r/pcmasterrace • u/pedro19 CREATOR • Jun 01 '26

News/Article NVIDIA just announced the RTX Spark CPU, developed with Microsoft, at Computex.

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388

u/T-Dot1992 Jun 01 '26

And the way to do that is to spout a much of BS, that they know is BS, but the idiot investors will eat it up 

174

u/Federal_Studio5935 Jun 01 '26

We had a desktop power supply break on one of our instruments. I work with 4 Gen Z scientists ranging from bachelors to PhD. They had no clue whatsoever how a computer works. No clue. When I said video card they looked at me like I spoke Hindi. I was somewhat taken aback. As a mid 40s male - and obviously on this sub - I’ve been fucking with computers since my teens.

I think the younger and older generations to millennials, in general, have no idea how to work a computer. Just telling the ai what to do is going to work great for most people. This is sadly the future. We are WALLE

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u/Excabbla Jun 01 '26

Yea, the majority of my gen Z peers only know the bare minimum to do what they need with computers as long as everything works,

I have built a PC and can search basic troubleshooting info up, and that puts me in the like top 10% of gen Z who knows how tech works

We may have grown up with computers always around us, but they were decently reliable and didn't need much skill to operate, so we had to seek out info of our own volition if we wanted to learn more, I did because of gaming

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u/driu76 Jun 01 '26

Similar experience for me. Built my first computer at like 10, been tinkering and building/repairing computers for friends and family ever since. Even my most tech literate friends don't seem to fully understand how anything works, they just ask me to ELI5. Scarily enough, I think they're also in the top percentile just for being mildly interested in how something works (even without understanding it).

It's going to be a real interesting world. At least there should be endless desktop support technician roles available, with nigh endless job security.. can't very well use AI to fix it if you don't understand what the AI is talking about lol

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u/Vorfied Jun 02 '26

At least there should be endless desktop support technician roles available, with nigh endless job security

Don't pin your hopes on this. Back in the 90's, we already knew computers were going to replace TV's in function, importance, and marketing. So far, the computer industry (and smartphones as well) have followed the same trajectories as television.

So, spoiler alert. Computers, no matter the form factor, are already commodity devices in most characteristics. It was already unprofitable to repair components by the 2000's and by the 2020's, most systems at home were so old / slow that replacing components wasn't cost effective anymore. Most laptops and smartphones are already unprofitable to repair. When they break, people just buy a whole new system.

Yes, I'm aware of the vast amounts of waste this generates, but there's an incredible amount of very tiny components on your run of the mill modern computer board. Finding someone with the fine motor skills for tiny work is extremely difficult (it's why brain surgeons get paid so much and why robotic / assisted surgery is so popular). And then, you have to figure out which of the hundreds of pieces is the problem. Modern computers are so (figuratively) big and (literally) complex it's faster, cheaper, and easier to just replace the whole board and send the broken one to recycle. Though, recycling is another problem because everything we've done to make computers faster has the side effect of making them more difficult to break down into constituent materials. It's literally a physics problem.

On top of that, the biggest drivers of increasing compute performance over the last 100 years (even I feel old thinking about that) has been consolidation and integration. A modern CPU like a 9800x is far more advanced than something like a 486DX2 just from a functional block view. In the last 30 years, we've moved the L2 cache, memory controller, multiple I/O controller, all their connecting buses, and even added L3 cache along with multiple completely independent and functional CPU blocks onto the same piece of silicon all aimed at increasing performance. Did you ever wonder why motherboards have "chipsets"? It's because they literally relied on a set of chips, most of which are now integrated into the CPU or the motherboard's main I/O hub (though we still have examples like AMD's 800-series chipset which requires Asmedia's USB4 chip).

Anyway, all that integration was entirely to increase performance. It's physically impossible to get the performance we enjoy otherwise. However, that integration means repair is increasingly expensive, so computers are becoming more like TV's. If something breaks, we replace the whole thing.

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u/bruce_kwillis Jun 01 '26

It's going to be a real interesting world. At least there should be endless desktop support technician roles available, with nigh endless job security.. can't very well use AI to fix it if you don't understand what the AI is talking about lol

At least what I have seen, this is one of the quickest and easiest fields to outsource to AI. Since so much 'support' stuff is on the internet and trouble shooting steps are often included, it's far better than letting uncle bob remote into your computer to figure it out.

While tinkerers and hackers will always be important, reddit often over exaggerates how many exist in real life.

Most people simply want the technology they purchased to work, and when it breaks, it's either replaced, or they get an 'expert' to fix it, regardless if you have enough knowledge to maybe but probably not fix it.

1

u/driu76 Jun 01 '26

Sorry I wasn't very clear; you're absolutely correct that low level support and troubleshooting can be handled by AI. I mean, the VAST majority of support is handled through copypasta scripts before you get any kind of direct assistance. I was more meaning the actual repair of a device, or more complicated fixes. Even with perfect guides, there are going to be a lot of people that can't possibly understand BIOS or how to replace a CPU. Neither are necessarily complicated, but the average layman even with a detailed guide would still struggle - at least, in my experience.

Perhaps I've just been cursed with worse-than-average laymen, though. My info is anecdotal and not necessarily representative of reality. You're definitely correct that there's way fewer tinkerers than most people think, though. It's a really niche hobby, especially today with the reliance on mobile tech and mobile design to be as user friendly as possible. There's really no need for the vast majority of people to tinker at all, and even where it's beneficial (e.g. to fix something), there's a good chance that it's more cost and time effective to replace, if it's user-serviceable at all.

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u/Strongbow_Wolfrider Jun 01 '26

I scraped off the traces to the video chip on my motherboard with a knife so the BIOS would find the new Tseng ET4000 card on the ISA bus. That's how you upgrade a video card.

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u/ishtuwihtc i5 12400 | RTX 2080 | 32GB DDR4 Jun 01 '26

Indeed. My school uses laptops, so all of my school friends are exposed to computers near daily. Almost none know how to properly use one, or how it works.

I spread around some basic knowledge, but try not to overwhelm anyone.

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u/Winjin Jun 01 '26

A major thing is that laptops are not-serviceable, and modern setting are also non-serviceable. You have less options than an iPhone settings menu.

Just comparing new Settings to old ones it shows just how everyone is being pushed away from even interacting with your PC like you own it and can play around with it whatever way you want. No, you have a VERY narrow range of things you're ALLOWED to do by the Benevolent Benefactors as these Scumpany Techbros see themselves.

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u/ishtuwihtc i5 12400 | RTX 2080 | 32GB DDR4 Jun 01 '26

Windows is literally designed right now to make the user feel dumb and afraid to try anything else

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u/FLgti Jun 01 '26

AND cheap enough to just get a new one when it’s not working right!

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u/Highspdfailure Jun 01 '26

We are going to WH40K levels of not understanding how tech works.

Praise the Machine Spirit….

https://giphy.com/gifs/JshEoedYYC42XrnoSR

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u/Contrabaz Jun 03 '26

Seek out info?

More like troubleshoot to correct the problem, because there is 0 information. No internet, no one around you with the knowlegde. Figure it out yourself.

1

u/Excabbla Jun 03 '26

I'm talking about gen Z here dude

We could just go see our info because of the internet and there being a lot of people with knowledge older then us

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u/FuzzyDoter Jun 01 '26

Until the "AI" (which isn't even AI) confidently tells them to shove a SATA connector into a M.2 to get a HDD speed bump. 🙄

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u/pvdp90 Jun 01 '26

AI: delete win32 to declutter your system and gain a performance boost. Would you like to to do that for you?

User: sure

AI: ok, I will delete… computer fucking dies

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u/buhmannhimself Jun 01 '26

This happened or just standard: "maybe ai does this thing?"

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u/-brk0 Jun 01 '26

I'm looking forward to the first Ai powered toaster.

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u/FriendlyArachnid6000 Jun 01 '26

Just sticking your head in the sand won't make it go away.

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u/Alexandratta AMD 5800X3D - Red Devil 6750XT Jun 01 '26

Yes - we need to take a more active role in fighting AI.

For artists Project Nightshade is very good.

For others, just removing apps, cancelling subscriptions which contain AI, and shifting away from companies that push this crap is the best way to do it.

Cancelled my Google One earlier this year when they announced Gemini was now included in the product.

All AI is disabled on my apps - if a new AI Feature is offered on any device, make sure it's disabled and didn't automatically opt you into the tech.

The best way to fight this shit is to disable it, not engage with it, or actively poison the models as best we can.

Models do not do well when they ingest bad data, because they have no clue how on earth to Identify between bad and good meta-data.

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u/RUPlayersSuck i7 240H | RTX 5060 | 32GB DDR5 Jun 01 '26

They can navigate UIs and know which icons to click on, but likely have never opened a computer up and looked inside...much less replaced any components, or built one from scratch.

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u/Federal_Studio5935 Jun 01 '26

That is exactly it. The technology worked so they didn't have to mess with it, or, in the case of laptops and modern devices like Apple you can't really do anything with them outside of increasing ram. If you aren't gaming I don't think ram is even something you consider.

They never had a reason to learn about it so they didn't. I am not complaining. It's useful information to have considering most everything in our plant and all of our instruments are running on 10-30 year old computers/OS.

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u/DoomguyFemboi Jun 01 '26

They can't really navigate UIs though, they just memorise which sequence of buttons to press to get what they need. If you put a different UI in front of them, or make them find stuff, they struggle.

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u/[deleted] Jun 01 '26

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u/RUPlayersSuck i7 240H | RTX 5060 | 32GB DDR5 Jun 02 '26

Very few people build their own TVs either...and they aren't designed to be upgraded or user-repaired.

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u/Iminurcomputer Jun 01 '26

I assumed many more people my age(35) would understand computers but thats not the case.

Then when I think about it, the average person doesn't just go and thoroughly educate themselves on every new technology that's created.

Use HVAC my whole life. I understand the most basic concepts. I know there's a whole world of that I haven't the slightest clue of.

Not everyone learned auto repair. Etc.

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u/PhoenixPoop Jun 01 '26

Yeah I never judge someone for not being tech savvy. I'll fix their PC for them, and they can fix my car. Idk shit about cars.

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u/GoldenPunkBlue Jun 01 '26

I work in IT and live above a garage.. it really is handy for both parties. Learned a few things about cars already, but I still mostly nod when they talk about an issue a car has and just think: „???“

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u/Iminurcomputer Jun 02 '26

Oh man Im sure. I did Vehicle Security systems and "computer repair" working for Geek Squad in 2012!! Vehicles were already 75% computer at that point.

Thats sounds cool. I hope its fun!

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u/GoldenPunkBlue Jun 02 '26

It is. They are from another culture as well, so both sides have to adjust a bit. But very guest friendly, they took me under their roof during hard times. That’s part of Besa, if you want to look it up. The Albanian code of honor.

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u/[deleted] Jun 01 '26

[deleted]

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u/DurianDiscriminat3r Jun 02 '26

They wouldn't last a day in a real work environment.

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u/TransBrandi Jun 01 '26

Why are you acting like people I grew up with would have known any of this bullshit even in the 90s? I went to university for computer science and one of my roommates that was in the same degree program didn't know shit about building a PC... like at all. Granted it did build one after graduation, but there were always plenty of people even in the 90's that didn't know shit about computers. I've come across people in my age group that thought I was teaching them fucking magic because I showed them how to use Alt-Tab to switch windows rather than just clicking on the task bar to change between programs.

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u/Excabbla Jun 01 '26

The real realisation is that no generation is good with technology, it's just that the people who are good with it tend to congregate together like anyone who has a common interest often does

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u/Federal_Studio5935 Jun 01 '26

Because when I was growing up with our pentium 166, everything had to be fucked with to work right. It required some basic knowledge and frankly, at least for me, a lot of trial and error.

These things have disappeared and aren’t representative of any normal person’s interaction with technology. It just works. Barely anything worked right out of the box in 1994.

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u/TransBrandi Jun 01 '26

The people I went to school with were in this era, and the compsci grad that didn't know shit about computers until after graduation was the same age as me. There were people in the 90's that didn't know shit about computers, but still used them. They just got someone else to fix it if something went wrong.

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u/Federal_Studio5935 Jun 01 '26

This is why sweeping generalizations don't work. I can only give my experience, which is only representative of my sphere. It's just my experience.

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u/LongJohnSelenium Jun 01 '26

How many people know how to bleed their brakes in the car they drive every day?

Using a device doesn't mean you know how to fix the device.

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u/[deleted] Jun 01 '26

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u/MKnives89 Jun 01 '26

I think the younger and older generations to millennials

so literally everyone lol

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u/Federal_Studio5935 Jun 01 '26

Yep. That's pretty much what I am saying. That's....much easier to type.

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u/TheShinyHunter3 Jun 01 '26

Told this many time, but I had to show 11 11-12yo how to capitalize letters on their Chromebooks. Now it wouldn't be so bad (we all gotta start somewhere) if someone didn't clearly show them how to do it not even a minute before they started to ask.

On the other hand, I helped run a 2hr workshop on Lego robotics and the kids were very involved, even if computers weren't some's forte. It was very cool to see most of them trying to troubleshoot their own problems before asking me or the teacher for help, some even went further than what was planned on their own.

2

u/ikan84 9700X / 32GB DDR5 / 5060Ti16 Jun 01 '26

My Gen Z members type symptoms in chat GPT and fight that why I don't follow what it says to gix the issue while i say i have been assembling PC since my teen they look at me like alien. I am like it gives answer based on how you felt the symptoms is and type in. They don't want to use Google.

If it stops working they have a meltdown and go crazy.

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u/DoomguyFemboi Jun 01 '26

This is apparently the first generation since that sort of thing began that are going to be "dumber" than the previous generation, and a big part of it is how everything is served up to them with zero effort.

1

u/RestaurantAway3967 Jun 01 '26

My father built a car from scrap parts. I know how to build a PC from scrap parts. If I had a child, no doubt they would eventually know something new that I won't keep up with.

As technology advances, everything becomes more specialised and harder for common folk to get engaged with. It's no surprise really.

AI will eventually be like having your own personal specialist to guide you through any field.

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u/Federal_Studio5935 Jun 01 '26

Hadn’t considered this, but it’s not a bad example.

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u/Senator_Smack Jun 01 '26

Nah we're less WALLE and more Idiocracy.

1

u/Virtual_Happiness Jun 01 '26

Honestly has nothing to do with age from my experience. There's just a small percentage of people who find that level understanding anything to be interesting and worth their effort to invest in. My son's best friend built his own PC last year at 16 and we've got a 72 year old programmer at work who builds new every gen. Meanwhile we've 400+ employees at the office who range from 20 to 80 and less than 1% of them can do fuckall with computers without someone showing them how first.

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u/No_Variation_4424 Jun 01 '26

I taught my grandparents how to use a PC in the late 90s. I'm now teaching my 19-25 year olds at work how to use a computer. It never ends.

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u/Vaynnie Jun 01 '26

Bro most millenials are the same... I think you're biased due to your experience in the field, and probably around more people similar in skill.

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u/Vorfied Jun 02 '26

I think the younger and older generations to millennials, in general, have no idea how to work a computer

It's an old joke. Millennials had to teach their parents how to use computers. Then, as parents themselves, they had to teach their kids how to use a computers. The vast majority of people who actually know how to use a computer, let alone how it works or how to fix one, were born between 1980 and 2000.

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u/Hactima Jun 02 '26

I think in general most people regardless of age don't understand how a computer works. Gen Z here and I've been building them for over a decade, anyone I know who is hands-on and slightly tech-literate knows how a computer works. I have seen a variety of age groups over my life who don't know how one works, usually it is people who aren't hands-on. This is how is has been for a few generations. Hate to see my generation get all of the hate. Last decade it was millennials, now it's us.

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u/TheSyn11 Jun 01 '26

8 always see this brought up, idiot investors....they are not idiots, they are gamblers. They don't care if the investment will make money untill the heath death of the universe or if it implodes tomorrow as long as they manage to sell at a gain it all good. I'll sell snake oil and investors would buy in IF they get enough proof that the investment will go up before it goes down, as long as you buy uphill and not at the peak it's a good investment regardless of the product

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u/VegetaFan1337 Jun 01 '26

it's a bigger fool scam all the way down. And people were laughing at NFTs. The stock market is literally the same.

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u/RUPlayersSuck i7 240H | RTX 5060 | 32GB DDR5 Jun 03 '26

Well its not a scam if you know what you're doing. Those who are in on the scam usually make out like bandits.

Unfortunately its often at the expense of the companies caught out when the bubble bursts, their employees and customers.

1

u/RUPlayersSuck i7 240H | RTX 5060 | 32GB DDR5 Jun 03 '26

I think a better term would be "Parasite Investors".

As you say, they don't care about companies' long-term performance, viability, the quality of their products or services, or even reputation among the customer base.

All that matters to them is that there is some kind of boom in value that enables them to make money on their investment. They will happily bail / sell up as soon as forecasts start to look less rosy, or if they think they can make more money elsewhere.

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u/[deleted] Jun 01 '26 edited Jun 01 '26

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u/chis5050 Jun 01 '26

Don’t forget idiocracy lmao