4M expanded memory cards

From: TeoZ <teoz_at_neo.rr.com>
Date: Thu Mar 20 10:55:00 2003

I remember paying close to $400 for 4 x 4mb 30 pin sims for my 386/40
homebuilt machine so it would scream using windows 3.0.
Funny how memory prices have gone to hell over the last few years.

What was the point of the ISA memory addon boards, people running
windows/286 and OS/2 1.x/2.x?

----- Original Message -----
From: "Ethan Dicks" <erd_6502_at_yahoo.com>
To: <cctalk_at_classiccmp.org>
Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2003 11:27 AM
Subject: Re: 4M expanded memory cards


> --- TeoZ <teoz_at_neo.rr.com> wrote:
> > I remeber some brand of memory addon cards were prised back in the 286
> > era, Intel Aboveboard comes to mind.
>
> Those were definitely "top shelf" in the day.
>
> > I am looking at an add for one of those suckers in PC Sources, Jan 1991.
> > 2mb to 16mb (using 30 pin simms) Error Detection and correction LIM-EMS
> > 44.0 compatible $395 for 4mb
>
> That's *much* cheaper than they would have been, say, in 1986 or 1987...
> see if you can find an ad willing to _quote_ prices (most will say
> "$CALL")but I remember when the U.S. Dept of Commerce was leveling
> dumping charges against Asian DRAM vendors - the on-the-street price of
> an ordinary 41256 (256Kx1) went from $3.50 to $17.50, virtually overnight.
>
> But then, I also remember when a later ripple in RAM prices took a 1MB
> 30-pin parity SIMM from $25 each to $45 each (fortunately for me, I
> bought my AMD 386-DX40 + 4MB at the old price - $150 for motherboard
> and chip, $100 for the RAM). 1988, IIRC, maybe a little later.
>
>
> If the boards you are looking at used SIMMs, not DIPs, they are much
> later in the evolution of the product. By then, they would have been
> used as a last-gasp upgrade of an old machine; new machines would have
> taken SIMMs on the motherboard (and probably wouldn't have had a 286
> chip, either ;-)
>
> -ethan
Received on Thu Mar 20 2003 - 10:55:00 GMT