POV-Ray : Newsgroups : povray.off-topic : The chart Server Time
14 Oct 2026 22:21:18 EDT (-0400)
  The chart (Message 1 to 44 of 44)  
From: Invisible
Subject: The chart
Date: 21 Feb 2008 09:20:51
Message: <47bd88c3@news.povray.org>
Now these points of data make a beautiful... uh... wait a sec...

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*


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From: scott
Subject: Re: The chart
Date: 21 Feb 2008 09:51:22
Message: <47bd8fea$1@news.povray.org>
> Now these points of data make a beautiful... uh... wait a sec...

Dude, I'd go for that 175 quid Intel that gets 2700 passmarks or whatever 
;-)  Which one is that btw?


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From: Invisible
Subject: Re: The chart
Date: 21 Feb 2008 10:02:51
Message: <47bd929b$1@news.povray.org>
scott wrote:
>> Now these points of data make a beautiful... uh... wait a sec...
> 
> Dude, I'd go for that 175 quid Intel that gets 2700 passmarks or 
> whatever ;-)  Which one is that btw?

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600, £164.99 retail-boxed (inclusive of VAT). Prices 
from ebuyer.com for in-stock CPUs. I just did the ones they had on their 
front page. (But only the retail-boxed, no OEMs.)

And yeah - I think possibly I need to add a few more data points here 
before any meaningful conclusions can be drawn.

[What I was *expecting* to see was one curve for Intel, and another one 
way to the right for AMD. But that doesn't appear to be the case...]

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*


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From: Invisible
Subject: Re: The chart
Date: 21 Feb 2008 11:49:03
Message: <47bdab7f$1@news.povray.org>
Hmm. PassMark scores from one website, price information from another... 
Is there any way I could automate the data gathering and graphing 
process? :-D

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*


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From: Gail Shaw
Subject: Re: The chart
Date: 21 Feb 2008 13:06:37
Message: <47bdbdad@news.povray.org>
"Invisible" <voi### [at] devnull> wrote in message
news:47bd929b$1@news.povray.org...

> [What I was *expecting* to see was one curve for Intel, and another one
> way to the right for AMD. But that doesn't appear to be the case...]

AMD's stuff isn't as good as it used to be. From what I've heard, they're
having some issues with their quad cores.
My next CPU will be an intel, for the first time since the P3.


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From: Orchid XP v7
Subject: Re: The chart
Date: 21 Feb 2008 14:27:04
Message: <47bdd088@news.povray.org>
Gail Shaw wrote:

> AMD's stuff isn't as good as it used to be. From what I've heard, they're
> having some issues with their quad cores.
> My next CPU will be an intel, for the first time since the P3.

What I heard is this:

1. AMD currently don't have anything that can match the speed of Intel.

2. In order to prevent certain financial demise, AMD are *slashing* the 
prices of all their products.

3. As a result, many AMD chips are extremely cheap while not actually 
being all that slow - in other words, you get a lot for your money.

I was expecting to see one price/performance curve for Intel, and 
another one further to the right for AMD (but not going up as high).

However, if anything, the data I have indicates that in 
price/performance terms, they're both roughly equal at the moment...

I've also been hearing negative things about their 4-core Phenom chips. 
Apparently they were meant to be AMD's reply to Intel, but when the 
benchmarks were done, it was found that actually AMD is still lagging 
miles behind (despite optimistic marketing by AMD). I also hear there 
are QC issues with Phenom that they're still trying to sort out. Hmm.

If I had the money, I'd probably go with Intel too. But AMD is 
undeniably cheaper right now. For £100 or so, I could buy a chip that 
blows my current CPU away. And my current CPU was purchased for £250!

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*


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From: Gail Shaw
Subject: Re: The chart
Date: 21 Feb 2008 14:38:08
Message: <47bdd320@news.povray.org>
"Orchid XP v7" <voi### [at] devnull> wrote in message
news:47bdd088@news.povray.org...
> If I had the money, I'd probably go with Intel too. But AMD is
> undeniably cheaper right now. For £100 or so, I could buy a chip that
> blows my current CPU away. And my current CPU was purchased for £250!

Sure it's cheaper, but you could end up needing to upgrade sooner.

I got a fairly nice bonus this year, so I'm buying high-end. Going for the
Intel quad 2.66. Retails here for about R4500


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From: Orchid XP v7
Subject: Re: The chart
Date: 21 Feb 2008 14:58:13
Message: <47bdd7d5$1@news.povray.org>
Gail Shaw wrote:

>> If I had the money, I'd probably go with Intel too. But AMD is
>> undeniably cheaper right now. For £100 or so, I could buy a chip that
>> blows my current CPU away. And my current CPU was purchased for £250!
> 
> Sure it's cheaper, but you could end up needing to upgrade sooner.

Well, when I think about upgrades, I think "is this faster than what I 
have now?" If it's "lots" faster, it's worth it [depending on price, 
obviously]. If it isn't, don't bother...

> I got a fairly nice bonus this year, so I'm buying high-end. Going for the
> Intel quad 2.66. Retails here for about R4500

Nice.

I've vaugely debating a Mac of some kind. [Which will obviously contain 
some kind of Intel chip.] But who knows?

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*


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From: Invisible
Subject: Re: The chart
Date: 22 Feb 2008 08:24:14
Message: <47beccfe@news.povray.org>
Invisible wrote:
> Hmm. PassMark scores from one website, price information from another... 
> Is there any way I could automate the data gathering and graphing 
> process? :-D

Well, I've thrown something together that allows me to copy & paste a 
lump of HTML from

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/

and gives me a nice clean CSV file. Now, what to do about the price list...

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*


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From: Invisible
Subject: New chart
Date: 22 Feb 2008 09:17:18
Message: <47bed96e@news.povray.org>
As you can see, there is *definitely* something in it...

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*


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From: Invisible
Subject: Re: New chart
Date: 22 Feb 2008 09:32:42
Message: <47bedd0a$1@news.povray.org>
OK, so as you probably worked out, green = good, pink = bad. 
(Unbelievably, Excel appears to lack the ability to draw light red.)

The three points on the right of the chart are all Intel Core 2 
[Extreme] Quad CPUs. That amonolous-looking middle point might actually 
be incorrect. [It's the PassMark rating for an "Intel Core2 Extreme 
Q6800 @ 2.98 GHz" together with the ebuyer price for an "Intel Core 2 
Extreme Quad QX68002.98 GHz". I'm not 100% sure those are the same product.]

That particularly interesting-looking point at 2,701 is an Intel Core 2 
Quad Q6600 at £164.99, which looks to be just about the best damn value 
on the whole chart. (The next CPU is over twice the price yet only 15% 
faster...)

The two points between 2,000 and 2,500 are both AMD Phenom quad-core 
CPUs. (The Phenom 9600 and Phenom 9500, respectively.) The 9500 appears 
to be especially good value.

Alternatively, that point at 1,751 appears to be especially *bad* value. 
That's the Intel Core2 E6850 @ 3.00 GHz, costing £167.00 yet only 
delivering 83% of the speed of the Phenom 9500 (which is £37 cheaper).

That other interesting point at almost exactly 1,500 is an Intel Core 2 
Duo E6750 @ 2.66 GHz, costing only £116.99 yet faster than several other 
processors of roughly the same price. (Notably the AMD Athlon64 X2 6400+ 
costs £109.98 yet supplies only 1,316 PassMarks.)

And once you get below £100, it all becomes a bit too bunched up to 
analyse. Suffice it to say that at these prices, tiny price hikes yield 
big speedups. I didn't bother cateloging anything below £50 (= 1,000 
PassMarks).

Not the twin exponential curves I was expecting. But then, there's still 
only about 2-dozen data points here. It turns out ebuyer don't really 
have that big a range of CPUs on offer. (E.g., I have a huge stack of 
PassMark scores for CPUs that I can't find a price for. They simply 
aren't on sale at ebuyer!)

PS. I think the dot at the top of the 1,000 line might be in error too. 
The PassMark score is for an "Intel Core2 6320 @ 1.86 GHz", but the 
price is for an "Intel Core 2 Duo E6320 @ 1.86 GHz"...

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*


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From: Phil Cook
Subject: Re: New chart
Date: 22 Feb 2008 10:36:24
Message: <op.t6xmvlayc3xi7v@news.povray.org>
And lo on Fri, 22 Feb 2008 14:32:41 -0000, Invisible <voi### [at] devnull> did
  

spake, saying:

> OK, so as you probably worked out, green = good, pink = bad.  

> (Unbelievably, Excel appears to lack the ability to draw light red.)

I thought light red was pink?

> The three points on the right of the chart are all Intel Core 2  

> [Extreme] Quad CPUs. That amonolous-looking middle point might actuall
y  

> be incorrect. [It's the PassMark rating for an "Intel Core2 Extreme  

> Q6800 @ 2.98 GHz" together with the ebuyer price for an "Intel Core 2 
 

> Extreme Quad QX68002.98 GHz". I'm not 100% sure those are the same  

> product.]

Either that one or the 4000+ passmark looks anomalous. What does the  

trendline look like?

-- 

Phil Cook

--
I once tried to be apathetic, but I just couldn't be bothered
http://flipc.blogspot.com


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From: Invisible
Subject: Re: New chart
Date: 22 Feb 2008 10:40:04
Message: <47beecd4$1@news.povray.org>
Phil Cook wrote:
> And lo on Fri, 22 Feb 2008 14:32:41 -0000, Invisible <voi### [at] devnull> did 
> spake, saying:
> 
>> OK, so as you probably worked out, green = good, pink = bad. 
>> (Unbelievably, Excel appears to lack the ability to draw light red.)
> 
> I thought light red was pink?

I used to think that too. Now I realise that "pink" is actually light 
purple. (I.e., it's like light red, but with more blue in it...)

>> The three points on the right of the chart are all Intel Core 2 
>> [Extreme] Quad CPUs. That amonolous-looking middle point might 
>> actually be incorrect. [It's the PassMark rating for an "Intel Core2 
>> Extreme Q6800 @ 2.98 GHz" together with the ebuyer price for an "Intel 
>> Core 2 Extreme Quad QX68002.98 GHz". I'm not 100% sure those are the 
>> same product.]
> 
> Either that one or the 4000+ passmark looks anomalous.

Intel Core2 Extreme X9650 @ 3.00 GHz, PassMark 4,284, £629.72.

Either the QX6800 is really over-priced, or the X9650 is really cheap...

> What does the trendline look like?

Uh... good luck with that. ;-)

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*


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From: Phil Cook
Subject: Re: New chart
Date: 22 Feb 2008 10:48:05
Message: <op.t6xnewooc3xi7v@news.povray.org>
And lo on Fri, 22 Feb 2008 15:40:03 -0000, Invisible <voi### [at] devnull> did  
spake, saying:

> Phil Cook wrote:
>> And lo on Fri, 22 Feb 2008 14:32:41 -0000, Invisible <voi### [at] devnull>  
>> did spake, saying:
>>
>>> OK, so as you probably worked out, green = good, pink = bad.  
>>> (Unbelievably, Excel appears to lack the ability to draw light red.)
>>  I thought light red was pink?
>
> I used to think that too. Now I realise that "pink" is actually light  
> purple. (I.e., it's like light red, but with more blue in it...)

No that would be the colour known as 'light purple' pink is red with equal  
amounts of blue and green, purple is blue with more red then green. At  
least that's how I bloody well mix it.

>>> The three points on the right of the chart are all Intel Core 2  
>>> [Extreme] Quad CPUs. That amonolous-looking middle point might  
>>> actually be incorrect. [It's the PassMark rating for an "Intel Core2  
>>> Extreme Q6800 @ 2.98 GHz" together with the ebuyer price for an "Intel  
>>> Core 2 Extreme Quad QX68002.98 GHz". I'm not 100% sure those are the  
>>> same product.]
>>  Either that one or the 4000+ passmark looks anomalous.
>
> Intel Core2 Extreme X9650 @ 3.00 GHz, PassMark 4,284, £629.72.
>
> Either the QX6800 is really over-priced, or the X9650 is really cheap...
>
>> What does the trendline look like?
>
> Uh... good luck with that. ;-)

You're using Excel. Pick the points, right-click and add a trendline, with  
that data try an exponentional or moving average.

-- 
Phil Cook

--
I once tried to be apathetic, but I just couldn't be bothered
http://flipc.blogspot.com


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From: Chambers
Subject: Re: The chart
Date: 24 Feb 2008 14:16:28
Message: <47c1c28c$1@news.povray.org>
Gail Shaw wrote:
> "Invisible" <voi### [at] devnull> wrote in message
> news:47bd929b$1@news.povray.org...
> 
>> [What I was *expecting* to see was one curve for Intel, and another one
>> way to the right for AMD. But that doesn't appear to be the case...]
> 
> AMD's stuff isn't as good as it used to be. From what I've heard, they're
> having some issues with their quad cores.
> My next CPU will be an intel, for the first time since the P3.

My current CPU is an Intel (the E6600, in fact), the first time since my 
486!

-- 
...Ben Chambers
www.pacificwebguy.com


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From: scott
Subject: Re: New chart
Date: 26 Feb 2008 06:55:01
Message: <47c3fe15$1@news.povray.org>
> OK, so as you probably worked out, green = good, pink = bad.

But that's a bit misleading, because processors with the same 
performance/price ratio will come out with different colours.  Try drawing 
on some lines of constant price/performance - it makes the chart more 
interesting...


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From: Invisible
Subject: Re: New chart
Date: 26 Feb 2008 07:25:22
Message: <47c40532@news.povray.org>
scott wrote:
>> OK, so as you probably worked out, green = good, pink = bad.
> 
> But that's a bit misleading, because processors with the same 
> performance/price ratio will come out with different colours.  Try 
> drawing on some lines of constant price/performance - it makes the chart 
> more interesting...

I can't immediately think of a way of convincing M$ Excel to do that... 
It's not the most advanced plotting package ever.

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*


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From: scott
Subject: Re: New chart
Date: 26 Feb 2008 08:42:12
Message: <47c41734$1@news.povray.org>
>> But that's a bit misleading, because processors with the same 
>> performance/price ratio will come out with different colours.  Try 
>> drawing on some lines of constant price/performance - it makes the chart 
>> more interesting...
>
> I can't immediately think of a way of convincing M$ Excel to do that... 
> It's not the most advanced plotting package ever.

Just create some more series data to add to the plot, with xy values that 
start at the origin and then go to some point far away to the upper right. 
Then change the style for these series so that it draws the connecting lines 
rather than just the data points.  Job done :-)


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From: Phil Cook
Subject: Re: New chart -29KB
Date: 26 Feb 2008 10:18:10
Message: <op.t640mh0oc3xi7v@news.povray.org>
And lo on Tue, 26 Feb 2008 12:25:21 -0000, Invisible <voi### [at] devnull> did
  

spake, saying:

> scott wrote:
>>> OK, so as you probably worked out, green = good, pink = bad.
>>  But that's a bit misleading, because processors with the same  

>> performance/price ratio will come out with different colours.  Try  

>> drawing on some lines of constant price/performance - it makes the  

>> chart more interesting...
>
> I can't immediately think of a way of convincing M$ Excel to do that..
.  

> It's not the most advanced plotting package ever.

It's more advanced then most people think. I've just knocked up a three 
 

column sheet with price, mark, and mark/price and created a Line on 2 Ax
es  

chart plotting performance against price and m/p.

-- 

Phil Cook

--
I once tried to be apathetic, but I just couldn't be bothered
http://flipc.blogspot.com


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From: scott
Subject: Re: New chart
Date: 26 Feb 2008 10:41:09
Message: <47c43315@news.povray.org>
> Just create some more series data to add to the plot, with xy values that 
> start at the origin and then go to some point far away to the upper right. 
> Then change the style for these series so that it draws the connecting 
> lines rather than just the data points.  Job done :-)

Seeing as we're all into posting graphs today... what I meant was something 
like this:


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From: Orchid XP v7
Subject: Re: New chart
Date: 26 Feb 2008 13:13:11
Message: <47c456b7$1@news.povray.org>
scott wrote:

> Seeing as we're all into posting graphs today... what I meant was 
> something like this:

Wow - that's 31337!

Even the text is anti-aliased... How did you DO that??

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*


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From: scott
Subject: Re: New chart
Date: 27 Feb 2008 03:02:46
Message: <47c51926@news.povray.org>
>> Seeing as we're all into posting graphs today... what I meant was 
>> something like this:
>
> Wow - that's 31337!
>
> Even the text is anti-aliased... How did you DO that??

Ermm, copy and paste your graph into powerpoint, add some lines and text 
boxes, then took a screen shot, cropped it and saved it as a png...


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From: Invisible
Subject: Re: New chart
Date: 27 Feb 2008 04:19:08
Message: <47c52b0c@news.povray.org>
scott wrote:
>>> Seeing as we're all into posting graphs today... what I meant was 
>>> something like this:
>>
>> Wow - that's 31337!
>>
>> Even the text is anti-aliased... How did you DO that??
> 
> Ermm, copy and paste your graph into powerpoint, add some lines and text 
> boxes, then took a screen shot, cropped it and saved it as a png...

PowerPoint, eh? I didn't know that could do rotated text... [Altough 
I'll admit I haven't actually tried that before.]

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*


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From: Phil Cook
Subject: Re: New chart -21KB
Date: 27 Feb 2008 11:11:09
Message: <op.t66xptkuc3xi7v@news.povray.org>
And lo on Tue, 26 Feb 2008 15:41:30 -0000, scott <sco### [at] laptopcom> did  
spake, saying:

>> Just create some more series data to add to the plot, with xy values  
>> that
>> start at the origin and then go to some point far away to the upper  
>> right.
>> Then change the style for these series so that it draws the connecting
>> lines rather than just the data points.  Job done :-)
>
> Seeing as we're all into posting graphs today... what I meant was  
> something
> like this:

Meh I prefered mine :-P

Here, this is a stock Excel chart template with data from a catalogue on  
my desk featuring some USB stick prices; should be self-explanatory.

-- 
Phil Cook

--
I once tried to be apathetic, but I just couldn't be bothered
http://flipc.blogspot.com


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From: Invisible
Subject: Re: New chart -21KB
Date: 27 Feb 2008 11:20:26
Message: <47c58dca$1@news.povray.org>
Phil Cook wrote:

> Here, this is a stock Excel chart template with data from a catalogue on 
> my desk featuring some USB stick prices; should be self-explanatory.

Yeah - if you included the capacity unit. Always include the units! :-P

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*


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From: Phil Cook
Subject: Re: New chart -21KB
Date: 27 Feb 2008 11:34:14
Message: <op.t66yyke4c3xi7v@news.povray.org>
And lo on Wed, 27 Feb 2008 16:20:26 -0000, Invisible <voi### [at] devnull> did  
spake, saying:

> Phil Cook wrote:
>
>> Here, this is a stock Excel chart template with data from a catalogue  
>> on my desk featuring some USB stick prices; should be self-explanatory.
>
> Yeah - if you included the capacity unit. Always include the units! :-P

Are you going to buy a 32Mb USB Stick for >£100 'cos you know if you are  
I'm sure we can come to some arrangment :-)

-- 
Phil Cook

--
I once tried to be apathetic, but I just couldn't be bothered
http://flipc.blogspot.com


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From: Invisible
Subject: Re: New chart -21KB
Date: 27 Feb 2008 11:47:44
Message: <47c59430$1@news.povray.org>
>> Yeah - if you included the capacity unit. Always include the units! :-P
> 
> Are you going to buy a 32Mb USB Stick for >£100 'cos you know if you are 
> I'm sure we can come to some arrangment :-)

Only from PC World. *rimshot*

(Seriously though. They did charge me £90 for 128 MB. And then a few 
days later I saw 256 MB on sale for £20 at Maplin. GAH!)

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*


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From: Phil Cook
Subject: Re: New chart -21KB
Date: 27 Feb 2008 12:00:29
Message: <op.t66z44csc3xi7v@news.povray.org>
And lo on Wed, 27 Feb 2008 16:47:44 -0000, Invisible <voi### [at] devnull> did  
spake, saying:

>>> Yeah - if you included the capacity unit. Always include the units! :-P
>>  Are you going to buy a 32Mb USB Stick for >£100 'cos you know if you  
>> are I'm sure we can come to some arrangment :-)
>
> Only from PC World. *rimshot*

Hey I can overcharge you just as much as they can you know, that's what  
friends are for.

> (Seriously though. They did charge me £90 for 128 MB. And then a few  
> days later I saw 256 MB on sale for £20 at Maplin. GAH!)

Heh we've recently had a Maplin open not far along from PC World, I bet  
they were sooo happy.

-- 
Phil Cook

--
I once tried to be apathetic, but I just couldn't be bothered
http://flipc.blogspot.com


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From: Orchid XP v7
Subject: Re: New chart -21KB
Date: 27 Feb 2008 13:12:40
Message: <47c5a818$1@news.povray.org>
>> (Seriously though. They did charge me £90 for 128 MB. And then a few 
>> days later I saw 256 MB on sale for £20 at Maplin. GAH!)
> 
> Heh we've recently had a Maplin open not far along from PC World, I bet 
> they were sooo happy.

Maplin aren't the cheapest of the cheap, but

1. They're not all that expensive.

2. Their stuff actually know what the hell they're talking about.

3. You can take stuff back. And they don't argue with you.

PC World fails epically on all three counts...

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*


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From: scott
Subject: Re: New chart -21KB
Date: 28 Feb 2008 03:00:22
Message: <47c66a16@news.povray.org>
> 2. Their stuff actually know what the hell they're talking about.

I found that in Maplin there are two sorts of employee.  One is the 
old-and-wise fat guy with a beard who knows everything about everything, the 
other is the spotty teenager who they probably got in just because the fat 
guy doesn't know anything about that annoying DJ stuff over in the corner, 
but who doesn't know anything about any other electronics.


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From: Invisible
Subject: Re: New chart -21KB
Date: 28 Feb 2008 04:16:00
Message: <47c67bd0$1@news.povray.org>
scott wrote:

> I found that in Maplin there are two sorts of employee.  One is the 
> old-and-wise fat guy with a beard who knows everything about everything, 
> the other is the spotty teenager who they probably got in just because 
> the fat guy doesn't know anything about that annoying DJ stuff over in 
> the corner, but who doesn't know anything about any other electronics.

Interesting... I've generally found that they *all* know stuff about 
stuff. (And all of them seem to be early 20s or so.) They all know what 
a 20 Ohm resistor is, and they all know the difference between a CD and 
a DVD, and they all know whether that microphone in the corner needs a 
preamp or not.

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*


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From: scott
Subject: Re: New chart -21KB
Date: 28 Feb 2008 05:18:40
Message: <47c68a80@news.povray.org>
> Interesting... I've generally found that they *all* know stuff about 
> stuff. (And all of them seem to be early 20s or so.) They all know what a 
> 20 Ohm resistor is, and they all know the difference between a CD and a 
> DVD, and they all know whether that microphone in the corner needs a 
> preamp or not.

Guess there's just a shortage of knowledgable young people who want to work 
in Maplins around Southampton ;-)


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From: Bill Pragnell
Subject: Re: New chart -21KB
Date: 28 Feb 2008 06:32:04
Message: <47c69bb4$1@news.povray.org>
scott wrote:
>> Interesting... I've generally found that they *all* know stuff about 
>> stuff. (And all of them seem to be early 20s or so.) They all know 
>> what a 20 Ohm resistor is, and they all know the difference between a 
>> CD and a DVD, and they all know whether that microphone in the corner 
>> needs a preamp or not.
> 
> Guess there's just a shortage of knowledgable young people who want to 
> work in Maplins around Southampton ;-)

OTOH, if you're the sort of person who knows when he wants a 20 ohm 
resistor you probably won't need any help locating it in Maplin.

It's nice being able to buy that sort of stuff in a high street shop 
though. Sometimes you don't want a brand new 20 quid scart lead, just 
the connector at one end because you bent the pin or whatever.


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From: scott
Subject: Re: New chart -21KB
Date: 28 Feb 2008 06:37:35
Message: <47c69cff$1@news.povray.org>
> OTOH, if you're the sort of person who knows when he wants a 20 ohm 
> resistor you probably won't need any help locating it in Maplin.

Yeh, I used to love Maplins.  I could just show up and buy an IC, a few 
resistors and capacitors and go home and make something.  Or get that right 
combination of plugs and sockets to make a custom cable for whatever I might 
have been up to at the time.

> It's nice being able to buy that sort of stuff in a high street shop 
> though. Sometimes you don't want a brand new 20 quid scart lead, just the 
> connector at one end because you bent the pin or whatever.

OTOH, I remember trying to solder on to a 15-pin VGA plug, and I kept 
melting the plastic housing that held the pins in place, in the end I Just 
went and bought a 20 quid cable and chopped it in half to get a "ready 
soldered" plug ;-)


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From: Invisible
Subject: Re: New chart -21KB
Date: 28 Feb 2008 06:57:15
Message: <47c6a19b$1@news.povray.org>
scott wrote:
>> OTOH, if you're the sort of person who knows when he wants a 20 ohm 
>> resistor you probably won't need any help locating it in Maplin.
> 
> Yeh, I used to love Maplins.  I could just show up and buy an IC, a few 
> resistors and capacitors and go home and make something.  Or get that 
> right combination of plugs and sockets to make a custom cable for 
> whatever I might have been up to at the time.

I have a bucket of 7400s and some breadboard somewhere... ooo, and lots 
of LEDs and a batery pack. Damn, where did I put them?

Of course, if KLogic would ****ing work properly, I wouldn't need that 
lot. :-P

>> It's nice being able to buy that sort of stuff in a high street shop 
>> though. Sometimes you don't want a brand new 20 quid scart lead, just 
>> the connector at one end because you bent the pin or whatever.
> 
> OTOH, I remember trying to solder on to a 15-pin VGA plug, and I kept 
> melting the plastic housing that held the pins in place, in the end I 
> Just went and bought a 20 quid cable and chopped it in half to get a 
> "ready soldered" plug ;-)

It's surprising how much you can be charged for cables. Like, when I was 
in PC World, they want £50 for a 1 meter USB cable.

Yes, that's correct, a normal USB cable, £50. Maplin will charge you 
about £5.

Oh, sure, the PC World one says "Belkin" on it. But come on, is it made 
of *Gold* or something?! It's a *wire* with a plug at each end FFS!

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*


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From: Bill Pragnell
Subject: Re: New chart -21KB
Date: 28 Feb 2008 06:59:05
Message: <47c6a209$1@news.povray.org>
scott wrote:
> OTOH, I remember trying to solder on to a 15-pin VGA plug, and I kept 
> melting the plastic housing that held the pins in place, in the end I 
> Just went and bought a 20 quid cable and chopped it in half to get a 
> "ready soldered" plug ;-)

Haha, what were you soldering with, a steam iron? :-D It's true though, 
so many components that used to be serviceable are now machine-built and 
  sealed in plastic.


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From: Stephen
Subject: Re: New chart -21KB
Date: 28 Feb 2008 07:30:51
Message: <ebads3l5ot3odh8qmkr9lrqr0tg74ecshu@4ax.com>
On Thu, 28 Feb 2008 11:57:14 +0000, Invisible <voi### [at] devnull> wrote:

>
>Yes, that's correct, a normal USB cable, £50. Maplin will charge you 
>about £5.

If you are making something with components bought from Maplin's or RS you need
to be aware that the tolerances might be very low. Many years ago when I worked
for Motorola we had three levels of specifications. The highest one was Military
spec which had the tightest tolerances then there was within spec, sold to the
industry followed by functionally working which was sold to hobby shops like
Maplin and RS. The latter could not be relied on in any critical circuits.

Regards
	Stephen


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From: scott
Subject: Re: New chart -21KB
Date: 28 Feb 2008 07:33:14
Message: <47c6aa0a@news.povray.org>
>> OTOH, I remember trying to solder on to a 15-pin VGA plug, and I kept 
>> melting the plastic housing that held the pins in place, in the end I 
>> Just went and bought a 20 quid cable and chopped it in half to get a 
>> "ready soldered" plug ;-)
>
> Haha, what were you soldering with, a steam iron? :-D

Hehe no, it was just after soldering a row or two the next pin I touched 
with the iron caused it to bend round to the side because the plastic it was 
touching had partially melted.  Probably just a cheap plug.


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From: Invisible
Subject: Re: New chart -21KB
Date: 28 Feb 2008 07:43:32
Message: <47c6ac74$1@news.povray.org>
>> Yes, that's correct, a normal USB cable, £50. Maplin will charge you 
>> about £5.
> 
> If you are making something with components bought from Maplin's or RS you need
> to be aware that the tolerances might be very low.

No no - Maplin will sell you a *finished* USB cable for £5. Just like 
the one from PC World. (But without the "Belkin" sticker.)

I haven't seen *any* shop that will sell you USB plugs on their own - I 
suspect it would be hell to attempt to solder them...

> Many years ago when I worked
> for Motorola we had three levels of specifications. The highest one was Military
> spec which had the tightest tolerances then there was within spec, sold to the
> industry followed by functionally working which was sold to hobby shops like
> Maplin and RS. The latter could not be relied on in any critical circuits.

Yeah, probably...

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*


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From: Bill Pragnell
Subject: Re: New chart -21KB
Date: 28 Feb 2008 08:10:45
Message: <47c6b2d5$1@news.povray.org>
scott wrote:
>>> OTOH, I remember trying to solder on to a 15-pin VGA plug, and I kept 
>>> melting the plastic housing that held the pins in place, in the end I 
>>> Just went and bought a 20 quid cable and chopped it in half to get a 
>>> "ready soldered" plug ;-)
>>
>> Haha, what were you soldering with, a steam iron? :-D
> 
> Hehe no, it was just after soldering a row or two the next pin I touched 
> with the iron caused it to bend round to the side because the plastic it 
> was touching had partially melted.  Probably just a cheap plug.

I find you often have to let the whole thing cool between pins, because 
they conduct a surprising quantity of heat to the surrounding mount. 
Especially if, like me, you spend 15 minutes and 15 inches of solder on 
each pin :D


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From: Nicolas Alvarez
Subject: Re: New chart -21KB
Date: 28 Feb 2008 08:12:30
Message: <47c6b33e$1@news.povray.org>
Bill Pragnell escribió:
> I find you often have to let the whole thing cool between pins, because 
> they conduct a surprising quantity of heat to the surrounding mount. 

Yeah, solder one, plug it on a chunk of ice, solder another.
Should work :)


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From: Chambers
Subject: Re: New chart -21KB
Date: 2 Mar 2008 17:32:21
Message: <47cb2af5@news.povray.org>
Invisible wrote:
> Oh, sure, the PC World one says "Belkin" on it. But come on, is it made 
> of *Gold* or something?! It's a *wire* with a plug at each end FFS!

Gold is a very desirable material for cables :)

-- 
...Ben Chambers
www.pacificwebguy.com


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From: Jim Henderson
Subject: Re: New chart -21KB
Date: 2 Mar 2008 21:22:58
Message: <47cb6102$1@news.povray.org>
On Sun, 02 Mar 2008 14:32:17 -0800, Chambers wrote:

> Invisible wrote:
>> Oh, sure, the PC World one says "Belkin" on it. But come on, is it made
>> of *Gold* or something?! It's a *wire* with a plug at each end FFS!
> 
> Gold is a very desirable material for cables :)

Well, at least for the connectors.  I don't think even my Monster brand 
audio/video cables have gold conductors.

But I could be wrong - I'm not really willing to cut them open to have a 
look, given how much they cost. ;-)

Jim


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From: scott
Subject: Re: The chart
Date: 20 Mar 2008 05:42:24
Message: <47e23f90$1@news.povray.org>
> Now these points of data make a beautiful... uh... wait a sec...

BTW, do you know if the Intel Core2Duo E8500 on your chart?


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