1.2.1

Types of Memory

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Random Access Memory

Random Access Memory (RAM) is one of the two types of main memory found in computers. General purpose computers usually contain a large amount of RAM. The features of RAM are:

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Volatile

  • RAM is volatile. This means that it will lose its contents when power is lost (i.e. if the computer is switched off).
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Fast

  • RAM is much faster to access than secondary storage such as Hard Disk Drives (HDDs).
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Expensive

  • RAM is much more expensive per unit capacity than secondary storage media.
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Random access

  • Random Access means that any part of the memory can be accessed non-sequentially and as quickly as any other part of the memory.

Read Only Memory

Read Only Memory (ROM) is another type of main memory found in computers. It comes on a small, factory made chip in the motherboard. Features of ROM include:

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Non-volatile

  • ROM is non-volatile.
  • This means that ROM keeps its contents when power is lost.
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Read only

  • ROM is often made from flash memory. This means that its contents cannot be changed easily.
  • This means that the ROM only stores small programs that boots or starts up the computer.
  • These programs are called the Basic Input Output System (BIOS). They usually:
    • Load an operating system.
    • Check the system for errors.
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Fast but expensive

  • ROM is very fast to access.
  • ROM is typically expensive, so tends to be only small.

Jump to other topics

1Computer Systems

1.1Systems Architecture

1.2Memory & Storage

1.3Computer Networks, Connections & Protocols

1.4Network Security

1.5Systems Software

1.6Ethical, Legal, Cultural & Environmental Concern

2Computational Thinking, Algorithms and Programming

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