Sunday, November 30, 2014

My stuff part 1 - computers

My inner laziness makes it difficult to fulfil the first announced challenge - to update blog regulary.

This post will be dedicated to computers that I own and used.

Arachic ages

Long, long time ago... when I was a little boy my parents bought us a computer. My uncle, who, at that time was doing some programming, helped us choose one. I barely remember any specification details, but it was 486DX (I still remember that I knew that name when when somebody asked me about our computer :) ). Dunno bout ram, disk space, etc. but what I know is that it run M$ DOS operating system and Norton Commander software (blue screen with two parts - one on the left and on the right). It even had some games, the only one that I can recall is Warcraft II. Also there was some kind of text processor, but I've never used it (only my dad, that is how I saw it).

This image represents my memories about computers at that time.

Based on Wikipedia, the 486DX processor was introduced in 1989, but Warcraft II was released in 1995, which means we were really delayed in Poland :)

The next computer was something like Pentium II or was it MMX (this name rings a bell!). More than the details about it I remember games that I played, but it is a topic for another post. To quickly sum up this period - Windows 3.11, Windows 98, Red Alert, Tyrian, KKND, Age of Empires, Dark Colony, Dark Reign. Then probably Baldurs Gate, uhh... Fast forward to the year 2005, when I was going to study in Poznan. That is when things starts to be interesting.

My first computer

First few weeks of studies I didn't have a computer (probably unimaginable nowadays, but I'm not complaining, it was great time) and do all my programming assignments at home on weekends. I was also choosing the parts for my first own computer. As I didn't know about PurePC site and their recommendations of computer sets and was not familiar with other tech sites (AnandTech or Tom's Hardware) I probably chose components based on hunch (I don't remember!). I spent all of my saved money for following dream machine:

Processor: Athlone 64 3200+ s.939 Venice
Main board: Gigabyte GA-K8NF-9 nForce4-4X s.939
RAM: DDRAM 512MB 3200 PC400 KingMax
Hard drive: WD WD1600JS 160GB sATA II
Graphics: Sapphire X550 128MB 128bit PCI-E
Case: Midi ATX Tracer TRO-252 Duke 4Life 400

It was paired with Creative speakers (SBS240), Hyundai 15' CRT monitor and some noname mouse and keyboard (I run out of money:) Despite some suboptimal elements I was really proud of it and called it DeepBlue. This name come from the computer made by IBM, that was the first to win a chess match with reigning world master (Gary Kasparov). More info - wiki.

It served me really well and as with every desktop computer I was able to upgrade it gradually. First I bought another 512 MB of RAM and then another 1GB. After that I upgraded the graphic card (it was awful) to PowerColor Radeon x1950Pro 512MB because I wanted to play the first Witcher.

"Notebooks are coming" and duality era

At some point of my studies I realised that mobility is important and with my desktop there was no such thing as mobility (I made one trip with it, alongside 15' CRT monitor and it was... I think funny, cause seeing two guys moving computer in a borrowed shopping trolley and panting has to be funny). I decided to buy a small laptop to use it when I'm out (sumo robot competitions, studies, home, etc.) and I choose used Dell X300 from a friend. Some specifications (detailed can be found here):

Processor: Mobile Intel Pentium M Low Voltage 1200 MHz
RAM: 128 MB + 1024 MB = 1152 MB
Hard drive: 40GB
Graphics: integrated Intel 855GM
Weight: 1,32 kg
Others: 12'' 1024x768 screen, docking station with CD/DVD, additional ports and a battery inside



This one was know as DeepBlue-Dell. It was marvellous piece of engineering. That weight at that times. Also 4:3 screen!!! The biggest problem was lack of synchronization software back then (2008) or my ignorance to find one that works well. All in all the notebook was great but using two computers was problematic. Also playing games on the laptop was difficult (only really old titles) and the desktop was also ageing. So I decided to switch and sold both (2010).

One to rule them all

As the title suggest - I was sick of working on two different computers and decided to go for one, powerful (for games), mobile (I moved a lot back then), with high resolution (working with programming tools) notebook. I searched a lot, read a ton and was knowing all the new devices that were coming to the market. I was even familiar with most popular mobile graphic cards scores from 3dmark. After prolonged search I decided - Sony Vaio CW2. Unfortunately it was not available in Poland so I had to ask a friend, who was in UK to buy it. DeepBlue-Vaio specs:

Processor: Intel Core i5-520M 2.4 GHz
RAM: 4096 MB
Hard drive: 320 GB
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M
Weight: 2,27 kg
Others: 14'' 1600x900 screen, WHITE!!!



I used it for a year and a half and switch to other because I get a new one from my employer. FYI the Vaio is still doing well as my wife's notebook.

Monstrosity

Processing power (programming, synthesis and implementation for FPGAs), durability, high resolution, possibilities of upgrade and docking station (for multi monitor setup) were requirements for a new notebook. With my friend (he got the same machine) we chose HP Elitebook 8650w. Specs:

Processor: Intel Core i5-2540M 2.6 GHz
RAM: 8192 MB
Hard drive: 500 GB (7200 rpm)
Graphics: AMD FirePro M5950
Weight: 3,28 kg (!!!)
Others: 15'' 1920x1080 screen, cool metal case with even cooler led-lighted HP logo, docking station



I'm still using it. It's called DeepBlue-HP and was gradually upgraded (up to: 16 GB of ram, 256 GB SSD + 1T 5200 rmp disk). Despite short battery life and high weight it's hell of a machine. The craftsmanship is top-notch, the touchpad is huge and it's a pleasure to use it. I was able to upgrade it a lot (additional disk in place of a dvd) and docking station is pricey but really useful. Great machine when you want one computer for all duties (it's packing a lot of processing and graphic muscles). Also I used it different, sometimes harsh environments and it work like a charm (while programming the rotomoulding machine and in engine test-stand hall).

Back to the roots

As you may guess, after so many years I came full circle. I'm still using a notebook for work, but in home, even now, while writing this post I'm using desktop computer. And what a great machine it is! So much has changed - desktops are much more power efficient, hence almost inaudible. The synchronization programs, cloud became popular and really easy to use. We are living in interesting times, the computation devices are smaller and smaller, can last longer and longer on battery and are so much easier to use and the best thing is that even better things are waiting for us!

Getting back to the subject - DeepBlue-D1 specs:

Processor: Intel Core i5-4570
Main board: Gigabyte GA-B85M-D3H
RAM: 16 GB
Hard drive: 256GB SSD + 1TB HDD
Graphics: Gigabyte HD 7870 OC WF3
Case: Zalman Z9

It's freaking fast!

Comparision:

As this post is much longer than I originally planed, the comparison will be short - evolution of computers shown by increase in processing power (Passmark benchmark):

  • DeepBlue-Desktop (AMD Athlone 64 3200+): 496
  • DeepBlue-Dell (Intel Pentium M 1,2 GHz): 307
  • DeepBlue-Vaio (Intel Core i5-520M): 2394
  • DeepBlue-HP (Intel Core i5-2540M): 3703
  • DeepBlue-D1 (Intel Core i5-4570): 7072
Similar for graphic performance (Passmark benchmark):
  • DeepBlue-Desktop (Radeon X550): 47
  • DeepBlue-Desktop (Radeon x1950Pro): 109
  • DeepBlue-Dell (Intel 855GM): 3 (I took Intel 865 score as there was no 855) 
  • DeepBlue-Vaio (Geforce 330M): 369
  • DeepBlue-HP (AMD FirePro 5950): n/a
  • DeepBlue-D1 (Radeon 7870): 4260
Looking at this scores makes me wonder how the hell we were able to work with such bad computers. The other thing is - how the hell programs still hangs and sometime takes few seconds to respond? Any ideas?



Sunday, November 16, 2014

Proper first post - it's time to start DOING THINGS!

Last post was just a test to see the blog layout and available customizations. Now it's time for some serious STUFF.

Blog origins

Long, long time ago I had a blog. It was called "Amin's world" and it was about electronics, programming, my studies and computer stuff. You can still find it in Internet archives:


It was a great period back then.

New beginning

For some time now (really long period) I was bugged by the idea of starting over. I always thought about things to write, I even have a list of topics to cover in my evernote! Unfortunately innate laziness has prevented me from doing it. It's always easier to just watch or read something on the Internet. Consuming content is easy to do, interesting, but also time consuming. The thing is I want to give something to the Internet and the world (yea, it sound pathetic ;) I would like to create content and share it (if there is anybody interested). Also as time is passing so freaking fast I would like to leave a mark, a place where information about me and important for me are stored and preserved for future generations ;) In all seriousness I just want my own place in the Internet. Unluckily the desire is not enough, you have to start doing  or even start trying. That's why this blog name is "Amin can!". Amin is my nickname and this blog is a proof that if you want to achieve something you can, you just have to start doing and stop wasting your time. This is first step in my journey to achieve my goals. This is part of my first challenge - create a blog and keep it up (with regular updates) for a year. This day, the 16th of November 2014 is the starting point and a chronicle of my failures and successes in future challenges.

A lot of things has changed since my first steps in blogging. I found new passions, some have shifted in different directions. I'm so eager to write, don't now where to start. I've some many plans, including:

  • second big challenge (will be revealed this week),
  • articles about my new interest - cars,
  • collecting, linking and summing up all the informations about myself, which are scattered around the web.

All in all it gonna be a blast. And remeber: You can do it!

TL; DR

This blog will present my long-term goals and document my progress. First challenge - creation and regular updating of a blog is started and on its way!



Friday, November 14, 2014

Hello world!

First post!

With an image (of my very own C++ program written in brand new Visual Studio 2013 Community Edition)! Woohoo!



And a link - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%22Hello,_world!%22_program. So OP!