3 ms·

I have no nostalgia for noisy PC fans and hard disks. One thing that was cool though, was way back in the C64 days. If the SID chip's volume wasn't set to zer

I have no nostalgia for noisy PC fans and hard disks. One thing that was cool though, was way back in the C64 days. If the SID chip's volume wasn't set to zero, then background sounds would come out of the speaker that were directly related to what the computer was doing. It was neat because it kind of sounded like an ethereal pipe organ. But you could "hear" basic things like complex computations vs. a short loop. I think disk drive data transfers were recognizable, but it's been a while.

diggan 3y ago
Modern GPUs can do this too, noticeable in the coil whine that sometimes happens. Always happening for me with Unreal Engine editor for some reason, and sometimes in games. Performing GPU-heavy simulations also makes it noticeable on my 3090ti. Somewhat nice that I can hear how many FPS the simulation is doing by the intensity of the coil whine.
- Arrath 3y ago
  My office monitor at my last workplace let out distinct whine, when a certain spreadsheet was open and expanded to beyond a certain portion of the monitor's real estate. It was maddening. And, of course, the spreadsheet I used most often at that job.
myself248 3y ago
My 486 was in the basement where my FM radio could barely pick up my favorite station. It had an analog tuner, and I found that if I tuned just off to the edge of the station, I'd get distinctive patterns of interference, just enough to tell how busy the bus was, while still being able to hear the music. It was enough to turn off the monitor and kick back during a long modem download, and the repetitive ticking of what I presume was the UART ISR, could've been the PATA chain, would tell me it was still in progress. When the ticking stopped, the transfer was done and I'd turn the monitor back on and get back to work.

3 ms·

I have no nostalgia for noisy PC fans and hard disks. One thing that was cool though, was way back in the C64 days. If the SID chip's volume wasn't set to zer

by MarkusWandel 3y ago

diggan 3y ago
Modern GPUs can do this too, noticeable in the coil whine that sometimes happens. Always happening for me with Unreal Engine editor for some reason, and sometimes in games. Performing GPU-heavy simulations also makes it noticeable on my 3090ti. Somewhat nice that I can hear how many FPS the simulation is doing by the intensity of the coil whine.
- Arrath 3y ago
  My office monitor at my last workplace let out distinct whine, when a certain spreadsheet was open and expanded to beyond a certain portion of the monitor's real estate. It was maddening. And, of course, the spreadsheet I used most often at that job.
myself248 3y ago
My 486 was in the basement where my FM radio could barely pick up my favorite station. It had an analog tuner, and I found that if I tuned just off to the edge of the station, I'd get distinctive patterns of interference, just enough to tell how busy the bus was, while still being able to hear the music. It was enough to turn off the monitor and kick back during a long modem download, and the repetitive ticking of what I presume was the UART ISR, could've been the PATA chain, would tell me it was still in progress. When the ticking stopped, the transfer was done and I'd turn the monitor back on and get back to work.