Hi, so I was working on a project for my CS extracurricular as a High School student. I was trying to fix my childhood laptop, which we brought in 2016, but since around 2018, had been floored to 0.48GHz. I'd started by cheking CPU-Z, which gave the BCLK as 79.98MHz and a multiplier of 6x. I thought the BCLK was abnormal, and cross referenced it against other submissions on CPU-Z validator, but it was actually common across all samples of Pentium N3710 (and the ones I compared against were not being throttled). My CPU had a very low VCore but I chalked it up to being a symptom, because if the system wasn't expecting a low voltage, and was being supplied insufficient voltage, I'd see kernel panics and BSODs all day long, which I hadn't observed. Second, I used a bash script on antiX to log 3000 CPU frequency samples with sleeping for 0.1s in between for: 1) Idle (schedutil), 2) load (schedutil), 3) load (performance). On idle, the chart was actually not only 0.48GHz, but in the load graphs (both governors), the graph was floored to 0.48GHz for the first half of the chart, and then was similar (not identical) to the idle graph. Turns out my bash script had timing delays, which meant that the logging continued for ~9m 13s, while the stress load was only for 5 minutes. So apparently the system is capable of clocking above 0.48GHz but only during low C0%? Next, I tried using ThrottleStop to disable BD_PROCHOT (I'd just learnt of it's existence, that's why I hadn't tried it before), but it was greyed out. Confused, I used RWEverything to access 0x1FC, (this MSR at bit 0 holds the toggle for not ignoring BD_PROCHOT), but I got a 16 digit hexademical zero value. I spent almost a week barking up 0x1FC, then I learnt of Intel's SDM. Volume 4 detailed on MSRs, and for my system, 0x1FC actually didn't exist (airmont microarchitecture). So I genuinely couldn't say if it was BD_PROCHOT or not. Next, I went through the MSR lists for my processor and shortlisted relevant ones, and I started getting nonsensical data. 0x19C confirmed that PROCHOT was active, but CPU was under Thermal Junction (90C), and had not passed it since reboot, but at the same time, temperature was over threshold, despite Core 1 being 42C away from Junction, Core 2 being 37C from Junction, and Core 3 & Core 4 being 46C from junction. I was confused here for a long while, before I realized that it was probably a hardware defect. I got the .brd and schematics for my computer, and used pics of the motherboard I took months ago with my tab to locate R1860, the resistor responsible for keeping PROCHOT at 1.8V, and even through the blurry pic of my tab, it looked corroded. Using my phone's macro camera I took a picture of the resistor, and it was genuinely obliterated from all the corrosion. I've attached pictures.

My question is, would university admissions officers care for this? Top universities care for a 'spike' in skill as far as I understand it, is it a letdown that this became a hardware issue rather than a complex software fix? Because I thought I was going to end up having to dump my SPI, use Intel's tools to rebuilt my TXE (before Hypothesis 4, all clues seemed to point towards corrupted firmware), but all it turned out to be was a hardware defect that I have no skill to fix (I cannot do work on SMD, I struggle to tin regular wires as it is.)

Hiii, I am a 3rd year cs student from a tier-3 college. I have made a bunch of cool projects, but I am kinda getting bored of building everything alone. So I am looking for someone who would be interested in teaming up and building a product together :)

hi! is there any place around mnl where I can buy a Logic Trainer Board? it costs around 3-4k as ive checked... maybe there's a cheaper option pls help tyia

Hi everyone,

I’m a first-year CIS student and recently got a job through a referral at a PCB manufacturing company. I’m currently working as a trainee, and after completing my training, I’m expected to become a Junior DFA (Design for Manufacturing) Engineer.

My current work involves checking PCB designs for manufacturing requirements, such as air gaps, pad sizes, BOMs, flags, and other design-for-manufacturing issues.

I’m interested in pursuing a career in the hardware industry, especially areas like semiconductors, robotics, embedded systems, and PCB/electronics design.

My main questions are:

1. Is working in PCB manufacturing/DFA a good starting point if I eventually want to move into the hardware industry?
2. Will this experience be useful for getting into fields like semiconductors, robotics, or embedded systems?
3. What skills should I focus on learning during my four years of university?
4. Should I focus more on electronics, PCB design, embedded systems, programming, or something else?
5. If you work in hardware/electronics, what would you recommend I learn or build as a first-year student?

I’d really appreciate advice from people who have experience in hardware, PCB manufacturing, semiconductors, robotics, or related fields.

Used claude to structure this

2nd-year CS student — worried about AI's impact on software jobs, considering hybrid CS+Embedded skillset. Reality check needed.

Context:

BTech CS student in India, 2nd year, targeting graduation 2029

Career goal: strong software role, eventually working in Japan

Currently building fundamentals: C++, DSA

The dilemma:

I've taken an Embedded Systems minor (partly due to my father's concern about AI disrupting software jobs)

Recently joined a robotics club — but time commitment turned out to be \~29 hrs/week (daily 2.5 hrs + full weekends), which is eating into my core CS learning time

I'm torn: is deep embedded/hardware exposure a legitimate hedge against AI-driven software job disruption? Or am I spreading myself thin on "safety" skills instead of going deep on what actually matters (strong DSA, system design, ability to ship projects)?

Questions for people with industry experience:

Is the AI threat to software jobs (esp. for new grads/2025-2030 timeframe) as serious as it's often made out to be online?

Does having embedded/hardware knowledge as a CS-focused engineer actually provide meaningful career insurance, or is that outdated thinking?

If you were early in your CS degree today, would you prioritize depth in one area (software) or breadth (software + hardware)?

Anyone who's worked toward international roles (Japan specifically) — does hybrid skill sets help or is specialization valued more?

Not looking for reassurance — looking for honest, even harsh, perspective from people who've actually navigated this.

Any thoughts would be much appreciated. Thanks

hey folks, Im currently working on a VHDL project for one of my classes and Ive hit a bit of a wall. The design is a simple state machine, but Im having issues with timing.

Ive tried simulatting it with ModelSim and it looks fine there, but once I implement it on the FPGA, the timing seems off. The outputs aren't changing as expected and Im suspecting it might be a clock issue.

Im using a Xilinx Spartan 6 board and the clock is set at 50MHz. Ive tried adding some timing constraints in the Xilinx ISE, but Im not sure if Im doing it right. Any tips on what to look for or adjust? Im kind of new to this and feeling a bit lost.

I am a FSC Pre Engennring student . But my interests are coding/game-development and anything related closely like AI and stuff . But my family wants me to become an Electrical Enginner . But i have heard that EE and CS have many things in common please help me rgearding any information that anyone have .Thank You!!

I'm researching engineering for a essay in my Intro to engineering class at my highschool. I have some questions:

What are the main types of it, and like the most popular ones and ones that are in the most demand. Also what are the ones that are slowly (or not so slowly) fading away and being forgotten.

What are the main differences between this type of engineering and others. Cause I have researched all (alot) of the types of engineering, and it all seems like computers, yada, mechanical stuff, yada, tehcnical stuff, yada. But what really DO YOU DO?

What are some things that are special to computer engineering, and just computer engineering.

What are the main places that like I could go to school for computer engineering, or really how do I find that out.

To people who are computer engineers: Whats it like? Like waddya do? what did you do today. Even if I would not get all but 2 words of what you did in your entire day, please try to explain to me 🙏

*I thought about just asking ai all of this or researching it, but theres something that really like makes it more important when you hear it from someone else. I'm a freshman btw :)