| When buying a new desktop or building your new | | | | You might have been confused about those numbers |
| computer, you might just be faced with one thing that | | | | beside the GB in various RAM modules. Nowadays, |
| would leave you confused: desktop memory. | | | | the most common modules are DDR2 and DDR3. Of |
| Depending on the performance you want, you might | | | | course, DDR3 modules are faster than DDR2 and |
| choose anything between 1 to 4 GBs. If you do not | | | | DDR, but they are also more expensive. Most budget |
| know what the numbers mean, then read on to find | | | | desktops nowadays have DDR2 modules. |
| out more about them. | | | | There are also various clock speeds which you can |
| RAM sizes | | | | see in MHz. Technically, the higher MHz a memory has, |
| RAM, or random access memory, come in different | | | | the faster it performs, as well. |
| sizes. There are modules from 512 MB up to 4GB, and | | | | Expanding your Computer's RAM |
| greatly differ in types, as well. The general rule is to | | | | Most desktops generally have four to six slots for |
| always determine how you would use your computer | | | | memories, but smaller and micro desktops may have |
| or laptop. Your personal usage, whether for multimedia | | | | only two. These modules are also typically paired |
| or gaming, greatly affects your need for RAM size. | | | | together, though there are quite some nowadays |
| Most software nowadays have two kinds of system | | | | which have trios for faster performance. |
| requirements for RAM: recommended and minimal. | | | | When buying your desktop, keep in mind that you may |
| Depending on how you would want to run your | | | | consider upgrading your memory in the near future. If |
| programs and applications, you might want to stick to | | | | you have four slots and you want to have 4 GBs of |
| getting the minimum 2 GB in today's standards, or get | | | | RAM, you may consider getting 2 pieces of 2GB |
| 4 GB. | | | | RAM modules, or fill everything up with four pieces of |
| Operating System Compatibility | | | | 1GB modules. The latter choice gives you no choice to |
| Keep in mind that not all Windows operating systems | | | | upgrade - unless, of course, you would switch all your |
| support desktop memory sizes higher than 4 GBs. | | | | modules. |
| 32-bit Windows only supports up to 4 GBs, while you | | | | 2 modules of 1GB are less expensive than getting 1 |
| need to upgrade to the 64-bit versions if you want to | | | | module of 2GB, mainly because it frees up your other |
| go beyond that. | | | | desktop memory slots for future upgrades. |
| Memory Types | | | | |