A problem that was common in the 1990s was that the system couldn’t cache more than a certain amount of RAM: you could have more than 64MB or 128MB, but everything beyond that would run like a drain; basically it would only be worthwhile if you could get the OS to treat the extra as a ramdisk and swap to it. I don’t know if this sort of thing still happens much.
The physical connectors change from time to time; anyone who still has a working socket 7 motherboard is not going to be installing the latest CPU or RAM in it, for instance. We’re in the middle of a transition from PCI+AGP to PCIe, although you can still easily buy PCI motherboards and devices so I think we’re still a long way from the total obsolescence of PCI. I don’t think the interface between case/PSU and motherboard has changed much since ATX, BICBW, and there are alternative form factors out there.
Some software can’t take advantage of upgrades. Windows XP only sees 2GB on my Mac even though it has 6GB installed (OS X sees the lot).
I think laptops are pretty good bet for green computing; they have strong commercial pressure on them to minimize power consumption, as battery lifetime is a major selling point. Unfortunately (along with things like iMacs) they are about the least readily upgradable type of computer - RAM and disk is probably about the best you’ll be able to do. Does the lifetime energy saving make up for the manufacturing cost? Since most users don’t upgrade in the way you’re talking about anyway, I guess it probably does, but the answer might be different if upgrading was more widespread.
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Date: 2010-04-27 07:54 pm (UTC)A problem that was common in the 1990s was that the system couldn’t cache more than a certain amount of RAM: you could have more than 64MB or 128MB, but everything beyond that would run like a drain; basically it would only be worthwhile if you could get the OS to treat the extra as a ramdisk and swap to it. I don’t know if this sort of thing still happens much.
The physical connectors change from time to time; anyone who still has a working socket 7 motherboard is not going to be installing the latest CPU or RAM in it, for instance. We’re in the middle of a transition from PCI+AGP to PCIe, although you can still easily buy PCI motherboards and devices so I think we’re still a long way from the total obsolescence of PCI. I don’t think the interface between case/PSU and motherboard has changed much since ATX, BICBW, and there are alternative form factors out there.
Some software can’t take advantage of upgrades. Windows XP only sees 2GB on my Mac even though it has 6GB installed (OS X sees the lot).
I think laptops are pretty good bet for green computing; they have strong commercial pressure on them to minimize power consumption, as battery lifetime is a major selling point. Unfortunately (along with things like iMacs) they are about the least readily upgradable type of computer - RAM and disk is probably about the best you’ll be able to do. Does the lifetime energy saving make up for the manufacturing cost? Since most users don’t upgrade in the way you’re talking about anyway, I guess it probably does, but the answer might be different if upgrading was more widespread.