Why is RAM in powers of 2?

Issue

Why is the amount of RAM always a power of 2?

512, 1024, etc.

Specifically, what is the difference between using 512, 768, and 1024 RAM for an Android emulator?

Solution

Memory is closely tied to the CPU, so making their size a power of two means that multiple modules can be packed requiring a minimum of logic in order to switch between them; only a few bits from the end need to be checked (since the binary representation of the size is 1000...0000 regardless of its size) instead of many more bits were it not a power of two.

Hard drives are not tied to the CPU and not packed in the same manner, so exactness of their size is not required.

from https://superuser.com/questions/235030/why-are-ram-size-usually-in-powers-of-2-512-mb-1-2-4-8-gb

as referenced by BrajeshKumar in the comments on the OP. Thanks Brajesh!

Answered By - Evorlor