Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!att!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!cwjcc!gatech!rutgers!ucsd!ucbvax!ANDREW.CMU.EDU!jm7e+ From: jm7e+@ANDREW.CMU.EDU ("Jeremy G. Mereness") Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple Subject: Fast/Slow screen RAM Message-ID: Date: 30 Jul 88 22:46:21 GMT Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU Organization: The Internet Lines: 36 It has been talked about (in Open-Apple for one) that the gs could be sped up tremendously by some simple(?) hardware restructuring. Thinking about this, I reasoned that one of the biggest bottlenecks would be the slow RAM dedicated to the display, as even in 16-bit mode, the processor must slow down to access it. Well, wait a minute. I understand that in 8-bit mode, it would be necessary for compatibility to slow down the clock for display access, but why should this be in 16-bit mode? I guess the real question is how much of a difference a RAM chip's speed makes to 65xxx processors (I have read on this board something implying that on the 68000 series, RAM speed doesn't matter so much)? If the slow RAM could be filled with fast RAM chips, what would happen (besides the price going up... damned boycott; where are the American companies to take advantage of this)? If RAM could be accessed at any speed so long as it is not beyond its capability (yes/no?), then why not fill the slow RAM with fast chips and arrange for the 65816 to slow down to 1 MHz only when in 8-bit mode? Would this work? Would it trash every 16-bit program that's been written so far? I wanna know.... Capt. Albatross jm7e+@andrew.cmu.edu ============ Looking forward to a GS+... disclaimer: These opinions are mine and will remain so until more intelligent or insightful or informed people are kind enough to show me the error of my ways because in the barbecue of life, a mind is a terrible thing to baste.