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How long do you think pc building we will be a thing?

Tags:
  • Hardware
  • Smartphones
  • Mobile
  • Computers
  • Laptops
  • Tablets
Last response: in Technologies
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June 13, 2014 8:49:36 AM

Mobile computers are becoming more and more popular and they obviously cant be built by people like us and small form factor computers are also becoming popular for offices where a tablet/phone/laptop wouldnt be a good idea to work on all day. So how long do you think it will be till all computers are either all-in-ones, laptops, NUC style computers, and tablets/smart phones? Ive been thinking about this for a while and I figure when intel, AMD, and nvidia start being able to make components that are as powerful as desktops but generate so little heat they wont even need fans then big desktops will be useless, although googles project ara does look promising.

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June 13, 2014 8:53:46 AM

But like you said, it's not practical to build most of the time if they're that small. So you'll have to buy pre-built ones which means you have no control of what parts the computer consists of or the quality of the build. You just get what they sell you. For work, it's not a problem, but then the company is paying for it, not you.
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June 13, 2014 9:10:50 AM

For enthusiasts, essentially forever. For general purpose computers, I haven't seen a big company with custom workstations in years. There is really no way for small mobile chips to be as powerful as high performance desktop parts for some uses... for general office e-mail/reports/web apps and things we're pretty much already there.
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June 13, 2014 10:12:56 AM

Why would the chip makers keep making parts that arent soldered togther if the companies that buy the computers are just going to buy them pre-built? I thought it was more expensive to make things that are modular and the only thing that for example intel gains from making CPUs that arent soldered to the motherboard is the fact that enthusiasts will buy them. But is pc building even that popular to make it worth their while?
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June 13, 2014 11:14:03 AM

I think you are misunderstanding something. One company does not make every component that goes into your computer. So naturally, they make them separate. Pre-built just puts together the various components manufactured by many companies for you instead of you doing it yourself.
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June 13, 2014 11:31:04 AM

I know that im just saying whats the point of making pre-builts if the people buying them arent going to swap out the componets, why wouldnt they just solder everything togther? Laptops for example have parts in them from all kinds of different companies: intel and nvidia normally but they are soldered togther why wouldnt they do the same for desktops? This is already happening with the new atom chips from intel that are soldered to the mobo but are made for desktop computers and theres quite a few super small form factor computers coming out that have chips origionally made for mobile in them. The only reason i can think of is repairability but normally if a part comes out of the factory working its going to keep working for another 8+ years unless someone breaks it so thats not really a factor here
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June 13, 2014 11:39:35 AM

Most likely that it's more expensive to solder everything. It's also less versatile. If there's any issue with the computer, no one can fix it or replace a part because everything is soldered together. Then you wasted all those components because one small HDD didn't work.

Also, it makes it impossible to customize. Everytime a vendor wants to sell a new setup, they need to spend extra money to have it all soldered together. And can you imagine how much room all those towers will take in terms of storage?
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June 13, 2014 11:45:10 AM

But thats exactly what the vendors want so that way you need to buy a whole new machine instead of just upgrading it, they would make much more money that way plus they can make their computers much smaller when things are soldered togther. Thats how the phone making companies have been doing it for years and they make tons of money because of it.
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June 13, 2014 11:53:44 AM

Then a small group of people open a company that builds them from scratch and charge a fraction of the cost. That's big business. You don't see that much nowadays because that's not what's taking place but changing history is a tough subject.
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June 13, 2014 12:04:52 PM

Thats the exact idea behind project ara they plan to sell the phones for $50. It would be pretty difficult to do the same on desktops though if intel and amd were to stop making modular CPUs then the start up would have to do some crazy stuff to get it to work.
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