Recent searches
Search options
Administered by:
I wonder... Could we call 2005 the year computing power reached sufficiency?
Is the only reason *basically* any of us need more computing power down to inefficient software?
I'm sure some of you will want to draw the line earlier, but I made sure to include fully-programmable GPUs (like the XBox 360's) in my cut-off!
This is before smartphones, but only just!
Correction: Bump to 2006, to edge in SSDs!
Reflecting some more...
I think I'd bump that sufficiency date I suggested by a year (to 2006) to edge in SSD drives! Those do make a real difference! Thus addressing @downbeatdan 's needs!
Then again @jollyrogue likes 2013 Haswell CPUs with 8GB RAM...
So we're still saying computers a decade or two old *should* suffice for home use...
@alcinnz @downbeatdan @jollyrogue i'm using an AMD GX-415GA with 8GB RAM, and it's a little bit slow running firefox sometimes or displaying a difficult PDF
otherwise, it's fine
speedwise, i think the GX-415GA is about on a par with the earliest, slowest Core 2 Duos (it has 4 cores, but they're a bit slower than a Core, er, core). so i'd put the marker there. (also, of course, a lot of multicore computers have had to be slowed down artificially because of things like Spectre, Meltdown, etc etc)
@millihertz Looking up the year...
2013! Integrated GPU & video decoder.
So agreeing with @jollyrogue !
@alcinnz @jollyrogue ah, but as i say, it's about the same speed as a Core 2 Duo from 2008
@millihertz @jollyrogue O.K., I am being quite generous by saying 2006... Some important hardware optimizations were very new then!
@alcinnz @jollyrogue yeah 100%. I think I got about 10 years from that machine.
@downbeatdan I still have quite a few 4000 series core boxes around. They work well, and if I didn’t want to consolidate and get better density, I wouldn’t be thinking about an upgrade.
@alcinnz @jollyrogue My last upgrade was crazy going from a full sized macpro to a decade later much more powerful machine as an m1 laptop. Big fan energy, to nothing at all. Size and efficiency are the winning factors now.
@downbeatdan I’ve been having to keep telling myself I don’t need a new MacMini. 
X86 side I’m looking at 125W proc to get the density I’m looking for 
, and I wish they would take efficiency seriously. There is the Ampere Altra stuff which I’m curious about, but I’m going to have to price out a build before making a decision.