Memory Speed, Access And Timing

This section describes the details on how the system memory works. This includes the particulars of how memory is accessed and important issues related to system timing. The speed of the system memory is also very important because it is a contributing factor to overall performance.There are many different aspects that influence the real-world speed of memory.

The  Memory Controller 

 Every computer has within it a hardware logic circuit called the memory controller. This is the part of the system that, well, controls the memory. It generates the necessary signals to control the reading and writing of information from and to the memory, and interfaces the memory with the other major parts of the system. The memory controller is normally integrated into the system chip set.

Memory Access and Access Time

When memory is read or written, this is called a memory access. A specific procedure is is used to control each access to memory, which consists of having the memory controller generate the correct signals to specify which memory location needs to be accessed and then having the data show up on the data bus to be read by the processor or whatever other device requested it.  79