Ram Poll.


I'm still waiting for a use case for larger memory sizes that isn't based on totally misunderstanding the 'free memory' display and/or assuming amounts of CPU power that the Pyra simply won't have.
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... and what was wrong with my example? I used a third-party calculator to verify the ballpark. Not practical then? I suppose if you're not an audio guy. I do recall someone using the Pandora for mixing or dj'ing. Not going to dig up the thread.

And by the way, my reasoning is not fear-driven. I also don't think Pandora-lovers need a lecture on the importance of battery life, just the page-by-page reminder should suffice.

EDIT: I'm feeling that this thread has devolved, given the lack of data I suppose that's the only way it could go. I will kindly step out.
 
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i think there are some excellent points on both sides (for 2GB and 4GB), but everyone else is completely irrational.
 
bismuthdrummer said:
I'm still waiting for a use case for larger memory sizes that isn't based on totally misunderstanding the 'free memory' display and/or assuming amounts of CPU power that the Pyra simply won't have.
Click to expand...
... and what was wrong with my example? I used a third-party calculator to verify the ballpark. Not practical then? I suppose if you're not an audio guy. I do recall someone using the Pandora for mixing or dj'ing. Not going to dig up the thread.

And by the way, my reasoning is not fear-driven. I also don't think Pandora-lovers need a lecture on the importance of battery life, just the page-by-page reminder should suffice.

EDIT: I'm feeling that this thread has devolved, given the lack of data I suppose that's the only way it could go. I will kindly step out.
Click to expand...
No I like your idea, I'm working out some issues with my HDMI recorder as it doesn't like 720p coming from the devboard... but I could do a test with Audacity, when I get my setup working. 
 
I am sick of fighting the quotes.  
bismuthdrummer, I know someone that afaik doesn't post here that bought a Pandora for the main purpose of using it with their music/performances.  It currently doesn't get much use, but I think they still really like (the idea of) it.  I don't expect them to get a Pyra.  (I think it might work well in this capacity for some people, and may get more attention if one makes it into the right hands or is discussed in the right places.)

I wonder what is an acceptable number of browser tabs.  Even if a start with one it isn't uncommon for me to approach 100 in a day.  This, and some sites being picky about browsers (like here now, although this choice predates the updates here by at least a couple years), is why I started splitting up what I do with different browsers.  FF or Pale Moon is usually used for important "serious" stuff, where tabs quickly multiply while doing research, and it would waste my time to bookmark everything I might possibly need as a reference in a couple hours and then never use again (not to mention digging through months worth of potentially thousands of bookmarks looking for something is even more of a waste of time).  That is why I just go and prune back my tabs upon completion of what I am working on, and if I will need what is left later I bookmark, copy them into the relevant document, or save the session.  This still doesn't stop me from having tons of tabs sometimes.  For my "fun" browsing I tend to keep more tabs around all the time so I can see what's new on various sites.

If 1GB is pushing the limit of minimum acceptable RAM (with some stating it isn't enough) and the thing hasn't even be put into the hands of users yet, I have a feeling 2GB might become a limiting factor for what can be done as well.  If swap can solve all our problems it seems pointless to go for 2GB, but I don't feel swap is the right solution.  It isn't on my Pandora.  It hasn't been on some other computers I have used.  There are probably other factors that are more important.  I know for a fact that the HDD were one of them, as Grench mentioned (but much newer hardware than the computer my father had when I was a kid), and perhaps the CPU was the weak link for my Pandora.  I just hope ptitSeb doesn't start porting stuff that doesn't work on the original Pyra hardware if there is a CPU board upgarde. :p  

 

ible said:
i think there are some excellent points on both sides (for 2GB and 4GB), but everyone else is completely irrational.
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I try.  Good to know it's working.
 
Gosh, you're right ! I'm gonna need 8GBs then ! :lol:

Nah seriously, Minecraft is bonkers. With mods (well more than 200, but you never have enough, right ?) I have to dedicate 3GBs to the JVM otherwise it'll crash.
 
The 32bit JVM on the Pyra will not be able to use heaps larger than 1G and it will use less than 2G of main memory for that kind of configuration. But it is at least an actual example of needing more than 1G.

AFAICT the audio one isn't. The low processing time given doesn't match my experience with large audio data sets, but I may just be too stupid.
 
Has anyone used Eclipse? Commonly used for Java development (Android uses this as one of the default IDEs alongside Android Studio). When ever I use Eclipse it seems to want GBs of memory (this is on a Windows PC, however I believe it is written in Java so I am not sure if it matters).

What sort of memory requirements do the "next generation" of games use (I mean games too advanced for the Pandora but will run on the Pyra), Doom3 and later games? It seems feasible to me we'll be seeing single games using more than 1GB (although possibly always less than 2GB).

It is a tricky question as we don't know exactly what software we will have for the Pyra yet. In terms of running something that uses >2GB that is easy, I could compile you something that allocates 3 GB at start up (and never uses it). It would be an easy optimization to remove this allocation, but in general software uses more than strictly necessary, over the life of the Pyra it is hard to know how much cool software will be available that uses lots of memory (even if it is mainly due to sloppy coding).

If we end up with a nice solution for running Android software, there is certainly loads of games that will chew through a lot of memory (especially ports of console games which have been done with minimal changes and effort).

In terms of building projects it will be easy to use up all 4 GB of memory, with the multicore processor, a well threaded build system compiling large modules (lumped/unity style) can easily use 1 GB per instance (x4 instances running = 4 GB without even taking into account the OS and other apps). Sure you can tune compile settings to build less at once, sure you can use swap, but those are both true if we have 32mb of RAM.

I voted for either 2/4 GB and said I don't know. I would really need to know a lot more to give a final answer on 2/4 (based on experts like notaz weighing in about power savings, based on the fact it sounds like there is potential to keep it low by more advanced power saving involving putting one module to sleep, etc). I feel like 2 GB is a nice amount right now, and I am unsure whether in 4 years I may wish I had 4GB instead (and it doesn't really help me if ED starts making 4 GB models in two years time as I would only want to buy the Pyra once, and don't really want to mess around with upgrades).
 
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NetBeans is incredibly light compared to Eclipse.
Hmm... I wonder if you could get IntelliJ IDEA to run.  Now THAT would give you a good test of RAM usage. :p
 
Playing minecraft with a few mods on the pyra would be nice! But like some have said, maybe swap will be enough?
 
I'm of the opinion that a multi-core processor with little RAM is not very useful - I'd like to have as much RAM as is feasible, because I want to use the thing for compiling too.
 
torpor said:
I'm of the opinion that a multi-core processor with little RAM is not very useful - I'd like to have as much RAM as is feasible, because I want to use the thing for compiling too.
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I compile all the time on The devboard and even when running multiple parallel jobs it doesn't eat that much RAM. I rarely even break over a 750MBs of memory. Although I'm not sure what constitutes a heavy program, WINE took ~30Minutes to compile.  I still need to try something like Eclispe with Java out, but typical C/C++ programs do not require that much RAM.
 
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I guess I'll need to figure out what IntelliJ is..
 
It's a commercial Java IDE.  I have no idea why people pay money for it since it is basically garbage, but someone once thought it was a good idea as I'm required to use it at work.
 
A single 32 bit Java process will not use more than 2GB (at least the 32 bit JVM versions I have experience with will crash rather sooner than later if trying to use heaps significantly larger than 1G), but running several of them, e.g. the IDE and the application server, can obviously use much more memory.

I would have thought the Pyra to be too slow to make that much fun for regular use, but if Wine actually compiles in ~30 minutes it might not be that bad at all. Was that a parallel build?
 
_jr_ said:
A single 32 bit Java process will not use more than 2GB (at least the 32 bit JVM versions I have experience with will crash rather sooner than later if trying to use heaps significantly larger than 1G), but running several of them, e.g. the IDE and the application server, can obviously use much more memory.

I would have thought the Pyra to be too slow to make that much fun for regular use, but if Wine actually compiles in ~30 minutes it might not be that bad at all. Was that a parallel build?
Click to expand...

Actually no that was just single job build. I should try it with more.
 
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