OK here is one for the nerds on the forum. If you were to make a high spec gaming PC, but with the parts (valves etc) of 50 yrs ago (I refer you to Colossus, the computer made by Postal Engineer Tommy Flowers in the 2nd World War, http://www.picotech.com/applications/colossus.html), how big would a CPU, RAM, motherboard & graphics card have to be? Obviously the performance would be inhibited with the vast comparible distances the electrons would have to travel. To keep things simplified, & assuming that the valves efficiency matches todays transistor efficiency, I would like NOT to take that into account! With the amount of switches - runs into millions - that are "shrunk" in a CPU alone, and comparing the size of one valve, the size would have to be mind boggling. Let alone on a MOBO, or in a 7800GTX card. Imagine an SLi set up! How big would a gig stick of RAM be? How big would a DVD burner have to be with the same LASER (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emmission of Radiation) technology. (James Bond & Goldfinger springs to mind!)? How big would the discs be? The list is endless as to the peripherals etc you can include in this comparison. So there you have it, how big would such a computer have to be in order to match todays demanding specs? PS, I include myself as a "nerd"... PPS, That goes without saying. PPPS, I would prefer it if we started on the topic for at least the first couple of replies before we wander WAY off topic, or start flame wars as to which valve is better!
I don't know the specs too much of old computers, but I do remember some info about the lunar lander from the late 60s from a program on the history channel. The entire computer in the lunar lander, which controlled the guidance of it, had a whopping 76 kB of memory. And that was the late 60s, which should help put in perspective what the computers from the 50s had!
no nothing about this but i believe when they introsuced bar coding systems in supermarkets i belive they had a whole room edicated to the system so i'm guessin ..BIG...
Just had a read of some chip specs, there is an Intel that has 260 million transistors. I can't imagine all those valves! That would be a house & a half full!
