What is RAM

What is RAM? Ram is called Random Access Memoryin computer language. The computer uses RAM to store temporary information while also working with your computer’s hard drive.

<a title="RAM upgrade" href="%20″ target=”_blank”>RAM Random Access Memory
RAM Random Access Memory

I would relate RAM to your own memory which is nothing else but also Random Access Memory. We remember things we had used in the past thus we don’t have to look it up in books or where ever. If we put something down, we remember where we had put it without looking for it for minutes or hours.

RAM This is how it works.

The hard drive has all the programs and data. The RAM accesses the hard drive and stores in it’s own memory temporarily. The RAm memory is fast because there are no moving parts. The hard drive which also can be called a storage memory is much slower because it has moving parts.

So the RAM stores the information in it’s own memory until it needs it, or until it has room. If it has a small memory than when you need more information from the net or from your hard drive, the RAM dumps the data it has in it’s memory and replaces it with the new data you have just requested.

You can tell when it does that because if it’s in the RAM memory the computer brings up the new screen very fast. If it has to dump what’s in it’s memory and go to the hard drive , your screen changes slower.

So, why do I need more RAM? Because it can store more information on it’s chips and don’t have to dump what’s in it that often.

If our memory would be bigger, we wouldn’t have to go back to the books we have used to read, but we would be able to recall the info from our memory.

The more RAM the computer has, the faster it works.

Same as a room for an example. Imagine your room is a RAM module. You put all kinds of stuff in it and fills up. Now, you have just bought some new stuff and need room for it. What do you do? Either start emptying your room out or else make the room bigger.

The bigger the room (RAM) the more you can put in it.

Also there are faster and slower rams. It’s like your room which is square or else it has nooks and crannies where stuff is accessible easier or harder. RAM does the same thing. Some of the RAMs are faster than others. Also, if you are using the same brand or same speed ram, the computer will be faster.

For an example if you have a given brand, but different speed. Read the sticker on the ram. Some says 133Mhz some says 266Mhz etc. If you have them mixed, the faster one will step down to the speed of the slower, because the slower can’t work as fast as the other one. So in effect you have a slower computer.

RAM works the fastest in pairs. Same brand, same speed, same characteristics. You find all that information printed on the label on the RAM. If you mix and match, the speed will suffer.

Buy more RAM because makes your computer faster.

 

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