Sorta OT -- why is computer memory so expensive

If I can buy a 4GB USB memory stick for $20 on sale, why is 4GB for my
computer so expensive.

I know one's flash and the other isn't, but please.

Tom Scales wrote:
>
> If I can buy a 4GB USB memory stick for $20 on sale, why is 4GB for my
> computer so expensive.
>
> I know one's flash and the other isn't, but please.

It might be the failure rate on manufacture, but I don't know.

If you get only a few good sticks out of a hundred, it costs more.

Something that pushes the technology a lot fails to work a lot.

--
Ron Hardin
rhhardin@mindspring.com

On the internet, nobody knows you're a jerk.

> If I can buy a 4GB USB memory stick for $20 on sale, why is 4GB for my
> computer so expensive.
> I know one's flash and the other isn't, but please.

Speed afaik - computer memory has FAR higher requirements compared to
cheap stuff as used in cameras that only need a slow throughput.

I can't remember any figures now (it's been years since I had Sisoft
Sandra installed) but you used to be able to get memory bandwidth test
results from it. Even many high-end consumer digital cameras can take
3-4 seconds to save a large image, possibly longer in RAW mode.

> If I can buy a 4GB USB memory stick for $20 on sale, why is 4GB for my
> computer so expensive.
> I know one's flash and the other isn't, but please.

Further to my previous reply (still haven't found a definitive guide
to memory speeds :-} ) here's one snippet from:

<http://www.cooltechzone.com/Reviews/...aining_DDR_Mem
ory_Bandwidth_20040720357/1/>

"Motherboards based on the Intel 915G Express chipset, designed for
the Intel Pentium 4 processor supporting Hyper-Threading (HT)
Technology in the LGA775 package provide flexible memory support for
both dual channel DDR2/533 or DDR2/400 memory, which can deliver up to
8.5 GB/s bandwidth"

Flash memory operates up to about 20Mb/s at the upper end of the scale
at the moment IIRC, and bear in mind write operations are much slower
than simply reading the data.

A better question is how did it get so cheap? When Steve Wozniak
designed the Apple II, one 16K ram stick cost $500! That's "K", not
GB or even MB. Memory is so inexpensive today it's like a gift.

Dick


On Tue, 17 Apr 2007 12:16:45 -0400, "Tom Scales" <tjscales@gmail.com>
wrote:

>If I can buy a 4GB USB memory stick for $20 on sale, why is 4GB for my
>computer so expensive.
>
>I know one's flash and the other isn't, but please.


--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

As you say, one's flash, one isn't. It's sort of like asking why an
airliner (the aircraft) costs more than a greyhound bus. They both can
go from New York to Chicago and carry a few dozen people.

The real issue comes down to square inches of chip. Look at your 512MB
or 1GB memory module .... it has 8 to 16 chips on it, probably. Look at
a 512MB to 1GB flash drive .... it's all done in one chip. The
difference there isn't by choice, if the DRAM makers could make a 512BM
single chip they would (although the real issue still isn't so much the
number of chips as it is the number of square inches of chip and the
fabrication cost per square inch). Flash memory and DDR2 DRAM are VERY
different.


Tom Scales wrote:
> If I can buy a 4GB USB memory stick for $20 on sale, why is 4GB for my
> computer so expensive.
>
> I know one's flash and the other isn't, but please.
>

On Tue, 17 Apr 2007 12:16:45 -0400, "Tom Scales" <tjscales@gmail.com>
wrote:

>If I can buy a 4GB USB memory stick for $20 on sale, why is 4GB for my
>computer so expensive.
>
>I know one's flash and the other isn't, but please.

Well, one's flash, and the other isn't... <bg>

The requirements for the PC's memory are much more stringent (speed of
access primarily) than computer RAM. That's a major factor.

Other issues include supply and demand.

"Tom Scales" <tjscales@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:4624f2dc$0$30520$c3e8da3@news.astraweb.com...
> If I can buy a 4GB USB memory stick for $20 on sale, why is 4GB for my
> computer so expensive.
>
> I know one's flash and the other isn't, but please.
>


And you forgot to dismiss RDRAM.

Honestly Tom, RAM seems cheap enough to me these days comparatively
speaking.

-Stew

"S.Lewis" <stew1960@mail.com> wrote in message
news:sMbVh.10484$XU4.6398@bignews8.bellsouth.net.. .
>
> "Tom Scales" <tjscales@gmail.com> wrote in message
> news:4624f2dc$0$30520$c3e8da3@news.astraweb.com...
>> If I can buy a 4GB USB memory stick for $20 on sale, why is 4GB for my
>> computer so expensive.
>>
>> I know one's flash and the other isn't, but please.
>>
>
>
> And you forgot to dismiss RDRAM.
>
> Honestly Tom, RAM seems cheap enough to me these days comparatively
> speaking.
>
> -Stew
>

I wasn't complaining and I knew the answer. Just a fun question.

OH! Now he tells us he is just having fun! ... Ben

On Tue, 17 Apr 2007 21:04:10 -0400, "Tom Scales" <tjscales@gmail.com> wrote:

>
>"S.Lewis" <stew1960@mail.com> wrote in message
>news:sMbVh.10484$XU4.6398@bignews8.bellsouth.net. ..
>>
>> "Tom Scales" <tjscales@gmail.com> wrote in message
>> news:4624f2dc$0$30520$c3e8da3@news.astraweb.com...
>>> If I can buy a 4GB USB memory stick for $20 on sale, why is 4GB for my
>>> computer so expensive.
>>>
>>> I know one's flash and the other isn't, but please.
>>>
>>
>>
>> And you forgot to dismiss RDRAM.
>>
>> Honestly Tom, RAM seems cheap enough to me these days comparatively
>> speaking.
>>
>> -Stew
>>
>
>I wasn't complaining and I knew the answer. Just a fun question.