Upgrading a computer - RAM (memory)
2 Sticks of RAM
Photo credit to Harrison Broadbent
Computers require two different types of memory to work. One is called a drive (sometimes a Hard Drive or Solid State Drive), and is the place where things are stored. It’s like long-term memory in the brain. The other type is called RAM (sometimes just referred to as the memory), and is the thinking space for a computer. It’s more like short-term memory.
When you turn a computer on, the Operating System loads up, and data from the drive is copied in to RAM. Then, when you open a web browser, or music player, more data is copied in to RAM. As you go on and more things need to be copied in to RAM, it will fill up and the computer will have to pause as it writes less-urgent data back to the drive.
This business of reading and writing between the faster RAM and slower driver goes on constantly, and is invisible to us as the users. Although this still happens fairly quickly, it all contributes to whether a computer can feel fast, or like it’s not a quick as it used to be.
More or less RAM? (More or less).
The lower amount of RAM in your computer, the more that data will need to be moved back and forth between the drive and RAM as you do a task. The more RAM, the more it can retain in it’s ‘Thinking Space’ whilst another task is called for it to do.
The need for computer RAM only seems to increase, but in 2021 any computer with only 4GB of RAM or less is going to really struggle, and the experience of using a computer will feel slow even if you have otherwise new and fast components. 8GB is an absolute minimum these days for even a basic computer, and 16GB is really what you should aim for unless you know you need more.
Oh no! But my computer only has…..
Not to worry. Many computers including laptops (but not all) can often be upgraded. This might be as simple as just adding another stick of RAM in a spare slot, or perhaps removing the existing and replacing.
More RAM is often under £50, and can be a cheap way to keep an existing computer going for an extra few years.
Feel free to give us a call if you would like an opinion, and some work doing on your computer.