Are you ashamed of not knowing? The difference between "RAM" and "ROM" in memory: IT trivia that can be used from tomorrow - ITmedia NEWS

By : ilikephone / On : 03/12/2022

``This PC has 32GB of memory'' ``Isn't that small? It's a simple matter of confusing "main memory" (RAM) with "storage" (storage). For those with knowledge, it makes me want to tsukkomi, "Hey, are you serious?"

In fact, major economic newspapers have made similar mistakes in the past. In the spec comparison table of Sony's game machine "PlayStation 4" (PS4) and Nintendo's "Wii U" published in the paper, the PS4's main memory of 8GB and the Wii U's storage of 32GB are in the same row. I have dealt with it.

 The story of "memory" that even major media makes mistakes. So this time, let's introduce the difference between RAM, ROM, and storage.

 RAM is an abbreviation for "Random Access Memory". It is the working main memory (main memory) used when the CPU performs some processing or displays some data on the screen. The data in RAM is frequently rewritten, and when the power is turned off, the temporary data used for work also disappears.

 To put it simply, RAM can be expressed as the size of a desk. The more memory (= wider desk), the more apps you can open at once.

 Currently, the RAM installed in general PCs is about 4 to 16 GB, and high-end PCs used for business purposes may have 32 GB or more of RAM. On the other hand, the RAM installed in recent smartphones and tablets is about 1 to 4 GB. A high-spec model with 6GB has also appeared.

 Since the amount of memory required differs depending on the OS, it is not possible to simply compare PCs and smartphones. However, it is a little surprising to think that today's mobile terminals normally have the same amount of memory that PCs used to have a long time ago.

ROM is an abbreviation for "Read Only Memory". Read Only, as the name suggests, refers to memory that is not writable and can only be read. Examples include game software and music CDs. A long time ago, there must have been many people who said, "Hey, lend me a Famicom ROM cassette!"

 However, looking at the specifications of smartphones published by telecommunications carriers that provide services such as mobile phones in Japan, for some reason there is a custom to write the storage capacity for storing data as "ROM ○ GB". . As of 2017, if you look at the specs of the three major carriers, the capacity of the storage area is expressed as ROM. As if it were the antonym of RAM.

The specification table published by Japanese carriers. The notation "RAM/ROM" is used. The "ROM" mentioned here represents the storage capacityIn the specification table published by the overseas carrier, it is written as "built-in memory", and the word ROM is not found small>

 It seems that this expression is only used in Japan, and overseas, it is often written as "Internal Memory Storage". In the US Apple's "iPhone", it is familiar to express "capacity" even in Japan.

 In the PC industry, the storage area is called storage, but in the smartphone industry, the rewritable storage area is called ROM.

 By the way, the storage capacity of a typical PC is about 128GB to 2TB. Most smartphones and tablets have 16-128GB.

Did you understand that the 32GB PC memory mentioned at the beginning and the 128GB iPhone memory are different types of memory? There are many types of memory.

On the other hand, recently announced new technology is about to completely change the way memory is handled. In May, Intel announced a next-generation memory called "Intel persistent memory."

Simply put, it is a "large-capacity RAM that does not lose data even when the power is turned off". In other words, any data that was previously stored in storage can now be stored in RAM, which can be read and written at high speed. The process of "saving data ..." is no longer necessary.

``This PC has 32GB of memory'' ``Isn't that small? (laughs) My iPhone has 128GB'' ``My memory is 2TB. Noda. Another memory notation war may occur ... .... Tech advances are fun.

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