On 30/03/12 7:43 AM, Lennart Sorensen wrote:
Well my i.MX53 QSB has 1GB ram. Given current ARM processors are 32bit, that's 1/4 of the entire address space, so that's not too bad.
The Atom netbook next to me is limited to 2G ram. That was the cool thing to have before iPads (per generation 256M, 512M, 1G ram). I am writing this on a Core Duo laptop I pulled out of retirement and it is limited to 3G by the chipset.
Most of these devices are equipped for embedded use with the best value for money memory available. Desktops are designed to feed Windows. They have different requirements and different cost.
The Raspberry Pi is going to ship with 256MB of memory and after splitting off some to feed the GPU for full HD video and good 3D graphics you might only have 128MB remaining. The pop memory (a chip that stacks on top of the SoC) is limited by the specs to 1G in size but even 512MB is rare and expensive so 256MB is the only choice for the moment. I am planning to use my i.MX53 QSB as a super Pi with a faster CPU and more memory for development but expect it to get thrashed by the Pi's GPU in graphics. Considering my first 8 bit micro had 1K I am thrilled.
Given the distance that has emerged between the speed of CPU, L1, L2 and main memory over the last few years the last thing I want is something even slower hanging off the machine like swap or attaching serial memory to SPI. Better to adapt to the memory available until new stuff comes along.