Somacon Computers

About

This website was previously the home of Somacon Computers, a small computer business run by Amit Sharma and I. We had a great run in 1999-2000, but we shut down the business to pursue Master's degrees at Harvard and MIT.

Reminiscence

Overclocking is not as hot now (June 2002) as it once was, when you could get nearly 100% boosts in processor speed. The dual Celeron 300 kits running at 550 we sold were the fastest systems you could buy at the time, and they were CHEAP. Nowadays, you can't overclock as much because the chips run so hot already. Even when you can, the performance boost is not nearly as significant, especially when your Ghz class processor is already running your games at 100fps and loading your programs in less than a second.

The Obligatory Links

• Overclockers.com - where to learn how to overclock
• Tom's Hardware Guide - where to learn what to buy
• Pricewatch.com - where to buy stuff

Etymology

Somacon comes from the word "soma". Soma is alternately the name of a Hindu God and an ambrosia-like drink. It is also the name of the palliative drug in Aldous Huxley's Brave New World that is used to keep the masses happy and content without side-effects. "con" is tacked on because it associates the business with high-tech and it's not associated with telecom like "com". When combined with the "soma" prefix, "con" doesn't take the connotation of scam (e.g. Tricon, Beacon, and Silicon). The idea for the word came from reading a dictionary of Greek mythology for interesting words.