“RAM” – Noun or Verb? Animal or Action?

Neither! At least when you're referring to computers. 🙂

RAM is actually an acronym which stands for “Random Access memory”. Because of this, it's reference is typically shortened to “Memory”. For example, How much memory does your computer have? It's size or capacity is measured in powers of 2 and these days the increments are in Gigabytes or “GB”. For example, 4 GB, 8 GB, 16 GB, 32 GB etc. Without a doubt, RAM has the greatest effect on computer performance. If there's not enough, it can choke and slow your computer to a crawl no matter how fast the processor is. The processor actually relies on RAM to do its job. Imagine RAM as being the top of your desk. The bigger your desk is, the more things you can work on at the same time. If you have a tiny little desk, chances are you can only work on one thing at a time. So still the question remains, HOW MUCH?? To be honest, there's no exact science for determining this. It's kind of up to you and your intended computer use. But here's a road map to help.

All software programs and applications loaded on your computer will take a bite out of available RAM while in use. Including your operating system and antivirus which are always running many services in the background. So if you add to that by opening more programs and applications, you continue to subtract from available RAM. This means the biggest consideration when determining the amount of RAM you may need is how many applications do you intend to use “at the same time”. The most typical user will have email open while browsing the Internet or social sites like Facebook (4 to 8 GB). A more heavy user may do that but add to it heavy word processing, PowerPoint presentation or publication creation (8 to 16 GB). And an even heavier user may be a photographer or graphics artist engaging in heavy duty photo editing and movie creation (16 to 32 GB). So you see, while I'm sure any salesman can convince you that more is always better, in the end only you hold the answers to “How Much” RAM you really need. Be aware, It's possible to reach overkill if you don't truly need it and additional RAM seems to come with a pretty hefty price tag. The beauty is that it can be upgraded later if you find you really need it. So don't stress. Think about what you might need and go for it.

Author Info: Beatitudes Campus

At the foundation of beatitudes Campus is the vision of Church of the Beatitudes pastors and congregation members to create a better alternative for older adults than the nursing homes of the early 1960s. The type of community they imagined was the first of its kind in Arizona. beatitudes campus is proud to continue the legacy of our founders, by being a leader in the field of aging services for over 50 years.