RAM - Random Access Memory

Having exceptional analytical and problem solving capabilities but no or little ability to retain and recall facts is a surefire way to perform poorly on the exam! Memory is the key component to the existence of all living beings. The repository of all experiences, good and bad, upon which the voluntary and involuntary actions of an individual depend often hinges upon his or her memory. Remove that one component and there is no difference between Albert Einstein and an insufferable moron! Bible says that God created Men in his own image. In the light of this assertion, while going down the hierarchy, we can safely avow that Men created Computers in his own image. So naturally what memory is to a human will definitely be to a computer too!

Working principle of device:

Memory can be broadly classified into two categories: Volatile and Non-Volatile. Certain people tend to have a photographic memory, i.e., they remember the minuscule of a detail for a lifetime while the others are Ghajinis, i.e., they have a short-term memory loss! This analogy precisely elucidates the difference between the above mentioned jargons. Volatile memory stores data only until power is being supplied to it whereas non-volatile memory will store data regardless of the power supply. CPU cache and RAM are examples of volatile memory while Hard disk drive and Flash based Solid State drives (DRAM based SSDs are different beasts altogether! They are a combination of both volatile and non-volatile memory!) are examples of non-volatile memory.

RAM is called random access memory as it does not matter which bit of information is being accessed. The response time (the time interval between the delivery and the request made for a resource/data in our case) of a RAM chip remains the same for every location that can be addressed. This is not true of direct access memories such as HDDs and DVDs. Their response time depends upon the geometry of the storage and where exactly the information lies physically on the drive. Thus we see that random access makes RAMs incredibly fast. Unfortunately, the world is a paradoxical phenomenon where duality simply cannot be eliminated

The day is followed by the night

and the ebb is followed by the tide.

‘Well’ it was ‘hell’ of a composition I know! I have been notorious for writing such incompetent and lame poetry throughout my school days! But it does illustrate my point here and that is all I need! RAM too has its inevitable dark complement, the cost. RAM is more complex in structure and is difficult to manufacture. Hence even a few gigabytes of RAM can equate to the cost of a terabyte of hard drive space! But then it has its own advantages and applications unique to itself!

The most common type of RAM is DRAM – Dynamic RAM has a response time of the order of 40ns (the advent of DDR-4 has brought down the latency to 12-15ns from 40ns). SRAM (Static RAM) which is yet faster has a response time of about 10ns and is primarily used to make L1, L2 and L3 caches. Processor runs at phenomenally fast speeds. It is impossible for the HDDs, SSDs or other peripherals to cope with its speed. Thus these devices can prove to a bottleneck in the system as despite the fact that the processor can handle billions of computations per second, it cannot be exploited to its full potential due to the sluggishness of the slower devices. To solve this issue RAM was inserted in between the processor (and its caches of course) and the primary storage and secondary storage. RAM serves to store the running modules of the operating system, active applications and their corresponding data and code that needs to be used by the processor. Storing them in RAM in place of HDD or SSDs greatly enhances the speed of a computer as the processor will quickly be able to exchange data between itself and RAM.

The DRAM requires thousands of refresh power signal (which is why it is termed dynamic) to retain its data. However, SRAM doesn’t require them and hence is called static.

Side-note: Just in case if you are wondering how fast is RAM, here’s a statistical comparison between a RAM and a high-end SSD. DDR-4 (Double Data Rate version 4) the latest version is rated at about 19GB/s while Samsung 960 PRO (2TB) maxes out at 3.5GB/s – 2.1GB/s (read-write). More often than not average consumer SSDs and HDDs are way slower than the one mentioned here.

Device installation: Forget to plug ‘em in and the system won’t even Boot! These creepy devices are so damn important that without their presence the system will shake its head in defeat! The motherboards get so infuriated in the absence of RAM modules that they start hailing blatant four-letter profanities upon profanities in their own native tongue of ‘beeps’ – which can be translated into understandable terms by referring to the manual provided by the motherboard manufacturer’s website or by using a motherboard diagnostic card. Perhaps, sometimes I feel that were the manufacturers of the motherboard not bound by social code of conduct and ethical civics they would have not resorted to this censorship at all! The penalty of a wrong doing or a system component malfunctioning would be punishable by illicit words or phrases! That, would in my eyes give a humanly touch to the motherboard and the computer system. After all the idea that even a computer can get angry and can start throwing obscene language - like poniards and daggers - when incensed just like we do could possibly reduce the ‘strange fear’ of the unknown that some people have regarding computers and help them embrace it more easily as one of the beings of their own specie! But speculations, howsoever interesting, arise, propagate, thrive and meet death – the final destination of all life – only in the minds of men – never to be seen on the mortal plane. And mind you, such whims and fancies as the one described here are nothing but a plain speculation (and rather better be it so for the good of humanity!), although one of its kind! Therefore, the readers are advised not to become too excited or too expectant as such things happen nowhere but in fairy tales!!!

Manufacturer of device, its models and prices:

1.      HP – HP 8GB (1x8GB) Dual Rank x8 PC3-12800E (Rs.11,200)

2.      Corsair – Vengeance 8GB DDR3 (Rs. 4,499)

Standard Configuration of device: RAM chips are available in many different form factors. They are DIMM (Dual In-line Memory Module), SODIMM (Small Outline DIMM), and microDIMM. DIMM are meant to be used in desktops, while SODIMM are used in laptops. MicroDIMMs are can be used in devices with extremely small footprints such as smartphones. It must be noted that these are only the form factors and therefore do not affect the functionality or data rate of a given type of memory such as DDR-4. The number of pins used in these form factors increase as the version of the RAM scales up. For instance, DIMM DDR-3 uses 240 pin connector while DDR-4 uses 288 pins. LPDDR (Low power DDR) has also been made to be used in portable battery-operated devices where power saving and longer battery life are the primary goals to be fulfilled.

Cost: 8GB RAM can be bought for about Rs. 4,000. The price goes up for larger capacities and smaller form factors. It is a given that the prices will increase if the component having the same capabilities as its larger brethren is scaled down to fit in tight areas where is space is at premium (small form factors)! Also RDIMMs (registered DIMM) are costlier than UDIMMs (Unregisteresd) due to the performance increase.

Market share of different models (Standard companies only):

l  HP

l  Corsair