A Deep Dive: Memory

Have you ever had so many programs on your computer that things didn’t quite act as they should? Maybe you are trying to write a text document about RAM while you have fifteen Chrome tabs open and data is being copied to a flash drive, and then you need to do just one more thing; but you get the elusive spinning.

Have you ever had so many programs on your computer that things didn’t quite act as they should? Maybe you are trying to write a text document about RAM while you have fifteen Chrome tabs open and data is being copied to a flash drive, and then you need to do just one more thing; but you get the elusive spinning. Forget about getting anything else done. Your computer has just run out of memory and thus needs to slowly work through the mess that you just threw at your computer processor. And you may be asking yourself - if this happens so frequently and my computer does indeed have memory, why won’t it remember that I need to have ten inactive tabs open in the background, that I need to keep tasks open for days on end without touching the application? The answer to that question, though loaded, is rather simple. Your own memory and a computer’s memory do not function the same. You see, a computer’s memory is volatile and is constantly being erased, changed, and modified to fit the goal at hand. But given too much data…you are stuck waiting and waiting.

Don’t worry, while reading this article on Random Access Memory, or RAM for short, I will not keep you waiting much like your computer did earlier. In fact, I will get straight and to the point. RAM is functionally required for your computer to work. It is not less important than your hard drive or the processor for that matter. It is essentially the medium through which your computer processor gets data from your hard drive. When your processor wants to open a new Chrome tab, first it must be loaded into a block of RAM, from the hard drive, and then processed eventually to your monitor. Then while Chrome is open it will be using a portion of your RAM to hold data that needs processing. RAM is and will forever be a buffer that holds pending data to your processor.

I am sure there are many questions yet answered. What does 8GB is RAM even mean? What does DDR3 signify? And why does my RAM have a MHz rating of 2666? Simply put, those labels can help you identify the capability of your computer’s memory. The more RAM capacity (GB) your computer has, the more programs and tasks can be loaded at once, but the higher speed (MHz) your RAM has, the faster data can be pulled from your hard drive and communicated to your processor. The speed and capacity of your RAM can be generalized into DDR generations but typically the higher the generation, the better. The lower the generation of RAM, the lower capacity it can typically hold per stick, and same goes for speed. Different generations of RAM are never compatible with older or newer generations, so when computer manufacturers choose their RAM they have to specifically choose the compatible type for their hardware. Though old computers are being refurbished this issue almost never arises because hardware manufacturers design their components specifically for the most current and widely available RAM. As of right now the newest generation is DDR5, but DDR4 is the currently on the mainstream market as DDR5 was only released to consumers less than four months ago. DDR5 does currently have better capability then DDR4 but only the newest Intel processors are compatible, making only top-of-the-line computers even be able to use it. Regardless, given a few months DDR5, much like all new technology, will become the new mainstream.

What happens when your computer runs out of RAM capacity? It slows down because now your computer no longer has a super-fast medium to transfer data through. It must take any data over the measly 4GB capacity that you have and begin writing it to your hard drive. Still, it can hold the information that was meant for the RAM but is considerably slower. So slow in fact, that older generations of RAM are still many times faster then your average computer hard drive. The file that this excess memory is stored in is called the Page File and upon creation is given a maximum size. You should try at all costs to never maximize your RAM, even if it requires you to have less open at once. Your efficiency on the computer will still be faster than forcing your computer to trudge through the wild and untamed Page File. Not only does it take so long because your hard drive is slow but reading and writing that much data to your hard drive takes a significant amount of compute power. So, often when you see someone filling their RAM, minutes or even seconds later, your computer processor will begin to reach its threshold as it tries so hard to fix your mess. So next time you are wondering why your computer was working effectively and efficiently one moment, but not the next, try closing some of your idle and unused applications.

- Crimson Wheeler, Service Technician