RAM: Quick Facts

Written and fact-checked by

The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last updated

Oct. 5, 2026

Facts

Also Known As	random-access memory

Photos

Close-up of a static random access memory chip mounted on a green printed circuit board.

semiconductor memory

A line graph showing the exponential increase in DRAM chip capacity from 4K bits in 1970 to 16M bits in 1990, with each new generation introduced about every three years.

See All Images →

Topics

dynamic random-access memory synchronous DRAM video random-access-memory static random access memory

Key People

default image

Jay Wright Forrester

American engineer

computer chip. computer. Hand holding computer chip. Central processing unit (CPU). history and society, science and technology, microchip, microprocessor motherboard computer Circuit Board

Computers and Technology Quiz