DRAM can extend the life of your family computer

The average family computer has multiple users, myriad programs installed on it, relatively basic hardware and enough content on the hard drive to slow it down to a crawl.
There are many ways to improve the system's performance by organizing and managing files better, but anything short of a hardware upgrade is unlikely to pay dividends on a device used by so many people. Instead, consider upgrading your system's RAM, a simple and relatively inexpensive solution that requires minimal technical knowledge and can have a major impact on the system's performance.
In many ways, RAM is the most important computer component. While the processor is critical for analyzing data, and the hard drive is necessary to maintain data over an extended period, the RAM essentially acts as a bridge between all of the devices by storing data for a short period of time, allowing everything else to function at maximum capacity.
When the computer is in operation, commands to run a program, open a file or surf the web are all stored within the RAM. Furthermore, the necessary data to maintain the various tasks at hand is also kept in the RAM, where it can be stored while the processor, graphics card and other devices analyze it. As a result, family computers and other devices with a number of users often hog a significant amount of RAM because so many programs run simultaneously on the device. This brings performance down to a crawl because small amounts of RAM can struggle to efficiently contain all of the short-term data running on the machine.
By upgrading the system's RAM, you can equip your computer with the necessary tools to perform well when the system has a variety of applications, internet tabs and other items operating simultaneously. Since the upgraded memory can handle the various system tasks more easily, the other components within the device are also able to work at a higher capacity. Therefore, the relatively inexpensive RAM upgrade can improve the entire system.
When choosing new RAM for your computer, there are a few key considerations that you should keep in mind - your operating system and the type of computer you have.
Operating systems can have a significant impact on your computer's RAM needs because each OS will demand a certain portion of the system's memory. Windows XP, which is now more than 10 years old but is still popular, uses a very small amount of RAM during operation. As a result, an XP system may be capable of running well with 1GB of RAM or less, depending on the applications used. Windows Vista, on the other hand, quickly became notorious as a system hog because is uses a substantial amount of RAM, and will often demand more than 2GB of system memory to run effectively. Windows 7 provides a significant improvement over Vista, but because it is newer and is frequently used on machines running high-performance applications, 2GB of RAM is typically the norm.
The type of computer you have is another important attribute that impacts what kind of RAM you should use. Manufacturers use a variety of technologies that impact the variety of RAM you need to purchase in order for it to work effectively in your system. The key attributes that will tell you if RAM works in your system are its types, DDR1, 2 or 3, and the number of pins in the RAM socket, with 240-PIN RAM being the most common.