1 Oct
2010
1 Oct
'10
4:48 p.m.
Liam Proven wrote:
On 30 September 2010 20:21, Tony Duell <ard at
p850ug1.demon.co.uk> wrote:
Overall, I'd agree. For mass-market consumer kit, I think it might be
good. Cheaper, faster computers are a good thing. Also, for the random
punter, *simpler* computers are a good thing.
cheaper and faster is good if that's what the consumer really needs (rather
than what marketing and peers can convince them that they need). Otherwise,
it's just wasteful.
A quadrillion GHz CPU and a metric buttload of memory doesn't let me send more
email or allow me to write documents any faster :-) I could play the latest
must-have game, I suppose, if I had any interest in [modern] games.
But more
generally, I think I am seeing an interesting trend which I
find positive: the gradual removal of mechanical, moving parts from
PCs (and Macs). Spinning HDDs are gradually being replaced by SSDs.
Hmm... I see
this often as a negative trend in that I can fix the
mechanical bits (other than HDDs) and can't fix custom silicon. It may
be cheaper to replace, but when you have a deadline looming, the ability
ot get the machine workign again is very useful... Well, one idea I am surprised I have not seen
exploited in PCs, that I
have already seen in hifi, is large external passive heatsinks,
outside the case. I presume they're connected by heatpipes or
something. Gets the heat outside the box, in the open air, where the
user can easily clean the fins with a duster, and where it will be
carried away by open-air circulation.
For many* of the hifi's that I've seen, the heatsinks were usually just on the
main power transistors, and these could be mounted on the rear wall of the
case on the reverse side of the heatsink. As someone else mentioned, there's
quite a lot of stuff in a modern PC which needs cooling, and reorganising it
so that it could all sit on the back wall of the case could be tricky.
* I did have a wonderful old Pioneer with the hot zone somewhere in the middle
of the chassis; there was a grille on the underside and another one in the
middle of the wooden case-top to allow the heat to escape. I bet a lot of them
failed when people managed to block the vents :-)
cheers
Jules