Many people brag about having 8 – 16 GB RAMs but in fact very few people know what exactly it does. We generally seem to think that higher the RAM,  greater the speed. Actually, with emerging new technologies, that’s not necessarily the case. *

Like my other “how stuff works” posts, this is aims to general public and doesn’t go about specifics (mostly).

What is a RAM?

I actually want to explain this in a designers perspective (engineers rock!). Here’s a simple block diagram from my Electronics textbook. Look at it once.

When we tell storage, Hard drives come in to picture. Does this block diagram portray RAM? Just storage right? Now, I make a crappy statement that for a computer to work RAM is not needed. Say you’re a designer designing a computer. I have a processor, a hard drive, input output devices. Hard disk to read information, rotate and pin point (this is the right word) a sector and read it. Kinda like grahamaphone. Problem is that, this process is very slow. So, if I make a computer with just these components, Whatever be the processor speed, to read my information, I’m handicapped with the hard drive’s transfer speed. So, my computer will be as slow as the hard drive.

Now, you are give a brand new technology (lets call it RAM tech) whose transfer speed is super fast but they are very expensive. For commercial viability, we need cheaper goods. So, what you do is place the RAM inbetween the hard drive and the output. So, as soon as the processor dumps the processed data into your super fast RAM, the output is given to the computer screen. When you are not working with your computer, maybe to lift a dropped pen, the computer copies the output to your hard drive from your RAM. Some processes like visual rendering, don’t even do that. So, you need a lot of RAM to play games. RAM is like a buffer memory. Following is the basic idea of a cache.

With more RAM, you can dump more processed data, you can open a lot more tabs on your google chrome and still not freeze. When you exceed the RAM storage, you’re computer freezes. Freeze = hard drive speed. So, imagine a computer without RAM . So, yes, more RAM means More speed because you can hold a lot more temporary data.

* Now justifying my previous statement. Now Mr. designers gets another technology with twice the bus speed (say RAM tech2). You process some 3D model and get it on the screen. As this process is fast, the queuing of other processes will come down. So, temporary data can be deleted faster. Needing less memory to get the same experience. So, faster the bus speed means you can get your data faster so needing less memory.

Hope, I haven’t confused you. This is the difference between DDR2 and DDR3. DDR3 is almost twice as fast as DDR2. So, 2 GB DDR3 is equivalent to 4 GB DDR2. There are variants with different speeds of the same technology. DDR2 and DDR3 are not compatible with each other.

Also, there is this swap partitions. Also called as Virtual Memory in Windows. You can partition your hard drive to swap temporary data with the RAM and your Hard Drive when your RAM is running low. This helps if you want to open up a lot of tabs and applications. Though, this would not affect your graphic performance, it will stabilize your computer.

I have a lot of money, I can afford a Hard Disk sized RAM, Would that work?

At the end of the day, its memory. So, yes. Some Live environments (like Ubuntu, BartPE) use RAM as storage space. That’s why Ubuntu Live needs atleast 512 MB RAM. But obviously, you can’t live on 512 MB.

Commercially, these new age SSD (solid state drives) flash technology was used as RAM technologies 10-15 years backs. As expected, SSDs are super fast storage equipments as they have no moving parts and expensive. no wonder, MacBooks are fast!

However, RAMs aren’t ultimate. They are designed to forget stuff once you switch your PC off. So, in the end, speed comes at a cost.

All this is complicated tech. You have many types of RAMs from basic SRAMs DRAMs to high tech DDR3s. If you want to learn even more, you’ll have to go to college (I’m looking forward to that)

Go to My Computer –> Control Panel –> Realtek HD Sound Manager

Click on Audio I/O Tab –> Settings (The spanner like icon)

Here, check “Disable front panel jack detection”.

That’s it, put in your headphones, speakers into your front panel stereo port and have fun!

At first the mouse looks huge and uncomfortable (Well after using cheap logitech mouse that’s how you feel!) but once you hold and use it. It’s not all that bad.

So I ran up to my PC, installed the software,  shoved the battery in the mouse, connected the dock. The most awesome thing about this is mouse is you don’t need to change the battery! Just pull the magnetic wire from the dock and stick to the mouse.

So I connected the wire and started using it.

At first does feel big, then you get used to it. The first thing you will notice about the mouse is the grip. It has a really good grip and effective even if your hands are oily.(I have tried it! )

There are 2 buttons to access from the thumb. They’re called thumb up and thumb down. At first you clumsily click the buttons but later you will get more light at your thumb.

Even though it is wireless. I did not have any sort of lags.

Features:

• There are 12 buttons in total. In that, 7 are programmable.
• There is wheel tilt function ie the wheel moves sideways.

• 2 buttons accessed from thumb.
• A button to open intellipoint. (This button is on the top and does not interfere while using)
• A macro recording button on the left side.
• The usual: LMB, RMB, MMB
• 3 dpi switch buttons. You can choose anything in the software. Maximum is 4000dpi.
• A display screen which shows the dpi or if the charge is complete.

• It is a laser mouse. The laser is very bright and blue.
• Also the dock has changeable mouse feet. You can choose the way you want your mouse to glide. There is smooth, semi smooth and rough.

• You can use the mouse wired and wireless.
• Turn ON and OFF button at the bottom.

Pros:

• Dpi switch buttons comes in handy for FPS. Where you need different sensitivity for different weapons. Fast for SMG,  medium for assault and slow for sniper.
• The tilt functions is very useful while using the PC. You can scroll sideways and use it in games to lean.
• Marco recording is very useful if you use repeated actions in games. (Ex The complex moves in POP:Warrior Within can be recorded and performed with only one button!)
• It is very precise and lag free. Once charged it lasts about a month.
• Comfortable and comes with changeable feet.

Cons:

• The mouse doesn’t seem alright if you have small hands.
• The mouse doesn’t seem to work well on cloth surface. I have tried using in from my bed, it lags.
• Being light at your finger (esp. thumb)  helps. Initially, I used to accidentally click the thumb buttons and it caused problems. But later, got used to it.
• The scroll doesn’t feel very smooth. It slightly feels hard while scrolling.
• Only for right handers.

What if you use Blades: If you stress the processor too much, you’ll end up trashing the damn thing.

Why did it get stuck?

It is because of the thermal paste between the surfaces of the Processor and the heatsink. The air particles  in the thermal paste vacate due to the pressure applied by the heasink. Now, pulling it will be like pulling a plunger. Stronger than super glue!

Here’s the fix:

I knew that the Thermal Paste would soften with heat. Here’s an idea that worked. Yea! It’s that simple!

Hold the metal part of your Heatsink to your Iron Box. Two minutes should be enough, I guess. Now, put all your fingers (except the thumb) on one side of the processor, rest your wrist on the side of the heatsink and pull with moderate effort. Do it on all sides and it should come off the heatsink by now.

Note to self:
Next time, If you want to remove the heatsink. First, switch on your computer for about 15 mins and shut it down. Then, try to remove the processor.

Still stuck? Please, feel free to comment.