How long before home computers have 1 TB of RAM?

[FelixDeCat]

I vaguely remember somewhere around 1993 or so I purchased 8 MB of ram for my computer for $325.00. Nineteen years later I am using 1000 times that amount and I only paid $40 for it after rebate.

I think that sometime in the future we will be using a terabyte of memory. I currently use a 2gb RAM drive for browser cache, temp files and system cache. There might be a development in the future where we have a hybrid variety of ram that is used to store files and the OS, since system RAM currently runs around 13 GB/s and the fastest consumer SSD is only 500 MB/s (not to mention its many flaws).

So maybe you would have quad channel RAM installed in four 250gb sticks. The first two are for system use, the other two store the OS and files in a non-volatile manner. All run at the same bandwidth so there are no more bottlenecks. Mechanical storage backs up the file/OS RAM in the background for extra protection, maybe in asynchronous RAID mode.

Since tech is evolving at an ever increasing rate, my guess is 2021. Ill update this thread then.

 

[ShadowOfMyself]

Probably close to 20 years or so... The ridiculous increases we saw in the 90s are over already, the last decade wasnt nearly as impressive

I had 512 MB ram on my pc in 2002, now I have 8 GB, so thats a 16x increase only in 10 years, which means about 256 GB by 2022, if it doesnt slow down even more

 

[BladeVenom]

In 12 to 15 years.

 

[irishScott]

It'll be at least a decade. Think of what the average home user does: Surf the internet and type papers/emails. Gaming is a significantly distant 3rd.

Meanwhile, what's getting popular? Tablets and other ultraportables that have pretty diminutive specs compared to a Desktop.

I can see it happening eventually, but some vast new tech is going to have to come around, and become widespread, to produce the demand for that kind of memory. Maybe interactive holographic displays or something.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

Mobos with 64 gb ram so... might be a while

 

[ultimatebob]

Mid-size Servers are probably about 5 to 10 years out, since many of them come with 64+ GB of memory already.

Desktops? About 15 years, I'd guess.

 

[Puppies04]

I'm almost positive there are servers in existence that already have 1TB+ of RAM, as for home computers, I don't like to use the word never but I really don't foresee any need for anywhere close to that amount of RAM for home use for a long long time.

 

[3chordcharlie]

It will never happen, as 640GB will be enough for anyone.

 

[BladeVenom]

Some Socket FM1 boards already support 64GB.

 

[Albatross]

When 1 TB< 100$

 

[StrangerGuy]

The market trend now is smaller, cheaper and less power hungry, not faster and larger. So...takes forever?

 

[grueinthebox]

It will never happen, as 640GB will be enough for anyone.

I'm sure someone once said the same of 640kb...

 

[Bateluer]

Are we talking about the sub-300 dollar machines from Dell or the powerhouses built by enthusiasts? The bargain basement machines will take a while, but the power house and boutique builds will probably see a TB within 5 years.

 

[vi edit]

If you think about it, SSD's are already up to 240 gig or so. And those are basically a high capacity version of RAM. I think you'll see development and further embedding of SSD's and see OS's migrating to something more like the portable OS's and running entirely on a "flash" type of storage as we progress.

 

[SandEagle]

with that much computing power, you can trimulaneously flag thousands of videos a minute!

 

[T_Yamamoto]

with that much computing power, you can trimulaneously flag thousands of videos a minute!

Lol

 

[Tempered81]

If servers count, Windows Server 2008 Itanium x64 has a 2TB Ram limit.

 

[Ichinisan]

It will never happen, as 640GB will be enough for anyone.

You obviously want someone to quote you 20-30 years from now.

 

[steppinthrax]

What would be the benefit of this. Windows 7 can't take advantage of this, Windows Servers OS can't take advantage of this either. I can see this an advantage if you are doing some crazy video editing, burning, ripping and graphics.

There are other areas of the computer that are causing a bottleneck. I dont' believe memory capacity is one of them. I think mainstream use of SSDs will provide a bigger performance increase than 1TB of ram...

 

[Bateluer]

What would be the benefit of this. Windows 7 can't take advantage of this, Windows Servers OS can't take advantage of this either. I can see this an advantage if you are doing some crazy video editing, burning, ripping and graphics.

Win7 Pro and Windows Server 2008 versions support and do take advantage of all RAM given to them, though actual performance benefits vary by the applications in use. Linux OSes also have no restrictions for RAM support/use. If your hardware can take it, Linux will use it.

Moot point though, even in 5 years, you'll be looking at Windows 9 with Windows 10 approaching. In 2017, Windows 7 will be looked at as Windows 98SE is now. Archaic.

 

[lxskllr]

A Holodeck would eat up tons of ram. That would be a good use for huge amounts.

 

[mmntech]

If servers count, Windows Server 2008 Itanium x64 has a 2TB Ram limit.

Depends on how you define a server as it's a very broad category of computers. Mainframes and supercomputers are already using well over 1TB of RAM.

As the others have said, desktops and laptops aren't moving in the leaps and bounds they did in the 90s. A computer built five years ago can still do everything a computer built today can, gaming notwithstanding. Much of the focus is on mobile devices. Apple is pretty good at sniffing out future trends and has put most of their investment into their mobile products. Microsoft as well is about to release an OS heavily inspired by Windows Phone 7.

If I had to guess what the future of computing is where I'd put the chips down. Within 20 years, assuming ISPs pull their heads out of their asses, your computer will just be a portal to the web. As long it it can decode audio and video, you're good.

 

[amdhunter]

Never. When Government destroy the Internet as we know it, Cable companies force ever so low bandwidth limits and tablets/handhelds take over as the preferred gaming platform...no one will give a crap about the home PC and 1TB RAM.

The PC age is over. Deal with it. I have a decently powered machine at home (4.5GHz i5, GTX580, 8GB RAM, SSD) and I haven't turned it on in about a month. I use my iPad and 2010 model MacBook Pro, and it's more than enough.

1TB RAM will never be needed.

 

[child of wonder]

One can easily get a home PC up to 32GB of RAM today so if you figure the maximum amount of RAM doubles only every 2 years, we'll be at 1TB in 10 years.

 

[vi edit]

If I had to guess what the future of computing is where I'd put the chips down. Within 20 years, assuming ISPs pull their heads out of their asses, your computer will just be a portal to the web. As long it it can decode audio and video, you're good.

That's where I really see a lot of long term development going. Home users will eventually have a very basic embedded OS with limited hardware. Everything else is going to be hosted and crunched by a datacenter and fed to you. It'll be sold to people as convenient, reliable, and portable. But it's really about content management and control. Dumb terminals 3.0