PC finally given up the ghost

[Doodski]

In addition, computers haven't gotten much faster in the past 10 years. More parallel, yep. Marginal speed improvements, sure. More RAM and storage too. But performance improvement is nothing like it was in the 90s and 00s when progress was so fast you needed to get a new computer every 2 years.

erm... lol.. Most of us have gone through 1or even 2 PCs in the recent 10 years. The processors are up to 5GHz+ with Intel and a ~dozen or more cores.

 

[MRC01]

erm... lol.. Most of us have gone through 1or even 2 PCs in the recent 10 years. The processors are up to 5GHz+ with Intel and a ~dozen or more cores.

Yeah, running Windows can get expensive. It forces you to upgrade more often.

 

[Blumlein 88]

Today the GPU, next week the RAM, next month the HDD, then the power supply..

That's my opinion.

 

[Doodski]

Yeah, running Windows can get expensive. It forces you to upgrade more often.

I second that...lol.. I put out a few grand in past year building a gaming box. It's a joy to use and gets rebooted when updates come and it just works.

 

[Blumlein 88]

Yeah, running Windows can get expensive. It forces you to upgrade more often.

I run Linux myself, but eventually even that is slower enough to notice.

 

[voodooless]

erm... lol.. Most of us have gone through 1or even 2 PCs in the recent 10 years. The processors are up to 5GHz+ with Intel and a ~dozen or more cores.

Totally agree. I’ve been upgrading MacBooks every 3 to 5 years, and every time the upgrade was very significant.

In these 15 years, CPUs have become roughly 10x as fast, disks have become orders of magnitude faster. Graphics as well.

 

[DavidEdwinAston]

Thanks for your continuing comments guys. I don't understand the DVI comments, sorry.
My understanding of VGA only comes because the enclosed picture shows how the current connection is being made between telly and computer

 

[MRC01]

It looks like you aren't even using the graphics card. You're using the VGA output from the motherboard.

 

[voodooless]

It looks like you aren't even using the graphics card. You're using the VGA output from the motherboard.

So the question is: was this always the case, or is this only done because the GPU was removed?

 

[MRC01]

If all you need is VGA, and this works, you're done. You can discard that old dead graphics card.

 

[DavidEdwinAston]

So the question is: was this always the case, or is this only done because the GPU was removed?

Yes, it was plugged into the GPU until that failed.

 

[MRC01]

OK so you're done then - everything working? Great!

 

[MRC01]

... it is like asking if a 1936 Ford is fine instead of moving to something newer.

BTW, funny that you mention 1936. A good friend of mine has a 1936 Buick with the straight-8 engine. Beautiful car, restored & maintained in working order. Not in showroom condition, but good daily driver condition. A very nice ride, fun hobby, and piece of history.

 

[Peterinvan]

Forgive me guys, it is simply that. Twelve years old Dell Inspiron. I've taken the side off and peered in. Fans running, six repeating beeps and that's it. Don't know where the beeps are coming from, no speakers attached.
I don't mind having a fiddle, if anything comes to mind?

I sent my 11 year old iMac 27 to recycling after the video card blew up for the third time. I am a Windows user so I bought an all in one from Dell. I miss the 4 KHz screen, but am happy with the performance of the Dell. Runs quiet and cool.

 

[delfuego]

3-5 years and replace (5-7yrs for servers). Stay under warranty and replace on schedule (not failure).

The failure rate of computer is 100% over time

 

[MRC01]

... The failure rate of computer is 100% over time

This is true of all works from human hands. "... all we do, crumbles to the ground though we refuse to see ... all they are is dust in the wind."

 

[Blumlein 88]

BTW, funny that you mention 1936. A good friend of mine has a 1936 Buick with the straight-8 engine. Beautiful car, restored & maintained in working order. Not in showroom condition, but good daily driver condition. A very nice ride, fun hobby, and piece of history.

That was my father's hobby. So I've ridden and driven both of those and more. I prefer the sound of a straight 8 to any other engine. Though in the Buick they are pretty quiet.

 

[DavidEdwinAston]

OK so you're done then - everything working? Great!

Haven't attempted to play any video content yet, or see if I can access my email. But it's certainly fine till I can buy something else.

 

[DavidEdwinAston]

I sent my 11 year old iMac 27 to recycling after the video card blew up for the third time. I am a Windows user so I bought an all in one from Dell. I miss the 4 KHz screen, but am happy with the performance of the Dell. Runs quiet and cool.

That looks a nice machine Peter. Is that 1800 Canadian dollars?

 

[MRC01]

Haven't attempted to play any video content yet, or see if I can access my email. But it's certainly fine till I can buy something else.

The built-in motherboard video will be slower than the card it had. You're not gaming, but you are watching video, so you may or may not notice it. Typically, VGA is limited to low resolutions so it's not that demanding.

The important thing with these old machines, especially ones running Windows, is to ensure that it hasn't gotten polluted with bloat-ware that kills performance. Windows by default doesn't clean up after itself, slowly filling the disk with old update files and other useless crap. And many programs pile on a bazillion processes in the startup folder that hog RAM and CPU even when you're not using them. Cleaning this up isn't difficult, but it can be tedious. Though it can yield significant performance improvements.