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RAM
RAM (Random Access Memory)
Stores bits of information for the other components to access. You can consider
it the “waiting room” of the PC. As bits are waiting to be processed or used by
other components, they wait there. It’s sort of like a very fast hard drive for
information traveling through your PC. RAM could arguably be the 2nd
most important component in the PC. I chose motherboard first (because it
determines so much about the PC) and then overall buss speed second. You could
put RAM as the number 2 component in the PC
because it is a physical component,
not an overall outcome of multiple component choices like buss speed.
RAM is also a very technical
part of the PC. Even on a consumer level, there are literally thousands of
different choices for any given PC setup. For the advanced user, please email
your questions to our sales department sales@lanlabs.com
Statistics for RAM
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How Much and How Big: One of
your decisions is not only how much RAM to buy, but whether to buy multiple
smaller sticks or less larger sticks. Example: Four sticks of 256 vs one stick
of 1 GIG. One theory is multiple smaller sticks would be faster, even if only
by small amount, because it would be storing more data and eliminate backups.
Although, some would say a larger stick would be able to transfer more
information therefore eliminating backups and essentially making the computer
faster. We took this challenge and found no conclusive results, it all depends
on your Operating System and what programs you are running. Not to mention the
few times there was a clear margin of victory, is was minute. My advice, buy
the largest sticks you can afford, this will most likely be the cheapest option
and allow you more room to upgrade in the future.
Generally speaking, you can never have to much memory. I
say this because today’s motherboards are balanced enough to say, “ If it fits,
you can use it”. More memory will relive stress off your hard drive and
processor, making a noticeable difference in PC performance. As a guide, 512 is
the minimum I would ever consider for today’s applications, 1GB if you use any
type of graphics or multimedia software and 2GB for gaming or demanding
applications.
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What Type of RAM: Your most common forms of
main system memory are: SDRAM, DDR, DDR2 and ECC DDR. The type of RAM you can
use will normally be dictated by motherboard and processor choice. SDRAM
(Single Data Rate RAM) is the basic RAM sending one data burst per cycle while
DDR (Double Data Rate RAM) sends two, essentially doubling the speed. DDR2 is
DDR with a higher transfer rate of information. Basically, A bigger buss,
although it’s measured in bandwidth (Bandwidth is the transporting of data from
point to point in a pre determined amount of time). ECC DDR (Error Correcting
Code) looks for errors in the data stream and attempts to correct them. This
type of RAM is generally reserved for servers, but is seeing its way into a few
specialty desktops in recent times.
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Memory Size: The easiest statistic to
determine is the memory size. Its sold in quantities like: 1 GIG, 512mb and
256mb. The more memory, the more data that can be stored, the faster the PC, to
an extent of course. How much RAM to put into a PC is governed by your overall
buss speed and processor size. After all, you cant store data if you cant get
it to the RAM in the first place, and cant process all that data if your
processor isn’t capable of doing it.
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Latency: Latency is a measurement
of how fast bits of data reach their destination. This is usually referred to
when speaking about the bandwidth associated with Internet connections. This is
an important statistic any time data is being transferred. No matter how much
data you can send, if it is traveling at half the speed, it will mean half the
performance. I am going to try to keep this as simple as possible because it
does get very complicated. Memory has different banks within itself to store
information. The number that are following the RAM description as seen in this
example: 2-2-2, are the speeds in which the memory can accept and move data in
ns (nanoseconds). The first number is the speed in which RAM can terminate one
row of data and start another one. The second is the time it takes to (to use
an extreme over simplification) find its place within the data. Finally, the
third is how long it takes to erase the data it’s finished with and start
again. These numbers are rounded up and the lower the better, or faster, the
RAM is.
Where to now? Articles on computer components - How to Choose a PC
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