PCs aren't extinct

[lti]

Re: PCs aren't extinct

It appears slow while performing any CPU-dependent task. Also, Web browsing is slow, and it isn't caused by network speed. I've only compared this laptop to a Core 2 Duo machine while compiling programs and Web browsing, and the fastest C2D was an E7500. Speedfan shows the CPU clock frequency to be a constant 2197MHz.

[RJARRRPCGP]

Re: PCs aren't extinct

Fuck the PC doomsday'ers! I think a Sabertooth 990FX R 2.0 with an FX is still real cool!

[RJARRRPCGP]

Re: PCs aren't extinct

It appears slow while performing any CPU-dependent task. Also, Web browsing is slow, and it isn't caused by network speed. I've only compared this laptop to a Core 2 Duo machine while compiling programs and Web browsing, and the fastest C2D was an E7500. Speedfan shows the CPU clock frequency to be a constant 2197MHz.

And for desktop, the E8600 is the fastest Core 2 Duo!

[linuxguru]

Re: PCs aren't extinct

Try out the LGA771 Xeons with sticker-mods in an LGA775 mobo. I have a Wolfdale X5260 (3.3Ghz/6 MB cache/1333FSB) in a Gigabyte G31M-E2SL, and it flies:

http://www.delidded.com/lga-771-to-775-adapter/

Lots of quad-cores are also usable, but I decided to stay with a fast dual-core to stay at 80W TDP and low cost (~$10 for the Xeon and ~$1 for the sticker).

The sweet spot for AMD is Socket AM2+/3/3+, which support a whole of CPUs including Phenoms, Opterons and Athlon IIs at throwaway prices. DDR2-800 and -1066 is also readily available for very little money, and it's good enough for most of my needs. AM2+ Brisbane dual-cores are the new Tualerons - cool, fast, reliable, and cost next to nothing.

Barring notebooks, where I still use a few Centrino Pentium Ms for long battery life, almost everything else is now x86_64. I just upgraded one last HTPC from Athlon XP to AM2+ yesterday. I still have a few AMD K6-2 and Geode-based appliances (mostly routers) lying around. I'm keeping a few old Tualatin/SDRAM and Athlon/DDR boards as spares, and scrapping just about every other P3/P4 board (very few left).

[RJARRRPCGP]

Re: PCs aren't extinct

AM2+ Brisbane dual-cores are the new Tualerons - cool, fast, reliable, and cost next to nothing.

I would have thought the Callisto or Propus would meet that criteria...

[goontron]

Re: PCs aren't extinct

I would have thought the Callisto or Propus would meet that criteria...

i have to agree with him on the brisy cores!

[ratdude747]

Re: PCs aren't extinct

Try out the LGA771 Xeons with sticker-mods in an LGA775 mobo. I have a Wolfdale X5260 (3.3Ghz/6 MB cache/1333FSB) in a Gigabyte G31M-E2SL, and it flies:

http://www.delidded.com/lga-771-to-775-adapter/

Meh, if you're going to do xeons, get a real dual socket board and a real (read: EATX) case. Or at least a real workstation board (They do make twin socket ATX ones, at least they used to, I have a couple in service). Otherwise you're just scratching the surface and missing the main boon of the Xeon (or opteron for that matter), multiple physical CPUs.

[linuxguru]

Re: PCs aren't extinct

Meh, if you're going to do xeons, get a real dual socket board and a real (read: EATX) case. Or at least a real workstation board

Where I live, dual-socket Xeon boards are still expensive. They'll also need more expensive PSUs, ECC RAM, larger cases and so on.

The point of the the sticker mod is to extend the life of inexpensive LGA775 boards/systems (widely available just about anywhere) with inexpensive surplus Xeon CPUs from EBay and elsewhere, with no other changes (except maybe a BIOS mod for Xeon microcodes).

[eccerr0r]

Re: PCs aren't extinct

Again, PCs are extinct if nobody's buying new ones... The market analysts do not care about reusing existing machines!

[Topcat]

Re: PCs aren't extinct

on the consumer front, the PC is dead...dead...dead... Still a very small market for high-end workstations and servers, but the PC as we know it is a thing of the past.

[RJARRRPCGP]

Re: PCs aren't extinct

In the DIY market, things are far from dead!

Fuck Lenovo and the like!

[Topcat]

Re: PCs aren't extinct

In the DIY market, things are far from dead!

Sadly, the DIY market is very small, and not a driving force behind anything when it comes to new stuff.

In the 70's and 80's, it was the business market that drove the PC industry forward. In the 90's and early 2000's, it was the gaming industry that really drove PC technology forward. HDTV's and game console advances took that away from the PC market. Today, there's nothing....nada....zilch. It's about small, convenient, spyware-ridden OS's, and massive targeted advertising now...not power, not games, not the DIY's, nothing the industry was founded on. Will there always be a DIY & gaming niche? Sure....but nowhere near big enough to have a say or controlling interest in the market. What's next? A LANfest with tablets?

[dmill89]

Re: PCs aren't extinct

what the hell are you smoking? you must of gotten a bad chip or laptop cause the marks shows an i3, even a Pentium (Haswell, ivy/sandy bridge, nahlem) beats the shit out of any core 2 duo, even quads

Not really, a mobile 2nd gen i3 while it is much faster then the low-end core2duos is about on-par with the higher end ones. It is only about 10% more powerful than a T9900 (passmark 2215 on the T9900, 2530 on the i3-2330m) and about equal to a E8600 (passmark 2427) desktop C2D. The last gen core2quads are roughly on-par with new mobile i5s performance wise (of course C2Qs use a lot more power).

What's really sad is that especially on the mobile side the 5th gen I series CPUs only have a very slight if any performance bump over the 2nd gen, gains have been made in die-size, heat generation, and power-consumption, but performance has been pretty stagnant for several years (and a lot of AMDs current mobile processers can't even keep up with mid/high-end C2Ds).

Sadly, the DIY market is very small, and not a driving force behind anything when it comes to new stuff.

In the 70's and 80's, it was the business market that drove the PC industry forward. In the 90's and early 2000's, it was the gaming industry that really drove PC technology forward. HDTV's and game console advances took that away from the PC market. Today, there's nothing....nada....zilch. It's about small, convenient, spyware-ridden OS's, and massive targeted advertising now...not power, not games, not the DIY's, nothing the industry was founded on. Will there always be a DIY & gaming niche? Sure....but nowhere near big enough to have a say or controlling interest in the market. What's next? A LANfest with tablets?

^This, these days the big markets are ultra-books and tablets, so the focus has been on power use and low-heat generation, and smaller packaging, leading to a stagnation in performance. Sure CPUs use less power and generate less heat than 3-5 years ago, but the performance numbers show only a minor increase if any, and in some cases a decrease.


I've been meaning to upgrade my desktop for the last couple years, but keep pushing it off, because the "old" Core2Quad Q9450 and Radeon HD5870 can still handle everything I need them to do.