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Subject: Re: Do I have decent Hardware to run programs?

Author: Garry Evans

Date: 12:51:14 11/06/00

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On November 06, 2000 at 15:23:50, Roy Brunjes wrote:

>On November 06, 2000 at 14:57:05, Garry Evans wrote:
>
>>
>>
>>  Comparately speaking, Is an Athlon 550 decent hardware to run chess programs?
>
>This is kind of like asking "how long is a piece of string"?  Fast enough to do
>what?  Beat you 95 times out of 100?  That depends on how strong a player you
>are.  If you are not a titled player (NM, FM, IM, GM) then I would say Yes,
>providing you run a commercial program.  Even some freeware (Crafty comes to
>mind) will most likely thrash you on that hardware 95 out of 100 times (perhaps
>even more than 95% of the time).
>
>Or did you not want to play the computer but rather use it for other purposes
>such as Analysis of GM/IM games, playing your favorite program vs other programs
>on the Internet (or in your home if you have 2 PCs)? ... the list is rather
>varied.
>
>If you want to challenge other computers on the Internet, then speed is your
>biggest asset (and perhaps Gambit Tiger ;^)  There are folks out there running
>1.2 Ghz machines that will out perform your 550 MHz by a good bit.  Does that
>mean your program won't have a chance?  Not necessarily so.  If you were running
>on a Pentium at 90 MHz vs 1.2 Ghz, then I would say your program would suffer
>miserably vs such mammoth hardware.  But at 550 MHz you are likely to be at a
>2:1 disadvantage and that is worth somewhere between 30 and 75 ELO points
>depending on who's opinion you believe and what program you are running.
>
>I myself use a 500 MHz laptop to analyse GM games.  Is the analysis perfect?  Of
>course not, that is not possible today (if ever).  Does the program show me why
>move xyz is not as good as the move played by a GM?  Very often, yes, the answer
>is clearly displayed in under a minute (usually).  Sometimes, the program has
>*no clue* as to why your suggested alternative move is good (or not good) and
>then you shrug and make a note of it so you can later post here to ask the
>collection of very bright people that frequent this bulletin board.
>
>Have I answered your question?  Probably not!  Have I helped you at all?  I hope
>so,
>
>Roy


  Yes, my question was kind of vague, let me be more specific.   I am interested
in whatever I can expect grandmaster play on this hardware? Will the qality of
my analysis be decent?



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