RAM

What Is RAM

 Random-access memory, or RAM, is one of the most important components in all devices, from PCs to Smartphone to game consoles. without RAM doing just about anything on system would be much, much slower. Not having enough for the application or game you're trying to run can bring things to a crawl or even prevent them from running at all.

But what is RAM exactly? in a nutshell, it's an extremely fast component that temporarily stores all the information  your PC need right now and in the near future. Accessing that information in RAM is insanely fast, unlike slower hard drives, which provide longer-term store.

if this is all semantics and you just need to know how to install some RAM, or want to find out how much RAM you need, we have guides for that, too. 

Short-Term Memory 

RAM is essential your device's short-term memory. It temporarily stores (remembers) that runs on your  PC, like all the services in windows. your web browser, your image editing tool, or the game you're playing. you don't want the CPU digging though your slower storage, like a hard drives or even a solid-state drive (SSD), every time you request a new browser tab or load a new enemy to shoot. As fast as storage is compared to dives of year gone by, they're still far slower than RAM.

Data that resides in the short-term memory, or RAM, can be read from anywhere at almost the same speed. Because it has a hard-wired connection to your system, there, no real latency in cabling or connection.

 RAM doesn’t remember everything forever, however. It's a "volatile" technology, meaning that once it loses power, it forget everything. that makes it perfect for handing the multitude of high-speed tasks that your system throws at it on a daily basis. But it’s also why we need storage systems like hard drives and SSDS, which actual hold our information when you the system off. 

Different type of RAM

RAM is a bit of a catch-all term, like "memory", and actually covers a few different types. Most of the time when people discuss RAM or memory, they're technically referring to DRAM (dynamic random access memory ),or more accurately for modern systems, SDRAM (synchronous dynamic random access memory). The terminology doesn't really matter beyond technicalities, but it’s useful to know that the terms are relatively interchangeable colloquially.

The most common type of RAM sold today is DDR4, though older systems may use DDR3 or even DDR2. The numbers simply denote the generation of RAM, with each successive generation offering faster speeds through greater bandwidth -a higher megahertz (MHz) rating. Each generation also has physical changes, so they are not interchangeable.

 Another common term, especially in the video game space, is VRAM, or video RAM. Although once a stand-alone piece of technology, VRAM is currently used to denote memory on the graphics card. in game consoles, it can also reference system memory, but in either case, it has to do with memory that is reserved exclusively for the GPU. It's most commonly. referred to as graphics DDR, or GDDR, usually with a generational designation, like GDDR6.

Most mordent graphics cards use GDDR6. However, some graphics cards may used a different from of VRAM called High Bandwidth Memory. (HBM, HBM2, and HBM2e). it has unique performance advantages, though it is typically expensive, and supply issues hinder widespread adoption

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Size isn't Everything

The biggest consideration when buying RAM is how much you need. A minimum amount is required

to run an operating system, while many game and application have a minimum requirement too. Those requirement are listed in gigabytes, or GB, and are often between 1GB and 8GB, depending on the application's hardware demands.

 

Having more than minimum is important, as your device run not only the current application but other services and tasks in the background . Of course, having massive amount of system memory doesn't necessarily make your device faster either.

 The amount is not the only aspect of RAM that important. While more gigabytes can help with multitasking, you can see better important in memory. Like a CPU, RAM has its own clock speed, which effectively controls how much data it can handle per second when combined with a few other factors. The total speed of the memory is discussed as bandwidth, in megabytes per second, but traditionally you'll see memory marketed with speed in MHz.

Typical DDR4 memory runs between 2,133MHz and 3,000MHz but there are some that can run upwards of 4,866MHz for the fastest kits available. You’ll see these marketed as DDR4-2133 or similar, and sometimes with the confusing “PC” label. The number following “PC” is simply the MHz speed multiplied by eight and then rounded. For example, you might see it listed as DDR4-2133 PC4-17000.

Timings are another aspect of memory that can have an impact on RAM performance, though they are no longer as important. It’s effectively the time between clock cycles, and as memory speed increases, timings increase as well, reducing latency. Typically, timing is listed as several numbers separated by dashes, such as 15-15-15-35, or similar.

When buying memory, timings are only really important if you’re considering high-performance memory for benchmarking or top-tier gaming. Timing isn’t of real concern to the average consumer.

Lastly, you should know about channels. Most memory sold today supports dual-channel at the very least, which means there are two lanes (buses) between one memory slot and the CPU’s memory controller on the motherboard. However, this design requires two sticks of RAM of the same type and speed that supports dual channels. You can also find high-end RAM kits with three or four modules that support triple- or quad-channel memory designs on motherboards.

For practical purposes, multi-channel designs don’t make a huge difference in everyday performance. However, if you do want to take advantage of dual or more channel memory, be sure to install the sticks in the correct colored slots on your motherboard. Check your manual for help on that front.

How Important is RAM?

RAM is extremely important. Too little can lead to sluggish performance, though smaller devices like tablets and smartphones don’t need as much as high-end gaming desktops. However, installing massive amounts or using the highest MHz rating doesn’t mean your device will run blazingly fast. Remember, RAM is only part of the overall equation.

Having enough RAM does matter, however, and having RAM that isn’t bargain-basement slow is a good idea too, especially for complicated image or video editing tasks and playing games that are CPU-limited.

But when it comes to improving your system’s overall performance, you need to consider the costs involved. A faster CPU or graphics card will typically make a bigger impact on your system’s overall speed than faster memory, though some CPUs, like AMD’s Ryzen line, do benefit more than others from faster memory.

Upgrading from a hard drive to an SSD is also a big step if you haven’t taken it yet. The move to an SSD speeds up the slowest storage component on your system by a huge margin and contributes massively to making it feel more snappy.

As with any computing device, the slowest component typically limits performance, so slow memory can hold you back if it’s the worst part of your configuration. Unless you’re doing anything particularly intensive, just make sure you have a little more than what you need and that it’s not the worst available.

If you want something more powerful, there is a wide array of configurations of speed, size, and latency for you to choose. Some even have RGB LED lighting, too, as shown above.

Here's How RAM Works and what it does in your Smartphone

• You can think of RAM as your pocket and your phone's main storage as your backpack. It's much faster to pull something out of your pocket than it is to pull something out from your backpack.
• When you turn on your phone, and open an app for the first time, your phone pulls the operating system (OS) and app's data from your phone's slower main storage and stores the bulk of that OS and app data in your phone's faster RAM so you can use different elements and features of the OS and app quickly.
• When you're finished with the app you're using, your phone keeps the app and whatever you were doing on it in your phone's RAM, even if you switch to another app.
• When you return to an app you used a while ago, it'll open right where you left off, as if you never even left the app, because it's been stored in your phone's RAM. Essentially, apps you used are kept running in the background while you use other apps.                                      
• Switching between apps and picking up right where you left off is often called "multitasking." If a phone is said to multitask well, it's because it makes good use of RAM or simply has a ton of it.
• If a phone didn't have RAM, apps would fully close whenever you switch apps. That means apps would need to fully re-open, as if you opened them for the first time after turning on your phone, which causes a delay before you can use the app.
• Your phone's main slower storage could potentially keep your OS and used apps running in the background, but it's much, much slower than RAM. Your phone could have the fastest chip in the world and it would still feel slow without RAM.                      

How much RAM does a smartphone actually need?

Adding more RAM is an easy way for a manufacturer to make a device look better.A bigger number must mean it's better, right? While that's generally true, finding the right amount of RAM poses a unique problem in the smartphone world. How much is "enough"? The short answer is that you should look for a baseline of at least 4GB for a phone. The long answer is a bit more complicated.

How RAM Works -

First, a quick note on how RAM works: RAM, or memory as it's sometimes called, is where your phone stores information when it's not using it, but might in the near future. RAM is a lot faster than the internal storage you have on your phone, but you don't have as much of it.

Think of it like moving something from your drawers to your desk. It's easier to grab something when it's in arm's reach, but you can't keep everything on your desk, so you need a place to store items when they're not in use.

Let's say you're playing a game on your phone, but then you get a phone call. There's a very good chance that, once your phone call is done, you'll go back to that game. When you answer the call, your phone keeps the game loaded in memory. As soon as you end the call and re-open the game, it should pop right back up exactly where you left off. You don't need to reload the entire app, or lose your progress. It's just there.

This means the more stuff you have loaded into memory the better (Android phones don't need a task killer because they automatically kill apps you haven't used in a while). It also means the more memory you have the better.

Does Your Phone Need 8GB of RAM?

Te iPhone XS and XS Max were Apple's first phones with 4GB of RMAh (the cheaper iPhone XR has 3GB). In a year when some Android phones like the Galaxy Note 9 can be configured with as much as 8GB of RAM, it seems like a comparatively paltry amount of RAM—but it's all in how you use it.

Apple famously uses its own processors and tightly controls its software. While there can be downsides to this approach, performance isn't one of them. In a head-to-head test performed by PhoneBuff, the iPhone XR with 3GB of RAM was pitted against the Note 9 with 8GB, using a mechanical robot arm to load a series of apps and perform basic tasks.

Both phones were tasked with loading 16 different apps and performing some basic tasks in one "lap," then re-opening the apps in reverse order in the second. The first lap tested processor speed, while the second lap tested how many apps were still in memory, ready to jump back into action. Overall, the two phones tied, with barely a tenth of a second between them. But how?

The Right Phones Do More with Less

For starters, the iPhone XR is a lot faster. It was able to load apps and perform tasks quicker than the Note 9. So, even when it had to kill a background app, it reloaded it fast enough to compensate. Impressively, while the Note 9 kept all 16 apps in memory, the iPhone XR kept 11 in memory, including multiple mobile games. Even with a meager 3GB, the iPhone held its own.

So, would the 4GB of RAM in the iPhone XS and XS Max change things? Maybe not. In a later PhoneBuff test pitting the XS against the Pixel 3, which also has 4GB of RAM, the iPhone XS kept 13 apps open in memory and finished around 8 seconds faster than the XR. That's better, but only just. The iPhone XS also beat the Pixel 3 in the test by over a minute.

In other words, the iPhone may not have much RAM, but it uses it efficiently. The ultrafast processor also loads apps and gets through tasks quickly enough that you might not notice when an app has to reload from scratch.

The Current RAM Standard

Apple has an advantage in that it only makes a few phones. Android runs on many, many more and RAM can run the gamut. For most smartphone owners, 4GB is plenty. However, as the Pixel 3 demonstrates, your phone needs to use it well. In fact, Google in December had to roll out an update that tackled aggressive memory management on the Pixel 2 and Pixel 3. As 9to5Google noted at the time, the phones "would prevent some apps from running simultaneously. For example, snapping a picture with the camera app stopped background audio playback for some users."

In conclusion: RAM is nice, but it's just one piece of the smartphone puzzle. Other factors are more important when it comes to longevity and performance, including the battery, processor, modem, and software updates from the manufacturer. Anything over 4GB should be enough for all but the heaviest users.

Writer: Mr. Krishan Kumar Saini

Today We have Learnt about Ram. Hope this lesson is helpful for you.