Random Access Memory, or RAM, also referred to as “system memory”, “main memory” and “primary memory”, is a computer’s temporary data storage device. It stores the information that the computer is actively using so that it can be accessed quickly.
The more programs your computer is running, the more memory it will need to perform smoothly. It improves application performance while multitasking, gaming performance, graphic and audio design, and all other programs similar. To improve the performance of a system, sometimes a RAM upgrade is recommended.
An upgrade means adding memory modules along with the existing ones or replacing old ones with a set of new modules with higher capacity.
Desktop computers support DIMM modules and laptops support SODIMM. There is a significant physical size difference between these two types of memory modules.
It is also important to understand which generation of system memory your computer supports, for example, DDR2, DDR3, DDR4, DDR4L, and so on. Every computer is designed to work with the minimum and maximum capacity of memory.
For example, a particular Dell desktop or laptop may support a minimum of 2 GB and a maximum of 16 GB of memory. Every computer has a specific number of memory slots on the system board. Often laptops will have two memory slots. Desktops may have more than two, and servers can even have up to 24.
As an example, if your laptop with two memory slots supports a maximum of 16 GB of memory, you can install two 8 GB memory modules. For servers with a much higher memory capacity, we’ll also require two CPUs to run at its full potential. These memory channels need to be balanced in order for the system to function properly.
For example, this system has nine slots for CPU1 and nine for CPU2. For CPU1, the memory installed in slots A1, A4 and A7 must match those in the slots A2, A5 and A8.
The same logic applies to CPU2, where memory on slots A1, A4 and A7 must match B1, B4 and B7, and so forth. All this information can be found in your system’s user manual on the Dell Support website. And that's it.
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