2024-05-08 20:00:00
The industry is moving away from using the term MHz to measure RAM speed and adopting the term MT/s. The reason for this is that MHz is a measure of frequency and MT/s is a measure of data speed.
Mega transfer is a unit of data transfer rate in megabytes. One mega transfer equals one megabyte. Expressing it in seconds means greater precision when talking regarding the amount of data transferred per second.
Change in Windows Task Manager
“Task Manager” shows us how much RAM we are using. In addition, it displays other parameters such as the speed expressed in MHz. It is precisely this point that changes, since it will now be expressed in MT/s. It thus adapts to the nomenclature change that most manufacturers of this component make.
This tweak is currently only available to users of the Windows Insiders program in beta format for build 22365.3570. We currently do not know when the change will be mass distributed so that it is available to all users.
With this move, Microsoft aligns with the step taken by the industry to stop using frequency as equivalent to speed. Manufacturers choose two paths. The first is to simplify the name to “DDR5-6000” without adding devices, but this adoption is a minority. Others choose to express it as “DDR5 6000 MT/s” which is more common and correct.
So both Microsoft and RAM manufacturers dismiss frequency as synonymous with speed. Certainly, the change is necessary, since we were using an incorrect value, but one that had been established by the industry for regarding three decades.
Why was MHz used in RAM?
The use of MHz starts with the use of SDRAM memory, which was a fairly accurate way of measuring the speed of RAM. It was a synchronous transfer with the clock speed. Basically, if the RAM ran at 333 MHz, the data transfer rate was the same as the clock.
The introduction of Dual Data Rate (DDR) memory breaks the 1:1 ratio between frequency and transfer rate. Because square waves are used, the amount of data that can be transferred at the same clock speed is doubled.
Currently, 3600 MHz frequency modules refer to the amount of data RAM can transfer per second (MT/s), not the speed (MHz). In fact, when we see a frequency of 3600 MHz, we are really being told that the memory has a speed of 3600 MT/s or a frequency of 1800 MHz.
Well, now you know the difference between frequency (MHz) and transfer rate (MT/s) in RAM and why it has been misused for almost three decades.
1715213926
#Windows #show #RAM #speed #MTs
