Memory Archives

RAM: What Is It and Why Do You Need It?

Clipboard, Maximum RAM, Memory, Ophtek, RAMMaximum RAM, Memory, Ophtek, ramOphtek, LLC

Mar 2021

RAM is one of those terms which is frequently mentioned by IT professionals, but rarely understood by the average PC user. So, what is it?

Random Access Memory (RAM) may sound like a confusing combination of words, but without RAM your PC wouldn’t be able to do a single thing. Therefore, it’s as crucial. The most important element of RAM to focus on is the M for Memory. Much like humans, a PC needs memory to carry out certain tasks. However, RAM is different to human memory in numerous ways. And the best way to understand what it is and what is does is by looking at our lowdown on RAM.

What is RAM?

RAM is the part of a PC which acts as the machine’s memory. Information can be stored and read from the RAM in milliseconds. This allows the RAM to act as a temporary store for data that is either in use or will be required next. The speed with which this data can be accessed is exceptionally quick. Data can be accessed and processed in RAM much quicker than any hard drive, so it should always be the go-to option for loading applications. And, as you would imagine, the more RAM installed on your PC, then the quicker the performance e.g. applications loading quicker.

Why Do You Need RAM?

It wouldn’t be inaccurate to describe RAM as the backbone of your PC’s performance, but a more accurate term to use would be its memory. RAM allows you to carry out the following:

Switch Tasks: If you’ve ever switched between applications with the ALT + TAB shortcut then you have your RAM to thank. If you’re working in Excel and then move into Outlook, this order is stored in the RAM. That’s why, if you then press ALT + TAB again, your PC knows to send you back to Excel from Outlook.

The Clipboard: The ‘copy’ command is an invaluable process on PCs that allows you to copy information from one location and then ‘paste’ it into another. So, for example, you can copy a paragraph of text from Word and then paste it into an Outlook email. Once you copy the text in question, it is stored on the ‘clipboard’ which is located in the RAM.

Loading Applications:When you load up an application, RAM is the starting point. The application will partially be loaded into the RAM to facilitate a fast loading time. However, the application will not be fully loaded into the RAM. The operating system will then head to the hard drive to retrieve the next part of the application and move this into the RAM.

Final Thoughts

The minimum amount of RAM a modern PC should be running with is 4GB, but the amount required is dependent on your needs. If, for example, your PC work involves complex graphic rendering then you would need up to 32GB to handle your workload. RAM is a form of hardware which requires installing into your PC, so always seek advice to determine how much you need.

For more ways to secure and optimize your business technology, contact your local IT professionals.

How Much Memory Does Your PC Need?

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Jun 2015

Do you need to figure out how much memory is needed for your PC? Our guide can help you run through the various scenarios and their memory recommendations.

Whether a computer complains about running low on memory or struggles to run with multiple application open, it’s clear that it may need more memory.

As a rough guide, read our list below to see which memory size to purchase for ideal system usage.

Suggested computer memory usage guide

2GB – At present, this amount of memory is the suggested minimum to use. Avoid this level of memory unless the system is being used to only process basic documents, email or browse the web and only one of those tasks at a time. Be warned, it’ll be incredibly slow!

Note: 2GB was considered to be fast around a decade ago. It goes to show how the standard computer specification is changing and growing in tangent with newer software, operating system updates, applications, and computer processors becoming more resource hungry.

4GB – This size of memory is considered good enough for business work stations and any systems which need to be able to efficiently access email, browse the web and work on documents or all at the same time.

Note: 4GB also used to be considered good to use on servers about 10 years ago. This is another example to put things into perspective.

8GB – This is good for business workstations that require more resources from memory such as heavy multitasking. For instance, a workstation that runs more than one program at a time, works on multiple documents and opens many browser tabs will need this. 8 GB will offer a much more seamless performance.
8GB+ – Memory can go beyond 8GB. For instance two 8GB modules can be installed in a server’s memory slot, making it 16GB. This is ideal for highly productive systems such as servers, or production systems, or systems that carry out graphics processing, video editing or work on large files and databases.

DIY memory upgrade?

Systems with sufficient levels of memory for its intended purpose can be purchased straight out from the box. Alternatively, memory can also be upgraded within a system.

Computer memory can be purchased as “memory sticks” and they can be inserted into the memory slots of a pc or laptop. If a laptop is under warranty, opening up the seal to upgrade the memory may cause the warranty to become void. So be sure to consider this first.

Also keep in mind that 32-bit systems can only have a maximum of 4gb of memory.

Types of Memory

If going down the route of manually upgrading your system’s memory, there are different types of memory to consider.

As a quick overview, memory does not only come in size, but it also comes in different speeds. DDR, DDR2, and DDR3 are the memory modules available on the market that operate at different at speeds. For instance, DDR will have transfer rates of 1600 MB/s, whereas DDR2 will double that of DDR and DDR3 will double the speed rate of DDR2 memory modules.

What also differentiates each type of DDR memory is the number of pins on it. Therefore, be sure to acquire the right type of DDR memory to fit into your system’s motherboard, as well as one that supports the memory speed of your motherboard.

Different types of DDR memory will not be compatible with one another. For example, a mother board built to fit DDR2 memory sticks will not be compatible with DDR and DDR3. So be sure to also check this before purchasing additional memory for your system.

For the best performance pc, it’s desirable to have the highest level of memory size and speed, such as 16 GB+ DDR3 2933, however it does come with a premium price tag.

For more ways to optimize your systems and office productivity, contact your local IT professionals.

How to Check for High Memory Usage

hardware, SoftwareCheck, Memory, ram, slow computer, Use, WindowsOphtek, LLC

Sep 2014

Is your computer hanging or freezing while working? If disk space and infections aren’t the issue you may be low on memory. Here are several ways to check.

High memory usage can indicate a number of problems with the computer. The system could be low on physical memory. A program could be malfunctioning causing it to abuse the available memory. High memory usage could also indicate a virus or malware infection.

1.) Open the Task Manager by holding down the Ctrl and Shift keys and pressing Esc.

Under the Performance tab, below the CPU Usage graphic there is one for Memory. This gives you a pictorial representation of the amount of memory used. The Physical Memory in megabytes is the amount of Total RAM installed on the computer or Available RAM for handling processes. The amount of physical memory used to map open files is denoted by the Cached entry. Available memory includes Free memory, which is memory currently used for absolutely nothing.

Kernel Memory is used for the operating system and device drivers. Paged memory can be copied to a paging file, freeing more physical memory for use by the operating system. Nonpaged continues to occupy physical memory.

Under System, Commit is the amount of virtual memory that could be backed by physical memory or paging files. The Commit entry depicts a ratio of memory that could be allocated to data to the total virtual memory on the computer.

At the bottom right of the window is the percentage of Physical Memory currently in use.

2.) By clicking the Resource Monitor within the Task Manager, you can view detailed information for memory in use and memory allocated for each process.

User Account Control will bother you for authorization, which you must give to launch the monitor. The Memory tab provides extensive descriptions of the headings of each column if you hover your mouse over each heading.

The advantage of the Resource Monitor is that it breaks down memory use on a process by process basis, allowing you to ferret out the resource hogs among your programs.

If you do find unnecessary programs that are taking up an unusual amount of memory, you can uninstall them using the Control Panel or remove them as startup programs. For more on how to remove unnecessary startup programs, please consult the following IT article. And for more on how to uninstall programs and other ways to improve Windows performance, please consult the following IT article.

3.) The Performance Monitor is extremely customizable, giving you exactly the performance stats you wish to view.

You can launch it by clicking the Start menu and by typing perfmon.

When it opens, it gives you the basics on how to use it and the memory in use.

By clicking Performance Monitor on the top left, you get a graph of processor usage that you can complement with memory usage stats by first clicking the + icon to add data to the graph.

Within the Memory heading, you can view the memory of various subheadings that you can add to the graph.

Most end users might be overwhelmed by the number of viewable options available in the Performance Monitor. To get a reasonable assessment of the memory in use, the Task Manager and Resource Monitor generally suffice. The Performance Monitor is recommended for Windows experts who are familiar with the ins and outs of memory usage.

For more about memory and other issues affecting your office systems, consult your local IT professionals.

Tag Archives: Memory