Writing a reporting paper-Building a PC

[MadMax891]

Well, I am currently beginning to write a reporting essay on building a computer. I wanted to pick something technology related, and after talking to my teacher about it we thought it would be a good topic. Not necessarily a "how to", but more the idea of it, how the technology for the different components and cards of a PC are constantly and rapidly changing, and reporting on the idea of a computer.

Right now I am in the brainstorming process and my problem is I have been having trouble finding good sources for it. Obviously I know how the PC I got 6 months ago is already outdated compared to the new quads, i7's, etc, and that it would be half the cost to buy it now. What I am having trouble is finding evidence to support this theory. I would like to know if anybody knows of any sources or articles that may support this idea of technology rapidly evolving. Maybe I am looking at the wrong keywords or the wrong sources, and I am looking for some input on what and where to look. I'm not looking for anybody to write my paper or give me everything I need, but since this is a technology forum I thought it would be a good place to come look for something like this as many of you are aware of the idea and may know more about it.

 

[Archean]

You can have a look at PC guides on techspot as well other technology related sites to give you some ideas. Secondly, with regard to your notion of cost reduction of tech products few months down the road, well that has been a norm not only in tech industry but many others as well ...... for example Merc with S calls introduced ABS in the high end cars ..... but few year down the road the same is now standard in almost every car.

 

[dividebyzero]

Obviously I know how the PC I got 6 months ago is already outdated compared to the new quads, i7's, etc, and that it would be half the cost to buy it now. What I am having trouble is finding evidence to support this theory

The reason for that is.....it isn't true.
Core i3, i5, i7, Sandy Bridge and Thuban when they arrive do no more for the average computer user than an LGA775 or AM2 socket CPU and chipset except save time. Each succeeding CPU, chipset and GPU has a better instruction set and can execute what it needs to render more efficiently and faster. What is changing for the most part is a minor in the greater scheme of things:
Tesselators, better setup engines and general compute tech for graphics cards
Better self regulation of componentry
Better and slightly more diverse connectivity
Faster and more durable storage
All of these can be had (or can be added to) on a six year old P965 based system
The reason people think that computers, or tech in general, becomes outmoded faster is a construct of advertising and the population's belief that newer equals faster equals better.
Is Windows 7 a major technological leap over the nine year old XP that is it's principle rival?
Is there a desktop computing application that a Core i7 980X hexacore based X58 system can render that a bog-standard Pentium D based system cannot?
What's truly new for most computer users? If you're a gamer then I suppose you can point to DirectX11- but that is available to you if you use Windows Vista, now three years old- and games in general will run on earlier versions of DirectX or Open GL. And PC gaming is not a prime mover in the evolution of computing.