Every person that has a computer knows that it is very much resembled to a human being. Not in a long time, the computers will become smarter than the people. They already know how to do complex calculations more rapidly than a person would do in their mind. A human being needs at least one calculation machine, like a small calculator, to perform simple tasks, not heavy ones. But a computer can do simple and complex calculations without stressing itself too much. If the computer hets stressed by simple operations, then it seems that the computer has a problem with the RAM memory inserted into the computer. I will not speak today of the problems that may be generated by an insuficient amount of memory, but what are the most common types of memory and what is the purpose of every type in part.
What can we say about the RAM memory? What is it, what is its goal in life, besides “remembering” what to do in certain situations and keeping in mind that the processor must do like this in a situation and like that in other situation. The memory is a mechanism that is used to “remember” the data stored on the computer, data which can be used by an electronic device. So, the hard drive is responsible for storing the data inside your computer, but it doesn’t remember where that song is placed or where your photo from the last summer is uploaded. The component that does this is the memory.
The memory of a computer is of two kinds: internal memory and external memory. Almost every person that has a computer, knows the memory is accessed by the processor. How in the world should the processor give a command to the screen, to show some pictures or to the sound card, to play some music, if it wasn’t for the memory, who can remember what to say and to whom to say it. The memory in my opinion is a very important component, which is not always treated as it should be treated. The processor and the motherboard are seen as the most important ones, and they are not the only ones which are extremely important.
Another electronic component, which is based on some lithium technologies, which is also extremely important, although not many think like me, is the battery. It should be treated as something extremely fragile, and instead it is treated as something that you can replace whenever you want, something that you can touch without discharging firstly of the static electricity that is surronding you and so on. Who cares if the battery fails? We have the processor and the motherboard. The battery can be always replaced with a better one. Yes, it may be replaced, but if you damage irremediably a chip inside the computer, you can say goodbye to your computer and get a new one.
The information when it prepares to be processed by the processor must first go to the internal memory of the computer. The external memory is in fact a device which holds the information for long period of time. Everything in the computer, every command, every instruction must first go to the internal memory, thus the size and the speed of the internal memory is directly proportional to the performance of the computer.
When someone buys a computer, it is very interested in the capabilities of the memory. This is happening, because we already know that the RAM memory influences the behaviour of the computer. Just like an old man has a weak memory, and we cannot rely on it, the same thing we can say about an internal memory which doesn’t have too many MB.
The most common types of RAM memories are: the single data rate SDRAM, double data RAM or DDR1, SDRAM DDR2 and DDR3. Direct Rambus RAM DRAM is a type of memory which is not that used on personal computers. This type of memory has as a main supporter the processor’s manufacturer, Intel. It was released on market in 1999. Because the costs were very high, the memory was not a hit and it was not produced any longer. This technology has managed to impose on another market, not on the memories market, but on the game consoles market.
The SDRAM type of memory is no longer used, it was used until 2002. After other types of memory started to be developed, this type became outdated. There are still some electronic devices that use this type of memory (not the computers), devices for which the speed of the memory is not so important, like for computers. For example, the CD players are usually equipped with chips of memory that are based on this type of memory. The double data RAM memory is also not used in the personal computers, but there are some devices that may require the use of a memory not that developed, just like DDR1.
DDR2 started to be available for computer users at the end of 2003. They are now some of the most used types of computer memory today. The DDR3 memories are not used as the DDR2. They are on the market since 2007. If you want to buy a DDR3 memory, you must know that for buying such memory, the costs of purchasing a memory like this are very similar to purchasing a DDR2 type. Every generation of RAM memory is different from the generation ahead of it. This is normal, considering that this is in fact the reason for which enhancements are brought to the computers and electronic components. It is natural to be different from one generation to another. This is like saying that we cannot use a DDR2 memory with a DDR3 type of memory in the same computer. Also, we will not be able to insert a DDR3 memory into a DDR memory slot, because there are certain dimensions that must be respected and not only them. There is a protection element, known as key, that doesn’t let you to insert a wrong module into a memory bay created for other memory type.
