Computer memory is an important component of all modern computers due to its function of data storage. It is also called RAM. The term computer memory refers to any computer components, devices and the recording media that retains digital data for a given time interval.

How important is computer memory?

Computer memory is so important, that without it, your computer system would be useless. It is the bridge between your permanent storage system (CDs and disks) and the processor. When compared with a CPU processing time, the hard drives are very slow so computer memory is used to buffer data during the time it is processed.

How much computer memory do you need?

The more the memory your computer has, the faster it will run as the storage area increases. The amount of memory to buy should be determined by the amount of data you wish to store. Secure digital SD cards can be used to store memory in peripherals such as digital cameras, DVD players, and USB hard drives as they require different amounts of memories. When you are buying any system, it’s important to check the maximum memory that your device can hold. Today, with the amount of RAM increasing, some systems can take from 1-8 Gigs of RAM. You can also check or ask the specs for the computer or device you are buying, to determine the maximum memory you can install.

How computer memory works

RAM stores instructions on currently running applications. When you start a program, the processor can retrieve these instructions much faster from RAM than it can from the hard drive. When you make a request, it is intercepted by the processor, which organizes the request into component specific tasks in a specific order. The processor uses RAM to store these results until they are compiled into final results. The more the computer memory, the faster this process will be.  
 
Upgrading computer memory

Computer memory upgrade is the best way to improve the performance of the computer- speed and performance. Computer memory can be upgraded using DDR, DDR1 or DDR3 types of memory among other types. Choose quality memory that is compatible with your computer, to avoid problems resulting form using sub-quality RAM. The memory upgrade process is easy; you can do it your self.

Types of RAM

The RAM technology has seen several improvements in the past few years. There are several types of computer memories, categorized on the basis of speed and effectiveness. These include:

• SRAM

SRAM means static RAM and was the first type of RAM in the market. SRAM can be accessed at about 10 nanoseconds, meaning that it takes approximately 20ns for the processor to receive requested information from SRAM. It has a data capacity of about 256KB. It is commonly used for system cache because it is it is faster than DRAM.

• DRAM

Dynamic RAM was developed because of the great expenses experienced in using SRAM. The DRAM chips are much slower compared to the SRAM chips, meaning that they can store several megabytes of data on a single chip. The DRAM chip can draw more power from the computer. Because of its low cost and high capacity, it is used as the “main” memory in the computer.

• EDO RAM

Extended Data Out (EDO) RAM is an improvement of the traditional DRAM as it performs one task at a time. As one piece if data is sent to the processor, another is retrieved from RAM module. During transfer of the data, EDO RAM looks for the next piece to retrieve for the processor. The process enables the data to be accessed in 60ns. For EDO RAM chips to be used the computer system’s processor and motherboard should support its use.

• SDRAM 

Synchronous dynamic RAM (SDRAM) is capable of running at the speed of the system bus, (from 100 to 133 MHZ), making it to run twice as fast as EDO RAM. Despite this speed, SDRAM and EDO are being replaced by faster types of DRAM like DDR RAM and RDRAM. Just like EDO RAM, SDRAM can only be used in systems that support it. 

• RDRAM

This was developed by a company called Rambus Inc, hence its name, Rambus Dynamic RAM. It uses a special Rambus channel with a data transfer rate of 800MHZ, but its channel width can be doubled to a 1.6GHZ data transfer. However, it can only be used in computers with RDRAM slots and channels. As it is fairly new, it can only be used in computers that were manufactured before 1999.

• DDR RAM

Double data rate (DDR) RAM is twice as fast as the standard RAM (it doubles the rate at which SDRAM processes data). The standards available for DDR memory are PC 1600, PC 2100 and PC 2700, with the PC width referring to the total bandwidth of the memory.
 
• VRAM 

Video RAM (VRAM) is a type of memory specialized to be used only with video adapters. The video adapter is one of the computer’s most busy components, so to keep up with video requirements; many adapters have an onboard micro-processor and special video RAM. VRAM is faster than EDO RAM, with the ability of being written to and read form at the same time. This results to a better and faster performance of the video.

• WRAM

Window RAM (WRAM) is a type of RAM with a faster access than VRAM. It uses the same dual-ported technology, allowing deices to write and read data to the video memory at the same time.

Choosing computer memory

When choosing computer memory, consider the one that suits your needs. As there are many brands, types and latencies of computer memory in the market, choose convenient memory, depending on the device for which you are buying the memory and the amount of memory you require. Make sure that the memory is compatible to your computer system, to avoid any problems. The price should also be considered, as some are more expensive than others.