I’ve never been one to memorize part numbers for computer things. That includes memorizing things like bus speed, cache sizes, and all other sorts of nonsensical trivia.
I mention this because there are many people who ask me questions about those things, assuming that I’m somehow a walking catalog for computer parts. I’m not. Never was.
There must be something about me that smells of part numbers and trivial facts about computer stuff.
The first time I became aware of my affliction was back in the 1980s. Some guy at the computer club came up to me and said, “Dan, what do you think of that Seagate ST-225?”
“The what? Is it a hard drive?”
“Yep.”
“What capacity?”
“Twenty megs.”
“Sounds like a good hard drive!”
That’s just a typical exchange. Most of the time, they’d ask me really technical questions. Something like, “If I get that Teac 24-66 will it be able to interface with my LC40? I have 512K of RAM.”
My mind would draw a complete blank. The guy might as well have been speaking Chinese.
I don’t memorize or even pay attention to part numbers, mostly because the manufacturers change them every year, or more frequently. There’s no point in holding that information in your brain when you can look in any parts catalog.
Even so, what is it about some hard core computer people that makes them speak in catalog tongue?
The local computer shop knows that I’m a “computer guy,” though I consider myself more of a programmer than a hardware geek. Yesterday I was ordering a new computer and he asked me if I wanted the PC100 or PC133.
“The 133 sounds like more,” I said. “What are the implications?”
“It’s faster!” the computer store guy said.
“Then why do you offer the 100?”
“It’s cheaper!” he answered.
There were a battery of questions on similar things. I don’t follow numbers. Why do they have such numbers.
“It comes with the NVidia 9500.”
I asked, “Is that better than the 9400 and not as good as the 9600?”
“Yes and no.”
Not to date myself, but back when I would actually eat in a fast food restaurant there were three drink sizes: Small, medium, and large. Made sense. But if the computer industry designed soft drink sizes they’d come in H51c, H52r, and TK427.
Maybe that kind of nomenclature appeals to people who enjoy cryptic things, but it doesn’t help express any information.
I’ve asked that exact question about the graphics card, is gets really difficult to choose one because there are no yes or no answers, you would think if you spend more money it would be better but that is not always the case. Of course you then learn all about say Nvidia and realise that ATI or Radeon are different and you have to learn all the numbers for that one and if it compares to the Nividia.
Comment by chiefnoobie — November 24, 2010 @ 11:42 am
I tried once to write up a post about how to decipher the various graphics card numbers and what they mean. It was just too tough.
Comment by admin — November 26, 2010 @ 9:21 am
I upgraded about a month ago after spending months reading up on all the different types ATI and Nvidia if this one would play games etc. I compared all features to the other Nvidia, eventually I just went into my local computer shop and said I’ve got £60 to spend what’s the best I can get for this money so this is how I have the one I do now.
Comment by chiefnoobie — November 26, 2010 @ 2:51 pm