Which Processor is powering your PC? [2011]

I just bought a BeagleBoard with a Texas Instruments OMAP3 processor. It's a lot of fun.

It's about 10 cm by 10 cm of circuit board filled with components. The tiny processor sits in the middle, with the memory mounted on top of it.

But the main thing you notice are the connectors, which line all of the edges. I have attached all kinds of wires to the thing -- an HDMI to DVI-D monitor cable, USB cables to mouse and keyboard, Internet cable, and power supply.

I can surf the Internet with it, but it's slow as molasses. But it should be fine for its intended purpose -- running a car.

I've heard a good comparison between computer time and human time. A fast computer can access a memory location in 10 nanoseconds. We can access a memory cell in about 10 milliseconds. That's a million times difference -- the difference between one day and 30 centuries.

That computer time scale will make a big difference. Not that a human driver will be replaced. But that a computer can run the resources of the car to satisfy the driver's resources.

Forty years ago there were no personal computers. I wonder if forty years from now there will still be. Or whether computers will just be a part of products, with no identifiable central processing units.

That will be interesting.

 

I also joined the "Click first, read later group ".
The following are computers I use, built, and or maintain for household .....
Desktop - e8400 Core 2 Duo Intel - Home build - Will be 3 years old next month. My main box.
Desktop - 620 x4 AMD -Home build- Daughter - 2 years old this summer.
Desktop - 620 x4 AMD -Home build- Wife's - 2 years old this summer. This was going to be my WHS computer, but her puter died.
Netbook - Atom N270 Intel - 10" - Mine for work.
Notebook - QL-62 AMD x2 Dual Core - 16" - Wife's for roaming the house.
Notebook - V140 AMD - 16" - Daughters for college.















'

 

Had to purchase a new laptop. Now using Intel Core i5.