*Ahhhhhhhhh*

That was the sigh of relief I had after adding 2GB more RAM to my computer tonight (now a total of 3GB). Since I started getting more into photography, I’ve been having to use photo editing and cataloging software that just eats through RAM like there’s no tomorrow. I have always had good, fast RAM in this computer, but 1GB just wasn’t cutting it anymore. I have 4 RAM slots on my motherboard. They are now filled with 2 512KB sticks (1GB) and 2 1GB sticks. You may be wondering why I bought two 1GB sticks rather than just one 2GB stick. Well, these sticks are “dual channel” which means the computer can read both at the same time, making them about twice as fast as if I only had one stick.

It’s amazing how much of an improvement you can get by upgrading a single piece of hardware. I was considering buying a whole new system because the RAM I needed won’t work with future systems (that’s how they get you to buy new stuff) but I chose to save my money, and am glad I did. If you’re ever in the position where your computer is “old” and starting to lose its “oomph” consider upgrading before buying a new one.

What does RAM actually do? (Because I know many people are wondering)

RAM (or Random Access Memory) is kind of like your hard drive. It stores information, but instead of keeping information saved permanently, it only keeps it temporarily. Well, why the heck do you need it then? Because, your computer can read information from RAM a lot faster than it can read information from your hard drive. Think of it this way. Your hard drive is like a filing cabinet; a place where you can store files for a long time. RAM is like the scattered pieces of paper you keep on your desk; they won’t be there for a while (I hope) and they are a heck of a lot faster to access than having to root through your filing cabinet.

So, RAM just stores the stuff you will need right away, like program information. When using a program, most of the work is being done by your RAM because the computer can talk to it faster than your hard drive. The RAM will store any temporary information that the program needs and then discard it once it’s done. Sometimes you’ll notice that after using your computer for a while, it will start to slow down a bit (or a lot :p). This is because your RAM (office desk) is getting too cluttered and your computer needs to go to the hard drive (filing cabinet) for help. When this happens frequently (like when I would be editing pictures), you know you need more RAM.

Good RAM vs. Bad RAM

So, now that everyone is rushing out to buy more RAM, you need to know that it comes in different speeds. Space (the gigabytes) is not the only thing you need to consider when buying RAM. There’s lazy intern RAM and then there’s professional secretary RAM. What’s the difference? Well, the lazy intern is going to slack off and be slow when sorting through the files on your desk while a professional is going to find what you need much more quickly. So, it’s not just about how big your office desk is, but also how fast you can find stuff on that desk. On your computer, the difference between slow and fast RAM will be the difference in how fast you can open a window/program, switch windows, scroll through images, zoom in on maps, etc.

I won’t go into what makes RAM fast, but just know that when buying RAM, you should choose the ones that have the best balance between space (GBs), speed, and affordability. Ask the sales rep (if it’s a BestBuy rep, they don’t always know what they’re talking about so be careful) what is best for you. Also, RAM will always run at the speed of the slowest stick, so if you know that your new RAM is much faster than your old stuff then get rid of the old stuff.

Well, that was longer than expected, but I hope it helps!

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