Saturday, 27 June 2015

Whole Lotta Cores.. or Intel vs AMD Future CPU's : Zen.

Hi Guys

I also hope AMD reads this..but first some music! :-)


*

The Zen FX CPU was announced a few weeks ago now, due end of 2016. (guestimated)

The 'guess specs'?

top-end:

16 cores w/ 32 threads
L2: 32MB .8MB per quad. L3:  32 MB cache,
clock 4 to 5Ghz.
bus 250-300mhz.
DDR4 2333mhz -3200mhz four channel.
14nm.

With such powerful hardware on the way, I'd like to suggest an idea to AMD..

Why not honestly re-brand and price the 8350 against the i3? Openly tell people, 'we re-branded and priced the FX8350 to compete with Intel i3, this means you get longer support as it's classed as a new chip.'

The competitor to the i5 could be your 12 core version of the 'Zen' 16 core, with 24 threads instead of 32. The idea being.. Intel can't do this structure as they place so much money into their core efficiency and so thats where their profit is. You did this before with the Phenom II's and we understood, but becuase the Phenom II/Deneb's weren't good enough, it made no real impact on Intel, because the cores weren't efficient enough

Vishera was .. different.

Right now at 3% total marketshare they have your backs against the wall..our backs.
We shouldn't take such a beating without fighting back.. and as it is OUR HERITAGE to add cores.. i say lets do it!!

I always say AMD vs Intel = truck vs race car. We know.. we have known for a long time, its how you do business, you bring Opteron Server tech to the desktop, to us.. its smart! Give us gamers and enthusiasts your biggest rig... 16 wheeler lorry with 32 exhaust pipes! Barrelling down the highway, unstoppable.


With 3 lorries of such high capacity, I don't see how Intel could compete. Imagine..

FX400 Series
8 cores
4.4Ghz
8MB
238Mhz bus. 18.5 multiplier.
DDR4 2333mhz.

FX600 Series
12 cores w/ 24 threads
4.6Ghz
24MB
242mhz bus. 19 multiplier.
DDR4 2666mhz.

FX800 Series
16 cores w/ 32 threads
4.8Ghz
32MB
252mhz bus. 19 multiplier.
DDR4 3200Mhz


People criticized us for having too little power.. then criticised us for having too much power. The real truth is.. people find things to do with powerful hardware. Now with 8 cores I *should* be able to stream.. and even render if I so like.. there's more out there.. I just haven't discovered it yet.

We need a decent chipset too, powerful one, full of M.2 connectors, not SATA which is starting to look like a serial port. packed with PCIE lanes for everything. PCIE 3.0 with forward upgradeability to PCIE 4.0, via a bios update and new CPU upgrade... did I mention about the M.2 slots..? they ROCK!

I don't enjoy mindless rivalry. I am a bit upset though to hear such a low market share..I always root for you in the desktop market, been with you for 10 years AMD, since the start. .2016 will be a big year.

bags the first ROADKILL!
hahaha


peace

Dava

*(changed it from the original coz it was too weird)



Speccheck + AMD Marketshare

Hi guys! Just wanted to share my current gaming rig, share yours too in the comments!


AMDPOWERHOUSE


Zalman H1 Full Tower case w/ auto 'sunroof' :)
FX-8350 @ 4.4Ghz
Corsair H100 (quad fan setup)
ASRock Fatal1ty 990FX Killer
16GB Corsair Vengance 1866 @1600 :/ *
Sapphire Toxic R9 280X
Powercolor DuoTurbo R9 280X*
Zalman 850w heatsink PSU 80+ Silver.
Win8.1 Pro Media Center
*loads of drives* including:
WD Black 1TB
Seagate 2TB Baracuda
Hitachi Deskstar 500GB (long term storage for files and backup files)
Kingston HyperX 240GB SSD
Sandisk 120GB SSD
Samsung 128GB PCIE (M.2) .. wow fast!*


I had some problems before.. I had just set it up and put it in the room for game streaming, but I moved it into the livingroom to troubleshoot another problem.. and got it working tiptop! Core-parking which my CPU hates..fyi depends on the (AMD) CPU some chips like it better on, some like it off.. mines is one that likes it off!

I did a 'proper' overclock* and shifted the weight to the bus to ease up on the CPU, saw my CPU usage in game drop dramatically, temps too*.
Got a VSR hack working so I can do 2560x1440*.

Im thinking it needs a new stylish name.. still deciding. the case is clean as Ive done all the cable tidying.. my phones battery has perma-died or id share some pics too.


I also have a HP Z400 Workstation
Xeon X5650 6 core 12 threads @ 3.06 Ghz auto-boost
9GB 1333Mhz Hynix triple channel specialist ram
EVGA 660-non
Kingston HyperX 240
Sandisk 120GB SSD
HP 480W PSU 80+ white :(

I've also got a blu-ray i have been meaning to install but haven't got round to it. If the PSU was better i'd put two 660-non in SLI.

Something Stelios said got me thinking.. and while thinking made me sad. maybe people don't think AMD are a bargain anymore :( .. I was reading a Forbes article on AMD Marketshare..they said, AMD is down to 3%..but the question for me is WHY? the 8350 still goes toe to toe with the i5 for much less cash! even 4 years on..and STILL beats it for SuperHD res and above.
The Zen FX CPU's next year are set to have 12 or 16 cores with AMD's Hyperthreading (Multi-Threading) so as long as they don't mess it up..which IS possible but I think unlikely..coz the *red* face they had for FOUR LONG YEARS after Phenom 1..nah. they seen it can be *good* they tasted the good life of respect with Vishera.. they wanna sit waaay above the i5's idk what Intels got planned, but IF they go 16 cores + MT.. thats going to be a hard CPU to top imo.

peace!

Dava



*(the board doesn't have 1866..weird!)
*Thanks Cameron!
* I page on this drive it's like extra ram!
*BIOS, instead of just using AMD Overdrive.
* from 90% to 100% to around 40% to 70% depending. temps didn't move too dramatically.. 80C down to around 70C but that a bit of improvement..but also I installed the quad-fan..this more helps with idle.. my chip has always ran hot though. right now at 46C idle. sometimes down to 35C.
*not presently enabled on 280X

Wednesday, 25 February 2015

DCUO Blog: TL;DR. Thoughts on playing since 2011 (EU player)

:from the DCUO forums posted by me:



Hi guys

TL;DR Warning!

Firstly, hi I'm SigmaAtom started playing in 2011, and had a two year break after the cr* and content ran out. There's other things too like pro7, the great leagues collapsing, I remember that ..wow!.. after that league bosses had become mean and started getting recruits to farm exos for them.. after I started my own league, we didn't do that, we helped people, as I was taught by my mentor in one the very first dcuo leagues. but my league mates found it too much work with college.. so I left for 2 years. And returned this month, no more pro7, and SOE has changed to Daybreak.

Things were different for the EU and US side, I should imagine.

DCUO is my only MMO.. I mean that, I'm not really interested in any other and have only played PSO back in the Dreamcast days. Gotham and Metro are my home.

Thoughts..

There are things I have wanted for many years, like personalization of pets style and a skill tree, and things more recently, like pro7's destroying of SOE profits, with 7cash for almost free (yes it was wild on the EU side, you could get 7cash and buy DLC and many other things with times 10 stationcash/7cash bonus buys, back a couple of years ago) I wholeheartedly agree with SOE/DB on the change in policy for their profits, only allowing certain content for download with Stationcash.

I had wondered a few things also since being back, in the EU the Hero's side is the most popular, I hear the villains side being dead, with the opposite in the US, wouldn't it make sense of we merged the servers to save money for the new Daybreak company, just increase the US servers? YMMV, but I don't have any bad lag using the US servers, I did note on one occasion (i take it) some young teen american verbally mocking a spanish guy for speaking spanish in shout, but aside from that, when I have been on, no real problems with lag.

Recently on the EU side, there has been constant disconnection & lagging, but aside from the aforementioned problems the community is healthier, to note; also griefing was a huge problem 2 years ago and I am so happy to say has now. stopped. but the lag and disconnection will not keep regular players coming back.

I mentioned pets, I am a troller primarily, and having a pet for solos is so important, with the troller being able to 'give a punch but not take a punch' I need a pet that can tank a bit for me, while I have a sidekick, and the AI is excellent, I keep thinking the gadgets/batman pet style and stance could be tweaked, with 'pet styles' being a random reward from promethium boxes, and regardless being able to change pet colour to match, I have a new Rage tank/dps and would love my pet to be red, as cyan clashes with the red. Skill trees I feel would enhance my whole pet experience, they would only need a few skill points so not OP, but have four trees for each class and once you use a pet skill point in one tree that is the only class that can be used, but pet skills could be reset and used/saved for each type of armory build, providing you have an armory for each of your builds.

I would love to personalize my experience with pet naming, it would bring me deeper into my char, and increase my over satisfaction of playing.

I must mention I have a Lantern Jack pet, his AI is by far the best AI I have used in the game aside from the sidekicks, he tanks perfectly for me when I am trolling. Wish he was a permanent pet like the gadgets one.

I want to commend SOE/DB for such original ingenuity in the armory system, you have basically invented a save point in a MMO.. genius! versatile, giving us in-depth access to our potential without overpowering players.

I note we do not have a community manager for the EU side, and no special events, I understand why, and it doesn't bother me, but having a few honoured members that are long term league bosses recognized by Daybreak, might be an idea. I don't know, just a thought.

Home Turf has been loads of fun, I have really enjoyed the content, the league halls, and bonuses provided for having a lair, it made my return so much easier, Im cr 98 now, and so glad to come back at a time when people are polite, there is so much new content and the overall feeling of optimism is healthy within the community and healthy for me.

I note my T4 solos have disappeared and hope to have those and more solos back soon. as I play mostly at night as I have sleep apnoea and am on at random times, this makes waiting for raids near impossible unless i am up at the same time as friends or league-mates. The Gotham Wastelands was a great ticket through my 80+cr, and I still go there everyday just for fun, went by quite fast, and mostly Mogo is dead for players with only a few exceptional times is it busy with people and queues. GW was easy to meet new people, Mogo has been hard, people not seeming to want to even talk. no idea why.

Overall.. I just love the new content! I hear from the higher up cr's though rumblings of running out, which is a shame, I feel if we could have deeper content, this may keep them happy. I feel Central City is a space that could be opened up for OW raid bosses, more than one OW raid boss like 8, for the higher cr's, just making the area larger and using the OW bosses into their own raid, with classes for them. PVE raid group, in a slightly larger Central City. Raid vs Raid.

On the EU side there's not much PVP, as I mentioned the villains side is pretty much dead. I have a low level villain that I use for trading on their broker, the place is often deserted when i am in, and it was mention by a high level cr in WT shout.

This has been my honest opinion, both good and bad. I only want DCUO to thrive.

Have a bizarre and great day!

Sigma


*the highest cr when i left was 92, I left at cr78 with no-one to play with, and many problems on the EU community side.

A few thoughts.. MMO vs AAA

Hi guys


Soo.. I've been spending ages on DCUO my favorite MMO..other games seem to dwindle in interest for except GTA5, which as u may know has been pushed back to April for PC release. again. I've got it on pre-order with a company I don't really know, .. :/ thought i was only waiting a month.

I keep thinking, I have no mains left, portal 3..that'll be another 5 years at least, if ever. Bioshock.. I played BioInf  into the ground. now no more Bioshock.. unless 2k put another team on it which i think is unlikely.

I wonder if Ken Levine, just dissolved Irrational.. to take the heat away from Bioshock 3? (a stunt??)

And even though I have many games.. they just don't spark me like DC Universe Online is right now.

I think ill get into Far Cry 4 once the price comes down..but saying that in Far Cry 3 I got far into the missions, near the end maybe the last mission, and I just didn't want to finish it.

I still have Half-Life 2 to complete, and will probably get around to it, just out of missing portal and wanting a more complete knowledge of the things before portal as they are set in the same Valve-iverse.

With my in-home streaming setup, I am finding I am not thinking about computers so much, sometimes I consider getting a second AMD 280x..but this one does all I need.


If you are considering a MMO, DCUO, is my MMO. Im not interested in others. and the proper superhero vibe is extraordinary.

peace

Dava

Sunday, 25 January 2015

A Drill a Hammer and Two Nails.. or Hardware Refresh; Cutting Edge or Happy Wallet?

Hi guys


some music:


Back in 2006-2009 I was just starting my adventure in to building PC's, as soon as the price of the new hardware hit my budget I would upgrade.

Nothing was planned. I spent and wasted money.. yes I got experiance in exchange but if I was more organised.. wow I could have done so much more. PC building great and all, but there is a life outside, and going to the cinema every so often should be part of my plans, just for the experience, going into town to a cafe and get a few things at poundland.. just for fun..should be a regular occurrence.  remind myself why I do what I do by doing something different.

Builders can upgrade often.. everything can be exchanged to another similar part. and you can do that all the year long. but if you're doing it and not seeing big improvements.. honestly..really.. you're just wasting money. you need a SSD and decent amount of RAM & 4 cores and you'll probably have a good windows experience.

This is where 'planning your hardware refresh' comes in..

Depending on what you like and the games you play.. you probably should be thinking 4 years, when you do a build or re-build, plan for the event of 4 years, but YMMV all the jazz.. I try to every 3 years for good reason, because I buy compound cheap, like I bought 3 SanDisk SSD's cheap.. super cheap, and then found while they were meant to be all SATA3 all the way.. I suspect they have most of the parts but then a SATA2 controller chip inside >_<.. so they needed to be replaced after a year to sata3. my 660ti's great run! value for money! but now dead.. but even if they weren't dead I can't survive on 2gb anymore.. its just not enough vram.

My modded Skyrim is 2556 MB, no wonder i was getting such slow-downs and crashes!

All this means due to my budget, I should plan a hardware refresh every 3 years. Most companies go for four, including silicone manufacturers so you should too. Plan at the start of Nvidia or AMD or Intel's refresh*.. which ever you choose and like the most. if you are also planning a backup rig.. choose the other company to understand why and what they offer too, so your experience is educated with real world knowledge and not just nerd-internet-myths.

hope this was the nail you needed to finish that bookshelf.. a thought in the ether, sensible shoes.

peace.

Dava









* it's actually two years for cards, and four years for chipsets, but the cards are usually older branded ones from the last generation.. so every 4 years.



Tuesday, 13 January 2015

Modes of international travel.. Dava's guide to getting around t'inter'net

Hi guys

pretty much.. everyone of you already know this kind of stuff..but if your family don't: trying to explain to them 'what's what' of computing can be a pain in the rear. So to aid you in your quest of easily explaining 'what a computer is' to your family and uninitiated friends..

Here is Dava's guide to computers. enjoy!

Using the traffic analogy means we need vehicles to traverse the World. .. 'World Wide Web' that is.

----------

Smartphone: bicycle (3" to 7")

neat and speedy, low feature but attractive and easy.
-----------

Tablet : multi speed mountain bicycle (6" to 9")

larger and more rugged, still low feature.
------------

Netbook: Moped (7" to 12")

very easy operation, convenient design, but too low a power for harder tasks.
------------

Notebook: Deluxe Motorcycle. (12" to 14")

fully featured, quick, easy to use. but cannot do any heavy lifting.
-----------

Laptop : Ducati Racing Motorcycle (15" to 19" upwards)

ultra featured, usually can game if the specifications are of a premium standard, like the screen. but in many cases still not as powerful as a desktop.
----------

Nettop : 1.0 L Car.

basic. usually used as a home streaming receiver device. fast browsing.  but cannot do the main computing tasks associated with a desktop. high features with low power.
----------

Home Theater PC : small van.

streaming server. usually high capacity (drives). high feature (full windows). but struggles with the more difficult tasks.
----------

Desktop Personal Computer : Saloon/Sedan Car.

Fully featured. can complete tasks within an expected time. can do everything the previous computers can. fast browsing. but is loud, unless treated for loudness. can get internally messy if not treated.

----------

Performance Computer : Ferrari or Lamborghini , Performance SuperCar.

Ultra featured. can do any task quickly, easily. can game.

----------

Workstation Computer : Mercedes G63 6x6 Super Jeep. Lotus Elise, light-weight and precise.

again they can do everything the previous computers can and more. *some* are lower powered for specific reasons and *some* are given alternate parts for a specific reason.

Sub-styles of workstation.

DAW: Lotus Elise, light-weight and precise.
Digital Audio Workstation.
RAM is ECC. unbuffered.
high amount of RAM.
often aftermarket or secondary sound card.

VEEW or VidEnc :  Mercedes G63 6x6 Super Jeep.
Video Encoding & Editing Workstation.
RAM is ECC. registered.
high amount of RAM.

------------

Server Computer: 18 wheel Lorry

Can do all the tasks previously if equipped correctly, but is not designed to. manages security, file transfer and ip allocation. can move HUGE amounts of data easily. gets HOT! requires climate controlled area operation.

---






all of the above is of course, subject to conditions, and year.. that means a netbook from 2010 will kill out right.. like B in Kill Bill with a sword.. a desktop from 2000. values are relative. much like your family. :)

peace

Dava











Monday, 8 December 2014

Golden Moments..or why the flip doesn't Sega just 'go PC'?


Some music while reading. enjoy!





Hi guys!


Do you like nostalgia gaming? I do.. I like the Dreamcast.


I'd like to see Sega re-issue and dev on PC, using Steam as their distribution service. that way they don't have to invest in hardware and we get get all the old Dreamcast games and new ones, without restriction. just use your fav controller and done!

I also think publishers having their own pages on Steam would be great, giving them a storefront on Steam...and I'd like a 'Dreamcast Zone' on their own Sega Steam page. Ultimately 'why not?' is my question.. they just sell games..people buy the games. simple.

I am concerned at pricing though.. as these games should come in at *I feel* around £2.99 each. why? coz you can get a current AAA for a tenner, and these dreamcast games are over a decade old, it like when an indie publisher puts something out and I'm like 'what the flip?? £10, £20??' when what you basically get is an old NES title with an updated story. dont get me wrong some indies are just staggeringly amazing.. and I dont regret buying Stanley Parable at full price..or even when I tried Kairo and thought I got a total bargain.

But what they are selling is nostalgia..and for £2.99 its worth a try even if your memories are golden and your new experience is not.. for £10.. noooo you feel ripped off and handed a bruised ego.

As for hardware.. the Dreamcast is now gone.. and I genuinely feel it shouldn't come back, few years ago I never would have said that.. but I'm a PC gamer now..to me the PC just makes sense as a platform for Sega.. no restrictions, no one tells them to cough up for licenses or you can't do that on our platform its too close to something we do.. etc etc.


Sega has so many titles that could be re-issued.. and when the re-issue is successful ..why not bring out a new game continuing the series? it's simple for them. really.

I wish they would re-issue Shenmue 1 & 2, House of the Dead and Soulcalibur .. where else are we going to get legit Dreamcast games without actually using a Dreamcast?

With the recent and (current) Sega Humble Bundle I now have Dreamcast games as part of my Steam collection and not having to pay full price.. kudos to Sega..'back in the game!' as a publisher!

peace :)

Dava