1973 dynamic random access memory - photos

[Altair]

1973 dynamic random access memory (DRAM)

Fullsize image: https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/h...1_fullsize.jpg





Previously:

Magnetic-core memory - photo
EEPROM memory magnified - photo
Flash memory spider board - GIF
Semiconductor wafer closeup - photo
Processor under electron microscope - photo

[bruce.desertrat]

A huge 98KB of ram on that board.

This was the first mass produced modern DRAM chip https://spectrum.ieee.org/chip-hall-...-4kilobit-dram. ( remember upgrading a PC in the late 80's by sticking in individual chips, and breathing a bug sigh of relief when it all worked.

[bob47907]

Hmmm. The MK 4008P are 1K (1024) bits long by 1 bit wide chips. By my count, this board, as populated, holds 3K (3072) bytes of memory. A considerable amount, in 1973.

[IntheGroove]

A song by The Pheromones that I have on Reel to Reel:

So I went down to ComputerLand,
To upgrade my computer,
'Cause, you see, like, about five years ago,
Well, I had some extra cash,
And I had my eye on one of these old-fashioned Oldsmobiles,
One of these really big, really fast Oldsmobiles,
That scares the s**t out of all the nasty
Little Hondas on the highway,
But my friends, they all got together,
And they said, "Jim, you ain't goin' anywhere,
Unless you get a computer."
And now it's five years later,
And I don't interface with s**t.,
And the thing is so old and so tired and so slow
That it sounds like a Wart-Hog rooting for food.
*SNOOOOOORT* *SNOOOOORT* *SNOOOOORT*..... **DING!*
So I went down to ComputerLand,
To upgrade my computer,
And I was met at the door
By this really well-dressed French guy,
Who didn't speak any English,
And I explained that my computer,
Well, you know, it only has 64k,
And he put together this fantastic package
That was going to cost Two Thousand Dollars!
And I said, "What do I look like to you?
I'm just a slime-ball musician!
And I don't have Two Thousand Dollars!"
And he hustles me over to the cashier,
Who's, like, this really good-looking Spanish chick,
She didn't speak any French,
She didn't speak any English,
She probably didn't speak any Spanish,
But she took my MasterCard,
And she ran it through the machine
That reads the little metallic strip on the back,
And she charged up TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS!
And I was getting really hot,
So I demanded to see the Manager,
And out came this Japanese dude,
Who didn't speak any French,
And he didn't speak any Spanish,
And he pretended he didn't speak any English.
But he looked at me with cold steel in his eye.
The same cold steel that they used to use
On the backs of G.I.'s necks in (*inaudible*) Gulf.
A long, long time ago.
It wasn't that long ago.
It could have been his old man.
Coulda been his older brother.
But I'm not here to fight that war over again,
You see, I just need a little more K!
(I just need a little more K!)
So he put together this memory card,
To be inserted into the back of my PC,
And it was going to cost Six-Hundred and Fifty Dollars,
Which I thought was excessive.
And he hustles me over to the cashier
Who took my MasterCard,
And ran it through the machine
That reads the little metallic strip on the back,
And charged up SIX-HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS!
But she had neglected to write down
The Authorization code from my last sale
And I was way over my limit
So I couldn't buy any more K.
(I couldn't buy any more K!)
So I looked at that French dude,
And I looked at that Spanish chick,
And I looked at that Japanese cat,
And I said,

"HEY!! WHERE'S THE SERVICE?!?"

It's gone, gone, gone, gone,
Gone, gone, gone!
Gone, like the Age of the Mastadon!
It's gone, gone, gone, gone,
Gone, gone, gone!

It's gone, gone, gone, gone,
Gone, gone, gone!
Gone, like the Age of the Mastadon!
It's gone, gone, gone, gone,
Gone, gone,

GONE! (Stavro Arrgolus)

[BuffaloJohn]

This was the first mass produced modern DRAM chip

Intel's 1103 was in mass production 2 years before the Mostek device.

Multiplexing was a big breakthrough and Mostek has that inovation.

When I was working at Intel in the 70's and early 80's, I worked in memories. My first part as a product engineer was the 2107C a 22 pin, three power supply, non-multiplexed DRAM. Multiplexing became standard on everything above 4k as package sizes couldn't shrink like they do now - back then, pretty much everything was through hole except for a tiny tiny bit of flat pack.

And then, by 1986 - all the US chip makers were out of the DRAM business because the Japanese companies took over.