TinyTim2 wrote:
The important fact is not the speed of the processor nor the ram but what the system needs . If the system only has four or five calculations to make per sec does it need the power to do ten thousand ? No and more importantly it will be reliable if it is simpler , so yes most ac computers are very slow by modern standards but they are a thousand times more reliable and that is the most important fact
Right! Take a look at the Space Shuttle. Its avionic computer is a 32-bits IBM Model AP-101. Five actually. Redundancy is important to NASA.
I have not been able to find specs on the computer, but here are some links:
Space Shuttle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
IBM AP-101 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
HSF - The Shuttle
It's probably slower than your iPod, but it does the job. And I guess playing Solitaire on the avionics is not needed. When it does the job and it's working, leave it like that.
Bob.