What is RAM and How Does it Work?

RAM, or Random Access Memory, is what your computer uses to multi-task. Most devices with any kind of computer inside, whether it’s a PC, laptop, smartphone, or game console, will require a minimum amount of RAM to run basic tasks, RAM does this by temporarily storing any data that the CPU, or processor, needs to access repeatedly. But if you want to push your device further, you’ll need more RAM and memory with higher clock speeds (but more on that later).

Depending on what you’re using your device for will depend on how much RAM you need. High-end PCs and laptops, for instance, will require more RAM to run efficiently. Launching multiple programs, web browsers, or games takes up more memory; every time you add a new task to your PC’s to-do list, you’re using more of its available RAM.

If you’re thinking of upgrading your existing PC or laptop, or just want to know what RAM is and how it works, stick with us while we explain everything you need to know.

What Is RAM Exactly?

TL;DR: RAM is how your computer stores current processes.

RAM is generally referred to as dynamic RAM. Active memory is filled with data your computer is actively working with, which usually comes from apps that are currently running or files you’re currently looking at. The more data your computer is using at once, the more RAM it will utilize.

If you run multiple programs at once or very demanding applications, you can use more memory than your computer has available to it, and this can lead to slowdowns and other issues. For most devices you’ll use, RAM is measured in Gigabytes (GB), often somewhere between 2GB and 64GB (or even 128GB on higher-end systems).

RAM can come in the form of memory modules soldered onto your system’s mainboard or removable modules called DIMMs that slot into a motherboard. Most compact devices, like laptops and mini PCs, go with the soldered-on route for the space savings it provides, but larger systems like bigger laptops and desktop computers go for the modular DIMMs, which allow for swapping and upgrading system RAM.

How RAM Works

There are pieces of the puzzle to consider how RAM fits into a system:

• Processor – data upload to your CPU
  • Cache – fast memory built into the processor
• RAM (Random-access memory) – is usually used to store working data and machine code
• Storage – where stored data lives, even when device is powered down

Ultimately, data needs to get onto your CPU, or processor, to get processed. The system handles that data on different levels. Storage is where everything resides at all times, saved for the long term and remaining there even when your device is powered down. This would be your hard drives (HDD) and solid state drives (SSD). Files, programs, apps, and games are all saved in storage. (Also see: SSD vs HDD if you need an explainer).

When you go to use an app, game, or what have you, your system pulls the data out of storage and loads it into RAM. Memory is much faster than storage, so having data accessible here helps keep the system running quickly.

If you launch several different programs at once, they’ll all try to load into RAM. They might not all fit, though. Your system will occasionally have to bump things out of RAM. If you’re ever switching between a lot of programs and notice one takes a little longer to load back up, it may be because it has been bumped out of RAM and needs to be pulled back from storage or swap memory (a reserved area on storage to hold memory that spills over from RAM).

Now, RAM isn’t actually where the data gets processed. Ultimately, the data has moved into cache, which is a small pool (often just a few Megabytes) of very fast memory actually built into the processor itself.