What's the deal with some games being CPU-dependent and some being GPU dependent?

[janas19]

lets settle this with logical sense. So please consider the reaction between ammonia and boron trifluoride

Lulz

 

[Cogman]

Soooo um, can I request the admin to lock this thread for 4 years until I get s BS in computer science? Then I'll report back.

🙂 Unfortunately a CS degree doesn't really teach you (very well) what all the parts of a computer are and what they do. A computer engineering degree or electrical engineering degree are much more focused on the parts of computers.

 

[janas19]

🙂 Unfortunately a CS degree doesn't really teach you (very well) what all the parts of a computer are and what they do. A computer engineering degree or electrical engineering degree are much more focused on the parts of computers.

Thank you. 🙂

 

[mfenn]

probably if the cpu can spew more frames from a simple game/ai/physics engine than the gpu can render then its gpu bound😛 right?

Fixed that for you. 😉

🙂 Unfortunately a CS degree doesn't really teach you (very well) what all the parts of a computer are and what they do. A computer engineering degree or electrical engineering degree are much more focused on the parts of computers.

On average yes, though CS programs vary from school to school far more than, say ME programs do. You're right that CS is such a broad topic that you won't really get into how a computer actually works until senior year at best. The rest is a lot of fun (maybe even tangentially useful) math.

Though, as somebody with an MS in CS, I've gotta get my digs in at the CompE majors: "computer engineering teaches you what to think, computer science teaches you how to think." :awe:

 

[janas19]

Fixed that for you. 😉



On average yes, though CS programs vary from school to school far more than, say ME programs do. You're right that CS is such a broad topic that you won't really get into how a computer actually works until senior year at best. The rest is a lot of fun (maybe even tangentially useful) math.

Though, as somebody with an MS in CS, I've gotta get my digs in at the CompE majors: "computer engineering teaches you what to think, computer science teaches you how to think." :awe:

Mfenn, Harvard is offering free courses online that utilize their curriculum and teaching aids. One of those courses is "Introduction to Computer Science." I took a look at the syllabus, but for an INTRO to CS it seemed VERY complex... I never studied CS though, so maybe you could glance at it and see what you think?

Cheers 🙂

 

[mfenn]

Mfenn, Harvard is offering free courses online that utilize their curriculum and teaching aids. One of those courses is "Introduction to Computer Science." I took a look at the syllabus, but for an INTRO to CS it seemed VERY complex... I never studied CS though, so maybe you could glance at it and see what you think?

Cheers 🙂

Are you referring to: http://cs50.tv/2010/fall/ ?

If so, looking at the syllabus it seems to be a fairy normal (maybe a little ambitious) introductory course. Given that each lecture is 1 1/2 hours, most of the topics listed will only be covered at a very high level as a way to give you a taste of what's possible.

For example, week 8 is "HTTP. XHTML. PHP. SQL." You could easily spend 3 or 4 entire courses on designing and implementing a database-driven web application and not cover everything.

There is not much real "computer science" in this course, but then again that is not unexpected for an introductory course. Week 3 is really the only week that delves into what I would I would consider to be "computer science". Quotes around computer science because everybody's definition is a little different.

 

[0roo0roo]

Fixed that for you. 😉

lol doh😛

 

[janas19]

Are you referring to: http://cs50.tv/2010/fall/ ?

If so, looking at the syllabus it seems to be a fairy normal (maybe a little ambitious) introductory course. Given that each lecture is 1 1/2 hours, most of the topics listed will only be covered at a very high level as a way to give you a taste of what's possible.

For example, week 8 is "HTTP. XHTML. PHP. SQL." You could easily spend 3 or 4 entire courses on designing and implementing a database-driven web application and not cover everything.

There is not much real "computer science" in this course, but then again that is not unexpected for an introductory course. Week 3 is really the only week that delves into what I would I would consider to be "computer science". Quotes around computer science because everybody's definition is a little different.

Yep that was my basic question. Seemed like there was a lot of programming languages to cover but I guess it's just meant to give a taste as you say.

Thanks 🙂

 

[Cogman]

Fixed that for you. 😉



On average yes, though CS programs vary from school to school far more than, say ME programs do. You're right that CS is such a broad topic that you won't really get into how a computer actually works until senior year at best. The rest is a lot of fun (maybe even tangentially useful) math.

Though, as somebody with an MS in CS, I've gotta get my digs in at the CompE majors: "computer engineering teaches you what to think, computer science teaches you how to think." :awe:

🙂 It is probably just my school, but the CS department was full of dumbasses. By their senior year, most of them couldn't design/develop anything more complicated than a for loop and had the math skills of a retarded monkey.

For my school, Compe was about 2 classes away from EE.

I have to say, knowing HOW the computer works has been a great boon to my programming in general.

 

[mfenn]

🙂 It is probably just my school, but the CS department was full of dumbasses. By their senior year, most of them couldn't design/develop anything more complicated than a for loop and had the math skills of a retarded monkey.

For my school, Compe was about 2 classes away from EE.

I have to say, knowing HOW the computer works has been a great boon to my programming in general.

Oh yeah, I would definitely say that CompE is more useful if you're going to be developing highly optimized code or code for specialized devices. Don't even get me started on the number of people who have PhDs in CS who don't know how to turn the damn thing on.

"True" CS is really just a form of abstract mathematics. Ironically, you don't really need a computer to study Computer Science according to Dijkstra:

"The job [of operating or using a computer] was actually beyond the electronic technology of the day, and, as a result, the question of how to get and keep the physical equipment more or less in working condition became in the early days the all-overriding concern. As a result, the topic became —primarily in the USA— prematurely known as "computer science" —which, actually is like referring to surgery as "knife science"— and it was firmly implanted in people's minds that computing science is about machines and their peripheral equipment. Quod non [Latin: "Which is not true"]"

 

[Cogman]

Oh yeah, I would definitely say that CompE is more useful if you're going to be developing highly optimized code or code for specialized devices. Don't even get me started on the number of people who have PhDs in CS who don't know how to turn the damn thing on.

"True" CS is really just a form of abstract mathematics. Ironically, you don't really need a computer to study Computer Science according to Dijkstra:

"The job [of operating or using a computer] was actually beyond the electronic technology of the day, and, as a result, the question of how to get and keep the physical equipment more or less in working condition became in the early days the all-overriding concern. As a result, the topic became —primarily in the USA— prematurely known as "computer science" —which, actually is like referring to surgery as "knife science"— and it was firmly implanted in people's minds that computing science is about machines and their peripheral equipment. Quod non [Latin: "Which is not true"]"

I think you missed the part where I mentioned "They have the math skills of a retarded monkey'. So, they don't know how to write/develop algorithms, They don't know how to manage a project, they don't know anything more than the waterfall development cycle (and even that they are generally rusty at).

As far as I can tell, their only thing they actually learn is how to set up weekly starcraft games.


Now, this certainly could be just the case of my school. However, if you have a CS degree and you can't program, do math, develop algorithms, or manage a project.. What exactly is it that you are supposed to be learning?

 

[mfenn]

I think you missed the part where I mentioned "They have the math skills of a retarded monkey'. So, they don't know how to write/develop algorithms, They don't know how to manage a project, they don't know anything more than the waterfall development cycle (and even that they are generally rusty at).

As far as I can tell, their only thing they actually learn is how to set up weekly starcraft games.


Now, this certainly could be just the case of my school. However, if you have a CS degree and you can't program, do math, develop algorithms, or manage a project.. What exactly is it that you are supposed to be learning?

Oh no, I am not contesting that the CS students at your school sucked. Many just goof off and end up wasting their time without learning any useful skills. I was just pointing out that not all computer science programs are like that. 🙂

 

[Cogman]

Oh no, I am not contesting that the CS students at your school sucked. Many just goof off and end up wasting their time without learning any useful skills. I was just pointing out that not all computer science programs are like that. 🙂

🙂 Gotcha. I guess that isn't to say that the problem doesn't exist in the CompE program as well. It is just a little less prevalent as we are FORCED to do complex math. The CS department requires calc 1 and that's it. The rest of their degree is focused on project development and management while trying to teach them a few different programming environments. They have 1 algorithms class.

In the end, they have some pretty meh worthy senior projects. The last one I saw was a them setting up Microsoft XNA and displaying a menu (seriously, that is all they did for an entire semester, they had no gameplay or anything, just a menu with a 'start game' button).