Computer Memory

By Aaron Rajamoney

What is memory functionality? The reason you need memory in a computer is so that you can store information for immediate use. RAM stands for random access memory, which makes sense when comparing it to its functionality. Memory only ever holds something if your computer is on and running a program, if nothing is active or the computer is off it makes no sense for the memory to have any data on it.

Technical explanation of memory. Memory uses something called read and writes memory. This simply means that's ram is able to read and write data. This is compared to something like ROM which is a read-only memory. In today's age, the most common format for memory is it to be DIMM which stands for dual in-line memory module. Today this DIMM memory is about six to seven inches long and slim in order to fit into the DIMM slot on your motherboard.

What is the history of memory? The idea of memory has been around ever since 1837 when Charles Babbage's analytical engine, this computer used punch cards as a form of memory to program and store data. In 1951 Jay Forrester created one of the first random-access memory modules. This memory was called magnetic-core memory and can be seen in the top left. Jumping forward to today's standards with DDR4 (right) comes the year 2014 when consumers can start buying this new faster form of memory compared to the previous DDR3.

In order to install memory, you first should ground yourself by touching a piece of metal such as the corner of your desktop case. Next, you want to switch your power supply off and unplug all the cables from the back of the computer. Next, unscrew your computer's side panel and lay it down on the table before taking it off. After taking the side panel off you will now be looking at the motherboard and memory slots which look similar to the fourth image above. If you are uninstalling old memory you must press down and out on the two locking arms on each end of the stick. These locks are the fifth image shown above, click on this image for it to enlarge, and pay attention to the rightmost pink circle which is the lock. If you are not replacing memory it is still good to unlock these switches so you know if you install the memory correctly as the switches will snap back into place. The sixth image is what your motherboard should now look like with the memory installed. If it does look like this you are free to now slide your side door back on, replug all the cords back into the desktop, and be sure to flip your power supply back on.

The diagram above shows memories architecture compared to those of the CPU and storage. As the image shows we can see storage is non-volatile and is used to save data when the computer is off. While memory or RAM is volatile and needs electricity in order to retain information. The CPU is connected to both, it is the brain of the machine and it is what first processes the data in order for it to be used in memory and later stored in storage which could be a hard drive or SSD.

Memory or RAM can come in many different form factors, the newest and fastest being DDR4 (first image). DDR4 memory came out in mid-2014 and ever since has been the go-to choice for consumers who want fast processing power in their machines. It is good to know that DDR stands for double data rate, this means two data transfers can happen for the clock cycle. If we take a look back to 2003 we will find an earlier DDR form factor which is DDR2 (second image). DDR2 has a much slower bus speed compared to DDR4, it also requires more voltage to work properly. If we look back even further we will find SDRAM (third image) which stands for Synchronous dynamic random access memory. The key difference between this and DDR format is that it can transfer data at about twice the speed compared to SDRAM.

One simple thing you can do from time to time is taking your memory out of the motherboard and blow on the bottom of it. Often if there is a problem with your memory it is due to something blocking its connection to the motherboard. Another thing you can do to check if your memory is working properly is to scan it with a third party or Windows software.

One way to tell your memories health/performance is waning could simply just be your desktop has been slowing down. For example, the google page that once took you 3 seconds to open up now takes 5. If it is subtle things like this and nothing sudden it most likely is your memory just deteriorating over time which is always expected. The best thing to do is to upgrade if this continues to an unsatisfactory speed. On the other hand if you have something sudden happen like sporadic pc freezes then it could be a more urgent problem. In order to diagnose you can use the Windows memory diagnostic tool, or you can do a physical test to see if It was physical damage causing this problem.

As stated before you could use the windows memory diagnostic tool in order to check up on your ram. Although, let's say the problem is physical and you want to try and repair it, what would you use? There are many electrician repair kits for hardware that are offered to consumers. Some include the Quest 23PC computer tool kit (first image), the Belkin 36-piece professional computer kit (second photo). One could use one of these kits to say bend a pin back into place so the stick can go back into the motherboard.