[James Settle]

Read only memory is what it says, it is a type of non-volatile memory on the motherboard of the computer that can only be read, as what is stored on the ROM is already written from the manufacturer. It houses essential instructions and data even when the PC is off and cannot be overwritten.

RAM, or random-access memory on the other hand is your temporary storage memory which is used by the operating system and various applications so information can be processed via the CPU. It can be written to and overwritten as this memory is not permanently fixed to the motherboard, and unlike ROM, RAM modules are interchangeable and upgradable on the motherboard. There are various RAM modules such as SIMM, DIMM, SODIMM, RIMM, and NIC.

ROM is non-volatile meaning the data is not affected by the removal of power. Although it is slower, it is permanent, providing long-term memory storage even without power. RAM is volatile memory; it is quick and fast but is also temporary and does not retain data storage once powered off.