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All AMD ThreadRipper CPU's will have 64 PCIe Lanes

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Re: All AMD ThreadRipper CPU's will have 64 PCIe Lanes

#101

Post by balls187 »

adrianN wrote: post #87
redial wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't the main problem with ARM the lack of a standard hardware architecture that supports of-the-shelf pc components? Every motherboard has it's own size, it's own closed bios supporting only some kinds of memory (if at all, due to on die memory of most soc), which is fine for embedded use but leaves a lot to be desired if you try to use it as a "desktop pc" replacement.

PCs were very dissimilar until the IBM PC ate everybody else. Maybe something similar can happen to ARM.

> Maybe something similar can happen to ARM.

During the era where desktop PCs are becoming anachronistic?

Re: All AMD ThreadRipper CPU's will have 64 PCIe Lanes

#103

Post by zanny »

thedjinn wrote: post #28
nicktelford wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I doubt we'll be seeing desktop ARM systems any time soon, especially high end workstation or enthusiast systems. The problem is that the ARM64 architecture is completely different from x86-64, which almost every desktop application is compiled for exclusively . Remember when Microsoft launched an ARM Surface? It had a special version of Windows, and almost nothing would run on it, as very few applications are compil…

I wonder if it's possible to use some kind of translator, like Apple did with Rosetta to run PowerPC code on x86. This is of course not interesting for the Surface but it might be a nice solution for a desktop transition to ARM.

Its not really the actual limit. Nobody is writing architecture-specific code anymore. Being able to binary translate x86 won't change the fact that the program you are trying to run is trying to invoke a thousand libraries for a proprietary OS that will never open up or otherwise become portable, that is also compiled against a system call interface specific to only that proprietary non-standard OS.

If Windows on ARM allowed generic binaries, almost everything in the Windows ecosystem would be on ARM. For Windows.

Re: All AMD ThreadRipper CPU's will have 64 PCIe Lanes

#104

Post by adrianN »

balls187 wrote: post #101
adrianN wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

PCs were very dissimilar until the IBM PC ate everybody else. Maybe something similar can happen to ARM.

> Maybe something similar can happen to ARM. During the era where desktop PCs are becoming anachronistic?

Last time I checked all the employees at boring companies still use desktop PCs (or IBM compatible laptops).

Re: All AMD ThreadRipper CPU's will have 64 PCIe Lanes

#105

Post by zanny »

redtuesday wrote: post #56
Quequau wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some years ago I read a moderately well fleshed out proposal to create a European semiconductor consortium as a sort of an Airbus for CPUs. My recollection is that, while it was somewhat flawed, it was an idea with significant merit.

They should do the same for software companies that produce software for the governments, with the requirement to open source the software.

This is coming from an area where Microsoft has a vicegrip on all government software to the tune of 99% of the market, and then runs smear campaigns and tries to bribe politicians in that last 1% to adopt them.

Most politicians are technologically illiterate and when the people they know are those with the most money to get closest its going to be big corporate interests that get their ear.

Re: All AMD ThreadRipper CPU's will have 64 PCIe Lanes

#106

Post by beagle3 »

nicktelford wrote: post #14
xbmcuser wrote: post #6

I was of the opinion that Intel will only face real competition when arm reaches parity with desktop class cpu. Nice to see AMD rise back up again. Hope Intel is not able to strong arm the oems like last time when AMD had design wins but Intel using anti competitive practice stalled its growth till it was able to catch-up and later go ahead.

I doubt we'll be seeing desktop ARM systems any time soon, especially high end workstation or enthusiast systems. The problem is that the ARM64 architecture is completely different from x86-64, which almost every desktop application is compiled for exclusively . Remember when Microsoft launched an ARM Surface? It had a special version of Windows, and almost nothing would run on it, as very few applications are compil…

That's why an ARM64 Windows desktop is unlikely (unless microsofts x86 emulator is magical). But ARM64 chrome books or android books are practical; I have 5 year old ARM 32 chrome book and it is still useful for browsing and emailing.

Re: All AMD ThreadRipper CPU's will have 64 PCIe Lanes

#107

Post by beagle3 »

adrianN wrote: post #87
redial wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't the main problem with ARM the lack of a standard hardware architecture that supports of-the-shelf pc components? Every motherboard has it's own size, it's own closed bios supporting only some kinds of memory (if at all, due to on die memory of most soc), which is fine for embedded use but leaves a lot to be desired if you try to use it as a "desktop pc" replacement.

PCs were very dissimilar until the IBM PC ate everybody else. Maybe something similar can happen to ARM.

PCs usually refers to IBM PC compatible systems. Which PCs are you referring to?

Re: All AMD ThreadRipper CPU's will have 64 PCIe Lanes

#108

Post by drewg123 »

hishnash wrote: post #69
steveadoo wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do games actually load any faster? I went from a Samsung SSD(I think the 850 pro) to an Intel nvme ssd, and load times in games didn't seem much faster. I definitely notice it when booting up VS though.

Gamers might the most vocal high-end PC users out there but they are not the people with the most money. The threadripper is not targeted at gamers. It is targeted at people who make money from using their machines, these people can, therefore, afford to upgrade. Consider a user who does video work. (most modern films and tv is filmed in 8k know) if this is in Raw format as it comes off the camera for a 90 min episod…

I do a lot of compiles of a codebase which is pretty big (Netflix version of FreeBSD). A full recompile takes me ~1 hr on my box (Xeon E5-2630 v3, 8 cores, 16 threads, 32GB DDR4). Most of this is a parallel make that is 100% CPU bound. So I'm probably going to update to thread ripper when it comes out. Doubling my core count should come close to halving my compile times.

I probably will do storage via a ZFS array of small-ish SSDs or NVME drives. I started with a ZFS array of spinning drives when I built this machine ~2 years ago, with an SSD for L2 ARC. I was occasionally IO bound, so I moved most of the build stuff onto its own SSD. That's probably enough, but I want redundancy (without spinning drives to back up to), and I suck at cabling, so I'm leaning towards just using NVME drives in PCIe slots in order to avoid the cables.

Re: All AMD ThreadRipper CPU's will have 64 PCIe Lanes

#109

Post by renesd »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #100
xbmcuser wrote: post #6

I was of the opinion that Intel will only face real competition when arm reaches parity with desktop class cpu. Nice to see AMD rise back up again. Hope Intel is not able to strong arm the oems like last time when AMD had design wins but Intel using anti competitive practice stalled its growth till it was able to catch-up and later go ahead.

As with most things the devil is in the details. In particular the ARM I/O and memory bus infrastructure has not had as long to develop as PC systems have. The trick to understanding that is to look at the history of the personal computer and the demands placed on the CPU and supporting chipset that evolved with the changing demands of the platform over time. The ARM systems evolved from 'system on chip' or SoC desig…

The owner of ARM is now using it in the fastest computer in the world, with perhaps the fastest interconnect and memory IO subsystem to match.
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