[dcm360]

This is a case where you should read with care, and notice the difference between Gb and GB. The chip from 2013 that you mention, has a capacity of 8Gb = 1GB. Chips with a capacity of 16Gb are indeed very common, because manufactures put 8 of them on a RAM-module with a capacity of 16GB.

[Zenst]

My bad, sorry for that.

[CydeWeys]

Hah, that's weird. I can't say I've ever seen memory being quantified in gibibits before! It's always gibibytes.

You have to wonder why they deviated from what I thought was a universal custom.

[bryanlarsen]

RAM chips are and have always been measured in kibibits and gibibits since long before those two words existed. RAM modules are measured in gibibytes. In a desktop computer you typically use 8 XGb chips to make a single XGB module.

The confusion comes when you blur the distinction between chips and modules as they do in mobile. They either use single package modules created from multiple chips via 3D die stacking or they use single chip modules.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_1103

[CydeWeys]

Thanks for the info. Clearly all my experience in this area is from the perspective of a consumer buying entire modules. I can't say I've ever dived down to the individual chip level.

[excelblue]

Once you work at the electronic components level, RAM (and EEPROMs, etc.) is often specified in bits instead of bytes.

The custom of using bytes only applies when specifying higher-level computer components.