[GregMiller]

When it comes to electronic gear, I'm a packrat. I have no idea why but I can't bring myself to throw things out. And I also have this burning desire to take things apart or at least look inside and see what's under the hood.

For example, I finally took apart my 1994 Packard Bell 50 mhz computer. From what I had seen recently in newer models, that 1994 looked pretty ancient.

I think it would be interesting to cobble together a computer from all of my collection of cannibalized parts so I have saved quite a few. However, it seems like right now, computers are about ready to take another plateau leap and all these parts will be so slow and ancient in comparison that it's like a real waste of my time.

I am wondering if I ought to just invest my time in learning how to better work with software - like learning Movie Maker. Rather than keeping a Sanford and Son computer back lot.

If taking all this stuff apart has any benefit it has at least made me capable of changing a bios battery, installing cards into expansion slots and making me unafraid of installing second hard drives and burners.

With all the real time players, advanced games, etc, are all thse computers going to get so advanced that anything anyone saves will be obsolete in a year or two? What do you think? Maybe I ought to just build a bare bones computer and satisfy my need to tinker.

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Computers are constantly changing, you can make it fun, or let it run you down. Whatever you like. No matter what we do computers are constantly changing, quad cores are out today, but maybe by the end of 2008 we'll see Octo cores, o wait, you can already get that today. Anything you build today will be out dated before you take the product off the shelves. You can wait forever because the next big thing is going to come out, you have to just take a leap for it and upgrade as needed.

I have a personal experience of this and finally in June I'm building regardless of what happens, it reaches the point of who cares. PCI-E 2.0 is coming out in the summer, guess what I don't care. We can't even fully optimize the x16 lane we have today, so what advantages will double the bandwidth give you if you can't use 1/3 of it. The only thing it'll do is make motherboards cheaper.

Phantom (why AMD named it this is anyones guess), AMD's next native quad core will be released in December or Q1 2008. It's the first quad core. The thing is, new technology is always around the corner, but even when it does come out, are you really going to be willing to dish out the 1K for a graphics card, then another 1K for the best CPU and so on.

When it comes to say that a computer will become obsolete, it all depends on how much you spent, I'd say if you spent 2k on a build it'll last you about 3 years. But then again a computer is like a house if you don't continuously upgrade (or in the case of a house, fix/renovate) you'll find it falling apart. Owning anything is a money pit, but the longer you wait, the more you'll have wished that you had just bought the thing a while back.

James

[james_8970]

Computers are constantly changing, you can make it fun, or let it run you down. Whatever you like. No matter what we do computers are constantly changing, quad cores are out today, but maybe by the end of 2008 we'll see Octo cores, o wait, you can already get that today. Anything you build today will be out dated before you take the product off the shelves. You can wait forever because the next big thing is going to come out, you have to just take a leap for it and upgrade as needed.

I have a personal experience of this and finally in June I'm building regardless of what happens, it reaches the point of who cares. PCI-E 2.0 is coming out in the summer, guess what I don't care. We can't even fully optimize the x16 lane we have today, so what advantages will double the bandwidth give you if you can't use 1/3 of it. The only thing it'll do is make motherboards cheaper.

Phantom (why AMD named it this is anyones guess), AMD's next native quad core will be released in December or Q1 2008. It's the first quad core. The thing is, new technology is always around the corner, but even when it does come out, are you really going to be willing to dish out the 1K for a graphics card, then another 1K for the best CPU and so on.

When it comes to say that a computer will become obsolete, it all depends on how much you spent, I'd say if you spent 2k on a build it'll last you about 3 years. But then again a computer is like a house if you don't continuously upgrade (or in the case of a house, fix/renovate) you'll find it falling apart. Owning anything is a money pit, but the longer you wait, the more you'll have wished that you had just bought the thing a while back.

James

[GregMiller]

I think you are right aboutnot being able to keep up...you can't worry about that.

I think I will build a bare bones computer but since I'm not a gamer, I'll just put in the most capacity I can afford rather than worry about the top notch speed.

I just want to make sure I get everything to sync, so I'll probably read the tutorials closely.

Can anyone relate their first time build from scratch experiences. How tough is it. I've been under the hood a bit but I'm not a completely a tech support whiz. Far from it.

[james_8970]

My first time build is going to be at the beginning of June (after exams), I have however upgraded many times. At the beginning you'll feel overwhelmed by the information and feel like you'd never be able to do it. Just stick in there once you get an interest in it, read, read, read, read, and you'll realize that your only making it look harder then what it really is. Also never feel bad because you don't know everything about computers, it's simply impossible. Just be proud of what you do already know and feel free to ask questions and learn from others mistakes instead of your own. It's cheaper that way
James

Edited by james_8970, 29 April 2007 - 03:53 PM.

[frantique]

We can't even fully optimize the x16 lane we have today, so what advantages will double the bandwidth give you if you can't use 1/3 of it.James

Isn't this a bit like what "they" say about the human brain? We only use about 1/10th of our capacity. Seems to me a lot of folks are doing some pretty incredible things using only 1/10th or so of brain capacity. Why would computers be too different?

[james_8970]

They aren't. For now anyways. But as technology progress' things on computers such as PCI-e slots will have to grow(by grow I mean by means of bandwidth). I'm glade they are making this leap early on though, so that when video cards and other computer components come along that need the extra bandwidth, it'll already be available in your computer and you won't be forced to buy a new motherboard. Also while I agree that we succeed a lot, but computer are different, after all why would you want to buy a product that couldn't work to it's full potential?
I still can't believe that they predict that the typical home computer will exceeded the intelligence of the human brain by 2020, so I guess will be seeing smart robots around that time as well. Though I dread the fact that one day robots may become independent.
James

Edited by james_8970, 30 April 2007 - 03:32 PM.

[dsenette]

hehe there are only a few things that a PC from 1998 are good for today...and none of them involve actually using the contraption

some good suggestions:
Sculpture - cobble the motherboards together to make a water fountain?
Destruction - build a trebuchet, find an open corn field, set up some targets, and go medievil (litterally!)
Anchors - tie on a rope or a chain and chuck that sucker over the side...that 50lb behemoth will keep your dinghy from floating away

[james_8970]

hehe there are only a few things that a PC from 1998 are good for today...and none of them involve actually using the contraption

some good suggestions:
Sculpture - cobble the motherboards together to make a water fountain?
Destruction - build a trebuchet, find an open corn field, set up some targets, and go medievil (litterally!)
Anchors - tie on a rope or a chain and chuck that sucker over the side...that 50lb behemoth will keep your dinghy from floating away

I like the idea of destruction the most.

[frantique]

I still can't believe that they predict that the typical home computer will exceeded the intelligence of the human brain by 2020,

Yes .... but ... don't forget that humans are pretty well being 'dumbed down' with so much influence from media and restrictive legislations .... oooooh sounds like a good line for a society conspiracy !

[dsenette]

Yes .... but ... don't forget that humans are pretty well being 'dumbed down' with so much influence from media and restrictive legislations .... oooooh sounds like a good line for a society conspiracy !

exactly...i think that statement about PC's being as smart as humans i out of context and possibly misquoted...
should say "in 2020 (because of TV and video games) humans will be as smart as computers....with a 386 processor"

[frantique]

Aha, but don't forget evolution. We haven't allowed for this in this debate (or whatever it is!). Children are being born smarter now than they used to be (when I was a kid). And by smarter I mean they know, understand, intuit more ... and there are studies that prove this, though please don't ask me to quote them or I'll have to do lots of research and I don't have the time. And not only babies now, but children born say 20 years ago compared to those born 50 years ago ... I think this is one of the reasons 'older' generations get so 'cross' about younger people wasting their time with stuff like TV and video games where they only get to dumb down and watch or react, rather than think.

[frantique]

Sorry, GregMiller, think we've hijacked your thread.
I think it greatly depends on what you use your computer for. I'm not into gaming and basically use mine to word process run a small business and make brochures and stuff as well as keep in touch with things that interest me, communicate with friends, play some music, store photos, etc. So, my new system will probably last me for quite some time. My last system which now belongs to my 15 yrs old daughter lasted me seven years!!!! I suspect the key to what to include is probably to rate what's important for your personal continual use and spend your dollars on that. I put off looking for a new system for a long time because I wanted something that would last me and then I realised that it was more important to get something that I could enjoy now that had potential to grow into something I might use in the future.
I say go for building ... you'll learn lots and you'll always have help here if you get stuck.

[james_8970]

Sorry, GregMiller, think we've hijacked your thread.
I think it greatly depends on what you use your computer for. I'm not into gaming and basically use mine to word process run a small business and make brochures and stuff as well as keep in touch with things that interest me, communicate with friends, play some music, store photos, etc. So, my new system will probably last me for quite some time. My last system which now belongs to my 15 yrs old daughter lasted me seven years!!!! I suspect the key to what to include is probably to rate what's important for your personal continual use and spend your dollars on that. I put off looking for a new system for a long time because I wanted something that would last me and then I realised that it was more important to get something that I could enjoy now that had potential to grow into something I might use in the future.
I say go for building ... you'll learn lots and you'll always have help here if you get stuck.

Yes, of course it depends on what you plan on using your comptuer for, however try running all those problems all at once and try to tell me that your computer won't be slow. But the fun thing about computers is that you can always add on to them to fun for the reasons you need. Although, I think technology is going to be progressing faster now and existing computer won't last nearly as long. However this therory is highly debatable and cannot really be proven till the time has come and past.

Also, agreed Dsnette, it depends on what context you put it in, I have heard it a number of times but have never seen anything to back them up. Kinda interested in how they determined this, but if things continue on being delayed like they have lately, that time table could be very far off.

I find it wierd to think that children are more intellegent now then before. The only reason why I could find this to be true is the fact that family's are much smaller now so infants get more attention, thus picking things up like speech much faster.

O ya have we ever hijacked this thread.

James

[frantique]

I find it wierd to think that children are more intellegent now then before.

I didn't mean more intelligent ... I meant much smarter - which takes into account a lot more aspects of being human than just intelligence. There are also physical things as well that have been put down to evolution ... eg. for as long as anyone had ever tested babies were born with their pointing finger being the most versatile and strongest and about ... I can't remember - maybe 15 years ago or so ... it was found that babies thumbs were the strongest and most versatile. It was put down to the fact that young children everywhere had for some years been continually playing hand held games which required strong thumbs!

[dsenette]

also...even with the downfalls of the current school system (at least in america) education is MUCH more available....and much higher quality than in the past...also...we know more in general now than we did 50 years ago