On Thu, 7 Jan 2021 18:12:30 -0000 (UTC)
Martin Gregorie  wrote:

> On Thu, 07 Jan 2021 16:37:28 +0000, Theo wrote:
>
> > Jan Panteltje  wrote:
> >> Was reading this:
> >>  https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/01/linus-torvalds-blames-intel-
> >>
> for-lack-of-ecc-ram-in-consumer-pcs/?comments=1
> >>
> >> with ever more RAM (now 8 GB) and raspberry used more and more for
> >> very serious things should that not be the next step?
> >
> > The Pi is a low cost computer.  Given that ECC requires more memory
> > (36 bits for every 32 of data), who is paying?
> >
> > (noting that ECC is extremely uncommon in mobile devices, 36-bit
> > wide LPDDR4 chips may be hard to find)
> >
> From an article in The Register, if you're running on fairly recent
> Intel chips you won't have ECC memory unless you're on Xeons - none
> of their consumer-grade of laptop MPUs support ECC, and because they
> don't, the motherboards don't have the data lines needed to connect
> the extra bits.
>

RAM is enormously more reliable than it was forty years ago and of
course much more compact. Early digital video equipment was built with
RAM ICs (1-16k*bits*) in sockets because of their poor reliability,
which became poorer still because of the sockets. A machine built around
a Data General Nova had three diagnostics available for its 32kB of RAM,
which was made of 256 1kb ICs (on two 15" square PCBs). Video frame
stores, needing half a megabyte, only became practical as reliability
and density got much higher.

--
Joe

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05