Current processors can perform an enormous number of operations per second. The hard drive, on the other hand, is significantly slower to handle so much information. This is where a high-speed RAM memory comes in.
One of the most cost effective ways to boost the computer's performance is to add Random Access Memory (RAM). If you are using any computer running on Windows 95 or greater and have less than 64MB (megabytes) of memory then you will notice a performance improvement by adding more memory. If you add or upgrade the memory to 64MB or 128MB, computers show a visible improvement in performance, which includes faster application start-up time.
Microsoft recommends 128MB as a minimum amount of memory for running Windows XP on the computer. For running today's computer software and operating systems, 512MB of memory is better.
The memory used in older computers is 30-pin or 72-pin Single Inline Memory Modules (SIMM), whereas Dual Inline Memory Modules (DIMM) modules are used today.
