Quantum Computers... Do they improve gaming?

[kajunchicken]

So I think quantum computers are pretty darn interesting but from everything I've read, they only really help on dividing HUGE numbers and searching databases. To me this doesn't really seem like it would have any implementation on gaming. Would quantum computers actually help gaming? Or would we be better off just developing some sort of "hyper-efficient" CPU that could do calculations in the traditional computer sense? I'm no expert so I'm wondering what anyone else knows. I also know that it is really hard to write programs for quantum computers which seems to hurt their case even more. What do you guys know?

 

[$hawn]

Well your misunderstanding it....games themselves do nothing but a HUGE amount of math!! Quantum computing will speed up everything, including games!!!So don;t worry

 

[cjl]

Actually, from my understanding, quantum computers will speed up certain tasks dramatically, but they won't necessarily speed up everything. For example, they should be very, very good at factoring products of large primes. This has substantial implications for cryptography. They won't necessarily be good at everything though, and it's very possible that regular computers will continue to be developed in parallel with quantum computers, since their capabilities will still be needed.

 

[NoUserBar]

I'm sure batman has quantum components on his computer, you could ask him.

 

[amuffin]

If everything else fails....ask batman.

 

[kajunchicken]

Lol @ batman. But what cji was saying is what I've heard. Kind of sad because transistors can only get so small (about 1 atom) and then the only thing we can do is make bigger CPUs to increase processing power. I was really hoping for my photorealistic games :/

 

[memadmax]

Games are actually a complicated bit of software as they require several different resources not only from the system that you are using but also the people that write the software.
First and foremost, the game will only be as good as the people that write it.
If the programmers can't take full advantage of the hardware and optimize for it, then the game will suffer. This is why multiplatform games that are written once but compiled for different platforms suck.
Next, from the hardware point of few, games need specialized hardware, which is your video card. If you want to apply quantum computing towards a game, this is where it needs to happen(obviously for graphics). If you apply quantum computing to the cpu then you get things like more intelligent AI, more complex mapping etc, but it may or may not have as big of an impact.

But, the exciting thing about quantum computing is true SOC, where *everything* is handled by one core, which is great but limits upgradeability.

 

[FinneousPJ]

You say do as though they were already here... is there something you know we don't?

 

[kajunchicken]

You say do as though they were already here... is there something you know we don't?

Quantum computing is already here. MIT has several quantum computers running in their labs. The problem is that they have to be supercooled and they aren't very cost-effective.

 

[cjl]

I don't think there's a fully functional quantum computer yet, though there are certainly components, and devices that emulate their behavior.

 

[kajunchicken]

Best answer selected by Kajunchicken.

 

[tachyonplus]

Lol @ batman. But what cji was saying is what I've heard. Kind of sad because transistors can only get so small (about 1 atom) and then the only thing we can do is make bigger CPUs to increase processing power. I was really hoping for my photorealistic games :/

Hey dude, don't worry... CPUs could get smaller than that; may be upto some proton, or a quark, or even a simple string (refer string theory)!