I Smell A Wumpus!

My new computer is getting close to fully configured now. So I'm starting to see the effect of the extra 1000 marketing megahertz. What, you're not familiar with marketing megahertz? Well, they're closely related to MIPS, which used to be a common way to measure the speed of a processor. MIPS used to stand for Millions of Instructions Per Second, but then got redefined as Meaningless Indicator of Processor Speed. After MIPS died people seemed to become enamored of megahertz and then gigahertz, largely thanks to the efforts of Intel.

Unfortunately for consumers, megahertz (MHz) and gigahertz (GHz) are no more useful than MIPS for figuring out how fast a processor, or a system, will be. AMD decided to get off the treadmill by naming their processors with an equivalency number. So an AMD Athlon XP 2000+ was supposedly equivalent to an Intel Pentium 4 running at 2 GHz (2000 MHz). The AMD Athlon XP 2000+ itself ran at something like 1600 MHz.

Unfortunately for AMD, the game has changed again. It turns out that processor makers are now up against the wall on MHz/GHz and are having to do other things to make their processors and systems better. Since MHz and GHz are no longer the dominant differentiators, Intel has dropped them from processor names and AMD has been left with a marketing megahertz number on their processor that doesn't really help much in figuring out which Intel processor to compare it to.

But I digress (though, to be fair, isn't that the point of a blog?). Anyway, my old system had an AMD Athlon XP 2000+ running at 1600 MHz or so while my new system has an AMD Athlon 64 3000+ running at 1800 MHz or so. It's only about 200 MHz faster in some oscillator, but it's a whole thousand more in marketing MHz!

Of course, the interesting question is, is it any faster? Well, I dunno. Downloads of stuff are still limited by my 1.5 Mbps DSL line. Uploads are even more limited by the 384 Kbps limit of my ADSL connection (why does no one call it ADSL anymore?).

OOH, ooh! I could try some games! Okay, I fired up adventure. I'm still clueless. How about wumpus? Wumpus still gets me every time except for the times I fall into a bottomless pit. Screw the games. Business apps? Darn, doesn't seem to echo my keystrokes any faster in OpenOffice.org than it did before. I know, personal communications! Crap! AIM (actually, gaim) doesn't seem any faster. Still limited by my typing, network, AOL's servers, and the attentiveness and typing skills of the people I converse with.

So what was the point of this upgrade? Well, for one thing, the old system was breaking somewhere in the memory interface and was locking up far too frequently. Running Linux, I'd gotten used to not dealing with the BSODs and lockups that still plague my wife's computer. And second, I couldn't stand the thought of spending a couple hundred dollars and not getting something that was, at least theoretically, faster. And this one is, theoretically, faster. By 1000 marketing megahertz.

I was right! Phew!

I'd been having problems with (computer) system stability and finally decided that it was something besides memory, even though memtest86+ showed lots of errors. My suspicions were raised when I put the memory in my wife's computer and memtest86+ thought it was fine there. Unfortunately, my wife's computer also ran the memory with very conservative timings which, in addition to reducing memory performance by at least 1/3rd, may have also allowed the memory to work without error. I'm not willing to run my system crippled in that fashion, so I gambled that the memory actually was okay and ordered a new processor and motherboard.

They arrived on Tuesday and I finally had the time to install them on Friday. The first stick of memory, the newest, showed one error at a single address, but only about once every three passes or so. Running at full speed. This same stick had shown hundreds of errors every pass at a wide range of addresses, when run in my old system.

The second stick tested perfect at full speed over 14 hours (many passes through memtest86+'s test suite). Likewise the third, and oldest, stick.

So my gamble was right! There was something wrong with my old cpu or motherboard. I just wish I knew which it was. If I could find an AMD Athlon XP processor slow enough, and cheap enough, I'd like to give it a try. Unfortunately, cheap enough would have to be pretty dog-gone cheap to justify the effort because the problem could be the northbridge chip on the motherboard, and that requires a new motherboard.

Anyway, the new processor and motherboard are doing fine. I'm compiling Linux right now (writing this on the kids' computer) and am looking forward to a newly stable system.

Oh, and I have to get that memory stick replaced. It has a lifetime warranty and the manufacturer has a reputation for honoring it.

Why not $10?

Or at least $7.60?

I'm talking minimum wage. The Senate just rejected a proposal by Ted "Another Round" Kennedy to raise the minimum wage from $5.15 per hour to $6.25. Kennedy said that it was unacceptable that a single mother with two children working full time for the minimum wage was still $4,500 below the poverty line. Well, $6.25 would leave her $2,700 below — is that acceptable? Why didn't Kennedy propose raising the minimum wage to $7.60 per hour? At least that would put the hypothetical worker at the poverty level.

But the bigger question is, why should someone working full time have an income at the poverty level? Shouldn't someone with a full time job earn enough money to not be living in poverty?

I know we can get into all kinds of stereotypes about what poor people have, or expect to have. Like big screen home theater setups, new cars with $4000 custom wheels, pack-a-day cigarette and 6-pack-a-day beer habits. But if you think about the cost of a decent apartment (where gun shots aren't routinely heard at night), utilities, food from a grocery store, a car bought used (2 years old) and kept for 8 years, clothes, etc.; could you live on $15,200 per year? Even without a cell phone, cable TV, etc.? I don't think I could.

I think the minimum wage should be $10. At least.

But I'd have to be willing to give up the $1 menu at Wendy's. And prices might have to go up at a few other places. Maybe I'd eat at home a bit more, and I'd probably be healthier for it.

I recall that Henry Ford paid his workers the unheard of wage of $5 per day, thinking that he needed workers who could afford to buy his own product. Those wages surely increased the costs of his cars (compared to what they would cost if he paid less). And it is credited with increasing wages of other factory workers. I'm sure some prices went up as a result. But it didn't cause a massive layoff of workers and didn't throw the economy into a tailspin.

I say it's time to do it again.

Jesus and Java, Part II

Almost a year ago I wrote about Jesus and Java, admitting my confusion between coffee and a computer programming language and wondering how either related to Jesus.

But I just saw an article in USA Today about Starbucks' plan to put a religious quote on their coffee cups.

The quote, from the author of The Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren, is part of a larger campaign, called The Way I See It, that includes quotes from writers, scientists, musicians, athletes, politicians, and cultural critics. So no, Starbucks isn't coming out of the closet, so to speak, and joining companies like Chick-fil-A as openly religious.

But it will be interesting to watch the commentary from those who are offended by the quote and from those who defend it.

One Man's Trash

"One man's trash is another man's treasure." That is the fervent hope of everyone who hosts a garage sale, and probably also of those who frequent them.

I should disclose up front that I am not a garage sale person. I have only been to a couple of garage sales, and have not been tempted to buy anything in them. Every person I've spoken to who has hosted a garage sale talks of the thefts that occur, and of the people who will haggle over a 10 cent item.

I am not a haggler, and I am not so proud of my trash as to think that other people should be delighted to have it.

Nevertheless, I succumbed to my wife, as all happily married men learn to do, and agreed to let her have a garage sale. But she had to do all the work. I moved a few heavy pieces and stood around during the sale pointing out who they had to haggle with.

My in-laws brought some stuff over, as did a neighbor. Some of it sold, some didn't. We made a little money, but I won't be quitting my day job.

One thing that was really annoying was the sign ordinance here in Plano. Basically, you can't have them. At least not in the public right of way, which extends at least 10 feet from the curb and includes everything up to and including any privacy wall or neighborhood entrance stuff. So we had one puny sign in a neighbor's yard near a minorly major road. The setback requirements made it hidden from view until you were too close to read the address before you were past it. And we didn't dare to violate the ordinance because the city has been cracking down on it in recent months (minimum fine: $500).

So we had virtually no drive-by traffic. If you didn't see our puny ad in the newspaper ($150 for three words) then you didn't show up. And you didn't. Maybe our next garage sale, in 2012, will be more successful.

This is Progress

I placed my order today. New CPU and motherboard. I reported earlier that I thought my CPU was going bad. I had several memory modules which were showing errors under memtest86+ when placed in my system but not when placed in my wife's system. According to the memtest86+ docs such problems could be caused by problems with the L1/L2 cache (on the CPU) or the memory controller (on the CPU for some CPUs, separate for others).

One way to do further diagnosis would be to try another CPU in the same motherboard. If the problems exist with the new CPU then try another motherboard but with the original CPU. The power supply (P/S or PSU depending on your religion) could also be a culprit. Of course, I don't have spare components hanging around and don't know anyone who does. So trying components means buying components. That can cost money, if they can even be found.

I went looking for a new CPU and discovered that they are not generally available. I'm talking AMD Athlon XP in the low 2000+ range (Socket A). Oh, I found a few — for shockingly high prices (supply & demand, I suppose). I wasn't willing to spend that kind of moola for a relatively old, slow chip. I even checked to see if my mobo maker (Soyo) offered a newer BIOS that would support faster chips in the Athlon XP line. They didn't. :-(

So I felt compelled to go for a new CPU/motherboard combo. For religious reasons I want an AMD Athlon 64 CPU. Don't ask why — it's a matter of faith which simply cannot be challenged or discussed rationally. ;-)

The problem I faced next is that the DIY computer biz caters to a community of geeks who have to have the latest, greatest, sexiest thing out there. The result is that anything older (i.e. over 1 year old) becomes very hard to find. And in the past year or so we have a new graphics bus (PCI Express x16, replacing AGP), new chipsets (e.g. nForce4 replacing nForce3, K8T890 replacing K8T800), new memory (DDR2 replacing DDR), new disk drive interface (SATA replacing PATA), and a new power supply connector (24-pin replacing 20-pin).

Yep, I have an AGP graphics card, DDR memory, ATA disks, and a 20-pin connector on my ATX PSU. And I want to reuse them all to save money. So I go looking for motherboards using chipsets which support my stuff, and motherboards using them.

Yeah, you're right again. Both nForce4 and K8T890 chipsets (the newer ones), don't support AGP graphics. And motherboards using them don't support 20-pin ATX power connectors. On the bright side, AMD still uses DDR memory and all motherboards still have a couple of PATA (IDE) connectors. Causing consternation, however, is that while they loudly brag about booting off SATA disks, they fail to mention booting from PATA disks (surely they wouldn't drop that capability — they still boot from floppy, after all).

I found several interesting motherboards that fit my needs, but when I went to find e-tailers who carried them I kept coming up empty-handed. Case in point, the DFI LanParty UT nF3 Ultra-D. The manufacturer's website labels it as NEW, but no one sells it anymore (it's actually old).

I finally ended up choosing an MSI K8N Neo2-F motherboard with an AMD Athlon 64 3000+ processor. Should arrive next week. Then I'll put it together and test my memory (again).

Wilma!

As of today, we have only one name left for naming Atlantic storms: Wilma. What happens if we have Wilma and then more storms? According to an article that Gebo will probably link to in a comment, Once we've run out of the 21 names on the list (hurricane names don't start with Q, U, X, Y, or Z) we start using the names of the letters of the Greek alphabet (Alpha, Beta, etc.).

Since the himmicane season lasts until the end of November there is a very real risk that we'll have a hurricane named Beta (the wonder dog?).

But I have a better idea, inspired by the last name on this year's list: name them after Flintstones characters! Oh, and weather reporters on the news should be required to yell the names in Flintstone style. (Unless anyone can remember a Flintstones Character starting with 'A', we'll just go straight to Bam-Bam!)

This is progress?

I've been having some stability problems with my computer lately, and I've come to the conclusion that the CPU is going bad. The real problem, however, is that I cannot be certain. The symptom is occasional lockups of random processes. Memtest86+ shows a boatload of errors, but with the caveat that the problem could lie in my cpu's cache.

I put the memory into my wife's computer and ran Memtest86+ there and the memory tests just fine, but the bandwidth reported is much less (about a third less) than on my system, leading me to believe that her computer isn't running the memory at its supposedly rated speed. I'm not overclocking my system, or even manually setting the memory timings — I let the system read the SPD from the DIMMs and do its thing. But I guess my wife's el-cheapo Compaq intentionally cripples performance to help differentiate systems by price point.

So the basic theory is that if memory tests good in one system and bad in another then you probably have a bad cpu (cache). Or a bad motherboard. Or a bad P/S.

So where to start? And how much will I end up spending? My memory bandwidth discovery (crippled performance in the low price computer) makes me leery of just buying a cheap computer. If I'm going to spend money — a few hundred $mackeroo$ — then I want to end up with a faster system, not just a newer one.

Sadly, my mobo is just old enough that I can't seem to get new processors, or even refurbished processors, for it. That means a new mobo/cpu combination, and probably a new cooler as well. But I have to be careful, or I'll need new memory (e.g. DDR2), disk drives (SATA), video card (PCIe), and P/S (ATX2) at the same time. I don't have that many coins in the old change jar.

Sigh. This is turning into a big research project that I really wasn't ready for.