- The earliest precursors to the RAM chips that we have in our modern PC's were put into fairly widespread use in 1949. These chips replaced, at least in part, the vacuum tubes that had been used to store temporary data, making computers smaller and faster.
- The 1960s saw an important development in RAM: static memory (SRAM). Data stored on static memory chips does not need to be refreshed, unless the data itself changes. These chips more closely resemble the modern ones and made the old vacuum tube model obsolete.
- Dynamic RAM (DRAM) was introduced in the 1970s and is the direct ancestor of the RAM chips we have in our computers today. Unlike it predecessors, dynamic memory needs to be periodically refreshed. Its main adventure over SRAM is that it is cheaper to produce; the trade-off is that it is slightly slower. Dynamic RAM and static RAM are volatile, meaning that the data held within them when no power is running to them.
- Several different types of RAM are available on the market. You cannot mix and match different types of RAM and most, if not all, modern motherboards require a specific type of RAM. For example, if your motherboard requires PC2700 RAM, a very common type of RAM found in mainstream desktops, then you will not be able to install any other type of RAM; other types of RAM would likely not even fit the memory slot.
- Generally, it is better to have more RAM rather than less, as RAM, in large part, determines how quickly your system will run and how many applications you can safely have open at once. This is particularly important for servers, as they often have to handle many processes at once. However, on most Windows systems your computer will not be able to take advantage of more than 3 1/2 gigabytes of RAM unless you have the 64-bit version of the Windows operating system installed. There can also be some compatibly issues, particularly with hardware drivers, if you upgrade your system from 32 to 64 bits.
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