About different types of Ram: Ram, Sram, SD Ram and more

If you're looking to buy a new computer, one of the important things to consider is the RAM. RAM is what your computer uses to store information in temporarily while it's working. Everything you do on your PC uses RAM so it's vital to the PC as a whole. There's many different kinds of RAM too, so lets look at the ones you're likely to come across if you're buying a new computer.

A quick word: RAM size isn't the only issue

When most people think of RAM, they think in terms of the amount of it there is. For example, a computer that's got 1GB of RAM is seen as less desirable than one that's got 2GB of RAM. But the kind of RAM you get is also hugely important. Even if all the other parts of your computer are fast, but you've got duff RAM in there, you'll still have a poor performing PC.

There are a number of different sorts of RAM that you can get in your new desktop PC. Here's the common ones, starting with the slowest performer and building up to the real speed-freaks.

DRAM

This is DYNAMIC RAM. This is a very basic kind of ram and it's very cheap. It gets the job done but there are much faster kinds of RAM available.

SDRAM

This is a faster kind of RAM that works by serving up information to the computer from separate parts at the same time.

DDR SD RAM

Get ready for a real mouthful. This stands for Double Data Rate Sychronous Dynamic RAM. This is a modern, very quick kind of memory that's great for all kinds of applications and games.

DDR2 / DDR2 SD RAM

It's normally written as 'DDR2' RAM in computer specs. This is an improvement over the last kind of RAM we looked at. Ram, like everything else in computers, is constantly evolving. This is a very fast form of RAM.