The word ‘memory’ is commonly used in computer language to refer to RAM. When you start an application, say a game, your computer stores some of the data necessary for it to function in RAM, so that it can be accessed easily and quickly. There are several forms of memory in the computer (for example, the hard drive is also a form of memory). However, RAM is of the utmost importance as it is the first place data is directed when an application starts. Only after going through RAM is the data stored on any other storage device.
We can compare the function of RAM with a real life situation to better understand it. If you are lecturing to a large audience, you will most likely memorize important parts of it so that you can recall or access it when necessary. If you had to search a book or other research source every time you wanted to pinpoint a key point, it would take too long and your lecture would stop each time, until the information was found. Similarly, each time a command is entered into the computer, the CPU processes it and instructs the hard drive to load it into memory. This allows you to access it more quickly when needed. RAM stores all the information just before the computer needs to use it.
Computers can process information non-stop as long as all the necessary information is available in RAM. If the RAM is not enough to store the information, the computer will look for it on an alternate storage device, such as a hard drive or floppy disk, transfer it to RAM, and then continue processing. The more interrupts of this type, the slower the computer becomes. Therefore, as a general rule, more RAM [http://computer-information.info/sitemap.html] it means faster computing and processing.
Not so long ago, the maximum memory a computer needed was 1 or 2 MB (megabytes). Today, at least 64MB of RAM is required to run even the most basic applications. Ideally, 256MB is required for most applications. And if the user is using a lot of graphics, music, or gaming applications, then 512MB of RAM is essential.
In short, the mantra for memory is more is great; less is bad.