Minecraft Forums

Quote from baggerboot

The argument for a new section seems to be the fact that there are so many threads about, mainly, building/buying computers. My suggestion is that instead of giving all those 'duplicates' their own forum, it would be better to sticky one post containing a load of communal knowledge. This post will contain good guidelines and should help a lot of people right away. The remaining questions can then be solved case-by-case; each in their own topic.

Adding more subsections appears to have the following disadvantages:
- There is less to discuss, so people start leaving the section, which means the already started discussions will become more boring
- Most people will 'build their home' in one single section. The more sections there are, the less people there will be in each section.
- A long list of nearly similar threads won't add much discussion value.

In my opinion, adding a subsection is only a good idea if the main section suffers from a very high post per day ratio.
This is simply not the case.

Quote from CentrallyProcessed

No, we don't need a Hardware sub-section.

What we need are dedicated mods to remove all the "I WANT MAEK GAMEZ; NEED CODERRZZ" threads and a big flashy banner saying "No Minecraft-related Posts!"

Quote from Christoi

I see what you mean, but would a sticky of information make a difference? A megathread of the basics of everything would take ages, but may not guarantee that people would read it. A parts list would not be completely ideal due to the various uses, plus can be easily outdated.

Might be worth writing up, but I'm not sure how long it'll take to create. I actually started writing up a bit, but I noticed that there is a lot needed to cover for even the basics, especially considering the various uses, while only giving theory. Plus, it's possibly boring for most people to sit and read an entire guide, I'm not sure how many will actually use it. Here's most of what I've written so far, which is only about processors.

The processor, also known as the CPU (Central Processing Unit) is the main component which performs the majority of the tasks, such as complex calculations to running various programs.


This section will briefly cover various aspects of a processor, however it is missing quite a bit of information. For more information on how a processor works please refer to the following articles:
What is a CPU and what does it do? - A summary of how a CPU, along with a brief explanation of how it works.
How a CPU works - An more in-depth explanation, for those who are interested.

An image of several processors

Processor Frequency
The frequency of a CPU (also known as clock speed) shows how many operations the processor can perform every second. However, even if a processor can perform a lot of operations in a second, it does not show how well it performs and how it compares to others. The architecture of the processor and how efficiently the processes are handled can make a large difference. Even if two processors have an identical clock speed, the performance difference can be massive.

Looking at this benchmark comparison of several processors may help illustrate what I mean:

All of the processors are running at 3Ghz, using only a single core (will be explained later), with the other components being the same excluding the motherboard. It is clear however, that some are much faster than others, despite the same clock speed. You can read the full article here.

Multi-core Processors
A single processor can include multiple cores. Each core has it's own resources and can work independently with other cores, to spread the workload equally. This can create a faster CPU, however the actual speed can also differ based on the software utilization. While multi-core processors are great, more cores will not necessarily give better performance. This generally is because of two factors:

Although multiple processors can be more efficient, if each core is slow, then the overall speed will also be slow. This is the per-core performance, which shows the performance of each core. There are cases when a 6-core processor can be outperformed by a 4-core processor. An example is this benchmark comparison, where the 4-core i5 2500k is faster than the 8-core FX-8150.

Another factor is the software optimization for multiple cores. Programming an application to utilize multiple cores isn't as easy as changing a few lines of code. It has to be specified, how the workload is distributed equally along each core. This is generally simple for video editing programs, as each core an be assigned various frames, which can easily spread the workload.

However, many programs and most games work differently. Making a program utilize multiple cores can be time very time consuming and expensive. Therefore, programs that are not very CPU intensive generally are not designed to utilize so many cores. This is especially a case with games. Since programming a multi-core engine will not give a large performance increase, developers generally stick to only utilizing a few cores at most. This can be clearly seen with games such as Dirt 3, when looking at these benchmarks. A 4-core processor (i5 2500k) beats an 8-core processor (FX-8150). This is as not only is the per-core performance is higher, but the 8 cores are never fully utilized in this particular game (multi-core optimization may change in the future, so make sure to research the current software optimization yourself).

Additionally, some processors also have technologies that can can simulate multiple cores in a single one. This can create "virtual cores," which may not have their dedicated resources, but can work independently. Therefore are generally not as fast as a single core, however can also be used to speed up your system. An example of this technology is Intel's hyperthreading, however there may be other, new technologies by the time you are reading this.

Lastly, processors with a lot of cores can be very useful for multitasking, as various tasks can be assigned to different cores. However, this is really if you are running several CPU-intensive programs simultaneously, which generally isn't recommended. There is no need to spend too much on hardware that is not used.

Processor Socket
The processor is inserted in the dedicated socket of the motherboard. Underneath each processor, there are either pins or contacts, which match up with the contacts or pins on the motherboard socket. This is what connects the two components, allowing data to be transferred back and forth.

Different processors use different sockets. Generally you should be able to find the socket of your CPU and motherboard by searching "[insert product here] socket type" and you should be plenty of result. If the motherboard socket is incompatible, the processor will not work. Be careful that the two parts are compatible. Some motherboards can support multiple sockets which can be seen with AMD's AM3+ socket, which also supports the AM3 socket. However these are very specific examples, normally each socket is different.

Do note that the socket is only for compatibility. It does not actually say much about the support processors themselves. Different series of processors can be supported by a single sockets, however rare. This is as the newer CPU's have newer features and such, which may not be usable with the older design. Therefore, the chances of a 5-year old socket to be re-used is very, very small.

CPU Cache
This section may be rather brief, however there is an in-depth explanation about CPU cache here.

CPU cache is temporal storage in the CPU itself. Any instructions and files that are copied from the RAM is transferred here, where it stored temporarily, instead of referring back to the RAM each time. Like RAM however, you will only see a performance decrease when you do not have enough, which generally only is when you have very low amounts. Having high cache can be useful for having a lot more data stored there, however it is more for servers and databases, where fast data processing is needed.

Quote from Christoi

The only problem is how many people would read it. I might be able to make that half the length if I tried, however even then it's going to end up as a huge wall of text that nobody may be bothered to read. Ultimately however, it probably wouldn't stop the "building a PC" threads. I was thinking of having a shorter thread as a "Hardware FAQ" or something, but I'm not quite sure about that either.


Not sure, try sending The_Pastmaster a PM. It may be that too few people wanted it, but I'm not sure.

Quote from The_Pastmaster

I haven't forgotten about this, just holding off and see if mods provides a solution. If not, then a new sub section request will be submitted.

Quote from baggerboot

I'm afraid that splitting this section into two sections will be the death of both, but we'll see. Just don't say you have not been warned

Quote from jacobdb

I think we should put the programming section together with a section that allows other kind of projects. (hardware ones for instance)

As those projects will not be insanely huge in number, they will not buried quickly. Thus allowing more peopel to see them.

Quote from Christoi

As Baggerboot mentioned, it could completely split the section and end up with both dying out, along with the confusion caused by where threads may go. The main problem I see however, is that I don't think threads can be categrozied that way. Currently (in my opinion) I see the section has 4 main topics:
-Computer building, part selection, etc
-Other computer discussions - favourite software, BSoD's and errors, new hardware, etc (both hardware and software)
-Periphierals, moblles and tablets and other electronics
-Programming, scripting, etc

Quote from Christoi

Only problem is that it's such a broard topic it's difficult to cover. Hardware easliy get's outdated, but how many people would really read a 3000-word topic about hardware in general? Espesially considering that it requires time and effort to create, I'm not sure if it'll ever happen.

I'm thinking if there is an alternative, but I'm honestly not sure. Above all however, I don't think it's going to fix the "build me a computer threads." Espesially since some people even refuse to build their own!

Quote from fm87

~105 total votes.

This either means 99% of the people lurking and posting do not read stickies, or only the people who frequent the forum read the stickies.

It's still up in the air from what I can see.