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Subject: Re: How much longer will the SSDF continue to use the K62-450?

Author: Torstein Hall

Date: 15:36:20 11/30/00

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On November 30, 2000 at 17:45:55, Dann Corbit wrote:

>On November 30, 2000 at 17:33:17, Laurence Chen wrote:
>
>>On November 30, 2000 at 16:03:02, Garry Evans wrote:
>>
>>>
>>>  Looks like already the k62-450 is hopelessly outdated, isn't it time for the
>>>ssdf to upgrade?  I assume that most people have atleast a 700mhz computer these
>>>days. Or am I mistaken?
>>They would if they could afford, unless anyone can make hardware donation to the
>>SSDF.
>
>Actually, using the older hardware is much smarter than using new hardware.  You
>would have to completely recalibrate all the programs, taking tens of thousands
>of hours to get an accurate figure.
>
>Besides, it is quite likely that the programs scale approximately linearly with
>hardware speed compared to each other, but that's another experiment.
>
>Consider:
>You have a magic opponent who has played literally millions of games.  His ELO
>is known within 1/2 of a point.  You have a steady stable of these opponents,
>all with the same rock-solid calibration.
>
>You have another list of opponents you can use.  They might be able to beat
>Kasparov, but they might be 300 ELO below him.  They are probably stronger than
>the first group, but you can't really even be sure of that.  You really don't
>know all that well.
>
>Which pool of talent will you use to find out how strong a new engine is?  If
>you are smart, or know anything about mathematics, you will use the first pool.
>
>For those who would like to use high speed hardware to calibrate chess programs
>-- have at it.  There is nothing to stop you from doing so except, perhaps, the
>tens of thousands of hours of efforts between the start time and the time you
>have good, reliable numbers.

If you start with a new program, you can just as well play it on new hardware.
Just let it play games against known programs on old hardware. You will get a
reliable rating for the new combination of software and hardware, as you got
with a new program running on old hardware!

Torstein



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