eDram Trying To Make Computers Faster

[mdvaldosta]

To understand the quest to build faster and more powerful computers, it’s helpful to understand the problems that hold them back from getting faster. While chips themselves are getting faster all the time, faster is still a relative term. Even though chipmakers like Intel and IBM are building more powerful chips every 12 to 18 [...]

Read more at AfterTek.

 

[lemon]

sure, you can combine the memory into the processor, but then you loose upgradability with separate components.

also - its not the memory or the processor thats jamming up the system. its the system board - it only runs at 133 mhz

or about 133 million times a second, versus the processor's (in my computer) 3 billion times a second, and (in my computer) my ram runs at 200 million times, although its doubled (ddr, so effectively 400 million times) and then the same memory, using "dual channel technology" allows my memory to run at an effective rate of 800 million times a second.

when i say "x times a second", i mean x cycles per second. the cycles between a processor and memory differ, so there is another thing that bottles up the gap, causing system slowdown.

also, the pretty graphical user interface, which, if you run a 1024x768 resolution in true color (32 bits per pixel - bpp) thats about 786432 pixels * 4 bytes ( 8 bits per byte, true color is 32 bits) = 3145728 bytes, just to store my screen. 3 megabytes, out of my 2048 megabytes of ram.

it takes 786432 reads (32 bit processor), not including any errors while reading, to refresh the screen.

out of the system bandwith (133mhz) that is .59% of the time, just to update the screen.

that, and then including any system calls just to update the screen, then any actual updates to the screen.

oh, and then it all has to be timed, in accordance with the monitor you are using, which, since i am using a 1024x768 resolution monitor, it is capable of only 85 hz, or only able to update the screen, 85 times a second. (crt's are good for gaming) so that equals even more system slowdown..

---

yeah, just integrating ram into the processor, is not the overall solution. you have to up the motherboard spec too...

 

[lemon]

oh, and i forgot another thing...

everything else - your programs, the system utilities it determines your programs need to run, the system utilities it determines it needs in order for the system to run, any background services, any devices (hard drives, cd/dvd drives, printers, keyboards, mice, et cetera) that *only* communicate at the speed of the motherboard, no matter what the companies of those products say the speed is. all these things affect the real speed, something most companies wont bother mentioning, because then you might realize that all of a sudden, your "old" computer system, is really the only one you need. 1 ghz is a decent processor speed. nothing wrong with it. apparently it was good then, so what changed? oh yes, software. demands of software "increased" so the hardware had to keep up?

nawh, accounting software was great in dos. lotus 1-2-3 anyone? ( i think thats the software..) c programming anyone? most c is done in text editors anyways.. no real need for fancy editors (*cough* visual studio from microsoft *cough).. now, some versions of vs fucking rocked but only for debugging, which could have been outputted to a printer, for one to read through, find errors, and fix em...

hell, one place i applied to (charleston auto auction) uses ibm's iseries servers.. and the interface to those is green text, on a black background. no gui at all. some servers are only implemented in text-based situations... not all, but some.

and they are still good.

hell, if you want to go to linux, better learn to like the console ( the text-based thing)... cuz thats the "default view" for most linux distributions (some are changing that, ubuntu for one, i tried it, the thread is somewhere in this section...) but generally, if one had a 1 ghz processor, with a decent operating system (like windows 98 (if it were decent, or the windows nt equiv) or linux, or others) you can have a gui, maybe not the fancies, like windows vista or anything, but something in order to visit places online, like this place.

( i will never install vista - i do not feel justified in spending 260 dollars for an upgrade version of vista ultimate ( the real only one to get, the others are worthless as a piece of shit rotted to nothingness) or 400 bucks to buy the "full" version. )


hell, just visit a place selling vista, find the ultimate box, read near the bottom left corner of the box on the back, and you will read something to the effect of "ultimate has the most windows components available" ... so why would you want to buy a disabled version????

seems like they threw out the other versions, in one perspective (mine) with the advertisement right on their own box...

anyways.