Dual core Intel... how hot?

[Colin McGregor]

--- Lennart Sorensen <lsorense-1wCw9BSqJbv44Nm34jS7GywD8/FfD2ys at public.gmane.org>
wrote:
> On Wed, Aug 02, 2006 at 03:33:11PM -0400, Colin
> McGregor wrote:
> > While the numbers do vary somewhat over time plus
> > things vary somewhat between AMD and Intel there
> is
> > something that seems to stay constant. Namely, of
> > CURRENT generation CPU chips, the cutting edge has
> > about 1.5 - 2 times the performance of the
> trailing
> > edge. Yet, the cutting edge chip will be 4 - 8
> times
> > the price of the trailing edge chip. In other
> words
> > you pay a MASSIVE premium for a fairly modest
> > performance boost.
> > 
> > This explains why ALL of the boxes I have put
> together
> > (starting with a AMD 386SX-25, back a lot of years
> ago
> > :-) ) have been current technology, but near the
> > trailing edge of the technology curve. 
> > 
> > While I am sure there are a FEW situations where
> going
> > to the cutting edge is cost effective, that
> doesn't
> > apply to 99% + of desktop users.
> 
> The thing is, I consider the cost and performance of
> the whole system
> when deciding what parts are worth it.  If you are
> going to spend say
> $3000 on the base components of a system, then a
> $200 cpu that runs half
> the speed of a $800 cpu, may still not be a good
> deal, if you can use
> the speed, since the slow system will cost you
> $3200, while the system
> at twice the speed will cost you $3800.  It all
> depends on how much the
> other components cost.  In a bargain system for
> $500, upgrading the cpu
> is often not cost effective.  Mixing high end
> components into a low end
> system generally isn't.

One computer magazine columnist 10+ years ago noted,
tongue in cheek, that the PC you want was always about
$5,000 U.S. (i.e.: the box with ALL the high end
goodies). Now, these days I am sure that number has
dropped, even with $500+ video cards, and top of the
line CPUs, etc..

Still, the question comes back to where/when can you
reasonably justify such costs? If you are talking an
engineer doing high end CAD work, where saving say 30
minutes per day at $N per hour, well, the numbers can
be crunched and likely a top of the line CPU (or
CPUs)can be justified over the course of a year (in
which case go as nuts as the numbers justify). On the
other hand a shipping clerk who needs to type up
Fed-Ex shipping labels, well, forget it, a faster CPU
will not make him type any faster, and that will be
the speed bottleneck. In other words for ALMOST all
business applications the sub-$1,000 no-name PC clones
will do just fine.

Likewise, for home use what, besides some games, will
come even close to taxing trailing edge current
generation CPU chips? Again, unless one is doing
something BIZARRE I can not see any need/point in
using a high end CPU/system for home use...

Colin McGregor



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