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It is worth it to buy the fast CPU

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Re: It is worth it to buy the fast CPU

#281

Post by bfgeek »

userbinator wrote: post #46

I wish developers, and I'm saying this as one myself, were forced to work on a much slower machine, to flush out those who can't write efficient code. Software bloat has already gotten worse by at least an order of magnitude in the past decade.

My biggest pet peeve is designers using high end apple displays.

You've average consumer is using a ultra cheap LCD panel that has no where near the contrast ratio that you are designing your mocks on, all of your subtle tints get saturated out.

This is similar to good audio engineers back in the day wiring up a dirt cheap car speaker to mix albums.

Re: It is worth it to buy the fast CPU

#282

Post by WalterBright »

avidiax wrote: post #10

Employers, even the rich FANG types, are quite penny-wise and pound-foolish when it comes to developer hardware. Limiting the number and size of monitors. Putting speedbumps (like assessments or doctor's notes) on ergo accessories. Requiring special approval for powerful hardware. Requiring special approval for travel, and setting hotel and airfare caps that haven't been adjusted for inflation. To be fair, I know ple…

With compiler development work, a low end machine will do just fine, as long as it has a LARGE monitor. (Mine is 3840x2160, and I bought a satellite monitor to extend it.)

P.S. you can buy a satellite monitor often for $10 from the thrift store. The one I bought was $10.

I don't buy used keyboards because they are dirty and impossible to clean.

Re: It is worth it to buy the fast CPU

#283

Post by the__alchemist »

ak217 wrote: post #267
the__alchemist wrote: post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anecdote: I got a massive performance (FPS) improvement in games after upgrading CPU recently, with no GPU change. I think currently, that build guide doesn't apply based on what's going on with GPUs. Was valid in the past, and will be valid in the future, I hope!

How old was your previous CPU? Different people have vastly different expectations when it comes to upgrading. I'm certain I can play all of the games that I'm interested in on my 3 year old Ryzen 7600x, and that I'm limited by the 5 year old GPU (which I dread upgrading because of the crunch). Would someone with a 5 year old CPU be well served by upgrading to a 9600x, absolutely. But some people think they have to u…

I think it was a Radeon 3600x, state of the art 6-7 years ago. Replaced with 9950x. I was surprised by how big of a difference the CPU update had on frame rates. (GPU: 4080)

I also do a lot of rust compiling (Which you hinted at), and molecular dynamics sims leveraging a mix of CUDA/GPU, and thread pools + SIMD.

Re: It is worth it to buy the fast CPU

#284

Post by jrockway »

userbinator wrote: post #46

I wish developers, and I'm saying this as one myself, were forced to work on a much slower machine, to flush out those who can't write efficient code. Software bloat has already gotten worse by at least an order of magnitude in the past decade.

Contrarian here. I wish all product managers were forced to work on a much slower machine, so that "make this shit fast" becomes the highest priority issue in the backlog.

Nobody is writing slow code specifically to screw over users with old devices. They're doing it because it's the easiest way to get through their backlog of Other Things. As an example, it is a priority for a lot of competitive games, and they perform really well on everything from the latest 5090 to a pretty-old laptop integrated graphics GPU. It's done not because they only hired rockstar performance experts, but because it was a product priority.

Re: It is worth it to buy the fast CPU

#285

Post by madog »

lukan wrote: post #221
Aurornis wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every well funded startup I’ve worked for went through a period where employees could get nearly anything they asked for: New computers, more monitors, special chairs, standing desks, SaaS software, DoorDash when working late. If engineers said they needed it, they got it. Then some period of time later they start looking at spending in detail and can’t believe how much is being spent by the 25% or so who abuse the p…

"$1,000 chairs" Not an expert here, but from what I heard, that would be a bargain for a good office chair. And having a good chair or not - you literally feel the difference.

For sure. $1000 Herman Miller Aeron has been worth every penny considering the time spent sat on it.

Re: It is worth it to buy the fast CPU

#286

Post by ak217 »

the__alchemist wrote: post #283
ak217 wrote: post #267

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How old was your previous CPU? Different people have vastly different expectations when it comes to upgrading. I'm certain I can play all of the games that I'm interested in on my 3 year old Ryzen 7600x, and that I'm limited by the 5 year old GPU (which I dread upgrading because of the crunch). Would someone with a 5 year old CPU be well served by upgrading to a 9600x, absolutely. But some people think they have to u…

I think it was a Radeon 3600x, state of the art 6-7 years ago. Replaced with 9950x. I was surprised by how big of a difference the CPU update had on frame rates. (GPU: 4080) I also do a lot of rust compiling (Which you hinted at), and molecular dynamics sims leveraging a mix of CUDA/GPU, and thread pools + SIMD.

Makes sense, yeah, a 3600x is far behind the curve now.

Edit: Took a look at AMD's lineup and realized they did something I got conditioned not to expect: they've maintained AM5 socket compatibility for 3 generations in a row. This makes me far more likely to upgrade the CPU!

https://www.amd.com/en/products/processors/chipsets/am5.html

> all AMD Socket AM5 motherboards are compatible with all AMD Socket AM5 processors

I love this. Intel was known to change the socket every year or two basically purely out of spite, or some awful marketing strategy. So many wasted motherboards.

Re: It is worth it to buy the fast CPU

#287

Post by WalterBright »

lukan wrote: post #221
Aurornis wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every well funded startup I’ve worked for went through a period where employees could get nearly anything they asked for: New computers, more monitors, special chairs, standing desks, SaaS software, DoorDash when working late. If engineers said they needed it, they got it. Then some period of time later they start looking at spending in detail and can’t believe how much is being spent by the 25% or so who abuse the p…

"$1,000 chairs" Not an expert here, but from what I heard, that would be a bargain for a good office chair. And having a good chair or not - you literally feel the difference.

I've been using the same $25 chair I bought 45 years ago. I've always thought the "ergonomic chair" was a scam.

Re: It is worth it to buy the fast CPU

#288

Post by engineer_22 »

necovek wrote: post #228
Aurornis wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every well funded startup I’ve worked for went through a period where employees could get nearly anything they asked for: New computers, more monitors, special chairs, standing desks, SaaS software, DoorDash when working late. If engineers said they needed it, they got it. Then some period of time later they start looking at spending in detail and can’t believe how much is being spent by the 25% or so who abuse the p…

If $20k is misspent by 1 in 100 employees, that's still $200 per employee per year: peanuts, really. Just like with "policing", I'd only focus on uncovering and dealing with abusers after the fact, not on everyone — giving most people "benefits" that instead makes them feel valued.

The effect on morale shouldn't be ignored tho either

Re: It is worth it to buy the fast CPU

#289

Post by alt227 »

sokoloff wrote: post #261
alt227 wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Like you say, it's not really a gray area. It's a feature not a bug. Luckily that comes down to the policy of the individual company and is not enforced by law. I am personally happy to pay engineers more so they can buy this sort of thing themselves and we dont open the company to this sort of abuse. Then its a known cost and the engineers can decide from themselves if they want to spend that $30 on a meal or some…

To give them enough money to buy that $30 meal as a personal expense, you need to pay them around $50 in marginal comp expenses. It can be a win for both sides for the employees to work an extra 30-90 minutes and have some team bonding and to feel like they’re getting a good deal. (Source: I did this for years at a place that comp’d dinner if you worked more than 8 hours AND past 6 PM; we’d usually get more than half…

I have found that the success of things like this depend greatly on so many factors such as office type, location, team moral, management style, individual personalities, even mean age etc.

I have worked in places where the exact opposite of what you describe happens. As OP says, people just stop working at 6 and just start reading reddit or scrolling their phones. No team bonding and chat because everyone is wiped out from a hard day. Just people hanging around, grabbing their food when it arrives, and leaving.

We too had more than half the team staying for the “free” food, but they definitely didnt do much work whilst they were there.

Re: It is worth it to buy the fast CPU

#290

Post by WalterBright »

dcrazy wrote: post #175
Aurornis wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every well funded startup I’ve worked for went through a period where employees could get nearly anything they asked for: New computers, more monitors, special chairs, standing desks, SaaS software, DoorDash when working late. If engineers said they needed it, they got it. Then some period of time later they start looking at spending in detail and can’t believe how much is being spent by the 25% or so who abuse the p…

Is it “soft fraud” when a manager at an investment bank regularly demands unreasonable productivity from their junior analysts, causing them to work late and effectively reduce their compensation rate? Only if the word “abuse” isn’t ambiguous and loaded enough for you!

Your employer being unreasonable is not an excuse to defraud him in return.

Negotiate for better conditions. If agreement cannot be reached, find another job.

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