Understanding desktop computer memory can be a little tricky if you do not know much about hardware or the technical terms associated with computer memory. This article will give you a quick layman summary about the memory in your desktop computer. However, you will need to know a little bit more about how your memory affects the speed of your computer. Desktop memory is often called as RAM which stands for Random Access Memory. This memory is volatile or temporary in nature in the sense that it will be erased when the computer is turned off. The main purpose of the RAM is to be of assistance to the processor or the central processing unit, otherwise known as the CPU. The processor needs to access large amounts of data very quickly to run its applications. The RAM chip allows the processor to do that by providing data on a continuous basis as requested by the processor. Sometimes, the RAM chip will not be able to keep up with the processor as it might run out of space to store data. This is where a RAM upgrade will help immensely as it will reduce the wait or lag time between the processor and the RAM chip. What are the types of desktop RAM? There are primarily two types of RAM. One is DDR2 and the other is DDR3. DDR3 is the new type and it won’t be long before DDR2 is not offered in new systems. If you are looking to buy a new computer, it is recommended that you buy one with DDR3 RAM. How much RAM does my desktop need? This will depend on your usage. Try to think about the various things you will be using your computer for. If you are going to browse the web and check emails, even 1GB of RAM might be enough. However, if you plan to browse through multimedia rich sites where you will be downloading or streaming a lot of videos or audio, it is recommended that you go with 2GB of RAM. More RAM will be required for heavier usage such as video rendering, graphic designing etc although most home users never use their computers for any of these applications. A computer with more than 4GB of RAM will allow a user to use it at lighting fast speeds. Though these types of speeds might not even be necessary, it is always better to have more RAM as future programs will become more memory hungry. A good amount of RAM is definitely a great long term investment. Thomas Ajava writes about RAM DDR2 and other computer memory and hardware topics for RAMDDR2.com.
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