512 MB of Wii U's RAM "reserved for the OS. What's the total?

[kitler53]

sergiodaly said:

kitler53 said:

haxxiy said:

Badassbab said:
RAM is much cheaper now so the more the merrier. Hope it has bundles of Edram. 360 Edram helped it out a lot though it started to hold it back due to small amount.

Console RAM has to be soldered onto the main board, they are way more expensive to manufacture than their PC counterparts.

That being said, I think 512 MB for OS is way too high, but it could happen for all I know. Probably the total RAM is around 1.5 GB then, with maybe an embedded GPU RAM for cheap antialiasing like the GC and the X360. 

I've heard this quite a few times now...why is that? 

because a clip-on module can, with time, develop a bad contact issue that may keep the console from boot up...

soldered, gives alot more confidence to the manufacturer.

really?  that's it?   seems not worth the extra cost.  I mean, what's the failure rate on that?  can't be that high.