OT: Re: quad cores vs not.

[Fairlight]

Only Tyler would say something like:
> My Q6600 is the best thing that's ever happened to me as a developer.  I
> definitely multitask a LOT, and have tons of apps on the go all at once.
> 
> Also, many of my devtools and other apps are opensource, and as such get
> updated frequently and often just to take advantage of cool stuff.

But -that- is the environment they're currently best in.

> Plus running virtual machines is fast as blazes!  Right now I am using
> virtualbox on my Ubuntu dev machine in seamless mode to give me a windows
> taskbar on the bottom of the Ubuntu desktop & integrate any Windows windows
> into the xwindow manager.  This is awesome, as it frees me from the limits
> of having to switch to a virtual desktop to see my running Windows apps.  I
> can have IE and FF app windows running on Windows XP nicely arranged right
> next to my Aptana development window and any reference materials I've pulled
> up in my browser on my Ubuntu desktop.

Again, it's ideal for that environment.  Just not for a Windows desktop,
where a lot goes to waste.

> My roomie's Q6600 is the best thing that's ever happened to HIM as a gamer
> :)  Nuff said.

Then he apparently hasn't tried an E8400.  I talked to the resident gamer
at my integrator and they recommended that over the Q6600.

I'm not saying it's not fast, but it's not -as- fast per core as the E8400,
and it's also not going to have the other cores utilised as much.  The
real benefit with the current generation of games would be having stuff
in systray and other open apps on other chips so you don't get little
mini-loadspikes interfering with your game.

> My only regret is that I don't have 64bit computing, but I can wait on that
> for quite a while yet until 64bit computing is a little more mature.

I could have gotten Vista.  I specifically went XP because it's lighter and
faster and gives more resouces to the apps.  By the same token, I wouldn't
go 64bit yet on the OS because I've seen too many reports of games with
issues on anything other than 32bit.  Oblivion's addon installers won't
work at all on 64bit, for instance.

> I'd agree for the average user that a quad core is useless.  Then again, for
> the average user the latest and greatest has been more iron than they can
> handle for some little while now.  You don't need 3GB of RAM and a 1024MB
> grfx card to surf the internet for porn, read filthy email responses from
> your post on Craigslist, play MP3s downloaded via P2P and editing the
> Unabomber manifesto in Word.

True, true.  But you can get it all done four times as fast.  :)  My 16x
DVD drive lets me watch my new movies in a fraction of the normal time!

mark->
-- 
"Moral cowardice will surely be written as the cause on the death
certificate of what used to be Western Civilization." --James P. Hogan