On the threshold of "Pleasurable Computing".

[VirtualLarry]

I've discovered something. When you're computer is that fast, you want to use it, in deference to other, perhaps equally-functional but not as performant machines.

I've got a, well, collection of rigs. My current bedroom computer is a Lenovo IdeaPad 100S, with an Atom Z3735F CPU, 2GB RAM, 32GB eMMC. It actually performs fairly well, operates in "Burst" mode most of the time, no real complaints with it. It does what I need it to.

My living-room PC(s), are both Skylake G4400s OCed on ASRock Z170 Pro4S boards. I replaced a pair of G3258 OCed on Gigabyte H81 boards.

Well, when I finally got the second one hooked up, and OCed, it clocked to 135.0 BCLK pretty effortlessly on 1.300V. That works out to 4.455Ghz. Not too shabby.

Well, up until a few days ago, I really didn't notice a huge difference in speed between the two. Yes, there was some, but my web browser of choice was Waterfox 40.1.0, which I used because newer versions of Firefox and Waterfox had issues with HTML5 media playback on my rigs. Plus, there was a nagging software bug, that after the browser had been open for some time, it would start to lag when opening or switching tabs; the CPU, no matter how fast, would hit 100% on one core.

I felt like I was on ... "that" treadmill. (Edit: "Hedonistic".) (Forgot the name, someone else brought it up in one of my other threads.) The idea being, that no matter how fast I increased my hardware speed, the software lagged with 100% CPU at times, and thus it didn't matter how fast the underlying hardware was.

Well, that all changed, with Firefox 44.0 x64.

Now, it (hasn't yet) "lagged", it takes under 512MB of RAM, rather than 1.2-2GB, and it can handle my media playback, so far, without issues.

Now my Windows 7 64-bit OCed SKL rig performs... the way it was supposed to.

I stopped crunching, only to get some CPU usage numbers. (Crunching on both cores in BOINC didn't seem to lag Firefox 44.0 at all, probably because it uses so little CPU now.)

Browsing was around 5-9% CPU, spiking to 25% occasionally.

Burning a Blu-Ray data disc, is at 3%.

But everything, is FAST, and SMOOTH.

Maybe this feeling, is what people were trying to tell me about, when they kept telling me to buy a 4790K or an i7-6700(K), instead of buying my budget CPUs.

Granted, on CPU-Z 1.75.0's benchmark, my ST score is around 2250, whereas a 4.0Ghz i7-6700K is around 2050. So I'm already faster than a 6700K in ST, which is notable.

So, have I achieved "computing nirvana", on a budget? Well, maybe. Stay tuned!

(I haven't tried gaming on this SKL G4400 rig yet. I expect, that for AAA games, it will end up much like the G3258 does, stuttering, etc. I have a 7950 3GB in this rig too.)

 

[el etro]

Two cores is good for 95% of the situations, but two extra threads help much in heavy(oops, i meant light!) MT situations. But you need four cores for use in the more brute tasks. That's why i go i5 always...

 

[Arachnotronic]

Maybe this feeling, is what people were trying to tell me about, when they kept telling me to buy a 4790K or an i7-6700(K), instead of buying my budget CPUs.

Nah, it was just the "Intel Sales Team" trying to get you to buy expensive silicon, couldn't possibly have been due to the fact that faster chips can deliver a better user experience

 

[Ma_Deuce]

Two cores is good for 95% of the situations, but two extra threads help much in heavy MT situations. But you need four cores for use in the more brute tasks. That's why i go i5 always...

I haven't been able to get a "pleasurable" computing experience with anything less than an i5 from intel. I think it's one of those things that you might not notice until you get the chance to regress a bit.

 

[crashtech]

Things can be very snappy on a fast dual core, but you have to limit what you do, and also be vigilant about errant background processes stealing too much CPU time. That's where the quads (also 2C/4T, to an extent) shine, you not only get the hedonic pleasure of "right now" computing, you also have the luxury of not having to hunt down every little thing that is screwing it up for you, unless it gets real bad.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Things can be very snappy on a fast dual core, but you have to limit what you do, and also be vigilant about errant background processes stealing too much CPU time. That's where the quads (also 2C/4T, to an extent) shine, you not only get the hedonic pleasure of "right now" computing, you also have the luxury of not having to hunt down every little thing that is screwing it up for you, unless it gets real bad.

So true. That and more ram. I kinda wish I had 32GB just to let Chrome go bonkers sometimes.

 

[Zodiark1593]

Might have to update both my PCs to the new Firefox version too. A shame GPU assist in Youtube is still broken in html5. My 5 year old laptop definitely has it's work cut for it with 1080p video.

 

[nerp]

I feel the same way having built a new skylake machine and moving away from platters once and for all. This after struggling on a 5-year-old iMac 27" running Windows. OSX was unusable.

 

[CHADBOGA]

Whenever I build a computer for the first time, I want it to zip along and seem fast like crazy.

After that, I'll hang on to that computer till it becomes painfully slow to use, knowing that with the passage of time and advances in the computing industry, my next computer will hopefully once again seem fast as blazes.

Been working well for many years now.

 

[Burpo]

everything, is FAST, and SMOOTH.
So, have I achieved "computing nirvana", on a budget? Well, maybe. Stay tuned!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjlLjczRtXQ

 

[cbn]

Things can be very snappy on a fast dual core, but you have to limit what you do, and also be vigilant about errant background processes stealing too much CPU time. That's where the quads (also 2C/4T, to an extent) shine, you not only get the hedonic pleasure of "right now" computing, you also have the luxury of not having to hunt down every little thing that is screwing it up for you, unless it gets real bad.

Yes, and the worse the dual core is the worse that can get.

Example: I remember using my E1-2100 (dual Jaguar cores @ 1 Ghz) for browsing and even with 4GB RAM and an SSD......it would stall out so bad sometimes. At times it felt like almost forever waiting for my cursor to come back.

 

[PPB]

Dont know what "on a budget" means when you own at least 3 pcs and 1 notebook. If I it was only for my use, I would sell all the pcs ans get at least a higher end one.

 

[ShintaiDK]

Did a miracle just happen? Is Larry going to stop buying cheap rubbish for good?

Stay tuned!

 

[NTMBK]

Consolidate down to one good PC and one good laptop/tablet, you'll have a much better experience for it.

 

[Flapdrol1337]

Switched out the g3258 for a 4670K, didn't notice a difference in browsing.

 

[Rezist]

My first rig I built (Rig 2 in sig) was my cheap machine just to practice building a rig and not have to worry about mistakes, I wish now after seeing how easy it all had been that I spent more money on it. It felt fast, but just not fast enough.

That said now Rig 1, I built was more then enough for me, but now I kinda want to build a small form factor and sell this one, sadly the Canadian dollar is shit, and I will spend like 1.5x~ more for the same performance or possibly less

 

[Yuriman]

My first rig I built (Rig 2 in sig) was my cheap machine just to practice building a rig and not have to worry about mistakes, I wish now after seeing how easy it all had been that I spent more money on it. It felt fast, but just not fast enough.

That said now Rig 1, I built was more then enough for me, but now I kinda want to build a small form factor and sell this one, sadly the Canadian dollar is shit, and I will spend like 1.5x~ more for the same performance or possibly less

I picked up a used ITX board on eBay, and a $40 ITX case on Newegg, and sold my old ones. You don't necessarily need to flip the whole machine.

EDIT: http://www.ebay.com/itm/zotac-Z77-I...936745?hash=item3abc297529:g:6zcAAOSwqrtWpR6C

^ I'd make a lower offer to the seller, but something like this might be just what you need.

 

[moonbogg]

I feel so angry right now. I want to buy a high end barebones rig and shove that damn thing right through Larry's mailbox. There would be a bow attached to it. A gift to set him free, kind of like when 1st world people deliver free water to the poor. (Not saying hes poor, but you know, its that same kind of suffering)

 

[Burpo]

I picked up a used ITX board on eBay, and a $40 ITX case on Newegg, and sold my old ones. You don't necessarily need to flip the whole machine.

EDIT: http://www.ebay.com/itm/zotac-Z77-I...936745?hash=item3abc297529:g:6zcAAOSwqrtWpR6C

^ I'd make a lower offer to the seller, but something like this might be just what you need.

I remember when you got yours for 1/2 that, and kick myself every time I think about it for not getting one too. :\

 

[VirtualLarry]

I feel so angry right now. I want to buy a high end barebones rig and shove that damn thing right through Larry's mailbox. There would be a bow attached to it. A gift to set him free, kind of like when 1st world people deliver free water to the poor. (Not saying hes poor, but you know, its that same kind of suffering)

LOL! Thanks in advance!

 

[Madpacket]

Switched out the g3258 for a 4670K, didn't notice a difference in browsing.

I bet anyone here willing to do a double blind test would likely come to the same conclusion. The difference is in peoples head (chip cost more so it must be faster). It's a placebo. There's not enough difference between a G3258 and 4670K (at the same clock speeds) for tasks such as web browsing to make notice a difference in speed. The same is true for almost any modern processor.

Reminds of this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfkbxzilVC4

 

[VirtualLarry]

Switched out the g3258 for a 4670K, didn't notice a difference in browsing.

Which browser? Chrome, or something else?

 

[Magic Carpet]

Switched out the g3258 for a 4670K, didn't notice a difference in browsing.

And it's a good thing that you didn't. Because when a memory leak happens or some flash banner comes up or better off, a dozen of them. 4670k/16gb will be well prepared for that. Whereas with pedestrian dual-core cpus you are just asking for trouble, should the things go wrong. Heh.

EDIT: Arguably some people just like to enjoy underpowered rigs, and having that as an indicator that something is up. Sort of, like antivirus. I guess, to each their own.

 

[coercitiv]

Switched out the g3258 for a 4670K, didn't notice a difference in browsing.

And it's a good thing that you didn't.

That's the whole idea indeed: the system with more resources at hand will allow you to keep using it as you like even when there's a lot more going on in the background: updates, scanning, archiving or cloud syncs.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

I haven't been able to get a "pleasurable" computing experience with anything less than an i5 from intel. I think it's one of those things that you might not notice until you get the chance to regress a bit.

Yeah, the "Porsche Effect." You get used to something, then you get used to the new thing, and using the old thing is painful.