CPUs with bugs are nothing new, but I find it hard to believe they could release a CPU only to find out later that certain instructions completely fail.
Does this bug reveal itself only when the instructions are used in certain combinations or with particulare operations? That's forgivable. If the instructions all-out fail under all conditions, that's a case of improper testing.
KennyR: I can't say I blame them either: the heat of CPUs is fast reaching the point of the utterly ridiculous.
It's called supply and demand. People want fast chips and they're willing to put up with the heat. Give PPC a few years and you'll see the same thing. The G3 that went in the early PowerMac towers was pretty damn hot, too. It has a cooler the size of a large NIC card and a 120mm fan blowing right on it. The only reason people say that Mac doesn't have "active" cooling is because the fan isn't technically
attached to the heatsink. :-)
I'm glad Intel canned the Tejas. 150+ watts is insane.
Still, ALL chips are approaching this cooling barrier. People moan and groan about x86, but fail to realize that many graphics cards, and even some north/southbridge chips are running insanely hot. I replaced the teeny cooler on my Radeon 9800 pro when I felt the board and nearly burned my fingers. With a HUGE cooler on it (about the size of the whole card), it still runs around 30-40 degrees celcius, which is the same as my P4!
Funny to hear all the PPC fanatics herald the cool performance, then throw a Radeon in the case. :lol:
SHADES: Ewww. This is going to hurt IBM in sales and status. I hope they fix it.
Imagine if it was an Intel bug and not IBM. How many of us would be slamming the "I told u they were crap" line.
Yup. Nobody is perfect. Even NASA screws up.
KennyR: ...and all desktop CPUs are FAR too hot and noisy.
I dunno. My P4 is very quiet, and with the fan spinning at 60%, it never goes above 40 degrees no matter how much I torture it. Idle temp is 32.
Keep in mind that most CPU coolers assume your case is crap. If you get a good case with good airflow, you can throttle down the CPU fan a lot and still get decent cooling. If you run a CPU fan at stock RPM... well, no wonder you're complaining about noise!
I have a genuine 2.4Ghz, by the way. My dad has a 1.8 overclocked to 2.4, and it produces about the same heat and noise as mine.
1.8 GHz would do me fine
I work with el-cheapo computers all the time, and those with 3Ghz CPUs still feel like slugs if they have bad hard drives or cheap chipsets. If you get a good mobo and drive, even a 1.8 will perform well.
Just make sure your mobo has CPU fan speed control. It's the best way to cut noise.
