Choosing RAM or Memory for Your Computer Build

Throughout the process of building your own computer, many decisions have to be made. These decisions can and will effect the performance of your computer. Making educated choices is essential to building a high performing computer. Very few choices will have more impact on the overall speed of your computer than the choice of memory.

Memory, which is also referred to as RAM will affect the performance of every aspect of your computer. Though the motherboard could be considered the nervous system, and the processor could be considered the brains, the memory should be considered both the heart and soul of the computer. The memory processes information, holds on to it for awhile and then sends it where it needs to go as quickly as possible. The memory must decide how quickly to change processes, when to use its resources, and when to send information on.

Though the above analogy doesn't really accurately describe the workings of memory, it does show the importance of memory. Memory is constantly in use on your computer and is what allows processes to be carried out quickly. Without memory, your computer would not function. With an inadequate amount of memory, your computer would be incredibly slow, even if it was bless with having the fastest processor in the world.

Memory is designed to operate at blazing speed. It provides the link for information movement and does so much more quickly than any hard drive could dream of doing.

Aside from choosing a quality motherboard and a good processor, your selection of quality memory will have the highest impact on the performance of your computer. Memory is rated according to several numbers of which I will only provide a brief explanation of. The memory necessary for your computer will vary based on your selection of motherboard, and processor.

Memory is rated by either DDR or DDR2. This refers to the data rate of the memory. DDR2 is faster and is more current. Most builds will use DDR2 type memory.

Memory is rated by size. This term is listed in megabytes or gigabytes. Most memory modules will range in size from 512 megabytes to 2 gigabytes. Depending upon the number of memory slots on your motherboard you could assemble a system with as little as 1 gigabyte of memory, or as much as 16 gigabytes of memory or more. Most systems will require 2 gigabytes of memory to run adequately.

Memory is rated by speed. Speed is listed in megahertz of MHz. The speed of the memory refers to has fast it can process and send information. Faster memory will make your computer operate faster. Most current memory operates at 800 MHz or more and this is usually listed as PC6400 memory. What memory is right for your system will be determined by the specs listed for the motherboard you choose.

Finally, there are other numbers listed for memory that are much more complex. These numbers are called timings. They are usually listed as 4-4-4-12 or 5-5-5-15. Rather than explaining the meaning of these numbers, I will simply state that if all of the other specs listed for the memory is identical, then the memory with the lower timings number will perform faster. Of the two sets of numbers listed above, the memory with timings of 4-4-4-12 will perform faster than the memory with the timings of 5-5-5-15.

Now that the basics of memory are covered, we are ready to move on to other components for building your own computer. The computer build is nearing completion and if you've missed a step, please refer to my articles on choosing a specific component.