RAM, or Random Access Memory, is another component on the motherboard. RAM is the "chalkboard" of the PC. Anything the CPU needs to use must be on the chalkboard.

What happens if the CPU needs a piece of information that is not written on the chalkboard or stored in RAM? The CPU must stop processing and retrieve the needed information from the appropriate source.

RAM is also measured in bytes. The approximate equivalents are shown below:
kilobyte (1 K)one thousand bytes
megabyte (1 MB)one million bytes
gigabyte (1 GB)one billion bytes

PCs today require a minimum of 8 MB of RAM to run most software. However, 16 MB or even 32 MB is a better choice. In short, the more RAM, the better!