RAM (Random access memory)

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Primary storage No mechanical movement Data can be accessed from Ram at electronic speed, closed to speed of light Ram provide the processor with the temporary storage for programs and data. All programs and data must be transferred to Ram from an input device key board) or from secondary storage (disk). Before program can be executed and data can be processed Volatile, its contents are erased when computer is turned off. Ram consists of circuits, etched on to the chips. These chips are arranged on circuit board called memory modules

6. 7. 8.

MEMORY MODULES
Physically the Memory in a System is a Collection of Modules Modules are normally plugged into the Mother Board These Modules vary in both their electrically and physically designed and must be compatible with the system into which they are installed in order to function properly Most commonly used Memory Modules are DIMM & SIMM

DIMM
DIMM is much faster than SIMM. In the side of motherboard there are 168 pins connectors are connected. There is one DIMM equal to two SIMM.

SIMM
SIMM is a standard package for DRAM Memory. It is slower than DIMM. Today SIMM is available in the market with 72 connectors connected (256 MB of capacity)

RAM
RAM capacity is measured in bytes. The more RAM a computer has, the faster its processing speed. Today the general computers have 128MB of RAM But 256 or 512MB is much more common in desk-top PCs. Server and work stations mostly have 1and 4 GB of RAM 32 bit CPU can only address up to 4 GB of RAM.

TYPES OF RAM
Static RAM Dynamic RAM FPM RAM EDO-DRAM SDRAM DDR-SDRAM RD-RAM Credit Card Memory PCMCIA RAM VRAM

STATIC RAM
Simplest type of memory to understand Does not need recharging It is made up of flip-flop or transistors. SRAM is much faster than DRAM. Much expensive than DRAM. Access time of 15 ns to 10 ns. SRAM needs power to maintain data with a low voltage battery back up. For this kind of memory six transistors are built into each bit storage location.

DRAM(DYNAMIC ACCESS MEMORY)

Ordinary RAM is often referred to as DRAM needs regular recharging as processing takes place during recharge it can not accessed by CPU. Main memory i.e. RAM is built from DRAM chips. At present 32 Mb (4MB) and 64 Mb (8MB) chips are available. Each DRAM consists of one capacitor and one transistor. When the capacitor is charged it represent the binary code 1 and when capacitor is uncharged it is represented the binary code 0. Transistor is simply a switch to read the capacitor. Good DRAM have access time 150 ns but now a days 50 ns and even 40 ns.

REGISTERS
Group of high speed memory built in CPU Used by CPU to temporary store each program instruction and piece of data just before it is processed. Fastest type of memory used by the CPU even faster than L1 cache. More data a register contain at one time, the faster the CAPU performance. Registers size usually matches word and internal bus size, i.e. usually 32 bits. Groups of high speed memory located within the CPU into which data is transferred just before processing. Itanium 2, Opteron and Athlon 64 use 64 bit registers and word size.