Electro Technology

Almost all of us often purchase the latest computer or computer parts available in the market. But sooner or later we realize that our softwares, programmes and even the computer memory seem to be outdated with everyday advancements coming out of the shell. Here comes the need to upgrade the system! Of all the components of a computer, the memory or RAM is one such element that can be easily upgraded without affecting other parts of the computer.

DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) serves as the most common type of memory module for computers today. Earlier, when the SRAM (Static Random Access Memory) was used in the computers, there was no need to refresh the system again and again as it used to operate on the principle of moving current. Buy Dynamic RAM (DRAM) seeks its storage cells refreshed, which provides it with a new electronic charge every time. With a better functionality of the capacitor and the transistor, DRAM performs very quickly.

SDRAM:

SDRAM (Synchronous Dynamic RAM) was the pioneer in advancement of Random Access Memory in the early stage of this era. It was quite faster than the other conventional types of RAM and proved a boon in increasing the computer efficiency. All the RAM manufacturers synchronized this particular RAM type with the clock speed, which is a feature of the microprocessor to increase efficiency. To compare the bus speed and the RAM chip speed, we measure the clock speed in MHz.

RAM or Random Access Memory is very critical to the effective functioning of your system. It plays a central role in your PC working. It is capable of holding the system, operating applications and also the files that are open on your system. When you are working on your system and you open up your favourite gaming software or launch your favourite video into the PC, the instructions that are given by us are loaded into the system’s RAM and CPU is responsible for fetching those instructions from the RAM and thereby executing the same. Even a windows based desktop would also be having certain amount of RAM for the functioning. Therefore it is understandable that if any computer has more RAM it would be able to handle more applications simultaneously, implying that it would be able to open up faster and at the same time would be able to effectively handle multidimensional applications at the same time.

But the big question is as to how much memory is required by your system? and how much is ‘TOO’ much for you to handle and otherwise what are the type of RAM that are ideal for your system? Should you be actually satisfied with a low performing but a cheap computer, or would you be happy with investing that extra money on your system upgrade to see it performing well. Actually it all boils down to the fact as to what is it that you are looking for your system to perform? After all the requirements differ from one system to another; for example the Windows XP system that is slated to run at SDRAM 256MB RAM actually performs well at the levels of 512 MB of RAM.

The term “benchmarking CPU speed” is something that even new computer users are familiar with and in fact use them as a guide in deciding which ones to purchase. However, there are actually a lot of other factors that come into play that determine the speed of a personal computer.

The most obvious ones of course, are the system memory and video card memory. For example, a computer with a slower CPU but equipped with more RAM (random access memory) will load programs just as fast or even more so, than on a computer with a faster CPU but fewer RAM. The same thing with video cards; if it has plenty of memory, loading up and redrawing the screen will be much faster and smoother.

Besides the system memory, the Front Side Bus (FSB) plays a role as well. This is the device that connects the memory with the CPU. So the velocity of the FSB will be crucial in benchmarking CPU speeds too.

Another factor that affects benchmarking CPU speeds is its efficiency in handling assigned tasks. For instance, a 1 MHz (megahertz) CPU can perform a million cycles per second. While a 3 MHz is technically three times faster than the 1 MHz, it will not necessarily accomplish things exactly three times faster because the 1 MHz might be better at handling a task during the cycle.

Better functioning of computer functions depends upon the capability, which is directly proportional to the capacity of computer RAM. As the name suggests, Random Access Memory, it is one such element of the computer that helps in accessing the memory randomly once the programmes are loaded on to it.Serving as the soul of the computer, RAM comes in different variant namely SDRAM, SRAM, SIMM, SODIMM, DIMM, DDR RAM etc. Of all these types, the DRAM (Dynamic Access Memory) is the most common RAM used in computers these days.

Being a heavy user of computer applications (like gaming, video downloading, code executing etc.) you may feel that your system is getting low on memory. It may affect the processing or speed of your computer. In such a case, adding more RAM to the computer seems to be necessary. But adding more RAM is an activity that requires proper compatibility with motherboard, Hard Disc Drive and the operating system.

However RAM serves as a temporary working area in your computer and everything is lost when the system is turned off but as a work bench for your computer, it requires more space to work. If not provided with the same, it starts sending your data off the bench (which at last affects your storage or processing). Therefore, adding more RAM means adding more space to the bench!