Friday, December 30, 2011
Intel to bundle Liquid Cooling with Retail Sandy Bridge-E Processors?
First news of Intel bundling a liquid cooler with its high performance processors appeared back in Apr this year. Intel made a reference to it during it's developer's forum at that time.
With processors being built with dynamic clocking, they can be used in both directions. One is to slow down to clock to slow down and thus reduce power consumption. On the other hand you could "overclock" to get the last ounce of performance out of them. Thermal dissipation will obviously increase. Overclocking has been the tricks used by enthusiasts, particularly gaming guys, to squeeze out the last bit of performance. Liquid cooling has been a trick used by this crowd. Now by providing this option Intel is letting board designers and hence anyone needing it, the option of getting enhanced performance through this. Last checked, it is actually being offered now. This is how it is being offered according to Tom's Hardware.
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Top engineering schools ranking
Top universities and engineering schools rankings came out as in every other year. The rankings were taken by the usual suspects. These rankings give rise to the usual debates too. Main issue, that resonate with what I speculated on a couple posts back, is if the teachers are the best engineering teachers(for engineering schools, in particular). Some of the comments are significant and I quote from them in the following. Some of the points relevant have been highlighted. As I had mentioned in my post earlier, where is the emphasis on "teaching" engineering!
Glen Bishop commented:
MA Engr commented:
Disgruntled commented:
"December 29, 2011
In response to: Top engineering schools rankingGlen Bishop commented:
Allegiance to one's alma mater seems to be clouding the idea of "best" engineering school. As a Princeton freshman, I lived the feeling of "woe unto me for being the dumbest member of the entering class". With high school grades and test scores in the top one percent, I probably WAS the dumbest in the class. Other students breezed through material that I found challenging, but then again the undergrad curricula in junior year featured compilers, quantum mechanics, finite element analysis, and digital signal processing. Princeton offers undergrad classes with 30 students taught by a full professor, and labs stuffed with cutting edge equipment. The "Harry Potter" style dining halls offer a clue, but the conversations with students and faculty make it clear that this is one of the "best" schools. Beware though: the "best" school is definitely NOT the "best" choice for the average or even the above average engineering student. Students are advised to select schools that can teach no more and no less than what the student can absorb in each 12 week term. Hence the "best" school is a "bad" choice for the majority of students. We are all equal before god and the law, but final exam scores at those "best" schools will reveal something else."
"December 29, 2011
In response to: Top engineering schools rankingMA Engr commented:
Lots of great comments here. I received my BSEE/MSEE in the early '80s. Things have changed much since then. Now I have been helping my sons select universities. Having been in the business awhile, I am appalled at some of new grads who can't even figure out basic circuits. Are the "best" schools weighted by research grant money, famous faculty, etc? Which is all great, but perhaps what should get more weighting for non-academic career people is how good is the TEACHING. Are all classes taught by grad students? Are they really learning fundamentals well, or are they jumping into programming ASICs and FPGAs before they even know what a resistor is? Look at things like class size, curriculum, faculty focus on teaching."
"September 30, 2011
In response to: Top engineering schools rankingDisgruntled commented:
For my undergraduate BSME, I went to an ABET-accredited college ranked slightly below the middle. It was mostly a friendly school, and I enjoyed learning and studying there. It was in some ways the best time of my life. I’m not bragging, but just to establish the situation: I did very well there, being first in the Mechanical Engineering Department out of 92 people.
For my graduate MSME, I went to Stanford. I was rather naïve, and didn’t even realize that it had such a good reputation. I was pushed into applying there by several of my professors; without my even knowing much about Stanford itself.
There is no doubt that attending this institution has caused people to pay more attention to my resume, and opened some doors to me that would have remained closed if I’d stayed at my 3rd tier undergraduate school.
Nearly all of the students at Stanford were very bright, some true geniuses. But also, some of them were literally high-functioning autistics - with no social skills at all, often very rude or non-communicative. At my previous lower-ranked undergraduate school, the upper quarter of the class was also fairly bright. The main difference from Stanford, was that the bottom half of the class wasn’t so bright; and probably stood little chance of getting a real engineering job, unless they had connections.
In Stanford, I was under the most stress I have ever been in my life. It was very competitive. Everyone was out for themselves, and no one helped anyone else. The course load was very hectic, and I came close to having a nervous breakdown. Even though most of the students were supposedly selected based on academic achievement and merit; there was a very elitist, snobby, moneyed attitude present. Coming from the middle class, I felt patronized by the rich students. The popular topic of conversation around the dinner table was where everyone had gone on their third trip to Europe, and what wonderful art museums they had seen there. (I had never even been outside of the US.)
And some of the teachers at Stanford were really not all that good. Because the school selected only the highest-ranked students, they could have probably just taught basket-weaving to the students for the whole time they were there. Once graduated, because of their innate talent, most the students would have probably done all right anyway, and adapted to the real-world needs of their jobs.
I had always intended to get my Phd. However, all of the stress was too much for me. After getting my MSME; I fled to a situation where I could go home at 5 in the evening and relax; instead of studying 80 or 90 hours a week. I became too busy with work and home life to ever pursue a Phd again. Stanford, and its elitist attitude, broke my self-confidence. I now regard attending this so-called top-ranked school, as being one of my life’s greatest mistakes.
Looking back over 35 years now, the main moral is: A school’s ranking isn’t everything. Select a school that you’re comfortable in. It may not necessarily be the top-ranked school, but rather a school that fits your personality and lifestyle."
For my graduate MSME, I went to Stanford. I was rather naïve, and didn’t even realize that it had such a good reputation. I was pushed into applying there by several of my professors; without my even knowing much about Stanford itself.
There is no doubt that attending this institution has caused people to pay more attention to my resume, and opened some doors to me that would have remained closed if I’d stayed at my 3rd tier undergraduate school.
Nearly all of the students at Stanford were very bright, some true geniuses. But also, some of them were literally high-functioning autistics - with no social skills at all, often very rude or non-communicative. At my previous lower-ranked undergraduate school, the upper quarter of the class was also fairly bright. The main difference from Stanford, was that the bottom half of the class wasn’t so bright; and probably stood little chance of getting a real engineering job, unless they had connections.
In Stanford, I was under the most stress I have ever been in my life. It was very competitive. Everyone was out for themselves, and no one helped anyone else. The course load was very hectic, and I came close to having a nervous breakdown. Even though most of the students were supposedly selected based on academic achievement and merit; there was a very elitist, snobby, moneyed attitude present. Coming from the middle class, I felt patronized by the rich students. The popular topic of conversation around the dinner table was where everyone had gone on their third trip to Europe, and what wonderful art museums they had seen there. (I had never even been outside of the US.)
And some of the teachers at Stanford were really not all that good. Because the school selected only the highest-ranked students, they could have probably just taught basket-weaving to the students for the whole time they were there. Once graduated, because of their innate talent, most the students would have probably done all right anyway, and adapted to the real-world needs of their jobs.
I had always intended to get my Phd. However, all of the stress was too much for me. After getting my MSME; I fled to a situation where I could go home at 5 in the evening and relax; instead of studying 80 or 90 hours a week. I became too busy with work and home life to ever pursue a Phd again. Stanford, and its elitist attitude, broke my self-confidence. I now regard attending this so-called top-ranked school, as being one of my life’s greatest mistakes.
Looking back over 35 years now, the main moral is: A school’s ranking isn’t everything. Select a school that you’re comfortable in. It may not necessarily be the top-ranked school, but rather a school that fits your personality and lifestyle."
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