When designing a programming project, what is the usual method for imposing speed requirements, such as "function X must accomplish so-and-so in 2 seconds or less"? The problem here of course is that all computers run programs at a different speeds.
posted by crapmatic on Jun 10, 2009 - 19 answers

Dell has started to suck. I've owned several, both notebook and desktop, over the past 10 or so years. Now, after buying two power cords for my lemony Inspiron 1720 in less than 2 years, I'm going local. So what are some suggestions for beefing my machine up? [more inside]
posted by anonymous on Mar 26, 2009 - 11 answers

How can I make iTunes play a large video file? [more inside]
posted by fantine on Mar 4, 2009 - 10 answers

Help me rid my computer of clutter for faster performance. [more inside]
posted by mintchip on Jan 9, 2009 - 15 answers

Building a uber powerful gaming pc, what parts to buy as I don't want to be a sucker. Need your help. Intel Core i7 [more inside]
posted by spinko on Nov 22, 2008 - 26 answers

Why are CPUs not getting faster any more? This plot is some data I scraped from a few sources around the web. I know it's not exhaustive, but I'm looking to pick out long-term and general trends. It's clear to me that processor clock speed has plateau'ed around roughly 4 GHz. Why? [more inside]
posted by sergeant sandwich on Dec 9, 2007 - 30 answers

How do I determine computer drive speed? It's an old Dell Inspiron running XP.
posted by anticlock on Aug 17, 2007 - 3 answers

How can I return my Windows XP computer to its original speed after goofing up the Prefetch folder? [more inside]
posted by jordanian2 on Sep 18, 2006 - 14 answers

Am I overpaying for internet service? I'm paying 10$ extra a month for a 500k connection (as opposed to a 200) yet it seems to not be enough. Whilst running torrents, I'm unable to load webpages, which is annoying, to say the least. [more inside]
posted by gilsonal on Sep 16, 2006 - 13 answers

My computer's on/off fan is driving me mad; and I don't need the power. How can I limit the available processor power so that I can run it silently? [more inside]
posted by jamescridland on May 29, 2006 - 13 answers

To upgrade or not to upgrade ... [more inside]
posted by essexjan on Jan 7, 2006 - 23 answers

Is there any way to make my laptop run faster? Two-year old Dell Inspiron 2500, Win XP, some Celeron craptastic processor, 256 meg RAM (max). My computer expertise: 3 o/o 10, which encompasses disc tools and Spybot, but not much more. Does it matter how full the drive is?
posted by gottabefunky on May 31, 2004 - 18 answers