Memory - RAM
Computer Science: Edexcel IGCSE, topic 4.2.3
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:
Volatile
- RAM is volatile. This means that it will lose its contents when power is lost (i.e. if the computer is switched off).
Fast
- RAM is much faster to access than secondary storage such as Hard Disk Drives (HDDs).
Expensive
- RAM is much more expensive per unit capacity than secondary storage media.
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.
Test yourself on Memory - RAM
What's Random Access Memory an example of?
Which of these tends to be faster to access?
Which of these tends to be cheaper per unit capacity?