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While the convention for RAM is that 1 Gbyte = 1024 Mbytes (if your PC starts its BIOS slowly enough and you have 1 or more Gbytes of RAM then you see a figure that is evidence of this), this multiple of 1024 is peculiar to the labels Gbyte, Mbyte, and Kbyte for the number of addressable locations in memory chips used for minicomputer architecture. ...

Note that for distinct locations on a binary (base-2) storage device in a "minicomputer" architecture (which all desktops, all laptops, and most servers utilize), 10 bits are needed to address the number of locations refered to by the label "1 Kbyte" (Kilobyte) = 1024 (= 2^10) bytes (1 byte = 8 bits). The number of distinct addresses for internal RAM are increased in powers of 2 (not simply some integer number of more bytes), as adding another bit to address length increases the number of distinct locations by a power of 2. As integrated circuit (IC) chip technology progressed, a single "chip" (for minicomputer architecture with digital devices on doped silicon) of RAM eventually was manufactured having 1024 x 1024 (= 2^20) bytes which was labeled "1 Mbyte" (Megabyte). However, this labelling convention was continued ONLY FOR MARKETING REASONS when memory on RAM cards reached the Gbyte level (Gigabyte -- 1024 x 1024 x 1024 bytes -- 2^30). The first single chip of RAM that had 1 Mbyte was manufactured a considerable number of years before a 1 Gbyte RAM chip was available. (side note: cards mounting RAM chips may be called "sticks" because their length is significantly greater than their width -- looking somewhat like the shape of a stick of wood)

While IC technology has reached the point where a single chip of RAM could be manufactured having 1 Gbyte, such a chip would be more expensive, and have more formidable engineering problems (eg. much more heat from a single chip during operation) than a RAM card that has a few multi-Mbyte chips mounted on it. Hence, there is no physical basis for the convention that "1 Gbyte" is 1024 Mbytes. Also, there is convenience in reverting to a label referring to the next magnitude of 1000 times greater as used in base-10 number labeling (remember that scientific labels for measurements in multiples of 1 thousand use Kilo, 1 million use Mega, and 1 billion [10^9] use Giga).

Indeed, for desktop computers the memory cards on the market DON'T have 1 Gbyte (or more) RAM on a single chip because there is adequate space on memory cards for several mult-Mbyte chips to aggregate a few Gbytes of memory, and there is no good reason to redesign main-boards to dedicate less space per RAM socket. I suspect the main reason that small electronic consumer devices (eg. a handheld GPS device, or a smart phone) are not available with as much internal RAM (permanent part of the device, not talking removable cards here) as can be configured in a desktop computer, is that manufacturing a single memory chip for internal RAM (which would not cause immediate problems due to overheating) would require the price to be several times the level at which such devices are selling for now. Also, they might be so much more prone to overheating that the users would need to take this into consideration; continuous operation of the device for more than several minutes having a higher risk of erroneous results.

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13y ago

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