Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2017 August 2

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August 2

Which is more important gigatexels or gigapixels?

152 gigapixels per second is a LOT of pixels if it only has to draw each pixel once per frame. Does that mean texels per second is more important in top GPUs since some frames might average many tex/pixel like explosions? Of course for something that's not graphics like bitcoin mining TFLOP/second is more important. Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 01:03, 2 August 2017 (UTC)

In computer graphics a texel or texture element is a fundamental unit of a texture map and must comprise multiple pixels. The giga- prefix means multiply by (10⁹ or 1000000000). A gigatexel-per-second specification for a GPU tells more about its processing power (that potentially relieves the CPU) than gigapixels-per-second which says no more than the video output bandwidth. Blooteuth (talk) 15:17, 2 August 2017 (UTC)

Oh, I thought gigapixels/second were from the monitor's point of view, not every last detail in the virtual world (i.e. the hidden parts of objects). Guess I was wrong. Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 16:11, 2 August 2017 (UTC)

These are usually raw graphic card processing capability numbers in regard to the lowest common Bits per pixel which is 16 bpp or 32 bpp in Windows. If you translate that into bits per second it does not impress that much if you compare it to other digital hardware, for example common fiber optics bandwidth which is measured in Petabit per second now. For GPUs that does not count as easy tho since both, pixles and texels, are inportant and gpu design has to aim for a balance because a picture or frame is usually a combination of multiple textures and pixels and since both use seperate specialized calculating units they need to teamwork each single frame. So its no use if one would be faster. Contrary it would be a wast of a given "chip space" if one branch of calculation had to much dedicated units, limiting the number of other branches which then stalls the teamwork.

So basically you are asking which one of your legs is more important to enable you to run. --Kharon (talk) 17:47, 2 August 2017 (UTC)

I was impressed because I thought 152 gp/s would be enough to show 16K (132.7 megapixels) at 1,145 frames per second if there wasn't too many texels. And was wondering why they didn't use more chip space for texel processing since 16K video at 1,145 fps is enough. Does the 32 bit thing mean that the 36 bit per pixel thing that Ultra HD likes to do now would cause at least 11% less graphics performance than the specs? Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 18:25, 2 August 2017 (UTC)

I guess you refere to High-dynamic-range rendering which is planned as feature for new displays. Ofcourse that will lower gpu performance. --Kharon (talk) 18:33, 2 August 2017 (UTC)

Mostly you should ignore raw statistics when comparing GPUs with different architectures unless you're in some sort of weird penis size club. The same as you should ignore gigahertz with comparing CPUs. Instead if it matters to you, compare benchmarks preferably those from the applications that matter to you. Nil Einne (talk) 07:19, 3 August 2017 (UTC)

Quality difference between domain registrars

For registering a domain, does it matter what registrar you choose? They all are regulated by the same institution (ICANN) right? Is it wise just to pick the cheapest? What can go wrong? --Hofhof (talk) 14:00, 2 August 2017 (UTC)

Well, they could always lie and say they registered your domain when they didn't (and claim they are approved by ICANN when they aren't), or they could sell your billing info so you either get spammed or billed illegally. So, perhaps cheapest reputable registrar makes sense. (BTW, this Q belongs on has now been moved to the Computer Ref Desk.) StuRat (talk) 14:13, 2 August 2017 (UTC)

You can think about control panels, bundled DNS hosting (and other services), domain privacy, customer support, renewal costs, and access to other TLDs should you suddenly decide that you want them (in the same place). You might also consider how reputable the business is and ethical things like these. -- zzuuzz ^(talk) 17:54, 2 August 2017 (UTC)

Surely you know people who have registered domain names. Ask them what they used, how much they spent, and how they like the service. I personally find Network Solutions too expensive, but they have very dependable and secure service. I find GoDaddy very cheap, but I've had some major problems with their service that resulted in the loss of three domain names. 209.149.113.5 (talk) 18:50, 2 August 2017 (UTC)

I would just go with the cheapest for the bare registration. Once the domain is registered, that's it, except for pointing it to wherever you have your website. Many companies will give you a discounted price for the first year, but then renewal is much more expensive, so, if you can predict your future needs, and you have the funds, it can be worthwhile registering a domain for up to ten years. I find it useful to separate registration from domain hosting and storage, and choose the cheapest for each. The main service issues come with the domain hosting, which tends to be more expensive than the registration. Dbfirs 11:27, 3 August 2017 (UTC)

Linux routing settings

I can access some of my workplace's web services from home, but not others, and my workplaces does not appear to have VPN. I have noticed certain routing settings in Linux (openSUSE), for stuff like DNS servers, default gateways and routes, and was wondering if fiddling with some of these might help. Which ones are worth a shot, what data from from my workplace's network might I need, and where would I get said data?

Specifically, when I try and access certain pages, my ISP tells me that the page cannot be found.--Leon (talk) 18:02, 2 August 2017 (UTC)

It is important to know how the workplace network is set up. Here are some examples:

• Your workplace has a web page with a proper IP address and domain name. You can access it from home without a problem.
• Your workplace also has a web page with a proper IP address, but not a proper domain name. It has something like "accounting.local" as the domain name. That is not a real domain name. It won't work from your home. It works at work because they add it to their own domain name server. You could try to add their domain name server to your computer's resolv settings or you could add the hostname and IP address to your computer.
• Your workplace also has a web page that uses a local-only IP address. In this case, the IP address is only accessible on the local network. Your computer must be attached to the work network to access the web page. You can do that with a VPN or reverse SSH tunneling or proxy, etc... You cannot simply add the IP address to your computer's settings to access it.

In the end, the absolute best way to tackle the problem is to talk to your workplace's IT staff. Tell them what you want to do and they will either tell you how to do it or tell you that you aren't allowed to do it. 209.149.113.5 (talk) 18:48, 2 August 2017 (UTC)

When following general instuctions about Linux, note the SuSE YaST tool may reset Your changes to cfg files in the /etc folder. --Hans Haase (有问题吗) 19:22, 2 August 2017 (UTC)