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Your RAM
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by:
Lance
Chambers
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The RAM (Random Access Memory)
in your PC is, in effect, the short-term memory that your computer uses
when it's executing Windows and other software on your computer and it
can have a very dramatic affect on your computers performance if there
isn't enough of it - in fact RAM is often the very first thing you may
need to increase in any upgrade of your machine.
Information in your RAM disappears when you machine is turned off - this is NOT true for your hard drive which is permanent.
Data is moving to and from your RAM almost all the time you computer is
turned on and is used by programs as they are doing their thing and the
more you have the faster those programs can run. If there isn't enough
Windows will start to use your hard drive as pseudo-RAM and it's very
very slow in comparison to RAM. Using your hard drive instead of RAM
will, therefore, slow your computer down to a very significant degree.
These days it is highly recommended that a minimum of 512MB of RAM be
installed on your machine. If you don't have enough an increase in the
amount of RAM will speed up your machine immediately. Increasing your RAM may be the cheapest way to speed up your machine!
However, depending on the software you use and the task you perform, up
to 4GB may be useful. Talk to an expert about your possible needs.
There are alarge number of differing types of RAM available theseday so
you will need to find out the type you need. This is not a simple task
and you may need to open your machine and check on the installed chip
sets - you may want to leave this to an expert!
If you need to find out how much RAM you have right-click on 'My
Computer', in the System Properties screen the 'General' tab will show
you the amount of memory installed.
Note: You can buy
RAM in differing sizes 64MB, 128MB, 256MB, 512MB and 1GB, as of this
writing. The smaller sizes are hardly ever seen in computers these days
unless they are old machines (eg Pentium III and lower configurations)
Which size should you buy?
I suggest you buy the largest you can. The reason is that when you want
or need to upgrade you can do so without having to replace existing
RAM. You just need to install the new set in an empty slot and can
continue to use the RAM you already have. Motherboards (discussed
later) come with a limited number of slots into which you can install
RAM so don't fill them up with small RAM chips that you may have to
throw away later.
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