3 ms·

RAM is, relatively speaking, one of the most expensive components of an SBC. Raspberry Pi _could_ have offered 4GB+ of it, and they could also have quadrupled

RAM is, relatively speaking, one of the most expensive components of an SBC. Raspberry Pi _could_ have offered 4GB+ of it, and they could also have quadrupled the price. As much as I'd love a Pi with 4GB+ of RAM, is quite obvious why the $35 computer doesn't have it.

patrickg_zill 8y ago
16GB of RAM is $89 retail at the local Microcenter, in 2x8gb sticks. Not seeing how adding a bit more RAM would quadruple the price. Pine sells a 4gb RAM sbc for what, $59? Edit : "Pricing will remain the same with the 1GB model priced at $24.95, the 2GB model at $34.95, and the 4GB model at $44.95." QED.
wolfgke 8y ago
> Raspberry Pi _could_ have offered 4GB+ of it, and they could also have quadrupled the price. Raspberry Pi's SoC does not support more RAM than the 1 GiB that it now has. This is as far as I am aware considered a serious problem by the Raspberry Pi Foundation. I don't know by what they thus plan to replace the SoC in the future.
- alias_neo 8y ago
  This is what I was alluding to. There was an interview recently with Eben, where he explained that the SoC needs an upgrade to give them more (faster) peripherals and the ability to add more RAM. I can't find the source at the moment. As I understand it the SoC in the Pi was some older IP that was licensed to them (RPF/Eben) for free (or close to) by Broadcom. The RPF will have to sink so significant cost into a new SoC (and I choose to believe that this is already happening, as we speak).
imtringued 8y ago
>As much as I'd love a Pi with 4GB+ of RAM, is quite obvious why the $35 computer doesn't have it. The reason is because it can't. Almost all SBCs are based on TV boxes (including the Rasberry Pi) which don't need more than 4 GB of RAM and are designed to only support that much.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

3 ms·

RAM is, relatively speaking, one of the most expensive components of an SBC. Raspberry Pi _could_ have offered 4GB+ of it, and they could also have quadrupled

by alias_neo 8y ago

patrickg_zill 8y ago
16GB of RAM is $89 retail at the local Microcenter, in 2x8gb sticks. Not seeing how adding a bit more RAM would quadruple the price. Pine sells a 4gb RAM sbc for what, $59? Edit : "Pricing will remain the same with the 1GB model priced at $24.95, the 2GB model at $34.95, and the 4GB model at $44.95." QED.
wolfgke 8y ago
> Raspberry Pi _could_ have offered 4GB+ of it, and they could also have quadrupled the price. Raspberry Pi's SoC does not support more RAM than the 1 GiB that it now has. This is as far as I am aware considered a serious problem by the Raspberry Pi Foundation. I don't know by what they thus plan to replace the SoC in the future.
- alias_neo 8y ago
  This is what I was alluding to. There was an interview recently with Eben, where he explained that the SoC needs an upgrade to give them more (faster) peripherals and the ability to add more RAM. I can't find the source at the moment. As I understand it the SoC in the Pi was some older IP that was licensed to them (RPF/Eben) for free (or close to) by Broadcom. The RPF will have to sink so significant cost into a new SoC (and I choose to believe that this is already happening, as we speak).
imtringued 8y ago
>As much as I'd love a Pi with 4GB+ of RAM, is quite obvious why the $35 computer doesn't have it. The reason is because it can't. Almost all SBCs are based on TV boxes (including the Rasberry Pi) which don't need more than 4 GB of RAM and are designed to only support that much.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]