead relying on both Trident (Internet from sites like YouTube and Vimeo, as well as a
Explorer) and WebKit (Safari). Maxthon uses built-in torrent client forwell, you know.
WebKit by default, but will switch to Trident
on the fly for older webpages that are 5. EPIC PRIVACY BROWSER
friendlier toward Internet Explorer. Underpinnings: Chromium
Focus: Privacy
4. TORCH If you like Chrome but dont like forking
Underpinnings: Chromium over all your info to Google and other adver-
Focus: Media tisers, then Epic Privacy Browser (go.pcworld.
Torch (go.pcworld.com/to) is a browser com/epb) may be for you.
for media junkies with features for music and The browser doesnt deviate far from its
games. Theres a built-in YouTube-based Chrome-based roots, but it comes with a
streaming service called Torch Music. Torch bunch of privacy-enhancing features like a
Games gives you one-click access to a built-in proxy, always-on private browsing,
selection of web-based games. Torch also and built-in blockers for third-party cookies
has some handy drag-and-drop sharing and trackers. It also has a built-in video
features: Drag web content to the left and you downloading tool that shows up on video
get a sidebar for sharing content on social sites such as YouTube.

Epic ditches Google account integration, Forked means they took the Firefox open
so dont use this browser if you want to sync source code and started iterating it separately
bookmarks and open browser tabs with from Mozilla.
Googles servers. The result is a browser that will be familiar
to longtime Firefox users, though the two
6. PALE MOON browsers are different now, especially under
Underpinnings: Goanna (Gecko Fork) the hood. Pale Moon, for example, continues
Focus: Legacy Firefox to support old-school add-ons as well as
Do you miss the old Fire-
fox? Not the old, old Firefox,
but the interface before the
current one, with the menu
button in the upper left corner?
If so, Pale Moon (go.pcworld.
com/pm1) is worth looking at.
Pale Moon was forked
from the core Mozilla project
with an initial release in 2009.

NPAPI plug-insthat last bit is not necessarily It has also added a tablet mode that lets you
a good thing (go.pcworld.com/gt). switch to larger interface elements when surfing
the web on a Windows touchscreen device.
7. COMODO ICEDRAGON
Underpinnings: Gecko 8. GHOST BROWSER
Focus: Security Underpinnings: Chromium
From security firm Comodo, IceDragon Focus: Productivity
(go.pcworld.com/idr) is another browser Ghost Browser (go.pcworld.com/gb) is
promising enhanced security. IceDragons an interesting idea. Its built with productivity
security props include webpage scanning for in mind and lets you create separate browser
malware, the use of Comodos Secure DNS sessions inside the same window. That way
service by default, and active blocking of you can have a set of tabs for your work
known phishing and spyware sites. accounts, and another for your personal ones.
As this is based on Firefox, IceDragon also Each session has separate cookie jars so
comes with the Pocket add-on pre-installed. that you can remain logged in to multiple
IceDragon lets you drag content from a social media or email accounts at the same
webpage to the right to share it on social time in separate tabs. Each new session tab is
networks, and to the left to use that content as automatically assigned a different color.
the basis of a web search. You can even go one level deeper and

organize sites by projects that stash your 9. MIDORI
tabs for you. That way you can do a social Underpinnings: WebKit
media project with all your various accounts Focus: Lightweight
open in different tabs, and then swap into Midori (go.pcworld.com/mdr) is a
your party-planning project with tabs open to longstanding choice for underpowered
email, list-making tools, calendars, and so on. Linuxsystems, but theres also a Windows
Ghost Browser is built on the freemium version for anyone who needs a
model. That is, its free to use, but features are lightweightbrowser.
limited. If you want a more robust browser Midori is pretty simple, lacking any major
you have to pay $10 to $15 a month. features and sporting an almost XP-like
The free version is still pretty good. Youre interface. On the upside, its responsive and
limited to three projects and three separate easy to use. Theres also a portable version if
tab sessions per project. You can also only you want to run it from a USB stick.
open one project at a time. Free users dont
get an incognito mode or separate user 10. AVANT BROWSER
profiles either. Underpinnings: Gecko, WebKit, Trident
As Ghost Browser is built on Chromium it Focus: Browser fanatics
works with the Chrome Web Store. Avant Browser (go.pcworld.com/ab)

YouTube. An always
on top feature
makes sure that your
tabs never get buried
behind other
desktop applications
like Outlook,
Microsoft Word, and
Photoshop.
Avants interface is
decidedly Windows
XP, but if you can get
features a tri-core rendering engine. Instead past that, there are all kinds of power-user
of choosing one popular browser engine it features to satisfy most browser lovers.
uses those of Firefox, Internet Explorer, and That concludes our rundown of the
Safari. latest 10 alternative browsers that have
Avant Browser has several interesting caught our attention, but there are others
features including a video sniffer that helps out there, and theyre just a quick Google
you download videos from websites such as search away.

It only takes a moment to make a moment.
Take time to fatherhood.gov

be a dad today. #makeamoment
Lets save the planet
One acre at a time
What if everyone took responsibility for one small

piece of the planet?
Now, you can do your part. When you Adopt an

Acre, you help the The Nature Conservancy
preserve the diversity of life on Earth, in places
close to home, and around the world.
To adopt your acre, visit nature.org/adopt
Photo: istockphoto.com / lopurice

Heres How HOW TO BUILD, MAINTAIN,
AND FIX YOUR TECH GEAR
6 quick ways to clear space on

an overstuffed Android device
Zap cached app files in a single tap, clear the Downloads folder, delete unneeded
offline maps, take charge of music downloads, and more. BY BEN PATTERSON
F
ew things in life are as annoying as and documents, clearing caches, and wiping
finding that your Android handset unneeded music and video files. Theres even
refuses to install any more app an easy way to find and nix space-hogging
updates because its run out of apps that you no longer use.
storage. Unlike many of lifes little annoyances,
though, this ones easy to fix. 1. CLEAR OUT ALL
You can quickly clear out hundreds of CACHED APP DATA
megabytes or even a gig or two by sweeping If you dig into the Apps storage setting screen
up stale downloads, rooting out offline maps and tap on an individual app, youll notice
IMAGE: BEN PATTERSON/IDG SEPTEMBER 2017 PCWorld 101

HERES HOW CLEAR ANDROID STOR AGE SPACE
The cached
data used by your
combined Android
apps can easily
take up more
than a gigabyte of
storage space.
that each app has its own stash of cached folder, and its a favorite hideout for
dataanywhere from a few kilobytes to miscellaneous junk files downloaded from the
hundreds of megs, or even more. Web or by your various Android apps.
These caches of data are essentially just Open the app drawer and tap Downloads
junk files, and they can be safely deleted to to see whats lurking in the Downloads folder.
free up storage space. Tap the Clear Cache Tap the three-line menu in the top corner of
button to take out the trash. the screen and sort the list of downloads by
If poking through each and every app size, then take a look at whats hogging the
looking for cached data to clear
sounds like a chore, theres an easy
way to clear all cached app data in one
fell swoop. Tap Settings > Storage >
Cached data, then tap OK in the
confirmation window.
2. CLEAN UP THE
DOWNLOADS FOLDER
Just like on a PC or a Mac, your Tap and hold a file in the Downloads folder and then tap the
Android device has a Downloads Trash button to delete it.

most storage space. If you see anything you pictures it can delete from local storage; tap
dont need, tap and hold the file to select it, OK to pull the trigger.
then tap the Trash button.
Note: If youre using the High quality
3. DUMP PHOTOS THAT ARE setting for unlimited but lower-resolution
ALREADY BACKED UP cloud storage of your backed up photos,
One of the best features of Googles new keep in mind that the Free up device
Photos app is its ability to back up your entire storage feature will delete your full-resolution
photo library to your online Google account. originals. Make sure youve stored them
Once your snapshots are safely backed up, elsewhere before you tap the OK button.
Photos can zap any locally stored images to
free up more storage space. 4. MANAGE DOWNLOADED
Open the Photos app, tap the three-line MUSIC AND PODCASTS
menu button in the top left corner of the Googles Play Music app gives you two
screen, then tap Free up device storage. The options when it comes to storing tunes on
Photos app will let you know how many your device: You can manually pick which
Google Photos will quickly delete any pictures on your device that have already been backed up to your
Google account.

HERES HOW CLEAR ANDROID STOR AGE SPACE
and podcasts, tap the

three-line menu button in
the top left corner of the
screen, then tap Settings >
Manage downloads. To
wipe a song download or a
podcast from local storage,
tap the orange downloaded
button to the right of its
name.
Downloaded tunes and podcasts in the Play Music app can gobble up
an impressive amount of storage. Bonus tip: You can use the
same method to manage
purchased or uploaded Google Play songs your downloads in the Play Movies & TV app.
and albums get downloaded, or you can let
the app make those decisions for you. Either 5. ERASE OFFLINE AREAS IN
way, music lovers may end up with a GOOGLE MAPS
significant amount of their device storage Downloading a map in the latest version of
gobbled up by their favorite artists. the Google Maps app is a great way to
Same goes with podcasts, with Play navigate when your device is offline,
Musics default setting geared to auto- especially now that both searching and
download the three most
recent episodes of each
subscriptions. If you
subscribe to more than a
few podcasts, those
episodesand the space
required to store them on
your handsetcan add up
quickly.
To check exactly how
many megabytes or even
gigabytes of storage Play Just tap one of your offline maps in the Google Maps app to update it
Music has reserved for tunes orif youre running low on storage spacedelete it.

driving directions are supported. (or even never).
But those searchable offline areas come The solution, of course, is to delete some
at a cost: storage space, and potentially lots of those appsideally, the ones you use the
of it. Indeed, a single offline map can least.
consume more than a gigabyte of storage To do so, open the Play Store app, tap the
depending on the size of the area. three-line menu button in the top right corner
You can check how much space your of the screen, tap My apps & games, then tap
offline maps have staked out by tapping the the Installed tab. Next, tap the Sort button
three-line menu button in the top left corner near the top-right corner of the screen, then
of the main Google Maps interface, then tap pick an option, such as Size orbetter
Offline. The storage used by each offline map yetLast Used. If you sort your apps
is displayed below its nam. Tap the map and according to Last Used, scroll to the very
tap Delete to reclaim its storage space. bottom of the list to see which apps you use
the least. See a seldom-used app you could
6. UNLOAD YOUR do without? Tap it, then tap Uninstall.
LEAST-USED APPS There are also several apps that can track
I love the fact that I can download and install your app usage and tell you which apps
Android apps to my devices remotely from a youre using the least. Among them: App
desktop Web browser. The downside? My Usage (go.pcworld.com/au), App Tracker
Android handsets tend to be overstuffed with (go.pcworld.com/at1), and QualityTime (go.
too many apps, many of them used only once pcworld.com/qt).
You can find out which

apps you use the least
with help from the Play
Store app.

a hairbrush.
Recycle me.
How to stop Google Home or
Amazon Echo from making
unwanted online purchases
Did you hear about the kindergartner who accidentally ordered an expensive
dollhouse with a voice command? Well show you how to lock down your smart
speaker so that never happens to you. BY FLORENCE ION
T
heres no denying that Google easier, nor has it been simpler to field the
Home and Amazon Echo (or the latest traffic report or order delivery for dinner.
less-expensive Echo Dot, if The future is here, and were reveling in it!
youre not using it for music) But the proliferation of these devices
have changed the way we interact with our around our homes leaves room for error.
homes. Turning on the lights has never been Googles and Amazons connected speakers
CREDIT: MICHAEL BROWN SEPTEMBER 2017 PCWorld 107

HERES HOW STOP UNWANTED ONLINE PURCHASES
must always listen for us to utter their magic Google Home or Amazon Echo so that it buys
wake wordsOK Google or Alexa things only after youve specifically authorized
respectivelyin order to perform their tasks. If the purchase. Heres how.
you dont configure them properly, you might
see random purchases show up at your door. HOW TO DISABLE
It happened in San Diego (go.pcworld. PURCHASING WITH
com/sdi) when a little girl asked Alexa to GOOGLE HOME
deliver her a dollhouse and some cookies. Google Home isnt tied to one of the worlds
She knew the right words to say, and in a few largest online retailers, so you might think
days time, she had her goodies. (If you want theres less of a risk of unintended purchases.
to have some fun, watch this news clip (go. But it does provide voice-payment capabilities
pcworld.com/ncl) near your Alexa-powered for Google Express, which allows you to
device and watch it light up.) purchase products from participating retailers
If youre worried about family members, such as Costco, Target, and Toys R Us.
roommates, or pranksters making unwanted The payments setting is disabled by
purchases on your account, you can either default in the Google Home app. If youd
disable this feature altogether, or set up your enabled it previously and have since
Google Home doesnt

have the retail power
of Amazon behind
it, but you can order
merchandise from
such major sources as
Costco, Target, and
Toys R Us.

You can enable and disable ordering on Google
Home via the Home app.
HOW TO ENABLE
PURCHASES ON
GOOGLE HOME
If you want to startor restartmaking
payments with voice commands, open the
Google Home app, tap the menu button, and
If you decide you dont want to do voice payments then tap on Payments. Here you can set up a
with Google Home, just flip the blue switch. delivery address and a primary payment
method. Google will automatically pull in any
changed your mind, its easy to turn off. payment data previously associated with your
Just log into the Home app on your account (and prompt you to update any
Android or iOS device, tap the hamburger expired or out-of-date cards). The app will ll
menu, and choose More settings. Tap also ask if you want to grant access to any
Payments on the next screen. Delete Google Home devices you have set up in
everything you see there. Its the easiest your home.
way to ensure no one in your household Once youve set that up, you can order
can run rampant with your payment things through Google Home by saying
information on file. Alternatively, you can phrases such as OK Google, order paper
simply tick the Pay through your towels. Google Home will list options for
Assistant option so that its off and relevant items and their accompanying
unselected. prices. Then, you can accept the order to

HERES HOW STOP UNWANTED ONLINE PURCHASES
place it officially. re-enablepurchasing power with an

You can even ask, OK Google, how do I Amazon Echo, Dot, Tap, or Show.
shop? for a helpful walkthrough of the If youve previously enabled payments any
process. For other services, such as Dominos of your Amazon Echos and want to now
pizza delivery (go.pcworld.com/dpd), the disable it, just launch the Alexa app on your
payment information is set up separately smartphone or tablet. If you have more than
through that companys Easy Order, which one device in the Echo family, youll need
fires up the oven right after you place your scroll past all of themand past the blue Set
order. (This works with the Echo as well.) up a new device buttonuntil you reach the
Voice Purchasing button. Click on the radio
DISABLING PURCHASING button to disable this feature. Youre done.
ON THE AMAZON ECHO,
DOT, TAP, AND SHOW HOW TO ENABLE
Amazons smart speakers are quickly PURCHASES VIA THE
becoming smart-home workhorses, but they AMAZON ECHO
could also be considered Trojan horses aimed Under Settings, scroll down to Voice
at capturing more and more of your shopping Purchasing. Tap to enable Purchase by
dollars.Heres how to disableand then voice. Its a good idea to set up a
The process for enabling and disabling voice purchases is the same whether you have an Echo Dot
(shown here), the original Echo, and Echo Tap, or the new Echo Show.

Amazon gives you the
option of adding a
confirmation code that
must be spoken for an
order to be placed.
confirmation code at this point. It willl ensure can ask Amazon to purchase the MP3 with
no one can order things without your your payment information on file. Or if youre
permission unless they know the code. Below in need of toilet paper, you can ask Alexa to
that, you can select to manage your 1-Click send it over with two-day shipping.
payment settings, which selects which of your If youre stuck, or maybe a little shy, ask
bank cards to use when the purchasing Alexa how to shop and itll walk you through
happens. what it can do.
When youre ready to buy something, you
can ask Alexa to order anything from WHEN IN DOUBT, MUTE IT
Amazonphysical as well as digital goods. If If all else fails and your neighboring dwellers
youre listening to a song, for example, you are still managing to make errant purchases,
you can either unplug the device or mute it.
The latter is particularly effective if you have
When youre ready to buy children coming over who find it amusing to
something, you can ask summon virtual assistants.
Alexa to order anything from Then again, who doesnt? Its why we use
Amazonphysical as well our voices to buy things, after all, simply
as digital goods. because we can.

Tech Spotlight A video showcase
of the latest trends
Watch the
video at
go.pcworld.
com/gmtips
Google Google Maps is likely one of the
Maps tips best apps you use, and its even

better once you start poking and
prodding its settings panel. But are you getting every-
thing you can out of Google Maps? Here are some tips
to make Google Maps even more efficient.
112 PCWorld SEPTEMBER

MONTH 20172017

PCWorld September 2017

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INSIDE: THE BEST WEB BROWSERS

PLUS: 6 Ways to Clear Space on Your Android Device

83 4 Reasons Why I Switched from Google to Bing

27 Reviews & Ratings

101 Heres How

112 Tech Spotlight 91 10 Alternative Browsers

SEPTEMBER 2017 PCWorld 3

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Matt Egan

INTERNATIONAL DATA GROUP, INC.

4 PCWorld SEPTEMBER 2017

QUESTIONS AND COLUMNS

SEPTEMBER 2017 PCWorld 5

Consumer Reports Surface

CREDIT: MICROSOFT SEPTEMBER 2017 PCWorld 7

8 PCWorld SEPTEMBER 2017

SEPTEMBER 2017 PCWorld 9

necessarily change if Microsoft came out with CONSUMER REPORTS HAS

10 PCWorld SEPTEMBER 2017

IMAGE: ISTOCK SEPTEMBER 2017 PCWorld 11

12 PCWorld SEPTEMBER 2017

SEPTEMBER 2017 PCWorld 13

Microsoft slips four more

14 PCWorld SEPTEMBER 2017

SEPTEMBER 2017 PCWorld 15

NOW EVERYONE CAN

16 PCWorld SEPTEMBER 2017

PORTRAIT MODE IN special feature branch that essentially

SEPTEMBER 2017 PCWorld 17

Microsoft will save

18 PCWorld SEPTEMBER 2017 IMAGE: MICROSOFT

SEPTEMBER 2017 PCWorld 19

Confirmed: Windows 10 may

20 PCWorld SEPTEMBER 2017 IMAGE: MICROSOFT

SEPTEMBER 2017 PCWorld 21

(go.pcworld.com/acta) represented the future headphones, monitor, and morethat a

22 PCWorld SEPTEMBER 2017

SEPTEMBER 2017 PCWorld 23

required media capabilities and standards will as possible.

In 2015, Mozillas Firefox blocked Flash by default.

24 PCWorld SEPTEMBER 2017

BROWSER MAKERS Google said that it will quietly phase out

SEPTEMBER 2017 PCWorld 25

Ryzen Threadripper: AMDs

CREDIT: AMD SEPTEMBER 2017 PCWorld 27

28 PCWorld SEPTEMBER 2017

Base Boost XFR PCIe Memory

Ryzen 16 32 3,400 4,000 4,200 64 180 4 $999

Ryzen 12 24 3,500 4,000 4,200 64 180 4 $799

Ryzen 8 16 3,800 4,000 4,200 64 180 4 $549

Ryzen 7 8 16 3,600 4,000 4,200 16 95 2 $499

Ryzen 7 8 16 3,400 3,800 3,900 16 95 2 $399

Ryzen 7 1700 8 16 3,400 3,700 3,800 16 65 2 $329

Ryzen 5 6 12 3,600 4,000 4,100 16 65 2 $249

SEPTEMBER 2017 PCWorld 29

Core i9-7960X 16 32 2,800 4,200 4,400 44 165 4 $1,699

Core i9-7900X 10 20 3,300 4,500 4,500 44 140 4 $999

Core i7-7740X 4 8 4,300 4,500 N/A 16 112 2 $339

Core i5-7600X 4 4 4,300 4,200 N/A 16 112 2 $242

30 PCWorld SEPTEMBER 2017

You must keep the plastic orange carrier

MEET THE NEW

SEPTEMBER 2017 PCWorld 31

access between both memory controllers.