For example, the newest piece I have is an audio app. O.K., I also understand the need to possess the best available and am guilty of this myself, and I won't consider here the needs of professionals in the graphics field as their requirements are on another plane. What interests me especially in this speed race is where this is pushing the technology. Possibly one way out is to concentrate on intense parallel processing to get the data through rather than raw speed much as happens in the human brain although developing new materials seems to be the more likely route. I can't help thinking about the 'Terminator' scenario whenever this subject is brought up but if the possibility exists for some future machine to become self-aware then I hope Mankind has the presence of mind to ensure such a machine can be completely isolated.
Science fiction has an annoying habit of becoming science fact.
My suggestions are what I would try myself. If incorrect, I welcome corrections to my rather limited knowledge. There is actually a group researching AI that is trying to actively bring about the Singularity. Makes for interesting reading. Im running a 1ghz cpu, with win2k.