1 Oct 2021

Picking A Central Processing Unit For Your New Computer

The central processing unit (CPU) is an important part of the computer. Maybe THE most important part, except for all the other parts, of course. Which is the most important department in any business? Managers think their department is the most important, but the business needs all of the departments.

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If you're planning to build a new computer or you're planning to buy a new computer, the CPU is the one that's likely to receive the most attention. The other parts are important too, but most people start with the CPU.

A CPU that runs at 4GHz will be faster than one that runs at 3GHz. That's common sense, but if the 3GHz CPU has eight cores and the 4GHz CPU has four cores, the seemingly "slower" CPU will almost certainly be faster.

After CPUs have been manufactured, they must be tested to see how fast they are. You don't just create a batch of CPUs that will all run at, for example, 4GHz. Some will, but some won't, or at least they won't run reliably at the higher speed. After testing, manufacturers put the CPUs in boxes and print specifications on the boxes. The ones that work reliably at higher speeds sell for more. Sometimes a lot more. The price difference between a CPU that's certified for 4.2GHz and one that's certified for 4.0GHz might be several hundred dollars.

That doesn't mean the 4.0GHz chip won't run at 4.2GHz. It probably will. After all, it came from the same manufacturing batch. It just won't run reliably for as long at the higher speed. Running a CPU at a speed higher than it's certified for is called over-clocking, which is a good way to get better performance out of a less expensive processor while being faced with the need to replace it sooner. Run the CPU as fast as you want if you're willing to take the risk, but you'll also want to invest in more powerful cooling.

Let's say you have one of those super-fast 4.2GHz CPUs. It won't run at 4.2GHz all the time. Computers spend a lot of time just sitting around waiting for the humans to tell them to do something. Rather than running in place as fast as they can, they relax by running at lower speeds until they need to do something.

Many CPUs are set up so that they can run at speeds faster than they're rated for, at least briefly. Intel calls this "turbo-boost" and how much faster a CPU can run above its rated speed provides a kind of head room. The more headroom a CPU has, the more it will cost.

The CPU will also have some built-in cache memory. More cache means faster operation, and it also means more cash when you buy the CPU. The purpose of the cache memory is keeping enough data and instructions nearby so that the CPU doesn't have to wait for information from the computer's RAM or from the even slower disk drive. Fetching data even from a solid-state disk drive will be slower than dealing with what's in the CPU's cache.

The CPU will have values for L1, L2, and L3 cache. The L1 cache will be extremely fast but relatively small. The L2 cache area will be larger and slower, and L3 will be even larger but slower than L1 or L2. Low-end CPUs may have just 4MB of cache, while high-end CPUs can have sixty times that amount of cache. More cache, faster operation.

And earlier I mentioned cores. Each "core" acts like a separate CPU. For complex operations, the CPU will divide tasks among the various cores and many CPUs use some sleight-of-hand techniques to make each core look like two. So a four-core CPU might look like it has eight processors. Of course for applications to take advantage of all those cores, the software developers have to plan for multi-tasking and multi-threading.

Keep in mind that all this is going on in a device that's about as large as an oversize commemorative postage stamp.

Intel has its Core i3, Core i5, Core i7, and Core i9 CPUs. AMD has Ryzen 3, Ryzen 5, Ryzen 7, and Ryzen 9 CPUs. Intel also has a line of Xeon processors, which are used primarily in "workstation" class computers. The Xeon line usually offers more cache, error checking, and a wider range of cores. Video processing is one example of an application that takes advantage of Xeon processors, but most users will be better served by more standard processors. Low-end CPUs such as the Intel Core i3 can be found for less than $100 while high-end devices such as AMD's Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3995WX are priced at more than $5000, and that's just the CPU — not an entire computer. Manufacturers typically choose CPUs such as the Intel Core i9-10920X or the AMD Ryzen 9 3950X, both of which run at 3.5Ghz, for their premium-priced computers. If you're building your own computer, you'll find that these CPUs retail for less than $700.

Which is better — Intel or AMD? From a usability standpoint, it doesn't matter. Both manufacturers make chips that will run Windows and all Windows applications. Note, though, that Windows 11 won't run on certain CPUs, mainly older devices. These are listed on Microsoft's website. There's a page for Intel CPUs and another for AMD CPUs. If you want to be able to run Windows 11 on the computer you're building or buying, make sure the CPU is not on one of these lists.

Short Circuits

Buying A Cable Modem Instead Of Renting One

Earlier this year, we dropped cable television service from our Internet service provider and signed up for a streaming service. We're saving about $1000 per year and might have more entertainment choices than we previously had.

In addition to eliminating the $100 monthly charge for television service, there were also savings from eliminating a charge for local stations that we can easily view over the air and from a "sports" surcharge that apparently provided access to sports programs we never watched. One extra charge remained: $14 per month for the cable modem. The modem is essential, but it's not essential that we rent one for $168 per year. We could buy a modem and return the internet service provider's modem. Should we?

MicroCenter lists cable modems ranging in price from about $50 to $300. Best Buy has cable modems in the same price range. Amazon has some "renewed" models that sell for less than $30 and otherwise has devices with prices similar to those from MicroCenter and Best Buy. The ISP provides a Technicolor model CGA4234 cable modem. None of the retail stores I checked has that model, but EBay has refurbished units for less than $100. The retail stores stick with more recognizable names such as Netgear, Motorola, Linksys, and Arris.

The question, though, is whether potential problems involved in owning the modem will be be worth saving $168 per year.

Are you old enough to remember phones like this? >>>

If you're old enough, you may recall a time when the telephone company owned all the phones. Until the 1960s, they were made of black Bakelite and were all but indestructible. Deregulation eventually made it possible for people to buy their own phones, and most of those phones weren't indestructible. If you had a problem with the phone that the telephone company provided, they'd bring you a new one. The same is true with a cable modem that you rent from the ISP. Well, maybe not the "indestructible" part. They're consumer electronics and they are built like consumer electronics. Or you opt for faster service and need a modem that's capable of handing faster speeds, the ISP will bring one to you. It may not be a new modem, because ISPs run quick tests on modems that have been returned and, if they pass the basic tests, put them back in service.

A cable modem will cost $150 to $160. Assuming it remains in service for four years, we would save more than $350. Even if it failed after just one year, it would be a wash financially. Is the potential reward large enough to offset the risk? Maybe. So then the next question is which modem to buy. Before making a purchase, it's essential that you contact your internet service provider, give them the model number of the modem you're considering, and confirm that it will be compatible with their system.

When you're looking for a modem, the key specification is the DOCSIS number. That's the Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification number. If you've had your ISP-provided modem for a while, it's probably DOCSIS 2.x or 3.0. What you should replace it with is one with a DOCSIS 3.1 rating. Although DOCSIS 3.0 might seem to provide all the speed you need, 1.2Gbps downlink and 200Mbps uplink, it's a bit more complicated than that. DOCSIS 3.1 increases that to 10Gbps down and 1Gbps up — far more than you're likely to need (or that any ISP will provide) for quite some time. There are other reasons to prefer a version 3.1 modem over a version 3.0 device, the most compelling of which is that these modems have better security protections.

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Some cable modems have built-in a built-in router and include Wi-Fi. That's true of my ISP's Technicolor CGA4234 modem. I don't need those features because I have my own router, so I've disabled them on the modem. Consider the Motorola MB8600 modem ($140 to $180). It's a DOCSIS 3.1 device without a built-in router. Looking at the back of the modem, you might think it's also a router because you'll see four Ethernet ports. Only one Ethernet port can be used. So why are there four of them? They are present for the far distant future. Some ISPs will probably offer much faster service and these will require multiple ports to be used simultaneously. Motorola has designed the modem for the future at the risk of confusing some users.

The modem now comes with a yellow plastic panel that covers all but the bottom port and the installation guide explains that the panel can be removed in the unlikely event that you need to enable port bonding. Good solution!

The bottom line for this decision is simply risk versus reward. There is no right answer. There is no wrong answer. There is only your answer.

If you're wondering what I did, I contacted my internet service provider to confirm that the Motorola MB8600 would be compatible. It will be. The person I spoke with also made sure that I knew the Motorola device would need to be connected to a router with Wi-Fi capabilities. I already knew that, but this is an example of good support. The modem cost $142.95, including tax, so I'll be about $25 ahead at the end of the first year.

Installation And Setup Were (Almost) Easy

The first attempt to install the new modem failed miserably. That might have been because I was still a bit sleep blurry at 5:30 on a Saturday morning. Should I mention that I'd had a few beers on Friday evening? Even so I'm rarely at my sharpest at 5:30am.

The modem booted and all the status lights were as expected, but the router reported no internet access even though I could see data flowing between the two devices. There's a fairly straightforward series of steps needed to diagnose the problem, but I didn't have the time, the desire, or (at that time of the morning) the smarts to work through the steps. I reinstalled the ISP's modem, connected the router, and started preparing a plan for attempt number two.

Main point: Never assume something will be easy simply because it should be easy.

The router manufacturer had a video with recommendations on its website, and the first point I noticed (and one that should have occurred to me and probably would have had the first attempt not been at 5:30 in the morning) was a recommendation to connect the computer directly to the modem. The internet service provider's recommendations glossed over that step. So when I connected the computer to the modem, I was taken immediately to Wide Open West's setup page, which had detected the modem. All I needed to do was click one button to run the Internet connection check and a second button to send a refresh signal to the modem.

With those steps out of the way, I plugged the computer's Ethernet cable back into the router and plugged the router's Wide Area Network cable into the modem. Everything worked just as it was supposed to. Total elapsed time: Less than 15 minutes.

The connection is still slower than it should be. We're paying for 500Kbps and getting about half that most of the time, sometimes even less. This is not a modem fault and I didn't expect the replacement modem to make the service faster. I'll need to keep pestering the ISP about that.

To get the rental modem removed from the monthly cable statement, I needed to return it. The ISP has a service office that's about a 15-minute drive from home, so I delivered the rental modem to that office and dropped it into the return equipment bin located outside the office. Because of the covid pandemic, the office itself is closed.

How Would You Respond To This Call?

Scammers use every communications medium available to steal your money or to steal your identity and then steal your money. Email, instant messages, and phone calls are the most common choices, but occasionally crooks use postal mail and even faxes.

Here's a call I received in September (transcription by Google-Fi): It seems to be someone is trying to hijack your identity and try to steal your social security number and personal information if it's not fixed right away, then your computer will become obsolete and all of that credential information may got compromised. If you are the one who is using Microsoft Windows in your computer, then please press seven now to speak with security team now. Please check if we called you by mistake. Thanks.

You can listen to the call:

This call uses a text-to-speech application that converts poorly written text to speech. It's clear that the text was not written by someone who speaks English natively. So one question might be Would Microsoft use a poorly written text-to-speech script? The obvious answer is that they would not. Another question could be Wouldn't Microsoft use a professional announcer to record a message such as this? Again, the answer is obvious: Yes, they would if Microsoft attempted to contact users by phone with security warnings. And that leads to the third question: Does Microsoft attempt to contact users by phone with security warnings? The clear answer is NO. Microsoft does not contact users by phone unless a support person is following up on a call placed by the user. Microsoft also does not contact users by email to warn about security issues. Neither do consumer-grade security application providers, computer manufacturers, Homeland Security, the FBI, CIA, or SMERSH.*

The proper response is simply to disconnect the call.

But if you need further evidence that this is a scam call, you might look at the phone number the call claims to be from: 669-266-2243. Use any search engine to look up that number and you'll find that it has been reported frequently to the Federal Trade Commission for computer scams. You really don't need to do that, though, because of the numerous red flags contained in the message itself — starting with the first five words.

Spare Parts

Happy Birthday, Linux!

Linux turned 30 near the end of August, and I no longer ask annually Will this be the year of Linux? As useful as Linux is, it has virtually no chance of overtaking Microsoft Windows or even Apple's MacOS in popularity. Maybe we should just settle for celebrating what Linux does best: Run a lot of the internet and provide unequaled service in complex data processing environments.

Thirty years ago, Linux was the future. Twenty years ago, Linux was the future. Ten years ago, Linux was the future. And today ... well, you get the idea.

Even though Linux has virtually no market share for desktop computers or notebooks, you will find it in some smart phones. You probably use Linux every day even if you don't know it. TechByter Worldwide lives on a Linux server, so you're using Linux as you read these words. Can it ever make inroads on the desktop? I've all but given up asking that question. It still rattles around in the back of my head. I still have a computer that runs Linux. But I can't see a future in which it takes over desktop computing.

Everything seems to be moving toward the cloud. Microsoft and Adobe offer more and more functionality that's cloud based. Despite the fact that Linux machines run at least half of the servers that power the internet, Linux applications are computer based. Some of the people who think about these things seem to believe that those who don't want cloud-based applications will migrate to Linux. That doesn't seem likely.

But if applications from software developers such as Adobe and Microsoft become fully cloud based and use a web browser as the interface, what would keep someone from using a Linux computer instead of a Windows or MacOS computer? There are some gotchas there, too, because Windows is included with most computers and convincing users to replace an operating system they're familiar with one they're not familiar with, even if it can be made to look a lot like Windows, seems a bit iffy.

Linux certainly is the future. And it always will be.

Final Report: The No Longer Crashing Computer

It may seem as if I've been trying to track down a problem that caused my primary computer to crash for the past six or seven years. It seems like that to me, but really it's been only since 25 June, and I started researching the problem three or four weeks earlier. It's now been definitively solved.

The last time I mentioned this, it was in a segment called Keeping Your Computer Cool on 17 September. Despite red herrings and false starts that led in several odd directions, each of which seemed to fix the problem, the root cause turned out to be heat. Plain and simple. The computer overheated and shut down. In mid September, I took three steps to reduce the heat: Running with the notebook computer open (which had the additional advantage of giving me a third screen where I could park some supervisory functions) and using a bracket to raise the computer five inches above the desk. Both of these improved ventilation.

The third act involved making some minor changes in the computer's power management protocols. The changes reduced the computer's performance almost imperceptibly, but they also dropped the computer's average operating temperature from near the danger zone to a much less dangerous temperature.

Since then, the computer has not crashed. Not once. The instant power-off problem is gone. I no longer have to save working documents every minute or so to keep from losing work. The problem is solved. Period. Full stop. End of story.

Despite the fact that this computer will not run Windows 11, I no longer plan to replace it in the next few month. The computer is four years old and should remain serviceable until I decide that it's essential to upgrade to Windows 11 or 2025, when Windows 10 will no longer be supported — whichever comes first.

Twenty Years Ago: "No Problem" Didn't Exactly Describe The Issue

I've been wrestling with a computer issue that took several months to diagnose and, once I knew what the problem was, only a few minutes to fix. In 2001, I had to replace a computer shortly before leaving to teach at Corel World. It did not go well. This is exceedingly long, but I could find no way to condense it and retain any of the frustrations that were so common in those days. So this is the full text of Thanks, Sony! from the October 2001:

Shortly before CorelWORLD, as as I was preparing my aging Dell computer for my three presentations, something went wrong: I got a blue screen at boot time. The Registry was corrupt.

NO PROBLEM, I thought.
I'll just choose the Last Good menu because I haven't installed anything important lately.

The Last Good configuration bluescreened, too.

NO PROBLEM, I thought.
I'll just reinstall Windows 2000. As the installation was ending, the CD-ROM stopped working.

NO PROBLEM, I thought.
I remembered this from when I installed Windows 2000 the first time on this machine. I had to get a new driver from Dell. It's on my desktop system.

I installed the driver. The CD ROM still didn't work. I went to the Dell website, found an even newer driver for the CD ROM, downloaded it, and installed it. The CD ROM still didn't work.

I now had a computer with an operating system but no software. Windows 2000 may be a fine operating system, but it doesn't do much by itself. A few additional tests (such as trying to boot from a bootable CD) revealed the real problem: The CD ROM player had died.

NO PROBLEM, I thought.
I'd been planning to upgrade this system, although I had intended to do it much later in the year -- not when I was madly finishing work on presentations for CorelWORLD.

At the computer store, I found millions of computers with Windows Me. Maybe billions. But I don't like Windows Me. The one computer that came with Windows 2000 installed had eraser-head pointing devices. I detest eraser-head pointing devices.

NO PROBLEM, the sales guy said.
He suggested removing Windows Me from a Sony FX240 Vaio computer and installing Windows 2000. That's easy enough. The dead computer's Windows 2000 could easily be transferred, so I bought the Sony, took it home, and formatted the disk.

I installed Windows 2000, Corel Draw, Microsoft Office, Ventura Publisher, Quark XPress, 173 utility programs, 62 games, 10 Internet browsers, and 127 other major applications. It took about 2 days.

Then, 5 days before I was to leave for Boston, I decided it was time to test the digital camera's USB connection with the Sony. This was a low-priority item because I knew that the test would take -- at most -- 10 minutes.

I plugged the camera in. The Sony displayed an attractive blue screen describing why it wasn't able to do what I wanted it to do (which was just show me the pictures in the camera). "0x00000050," it said. While the color was a soothing blue, the words were not particularly assuring. "PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA" the computer went on. Why_do_computers_talk_like_this? I presume that message is stored as a string variable. Do the underscores serve any purpose? Is it MORE_IMPORTANT because it's in ALL CAPS?

But that's beside the point.

NO PROBLEM, I thought.
I'll use my Olympus card reader. When I tried to install it, it wouldn't install. The system simply hung.

NO PROBLEM, I thought.
I'll use my SanDisk card reader. When I tried to install it, it wouldn't install. The system simply hung.

PROBLEM!!!! I thought. I'm beginning to see a pattern here and it's not a good one.

As a test, I attached my KeyOnDisk device -- the little 16MB "disk" drive that's handy for moving files around. The Sony computer produced the same attractive blue screen, displayed the same ALL_CAPS message, and induced a sudden sinking feeling. I was, in fact, beginning to develop a headache.

I tried a variety of options, some of which involved long and complex incantations spoken in Old Church Slavonic. But after spending more than 3 hours on what I expected to be a 10-minute test, I started looking for alternatives. I found that I can plug the camera into my Apple iBook and download the images there. I can then run a utility called DAVE on the Apple and network it to the Sony with a cross-wired network cable.

A clumsy solution, perhaps, but it would work.

But at the same time, I sent a note to a Sony vice president I'd met at PC Expo. I explained what the problem was and why I was asking for his help to escalate the call through the support center. Normally I try to avoid using my position as a technology reporter to get fast service, but I knew that there was no time to spare. By the time this problem would make its way up through the normal escalation chain, CorelWORLD would be over -- or at least underway. And that would be too late.

The next day, I heard from one of the top notebook support technicians on the East Coast. Tony Capobianco asked me to call him. We talked about the problem, he did some research, and then he sent me about 6MB of patch files (nearly ready for release) and an upcoming BIOS upgrade. In the meantime, we'd tried removing the extra memory I'd added to the system.

Later that evening, I heard from Robin Cole on the West Coast. I gave Robin a rundown on what had happened so far, told her that the Olympus camera still caused a blue screen on the Sony computer. She e-mailed me an even newer patch file, this one for the USB ports. She also asked that I remove the Windows 2000 service pack 2, which I did. In the meantime, she checked with Sony technicians in Japan.

And about then I noticed that I was also running the Roxio Easy CD Creator's DirectCD driver. In my own testing, I'd removed or deactivated a variety of other applications and utilities. Somehow I had missed this one.

DirectCD is the software that comes with Easy CD Creator to make it possible to use a rewritable CD as a standard disk. I avoid this application because I know it can cause problems. It was loaded because I'd used Roxio's Take2 software to do a full system backup and Take2 requires DirectCD. I had forgotten to remove it.

I removed DirectCD and suddenly the camera's USB connection worked. No more blue screens.

NO PROBLEM. Just like I said.

Actually, a few small problems remained. The Fn key functions don't work and there's no option to Suspend or Hibernate. But those problems will be solved in due time.

I'm more than a little embarrassed that I didn't find the problem on my own, but I'm also grateful that Sony did everything possible to solve the problem. If Sony has gained anything from this, it's not just my words of gratitude. Perhaps a short version of this incident will find its way in to the Sony knowledgebase.