RAM (alama-ding-dong?)

Let’s face it, the need for speed is high on the list of Christmas wishes. A faster processor and/or video card will help with some applications (games, for example), but if you want the biggest bang for your buck, a memory upgrade is a good place to start. Windows 2000 and Windows XP can handle up to four gigabytes (in contrast to some versions of Windows 95/98 where anything more than 128MB was ignored), so the limiting factor is probably going to be what your system will physically support. My laptop, for example, can only handle 2GB while my primary desktop can handle the full four. So let’s start with the basics.

RAM (Random Access Memory) is one of the key components in any system. You can live without a sound card or a network adapter, but you can’t live without RAM. It doesn’t matter what kind of processor you have, what kind of hard drive you have, or what applications you are running, everything that happens inside your computer must be in RAM before the processor can do anything with it. The upshot of this is that the more RAM you have, the better off (generally) you are going to be. So where to start?

A good place would be your computer’s documentation. You need to find two critical pieces of information: what kind of RAM does your system use and how much can it hold? If you’re in the same boat that most of us are, your documentation won’t tell you much more than how to set up your system (plug in the speakers here, plug in the keyboard there, etc.). If you have a premade system, check the manufacturer’s website. IBM, Dell, and the like are very good about making that information available, though they often are not very good about making it easy to find. Off-brand or smaller manufacturers may not be so good about it. If you built your system from components, find the documentation for your motherboard or go to the manufacturer’s website. Of course, if you built your system from components, you probably already know what kind of memory you need since you had to buy the original memory sticks.

Now that you know what you’re looking for, the next issue is how much do you already have and in what configuration. The simplest method of answering the first question is to right-click “My Computer” and select “Properties”. The first tab of the System Properties dialog box will tell you how much memory is installed and working. Getting the answer to the second question is going to require that you open your computer’s case and look.

Here on my laptop, for example, the System Properties dialog tells me that I have 1.5GB of RAM installed. My primary desktop tells me that I have 2GB of RAM installed. For the laptop, I already know that I only have two memory slots, so what’s there is going to be pretty simple to figure out. For the desktop, though, I have four memory slots, three of which are occupied. You might get lucky and find that your memory sticks will tell you how big they are, but don’t hold your breath. Not every memory manufacturer is good about making that information easily available.

If you’re having trouble figuring out what’s there, you might try an online utility. Crucial.com has a freebie scanner utility that works through your web browser (www.crucial.com/systemscanner). It should be able to identify what’s installed in which slot, but may not be too good about reporting what your maximum capacity is. For my laptop, for example, the scanner tells me that my maximum capacity is only 1024MB, when I know that it’s 2048MB (2GB).

OK, time for a little math. Everything that happens inside your computer happens in binary, so everything is going to be a power of 2. For the most part, the magic numbers are going to be 64, 128, 256, 512 and 1024. For older systems, the magic numbers probably include 8, 16 and 32. These days, you won’t be buying 1, 2 or 4 MB of RAM unless you’re on a Win95 or earlier machine and if you are, I’d seriously recommend a new computer rather than a memory upgrade.

Be that as it may, let’s go back to my systems. On my laptop, I have 1.5GB and two slots. Since they don’t make 768MB modules, I must have one slot with a 1GB module (that’s 1024MB, by the way) and one slot with a 512MB module. For the desktop (2GB and three occupied slots), that must come down to one 1GB module and two 512MB modules. In the case of my laptop, the scanner utility told me that I have one module that is PC2100 and one module that is PC2700. It’s not the best configuration, but it works. For the desktop, all three modules are PC2700.

The type of memory tells me a couple of things. First off, it tells me that I am using DDR (Double Data Rate) RAM, and it tells me the speed of the memory. Generally speaking, faster is better. Also remember this rule: you can always put faster memory into a slower system, but you should not put slower memory into a faster system. The PC2100 is the memory that came with my laptop, so I was pretty safe putting the PC2700 module in. While a system that supports PC2700 memory could probably take PC2100, the system would have to slow down to the speed of the slowest module (not good). On older systems, it might even burn out the slower module (really not good).

So what does all of that PCxxxx nonsense mean, anyway? It tells you how fast the memory is, or how much data can be pushed through to the processor in a second. If, for example, my motherboard’s bus speed is 266MHz and my bus width is 8 bytes (64 bits), then my system takes PC2100 memory (8 * 266 = 2128 or 2100 rounded). As a general rule, faster is better, but only if your system will support it.

Now that you know what you’re looking for and what you already have, the next question to answer is “how much?” There is not hard and fast answer to that. You’ll see the biggest performance gain by boosting your system RAM to 1GB. You’ll see performance gains with more than that, but they won’t be as big as for the first gig. If you do a lot of memory-intensive computing (games, video editing, etc.), buy as much as you can afford because every little bit helps. If your computing is basic word-processing, web-browsing, eMail and the like, you can probably stop at 1GB.

Installing RAM is pretty simple (”You probably won’t even need your kid’s help,” as the old Crucial commercial went). First, make sure that the system is turned off. I’m super-cautious and unplug it completely. The downside of doing this is that the system loses its ground, so you have to make sure that you protect the system from static electricity (wear a grounding strap or grab bare metal before touching anything inside the case) while you’re working inside the case. Your memory slots are may not be very accessible due to the various cables and wires, so disconnect whatever is blocking your way. Just remember what connects to what so you can put everything back correctly. Most connectors will only work one way, so there is very little chance of reconnecting anything backwards. About the only one that tends to give people fits is reconnecting the data strap on the floppy drive (assuming, of course, that you even have a floppy drive - it’s optional equipment on most newer systems). In that case, check it when you fire the system back up again. If the drive light comes on and stays on, you’ve reversed the data connector.

The memory modules will only fit into their slots one way. Just match up the notches on the bottom of the module and push it straight down into the slot until the tabs on either end snap into place. Removing memory modules is simply a matter of pushing the tabs outward until the module pops out of its slot. The easiest systems to work with are those that have four slots for memory. The slots will typically be numbered 0-3 or 1-4. Slots 0 and 2, 1 and 3, or 2 and 4 will generally work together. If you have a sytem with an odd number of slots, it really doesn’t matter and you can just fill from the first slot outward.

If you’re mixing module sizes, try to put the same size modules into similar slots (0 and 2, 1 and 3, or 2 and 4). This isn’t crucial unless you have a system that supports dual-channel memory and want to use dual-channel mode. But it’s a good habit to get into. In any event, fill lower-numbered slots before you fill higher-numbered slots. When you’re done, reconnect any cables, close the case, reconnect the power and fire it up. Your system should automatically detect the new memory. When you get back into Windows, right-click “My Computer” and select “Properties”. The amount of memory showing on the General tab should match what you have installed.

I do not have any particular preference on brands of memory, although many people do. I do try to stick with major brands, though, as I’ve run into too many problems with off-brand memory. Here are some links to a few major manfacturers:

Crucial: www.crucial.com

Kingston: www.kingston.com

Viking: www.vikinginterworks.com

Corsair: www.corsairmemory.com

Have fun with it.