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MEMORY

Memory, better known as Random Access Memory (RAM) is a set of chips used to store information. These chips can only store information as long as there is electrical power. When the power is turned off, they 'forget' everything and all data is lost. This is because the RAM uses the electricity to store the information. When the electricity dies, so does your data.

Memory comes in a number of configurations for IBM compatible PC's. Memory also comes in parity checking vs. non-parity checking. Parity checking is verifying that there is an even or odd number of 1's or zeroes in the data set. This means that memory that does parity checking is able to verify that it is functioning correctly when running. Most memory sold today is non-parity RAM, and is only checked for errors on start up by writing to and reading from every location in memory.

PC MEMORY CATEGORIES

PC MEMORY TYPES

  • EDO (obsolete)
  • Fast Page (obsolete)
  • SIMMS (obsolete)
  • DIMMS (almost obsolete)
  • DRAM
  • SDRAM
  • DDR
  • RAMBUS