Microstar G52-MA00514 manual Dynamic RAM Dram Memory Technologies

Glossary

a PC chipset provides the electronic interfaces between all subsystems.

CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor)

CMOS is a widely used type of semiconductor, which features high speed and low power consumption. PCs usually contain a small amount of battery-powered CMOS memory to retain the date, time, and system setup parameters.

COM

In MS-DOS system, the name of a serial communications port. DOS supports four serial ports. For example, if a modem is connected to one serial port and a serial mouse to another, they are identified as COM1 and COM2.

DIMM (dual in-line memory module)

A small circuit board that holds memory chips. A SIMM (single in-linememory module) has a 32-bit path to the memory chips whereas a DIMM has 64-bit path.

DMA (direct memory access)

A transfer mode between the main memory and the peripheral devices that without passing through the CPU. Using the DMA controller, data is transferred much faster.

DRAM (Dynamic RAM)

A most common type of computer memory. It usually uses one transistor and a capacitor to represent a bit. As the development of technology, the memory type and specification used in computer becomes variety, such as SDRAM, DDR SDRAM, and RDRAM. For further instruction, please see the table below:

Dynamic RAM (DRAM) Memory Technologies

Type	First Used	Clock Rate	Bus* Width	Peak		Volts
				Bandwidth
FPM (60,70ns)	1990	25MHz	64 bits	200	MBps	5v
EDO (50,60,70ns)	1994	40MHz	64 bits	320	MBps	5v
SDRAM (66MHz)	1996	66MHz	64 bits	528	MBps	3.3v
SDRAM (100MHz)	1998	100MHz	64 bits	800	MBps	3.3v
SDRAM (133MHz)	1999	133MHz	64 bits	1.1 GBps		3.3v
RDRAM (Direct Rambus)	1999	400MHz	16 bits	1.6 GBps		2.5v
DDR SDRAM (100MHz)	2000	100MHz	64 bits	1.6 GBps		3.3v
DDR SDRAM (133MHz)	2000	133MHz	64 bits	2.1 GBps		3.3v

* Memory channel width (64 bits started with 75MHz Pentium)

Source: Computer Desktop Encyclopedia

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