Many people think more RAM is the only factor that affect the speed of your PC, but actually it's not like that. There are some other things that determine how fast your RAM, as a result makes your PC runs faster. So I will explain to you what factors affect the speed your RAM.
WHAT IS RAM?
Random Access Memory is an integrated chip which contains millions of transistors and capacitors. RAM is a super-fast storage drives that communicate directly with the processor. Whenever you lunch a program, all the data pertaining to the program will be extracted from the hard drives on to the RAM, then the processor can access it. It is said to be volatile all the data held within it will be lost immediately the power supply is cut off. This is why you can't permanently write data to the RAM.
RAM SPEED
The RAM speed are actually determined by some factors
- RAM FREQUENCY (Clock Speed):
Is the measure of how many circles per second it can perform, which correspond to how much data the R can handle each second. For instance, If a RAM is rated 4600MHZ, it means the RAM can perform 4.6 billions of cycles per seconds.
- Column Access Strobe Latency (CAS Latency) or CL:
Is the delay time of your RAM receiving a command and then being able to issue it. It is bro g expressed by a string of numbers, like (9-14-42). This numbers are a measure of latency, which in this case is the number of clock cycle-per-sec. that it will takes for your RSM to do things. However, faster MHZ RAM with a slower CL Timing might be slower than slower MHZ RAM with a faster CL Timing. Determine the speed of your RAM A formula is used to determine the speed of RAM which depends on some factors.
The factors which are:
Clock speed
CL Timing
The kind of RAM you have
Formula to determine the speed of your RAM
CL Timing × The total time taken to transfer a data.
Example:
Let's say RAM is a DDR RAM ( Double Data Rate (DDR) transfer data on the both sides of the clock cycle. Meaning it transfer data twice in one cycle) has a clock speed of 4600MHZ, CL Timing of 16-15-43.
The speed of the RSM is calculated as below
Step1: calculate the time taken to transfer the data.
The RAM a frequency of is 4600MHZ meaning it performs 4.6 billions of cycles per seconds, so the time taken to perform one cycle is 1/4.6billions = 217 nanosecond
Step2: It's a DDR RAM meaning it transfer data twice in one cycle. The total time to transfer one data equals
21.7nanosecond/2 = 10.9nanosecond
Step2: It has 14 CL Timing ( note: it's the only the first number is considered) meaning it takes 14 cycles per seconds before the RAM can understand commands.
Hence the speed of the RAM = 14 × 109 nanosecond = 15 nanosecond
Meaning it take your RAM 15 nanosecond to read and write on the RAM
DO I NEED MORE RAMS
If you are a large programs on your laptop, for instance, you are a graphics designer, video editor, UI/UX designer, upgrading your RAM will significantly speed up the performance of your PC.