What Is Computer RAM? What Is RAM Used for and What Does RAM Do on a Computer?

What is Computer RAM?

Random access memory (RAM), is sometimes referred to as memory. Computer RAM is a rectangular computer part that can be slotted into a laptop, computer, PlayStation console, etc.

What Does RAM Do on a Computer?

RAM is required by computers to load software and everything else you see on your computer screen. It digitizes the screen contents such as your computer's desktop, files, folders, or applications, after getting the data from the computer's HDD/SSD.

Without RAM your computer screen will not display anything, and appear as a back screen.

RAM is volatile which means it requires constant power to keep hold of the data inside of it. While your computer's HDD (Hard drive) or SSD (Solid State Drive) retains data after the computer is switched off, the RAM card has all of its data cleared. This is normal, as long as you've saved your data, it is safely stored in your HDD/SSD.

RAM Sizes

There are different size RAM cards, physically and in terms of how much memory they provide. Usually, laptop RAM cards are physically smaller than desktop RAM cards.

RAM cards are available in 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 gigabytes and larger. The more gigabytes the RAM card has, the more software and applications it can keep open at any one point in time.

How Much RAM Do You Need?

How much RAM needed in a computer depends on the user.

After logging into your computer and it has loaded the desktop screen, some of your computer's RAM space will have been taken up. After this, the remaining space available in the RAM will remain free or be used up by anything else loaded up such as applications, processes, or services.

If you load an application such as Google Chrome and minimize it so you can't see it on screen, it will still be using up some of the RAM to keep it up and running.

Each time you open a new application, RAM will load and store the application data until your computer runs out of RAM space. When this happens the computer will bottleneck, freeze and stutter.

Computer memory is smart enough to know when it is full and so it will look for the least used process and dump it, so it can make room for the application you are trying to start.

Computers today are also programmed in a way where if the RAM is totally used up, then the storage drive (HDD or SSD) will be used to help the RAM accommodate your open apps. I wouldn't recommend maxing out RAM and forcing the storage drive into action unless necessary as RAM is far better in performance than the storage drive. Also the more a storage drive is used, the more the life span of that storage drive is reduced.

RAM Required Recommendation

• If you are going to be using office applications for writing, browsing shopping sites like ASOS, or just watching YouTube videos and movies on Netflix, 4GB of RAM is enough.
• For someone planning to keep open many documents, multiple Google Chrome tabs, and other apps like Zoom at the same time, then it may be best to have at least 8GB of RAM installed.
• While 8GB of RAM is enough for a large variety of people, there are some who need more, such as developers and media producers. If you are in this category, go for 16GB+ of RAM.

How to Check How Much RAM Is Being Used

To check how much RAM you use on a Windows machine:

• First open your apps and use your PC as you normally would.
• Then press the CTRL, Shift, and ESC keys on your keyboard to open task manager.
• Inside of Task Manager, click on the performance tab to display the current memory usage.

To check how much RAM you use on a Mac machine:

• First open your apps and use your Mac as you normally would.
• Then using Spotlight Search, search for and open Activity Monitor.
• Inside of Activity Monitor, click on the Memory tab to display the current memory usage.

The above methods provide a good indication of how much RAM you would typically use.

If you really wanted to know exactly how much RAM is enough, you would need to calculate the amount of RAM required by your computer's operating software and applications, which is usually specified in the software specifications. If you are unsure, speak to an IT consultant to help you with this.

Wrapping Up

Some newer computers have the RAM soldered onto the computer motherboard and may not be upgradeable, it is best to check with the seller or manufacturer if the RAM for that particular computer can be upgraded later down the line, and if that is not possible, you may want to purchase the computer with extra RAM to start with. If on the other hand, it is possible to add more RAM to your computer, you could buy the computer with less RAM to save money and if you need more in future, just have more installed.