I love computers. I marvel at how far the human race has come every time I take one apart. I find it amazing that all these bits of plastic and metal can come together to make something that can do things no man can. However, I also expect a lot from computers, and I get very impatient if they run a few seconds to slow. This is where RAM comes in.

Firstly, what is RAM?

Random Access Memory allows your computer to access any bit of data at random from what are called integrated circuits. Though certainly not cleverly named, RAM plays an enormous factor in the speed of your computer.

I just-so-happen to have a handy-dandy dead laptop laying around, so I decided to take out the RAM to show you what it looks like.

I unscrewed it, opened it up, and…

Sure enough, there they were:
there are really two of these, but I took the picture with a microscope that did not like to zoom out.

There they both are, happily sitting in their places:

I did a bit of exploring, and was not disappointed. There was a very cool little world sitting on these RAM sticks.

No wonder that computer died. It only held 256 MB (there were, of course, two of them). To put that into perspective, macbooks typically have 2 GB, or 2048 MB. However, an amazing computer has 4 GB, and the best have 8 Gigs (Slang for GB). A very big difference.

I squeezed on the little metal clasps and pulled them out.

Before you throw away your computer, always remove the RAM, they can have some cash value. Of course, the 256 MB ones, are not worth more than a few dollars, however the ones with 2+ (or maybe even 1) GB can be sold on ebay…