But, of course, the rabbit hole goes much deeper than this.
Both types of memory can store data, but the process is different.
Volatile memory constantly needs power (electricity) to send and receive information.
Data is stored temporarily, and all processes are lost once you turn off your gear.
On the other hand, non-volatile memory retains information once it is saved to the drive.
Data is stored permanently, and none of your programs or files are affected by turning off your system.
So, any form of temporary storage is volatilethis includes RAM, cache, registry memory, etc.
Data: Temporary vs.
The simple answer is that RAM is significantly faster than a hard drive orsolid-state drive (SSD).
These processes are stored in RAM so that they can be accessed quickly.
When you exit the program in question, all the processes are closed too.
So, RAM is used to temporarily store data that needs to be accessed quickly.
On the flip side, permanent data storage is also essential.
How Do RAM and Storage Affect your setup’s Speed?
RAM and hard drives have their own purposes, but both can affect your rig’s speed.
It’s not uncommon to “run out of RAM” either.
This happens when a particular program needs more RAM to run properly than your system currently has available.
Of course, you could alwaysfree up and reduce RAM usage.
Still, that’s only a short-term fix.
The same is valid for non-volatile storage like HDD.
This also means you could run out of space for virtual memory.
Computers sometimes use virtual memory present on the drives to store data.
This is known as a paging file.
Upgrading RAM vs.
Unfortunately, that’s not exactly true for all laptops.
You could also just add another stick of RAM.
You could also add a new hard drive in most cases if you need more storage.
While you’re on it, read up on thedifferences between SSDs and HDDs.
SSDs use flash storage, while hard drives use a physical mechanism to read and write data.
Although SSDs are faster, they can be more expensive.
While upgrading a storage drive is usually easy, the same isn’t true for RAM.
Check out oursimple guide to RAMto help with all that technical jargon.
For example, it’s possible for you to’t upgrade the RAM or storage on an Apple silicon Mac.
