Maximum PC
September 2010 cover
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| Editor in Chief | Tuan Nguyen |
|---|---|
| Categories | Computing |
| Frequency | Monthly |
| Total circulation (2011) |
192,611 |
| First issue | August 1996 (as boot) September 1998 (as Maximum PC) |
| Company | Future US |
| Country | USA |
| Based in | San Francisco |
| Language | English |
| Website | www |
| ISSN | 1522-4279 |
Maximum PC, formerly known as boot, is an American magazine and web site published by Future US. It focuses on cutting-edge PC hardware, with an emphasis on product reviews, step-by-step tutorials, and in-depth technical briefs. Component coverage areas include CPUs, motherboards, core-logic chipsets, memory, videocards, mechanical hard drives, solid-state drives, optical drives, cases, component cooling, and anything else to do with recent tech news. Additional hardware coverage is directed at smartphones, tablet computers, cameras and other consumer electronic devices that interface with consumer PCs. Software coverage focuses on games, anti-virus suites, content-editing programs, and other consumer-level applications.
Maximum PC's tone is often brash and irreverent, giving the editorial content a distinctly populist feel. In September 1999, Editorial Director Jon Phillips authored a product parody of an imaginary videocard called the Bitchin'fast3D2000, an absurdly long graphics card running five competing 3D chipsets. In February 2002, the magazine's cover image of a nurse administering aid to an ailing PC generated controversy among readers.
Prior to September 1998, the magazine was called boot. boot and sister magazine MacAddict (now Mac|Life) launched in September 1996, when Future US shut down CD-ROM Today.
In March, 2016, Future US announced that the Maximum PC website would be merged with PCGamer.com, appearing as the hardware section of the website from that point forward. The magazine was not affected by this change.
Product ratings are rendered by editors on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the best. The only product to receive an "11" rating was Half-Life 2 in January 2005, raising some objections from readers.
Outstanding products are also given a "Kick Ass" award. Exceptional products with a "9" rating and all products with a "10" rating receive this award.
Each review also includes a "Pros and Cons" section, providing a quick summary of the product. Shortly after the "Pros and Cons" first appeared, the editors began attaching humorous notations to their entries, many being puns or word play on the product itself or its function. For example, in a review of two monitors, one section is captioned LCD (pros) vs. LSD (cons). In another it is liquid crystal (pros) vs. crystal meth (cons). Other comparisons have used B-58 vs XB-70, Miley Cyrus vs Billy Ray Cyrus, and Delicious vs Malicious.
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