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» Home » Equipment RAM
& ROM: What's the Difference? Can your mind calculate 10 x 20? When you thought about it, you were using your short-term memory (RAM) to utilize what you know about multiplication. ROM (Read Only Memory) is where the information is stored in your mind when you're not using it. You don't use your understanding of multiplication all the time but it's in your memory (ROM) waiting to be used like a program or document in your computer's hard drive. RAM is volatile memory which means that when the machine is turned off, the data contained in the RAM is lost. As any experienced designer knows, RAM is worth it's weight in gold (it can be just as expensive, too). To run graphics software, you'll need lots of RAM. Depending on how many files a designer has running in the background (called extensions and control panels), a Macintosh operating system can use between 12 and 40 megabytes of RAM. That's for the system to operate. Then, if he/she uses a page-layout program like QuarkXPress, they'll need another 10mb of RAM on top of that. If the project is complex, allocating more RAM will increase speed, performance and reliability. A program like Photoshop, which manipulates bitmap image files, requires much more RAM. This program requires a minimum of 18 megabytes of RAM to operate. When a color photo file (a 40mb file, for example — ROM not RAM) is opened, the program will require even more memory to run. Typically, Photoshop will require 2 – 3 times the size of the file in RAM to run effectively. So, if a system uses 10mb of RAM to operate, Photoshop wants 18mb of RAM and the designer wants to manipulate a 40mb file (which Photoshop wants to give an additional 80 – 120mb of RAM), the designer will want to have between 108 and 148 megs of RAM in a system. This is why Macintosh systems are configured to handle lots of RAM and to use it efficiently. The more RAM you have (combined with a fast processor) the faster the work a designer can do. Programs are becoming even more complex and can handle more complicated tasks. As the complexity of the programs grow, so too do RAM requirements. Time is money. When working in a program like Photoshop or on a complex QuarkXPress file, a designer will be able to work much quicker if there's enough RAM (and a fast CPU) available. Because graphic programs require so much RAM, it makes sense that one would need a lot of RAM to run several programs at the same time. It's frustrating and wasteful to have to constantly start and restart programs rather than to leave several programs running simultaneously because of a lack of RAM. When you look at these factors, the price of RAM begins to sound like a good investment. I have never heard a designer say that they regret having too much RAM. Conversely I have heard many designers lament that they don't have enough. ROM is nonvolatile memory which means that when the machine is turned off, the data contained in the ROM is not lost. In this modern design age, a designer can now layout, typeset and design a full-color brochure, from start to finish, on a single computer system. This capability comes at a price. Graphic file sizes are not small. Still, with bigger hard drives and transport media like Iomega's Zip disks, storage of these files can be pretty reasonable. I recently designed a four-color, 36-page magazine with a large amount of color photos integrated into it. I was able to transport all of the files on two zip disks for about $20. Not a bad price. As is the case with RAM, the more ROM a designer has the better. As I
mentioned, graphic files tend to be pretty big. An 8.5" x 11"
photo file can take up 40mb of space while an 8.5" x 11" page
of text only requires 11k of space. That's a ratio of over 4,000 to one.
Suffice it to say, the more hard drive space you have, the better. It
will come in very handy. Tip: Want info on Graphic Design classes near you? Visit our guide of top design schools.  Some
Links You May Find Useful
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t
certainly would have helped if these two important computer components
were not named as similarly as they are. RAM (Random Access Memory) is,
quite simply, short-term memory. If a computer were a person, RAM would
refer to the things that they could think about at the same time. 
