Intel announces new Core i9 chips: Changes will start affecting new computers immediately

The wheels of technology keep turning. Intel has announced its new Core i9 chips for consumer level computers. The high end of this new chipset is the Core i9 Extreme which is the first consumer level processor to incorporate 18-cores and 36-threads. For comparison, if you are using an older computer, it may have a single core processor or perhaps a dual core processor. A "core" is the processing unit which receives instructions and performs calculations, or actions, based on those instructions. A set of instructions can allow a software program perform a specific function. Processors can have a single core or multiple cores. See Core from ComputerHope.com. Essentially, with programming that takes advantage of the new chips, computers can become many times faster.

As genealogists, unless you are also a gamer or making commercially viable movies, you probably would never use all of that computer power. But as with any advancement in electronic technology, the effects of this advance will resonate throughout the computer industry. It means your present computer just became one full step older and less useful to programmers. The real impact comes over a short period of time as the manufacturers incorporate the new chips in their new computers and the old computers become less valuable. Right now, a five-year-old computer has almost no value. For example, right now on Amazon.com, a "dual core" computer is selling for about $125.  That's right the whole computer is $125 dollars. Here is a screenshot of the ad. The product is a "Certified Refurbished product is tested and certified to look and work like new." The refurbished model also comes with a 90-day warranty.

So, if you think your present computer has any kind of resale value, you are probably wrong.