Computer Memory

Kohinain Dauwood
 Random Access Memory (RAM)
•This is a type of primary memory. It works directly with the
CPU.
•In the modern computer it works extremely fast.
•In a modern system the size and capacitors of the RAM is
measured in gigabytes(GB).
•It has a volatile memory which has to be saved you will lose it
when you switch off the computer compared to the hard drive
which does not have a volatile memory so it will keep all the
information on ur computer forever.
•When you save a work from the hard drive it goes to the RAM.
 Read Only Memory (ROM)
• You cannot write new information to ROM.As the
name suggests, you can only read data from it.
• ROM has a non-volatile memory like a hard drive.
• Information is “etched” permanently into it.
• The ROM has a primary memory.
• BIOS chip (Basic Input Output System), usually found
in a PC.
 Hard Drive
• A hard drive is an external memory and is able to
take a big amounts of memory and is stored until the
files are deleted.
• Saves files unlike RAM.
• Has non-volatile memory.
• Can save up to several terabytes.
• When the computer is turned off it still stores all of
the files.
 Flash Drive
• Have no moving parts.
• Use a solid state of a flash drive.
• Is non-volatile.
• Flash drives use a USB socket.
 Magnetic Tape
• Very high capacity and can store a big amount of
data.
• It uses sequential access.
• Good for backing up data.
 Optical Media/Drive
• Uses laser technology to read from and write to a disc.
• Optical media includes CDs which have 700 MB and DVDs
have 4.5 GB and Blu-ray have 50 GB.
• Optical drives/media allow us to play games, listen to music
and watch films.
• The data on these discs is accessed by a CD/DVD/Blu-ray
player or disc drive.
• Some types of optical discs can also be written to and
erased.