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The Evolving Face of Performance
Posted by anand lalshimpi in Gamer PC | Nov. 12, 2008 8:00 AM
Whenever Intel releases a new CPU I always get asked the same question: why would I need anything faster? The answer I’ve been giving over the past few years is to look at much of science fiction to understand why we need faster CPUs and faster PCs in general. The sorts of interfaces you see in movies like Minority Report, or the portability and usability of computing devices from the Star Trek world are all grounded in reality - we just need the algorithms and the processing power to enable them.
Because we haven’t hit the holy grail of computing, we must continue to push for higher performance. While the latest Core i7 processors may not make checking your email any faster, the sort of performance increases they offer is necessary to continue the upward trend of improving overall PC performance to eventually enable the usage models and applications of the future. I remember hearing people argue that CPU performance had gotten out of control in the Pentium III days and that we didn’t need anymore; the fact of the matter is that without the CPUs we’ve had since then, things like YouTube would have never been possible.
I will concede however that somewhere along the line PCs got fast enough where a new performance category emerged: fast enough. The line between PC and consumer electronics device is quickly blurring, and we’re getting to the point where you want devices that have historically been dumb to have a little bit of intelligence. Accessing web content on your TV or pulling up recipes on your fridge all require some amount of processing power, just not the same as running Fallout 3 on your PC.
These fast enough PCs highlight an important shift in how we evaluate performance of our computing devices; we need to look at both raw performance as well as user experience. Raw performance of CPUs, graphics cards, motherboards, memory and storage devices is great data for determining what components should go in the first category of computers - the ones pushing the edge of performance and enabling new applications.
Evaluating performance by looking at the user experience enabled by the hardware however, that matters more to the fast enough category of PC hardware.
The iPhone is the perfect example, no one ever dared benchmark the device because doing so would simply point out that its hardware was tremendously limited. In my review of the first iPhone I complained that it needed faster hardware, but that the only reason I even brought that up was because Apple had fixed the user experience to the point where that I felt like the iPhone could actually be limited by its raw performance.
Apple managed to fix issues with the interface on a smartphone not feeling fast, or looking smooth or generally being modern. The user experience saw the biggest impact in performance, yet the raw hardware itself was unbelievably slow.
The same is true for devices based on Intel’s Atom hardware; the platform is fast enough to do a lot, what’s lacking are the improvements in ergonomics, industrial design, battery life and user interfaces to make these things truly perform well.
The performance metric here isn’t how fast the CPU is or how many frames per second it can render, but rather whether or not these devices, be them smartphones, Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs), Tablet PCs or netbooks are useful.
And fundamentally, while I believe that Intel, AMD and NVIDIA have done tremendous jobs of pushing the limits in conventional performance benchmarks, I believe the rest of the industries, both PC and CE, have failed them in properly taking advantage of the horsepower and delivering devices that perform well from a usage standpoint.
What about you all? Have any devices that you believe not only perform well in the conventional sense but also do so in the user experience sense?
I’d love to hear about them, regardless of whether they are DivX/x264 players, NAS devices, MIDs or GPSes - they are the rarity in our industry today and that has got to change.
I think items like Garmin's NUVI line are a good combination of usability/vs Horsepower/vs Battery Life. They are quick, low cost (less than $100!) and can get you from point A to point B with an almost erie precision. The digitization of our knowlege is happening now, the next true feat will be integrating it all together. Point and case is the Nuvi's MP3 player and the iPhone's GPS capaiblity. This will only expand with more user desired features being integrated together.
Ultimatly, my fear is the cyborgization of humanity. When will the first Bluetooth headset rest within the brain vs. sitting on the ear? Scientists have already isolated the optical neural circuis of people, when is my Nvida graphics card going to have a plug directly into my brain? When is the next level of cosmetic surgery goning to be man/machine interfaces? Will companies require these for their network access? talk about a slippery slope!!! Methinks there will be a rebellion by then. You think I'm crazy? Lets hope so. My vision of humanity in 1000 years is the Borg Collective.
http://www.technologyreview.com/Biotech/18574/
I use Mac's, a HP notebook, a linux box, an ipod touch and an LCD Wacom. Whatever it takes to get the job done in the least amount of time. After using the wacom I have come to realize that the computer has over time made the user transform to the requirements of the computer. Think about this, how many of you out there would have ever had a desk if it wasn't for those early CRT's. My guess is not too many. You may have a notebook now but still have a desk. Then think about this, you have an idea and need to jot it down fast, do you grab a pen and a piece of paper or do you turn on your Windows PC and wait 5 minutes for it to boot? Yes it does take that long to boot, I really do need to rebuild, thank you vista.
The point is that if computers in the future tend to fit naturally with the way we tend to do things then market forces will dictate that this is the direction they will go.
My idea of a perfect computer, a big 24inch ipod touch with a pen for detail work and finger touch input. Keyboard, why? mouse? what's that for?.
I'm a Mac user, so I'm used to experiencing this kind of synergy with my computers, and being frustrated with the total lack of it anywhere else.
I'm enjoying these articles- if you keep writing them, I'll keep reading them. I'd love to see a semi-regular series of these as part of the Anandtech.com series of blogs.
Also, what's up with all the jerks commenting here? I find you insightful, erudite, and interesting. Pay no attention to the ignorant peanut gallery.
It is easy for you to tell everyone to purchase a new processor when Intel feeds you new processors at no charge like giving feed to their sheep. It is obvious that you are still a shill for the big companies and always will be. When was the last time you actually paid for a processor? My guess never.
Self-encrypting hard drives are urgently needed, particularly for laptops. Too lost or stolen laptops contain sensitive data!
I think in some sense people are not seeing the end product. Or at least the end product until its made. You can usually delve into military gear to see where we're going. I believe that faster than you or me probably think we will see another pc form. This will not be a desktop or a laptop per se but a mini projection unit. Now of course we know holographics can be done it is just the scale. Now doing live instant messaging with a holograph is different entirely and not what I'm talking about at least not on the front end. But for applications and maybe even games design programs etc GPS and so on. You have a small inch thick machine that can project with 4 cameras into a 3d projection. This machine has basic hardware you can use for ultra mobile type apps. Then it has a docking station such as the 3870 external laptop graphics card memory other enhancements etc. Then you can drop you inch thick 7x7x7x7 machine in it the processing power gpu memory and other additions will be used in a conjuntive bus so you can do higher end functions. These would be apps such as games architechture multimedia design etc. They also already have the gloves for hand control which would come in use here. Taking a clue from the Wii you could play your fps mmo etc in a more full body style while not having to run across a world etc and play at dueling with swords for real although with a virtual body. They already have virtual sex and full body suits for this type of thing to although i don't think available in the US yet but you see my point.
Umm about that quote...
I think microsoft is trying to do exactly what anand is talking about. Use the horsepower, not leave it idle. Also Mac does the same thing, with each new release of osx, more features emerge requiring more power.
I do think back though, and remember my P1 running winamp. Flexing all its muscles for this task. Fast foward to the day I got a 200mhz and was able to play quake 3 and mp3s.
My point is, these devices are new and with amd, intel, arm and others now working on components for them and the general consumers becoming aware of such devices things will get better.
I am however, happy with the performance of my n800 IT. Well more of the capabilities of the device. The processing power is lacking as was my P1 75mhz acer aspire :).
Win7 will have a version for netbooks. Your quote is now invalid.
I don't remember where I read this but I love to quote it: Whatever Intel's newest chip giveth Microsoft's newest OS taketh away :)