Stories with Tag Moore's Law

• The internet is killing old PC hardware [video]

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  Posted: 2025-03-02 02:27:51

  Verbose tl;dr

  Modern websites, bloated with JavaScript and complex designs, are increasingly demanding on older PC hardware. This makes browsing with older machines a slow and frustrating experience, effectively rendering them obsolete for general internet use, even if they are perfectly capable of handling other tasks. The video demonstrates this by comparing the performance of a modern high-end PC with older machines, highlighting the significant difference in loading times and resource usage when browsing current websites. This trend pushes users towards newer hardware, contributing to e-waste even when older machines are still functionally viable for less demanding applications.

  The YouTube video, "The internet is killing old PC hardware," elaborates on the increasing difficulty of utilizing older computer systems for contemporary web browsing. The presenter systematically demonstrates how the evolution of web technologies, specifically the shift towards resource-intensive features like JavaScript, complex layouts, and abundant multimedia content, has rendered many previously functional machines obsolete for a smooth online experience. He argues that the bloat and inefficiency inherent in modern web development practices, often prioritizing developer convenience over end-user performance, disproportionately impact users with limited access to newer, more powerful hardware.

  The video showcases this performance degradation through practical examples, using older hardware configurations to navigate contemporary websites. The presenter illustrates how even relatively simple tasks, such as loading news articles or social media feeds, can become agonizingly slow and consume excessive system resources on these older machines. He contrasts this with the experience on newer, more powerful hardware where these same tasks are completed rapidly and without noticeable strain. This disparity, the video suggests, effectively creates a digital divide, excluding those unable to afford regular hardware upgrades from participating fully in the online world.

  Furthermore, the presenter explores the contributing factors to this growing problem. He discusses the prevalent use of JavaScript frameworks and libraries, often implemented without sufficient optimization, leading to excessive processing demands. He also highlights the trend towards increasingly complex website designs and the proliferation of high-resolution images and videos, which contribute to larger page sizes and longer loading times. The video suggests that these practices, while beneficial in some contexts, often come at the cost of performance, especially on older or less capable hardware. It implicitly critiques a prevailing attitude in web development that prioritizes developer experience and rapid deployment over resource efficiency and broad accessibility.

  Finally, the video hints at potential solutions, suggesting that a greater focus on optimizing web development practices for performance and considering the limitations of older hardware could mitigate the issue. It subtly advocates for a more mindful approach to web development, emphasizing the importance of creating accessible experiences for all users, regardless of their hardware capabilities. The overall message is a call for greater responsibility within the web development community to prioritize efficient and inclusive web design, ensuring that the internet remains accessible to everyone, not just those with the latest and most powerful computers.

  • Internet
  • Obsolete Hardware
  • PC Hardware
  • Technology
  • Computer Hardware
  • obsolescence
  • video
  • YouTube
  • Hardware Upgrades
  • performance
  • Software Requirements
  • Moore's Law
  • digital divide
  • E-Waste

  Summary of Comments ( 109 )
  https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43226546

  Verbose tl;dr

  Hacker News users discussed the challenges of running modern web browsers on older hardware. Several commenters pointed to the increasing bloat and resource demands of browsers like Chrome and Firefox, making them unusable on machines that could otherwise handle less demanding tasks. Some suggested that the shift to web apps contributes to the problem, blurring the lines between simple websites and full-fledged applications. Others recommended lightweight alternatives like Pale Moon or using a lightweight OS to extend the life of older machines. The idea of planned obsolescence was also raised, with some speculating that browser developers intentionally allow performance to degrade on older hardware. A few users pushed back, arguing that web development advancements often benefit users and that supporting older systems indefinitely isn't feasible.

  The Hacker News post titled "The internet is killing old PC hardware [video]" sparked a discussion with several insightful comments focusing on the increasing demands of modern web browsing. Users generally agreed with the premise of the linked YouTube video, which argues that bloated websites and web applications are making older hardware obsolete.

  Several commenters pointed to the prevalence of JavaScript and complex web frameworks as a primary culprit. One commenter specifically mentioned the shift from server-side rendering to client-side rendering, which puts more processing burden on the user's machine. This was echoed by another who highlighted the increasing use of JavaScript frameworks like React, Angular, and Vue.js, which, while offering rich user experiences, often come at the cost of performance, especially on older hardware.

  Another commenter suggested that advertising and tracking scripts also contribute significantly to the bloat, consuming resources and slowing down browsing speeds. This was further elaborated upon by others who noted the increasing number of third-party scripts embedded in web pages, many of which are not essential for core functionality.

  The increasing use of HTTPS and encryption, while beneficial for security, was also mentioned as adding overhead and contributing to the performance issues on older hardware. One comment highlighted the computational cost of encryption and decryption, which can be particularly taxing for less powerful processors.

  Beyond the technical aspects, some comments touched on the economic implications. One commenter argued that the constant push for "newer and shinier" websites and the rapid obsolescence of older hardware contribute to e-waste and unsustainable consumption patterns. Another suggested that the increasing demands of web browsing create a digital divide, excluding users with limited access to newer, more powerful devices.

  Some users also shared personal anecdotes and experiences. One mentioned struggling to browse modern websites on an older laptop, while another pointed out the irony of websites promoting sustainability while simultaneously contributing to the problem by requiring powerful hardware.

  A few comments offered potential solutions, including using browser extensions to block ads and scripts, as well as opting for lighter-weight browsers or operating systems. One user suggested that developers need to be more mindful of performance and optimize their websites for a wider range of hardware.

  Overall, the comments on Hacker News reflected a general consensus that the increasing demands of modern web browsing are indeed making older PC hardware obsolete. The discussion highlighted the various factors contributing to this issue, from JavaScript frameworks and advertising to encryption and the constant push for newer technologies. The comments also touched upon the broader implications of this trend, including e-waste, the digital divide, and the need for more sustainable web development practices.

• Imec demonstrates electrical yield for 20nm lines High NA EUV single patterning

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  Posted: 2025-02-28 15:55:11

  Verbose tl;dr

  Imec has successfully patterned functional 20nm pitch metal lines using High-NA EUV lithography in a single exposure, achieving a good electrical yield. This milestone demonstrates the viability of High-NA EUV for creating the tiny, densely packed features required for advanced semiconductor nodes beyond 2nm. This achievement was enabled by utilizing a metal hard mask and resist process optimization on ASML's NXE:5000 pre-production High-NA EUV scanner. The successful electrical yield signifies a crucial step towards high-volume manufacturing of future chip generations.

  In a significant advancement for semiconductor lithography, imec, a world-renowned research and innovation hub in nanoelectronics and digital technologies, has publicly announced the successful demonstration of electrical yield for densely packed metal lines measuring 20 nanometers in pitch, achieved through the groundbreaking application of high numerical aperture (high-NA) extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography with single patterning. This achievement represents a critical step towards realizing the intricate and miniaturized circuitry required for next-generation integrated circuits (ICs).

  Traditionally, achieving such fine features has necessitated complex and costly multi-patterning techniques with conventional EUV lithography. These multi-patterning strategies, while effective, introduce process complexity, increase manufacturing costs, and can negatively impact overall yield. Imec's breakthrough demonstrates that high-NA EUV lithography, by virtue of its improved resolution capabilities, can bypass the need for multi-patterning, allowing for the direct fabrication of these minute features in a single exposure step. This simplification of the fabrication process holds the promise of significantly reducing manufacturing complexity and cost, while simultaneously enhancing throughput and potentially improving yield.

  Specifically, imec’s experiment focused on fabricating metal lines with a tight pitch of 20 nanometers. They successfully demonstrated a robust electrical yield, indicating that the fabricated lines exhibit the desired electrical characteristics and are functionally viable for integration into complex circuits. This demonstration utilizes ASML's EXE:5200 high-NA EUV lithography scanner, a pre-production system representing the cutting edge of lithography technology. By leveraging this advanced tool, imec has provided compelling evidence of the maturity and readiness of high-NA EUV for industrial adoption in the near future, paving the way for the continued scaling of integrated circuits and the realization of Moore's Law for the next generation of advanced logic devices. This accomplishment underscores the crucial role of high-NA EUV lithography in enabling the continuation of Moore's Law, allowing for the continued miniaturization and increased performance of microchips, which are essential to powering advancements in various technological domains including artificial intelligence, high-performance computing, and mobile devices.

  • imec
  • EUV
  • High-NA EUV
  • lithography
  • Semiconductors
  • Chip Manufacturing
  • 20nm
  • single patterning
  • electrical yield
  • nanotechnology
  • Integrated Circuits
  • process technology
  • Moore's Law

  Summary of Comments ( 4 )
  https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43207040

  Verbose tl;dr

  Hacker News commenters discuss the significance of Imec's achievement, with some emphasizing the immense difficulty and cost associated with High-NA EUV lithography, questioning its economic viability compared to multi-patterning. Others point out that this is a research milestone, not a production process, and that further optimizations are needed for defect reduction and improved overlay accuracy. Some commenters also delve into the technical details, highlighting the role of new resist materials and the impact of stochastic effects at these incredibly small scales. Several express excitement about the advancement for future chip manufacturing, despite the challenges.

  The Hacker News post titled "Imec demonstrates electrical yield for 20nm lines High NA EUV single patterning" has a modest number of comments, generating a brief discussion around the implications of the announcement. No one expresses outright disagreement with the technological advancement claimed, but the tone is generally cautious and focuses on the practical realities and economic considerations of adopting such technology.

  One commenter points out the high cost associated with High-NA EUV, noting that the cost per wafer layer using this technology will be substantial due to the expensive equipment and slower throughput. They question whether the industry can bear this cost increase, especially considering the ongoing debate about the economic viability of Moore's Law continuation. This raises the issue of whether the benefits of increased density outweigh the significantly higher manufacturing costs.

  Another commenter echoes this concern, emphasizing the limited availability of these advanced tools. They suggest that even if the technology is promising, the scarce supply of High-NA EUV equipment will likely restrict its adoption to a select few high-volume manufacturers who can afford and justify the investment. This limitation could exacerbate existing inequalities in the semiconductor industry.

  A third commenter shifts the focus slightly, pondering the potential impact of this technology on chip design. They suggest that achieving 20nm lines with single patterning simplifies the design process compared to multi-patterning techniques. This simplification could lead to faster design cycles and potentially reduced design costs, although they don't elaborate on the magnitude of this effect.

  The discussion doesn't delve into deep technical details, and there's no debate about the validity of IMEC's claims. The overall sentiment seems to be one of acknowledging the technical achievement while remaining pragmatic about the economic and logistical challenges associated with widespread adoption of High-NA EUV lithography. The comments primarily focus on the cost-benefit analysis of this technology and its potential impact on the broader semiconductor landscape.

• The first yearly drop in average CPU performance in its 20 years of benchmarks

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  Posted: 2025-02-11 20:00:13

  Verbose tl;dr

  For the first time in two decades, PassMark's CPU benchmark data reveals a year-over-year decline in average CPU performance. While single-threaded performance continued to climb slightly, multi-threaded performance dropped significantly, leading to the overall decrease. This is attributed to a shift in the market away from high-core-count CPUs aimed at enthusiasts and servers, towards more mainstream and power-efficient processors, often with fewer cores. Additionally, while new architectures are being introduced, they haven't yet achieved widespread adoption to offset this trend.

  A recent report by Tom's Hardware, covering data from PassMark Software's CPU benchmark database, reveals a noteworthy trend: for the first time in two decades of meticulously collected data, the average CPU performance has experienced a year-over-year decline. This shift marks a departure from the consistent performance gains observed historically, prompting speculation about the underlying causes and potential implications for the future of computing.

  The decline, while modest at approximately 0.47% between Q2 2023 and Q2 2024, is statistically significant considering the long-term trend. PassMark, known for its extensive CPU benchmarking database encompassing various manufacturers and architectures, provides a valuable longitudinal perspective on processor evolution. Their data, compiled from user-submitted benchmark results, offers a broad view of real-world CPU performance across a diverse range of systems.

  Several factors are hypothesized to contribute to this unprecedented dip in average performance. The article suggests that the current market landscape, characterized by a mature x86 architecture and potentially diminishing returns from architectural refinements, might be playing a role. Furthermore, the ongoing transition to hybrid architectures, combining performance and efficiency cores, adds complexity to performance evaluation. While these designs aim to optimize power efficiency and overall system responsiveness, their impact on raw benchmark performance is not always straightforward.

  Additionally, the cyclical nature of technological advancements, interspersed with periods of consolidation and refinement, could be contributing to the observed trend. It is plausible that the industry is currently in a phase where incremental improvements are becoming more challenging to achieve, leading to a temporary plateau in average performance gains. This could be further exacerbated by external factors like supply chain disruptions and economic fluctuations, potentially affecting research and development investments.

  The article emphasizes that this decline in average performance doesn't necessarily signify a stagnation in CPU development. Rather, it might reflect a shift in focus towards other aspects of computing, such as power efficiency, specialized workloads, and heterogeneous computing architectures. The ongoing exploration of novel architectures and manufacturing processes suggests that future performance gains are likely, albeit potentially through different avenues than those seen in the past. The article concludes by highlighting the importance of considering this performance shift in the broader context of evolving computing paradigms and the continuous quest for optimized performance metrics beyond raw processing power.

  • CPU Performance
  • Benchmarks
  • PassMark
  • Yearly Drop
  • Hardware
  • Processors
  • PC Components
  • Technology
  • Computing
  • Moore's Law

  Summary of Comments ( 14 )
  https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43017612

  Verbose tl;dr

  Hacker News users discussed potential reasons for the reported drop in average CPU performance. Some attributed it to a shift in market focus from single-threaded performance to multi-core designs, impacting PassMark's scoring methodology. Others pointed to the slowdown of Moore's Law and the increasing difficulty of achieving significant performance gains. Several commenters questioned the validity of PassMark as a reliable benchmark, suggesting it doesn't accurately reflect real-world performance or the specific needs of various workloads. A few also mentioned the impact of the pandemic and supply chain issues on CPU development and release schedules. Finally, some users expressed skepticism about the significance of the drop, noting that performance improvements have plateaued in recent years.

  The Hacker News post titled "The first yearly drop in average CPU performance in its 20 years of benchmarks" generated a robust discussion with a variety of perspectives on the observed decline. Several commenters focused on the methodology of the PassMark benchmark, questioning its relevance in representing real-world performance gains. One user pointed out that PassMark heavily weights integer performance, an area where gains have plateaued, while neglecting other crucial areas like single-threaded performance which continues to improve. This sentiment was echoed by others who argued that specialized workloads, like AI and machine learning, see significant performance improvements not captured by PassMark.

  A recurring theme in the comments was the shift in focus from raw clock speed increases to architectural improvements and power efficiency. Commenters suggested that the pursuit of higher clock speeds has reached its practical limit due to thermal constraints and diminishing returns. Instead, manufacturers are prioritizing improvements in areas like instruction-level parallelism, cache efficiency, and core count, which may not translate directly into higher PassMark scores but contribute to overall system performance.

  Several users highlighted the impact of the transition to ARM architecture, particularly Apple's silicon, on the benchmark results. They argued that PassMark's predominantly x86-centric benchmark suite doesn't accurately reflect the performance gains seen in ARM-based systems, potentially skewing the overall average downwards.

  The discussion also touched on the broader implications of this trend, with some commenters speculating about the end of Moore's Law and the future of CPU performance improvements. Some posited that we are entering a period of slower, more incremental gains focused on specialized hardware and software optimizations rather than the dramatic leaps seen in the past. Others remained optimistic, arguing that new technologies like chiplet designs and advanced manufacturing processes will continue to drive performance improvements, even if they are not reflected in traditional benchmarks like PassMark.

  Finally, a few commenters questioned the reliability of PassMark itself, citing potential biases and limitations in its data collection methodology. They emphasized the importance of considering multiple benchmarks and real-world performance evaluations rather than relying solely on a single metric.