RAM came first. Even in the late 1960s, semiconductor SRAM was faster than core memory. Far more expensive, but faster. That created a market segment for cac

RAM came first. Even in the late 1960s, semiconductor SRAM was faster than core memory. Far more expensive, but faster. That created a market segment for caches and registers for high-end mainframes. DRAM quickly followed, and the 1103 DRAM of 1970, holding a total of 1024 bits, was Intel's first breakthrough product: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_1103 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_1103 DRAM and SRAM were already a multimillion dollar market by the time the first microprocessors came along a few years later.