What would have used 64kB Simms?
I'm going through some old stuff I have, and came across some 64 kilobyte and 256 kilobyte simms. The earliest Simms I really remember using were 1MB for 386/486 computers though I could see 386s using the 256kb. Earlier than that I've touched a few 286s with sipp and simm slots, but even they were typically aiming for "the full 640KB". But most XT/286 products I touched had individual ram chips socketed or soldered on board. What devices would have used 64KB Simms back in the day? There are 9 chip as well, so I assume parity.
256K SIMMs were used in the Macintosh Plus and SE 1MB models, and I think I have a 386SX that also uses them. On Sat, Feb 14, 2026, 9:03 AM John Heritage via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
I'm going through some old stuff I have, and came across some 64 kilobyte and 256 kilobyte simms.
The earliest Simms I really remember using were 1MB for 386/486 computers though I could see 386s using the 256kb.
Earlier than that I've touched a few 286s with sipp and simm slots, but even they were typically aiming for "the full 640KB". But most XT/286 products I touched had individual ram chips socketed or soldered on board.
What devices would have used 64KB Simms back in the day? There are 9 chip as well, so I assume parity.
256KB SIMMs are also used in early Sun workstations. I've never seen 64KB SIMMs in computer applications, but I've seen them in some industrial controllers. I'm pretty sure those were proprietary. -Dave On 2/14/26 09:39, Vince Besse via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
256K SIMMs were used in the Macintosh Plus and SE 1MB models, and I think I have a 386SX that also uses them.
On Sat, Feb 14, 2026, 9:03 AM John Heritage via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
I'm going through some old stuff I have, and came across some 64 kilobyte and 256 kilobyte simms.
The earliest Simms I really remember using were 1MB for 386/486 computers though I could see 386s using the 256kb.
Earlier than that I've touched a few 286s with sipp and simm slots, but even they were typically aiming for "the full 640KB". But most XT/286 products I touched had individual ram chips socketed or soldered on board.
What devices would have used 64KB Simms back in the day? There are 9 chip as well, so I assume parity.
-- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA
My Mac se originally had (4) 256kb 120n simms I upgraded to (4) 1mb simms recently and have the 256kb simms for sale Mike Sent from: My extremely complicated, hand held electronic device.
On Feb 14, 2026, at 9:39 AM, Vince Besse via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
256K SIMMs were used in the Macintosh Plus and SE 1MB models, and I think I have a 386SX that also uses them.
On Sat, Feb 14, 2026, 9:03 AM John Heritage via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
I'm going through some old stuff I have, and came across some 64 kilobyte and 256 kilobyte simms.
The earliest Simms I really remember using were 1MB for 386/486 computers though I could see 386s using the 256kb.
Earlier than that I've touched a few 286s with sipp and simm slots, but even they were typically aiming for "the full 640KB". But most XT/286 products I touched had individual ram chips socketed or soldered on board.
What devices would have used 64KB Simms back in the day? There are 9 chip as well, so I assume parity.
participants (4)
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Dave McGuire -
John Heritage -
Sentrytv -
Vince Besse