What is main memory?

Answer 1

RAM (Random Access Memory) is you main memory.
This may be known as
SIMM, SDRAM, DDR, etc. and will most likely have a number associated with it PC2100, DDR400. This is the speed of the FSB which is the bus that the CPU communicates with the RAM over. The faster the better BUT it is restricted by the Motherboard. There are usually 2 to 4 slots on the motherboard to fit the memory modules and some motherboards can take more than 1 type. You MUST check with your motherboard documentation to find out what it can handle.

Other memory in your computer are:-
Virtual Memory (SWAP) - Usually space on a hard drive is reserved for this. The speed of virtual memory is restricted to the speed of the hard drive and the hard drives cache. Usually very slow compared to other memory so the computer usually swaps chunks of memory between RAM and Virtual when needed.
Pipeline Cache - This is now built into the CPU and allows the processor to read more instructions from memory while it is processing the current one so that it runs faster. The processor can access cache memory faster than any other type.
RAM - As explained above this is the second fastest memory in your computer.
Hard Drive Cache - This is RAM on the hard drive andis used to store the next block of data from the hard drive when the drive is being read. This is so that IF the software on the PC trys to read the next block of data it is faster than reading it directly of the Hard drive. Speed up disk r/w.
Flash, EEPROM and ROM - The BIOS used to be stored in ROM (Read Only Memory) this could not be altered so there was no such thing as BIOS upgrades, then part of the BIOS used to be stored in EEPROM, This was changeable but slow and possibly unreliable. Then cam FLASH, this allowed faster access with the ability to upgrade the BIOS or re-flash it in the case of a corruption.
The Graphics card has its own memory as well which is usually very fast RAM, they also have processors on them known as GPUs which also have pipeline cache.

Answer 2

Refers to physical memory that is internal to the computer. The word main is used to distinguish it from external mass storage devices such as disk drives. Another term for main memory is RAM.

The computer can manipulate only data that is in main memory. Therefore, every program you execute and every file you access must be copied from a storage device into main memory. The amount of main memory on a computer is crucial because it determines how many programs can be executed at one time and how much data can be readily available to a program.

Regards EDD

Answer 3

Primary storage, or internal memory, is computer memory that is accessible to the central processing unit of a computer without the use of computer's input/output channels. Primary storage is used to store data that is likely to be in active use. Primary storage is typically very fast, as in the case of RAM. RAM is also volatile, losing the stored information in an event of power loss, and quite expensive. ROM is not volatile, but is not suited to storage of large quantities of data because it is expensive to produce. Typically, ROM must also be completely erased before it can be rewritten, making large scale use impractical, if not impossible. Therefore, separate secondary storage, or external memory, is usually required for long-term persistent storage.

Confusingly, the term primary storage has recently been used in a few contexts to refer to online storage (hard disks), which is usually classified as secondary storage.

Primary storage may include several types of storage, such as main storage, cache memory, and special registers, all of which can be directly accessed by the processor. Primary storage can be accessed randomly, that is, accessing any location in storage at any moment takes the same amount of time. A particular location in storage is selected by its physical memory address. That address remains the same, no matter how the particular value stored there changes.

Answer 4

RAM (Random Access Memory) is the main memory.

Answer 5

It means RAM, Random Access Memory

Answer 6

The main memory in storage.

Answer 7

RAM is the main memory or the primary storage. harddisk is the secondary storage but virtual memory is the use of the hard disk as memory in certain circumstances

Answer 8

Main memory is mainly made up of your ram, but if you have very little ram. Your computer will allow you to allocate some page file(virtual memory), which is part of your hard drive. Same idea but not as effective.