What is RAM?

Contents

1. Introduction
2. Why "Random" memory
3. How does Random Access Memory store data
4. Types of RAM
5. Measuring the speed of RAM
6. More "What is" Articles
7. Get Prices on RAM modules of all sizes

RAM, short for Random Access Memory is the short storage area for your PC. Often just called memory or system memory RAM is just an electromagnetic storage that loses all its data once the power has been removed. RAM is used by your operating system and other programs and games in order to store data that is required at speed. Computers with large amount of memory often perform faster simply because the CPU is not idle waiting for data to be retrieved from slower components such as the hard drive and can be stored in memory.

Why is RAM considered Random Access

RAM can be accessed by the computer for any piece of data in any cell of the memory bank. There is no need to go through the entire memory bank to get to the data you require. The opposite to Random access is serial access. SAM or Serial Access Memory needs to be read from the start to get to the data you require. An example of SAM storage would be a cassette tape. Of course there are things which fit in-between these two examples such as a CD or DVD. Because these have tracks they can be random access to a point but then need Serial access to get to the exact spot required