Computer Talk 2003!

[Adrenaline]

I was kinda bored so I decided to see if anyone could answer this for me. As all of you computer savy people out there know....AMD and Intel have been fighting for speed and the race to 1Ghz is now long over so basically it's competetion for who can score the highest in benchmarks and so on. Well if Intel can produce a processor that is internally clocked at 3.06Ghz and AMD...one thats clocked at 2.1Ghz....and the difference be by a hairline...what's the use for numbers. I mean you could just say Intel has a 2.06Ghz now because the performance difference is so slight. Or you could say that AMD has a 3.06Ghz. I mean....what's the real truth out there about the numbers. Who really has the highest speed and which processor is truely clocked at the number they say they are clocked at. From reviews the AMD is slightly slower than Intels new 3.06Ghz with the new hyperthreading technology(which makes it so windows thinks you have 2 processors instead of one). So wouldn't that qualify AMD's fastest chip as a 2.9Ghz?? Do you people see what I'm saying. It's so irratating now-a-days about speeds that I've just lost track of it all. I dunno whats what anymore. Someone help me comprehend this matter! :eek2:

[folgersnyourcup]

I think the way the chips are or something AMD speeds while appearing at a smaller number or something actually are faster and more efficient or something than Intel chips at that same number or something. Yeah, something like that. Gee that was a lot of help.

Meanwhile my computer is completely insane. I have to hold down shift to type lowercase letters and release it to write uppercase letters. Except it doesn't apply when I am hitting keys like quotations and periods so i get this (>) instead of a period then have to backspace and go back over it. For example. Here is "I am going to assault my cat in my computer speak".

i AM GOING TO ASSAULT MY CAT.

Not good.

[folgersnyourcup]

Um, update on my situation. I am a complete and total moron. I had Caps Lock on. I feel like crawling into a corner and beating myself with a freshly cooked chicken leg oozing with grease.

Oh good god I feel stupid.

[Kat]

Hee hee hee at folgers.

Although, I have this weird situation with shift, control, and alt, myself. At work I have a Sun blade computer, which has a Sun OS and a PC card built into the same machine... each has a seperate video card, sound card, network connection, etc. They share a hard drive (and some other stuff I think). To start my windows machine is like starting virtual PC on a Mac (i.e. it puts the PC in a window on the Sun desktop). I have it so it routes the PC output window to another monitor, and then I can attach the mouse to the PC window so that I can use the same mouse for both monitors. So anyhow, when I am typing in the PC window, the shift, alt, and control keys only work on the second try. I thought at first this was a user error but I have tested it and it definitely isn't. Anyone know anything about this?

-Kat

[Caniac]

Um, update on my situation. I am a complete and total moron. I had Caps Lock on. I feel like crawling into a corner and beating myself with a freshly cooked chicken leg oozing with grease.

Oh good god I feel stupid.

n00b. :)

[Captain Slack]

It's so irratating now-a-days about speeds that I've just lost track of it all. I dunno whats what anymore. Someone help me comprehend this matter! :eek2:


Wish I could help you! :sad: I work for IBM and it's pretty confusing to me, too. Might want to check out http://www.tomshardware.com. That might help you out or at least confuse you to the point that you don't want to know anymore. :cool:

And to really make it confusing, try factoring Power PC chips (that processor's that Apple uses in Macs)! They advertise an iBook with a 900mhz chip that is the supposed to be faster than a 1.7ghz P4! Huh?!? :eek:

[Captain Slack]

Um, update on my situation. I am a complete and total moron. I had Caps Lock on. I feel like crawling into a corner and beating myself with a freshly cooked chicken leg oozing with grease.

Oh good god I feel stupid.

It's OK folgers! Your cat still loves you! Especially if you have that chicken leg. :D :cool:

[Guyute]

I haven't benched' (or seen in action yet) the new Intel 3ghz'er. But, chip speed has certainly reached a saturation point.

I mean, CAD developers don't even need 3ghz. it's ridiculous. It'll be 2 years before a chip of that speed can be fully used... and by then, the 8ghz chips will be out. :roll:

As far as comparing AMD's to Intel... Intel is a biiiig waste of money, invho & ime. Long ago AMD's got a bad rap of being prone to overheating. Not the case anymore. The last CPU I bought was an AMD 1.4XP, and I have it overclocked to about 1.798. Yes, I put a bigger fan than stock on it... but thing runs cooler than most factory pc's that aren't tweaked. I could still squeeze it some more, and probably get it to 1.9x.. but again... what's the use? Yes, it fun to benchmark your own pc and compare it to other pc's (especially if you can get a similar pc from a factory and test it as is... hehe)
but as far as running apps, and even games...
there's a point where it doesn't matter anymore.

Don't waste you're money on 3ghz chips. Instead, by a motherboard and chipset with the biggest FSB you can afford. And Load it with as much ****high-quality**** RAM you can. I'd recommend Crucial. Best RAM I've used. Put the extra into a nice vid card.

AMD is putting the screws to Intel. It's about damn time. I just hope the market realizes how overpriced Intel is, for performance that is not worth the difference. One of the sites that I use for parts, that has Great prices, and quite often free shipping, is http://www.newegg.com
I'm not gonna share my other 'at cost' dealers though, incase there comes a point when I can get back into building 'basic' systems for sale.
Can't compete with Gateway/Dell's prices as of late. Though if it's a tricked out system someone wants... I can beat the pants off of large companies. Nobody wants to spend 1200+ on a sick machine though, even if the same thing would cost 1800+ from gateway/dell/ibm/etc. lol

Kat- sorry, can't help you on that... don't have any Sun stuff I could mess around on. sounds like a royal pain though.

PS- Check the link that Captain posted. Tom's is a helluva resource.

PPS- I changed the topic. http://www.tridead.net/canes/images/smilies/bugeye.gif

[Adrenaline]

The last CPU I bought was an AMD 1.4XP, and I have it overclocked to about 1.798. Yes, I put a bigger fan than stock on it... but thing runs cooler than most factory pc's that aren't tweaked.

GUYUTE...YOU DESERVE A SPANKING! :eek2: NAUGHTY BOY! Didn't your mommy ever tell you that overclocking ur proc was extremely dangerous and it degrades the chip's life-span by almost more than 5 years!?! I mean of course your going to upgrade your chip by then but still...that's risky and I highly recommend you keep it at it's deafult internal clock speed.

And on a side note :D ...I have the same chip as you....I LOVE IT! What 'bout you man? You like yours just as much...I got mine at xmas 2 years ago...loved it ever since! :D :D :D :D

[Canesluver]

Hey, I have a computer question.
I don't think I'm the only Mac user here. I need to ask a Mac knowledgeable person a question. If you can help, please PM me. Thanks! :D

[StormShaman]

There is nothing wrong with overclocking as long as you know what you're doing (which includes planning adequately). An OCed processor with proper heat dissipation (among other things) can function just as long as a non-OCed processor--and I speak from experience.

[Adrenaline]

ya well I have had my experiences too because I have overclocked my little athlon here to about...mmm...lets say 1.5Ghz before and it did just fine....but the thing I take into consideration is...what if my fan goes out or...what if something malfunctions on my board....whoopsies...there goes my proc...thats what im worried about mostly...but yeah...proper cooling...preferably water cooling...will do just fine and the proc should be A-ok :D ........still risky tho... :eek2:

[StormShaman]

This is where the planning comes in. I'm a little limited funds-wise, so I keep the side of my case open and have a little fan clipped to the side to provide extra airflow over the processor and its monster heatsink (and I keep the inside clean as much as possible--canned air is your friend that way, unless you can afford one of those neat little battery-powered minivacs).

Shawn, did you get your Mac question answered? If not, let me know and I can refer you to a couple of Mac-savvy friends of mine that can give you assistance.

[Guyute]

There is nothing wrong with overclocking as long as you know what you're doing (which includes planning adequately). An OCed processor with proper heat dissipation (among other things) can function just as long as a non-OCed processor--and I speak from experience.

That's exactly right. I have a jet engine on my cpu, and 5 Large fans throughout the case. I spent 3hrs drawing an air current map before touching my system. I replaced all of my ide ribbon cables with flat/round cables. There is NOTHING blocking air movement in my box (aside from the smoke dust that gets drawn in).

And as for the dangers of a CPU fan failing, well, that's a danger to your CPU even running at factory specs. And that's why you buy a good motherboard that has monitoring abilities from within windows.

My box has several alarms that go off if any of my fans stop working.
:p

I think I'm pretty well covered, but thanks for your concern Adrenaline ;)
and yes, I Love my chip (and my Soyo Dragon mb even more)

[StormShaman]

I replaced all of my ide ribbon cables with flat/round cables.

Where'd you get them?

[Adrenaline]

:eek2: :eek2: :eek2: YOU GOT A SOYO DRAGON!!!! :eek2: :eek2: Wanna let ol' scottie give it a whirl??? :D Ya I didn't think so! LoL! Well I got a Shuttle AK31A 2 years ago with my little athlonxp 1.4 and it has the VIA KT266A chipset on it and its LOADED with features and i LOVED IT! But then I was demanding more power because I got a Geforce4 Ti4200 with 8X AGP and my games were starting to run slower so I wanted to take advantage of that 8X AGP and get me a new mobo. So I bought an EPoX 8RDA+ with an nForce2 SPP chipset and it had 8X AGP and I tell you what...my scores in 3DMark 2001SE went up 500+ points! :eek2: I notice that the nForce2 chipset does alot better handling with the memory controllers than my old KT266A did. I love it...I recommend the nForce2 chipset to anyone now! :D

[Adrenaline]

Shaman...you can get those at Intrex or Compusa. I have a pair of those too and they are truely remarkable with the space that they save. They arent too expensive either. Mine are blue and they cost...I think...8 bucks per ribbon cable...so ya...you said you were on a budget so they should fit in with your budget fine! :D

[Guyute]

newegg.com is where I ended up getting mine from. it's where I buy most of my stuff. $6.29-$6.99, and they do free fedex on almost everything. (including 19" monitors for instance). great place.

here's a pic. (do a search there on "Round IDE cables" and they'll come right up)
http://images10.newegg.com/productimage/12-881-035-01.JPG

[Adrenaline]

:eek2: mine look a little bit different then that picture in which case of mine having three connectors instead of 2...but common sense says that 1 less connector means faster peformance ;)