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New PC for Phil...

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  New PC for Phil... Philip Herlihy <nothing@invalid.com> - 2026-05-31 20:13 +0100
    Re: New PC for Phil... Graham J <nobody@nowhere.co.uk> - 2026-05-31 21:01 +0100
      Re: New PC for Phil...  [OT - why Windows?] Philip Herlihy <nothing@invalid.com> - 2026-06-01 12:46 +0100
        Re: New PC for Phil...  [OT - why Windows?] Gordon <Gordon@leaf.net.nz> - 2026-06-03 08:02 +0000
          Re: New PC for Phil...  [OT - why Windows?] Philip Herlihy <nothing@invalid.com> - 2026-06-03 15:44 +0100
    Re: New PC for Phil... RJH <patchmoney@gmx.com> - 2026-06-01 19:49 +0000
      Re: New PC for Phil... Philip Herlihy <nothing@invalid.com> - 2026-06-01 22:29 +0100
        Re: New PC for Phil... RJH <patchmoney@gmx.com> - 2026-06-02 06:47 +0000
          Re: New PC for Phil... Philip Herlihy <nothing@invalid.com> - 2026-06-02 11:46 +0100
            Artificial but not intelligent (Was: New PC for Phil...) Daniel James <daniel@me.invalid> - 2026-06-02 13:06 +0100
              Re: Artificial but not intelligent (Was: New PC for Phil...) "Jeff Gaines" <jgnewsid@outlook.com> - 2026-06-02 12:55 +0000
              Re: Artificial but not intelligent (Was: New PC for Phil...) Philip Herlihy <nothing@invalid.com> - 2026-06-03 15:51 +0100
                Re: Artificial but not intelligent (Was: New PC for Phil...) Daniel James <daniel@me.invalid> - 2026-06-03 18:33 +0100
                  Re: Artificial but not intelligent (Was: New PC for Phil...) "Jeff Gaines" <jgnewsid@outlook.com> - 2026-06-04 08:18 +0000
                    Re: Artificial but not intelligent Theo <theom+news@chiark.greenend.org.uk> - 2026-06-04 22:23 +0100
                      Re: Artificial but not intelligent "Jeff Gaines" <jgnewsid@outlook.com> - 2026-06-05 07:37 +0000
                  Re: Artificial but not intelligent (Was: New PC for Phil...) RJH <patchmoney@gmx.com> - 2026-06-04 21:13 +0000
              Re: Artificial but not intelligent (Was: New PC for Phil...) Philip Herlihy <nothing@invalid.com> - 2026-06-25 12:42 +0100
    Re: New PC for Phil... Theo <theom+news@chiark.greenend.org.uk> - 2026-06-05 00:37 +0100
    Re: New PC for Phil... Philip Herlihy <nothing@invalid.com> - 2026-06-07 11:55 +0100

#60611 — New PC for Phil...

Time I bought a new PC - and I'd be glad of advice.

My present one is running well, though just occasionally I feel 
something slightly brisker would be nice.  Which is not bad as it'll be 
14 years old in November!  But it can't run Windows 11, and I need to 
run Windows.

It has an i7-3770 CPU @ 3.40GHz, 3401 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 8 Logical 
Processor(s), with 18GB of RAM.  It has two SATA SSDs, with a 4TB 
spinning disk for backups.  Graphics card is a 4GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 
1050 Ti (added later).

What do I need it for?  Well, Facebook, email, surfing, various AI tools 
(online).  General home office work, spreadsheets, Access databases, 
Word.  I doubt I'll get back to coding, but might finally get round to 
fooling around with my graphics tablet and some "art" software (Corel 
Painter).  I do have a project for the next year which will involve some 
CAD work - Chief Architect "Home Designer" which does 3D rendering. I 
don't need that in real time (as I understand it that needs four figures 
spent on a graphics card) but it would be good not to have to wait 
tooooo long for a rendered "3D world" to appear.

I asked CoPilot what sort of Dell I should get.  (I've always liked Dell 
kit - good build quality and value for money)  It made some useful 
suggestions and seemed to steer me away from "workstation" level kit as 
"overkill" for my needs.

But it also suggested using a builder like Scan to create a custome 
machine from standard components, for value, maintainability and future-
proofing, and this might be the time I do that.  It also said get a 
processor way beyond what you need now (as you'll need it in seven years 
if you're going to keep the thing) and get twice the memory you think 
you need now.  So I'm figuring pushing the boat out on an i9, and 
starting with 32GB of RAM.  I don't need a case that looks nice - it'll 
be under my desk - just want it reasonably quiet.

I'm absorbed by AI - in my seventies I've never learned so much or so 
fast in my life - especiallky since discovering OneNote to help me 
organise my notes.  Ideally I'd wait a bit longer for NPUs to mature, as 
I suspect more and more AI processing will be local, but with "Extended 
Support" due to end in October this is the time to move.  I guess that 
NPUs (or whatever comes next) may become bolt-ons in time, but it's 
anyway a reason to go for a really fancy processor.

If you've got this far, thanks for indulging me.  I had help from Jamie 
and others back in 2012 when choosing my Dell Vostro 470, which was 
surely one of the best purchases I've ever made.  Any guidance from this 
"college" of experts will be gratefully received.

-- 
--
Phil, London

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#60612

Philip Herlihy wrote:
> 
> Time I bought a new PC - and I'd be glad of advice.
> 
> My present one is running well, though just occasionally I feel
> something slightly brisker would be nice.  Which is not bad as it'll be
> 14 years old in November!  But it can't run Windows 11, and I need to
> run Windows.

[snip]

Why do you need to run Windows 11 ????

None of the apps you've listed suggest anything about security worries. 
Is there an app you MUST HAVE which only runs on W11?

You already have quite a powerful machine and it would be a pity to 
pension it off.

If you really must have W11 why not buy a cheap laptop - might be useful 
if you travel about ...


-- 
Graham J

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#60615 — Re: New PC for Phil... [OT - why Windows?]

In article <10vi437$1p7dn$1@dont-email.me>, nobody@nowhere.co.uk says...


>Why do you need to run Windows 11 ????
>
>None of the apps you've listed suggest anything about security worries. 
>Is there an app you MUST HAVE which only runs on W11?
>
>You already have quite a powerful machine and it would be a pity to 
>pension it off.
>
>If you really must have W11 why not buy a cheap laptop - might be useful 
>if you travel about ...
>
>

There are two main reasons.  One is that I spend a great deal of time at 
a computer; have done for years, and I have zero motivation to re-learn 
all my processes.  Windows, and Office, are what I know; I've fooled 
around with things like Google apps and LibreOffice, but I know a large 
range of keyboard shortcuts, for example.  Why throw that away?

Yes, it's irritating that Microsoft expect so many machines to be 
scrapped, and this has been a beaut.  But at my stage in life, about to 
embark on a lengthy project where more computing oomph will be a benefit 
why not treat myself on my forthcoming birthday?  I am interested in 
what's under the bonnet, but probably even more on the work I'm using 
these computers to achieve, so while there's a curiosity about things 
like Chrome Flex OS and Linux, they aren't a priority - even though I 
was once an experienced Unix admin, back in the day.

Having said that, I won't be scrapping my Vostro 470, nor the XPS16 
laptop (also i7) which is nearly as old and running well on W10.  I'll 
probably install Linux Mint on both.  After which they'll likely sit in 
a cupboard unused.  I have a few other W10 machines of lower power (i5, 
i3) kicking around; I'll probably put Mint on those and give them away.  
But there's nothing on Linx that I want - other than perhaps access to 
ddrescue, which I've always meant to try out.  So my Vostro might become 
a data recovery workstation perhaps.

I do have a W11 laptop, and it's an upper-range Surface.  Very pleased 
with it, though I don't use it that much.  When I'm fully retired 
(overdue) I'll fool around with Painter on its touch-screen.

The other reason I'll stay with Windows is that (broadly) everyone else 
does.  Maybe not here, of course.  I'm just about retired from my PC 
support business, but I want to be fluent in the "computing" that 
everyone else is doing, so I can help the odd old lady who's struggling 
with something.

Maybe when I do install Mint on these machines it'll tickle my fancy - 
but I actually don't want it to.  I have work to do, and new tools have 
to have something compelling about them to want to switch.

-- 
--
Phil, London

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#60622 — Re: New PC for Phil... [OT - why Windows?]

On 2026-06-01, Philip Herlihy <nothing@invalid.com> wrote:
> In article <10vi437$1p7dn$1@dont-email.me>, nobody@nowhere.co.uk says...
>
>
>>Why do you need to run Windows 11 ????
>>
>>None of the apps you've listed suggest anything about security worries. 
>>Is there an app you MUST HAVE which only runs on W11?
>>
>>You already have quite a powerful machine and it would be a pity to 
>>pension it off.
>>
>>If you really must have W11 why not buy a cheap laptop - might be useful 
>>if you travel about ...
>>
>>
>
> There are two main reasons.  One is that I spend a great deal of time at 
> a computer; have done for years, and I have zero motivation to re-learn 
> all my processes.  Windows, and Office, are what I know; I've fooled 
> around with things like Google apps and LibreOffice, but I know a large 
> range of keyboard shortcuts, for example.  Why throw that away?
>
> Yes, it's irritating that Microsoft expect so many machines to be 
> scrapped, and this has been a beaut.  

You might not be aware of Rufus 4.14

Removes need of TPM, and window's account.

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#60623 — Re: New PC for Phil... [OT - why Windows?]

In article <n8a5clF3kn5U1@mid.individual.net>, Gordon@leaf.net.nz 
says...


>You might not be aware of Rufus 4.14
>
>Removes need of TPM, and window's account.
>

Could you expand on that?


-- 
--
Phil, London

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#60616

On 31 May 2026 at 20:13:57 BST, Philip Herlihy wrote:

> Time I bought a new PC - and I'd be glad of advice.
> 
> My present one is running well, though just occasionally I feel
> something slightly brisker would be nice.  Which is not bad as it'll be
> 14 years old in November!  But it can't run Windows 11, and I need to
> run Windows.
> 
> It has an i7-3770 CPU @ 3.40GHz, 3401 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 8 Logical
> Processor(s), with 18GB of RAM.  It has two SATA SSDs, with a 4TB
> spinning disk for backups.  Graphics card is a 4GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX
> 1050 Ti (added later).

I might have recommended a Mac Mini were it not for the Windows thing ;-)

Aside from performance, a modern PC should offer some improvements in
quietness, heat generation, and power consumption. Although Dells were quite
good from an environmental POV - at least in the few office ones I used.

Also, might be worth waiting - seems like some innovations are arriving soon:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/nvidia-ai-personal-computer-9.7218820

Although whether you want to be a first adopter or not . . .
-- 
Cheers, Rob
Sheffield, UK

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#60617

In article <10vknok$2f8sf$1@dont-email.me>, patchmoney@gmx.com says...


>Also, might be worth waiting - seems like some innovations are arriving soon:
>
>https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/nvidia-ai-personal-computer-9.7218820
>
>Although whether you want to be a first adopter or not . . .
>
>

Yes - I'd seen that, and had been wondering.  Google Gemini pulled 
together useful answers to my questions:
https://gemini.google.com/share/ffc87cb3f377

On balance, I do think I need the universal compatibility, though the 
quantum leap in performance is of course attractive.  I'm wary of being 
an early-adopter too, so maybe in a couple more years when things have 
settled down I might invest in an RTX Spark laptop.  (I note that the 
OEMs will be concentrating on laptops and mini-PCs, rather than the 
tower I feel I want.

-- 
--
Phil, London

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#60618

On 1 Jun 2026 at 22:29:12 BST, Philip Herlihy wrote:

> In article <10vknok$2f8sf$1@dont-email.me>, patchmoney@gmx.com says...
> 
> 
>> Also, might be worth waiting - seems like some innovations are arriving soon:
>> 
>> https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/nvidia-ai-personal-computer-9.7218820
>> 
>> Although whether you want to be a first adopter or not . . .
>> 
>> 
> 
> Yes - I'd seen that, and had been wondering.  Google Gemini pulled
> together useful answers to my questions:
> https://gemini.google.com/share/ffc87cb3f377
> 

OoI I tried your Qs in Claude, plus a follow-up:

https://claude.ai/share/b3c63a04-99f3-4f6d-934d-53bb92040e28

Similar answers - but some more on the parallels with Apple's Silicon. I've
got a fairly recent Apple computer (M4) and can't say I've noticed what the AI
side of things adds. It tries to pre-emptively summarise and generate replies
to texts for example - nothing of use to me. But then I'm hardly an AI power
user . . .

Apart from running stone cold and silently, it just gets on with everything as
(Intel) before. The only significant change I've noticed has been video
encoding - maybe 4x faster than a recent i7 to compress video.

> On balance, I do think I need the universal compatibility, though the
> quantum leap in performance is of course attractive.  I'm wary of being
> an early-adopter too, so maybe in a couple more years when things have
> settled down I might invest in an RTX Spark laptop.  (I note that the
> OEMs will be concentrating on laptops and mini-PCs, rather than the
> tower I feel I want.

I was 'encouraged' onto the Silicon platform as Intel was falling out of
Apple's support. Software compatability has been a minor issue for me - it'll
be interesting to see what the 'Spark rollout brings . . .

-- 
Cheers, Rob
Sheffield, UK

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#60619

In article <10vluav$2ojj0$1@dont-email.me>, patchmoney@gmx.com says...


>It tries to pre-emptively summarise and generate replies
>to texts for example - nothing of use to me. But then I'm hardly an AI power
>user . . .


Certainly some "AI" seems to me to invite dumbing down.  I can do my own 
writing, thanks very much, and it's the organising and summarising of 
content that helps me understand and remember it.  Pass that off to a 
machine and I'd just stop learning.  Where AI scores for me is as a 
"research and integration" tool.  Instead of putting keywords into 
Google and having to filter 25,000 results, if I put in a well-
structured and fairly complete "prompt" I tend to get exactly what I 
need in just one go.  I've found that remarkably helpful in diagnosing 
computer problems - and when the solution works it verifies the process 
and the tool.  And it can come up with unexpected truths that check out.  
Lately I'll run msinfo32 on a PC, edit out the bulky Event Log stuff 
(maybe I shouldn't?) and then ask the tool questions.  Yesterday it 
pointed out that a PC I'm trying to fix for a friend has a very small 
page file manually set - I'd never have thought to look.  I have asked 
CoPilot what my likely chances are of getting Linux or ChromeOS to run 
on some computers nearing "Windows 10 obsolescence" and I've had very 
encouraging and nuanced responses.

There are things I'd like to try out.  I'd like to load the complete 
works of Shakespeare (I think that's available in an LLM Notebook on 
Google somewhere) and then try the reasoning facilities to ask searching 
questions about characters - how Macbeth might have got on with Hamlet, 
for example!  And locally a lot of people are confused about how to 
recycle things.  So I'd like to try loading all the guidance I can find 
on recycling as it's done hereabouts and then try the reasoning engine 
to ask how to recycle some odd item, as a prototype for a public tool.

Recently, someone close to me had to make a huge decision on health 
treatment for a very serious condition, and we were struggling.  So I 
crafted a very long and detailed prompt about the condition, the 
treatment options and other details like how the patient felt about this 
or that aspect.  I fed that into seven different AI tools, then collated 
the output into a single document with seven "chapters", manually 
formatted for easy readability.  We then read through it all in silence 
together, making up our minds independently.  Once we'd reached a 
tentative "decision" on the best way forward, we finally shared them - 
they were the same bar one small detail.  That helped us make the 
decision that night - note it didn't make the decision for us.  The 
reasoning and integrative power of these tools is awesome, and we're 
only getting started in 2026.


-- 
--
Phil, London

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#60620 — Artificial but not intelligent (Was: New PC for Phil...)

On 02/06/2026 11:46, Philip Herlihy wrote:
> The reasoning and integrative power of these tools is awesome, and
> we're only getting started in 2026.

I agree it can be impressive.

Don't kid yourself, though, the tool isn't "reasoning" at all. It's 
collating the results from a deep search of the knowledge available to 
its model and then formatting that as an output using the terms of the 
question. Any reasoning about the knowledge was done before it was put 
into the database used by the tool.

It's just a very sophisticated cut-and-paste exercise.

Whether the output is any use depends on the quality of the data and on 
the ability of the model to exclude false positives in the search. The 
larger the database the higher the chance that there will be sufficient 
true positives for the model to be able to recognize and exclude false ones.

-- 
Cheers,
  Daniel.

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#60621 — Re: Artificial but not intelligent (Was: New PC for Phil...)

On 02/06/2026 in message <10vmgvt$2th8j$1@dont-email.me> Daniel James wrote:

>On 02/06/2026 11:46, Philip Herlihy wrote:
>>The reasoning and integrative power of these tools is awesome, and
>>we're only getting started in 2026.
>
>I agree it can be impressive.
>
>Don't kid yourself, though, the tool isn't "reasoning" at all. It's 
>collating the results from a deep search of the knowledge available to its 
>model and then formatting that as an output using the terms of the 
>question. Any reasoning about the knowledge was done before it was put 
>into the database used by the tool.
>
>It's just a very sophisticated cut-and-paste exercise.
>
>Whether the output is any use depends on the quality of the data and on 
>the ability of the model to exclude false positives in the search. The 
>larger the database the higher the chance that there will be sufficient 
>true positives for the model to be able to recognize and exclude false 
>ones.

Interesting,  that has always been my view, Google on steroids.

When I was on my quest for the Lenovo TS140 front panel pinouts I ended up 
with 3 different answers. all of which were wrong.

-- 
Jeff Gaines Dorset UK
The only thing Flat Earthers fear is sphere itself.

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#60624 — Re: Artificial but not intelligent (Was: New PC for Phil...)

In article <10vmgvt$2th8j$1@dont-email.me>, daniel@me.invalid says...
>
>On 02/06/2026 11:46, Philip Herlihy wrote:
>> The reasoning and integrative power of these tools is awesome, and
>> we're only getting started in 2026.
>
>I agree it can be impressive.
>
>Don't kid yourself, though, the tool isn't "reasoning" at all. It's 
>collating the results from a deep search of the knowledge available to 
>its model and then formatting that as an output using the terms of the 
>question. Any reasoning about the knowledge was done before it was put 
>into the database used by the tool.
>
>It's just a very sophisticated cut-and-paste exercise.
>
>Whether the output is any use depends on the quality of the data and on 
>the ability of the model to exclude false positives in the search. The 
>larger the database the higher the chance that there will be sufficient 
>true positives for the model to be able to recognize and exclude false ones.

Just starting a "well, yes..." response, but I'm not sure that covers 
it.  There's no "intelligence" there (though some might prefer to say 
there's no "consciousness" there.  It's a machine.  It has distilled 
statistical patterns of language from huge datasets, and delivers 
results according to algorithms.  But you can't deny it's ability to 
parse and recognise language - different prompts, even subtly different 
prompts, produce different results, and in an appropriate way.  It's a 
tool; used with reasonable scepticism and critical judgement it's a very 
rewarding one.  Its ability to give objectively helpful answers to basic 
questions mean that something like a smart speaker can be invaluable to 
someone with confusion, for example.

I'll put it this way.  The limitations are well-understood.  The 
benefits may be a surprise to some.

-- 
--
Phil, London

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#60625 — Re: Artificial but not intelligent (Was: New PC for Phil...)

On 03/06/2026 15:51, Philip Herlihy wrote:
> There's no "intelligence" there (though some might prefer to say 
> there's no "consciousness" there.  It's a machine.  It has distilled 
> statistical patterns of language from huge datasets, and delivers 
> results according to algorithms.  But you can't deny it's ability to 
> parse and recognise language - different prompts, even subtly
> different prompts, produce different results, and in an appropriate
> way.

It has the *ability* to do that, but will not do so reliably ... or 
rather it will "parse and recognise language" but not necessarily 
construct the intended query or deliver the expected answer.

Also, the algorithms are (generally) non-deterministic. It's possible to 
ask the same question twice and get different answers, even from the 
same AI and algorithm. It depends on the AI system you're using, of course.

> Its ability to give objectively helpful answers to basic questions
> mean that something like a smart speaker can be invaluable to 
> someone with confusion, for example.

I find that assertion rather scary. I would hesitate to give a confused 
person access to an AI system because while AI will often deliver 
surprisingly good responses to questions it can also deliver confusing 
and/or inaccurate ones. The AI does not in any way "understand" that it 
is doing so, nor can it detect any confusion its answer may cause, so it 
can't offer correction or explanation.

> I'll put it this way.  The limitations are well-understood.  The 
> benefits may be a surprise to some.

Yes, *IF* the limitations are understood there can be surprising 
benefits. Conversely, if people accept the answers without questioning 
them they may be led badly astray.

-- 
Cheers,
  Daniel.

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#60626 — Re: Artificial but not intelligent (Was: New PC for Phil...)

On 03/06/2026 in message <10vpogo$3qhgi$1@dont-email.me> Daniel James wrote:

>>There's no "intelligence" there (though some might prefer to say  there's 
>>no "consciousness" there.  It's a machine.  It has distilled  statistical 
>>patterns of language from huge datasets, and delivers  results according 
>>to algorithms.  But you can't deny it's ability to  parse and recognise 
>>language - different prompts, even subtly
>>different prompts, produce different results, and in an appropriate
>>way.
>
>It has the ability to do that, but will not do so reliably ... or rather 
>it will "parse and recognise language" but not necessarily construct the 
>intended query or deliver the expected answer.
>
>Also, the algorithms are (generally) non-deterministic. It's possible to 
>ask the same question twice and get different answers, even from the same 
>AI and algorithm. It depends on the AI system you're using, of course.

I found that in my search for TS140 pinouts, same question, different 
answers, all wrong.

It's also very rude. In an aircraft, just as the plane is about to land, 
the most stressful part of a flight, it shouts "retard, retard, at the 
pilot. That's not very nice.

-- 
Jeff Gaines Dorset UK
If it's not broken, mess around with it until it is

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#60628 — Re: Artificial but not intelligent

Jeff Gaines <jgnewsid@outlook.com> wrote:
> 
> I found that in my search for TS140 pinouts, same question, different 
> answers, all wrong.

The problem is that to tell whether what it says is correct, you either have
to know already or do a ton of background reading (not just any sources it
happens to link to).  It's the kind of compulsive liar which will
assertively fill in gaps with whoppers just to keep it sounding plausible,
and unless you become an expert you can't which ones they are.  But if
you've done that much background research then you don't need to ask it the
question.

ie it's a workload multiplier not a workload reducer.

Theo

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#60630 — Re: Artificial but not intelligent

On 04/06/2026 in message <Q9*ZShIA@news.chiark.greenend.org.uk> Theo wrote:

>Jeff Gaines <jgnewsid@outlook.com> wrote:
>>
>>I found that in my search for TS140 pinouts, same question, different
>>answers, all wrong.
>
>The problem is that to tell whether what it says is correct, you either 
>have
>to know already or do a ton of background reading (not just any sources it
>happens to link to).  It's the kind of compulsive liar which will
>assertively fill in gaps with whoppers just to keep it sounding plausible,
>and unless you become an expert you can't which ones they are.  But if
>you've done that much background research then you don't need to ask it the
>question.
>
>ie it's a workload multiplier not a workload reducer.


Indeed and to at least some extent I'd rather have it just search, a 
thread on Stack Overflow, Reddit or Usenet is likely to be more useful and 
accurate. I keep forgetting the ", -ai" suffix, perhaps browsers will 
offer it as an option eventually.

-- 
Jeff Gaines Dorset UK
You can't tell which way the train went by looking at the tracks

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#60627 — Re: Artificial but not intelligent (Was: New PC for Phil...)

On 3 Jun 2026 at 18:33:12 BST, Daniel James wrote:

>> I'll put it this way.  The limitations are well-understood.  The
>> benefits may be a surprise to some.
> 
> Yes, *IF* the limitations are understood there can be surprising
> benefits. Conversely, if people accept the answers without questioning
> them they may be led badly astray.

I think another aspect to all this is perception. While (most) people 'know'
AI's non-sentient (intelligent and alligned to human values?) there is a case
to be made that it is replacing human interaction in a number of ways - from
personal companion (even partner) to retail support and advice. Limitations
and benefits therefore become blurred and difficult to pin down
quantitatively. AI is being *used* non-critically even if it's known to be
unsuitable as such.

Personally I think AI's a hoot - but then I've retired and use it
recreationally. It's how it's playing out in the real world that worries me.
For example, someone just sent me a brief deployed via AI by a university
tutor to grade 200 3000 word undergraduate essays. Essays in all probability
written by AI . . .

Also, research into AI is starting to throw out symptoms of AI - users
experiencing cognitive decline, surrender and debt for example. Then there's
the job losses, deskilling . . . apocalypses etc.

On the other hand, AI seems to be just the thing for medical science.

Dunno :-)


-- 
Cheers, Rob
Sheffield, UK

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#60694 — Re: Artificial but not intelligent (Was: New PC for Phil...)

In article <10vmgvt$2th8j$1@dont-email.me>, daniel@me.invalid says...
>
>On 02/06/2026 11:46, Philip Herlihy wrote:
>> The reasoning and integrative power of these tools is awesome, and
>> we're only getting started in 2026.
>
>I agree it can be impressive.
>
>Don't kid yourself, though, the tool isn't "reasoning" at all. It's 
>collating the results from a deep search of the knowledge available to 
>its model and then formatting that as an output using the terms of the 
>question. Any reasoning about the knowledge was done before it was put 
>into the database used by the tool.
>
>It's just a very sophisticated cut-and-paste exercise.
>
>Whether the output is any use depends on the quality of the data and on 
>the ability of the model to exclude false positives in the search. The 
>larger the database the higher the chance that there will be sufficient 
>true positives for the model to be able to recognize and exclude false ones.

Just starting a "well, yes..." response, but I'm not sure that covers 
it.  There's no "intelligence" there (though some might prefer to say 
there's no "consciousness" there.  It's a machine.  It has distilled 
statistical patterns of language from huge datasets, and delivers 
results according to algorithms.  But you can't deny it's ability to 
parse and recognise language - different prompts, even subtly different 
prompts, produce different results, and in an appropriate way.  It's a 
tool; used with reasonable scepticism and critical judgement it's a very 
rewarding one.  Its ability to give objectively helpful answers to basic 
questions mean that something like a smart speaker can be invaluable to 
someone with confusion, for example.

I'll put it this way.  The limitations are well-understood.  The 
benefits may be a surprise to some.

-- 
--
Phil, London

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#60629

Philip Herlihy <nothing@invalid.com> wrote:
> 
> If you've got this far, thanks for indulging me.  I had help from Jamie 
> and others back in 2012 when choosing my Dell Vostro 470, which was 
> surely one of the best purchases I've ever made.  Any guidance from this 
> "college" of experts will be gratefully received.

How much money do you have? RAM and storage prices are inflated 2-4x over
9 months ago, so this is the worst time to buy a PC. Whether prices will
regain their previous levels is a matter for crystal balls (and speculators)
but at the moment it's worth thinking hard about what you actually need.

Theo

(that said, I have a PC I'm aiming to sell soon.  A build by a local PC
building company.  Specs off the top of my head, mail me for more details if
you might be interested.  In Cambridgeshire but can probably box up for
posting:

Ryzen 5900x
64GB DDR4
Samsung Gen4 NVMe - think it's 1TB but I'll check
GTX1650 Super GPU
Fractal Core 2500 case
Asus mATX gaming mobo
Think it's a a Fractal PSU as well
No Windows licence, but can put a Linux on there for testing)

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#60631

In article <MPG.448698d31897c3969896aa@news.eternal-september.org>, 
nothing@invalid.com says...
>
>Time I bought a new PC - and I'd be glad of advice.
>
>My present one is running well, though just occasionally I feel 
>something slightly brisker would be nice.  Which is not bad as it'll be 
>14 years old in November!  But it can't run Windows 11, and I need to 
>run Windows.
>
>It has an i7-3770 CPU @ 3.40GHz, 3401 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 8 Logical 
>Processor(s), with 18GB of RAM.  It has two SATA SSDs, with a 4TB 
>spinning disk for backups.  Graphics card is a 4GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 
>1050 Ti (added later).
>
>What do I need it for?  Well, Facebook, email, surfing, various AI tools 
>(online).  General home office work, spreadsheets, Access databases, 
>Word.  I doubt I'll get back to coding, but might finally get round to 
>fooling around with my graphics tablet and some "art" software (Corel 
>Painter).  I do have a project for the next year which will involve some 
>CAD work - Chief Architect "Home Designer" which does 3D rendering. I 
>don't need that in real time (as I understand it that needs four figures 
>spent on a graphics card) but it would be good not to have to wait 
>tooooo long for a rendered "3D world" to appear.
>
>I asked CoPilot what sort of Dell I should get.  (I've always liked Dell 
>kit - good build quality and value for money)  It made some useful 
>suggestions and seemed to steer me away from "workstation" level kit as 
>"overkill" for my needs.
>
>But it also suggested using a builder like Scan to create a custome 
>machine from standard components, for value, maintainability and future-
>proofing, and this might be the time I do that.  It also said get a 
>processor way beyond what you need now (as you'll need it in seven years 
>if you're going to keep the thing) and get twice the memory you think 
>you need now.  So I'm figuring pushing the boat out on an i9, and 
>starting with 32GB of RAM.  I don't need a case that looks nice - it'll 
>be under my desk - just want it reasonably quiet.
>
>I'm absorbed by AI - in my seventies I've never learned so much or so 
>fast in my life - especiallky since discovering OneNote to help me 
>organise my notes.  Ideally I'd wait a bit longer for NPUs to mature, as 
>I suspect more and more AI processing will be local, but with "Extended 
>Support" due to end in October this is the time to move.  I guess that 
>NPUs (or whatever comes next) may become bolt-ons in time, but it's 
>anyway a reason to go for a really fancy processor.
>
>If you've got this far, thanks for indulging me.  I had help from Jamie 
>and others back in 2012 when choosing my Dell Vostro 470, which was 
>surely one of the best purchases I've ever made.  Any guidance from this 
>"college" of experts will be gratefully received.

Diverting this back on track after digressions into AI (clearly my 
fault) I'd love to know:

1)  Has anyone used a system builder like Scan, and how they got on.

2)  If there are any big developments due in mainstream computing 
hardware due in the next few months meaning I should wait.

3)  Any general advice on how to choose the components for this machine.

-- 
--
Phil, London

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