Hacker News with Generative AI: Computer Hardware

Unix Workstations – The Computer Collection (computercollection.net)
The collection has several workstations which run operating systems which are based on UNIX® in one form or another. Many of them I had some experience with during my career at Wisconsin DOT.
Unix, Operating Systems, Computer Hardware, Technology, History
27 points by rbanffy 15 days ago | 9 comments
How the Sun Enterprise 10000 was born (2007) (filibeto.org)
Silicon Graphics subsidiary Cray Research, Inc. announced receipt of a letter-of-intent for Sun Microsystems Computer Company to acquire Cray's Business Systems Division, based in Beaverton, Ore.
Computer Hardware, Acquisitions, History, Sun Microsystems, Cray Research
76 points by robin_reala 20 days ago | 65 comments
Identifying almost any x86 CPU (2004) (archive.org)
The Wayback Machine - http://web.archive.org/web/20040604002243/http://debs.future.easyspace.com:80/Programming/OS/cpuid.txt
Computer Hardware, CPU Identification, Reverse Engineering, Archive, Web Archive
16 points by michalpleban 21 days ago | 1 comments
Why Did the Turbo Button Slow Down Your PC in the '90s? (howtogeek.com)
Computer Hardware, History, Operating Systems
10 points by chedoku 41 days ago | 5 comments
Picocalc, a Modern Retro Computer? [video] (youtu.be)
Retro Computing, Computer Hardware, Technology, Video
14 points by indigodaddy 47 days ago | 7 comments
Microsoft's "1‑bit" AI model runs on a CPU only, while matching larger systems (arstechnica.com)
Future AI might not need supercomputers thanks to models like BitNet b1.58 2B4T.
Artificial Intelligence, Computer Hardware, Machine Learning
8 points by moh_maya 48 days ago | 0 comments
An interactive-speed Linux computer made of only 3 8-pin chips (dmitry.gr)
There was a time when one could order a kit and assemble a computer at home. It would do just about what a contemporary store-bought computer could do. This time is long gone. Modern computers are made of hundreds of huge complex chips, with no public datasheets, with many hundreds of watts of power supplied to them over complex power delivery topologies.
Computer Hardware, DIY Projects, Linux
441 points by dmitrygr 63 days ago | 147 comments
Breaking computers taught me to build them (danielsada.tech)
You know when you are on a hike, and there is a point where you are exactly midway through it? There is always a reflection moment in there, where some thinking happens. Sometimes you look back and realize: it’s been a long journey so far, hasn’t it?
Computer Hardware, Learning, Personal Experiences
117 points by dshacker 65 days ago | 70 comments
Why Adding a Full Hard Drive Can Make a Computer More Powerful (wired.com)
“Obviously” is a dangerous word, even in scenarios that seem simple. Suppose, for instance, you need to do an important computation. You get to choose between two computers that are almost identical, except that one has an extra hard drive full of precious family photos. It’s natural to assume that the two options are equally good—that an extra drive with no space remaining won’t aid your computation.
Computer Hardware, Performance Optimization, Technology, Storage
5 points by SethMurphy 68 days ago | 2 comments
An Interview with Oxide's Bryan Cantrill (chipsandcheese.com)
Hello you fine internet folks! Today, we're here at Oxide Computer Company, and I have with me, Bryan.
Interviews, Computer Hardware, Technology
16 points by ryandotsmith 71 days ago | 2 comments
Google calls Gemma 3 the most powerful AI model you can run on one GPU (theverge.com)
A little over a year after releasing two “open” Gemma AI models built from the same technology behind its Gemini AI, Google is updating the family with Gemma 3.
Generative AI, Google, AI Models, Computer Hardware
127 points by gmays 78 days ago | 100 comments
How 'inference' is driving competition to Nvidia's AI chip dominance (ft.com)
How ‘inference’ is driving competition to Nvidia’s AI chip dominance
Artificial Intelligence, Computer Hardware, Competition, Nvidia
7 points by bookofjoe 82 days ago | 2 comments
3dfx: So powerful, it's kind of ridiculous (2023) (abortretry.fail)
In 1988, Silicon Graphics made a series of workstation computers that were based upon two pieces of technology: the MIPS CPU and the IRIS graphics system.
Graphics, Computer Hardware, History, Technology
318 points by kristianp 92 days ago | 268 comments
Homebrew Computer Club in Menlo Park (homeip.net)
The Homebrew Computer Club was a legendary early computer hobbyist group in Menlo Park, California.
History, Computer Hardware, California
6 points by giuliomagnifico 94 days ago | 0 comments
Progress on Intel and Nvidia GPUs on Raspberry Pi (jeffgeerling.com)
Nvidia GPUs have been running fine on Arm for a while now—I just upgraded the System76 Thelio Astra to an RTX 4080 Super and am testing it now.
Nvidia GPUs, Raspberry Pi, Hardware, Computer Hardware
29 points by ingve 99 days ago | 2 comments
Thoughts on Daylight Computer (jon.bo)
When I get to write or read on a screen that’s reflecting the sun back at me instead of needing to be shielded from it, I get a dose of this feeling that this is what all computing could feel like. I want so much more of this in my life.
Computer Hardware, User Experience, Technology
294 points by 3r7j6qzi9jvnve 108 days ago | 151 comments
AMD's game-changing Strix Halo, formerly Ryzen AI Max, poses for new die shots (tomshardware.com)
AMD, Processors, Computer Hardware, Gaming
33 points by rbanffy 108 days ago | 19 comments
How to Run DeepSeek R1 Distilled Reasoning Models on RyzenAI and Radeon GPUs (guru3d.com)
Deep Learning, Computer Hardware, GPUs, AI Models
82 points by waltercool 125 days ago | 22 comments
AI Designed Computer Chips That the Human Mind Can't Understand (popularmechanics.com)
A new neural network process has designed wireless chips that can outperform existing ones.
Artificial Intelligence, Computer Hardware, Neural Networks
4 points by givinguflac 125 days ago | 2 comments
DeepSeek's AI breakthrough bypasses industry-standard CUDA, uses PTX (tomshardware.com)
Artificial Intelligence, Computer Hardware, CUDA
136 points by pseudolus 129 days ago | 72 comments
The Future of Microprocessors • Sophie Wilson • Goto 2024 [video] (youtube.com)
Microprocessors, Computer Hardware, Computer Science, Technology, Conferences
12 points by tambourine_man 131 days ago | 0 comments
100x defect tolerance: How we solved the yield problem (cerebras.ai)
Conventional wisdom in semiconductor manufacturing has long held that bigger chips mean worse yields. Yet at Cerebras, we’ve successfully built and commercialized a chip 50x larger than the largest computer chips – and achieved comparable yields.
Semiconductors, Manufacturing, Artificial Intelligence, Computer Hardware, Yield
331 points by jwan584 142 days ago | 179 comments
Debugging: Indispensable rules for finding even the most elusive problems (2004) (dwheeler.com)
It's not often you find a classic, but I think I've found a new classic for software and computer hardware developers.
Software Development, Debugging, Programming, Computer Hardware
532 points by omkar-foss 145 days ago | 227 comments
The Missing Nvidia GPU Glossary (modal.com)
We wrote this glossary to solve a problem we ran into working with GPUs here at Modal: the documentation is fragmented, making it difficult to connect concepts at different levels of the stack, like Streaming Multiprocessor Architecture, Compute Capability, and nvcc compiler flags.
Nvidia GPUs, Documentation, Glossary, Computer Hardware
230 points by birdculture 145 days ago | 70 comments
FreeBSD Suspend/Resume (wordpress.com)
I have been using FreeBSD on the desktops/laptops since about 20 years now and I have described all that I configured in the FreeBSD Desktop series.
FreeBSD, Operating Systems, Computer Hardware
139 points by vermaden 147 days ago | 64 comments
Dell will no longer make XPS computers (arstechnica.com)
Dell won't make Precision or Inspiron PCs anymore, either.
Dell, Laptops, Computer Hardware, Technology
77 points by MRPockets 151 days ago | 110 comments
My favourite computer ergonomics hack (jacobvosmaer.nl)
In this post I will talk about my favourite computer ergonomics hack, a DIY device I call "The Beeper".
Ergonomics, DIY, Computer Hardware
236 points by vortex_ape 156 days ago | 71 comments
The DEC VT220 – Design excellence from 1984 [video] (youtube.com)
Computer Hardware, Retro Technology, Design, Video
7 points by rbanffy 158 days ago | 0 comments
I helped fix sleep-wake hangs on Linux with AMD GPUs (gitlab.io)
I dual-boot my desktop between Windows and Linux. Over the past few years, Linux would often crash when I tried to sleep my computer with high RAM usage. Upon waking it would show a black screen with moving cursor, or enter a "vegetative" state with no image on-screen, only responding to magic SysRq or a hard reset. I traced this behavior to an amdgpu driver power/memory management bug, which took over a year to brainstorm and implement solutions for.
Linux, AMD, Computer Hardware, Bug Fixes, Open Source
9 points by LorenDB 159 days ago | 1 comments
Are PC hardware companies driving technology into restricted closed ecosystems? (scottrlarson.com)
I am a Computer Hardware professional. I started working with computer technology in the early eighties. I have seen the evolution of technology starting with closed platforms like the game console era and then the move toward open platforms like the Home Computer Golden Age. In the last 5 or 10 years, I have witnessed technology changes that are slowly moving away from open hardware designs towards hardware that is locked down and can’t be modified by the user.
Computer Hardware, Technology, Open Source, Closed Systems, Industry Trends
209 points by trinsic2 159 days ago | 156 comments