My college says no Athlons....

RIP OFF all of the AMD stickers, send them to me, and then get Intel inside stickers....catch my drift? :)

And nice lappy choice.
 
I fail to see the need for a P4-2.0 to do Computer Science. It sounds like whoever made those requirements doesn't actually know what CompSci is. I'm getting ready for my 3rd year of Electrical Engineering and 2nd year of CompSci, and have not had a single assignment that I couldn't have done on a P1-133.

I'm not sure what they have planned, but it doesn't sound like a CompSci program. Either that, or the person you talked to has NO FREAKING CLUE what he's talking about.
 
What a load of Poo Poo. I wonder if they got some sort of deal on the new computer lab? :confused:
 
fat-tony said:
I'm not sure what they have planned, but it doesn't sound like a CompSci program. Either that, or the person you talked to has NO FREAKING CLUE what he's talking about.
Click to expand...

I didn't talk to anyone, they sent me a link to the document on their webpage. I've now come to the conclusion, given the facts that I have, that it's horribly out of date. I talked to a current student who is going to try to get this document corrected as expeditiously as possible. Students who see this and do not know better, may spend money that they do not need to. I think this is a cause for concern.

Regards,
Matt
 
its either that, or a student put that there a few years ago to give kids an extra thing to leech off their parents

"mommy, i need a 3000 dollar computer for college, or they wont let me in!"
 
how can they tell you what computer to have in the first place? aren't YOU paying THEM to attend the university?

bullshit i say.
 
bored-sarcasm said:
how can they tell you what computer to have in the first place? aren't YOU paying THEM to attend the university?

bullshit i say.
Click to expand...


"you're coming here, we need you to have this, which our incompetent IT staff says is the only way for you to run our software which actually runs on anything, so...BUY WHAT WE SAY OR DIE!"
 
CrimandEvil said:
I have no problem running LAME with my 1900+, sounds like user error to me ;) :D
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Heh, no it was a fairly old version that worked fine on my p4 (recycled from my p200) and when I stuck it in my amd machine it just didnt work. And it was a Intel Pentium specific program.. Im pretty sure some PSX emulator also did that to me. Yeah...
 
lol this sounds like when you used to go to Circuit City or Best Buy and ask them why they don't sell Athlons and they said "because Intel processors are faster" :p
 
There can be legitimate concerns if they're having you write software to optimize for computers that it may be tested on. From what I understand, students at RIT can log in to the AMD or Intel servers to benchmark their software.
 
Matt Welke said:
Dumb enough to run Windows? Why is running Windows dumb? Are you refering to the fact that if people can't learn DOS and effectively use it, they're dumb? Windows is great, when it works. Much better than struggling with DOS, IMO.
Click to expand...

DOS/WIndows aren't the only OSes in this world.

Linux/Unix, etc.

And windows works all the time for me - XP/2000 kicks the crap out of the 9x/ME/3.1 versions.

But I'm a Linux man myself...

Now on topic:

My school is supposed to be famous for tech and stuff, but look at this recommendation for a computer:
http://www.wpi.edu/Academics/CCC/Student/#computer

Recommended to have a 2.8 Ghz CPU with 800 Mhz FSB and a 64 MB video card.

And you know what? Kids at my school are computer morons - they all buy the same dell computer and all they do is play music with them. My school doesn't require you to use programs that tax your comp, the most stressful would probably be Matlab
:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Way to go, WPI.

So stick with what you got, your school's tech dept. probably has no clue what they're talking about, kind of like mine. My school also says Linksys stuff is low quality, even though they're made by Cisco Networks...
 
omega-x said:
"you're coming here, we need you to have this, which our incompetent IT staff says is the only way for you to run our software which actually runs on anything, so...BUY WHAT WE SAY OR DIE!"
Click to expand...

well then, i think that says "skip the first loan payments and see what happens."
 
its bunk.
It sounds like the ivory tower doesn't understand technology and the marketplace... its issued some proclamation in ignorance in order to appeal to the most unlikely of contigiences.
 
BillLeeLee said:
DOS/WIndows aren't the only OSes in this world.

Linux/Unix, etc.

And windows works all the time for me - XP/2000 kicks the crap out of the 9x/ME/3.1 versions.

But I'm a Linux man myself...

Now on topic:

My school is supposed to be famous for tech and stuff, but look at this recommendation for a computer:
http://www.wpi.edu/Academics/CCC/Student/#computer

Recommended to have a 2.8 Ghz CPU with 800 Mhz FSB and a 64 MB video card.

And you know what? Kids at my school are computer morons - they all buy the same dell computer and all they do is play music with them. My school doesn't require you to use programs that tax your comp, the most stressful would probably be Matlab
:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Way to go, WPI.

So stick with what you got, your school's tech dept. probably has no clue what they're talking about, kind of like mine. My school also says Linksys stuff is low quality, even though they're made by Cisco Networks...
Click to expand...



also.l

"WPI does not recommend purchasing systems with NVIDIA nForce motherboards. We have identified problems with the on-board network interface, which does not function according to specification. In order to have a system with an nForce function on the network at WPI, you'll need to purchase an additional network interface card. This card can be purchased through WPI Network Operations or at your favorite computer/electronics store. "

wtf?
there is NOTHING wrong with my nforce2 lan card. i dont know what they're smoking.
 
I was told I "had" to purchase a minimum:

P4 2000
256 MB PC2100 SDRAM (or higher)
64 MB Video
10/100 NIC
40 GB HDD.

For what? First year, the most taxing thing we programmed was a simple ANSI C calculator. Or maybe it was all that Prolog compiling that really taxed the CPU. A P133 or anything above that would have worked just the same. Command line Linux interface. Like we need 2 GHz (or equivalent) to crunch less than 250 lines of code.

Pfft. Ignore the FAQ. Seems that the these school's IT/IS department members either need to get their head screwed on right or go find the nearest defibrulator and hit themselves with it, doing us all a favour.
 
i have had k6, and all different types of athlons and have only had a problem with one program....

logic design, it is a crappy old circuit design program. It will not run on non intel hardware.
 
Most schools have deals with computer manufacturers. They're hoping you'll go into the bookstore, and buy the latest thing (Dell, HP, Apple, or IBM) has sold them. Keeping the specs that high are how they do it. Do you think the people that were freshman 4-6 years ago are using a machine that's up to their "spec"? Most of them probably have the same machene they started with, and have zero problems.
 
Dirty B said:
Hey guys I want to shed some light on this. I went to RIT (Rochester Inst of Tech) as a mechanical engineering student. I had an Athlon the whole time I was there and never had any issues running my engineering programs.... the ones that DID run!

Some engineering programs such as Solid Works and some CAD programs wouldnt run on my computer, reason being I didnt have an intel processor. During the setup it wouldnt let me install and a pop up window would show up and tell me basically it was because I had an AMD (not in so many words)

Ran it on my roommates SLOWER P3 and no problems, installed and running.

So I say you are ok with the AMD, but dont be surprised if you arent able to install some of the required programs. This was almost 4 yrs ago, so things could have changed but thats just an FYI.
Click to expand...

I have a barton 2500 and have run just about every major CAD program there is on it with absolutely no problem...
 
I graduated from Purdue in 1996 (BSEE) and did the last 2 years with a Cyrix 166+. I did the first year with a 10Mhz, 80286. I wouldn't sweat bringing an Athlon.

I'm going to UH Law in the fall, and they list a required laptop. You can buy anything you want, the university's IT just won't support it if it's not their specified laptop. I expect that NJIT may have a similar stance. If you're comfortable with performing your own support (and I suspect that you are), don't worry about it. That specification list is more for the clueless to take on their way to Best Buy. If the IT staff can cut down the variables in the support equation, it makes their job easier. It's a shame that they won't say that directly, instead of hiding behind vague, hard to define terms like 'subtle differences'.

As everyone else has said, the part about subtle differences in Athlon is Intel marketing speak, and the part about celerons not being able to run software you'll need later in your career doesn't make sense either..

Buy what you want, don't worry about it.
 
Wow. That seems a little unusual for the college to decide what processor they'll let you have. The only thing that sounds different between the P4 and the AXP is HT technology and the programs that require it. Besides that, the person who wrote that FAQ is totally rocking the ganja. :D
 
buy a dual processor AMD :)

then you wont have to contend with this fake dual processor crap :p
 
I dont know bout that.
Im never going to go to intel till im rich.
Ive been running amds since my 333celeron.
I have to many boards for AMDS.
Not a single board for intel.
AMD4LIFE
 
DnkMax said:
I dont know bout that.
Im never going to go to intel till im rich.
Ive been running amds since my 333celeron.
I have to many boards for AMDS.
Not a single board for intel.
AMD4LIFE
Click to expand...
woopee. that's just silly
 
wayne said:
:eek: :eek:

ughh, i peed in my pants..jk :D .... your school got idiots running the tech department :rolleyes:
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Heh, I'm afraid to look up what my school (RIT) or some of my friends' schools suggest.
 
You know there is a slight possibility of this actually being true. (emphasis on the slight)

Every processor has errata...

They may have you take several assembly courses (mov EAX ECX) and at that level of programming there may be an occasional difference in how a program behaves on different processors.

But so little is done in assembly anymore.

When I took assembly we used 8086 based biscut/breakout pc's to learn on, not full blown comptuers. (it was not THAT long ago) we could wire circuits onto breadboards that directly interfaced with the various buses on the comptuer... we had to program with a hex keypad to get it booted to the point that it could talk to the serial port, then we could load programs from our full computers into the 8086. That was actually a fun class. (I think it was called a SDK-86)

==>Lazn
 
Once again I appreciate the replies, I'm on vacation so I've been checking in every once in a while seeing what you guys have to say. This thread sure has a lot of hits so far, I'll be sure to post the resolution as soon as I get the word.

Regards,
Matt
 
Matt Welke said:
Dumb enough to run Windows? Why is running Windows dumb? Are you refering to the fact that if people can't learn DOS and effectively use it, they're dumb? Windows is great, when it works. Much better than struggling with DOS, IMO.
Click to expand...

I hope that was a funnay. If it's not a funnay, then... damn... you need to catch up with modern computing.
 
This is what my work place recommends for it's faculty and staff

I hate that they don't reccomend an AMD option. But that's ok. I'm actually working on it right now and it's pretty quick for a work computer. I don't play games or use anything really taxing (XMLSPY, Dreamweaver MX, Notepad, Outlook, and Firefox are the only things I've ever got running).

All of the IT people run AMD rigs though. They just buy all intel stuff for work because it's cheaper for UH when they buy 15,000 computers at once.

Edit: They were smart enough to build this though: http://mckinley.cs.uh.edu/index.php?sid=4612&aktion=artikel&rubrik=001001002&id=16&lang=en

They're working up to a Petabyte slowly. State funding cuts and all.
 
Canlador said:
This is what my work place recommends for it's faculty and staff

I hate that they don't reccomend an AMD option. But that's ok. I'm actually working on it right now and it's pretty quick for a work computer. I don't play games or use anything really taxing (XMLSPY, Dreamweaver MX, Notepad, Outlook, and Firefox are the only things I've ever got running).

All of the IT people run AMD rigs though. They just buy all intel stuff for work because it's cheaper for UH when they buy 15,000 computers at once.

Edit: They were smart enough to build this though: http://mckinley.cs.uh.edu/index.php?sid=4612&aktion=artikel&rubrik=001001002&id=16&lang=en

They're working up to a Petabyte slowly. State funding cuts and all.
Click to expand...

taken from the first link
Choice of an Aopen Desktop case (shown at right) X-CUBE w/Aopen logo and 4 – 2.0 USB ports on the front. Includes Sony DVD/CDRW drive.
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haha, does Aopen pay them?
 
Dekar12 said:
Bunch of bull

Sit those people down at 20 different computers with either a p4 2.0 or an athlon and they would never now the difference.

And in all honesty I don't see where they can say a celeron cant handle the programs either. Its a p4 with less cache, and less cache has only shown to make it slower in a bunch of programs. Not unable to perform the duty, just slower.

I say take your machine, don't mention it to any of the profs and go about your merry way.
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Too lazy to look through the whole thread, but if I am not mistaken, doesn't the celeron NOT have a math co-processor? This was my understanding and I know it runs photoshop like ass, which is why we discourage schools from buying it on the k-12 level.
 
You're going to attend a school for technology whose IT dept is so inept as to release a statement like this?

That would be like learning math from someone who thinks pi is exactly 3.
 
Nuc_E said:
The IT department actually thought of going to "student owned CLCs (computer labs)". In other words, forcing everyone to get laptops. I already have a nice machine and have no real need for a laptop.
Click to expand...

Good thing your school only thought about it. Mine actually did it and it's nothing but constant bitching and problems for the poor users. Good thing I was grandfathered out of the system, otherwise I would have left the school.

One thing I have learned from my own experience, friends, and family is most college IT departments are complete garbage. Many of them are full of dupes that know nothing. Many of the managers where hired in the dot com boom days and the only reason they got a job is because everyone else ran off for better paying jobs. Only reason anything works is because one or two guys with more than one brain cell makes everything work despite the incompetance of their managers and cowokers.

But every school has some BS you have to deal with when it comes to computers. Mine claimed for years the network wouldn't work unless you had a 3com card. Sister's college forces you to run Norton or they won't enable the network jack in your room. Others won't let you run linux. You have to either take it and work around it or try to find a school that has a good IT department.
 
They may be using the intel compiler for performance reasons. Course you can hex edit the code so it'll run on an AMD CPU but they probably won't want to do that... then again sEErZer0 said his AMD system worked fine.
 
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