Thinkpads Forum

1. is there a 768mb RAM stick? if so how come lenovo does not offer to have 1.5gb RAM with 2x768mb RAM to get dual channeling instead of 1x1gb and 1x512mb.

Generally speaking, all DRAM memory modules increase their size over the previous generation by a factor of 2 or 4. Early modules started at 1MB (gee.. remember those?), they progressed to 4M, 16M 32M, 64M, 128M, 256M, 512M, 1024M (or 1G). 768M is not available in a SINGLE module. You can have 768M in a system but it will be a 512M and a 256M together (or three 256M).

rkawakami wrote: Early modules started at 1MB (gee.. remember those?)

Holy moly....Yeah, yeah I think I do.

christopher_wolf wrote:Holy moly....Yeah, yeah I think I do.

Christopher, I didn't think you were even born back then (RADFC)

rkawakami wrote:

christopher_wolf wrote:Holy moly....Yeah, yeah I think I do.

Christopher, I didn't think you were even born back then (RADFC)

No, but that doesn't mean I haven't seen them; and I *do* remember the 4MB and 16MB modules and the old 30-pins. I haven't heard mention of such sticks for a long, long time (since before my 701c actually).

Of course, this goes along with even 1MB or 4MB of RAM on the video controller as a ridiculous luxury; so, yeah, this was quite the while ago.

They discontinued the IBM PC/AT right around when I was born, but I managed to somehow end up with one in my family circa 1992; all 16MB of it!

I also had some older IBMs lying around which I played with as well around the same time.

christopher_wolf wrote:No, but that doesn't mean I haven't seen them <snip>

Ah, then you haven't enjoyed the experience of rounding up eight (I think, or was it 16?) of them and putting them on a large ISA card inside an 286 AST then?

christopher_wolf wrote:Of course, this goes along with even 1MB or 4MB of RAM on the video controller as a ridiculous luxury; so, yeah, this was quite the while ago.

Yes, it wasn't too long ago when 256K was a big thing on your video card.

rkawakami wrote:

christopher_wolf wrote:No, but that doesn't mean I haven't seen them <snip>

Ah, then you haven't enjoyed the experience of rounding up eight (I think, or was it 16?) of them and putting them on a large ISA card inside an 286 AST then?

Enjoy is not the proper word....By the time I got around to opening the thing up later on, it was a rather tedious task. Then I had to deal with the fact that it was old, even in 1994 (7 years from when they made the last one), to begin with.

rkawakami wrote:

christopher_wolf wrote:Of course, this goes along with even 1MB or 4MB of RAM on the video controller as a ridiculous luxury; so, yeah, this was quite the while ago.

Yes, it wasn't too long ago when 256K was a big thing on your video card.

...The PC/AT had a video card? I am, in no way, even sure they called it that as a "video card"; try video *cards*. Then again, I had it apart with my uncle and aunt, who were both engineers at IBM, explaining the parts to me when I was around the ripe old age of 5. I can even recall just about all of the explanations they gave about the . How is that for lucid memory? No "card"either; they called it an "Enhanced Graphics Adapter" as what came standard on it and the EGA had a 64 color pallete. They also had a Professional Controller version, which I had on that old AT, that was on a set of *three* ISA cards and actually was able to accelerate 2D and 3D for CAD applications. Still just 640x480, but that was awe-inspiring at the time especially above 60FPS for what it could do and how expensive it was. This is still only the EGA, not the original CGA either (16KB!).


I am more familiar with the video controllers on the later Thinkpads from 1995 on up, yeah...those were the "later" Thinkpads from my perspective at the time. I still use my 701c with it's awesome CT65546 video controller with a stunning *1MB* at times (meetings, some note taking, etc). Big step up at the time, and it still manages to be useful to this day. I was very suprised when I actually managed to get some older flight sims to run on it given that it was used to pushing the screen at a native 640x480. An absolute luxury from what I was seeing at the time. Then, wow, came the NeoMagics 256ZXs with an *insane 4MB* (insert flaming "awsumz" font here) on my first 600.