Memory has been growing in ability and shrinking in form even though it doesn’t look that way. SIMM’s and DIMM’s are the chips that sit on a stick of RAM. Sticks of RAM store information as 1’s and 0’s down a row or column just like parking spaces. The pins are the gold connectors that touch the motherboard; that’s the opening of the parking space where multiple instructions or memories are stored. When you see Row Access or Column Access, you’re told, on average, how many clock cycles of the CPU are needed to move information out of the way to get to the information at the back or the column or row. Smaller numbers are faster. More pins, more ‘parking spaces.’ The tough part is the silly names that mess up newer users.

When picking a speed of RAM for computers, don’t go so much faster than is recommended. You will waste money and possibly waste energy or might encounter a computer that refuses to turn on. Users make the mistake of trying to crank up the RAM to speed up the computer.

When an Information Ninja has to explain why this doesn’t work, it goes like this… Moving data creates heat. Moving more data creates more heat. The circuits on the motherboard are either well produced and tested or not. The worse the printed circuits, the less the ability to resist heat. Heat is a killer of computers. For this reason, crap motherboards will intentionally SLOW DOWN components that deliver too much information or data. So that big, fast RAM which is happy to claim reverse compatibility will be utterly retarded by failsafes built on the motherboard and they will perform identically or worse than slower RAM recommended by the motherboard maker.

Drinking soda that looks like Coca-Cola that’s made from a company you’ve never heard of in another country tastes strange. Using RAM that looks like a stick of RAM that’s made by a company that sprang up overnight will perform strangely or not at all. No one has to tell you that Coke, Pepsi and RC are big soda makers. Now, no one has to tell you that big RAM makers who test their pieces well for uniformity are Kingston, OCZ, Patriot, Corsair, and GSkill most recently. Good experiences can be had with AData and Crucial, but an Information Ninja knows the safest path to take for the best chance of success.