Hardware novice concerning ram (1 Viewer)

I want some information about RAM pls. I want to knos what is the difference between RAM and DRAM. Is DDR consider as DRAM? What other types of RAM exist exept from RAM and DRAM and how can I destinguish the different types only by seing them?

Thanks in advance

RAM is a generic term refering to all types of Random Access Memory and there are different vesions of RAM (DRAM - Dynamic Random Access Memory). There is also a data rate part as well DDR (Double Data Rate) for example and a 'size' part (SIMMS and DIMMS - these are also sub divided in number of pins)

Now the 4 parts all combine to give you the actually full type of RAM

184-pin DIMM DDR SDRAM or 184-pin DIMM DDR2 SDRAM for example. (SDRAM - synchronous dynamic RAM) more confused yet ?

Deep breath - basically you'll find your motherboard will only support one type of RAM (or DRAM or SDRAM !), data rate and size if you want to find out which one go to the Crucial web site and use the memory advisor tool. For example DDR and DDR2 RAM modules are not compatible.

Here are a couple of links for you:
RAM
DRAM

If you want to know more use Wikipedia and search for the terms.

So basically you have type of RAM, data rate, size and pin and your motherboard will support only one type, size and pin but a few data rates (always buy the fastest RAM your motherboard can support or you can affort of course)

*many more check the links.

Hope this helps (I'm not to great at explinations, sometimes I make a few too many assumptions)

There's also static RAM (SRAM), which is faster and more stable, but they need 6 transistors. You'll want SRAM if you store important data on your computer, as it's less likely to corrupt your files than DRAM. There's some useful info here.