Computer Chess Club Archives


Search

Terms

Messages

Subject: Re: Is this worth a try for chess?

Author: David Mitchell

Date: 02:54:58 08/09/05

Go up one level in this thread


On August 08, 2005 at 02:19:48, Aloisio Ponti Lopes wrote:

>http://www6.tomshardware.com/cpu/20050525/pentium4-05.html
>
>Pentium-M in a desktop can be overclocked... well, it could run chess programs
>much faster...
>
>A. Ponti

Places like Tom's Hardware.com will tell you you can safely overclock a cpu -
and they're right. However, you can't just say after 30 minutes of testing, what
is the exact voltage/Ghrz, etc., for each component, that can be safely
sustained. So the o'clocked system is fine for an hour, a day, a week, but there
is a good chance that just in the middle of some deep analysis, it will hit a
glitch, and you'll be wondering * wtf * happened here?

And then it will be fine for another minute, or day, or week, or second. So
you're always on tenterhooks wondering when it will pull a glitchy, one more
time.

Many years ago, the increase to be gained from a well chosen o'clocked system
was significantly more than (percentage wise), you can ever o'clock, on todays
systems.

Where is Aaron Gordon when you need him for a subject? :)

I'd buy the right system, at the best price and performance you can get, and
leave the o'clocking to the rich video game phreaks. If they drop a frame or
miss a polygon being drawn on the display, no big deal. But you make one
dunderhead move in a chess game (especially against another computer), and
you're toast, mate.

I really like the Pentium M, it's a very capable chip, with less heat output.
Doesn't quite match up in performance with the top of the line dual core AMD64,
of course, but it does cost less, also.

Dave



This page took 0 seconds to execute

Last modified: Thu, 15 Apr 21 08:11:13 -0700

Current Computer Chess Club Forums at Talkchess. This site by Sean Mintz.