| Article Index |
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| System Memory-Computer Memory Information |
| How to Check Total Memory |
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System memory is vital component in a computer, infrastructure.
The master manipulator the CPU manipulates memory, that is used to string binary data. In the simplest terms memory is like a basic on off switch whereas the on/off equals to 0/1.
Thus binary data is represented by a switch in the on position or the off position where OFF is the value of 0 and ON is the value of 1. Nonvolatile and volatile memory make up the two major classes of computer memory. When a computer is powered down, data in volatile memory is lost as opposed to nonvolatile memory which retains its data.
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A good example of nonvolatile memory is the CMOS battery, that holds setup data for the boot process of the computer. Memory is also divided into two categories-Rom (read only memory) and Ram Random Access memory. As the CPU processes instructions and data, Ram type memory also called primary memory, is the memory that stores all of the instructions and, data temporarily. Information that is stored in Ram memory is also volatile memory.
The CPU is able to manipulate access, or place data from and to any address on a RAM memory module. In addition random access memory is divided in to two further categories, static or synchronous RAM (SRAM) and Dynamic RAM (DRAM), thus improving performance.
Microscopic capacitor and a microscopic transistor allow DRAM to function by storing data bits. When a capacitor is charged it equals the value of 1, and when it is discharged it equals 0. These small capacitor in DRAM hold there charges only for seconds, the entire circuitry of the system board is need for the process of recharging which is also called "refresh", which is why RAM is considered volatile memory.
The central processing unit handles data in 8-bit blocks. A byte is one block, and it designates the amount of bytes that move to and from the memory module to the CPU.
Managing the work of all main memory and it's communication with the CPU and the rest of the system is the memory controller, a hardware logic circuit most times built into the system chipsets. It's main job is to create signals that regulate traffic created by reading and writing data to and from the main memory. In addition, it also serves as the interface between main memory and other parts if the system that potentially interact with the main memory. The chips that make the memory are used to build modules that go into banks that populate the memory sockets on the motherboard, all of which are managed by the memory controller.
For the controller to do it's work, it must see the installed memory organize in rows and columns kind of like a spread sheet. The controller uses those rows and columns to communicate with specific parts of the memory as needed.
The front side bus or FSB is a bus inside the CPU that manages commutation between the CPU and the memory installed. It's called the front side bus because it differs from the BSD the back side bus which manages communication between the CPU and the L2 cache.
