Tuesday, 9 August 2011

RAM SIMM


          Single In-Line Memory Module

          FPM (Fast Page Mode) DRAM

          30 or 72 pin connector

          30-pin SIMM could send/receive 8 bits of data

          Parity checking

          Installed in pairs due to 16 bit memory bus of the 80286 processors

          72-pin SIMM could send/receive 32 bits of data

          80386 and 80486 processors had a 32 bit memory bus and used 72 pin SIMMs allowing up to 256Mb RAM

          A SIMM can be single or double sided

DIPP


          Dual Inline Pin Package

          Connected directly to the motherboard

          Took up a lot of space on the motherboard

          Replaced by SIPPs

       

                     SIPP

          Single Inline Pin Package

          Eliminated need for individually installing memory modules

          30 pins but easy to break

          Very quickly replaced by 30-pin SIMMs


RAM Modules




          RAM memory chips are sold in modules.

          7 module types

          DIPP

              SIPP

          SIMM

          DIMM

          DIMM

          DIMM

          SORIMM

Types of RAM - SRAM


          Static RAM

          Uses transistors to store data and doesn’t need to be refreshed

          SRAM is used for L1 and L2 cache memory

          Physically bigger (x10) than DRAM

          

                      Types of RAM - DRAM



            Dynamic RAM (DRAM)

          Uses a series of tiny capacitors to store data, which need to be refreshed regularly

          ¼ the speed of SRAM

          Needs to be constantly refreshed
Data is not available to the processor while the RAM

Measuring RAM


          Made up of individual bits which are 1’s or 0’s (5v or 0v)

          8 bits = 1 byte

          A byte represents a character, number or symbol

          1024 bytes = a kilobyte

          1024 kilobytes = a megabyte

          1024 megabytes = a gigabyte

Development of RAM


          8088 – 1Mb of RAM

          286 – 4Mb of RAM

          486 - 16Mb of RAM

          Pentium - 32Mb of RAM

          Pentium II - 64Mb of RAM

          Pentium IV or Athlon – 128Mb to 4Gb RAM
Athlon 64 – potentially 172,000,000 Gb RAM!!!

Monday, 8 August 2011

Measuring RAM

          Made up of individual bits which are 1’s or 0’s (5v or 0v)
          8 bits = 1 byte
          A byte represents a character, number or symbol
          1024 bytes = a kilobyte
          1024 kilobytes = a megabyte
          1024 megabytes = a gigabyte