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Ex-Microsoft engineer builds custom RAM for vintage PDP-11 using AI

By PulseAugur Editorial · [2 sources] ·

A former Microsoft engineer, Dave Plummer, has successfully built a custom RAM board for a vintage 1970s PDP-11 computer. Faced with exorbitant prices for original memory modules, Plummer utilized AI tools like ChatGPT and EasyEDA for design assistance. He engineered a solution using a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) as a memory controller, connected to modern memory chips, to circumvent the scarcity and cost of vintage components. AI

IMPACT Demonstrates AI's utility in assisting with complex hardware design for niche applications.

RANK_REASON Article describes a personal project using AI tools to create hardware for a vintage computer, not a new product release or significant industry event.

Read on Mastodon — mastodon.social →

AI-generated summary · Google Gemini · from 2 sources. How we write summaries →

Ex-Microsoft engineer builds custom RAM for vintage PDP-11 using AI

How we ranked this

Signal score
0 / 100
Composite score across the factors below. Higher = stronger signal that this story matters right now.
Newsworthiness bucket
Tool
Article describes a personal project using AI tools to create hardware for a vintage computer, not a new product release or significant industry event.
Source corroboration
2 independent sources
Multiple independent publishers reporting the same story raises confidence that it's real and newsworthy.
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product, other
Editorial topic classification. Feeds into how the story surfaces on /topic/<slug> hub pages and into the per-entity coverage mix.
AI-industry relevance
Standard
On-topic for AI-industry coverage; kept in the public index.
Story freshness
4 days old
Aged out of breaking-news scoring windows; ranking reflects the durable signal from the full source set.

Full methodology in our editorial standards.

COVERAGE [2]

  1. Tom's Hardware TIER_1 English(EN) · Bruno Ferreira ·

    Veteran Microsoft engineer makes his own RAM from scratch using AI

    Expensive memory forces former Microsoft engineer to make his own — Dave Plummer makes PDP-11 RAM from scratch

  2. Mastodon — mastodon.social TIER_1 English(EN) · [email protected] ·

    Veteran Microsoft engineer makes his own RAM from scratch using AI — custom FPGA board dodges extreme 1970s PDP-11 memory prices Expensive memory forces former

    Veteran Microsoft engineer makes his own RAM from scratch using AI — custom FPGA board dodges extreme 1970s PDP-11 memory prices Expensive memory forces former Microsoft engineer to make his own — Dave Plummer makes PDP-11 RAM from scratch https://www. tomshardware.com/pc-compone…

    LINKS tomshardware.com/…/veteran-microsoft-engi… tomshardware.com/pc-components

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