Original title: 3000 Internet cafe computers easily eat chicken insider boss spent millions of magic change.
After many days of preparation, I traveled more than 600 miles, interviewed many people in the industry, contacted many hardware manufacturers, and conducted many rounds of on-the-spot measurement on computers in Internet cafes. PConline answers for you: Why can’t computers in Internet cafes get stuck? What are the computer configurations in Internet cafes? Why do computers in Internet cafes with the same configuration feel smoother? How does the Internet cafe system work? What’s the difference between Internet cafes now and those in the past? When did Internet cafes begin to transform into Internet cafes? Everything about Internet cafes is here.
[PConline gossip]Last time, we simply talked with you about the reasons why the computers in Internet cafes are not stuck, and basically explained in theory that the computers in Internet cafes are indeed faster than the practical computers in our family to a certain extent. This time, we conducted a practical demonstration of this theory and tested the computers in Internet cafes. This interview also opened our eyes. Mr. Feng, the owner of the Internet cafe, actually spent more than 1 million yuan to build a global centralized water cooling system for the Internet cafe.
The place where we traveled this time was Zhongshan City. Before that, we contacted Mr. Feng, the owner of this Internet cafe through a friend. Mr. Feng was very warm and welcome, and he agreed. I am very grateful to Sun Yat-sen Soho Internet Cafe and Mr. Feng for their strong support for this interview.
Zhongshan City is one of the five prefecture-level cities without municipal districts in China. Formerly known as Xiangshan County established in 1152; In 1925, it was renamed Zhongshan County to commemorate Sun Yat-sen.. Located in the coastal area, Zhongshan has maintained the fifth economic aggregate in Guangdong Province for many years. This Internet cafe, located in the transportation hub of the city, is surrounded by many entertainment places besides the transportation hub of the station, so the flow of people in the Internet cafe is still quite large. The Internet cafe is the owner’s own property, a building with a hotel (Times Suhao Hotel) upstairs and a water bar/billiards hall (under renovation) downstairs.
In fact, the layout and operation mode of SO Hao Internet Cafe is more inclined to Internet Cafe, but it is being laid out in the direction of Internet Cafe, which is also the general situation of Internet Cafe in Zhongshan City. This is determined by the consumption environment and consumers (below we will introduce the main consumers of SO Hao). What we generally think of as Internet cafes is generally: well-decorated, with obvious regional division, casual environment and excellent service. And what we think of as internet cafes is generally: dirty, smoky and without service. The SO Hao internet cafe we interviewed this time seems to be on the way from internet cafe to internet cafe, with clean environment, comfortable experience and different functional divisions, and can also provide one-stop service for the industry through the water bar downstairs and the hotel upstairs.
All kinds of facilities in Internet cafes are good, and the environment is much better than that of "Internet cafes". In Zhongshan, it can be called an Internet cafe if it is well decorated. Of course, it can’t compare with Internet cafes and e-sports halls in first-tier cities, but it is much better than the decoration of Internet cafes. There is no water bar and ready-to-eat snacks in the bar, because our own water bar lounge downstairs is also ready to open, and the business is directly separated from the Internet cafes we usually see.
The consumer groups of Internet cafes are mostly working people from the surrounding areas. There are entertainment places around the Internet cafes. The working hours of everyone in the entertainment places are about 6 pm to 3 am, and then many people choose to come here for the night after work. The difference between this Internet cafe and ordinary Internet cafes is that there is no longer a time limit for night booking. For the working hours of people around, it is unified for 8 hours after the early morning and before 6 am, which means that even if you book the night at 5 am, it will end at 13 noon after 8 hours. This is also a modification of the rules according to the consumers in Internet cafes.
When it comes to business conditions, Internet cafes are open 24 hours a day, with three shifts of service staff. The real main business hours are the afternoon and evening when Internet cafes are open. According to the conversation with Mr. Feng, the owner of the Internet cafe, customers will come to the Internet one after another after lunch, and it is not until 6 o’clock that the business of the Internet cafe officially begins. At the same time, this is also the time when many entertainment places start to open, and nightlife begins. From 6 o’clock, the number of people in Internet cafes began to increase. Now, many Internet cafes will gradually disperse around 23 o’clock. SO Hao Internet Cafe is different. Because of the consumers, the whole Internet Cafe is full from 6 o’clock until the end of the night in the early morning of the next day.
The entire SO Hao internet cafe is mainly divided into three areas, and the middle e-sports area is the hottest area. Whether it is an internet cafe or an internet cafe, the basic configuration will be partial game e-sports. SO Hao Internet Cafe’s e-sports area display has a high refresh rate of 144Hz, which is an unknown brand. Mr. Feng personally customized it, and it is also a practical Samsung panel. According to the conversation with Mr. Feng, many people would rather wait for the computer in the 144Hz area when they go to the Internet cafe to surf the Internet.For the game, the fluency of the picture is much higher than the quality and resolution. And once you get used to the fluency of high refresh rate, it is difficult to return to 60Hz, and you will feel that the 60Hz refresh rate will actually get stuck.
The monitor used by SOHao Internet Cafe comes from a manufacturer called Titan Corps, which is customized by Mr. Feng himself. It needs Samsung’s panel with 1080 resolution and supports a high refresh rate of 144Hz. We have already made an actual measurement on whether 144Hz can really improve fluency.There are always some friends who don’t believe that 144Hz will really be smooth. In this case, I really suggest that you try the 144Hz monitor in an Internet cafe for a while and then look back at the 60Hz monitor, and you will really feel the difference.
Besides, you can’t tell what brand the mouse in the Internet cafe is. I’m sorry, others’ mice started at more than 200, which is not cheap. The mouse in the three-piece set outside the Internet cafe has the strongest feel, and it must have a good life if it is held for a long time and clicked with high frequency. The measured mouse feels moderate, its weight is not big, it is suitable for long-term game use, its feel is crisp, and its workmanship can stand the test. It is understood that this mouse promises a two-year warranty.
Keyboards are cheaper. Keyboards are selected from some small brands in China, and the price is less than 200 yuan. However, the initial feel of the keyboard shaft is similar. Of course, the workmanship and details are not as good as some big brands, mainly in the Internet cafe environment. Keyboard shaft is very easy to jam and malfunction, and cheap keyboards are also easy to clean and maintain.According to Mr. Feng, under his maintenance, the keyboard can even reach a service life of two years, while ordinary Internet cafes basically need to be replaced within a one-year warranty period (as short as five or six months and as long as eight or nine months).
Keyboard manufacturers’ shafts will be dust-proof to cope with the special environment of Internet cafes/cafes, but the most fundamental reason is that Mr. Feng himself is a DIY player, so he bought an ultrasonic cleaning machine directly when the keycap was dirty, and he can directly replace the shaft if it is broken. Such an operation strategy has greatly extended the service life of the equipment in its own Internet cafe.
Headphones are too metaphysical and subjective. The earphone brand selected by Mr. Feng is relatively unpopular "Victor" (Victory), which is a brand from Japan and is now called "JVC". When Mr. Feng bought headphones, the price of a single pair of headphones was as high as that of 800 yuan.
The appearance can refer to "JVC HA-RX900", and the logo is different, one is Victor and the other is JVC.
At present, there is basically no loss in the display of Internet cafes, and the display of Internet cafes will turn off the screen for standby at the first time without signal input, and the longevity is still very guaranteed. Headphones and mouse and keyboard peripherals have become consumables. Yes, in Internet cafes, mouse and keyboard peripherals are consumables. Headphones have become the most worn products due to material reasons. Next, the main problems of the mouse are double-clicking and micro-movement failure. The keyboard has largely resisted the loss in the special environment of Internet cafes because of the appearance of the optical axis at present, and many manufacturers now will strengthen dust prevention when supplying to Internet cafes/Internet cafes.
When we actually measured the computers in Soho Internet Cafe, although the computer configuration in the Internet Cafe was not very high, Mr. Feng, the owner of the Internet Cafe, overclocked all the computers in the Internet Cafe, and in order to suppress the 500W cooling power consumption caused by overclocking, Mr. Feng cooled all the computers in the whole line. Yes, all the computers were cooled by water.
Small area pipeline layout
Global pipeline layout
The layout of Mr. Feng’s SO Hao Internet Cafe is not an extension line scheme. At present, there are two host layouts of diskless system in Internet cafes: ① Extension line scheme (the host is placed centrally, and the special equipment is connected through the network cable, and then the display and keyboard and mouse headphones are connected externally). ② Distributed host scheme, where the host is near the display and peripherals.
Main engine concentration of fume hood
The extension line scheme can not achieve the output of high frame rate pictures, but can only provide 60Hz pictures, while the distributed host can achieve the effect of wireless loss. Mr. Feng adopts the distributed host mode, but it is divided into small regional centralized management. The main engine is placed in a fume hood, and the whole water cooling of the main engine is realized in the fume hood.
Global water cooling and heat recovery system
Through the layout of the waterway pipeline of the whole Internet cafe, centralized water supply and cooling for all hosts of the Internet cafe can be realized through the water pump. The hosts of the Internet cafe are not single-machine water-cooled, but the whole is a very powerful water-cooling system. When the hot water exceeds 40℃, it will trigger the hot water recovery pump. Remember what we said earlier that Mr. Feng’s Internet cafe is his hotel upstairs? Hot water is directly supplied to the hot water system of the whole building.
With the cost of more than 1 million yuan, such a system can successfully overclock the host, reduce the heat of the host components and ensure a good life, and realize heat recovery and environmental protection.
As for the cost recovery, there is not much mention, but it is not in line with the spirit of DIY. I believe many people have thought about this system, but this Internet cafe is my first time to see the real thing, and we really admire this DIY spirit.
How much performance improvement has been brought by such a cow’s water cooling system? Next, we measured the computer in the Internet cafe.
Introduction to core configuration:After all, the boss is a hardcore A fan, and it is normal to use the 3A platform. The biggest advantage of this configuration is that the cost will be relatively low, but the game experience is very good. Why do you say that? Let’s analyze them one by one
CPU：In terms of CPU, Mr. Feng chose FX 8300. FX 8300 is based on 32nm process technology, the original main frequency is 3.3GHz, the dynamic acceleration can reach up to 4.2GHz, the second-level cache is 8MB, the third-level cache is 8MB, the memory supports dual-channel DDR3-1866, and the packaging interface is also Socket AM3+, which belongs to the pile driver architecture.,There is not much difference in architecture between him and AMD’s flagship CPU FX 9590. The difference is only in frequency, while AMD’s CPU has always been frequency-locked. For example, it is like the relationship between Ryzen 7 1700 and Rzyen 7 1800X, so the most cost-effective CPU in AMD’s previous generation is FX 8300.
Perhaps many netizens have doubts, why choose FX 8300, a pile driver that has been criticized by people, instead of the latest Ryzen series CPU? In fact, the reason is very simple. First, the use of FX 8300 can make the platform use AMD-specific memory chips, which greatly reduces the cost of the whole machine. Assuming that the cost of a computer drops by 800, the cost of 100 computers can save 80,000 yuan. Second, it is related to the planning and establishment time of the Internet cafe. After all, the price was too high when Ryzen came out, and Mr. Feng was also testing the water when he first invested in the Internet cafe. Moreover, except for some online games that are very single-core, the performance of overclocked FX 8300 in stand-alone games will not be worse than that of Rzyen CPU at the same price. To apply the classic words of many bulldozer users, "it is not impossible to use it if it is over."
As it happens, Mr. Feng is a hardware overclocking enthusiast. Under his training, FX 8300 in Internet cafes are overclocking. Many host CPUs have a frequency of 4.4GHz, and the one with the strongest performance in Internet cafes Rzyen exceeds 4.5GHz. Although the power consumption generated by the processor will increase a lot at this time, it may be a good thing for Mr. Feng who has a’ thermal energy recycling system’, but the performance of the host processor has reached a higher level. Below we will compare it with Feng.
The memory stick with DIY vest installed by Mr. Feng.
Memory module:In memory, Mr. Feng uses DDR3 1333MHz AMD dedicated memory chip.Over 1600MHzUse. It has just been mentioned many times that Mr. Feng uses AMD-specific memory chips, so what exactly is AMD-specific memory chips? In fact, many DIY old drivers should know that the so-called AMD special memory chip refers to the use ofThere are 8 4-bit DRAM granules on one side, that is, 32-bit single-sided and 64-bit double-sided memory sticks. This standard memory stick is used in servers and workstation PCs in international specifications, but generally normal DDR3 memory sticks use 8-bit DRAM granules with 64-bit single-sided and 128-bit double-sided memory sticks, which are twice as wide as AMD special memory sticks..Intel’s platform can only recognize 8bit*1bank, 8bit*2bank and 16bit*1bank.However, it is reported that the AMD platform devolves the technology of Workstation to the PC side, so the AMD motherboard has a wide range of memory acceptance, soThis kind of memory can only be completely recognized on AMD platform.Therefore, we call it AMD-specific memory chips. (But now the i3 8100+H110 motherboard is said to be able to recognize after brushing BIOS.)
AMD special strip
Expensive Kingston memory chips
Most of the particles of such memory chips come from the server memory disassembly chip, which is called foreign garbage. Although there is a certain gap between the performance and ordinary memory, it is cheaper. Even in the case of soaring memory prices, an 8G of such memory is less than that of 200 yuan, which is hundreds of yuan cheaper than ordinary DDR3 memory, so that computers in Internet cafes can easily use 16GB of memory. And Mr. Feng also revealed to us that when you buy these memory chips when you install them, you only need dozens of them, which is really cost-effective.
Ultra-platinum by RX 480 of magic change.
Graphics card:The graphics card is the sapphire RX 480 of Mr. Feng magic change, which is super platinum. When we approached, we found that the temperature of the host computer was really not high. RX 480 was released by AMD in 2016. It adopts Polaris architecture and Samsung’s 14nm FinFET process technology. Many games actually do not lose GTX 1060. Sapphire RX 480 ultra-platinum is the top non-public existence of RX 480. The frequency can reach 1342MHz, which is slightly higher than the public version of RX 580. It can be regarded as the performance of the public version of RX 580. The key is that he has 8G memory, which is absolutely enough for playing big games such as eating chicken.
Configuration summaryConsidering that the key to the game experience is the graphics card, so Hao Internet Cafe is also very fastidious in the choice of hardware configuration. Good steel flowers are on the cutting edge, and the graphics card is the most willing to spend money, while other places show the wisdom of Mr. Feng, a DIY player, and try to reduce the configuration cost of the whole machine without affecting the user experience as much as possible, so that the cost of opening a store can be lower than that of competitors. In the next step, Mr. Feng intends to open an e-sports hall. "There is too little A card now, and I can only get more than 60 R9 Fury X after searching for mature talents." He lamented that "the service group of the e-sports hall is higher, and the CPU can’t continue to use bulldozers, so I plan to wait for the second generation Ryzen." However, for the choice of the second generation Rzyen, Mr. Feng is still struggling with whether to use 4 cores and 8 threads or 6 cores and 12 threads. 4 cores and 8 threads are enough to save money, but We are also very much looking forward to what kind of DIY spirit Mr. Feng will show in the newly opened e-sports hall, but we can only know after a period of continuous visits.
8GB X 2
8G×2
8G×2
Gold full module power supply
Gold full module power supply
Cost estimation (real-time price, graphics card has been discontinued.
Next, we use the results of our hardware test in Soho Internet Cafe to compare the mainstream platforms for entry, so that readers can have an intuitive understanding of the computer benchmark performance of Soho Internet Cafe.
CPU-Z is a well-known CPU detection software, and it is the most used software to detect CPU. Its own Benchmark can accurately judge the multi-core performance and single-core performance of CPU.
Test summaryIt can be seen that the single-core performance of the pile driver architecture is weak, even if it exceeds the smoke, it is still inferior to the new platform, but thanks to the design of FX 8300 8 physical cores, 4 modules and 8 threads, it is slightly better than the new platform in multi-core capability.
CineBench R15 is a convincing test system for CPU and graphics card. The Cinema 4D special effects software engine developed for film and television industry is used to test a 3D scene picture with high precision, which can support up to 256 logic cores. In addition, the new version also strengthens the investigation of shaders, anti-aliasing, shadows, lighting and reflection blur, and the detection of CPU performance is more accurate.
Test summaryIn terms of multi-core rendering capability, the FX 8300 of 4.5GHz barely overwhelmed the new platform, but the single-core capability was not so optimistic.
Fritz Chess Benchmark is a chess software, which can be used to test the computing performance of CPU.
Test summary:As you all know, as AMD’s royal test software with various mechanical naming architecture processors, FX 8300 will naturally perform quite well in chess, killing two other new entry-level CPUs.
Winrar is a commonly used compression/decompression software, and its own benchmark performance test can test the compression ability of a computer, which is similar to that of a computer.Processor performance and memory performanceIt matters.
Test summary: FX 8300 leads with a very exaggerated range in the file compression ability of the whole machine.
AIDA64 is a tool for testing software and hardware system information, which can display every aspect of PC information in detail. AIDA64 not only provides many functions such as assisting overclocking, hardware debugging, stress testing and sensor monitoring, but also can comprehensively evaluate the performance of processors, system memory and disk drives. Here, the memory performance of several platforms is mainly evaluated.
Test summary:In the pure memory performance test, the platform disadvantage of so Hao Internet Cafe is relatively large. After all, the new platform is DDR4 memory, which can be said to be a cross-generation suspension, but the huge price gap between them cannot be ignored. This also means that so Hao Internet Cafe can get 16GB memory capacity without bottleneck in playing chicken eating games at a low price.
3Dmark is a software specially designed for measuring the performance of graphics cards by futuremark Company, and it has released 3Dmark99, 3Dmark2001, 3Dmark2003, 3Dmark2005, 3Dmark2006, 3Dmark vantage, 3Dmark 11 and The new 3DMark. Now, 3Dmark is not only a software to measure the performance of graphics cards, but has gradually turned into a software to measure the performance of the whole machine. 3DMark’s test physics score can be basic.Measure the actual game performance of CPU.
Test summary:In the 3DMark test, FX 8300 performed well, slightly better than the two mainstream entry platforms.
Test summary:So Hao Internet Cafe has achieved success and failure with the two mainstream entry platforms at the cost reduction as much as possible. Here, I have to sigh that this is the charm of DIY. This is also the spirit of many A rice. Before Ryzen came out, there was a huge performance gap between AMD CPU and Intel CPU. At this time, A rice made its own platform performance catch up through its own hands-on ability, and there was even a rumor on the Internet that people were intelligent farmers (people don’t use things from agricultural enterprises if their IQ is not high enough). This DIY spirit is vividly reflected in Mr. Feng. Need to be reminded that this is not to promote FX 8300 CPU. FX 8300′ s weak single-core performance makes it perform extremely poorly on many software that eat single-core. Secondly, after overclocking, FX 8300 is also very hot and consumes a lot of power. After all, not everyone has established a heat recycling system like Mr. Feng. Now it is recommended that you buy a new platform.
Many people sigh, why do computers in Internet cafes play so fast? In fact, in theory, it is a problem that Internet cafes use diskless systems, so is it really powerful to use diskless systems? What is the gap between him and the system we use every day? This time, we will take the SSD past measurement to see if the performance of the computer and SSD system is consistent under the diskless system.
Benchmark performance test:
Connect to our SSD Internet cafe computer.
Test summary:There is basically no difference in the performance of the computer’s hardware benchmark performance test, which can basically be regarded as an error. This is normal. After all, everyone is exactly the same configuration. So it seems that the diskless system in Internet cafes is just a "name in disguise"?
Game experience test:
Test summary:We tested it under the diskless system of Internet cafes respectively.Demos recorded the number of frames three times and achieved an average score.It was also tested for three times under SSD system, and the average value was obtained. It was found that the game experience of the Internet cafe system was indeed better than that of our own SSD system, and the number of frames was higher. It can be judged that the diskless system of the Internet cafe really added to the daily game experience, which may be related to the simplicity of the Internet cafe system and the few background programs.
Under the craze of eating chicken, domestic Internet cafes have to start to upgrade their computers. After all, LOL and eating chicken have different requirements for hardware performance, but it also makes the operating cost of opening a shop in Internet cafes rise, and the improvement of the threshold also makes many Internet cafes leave. Under this trend, we have the honor to visit Soho Internet Cafe and its owner, Mr. Feng, and see the achievements of DIY spirit in commercial operation. Although the hardware configuration of SOHO Internet Cafe has been adjusted professionally, its hardware performance and peripheral model are still of some reference to the existing Internet Cafe. In order to make the results of our visit to Internet cafes more objective, and let readers know more about the hardware performance and peripheral models of Internet cafes as much as possible, in the next issue, PConline will return to Guangzhou to see the development of Internet cafes in first-tier cities. Interested friends should not miss it.
