My new Laptop in 2029...

Discussion of chess software programming and technical issues.

Moderators: hgm, Rebel, chrisw

smatovic
Posts: 2622
Joined: Wed Mar 10, 2010 10:18 pm
Location: Hamburg, Germany
Full name: Srdja Matovic

My new Laptop in 2029...

Post by smatovic »

The display of my Lenovo T61 laptop from 2008 went broken, so I had the choice
to buy a new Lappy for some thousand bucks, or to repair and upgrade my oldie
for some hundred. I decided to repair and upgrade, and it is remarkable how well
10 years old hardware still suits for surfing the web, doing office, or for web-
programming. Multithreaded, or ANN based, computer chess is another topic of
course...the only thing I miss, is a fast PCIe based SSD. So I plan to use my
oldie for another 10 years, and buy a new Lappy in 2029, here my aimed specs:

- 8K Ultra HD display
- 32 core CPU with 3-5 GHz
- 4 TB of non-volatile high-bandwidth memory
- 32 TB SSD

My upgraded T61:

- WXGA+, 1440x900 display
- 2 core CPU with 2.5 GHz
- 4 GB DDR2 memory
- 120 GB SSD SATA II drive

--
Srdja
Vinvin
Posts: 5227
Joined: Thu Mar 09, 2006 9:40 am
Full name: Vincent Lejeune

Re: My new Laptop in 2029...

Post by Vinvin »

smatovic wrote: Thu Jun 20, 2019 8:29 am ...
- 4 TB of non-volatile high-bandwidth memory
- 32 TB SSD
...
I think, in the future, laptops will have unified memory.
So : 128 TB of 3D XPoint memory ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3D_XPoint )
smatovic
Posts: 2622
Joined: Wed Mar 10, 2010 10:18 pm
Location: Hamburg, Germany
Full name: Srdja Matovic

Re: My new Laptop in 2029...

Post by smatovic »

Vinvin wrote: Thu Jun 20, 2019 10:37 am
smatovic wrote: Thu Jun 20, 2019 8:29 am ...
- 4 TB of non-volatile high-bandwidth memory
- 32 TB SSD
...
I think, in the future, laptops will have unified memory.
So : 128 TB of 3D XPoint memory ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3D_XPoint )
I guess with 128 TB RAM, approaches like MCTS, that store the game tree, will
start to make more sense than using it only for TT.

--
Srdja
koedem
Posts: 105
Joined: Fri Mar 18, 2016 10:45 pm

Re: My new Laptop in 2029...

Post by koedem »

smatovic wrote: Thu Jun 20, 2019 7:07 pm I guess with 128 TB RAM, approaches like MCTS, that store the game tree, will
start to make more sense than using it only for TT.
Well, Leela probably already is the strongest engine in the world, not too bad if you ask me.
smatovic
Posts: 2622
Joined: Wed Mar 10, 2010 10:18 pm
Location: Hamburg, Germany
Full name: Srdja Matovic

Re: My new Laptop in 2029...

Post by smatovic »

koedem wrote: Wed Jun 26, 2019 7:51 pm
smatovic wrote: Thu Jun 20, 2019 7:07 pm I guess with 128 TB RAM, approaches like MCTS, that store the game tree, will
start to make more sense than using it only for TT.
Well, Leela probably already is the strongest engine in the world, not too bad if you ask me.
Yes, ofc you are right, MCTS is already here.

I just meant that in future a billion nps cpu + tera bytes of main memory could
lead to some alternative search techniques, or so.

--
Srdja
smatovic
Posts: 2622
Joined: Wed Mar 10, 2010 10:18 pm
Location: Hamburg, Germany
Full name: Srdja Matovic

Re: My new Laptop in 2029...

Post by smatovic »

Followup - I upgraded to 8 GB DDR2 RAM and T9300 CPU (2x2.5 GHz, 6 MB L2) and
guess that I now have to replace the keyboard. But there are still enough spare
parts out there, so I will start a little experiment, buy now a set of LCD,
inverter, keyboard, fan, motherboard spare parts for ~150 bucks, bet that the
current upgrade lasts for ten years, and then in 2030 take a look if it is
possible to use an laptop from 2008 without restrictions.

I guess x86-64 will be still supported OS-wise, office and internet will be
fine, but new kind of video codecs and some fancy website eye candy could be a
limit, currently watching YouTube on 720p causes ~50% single core cpu
utilization...

I will report about the outcome in 10 years.

--
Srdja
smatovic
Posts: 2622
Joined: Wed Mar 10, 2010 10:18 pm
Location: Hamburg, Germany
Full name: Srdja Matovic

Re: My new Laptop in 2029...

Post by smatovic »

Intermediate report 2021:

I replaced the keyboard and display hinges and was in worry that new video
codecs could be a limit, but it is still fine with a resolution of 720p30, will
upgrade to Ubuntu Linux 23.04 LTS in 2023 which will have support for 5 or even
10 years, hence I guess until 2028 I will be fine and then maybe have to move
on to a kind of BSD Unix which installs and compiles directly from source code
to squeeze some more juice out of it. Question remains open how long video
codecs will support SSE, maybe between 2030 and 2040 this will be phased out,
then I am in trouble, cos the integrated GPU does not offer video decoding or
OpenCL.

Office, internet, video, audio is fine, I use this laptop primarily as an
internet terminal, to connect to other machines for different kind of
workloads (work/chess).

CPU core utilization watching video:
DVD: 1x~40%
Blu-ray: 1x~85%
Video with 720p30:
H.264: 1x~35%
VP9: 1x45%
AV1: 1x~65%
YT in FF: 2x~50% (browser+decoder)

upgrades/replacements:
2019:
- LCD panel + inverter
- SATAII SSD
- battery
2020:
- Intel T9300 2x2.5 GHz, 6 MB L2
- 8 GB DDR2 667
- Intel 7260 WLAN module
- CPU fan
- keyboard
- BIOS battery
2021:
- display hinges

I messed up one screw thread of the display cover and some plastic notches of
the front bezel while replacing the hinges, will look for used spare parts for
the next revive.

There are LED-backlight-kits available, to replace the CCFL of the LCD-panel
with LED, ~20 Euros, modded inverter inc., cheaper than a new old stock panel,
and increases nits from ~200 to ~400+, maybe I will buy one set of those, the
original CCFLs were designed for 10K to 15K operating hours.

I have one free mini PCIe slot available, can be used for a WWAN or SSD module,
but 1x lane with 250 MB/s ain't enough to compete with SATAII (300 MB/s),
maybe I will use it for a USB 3 upgrade.

--
Srdja