Warning for Christmas Shoppers

SASSAS

SASSAS

Joined
Aug 16, 2005
Messages
616
Just a friendly warning for people looking for MMO Games as gifts for themselves or their children. For those who don't know, MMO stands for Massively Multiplayer Online, and refers to games in which you interact with other players and pay ca. $15 a month per game in a subscription fee.

I can resolve technical support issues without much problem. MMOs are a pretty significant exception to that. Be prepared for the possibility that you may be looking at some serious technical obstacles and that the meter is running while you fix them... Be sure to investigate the game for significant issues before buying.
 
I am a big mmo gamer. (ww2 online - it is as real as youd ever want it to be)

i ended up needing a 256 mb video card and a 2 ghz cpu ( i got 3.6 just to beat the curve)
 
The way I have been monitoring computer clock speeds over the years, it used to double every year. But lately it has not jumped as it normally would. I think the trned now is multiple processors, and in the case of notebook computers (more so anyway) Hyper Threading. Could it be that the computer speeds are reaching the peak of their practicality limits? I don't think so, but I think it is going to take longer for developers to make games that utlize every once of the computer's resources, so new computers might be able to withstand an extra year or so of playability before they are rendered obsolete by the gaming world and an upgraded system is required.

At least... this is what I am telling myself after buying a brand new computer. Doesn't matter though, I'm not much of a gamer.... yet. :p
 
Don't be too sure! New materials are a great way to improve speed. :D

Man-made diamonds sparkle with potential

In the back room of an unmarked brown building in a run-down strip mall, eight machines, each the size of a bass drum, are making diamonds.

That's right — making diamonds. Real ones, all but indistinguishable from the stones formed by a billion or so years' worth of intense pressure, later to be sold at Tiffany's.
Click to expand...
In technology, the diamond is a dream material. It can make computers run at speeds that would melt the innards of today's computers. Manufactured diamonds could help make lasers of extreme power. The material could allow a cellphone to fit into a watch and iPods to store 10,000 movies, not just 10,000 songs. Diamonds could mean frictionless medical replacement joints. Or coatings — perhaps for cars — that never scratch or wear out.

Scientists have known about the possibilities for years. But they've been held back because mined diamonds are too expensive and too rare. And they're hard to form into wafers and shapes that would be most useful in products.

Manufacturing changes that. It's like the difference between having to wait for lightning to start a fire vs. knowing how to start it by hand.
Click to expand...
(The entire article is available at the link above.)​

It's too soon to say, but eventually, something will work, and change the rules of the game again. Wait till optical systems come on line.
 
This may be another reason the technology seem to have slowed its advance: the manufacturers are controlling their boom & bust cycle.

Chip firms use calm to prepare for storm

The semiconductor industry usually has more ups and downs than a roller coaster. But things have been pretty calm lately — and chip companies are using the lull to prepare themselves for the next ride.
Click to expand...
(The entire article is available at the link above.)​
 
I just want those jewelry quality man made diamonds to cut into the DeBeers monopoly and get them down to reasonable prices. It is just a freaking rock! But girls will settle for nothing less... those gold digging bastards! :p

But yeah... no massive increas ein speeds until I have gotten enough use out of my new computer... too late, I already called it! No raising computer speeds. That oughta hold em off for a few years. :)
 
Actually, the reason that clock speeds aren't doubling and being shouted from the rooftops anymore is that clockspeed can no longer be taken as an accurate measure of a processor's abilities.

Chipmakers are more concerned with caching and other efficiency issues. Furthermore, the industry is slowly making the shift from 32-bit to 64-bit processors. Processors are also now being optimized for threads, but this is not to be confused with "Hyperthreading".

Hyperthreading is a so-called 'feature' on some more recent Intel chips which has received rather poor reviews across the board. I've actually seen a review or two which reported performance worsening significantly with hyperthreading enabled.

Multiple processors are nothing new in the server world, and aren't really headed for desktops anytime soon. What you may be thinking of is double-core processors, which is a sort of similar idea. Double cores allow concurrent execution of threads - which means threaded applications or multi-tasking scenarios will see a major performance boost.

So what is 'threading'? Well, here's the real short & sweet version:

Think of threads as 'threads of control'. Now think of a program as a braid of threads. Different threads go into different places, and play different roles in the overall pattern of the braid.

Here's a simple (but not very realistic) example of a music player:

One thread might be reading some data from your CD, and another thread might take that data, play with it a little, adjust volume, bass, and treble, and another thread pipes it out to your speakers.

With one 'core', each thread has to take a turn at being run. One thread goes for a little while, then it stops and the next one goes for a little while, and the it stops and the next one can go for a little while... etc.

A
B
C
A
B
C
A
...


With two cores, two threads can be working at once. Not only do you get more done at once, but the guys who are in line to get their turn don't have to wait quite so long.
A-
AB
CB
CA
BA
BC
...

Anyway, I can talk your ear off on this subject (I've done a few courses about these things now), but hopefully that's understandable even to those who aren't Superman with a computer. :)
 
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