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RAM

RAM is our working memory storage for the compter. All the data, which the PC uses and works with during operation, are stored here. Data are stored on drives such as Hard disc drive, Floppy drive, CD drive etc. However, for the CPU to work with those data, they must be read into the working memory storage, which is made up of RAM chips.

There are mainly two types of RAM, DRAM (dynamic RAM)and the other type is SRAM (static RAM). Boath of them are volatile, SRAM continues to remember its content up to power is available, while DRAM must be refreshed every frequently. DRAM consists of micro capacitors to store the data, while SRAM consists of off/on switches or latches. Therefore, SRAM can respond much faster than DRAM, but it is costlier than DRAM. It is used in different versions in L2 cache RAM. DRAM is usually used as the primary memory

Currently there are three types of popular primary memory (DRAM). SDRAM, DDRAM and RambusDRAM (or RDRAM) SDRAM (synchronous DRAM) "locks" (synchronizes) the memory access to the CPU clock. This way we get faster data transfer. While one portion of data is transported to the CPU another can be being prepared for transfer. DDR RAM is clock doubled version of SDRAM. It is a technology that transmits data on both sides of a tact signal. This way the performance has been doubled; a 133 MHz SDRAM chip can very easy become altered to a 266 MHz DDR chip: RAMBUS (RDRAM) is a more futuristic RAM type

On modern Mother boards, RAM is installed on SIMM or DIMM modules. The small individual DRAM's were mounted on a card, which has an edge connector. They fit in sockets on the motherboard, and anyone can install them. SIMM (Single Inline Memory Modules) were first made in 8 bit editions. They were small cards with 1, 2 or 4 MB RAM The most used modern RAM type, SDRAM is made in 64 bit wide modules called DIMM's (Dual Inline Memory Module). They have a 168 pin edge connector.