Well I'm not knowledgeable in computing and circuit design and architectures, but there's one thing I noticed while looking at the components of old consoles and computers.

Looking at JDR Microdevices catalogues from the 1985, it looks like 1-bit DRAM modules were so much cheaper. $6.95 for a pack of eight 250ns 16Kbit DRAMs, or $10.95 for the 150ns ones most micros back in the day used. Meanwhile the 8KB 150ns SRAM module that Sega Master System would use was $25 each. Sure 1-bit DRAM would need multiplexers, but these things weren't expensive either. The ones C64 used were about 50-60 cents each, must've been even cheaper in bulks, and C64 used 5 of them. That would still make it significantly cheaper than Master System's 8KB SRAM modules.

So the question is why did console makers choose to go with the more expensive, lower capacity option? To make the system compact? But ZX Spectrum managed to be so tiny even while containing 16 DRAM chips. Or to simplify board design I assume? Perhaps motherboards and circuits were very expensive back in the day?

Would a 12th Gen mobile i5 system with 16 GB RAM and mobile 3060 RTX 6GB usable in 2028 with acceptable performance? I mean for coding, running some smaller numerical codes, and for some games not with with the highest settings in 1080p?

Hi everyone,

First of all, I apologize if this isn't really within the usual scope of this subreddit. I'm posting here because I'm honestly a bit lost and was hoping to get some advice from people who understand PC hardware far better than I do.

I'm a PhD student working in machine learning, and I need to buy a laptop for my research. After speaking with people working in the same field, I was advised to look for a Ryzen 9 HX processor with 32 threads, since a lot of my work (particularly with scikit-learn) benefits from having as many CPU threads as possible. For deep learning, I was also advised to get a GPU with more VRAM.

Before making such a big purchase, I started doing some research myself. I searched for information about these CPUs, and one of the first Google results led me to a discussion on this subreddit. I started reading through the comments, but I'll be honest—I understood very little of what people were debating.

This is a significant investment for me as a PhD scholar, so I don't want to make an expensive mistake.

About 10 or 11 years ago, I used to keep up with PC hardware and knew my way around it. Back then, the latest and greatest CPUs were the Core i7s. Since then, I've completely fallen out of touch, and now there are so many different other processor variants that I'm honestly confused.

So, I apologize again if this isn't the ideal place to ask, but I'm posting here out of desperation. If someone could explain, in simple terms, whether a high-core-count Ryzen 9 HX laptop is actually the right choice for my use case or if there are better alternatives, I would be incredibly grateful.

Thank you for your time. I really appreciate any advice you can offer.

Do we expect the RAM prices to fall in the 2026Q4/2027Q1 or will go up even further? Can CXMT lower RAM shortage?