The Computer Upgrade Dilemma in June 2023

 

 This is a draft.

Update Alert:  Apparently the next generation threadripper pro is months away from announcement and/or release.  It would make sense to wait a few months and see what happens.

This is a discussion of the issues one might consider when building/upgrading a home studio that is used for 3D rendering and some machine learning.  It has been over 4 years since I upgraded my computing here in Santa Barbara and the world has changed several times in that time period.  What I thought would be a straightforward review of existing technologies scaled to my budget has turned into a several month slog through all kinds of things I wish I did not have to think about.  I review some of the issues involved below.

There are two different goals.  

    1. Upgrade my main Linux workstation to improve rendering performance.  

    2. Buy a completely new, modern technology workstation which would be used for both rendering,     localized machine learning, and development.

The 1st goal was motivated by simplicity and cost.  I am using a 1st generation scalable Xeon, and bought an entry level CPU for it.  There are many more CPUs available, some of them of very modest cost (so it seemed). The second goal could take longer, and fixes a problem I had with limited PCIe bandwidth in the 1st generation of scalable Xeon, especially with the UP configuration or when you did not populate both sockets of a dual socket server.  The budget of the latter system would be more expensive, but would solve both problem sets at one time.  The budgets might be $1,000 and $5,000 respectively.

But there are many issues, some expected and some unexpected.  Issues include:

-- Is there a good difference between what is a server and what is a workstation?  The provisional answer is that a workstation has a higher base frequency, has features such as audio on the MB, and has a chipset to handle a bunch of small-change IO such as legacy USB. 

-- What are the limitations of the current configuration beyond raw processor power?  Am I memory bandwidth limited?  Cache limited?

-- What are the real costs of a better 1st or 2nd generation Xeon?  Why are there seemingly great deals from unknown vendors but the top vendors keep list prices which are seemingly high for 5 year old technology.

-- Why does Intel make so many different versions of each generation of Xeon.  Specialization varies as to the extent of the market?  Which ones would I want, or can afford?  Not all these processors seem to be equally available from the reputable vendors.  

-- What warranty do the "really good price" vendors of refurbished processors offer?  My experience with 1st generation Xeon says that you may go through several CPUs before you find one that works, but that once it works it just keeps on working.

-- The AMD threadripper pro is about to be updated.  Should I wait a few months for the update?  But the updated system will certainly take advantage of newer technology which means among other things a higher memory cost.   Do I really care between DDR4 and 5?  PCIe 4 vs 5?

-- All of these processors seem to have a "base speed" and a variable "turbo speed" which it automagically uses when it has to.  Well it will only do that if several important conditions are met, one of which is that the processor must be cool enough to allow this without exploding or melting.  The only way that could possibly work is if we are using liquid cooling for the CPU.

-- My experience in this area a few years ago said that you had to be able to return several non working components before you got one that worked.  Choose carefully.

- One issue has been whether or not I save $700 or more and reuse components from the current workstation.  Power supply, chassis and disk.  Do I really want to destroy a working system, however slow?  Hasnt that often been a mistake? 

-- As alluded to above, there are real differences between current generation AMD, next generation AMD, 4th generation scalable Xeon and their 5th generation coming out end of year.  Whatever you do youre fucked.

What fun.  All you need is cash and these issues go away.  Thats what the real people do and if you cant just spend you dont deserve anything good.

 

 

Note to Congressman 06032023

Dear Congressman Carbajal,

 

At the risk of being pushy, here are some issues it would be nice for you to address if not actually work on.  I mean you are being paid to do something, right?  And if you are powerless, then what does that make us? The only vote I get is to decide whether to continue to support an ineffective and essentially useless congressman, or vote for a republican who are without doubt worthless swine.

 

1. You still need to apologize and retract your support for that incredibly stupid "horrors of socialism" bill. That vote alone is enough to work for your opponent.  Did I mention how stupid and offensive that bill was?  Oh I did already.  

 

2. The supreme court vote on destroying unions.  What are you doing about that?  What are you doing about fixing the supreme court?  Whether term limits or increasing the number of justices.

 

3. Trump has still not been indicted for his obvious crimes.... classified documents and attempting to overthrow the government of the united states.  Why not?

 

4.  Why is the US Govt failing to provide Ukraine with long distance munitions?  Afraid of escalating the war with Russia?  Too bad, it cant get more escalated unless NATO goes directly to war.  We are not going to support a party that fails to support Ukraine.

 

I would get to work if I were you.  You have an opportunity to make a difference and I would like to see you take some action.  Even if its just waving your arms and issuing press releases.

 

Thank you.

 

Richard II Message to Peasants

 

When Richard II was asked by the peasants to fulfill his oath as made to Wat Tyler at the famous meeting in London, he replied: 

 

 “You will remain in bondage, not as before but incomparably harsher. For as long as we live… we will strive with mind, strength and goods to suppress you so that the rigour of your servitude will be an example to posterity."

 

Our politicians have the same intent, but they are not as forthright and as eloquent as Richard II.

 

The death of Wat Tyler 1381

How Ironic if the Cold Warriors were Right about Russia

All the time I was at RAND and in all the years afterwards, when I read the views of the "cold warriors", I dismissed their arguments that Russia was in some sense evil. Yes, they were an adversary and Stalinism and Marxist/Leninist doctrine caused a lot of (to my mind) needless suffering of their own people and many people who were in some real sense "innocent". But I never really bought the "evil empire" schtick. How ironic, if the Cold Warriors were "right" and Russians turn out to be barbarians who are a threat to civilization. How ironic and disappointing.

 

Yellow Submarine (1968) and The Assyrian Winged God

Reviewing the movie Yellow Submarine and I came across this famous image.  But wait, I thought, is this not a homage to the ancient Assyrian Winged God?  The original did not have an ice cream cone, of course.

 

"The Menu" (2022)

 

This post has spoilers for the movie "The Menu" (2022).

"The Menu" (2022) is not a perfect movie but it had more than a few elements that appealed to me. My expectations were low; the movie surprised me.

I liked the idea that cooking should be about love, and what "the chef" loved most of all was to make good cheeseburgers. And in a sense, the movie had a riddle and the riddle was what could penetrate this cold heart. I liked the premise that the world is made of two classes, a privileged elite and the slaves/workers who serve them. I liked the idea that even one of the best rewarded slaves resented being made a whore instead of doing what he did for love. A fallen romantic, you see. I liked that while (most) everyone dies, you die by class: the workers meet one fate, the rich another. And so it was important to know who the young woman was in order to determine which group she belongs in. Ah, a hooker with a heart of gold, then you deserve to die with the workers. I liked the idea that the assistant sous chef attacked our heroine saying (approximately) "I am not going to be replaced! I did not forget the barrel!" I liked the s'mores. I liked the conceit of the cheeseburger as an unpretentious gift of love. I liked the practical fluid dynamics on the fatal neck wound of the betrayed assistant. I like any movie with catfights, and this movie definitely has a catfight. So all in all, not a brilliant movie, but certainly a movie worth seeing.

Notes on Civil Justice and CNN

Obviously there is nothing in civil justice that has the slightest impact on Trump's criminal and psychopathic behavior. He turned around from being convicted for "sexual abuse", but we know that really means rape without overt penetration by his slimy little penis, and on public television attacked and demeaned this rape victim again. He will deflect, delay, and deny as always. The worse that happens is that he pays $5M. Which he can easily steal from his supporters by lying to them, as he has so often over the last 5-7 years.  Not quite a complete waste of time, but not sufficient to affect the maniac's attempt to seize power and destroy the country.  The lesson is that it has to be a criminal indictment and he has to go to jail. 

CNN knew exactly what they were doing when they put Trump on air for their so-called "town hall" with nothing but his supporters in the audience. They knew what he would say and he said them. He verbally abused the woman he had sexually attacked, he all but confessed other crimes, he repeated his lies, he was given an hour of air time in a major national market. CNN is culpable in his obstruction of justice and his attempt to destroy this country and install a fascist government. There are no principles of free speech at stake here. Nothing keeps him from buying an hour of airtime. (Good luck calculating what that would cost).

The supreme court and various appeals courts are a joke having been destroyed by the Republicans. Term limits or some other remedy are required.  God knows Thomas won't resign without being forced. The Dems should have raised the debt limit when they had the ability to do so. This situation is essentially their fault as they allowed the Republicans to hold the country hostage. I guess they were trying to be bipartisan. Sorry, sarcasm.

Its too late to put him in jail, I doubt the feds will even try.

I certainly am not a fan of CNN.

I realize that nothing I say here is the least bit original, nor will it have the slightest impact.  I write these posts to blow off steam and because it helps me remember what I thought at the time the post was written.

On the Road to Fascism 05/09/2023

I write about the things in this post not because I think I can solve any of the problems, or say anything the least bit interesting that hasnt been said before on these topics.  I write these posts to help me remember some of the outrages we are exposed to because it is so easy to forget, being bombarded as we are by injustice and stupidity on a near-daily basis.

 

Here is just a sample of what has been happening recently.

 

1. Jordan Neely is murdered for the crime of talking to himself on a subway.  I talk to myself, and if I was in NY where there is a subway, I might talk to myself there too.  Would I be murdered?  Daniel Penny, the white man who murdered Jordan, is free and walking around. 

 

2. The Supreme Court is so deeply fucked up and illegitimate that it almost seems cruel to even mention it.  But yes, the corruption of Clarence Thomas has gone on long enough.  Roberts or someone needs to act.

 

3. The Republicans, who dont want to actually support the constitution which created a method for controlling appropriations, are dead set on destroying this country through the debt limit nonsense.  On the one hand, Biden is right to  stand firm, but wait.  Why didnt the Democrats change the debt limit when they controlled both houses of congress and the White House?  Maybe the Democrats are incompetent. At least they are not consciously evil, but that is about all I can say in their favor.

Would any other country be better?  Well, maybe, I dont know.  But I do know that if I were living in another country and bad things like this happened I would not feel betrayed because I would not have had to listen to the self-servicing, self-congratulatory, BS that I was exposed to here, in America, where people think they are the only country with a legitimate government.

I wonder if this is one of the posts that the Internet censors will use to block this blog?

The supreme court back in the day when it had legitimacy.

 

More Rendering Tests II

Some random tests.   Tests to create complexity from simple procedural forms and working in the area of classical expressiveness (gestural rendering).  The process of doing computer graphics without clients (or where you are your own client) is so different and so much more rewarding.

ADD/ADHD Article in The Atlantic and Medical Malfeasance

draft

 

The Atlantic has an interesting article about Adderall and ADD/ADHD in which it reveals that the medical community failed to even recognize adult ADD or take it seriously as a disease until 20 years ago, if that. And of course Adderall may be over prescribed today as a result, or is it?  After all, amphetamine is a recognized human performance drug with some well known side effects, why shouldn't people be using it whether or not they have ADD?  

As the article makes clear, the medical community is guilty of gross malfeasance in this area, and I think it is very reasonable to resent being required to go to these wankers as one gateway of many to get the most important known medication available for this disease/syndrome/whatever.

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2023/04/adult-adhd-diagnosis-treatment-adderall-shortage/673719/