A well built DIY PC can certainly last. I built mine 8 years ago and it's approaching 60,000 operating hours according to the main SSD, only major component replaced was the GPU in order to add 4K compatibility.
...huh? i guess that tiffany yap ...
Tiffany Yep got me into FPGA programming which was a big reason I decided to build a new PC to begin with. What she didn't tell me was how hard FPGA programming is, so I didn't do it nearly as much as I hoped for. I'm finally getting into it a lot more because of my interest in solar power and the lack of cheap inverters with the features I want. I'm learning a lot more about DSP and Verilog in the process than I did in school, with the bonus that learning at home is affected little by COVID.
Naomi Wu got me into 3D printing, but the only upgrades to the PC I made because of that are the figurine to stop the GPU from sagging, an angled mount for some LED strips, and a small bracket to hold a quad Gigabit NIC in place. My experience getting back into 3D CAD was definitely a lot better than it was when I first learned it back in 2004 due to the vast increase in GPU performance since then, plus photorealistic rendering is not needed for 3D printing.
I've never gone much on 'Branding'. Some people say that... "Well my computer is a 'Dell' " or what ever.
However, they have 'Brand-A' memory cards, 'Brand-B' hard-drives, 'Brand-C' CD/DVD drives, etc etc.
Tiffany Yep got me into FPGA programming which was a big reason I decided to build a new PC to begin with. What she didn't tell me was how hard FPGA programming is, so I didn't do it nearly as much as I hoped for. I'm finally getting into it a lot more because of my interest in solar power and the lack of cheap inverters with the features I want. I'm learning a lot more about DSP and Verilog in the process than I did in school, with the bonus that learning at home is affected little by COVID."FPGA programming" is hard because it's digital logic circuit design with a high-density implementation. If you came to FPGAs from that kind of background, like I did, the design tasks are familiar. There's nothing new there about logic design or timing analysis or any of it. It's all about learning (and fighting with) the tools and of course learning the implementation language.
Of course it helps to have a real project you want to do when you jump in.he's been reiterating that since eon... tiffany<->fpga<->power electronics, its all circling around that...no new story
I got into 3D printing only recently, and it was to meet a specific need. Enclosures for electronics are necessary and for one-offs and prototypes, getting a custom enclosure made is a non-starter and modifying the panels on, say, a Hammond extrusion is possible but I don't have the tools for that. So 3D printing boxes and panels is reasonable. Of course, the learning curve is shallow -- you need to learn a 3D design package (I am using Autodesk Fusion360 and it works well), and you have to learn packaging design. A mechanical engineer with a background in the latter can pick up any design tool fairly quickly since the vocabulary used comes directly from the ME literature. I had to learn both. But it's not all that difficult.
One thing I re-learned doing these little boxes is that a design is really only as good as your models. If the 3D model of a rotary encoder or a switch is not correct, your circuit board won't fit in your box. But, hmmm -- that's exactly the same thing as in FPGA design. If the model of a peripheral to which your FPGA connects is not correct, then your design won't work.
I suppose that's what separates the hobbyists like Mike from the professionals.
QuoteI got into 3D printing only recently, and it was to meet a specific need. Enclosures for electronics are necessary and for one-offs and prototypes, getting a custom enclosure made is a non-starter and modifying the panels on, say, a Hammond extrusion is possible but I don't have the tools for that. So 3D printing boxes and panels is reasonable. Of course, the learning curve is shallow -- you need to learn a 3D design package (I am using Autodesk Fusion360 and it works well), and you have to learn packaging design. A mechanical engineer with a background in the latter can pick up any design tool fairly quickly since the vocabulary used comes directly from the ME literature. I had to learn both. But it's not all that difficult.
One thing I re-learned doing these little boxes is that a design is really only as good as your models. If the 3D model of a rotary encoder or a switch is not correct, your circuit board won't fit in your box. But, hmmm -- that's exactly the same thing as in FPGA design. If the model of a peripheral to which your FPGA connects is not correct, then your design won't work.Rather than trying to find the dimensions of a part with an online search, I just use a pair of calipers to check the part I have. Basically a more precise version of many CAD assignments in school - turn a physical object into a CAD drawing.
I suppose that's what separates the hobbyists like Mike from the professionals.Tiffany is indeed a professional while I'm just starting FPGA and DSP programming from scratch. But what's more unusual is that thus far, she's the only one I know in real life who sometimes does that for fun. I have met a few other FPGA programmers but none of them seemed interested in it the way Tiffany is. Granted, there's not that many out there (compared to other engineers in electrical and computer engineering) so it's probably pure luck that I know one who is truly into it.
In fairness, I don't know any software engineers in real life who play around with PICs and 8051s for fun - Arduino is the norm for hobbyists. Most aren't interested in trying to implement the functionally in the cheapest microcontroller that could do it, but rather just cobble something together with an Arduino to quickly solve what they're trying to solve.
For our server stuff, we use "HP" - however HP won't let you receive security and stability patches, once you are out of warranty (or spend 50% of the purchase price for a service contract).
On the upside, the system (in theory) just works and you can buy supported options, that will fit (cages, controller, cables etc.)
On the downside, even the used majpr brand components do fail. On the G9 server, the redundant PSUs surely did fail, only to be later recalled. One RAID controller died, the replacement died a bit later, too. So not sure if I could really recommend that.
The DIY-side is not trouble-free either. The personal workstations will be done individually by myself and configured to individual need. The usual hickups like new CPU not supported by motherboard etc., but after all, it does work. Not so my pet NAS project, SuperMicro with 24x8TB, which initially ran fine. Only to later learn, that the BIOS has a bug, which is triggered by newer Windows OS versions, anad SuperMicro does not care to fix. This is the downside of DIY - complex stuff *can* go wrong.
For our server stuff, we use "HP" - however HP won't let you receive security and stability patches, once you are out of warranty (or spend 50% of the purchase price for a service contract).
Branded vs self-built is the eternal question, still unanswered in 2020.
For our server stuff, we use "HP" - however HP won't let you receive security and stability patches, once you are out of warranty (or spend 50% of the purchase price for a service contract).
In the context of corporation/company used PCs either workstations or servers, the idea of once purchased, the manufacturer must provide support forever , even just software patches (not hardware) is not realistic, c'mon.
For our server stuff, we use "HP" - however HP won't let you receive security and stability patches, once you are out of warranty (or spend 50% of the purchase price for a service contract).
In the context of corporation/company used PCs either workstations or servers, the idea of once purchased, the manufacturer must provide support forever , even just software patches (not hardware) is not realistic, c'mon.
True, but HP/HPE and even Dell generally support their hardware much longer than anyone else. Especially HP/HPE as they generally offer BIOS and firmware updates for older kit than other brands. And in HPE's case, BIOS updates containing security fixes are actually free anyways (and HP does not require warranty or support for BIOS updates, which are always free).
True, but HP/HPE and even Dell generally support their hardware much longer than anyone else. Especially HP/HPE as they generally offer BIOS and firmware updates for older kit than other brands. And in HPE's case, BIOS updates containing security fixes are actually free anyways (and HP does not require warranty or support for BIOS updates, which are always free).
And that is a sign of goodwill and true value from those companies, they're spending resources just to maintain reputation, which is essential and should be valued and praised.
Not legally, but "ethically" , once the warranty is expired, they just do not have any obligation at all to keep supporting their hardware nor software, no matter how trivial.
Sometimes certain people seeing those programmer fixing BIOS is working for free, aren't they ?
And at least with the big brands like HP and Dell, you at least know how long you get support (usually 5 to 7 years). With consumer grade PCs or self-build component manufacturers like Asus, Gigabyte and such you can only pray and hope.
Just look at the custom PC forums, even big name like Asus, Gigabyte and etc, even under warranty period, expecting them to fix bug like BIOS or firmware, nothing hardware at all, basically depends on your luck.
Personally I witnessed at a big company which used top global brand, thousands of PCs and so many servers deployed, all under maintenance of course, and one day there was a nasty bug discovered at the OS driver by the IT team, its reported and filed, the problem was escalated really fast and was solved with new driver update sent within < 1 week as per SLA.
With a named brand off-the-shelf PC, there is less chances of things not working and if they don't there is usually a quick fix. These machines - especially Dell - are loaded up with bloatware, crapware and moronware.
I stopped building my own PCs years ago. With prices of ready-made PCs, it doesn't make sense for me anymore. I often buy Dell or Lenovo, refurbished PCs. Buying "last year's" product with "obsolete" CPUs, I save quite a bit. Of course, my needs are meager. I don't run games or advanced simulations. Perhaps the most intensive software I run is Adobe Photoshop.
For servers, I have half a dozen of Dell T20. They may just be dual core with 8 gigs, but they run Linux just fine with barely any load on CPU.
If I have a specific need, I can still build one. I still keep up to date on components. But computer hardware stopped being my hobby for long time. They are just commodity for me. So I take the path of least expense and resistance.
I still remember the days (90's) when running Photoshop could really tax a PC to its limits (and beyond!). These days, even a low end PC is fine. Progress!