Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
In computing, a memory module or RAM stick is a printed circuit board on which memory integrated circuits are mounted. [ 1 ] Memory modules permit easy installation and replacement in electronic systems, especially computers such as personal computers , workstations , and servers .
The maximum random access memory (RAM) installed in any computer system is limited by hardware, software and economic factors. The hardware may have a limited number of address bus bits, limited by the processor package or design of the system. Some of the address space may be shared between RAM, peripherals, and read-only memory.
A test with DDR and DDR2 RAM in 2005 found that average power consumption appeared to be of the order of 1–3 W per 512 MB module; this increases with clock rate and when in use rather than idling. [14] A manufacturer has produced calculators to estimate the power used by various types of RAM. [15]
Computer memory stores information, such as data and programs, for immediate use in the computer. [2] The term memory is often synonymous with the terms RAM , main memory , or primary storage . Archaic synonyms for main memory include core (for magnetic core memory) and store .
In a computer, the memory bank may be determined by the memory controller along with physical organization of the hardware memory slots. In a typical synchronous dynamic random-access memory (SDRAM) or double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), a bank consists of multiple rows and columns of storage units, and is usually spread out across several chips .
(For example, if a computer has 2 GB (1024 3 B) of RAM and a 1 GB page file, the operating system has 3 GB total memory available to it.) When the system runs low on physical memory, it can " swap " portions of RAM to the paging file to make room for new data, as well as to read previously swapped information back into RAM.
1 Mbit high speed CMOS pseudostatic RAM, made by Toshiba. Pseudostatic RAM (PSRAM or PSDRAM) is dynamic RAM with built-in refresh and address-control circuitry to make it behave similarly to static RAM (SRAM). It combines the high density of DRAM with the ease of use of true SRAM.
Computational RAM (C-RAM) is random-access memory with processing elements integrated on the same chip. This enables C-RAM to be used as a SIMD computer. It also can be used to more efficiently use memory bandwidth within a memory chip. The general technique of doing computations in memory is called Processing-In-Memory (PIM).