Have computers stopped getting faster?

cepheus

This has certainly been my experience. Has the exponential increasing speed of computers - at least at a practical level - been just hype? I've always assumed the hardware was getting faster, but the software designers were developing more bells and whistles to slow it down. However this New Scientist article suggests the hardware might not in practice be much improved!

TEN years ago, computers stopped getting faster. Stroking your sleek smartphone or latest laptop, this may seem a rather implausible statement. Surely there's no contest between it and a decade-old desktop?

That's true – in a way. But even if computer chips weren't made of silicon, the comparison would be built on sand. Continually increasing computing power used to rest on a solid foundation of ever smaller, faster chips. In the past decade, though, it has become a case of using more chips, less efficiently. Chip speed stalled sometime around 2004......

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22530091.500?cmpid=NLC%7CNSNS%7C2015-0219-GLOBAL&utm_medium=NLC&utm_source=NSNS&

stephen77

Thinking about it, I would agree the things I use on the computer are the same speed ie word & excel.
Like you I assumed its not quicker as more features added to programs.

I do not play games on the computer which probably works the computer the hardest.

Downloads are quicker but that's as using better cables rather than my pc being the bottleneck.

Li0nhead

Ok not been keeping an eye on things myself for a few years as I don't need to spend loads on the latest computer to do what i want on it which is surf the internet, use office programs, e-mail, watch the odd thing through it and play a bit of music stored on it but is Moore's law still not happening in computing?

Conrad

The key limiting factor with silicon based semi conductors is heat. It's only a matter of time before silicon becomes a relic like valves. Graphine, quantum and even biological structures are contenders.


i recently upgraded my music studio PC by stripping out most of the components and replacing them, to include three German made fans and it is quick which is essential in music as all the software tests them to the limit. But for everyday things like a spread sheet there's no benefit.

Faster hardware with more memory is soon stressed by ever more elaborate software.

Vejovis

Maybe they just don't appear quicker because you're used to it. I think my broadband is slow even though it's fibre, but when I have to use the internet at work it makes me realise how fast it is.

skivenov

That's about it, Conrad, hardware's faster, but software's less efficient.

I did Computing at uni (15 years ago) and one of our lecturers couldn't see why I re-wrote a piece of code to do in 3 steps what it had been doing in 6. Apparently "computers are that powerful, it doesn't matter".

DCodd

People tend to look at the headline figures when it comes to pc's and laptops i.e. i7 processor 16GB RAM etc etc which is all fine but the rest of the machine's specs are over looked. That is where the bottlenecks occur.

Like having a bowl of water and a cup to fill up. A big bowl and a large cup is great but if your filling it with a teaspoon it's going to be slow.

Graham_Devon

They have slowed down the development of "faster" in favour of development of "eco".

That means more economical processors, thermally and energy wise to extend battery life and reduce power usage.

For high end games machines, things are still increasing at quite a pace. However, for the average work type desktop, many people can hapily use 6,7,8 year old desktop machines and still produce the same result.

With the focus back on netbooks and tablets being cast aside as doorstops, we'll see this continue for some time. Infact, with Windows 10 offering a free upgrade for those on Win7 and 8, we could see computer units such as laptops and desktops having their natural life extended by quite some time.

Good for the consumer, good for the environment, and the economy will simply have to suck it up and get used to it.

IronWolf

That's just looking at one aspect - the processor. There are other limiting factors, one of the biggest leaps has been the SSD which makes any computer run so much faster.

The focus for the last 10 years has been on mobile, thats probably why desktop processors haven't been increasing at the same speed as they are focused more on size and efficiency, but the progress is still coming.

If you play games then playing on a 5 year old rig compared to brand new one is very noticeable. Also the quad core aspect increases speed greatly when you are doing processor heavy tasks like in spreadsheets and gaming.

For most people browsing the internet though, a 5 or even 10 year old rig will do fine, though you will probably want to upgrade your wireless modem if you want good internet speeds.

thescouselander

The hardware is undoubtedly faster however the code that runs on it is getting more and more bloated and the user sees little gain. I'm always staggered then a simple smartphone app runs to several tens of megabytes.

bluenoseam

There is a limit to how fast you can percieve the computer running, especially based upon the technology you're using. I'm about to upgrade & it's fair to say that it will be a mighty upgrade from where I am just now - albeit on a 7 year old machine. Clock speed on every major component will be faster by far & as I'll be using an SSD it will boot up in a matter of seconds as opposed to the minute or so it takes today. Faster yes, but in theory it will only be the calculating power of the processor which will be likely to improve, the visible running of the machine on a daily level will be indistinguishable.

(What won't be difficult to see will be the tears running down my face when the parts are being ordered - it's got cheaper but it's still not fun to know I'll be spending more on a new computer than I will for a week on holiday!)