Access Times
     The average period of time (in nanoseconds) it takes for RAM to complete one access and begin another. Access time is composed of latency (the time it takes to initiate a request for data and prepare to access it) and transfer times.
     DRAM chips for personal computers have accessing times of 50 to 150 nanoseconds (billionths of a second). Static RAM (SRAM) has access times as low as 10 nanoseconds. Ideally, the accessing times of memory should be fast enough to keep up with the CPU. If not, the CPU will waste a certain number of clock cycles, which makes it slower.

A nanosecond (ns or nsec) is = 10-9 one billionth of a second.

Main Menu
BUG Computer Club Home Page

Valid HTML 4.01!
Last Update: 10:36 PM 6/29/01