No, she doesn't need 64-bit, but these new CPUs have bigger caches _and_ faster clockspeeds _and_ SSE2, all of which _will_ help tremendously. People are seeing the '64-bit' business and thinking that's all there is TO the Athlon64, which is very far from the case. Even if you never run an Athlon64 in 64-bit mode with 64-bit aware apps, you're still going to have the fastest machine around.
Re:this is great but...
on
Athlon 64 Debuts
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
> 3D animation, sure - but are there 64 bit apps for it? or still 32bit apps? understandibly, i wouldn't give a rats ass if my mail was checking at 32bit, but, why would i spend the money if my 'money' app was still 32 bit aswell?
Apparently you haven't checked any of the benchmarks out there yet, or you'd know that 64-bit apps aren't even _remotely_ necessary to get great performance out of 32-bit apps on the Athlon64 (or PPC970 aka G5). Despite being '64-bit' chips, they still run 32-bit apps noticeably faster than their previous 32-bit counterparts. Yes, you'll undoubtedly see even more improvement once they're optimized for 64-bit OS & apps, but that's hardly necessary to see great improvements in performance right off the bat. I think that's quite an achievement, actually.
Also note the extreme price premium the FX & EE chips command puts them out of reach of the vast majority of people, and that noone's forcing you to upgrade. It's better to have the option and not need it, than need it and not have it.
The option _I'd_ like to have is enough money to get a G5 system. *sigh*
I've also seen people saying, "Yeah, but wait for Prescott." Uhm, 105W heat dissipation? NO THANKS.
Re:What's up with AMD's model names lately?
on
Athlon 64 Debuts
·
· Score: 5, Insightful
I couldn't care less about their silly-ass naming schemes - I'm much more irritated with their ridiculous lack of planning on socket formats & memory controllers. Single channel on that kind of processor (the non-FX) - what were they smoking? Maybe if they want to call that the new Duron, but otherwise, that's just idiotic. They should also have increased (doubled!) the L1.
It's not like any of this _really_ concerns me, mind, as I'm now saving up for a G5. It's time to 'Switch'!:)
I'd say with CPU prices like that AMD & Intel are now charging, the whole 'PCs are cheaper than Macs' theory is gonna get a lot less credence.
I'm _really_ interested in seeing some real & comprehensive benchmarks between all the processors, now that they're all out. G5 vs P4 vs P4EE vs Xeon vs Athlon 64/FX.
Re:this is great but...
on
Athlon 64 Debuts
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
Just because checking mail is all you use YOUR computer for, doesn't mean that's all everyone else uses their computers for. There are already plenty of apps around that will suck up this much processing power and still beg for more, and they're not as obscure as you'd think. I have a friend who does a lot of 3D animation, and rendering will ALWAYS leave you wanting more CPU power and RAM. Enough will never be enough for stuff like that. And when you want to rip your CD collection to mp3 (or ogg, or whatever), you're gonna want the fastest thing around, if you've got a decent collection. DIVX-encoding is pretty nasty on the CPU, too. These are all fairly common tasks now.
Re:What's up with AMD's model names lately?
on
Athlon 64 Debuts
·
· Score: 2, Funny
I consider $2.50 a great deal, considering new ones from PCKeyboard.com cost $50-60 (black ones cost $10 more).
They made small ones with the same buckling-spring keys w/o a numeric keypad. Now that I know about them, I'm gonna hafta go eBaying to get one.:) PCKeyboard.com doesn't make those kind, unfortunately.
> So now I'll have to buy expansion cards (and waste slots) to use my IBM Model M, UPS comms cable, modem and printer?
IBM Model M (use a PS/2 to USB adapter).
Modem. Go broadband. The ethernet connection will be built-in to most mobo's built within the last year and it's only going to be more so in the future.
Printer. Get a printer made in the last, oh, 5 years? Printers are way-cheap, too. Or get an adapter unit.
UPS - I dunno about that. USB to serial adapter, maybe? Do modern UPS units have USB?
Aside from that, feel free to not upgrade. How is it using those 1940 tires on your 1990 car?
I'd say the biggest difference between "the Star Wars Kid" and the rest of us here on Slashdot is that we never videotapes ourselves doing stupid stuff and let it get out to the world at large when we were that age (or older). I' inclined to give the kid a damned break.
See those spaces on the I/O panel? Get rid of the PS/2 nonsense, and you can fit more USB ports there, which you can use for keyboards & mice and many other things. PS/2 ports are generally used only for keyboards & mice. Oh, and CueCats.
> Well-seasoned executive assistants will tell you that the Selectric's were the best electronic typewriters ever made -- this is due largely to the touch and feel of the keyboard.
Actually, a well-seasoned executive assistant (secretary) will tell you that Selectrics are too slow for those of us who type really fast. (I type around 100wpm - a Selectric cannot keep up with me.)
I learned to type on a Selectric with no letters on the keys. Urgh. Not fun, but very, very useful.
"Mac keyboards" have the ability to turn on the machine. A regular non-Mac-specific keyboard will work with a Mac, but won't be able to turn the machine on from the keyboard.
Also, some of the key labels & functions are different, though you can work around that.
I'd *love* for PCKeyboards.com to make a classic IBM/Lexmark-style "buckling-spring" keyboard for the Mac that has the power on ability, etc. That would be... SWEET. Never gonna happen, though. *sigh*
Slashdot Mirror
Sorry, I be illin' with the Flu today.
I mean to say encode, not rip.
No, she doesn't need 64-bit, but these new CPUs have bigger caches _and_ faster clockspeeds _and_ SSE2, all of which _will_ help tremendously. People are seeing the '64-bit' business and thinking that's all there is TO the Athlon64, which is very far from the case. Even if you never run an Athlon64 in 64-bit mode with 64-bit aware apps, you're still going to have the fastest machine around.
> 3D animation, sure - but are there 64 bit apps for it? or still 32bit apps? understandibly, i wouldn't give a rats ass if my mail was checking at 32bit, but, why would i spend the money if my 'money' app was still 32 bit aswell?
Apparently you haven't checked any of the benchmarks out there yet, or you'd know that 64-bit apps aren't even _remotely_ necessary to get great performance out of 32-bit apps on the Athlon64 (or PPC970 aka G5). Despite being '64-bit' chips, they still run 32-bit apps noticeably faster than their previous 32-bit counterparts. Yes, you'll undoubtedly see even more improvement once they're optimized for 64-bit OS & apps, but that's hardly necessary to see great improvements in performance right off the bat. I think that's quite an achievement, actually.
Also note the extreme price premium the FX & EE chips command puts them out of reach of the vast majority of people, and that noone's forcing you to upgrade. It's better to have the option and not need it, than need it and not have it.
The option _I'd_ like to have is enough money to get a G5 system. *sigh*
I've also seen people saying, "Yeah, but wait for Prescott." Uhm, 105W heat dissipation? NO THANKS.
I couldn't care less about their silly-ass naming schemes - I'm much more irritated with their ridiculous lack of planning on socket formats & memory controllers. Single channel on that kind of processor (the non-FX) - what were they smoking? Maybe if they want to call that the new Duron, but otherwise, that's just idiotic. They should also have increased (doubled!) the L1.
:)
It's not like any of this _really_ concerns me, mind, as I'm now saving up for a G5. It's time to 'Switch'!
I'd say with CPU prices like that AMD & Intel are now charging, the whole 'PCs are cheaper than Macs' theory is gonna get a lot less credence.
I'm _really_ interested in seeing some real & comprehensive benchmarks between all the processors, now that they're all out. G5 vs P4 vs P4EE vs Xeon vs Athlon 64/FX.
Just because checking mail is all you use YOUR computer for, doesn't mean that's all everyone else uses their computers for. There are already plenty of apps around that will suck up this much processing power and still beg for more, and they're not as obscure as you'd think. I have a friend who does a lot of 3D animation, and rendering will ALWAYS leave you wanting more CPU power and RAM. Enough will never be enough for stuff like that. And when you want to rip your CD collection to mp3 (or ogg, or whatever), you're gonna want the fastest thing around, if you've got a decent collection. DIVX-encoding is pretty nasty on the CPU, too. These are all fairly common tasks now.
Easy - the Athlon 64 FX 51 is 5.1GHz.
:)
Right?
That's because there ARE no hot single geek chicks - they're all hot single NERD chicks. Sheesh.
Sweet find - do they all work?
:) PCKeyboard.com doesn't make those kind, unfortunately.
I consider $2.50 a great deal, considering new ones from PCKeyboard.com cost $50-60 (black ones cost $10 more).
They made small ones with the same buckling-spring keys w/o a numeric keypad. Now that I know about them, I'm gonna hafta go eBaying to get one.
> So now I'll have to buy expansion cards (and waste slots) to use my IBM Model M, UPS comms cable, modem and printer?
IBM Model M (use a PS/2 to USB adapter).
Modem. Go broadband. The ethernet connection will be built-in to most mobo's built within the last year and it's only going to be more so in the future.
Printer. Get a printer made in the last, oh, 5 years? Printers are way-cheap, too. Or get an adapter unit.
UPS - I dunno about that. USB to serial adapter, maybe? Do modern UPS units have USB?
Aside from that, feel free to not upgrade. How is it using those 1940 tires on your 1990 car?
I'd say the biggest difference between "the Star Wars Kid" and the rest of us here on Slashdot is that we never videotapes ourselves doing stupid stuff and let it get out to the world at large when we were that age (or older). I' inclined to give the kid a damned break.
Yes, let's link to a _GeoCities_ site in a Slashdot article, that's smart. *sheesh*
What's that Foghorn Leghorn saying? Something about being "as smart as a sack of wet mice," I believe...
Do you mean Luke or Leia? I'm sure we'll see both babies. :)
Where do you want to go with someone else's cash today?
(answer: Bora Bora!)
Later versions might have been USB, but the originals were PS/2 with a splitter.
See those spaces on the I/O panel? Get rid of the PS/2 nonsense, and you can fit more USB ports there, which you can use for keyboards & mice and many other things. PS/2 ports are generally used only for keyboards & mice. Oh, and CueCats.
> Well-seasoned executive assistants will tell you that the Selectric's were the best electronic typewriters ever made -- this is due largely to the touch and feel of the keyboard.
Actually, a well-seasoned executive assistant (secretary) will tell you that Selectrics are too slow for those of us who type really fast. (I type around 100wpm - a Selectric cannot keep up with me.)
I learned to type on a Selectric with no letters on the keys. Urgh. Not fun, but very, very useful.
"Mac keyboards" have the ability to turn on the machine. A regular non-Mac-specific keyboard will work with a Mac, but won't be able to turn the machine on from the keyboard.
... SWEET. Never gonna happen, though. *sigh*
Also, some of the key labels & functions are different, though you can work around that.
I'd *love* for PCKeyboards.com to make a classic IBM/Lexmark-style "buckling-spring" keyboard for the Mac that has the power on ability, etc. That would be
"That is why you fail."
- Yoda
Wordy bitches, always gotta spoil a man's fun.
Dude, my HP11c calculator can drink your C64 under the table...
Uhh...I think you mean the cassette drive (floppy drives are too expensive!)
Bring it on! :)
Great, just what I need - to be surrounded by a bunch of drunk German computer nerds.
I think I'll wait for the Berlin techno festival; at least there'll be cute girls there.
I'm reminded of the Weird Al song quote, "What kinda chip ya got in there, a Dorito?"
I think I'll just stick with my Atari 800 with 80-column card, thanks.