RAM- Random Access Memory

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Wikipedia describes RAM as the type of storage on a computer that allows data to be accessed randomly, meaning that it doesn’t matter where the data is stored physically or it to be pulled up quickly. Wikipedia also notes that RAM is a volatile memory, which means that once the power is switched off, the data is erased.

How Stuff works notes that RAM is the most common type of computer memory. The site explains that RAM uses the intersection of horizontal and vertical cells in the Random Access Memory to determine where data is saved. The opposite of RAM is serial access memory (SAM); data has to be accessed sequentially- looking cell by cell to locate the requested data.

Wise Geek explains that RAM stores the most frequently used and accessed files where they can be quickly and easily retrieved so that these processed can be performed faster. Wise Geek also notes that RAM needs a continuous source of power to retain data, and that once power is cut, all data is moved from the RAM to a permanent memory location like the hard drive or flash drive.

	PNY	ATI	NVIDIA
Model	GeForce 6200	RADEON HD2400 Pro	GeForce 8400 GS
Video Memory	512 MB	512 MB	512 MB DDR2, 1GB TurboCache
Interface Slot Type	PCI Express x16	AGP	PCI Express
Type of Processor	NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX OC	ATI RADEON HD2400 Pro	NVIDIA GeForce 8400 GS
Maximum 2D Resolution	Up to 2560 x 1600	Up to 2560 x 1600	1920 x 1200
Maximum 3D Resolution	Up to 2560 x 1600	Up to 2560 x 1600	Up to 2048 x 1536
TV-Out?	Yes	Yes	Yes
DVD Decoding?	Yes	Yes	Yes
Parts Warranty	5 Years	Lifetime	2 Years
Labor Warranty	5 Years	Lifetime	2 Years
Price	$119.99	$109.99	$59.99

Based on my research, the video card that would buy would be the ATI Radeon HD2400 Pro. I do not know a lot about video cards, so I looked at things like memory, resolution, price, and warranty as the features most important to me. Although the NVIDA card had a high TurboCache memory, at 1GB, it had lower resolution for both 2-D and 3-D graphics than the PNY and ATI cards. Between the PNY and ATI cards, which had the same resolution and memory, I chose the ATI card. I chose this card because it was a lower price, $109.99 instead of $119.99, and it had a lifetime warrant, whereas the PNY card only had a 5 year warranty.