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 rate.
Megatransfer is a unit of data transmission speed in megabytes. One megatransfer is equal to one megabyte. Expressing it in seconds means greater precision when talking about the amount of data that is transferred per second.
Change in Windows Task Manager
The “Task Manager” shows us the amount of RAM we are using. Additionally, it shows other parameters such as the speed expressed in MHz. Precisely, it is 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 are making.
This adjustment is currently only available to users of the Windows Insiders program in beta format for build 22365.3570. We do not know, at the moment, when the change will be distributed en masse so that it is accessible to all users.
With this movement, Microsoft adapts to the step taken by the industry to stop using frequency as equivalent to speed. Manufacturers are choosing two paths. The first is to simplify the name to “DDR5-6000” without adding units, but this adoption is a minority. Others choose to express it as “DDR5 6,000 MT/s” which is more common and correct.
So, both Microsoft and RAM manufacturers are banishing frequency as synonymous with speed. Certainly, the change is necessary, since we used an incorrect value, but one that had been established by the industry for about three decades.
Why were MHz being used in RAM?
The use of MHz starts with the use of SDRAM memory, which was a fairly correct way to measure the speed of RAM. There was a synchronous transfer with the clock speed. Basically, if the RAM ran at 333 MHz, the data transfer speed was the same as the clock.
The introduction of Dual Data Rate (DDR) memory breaks the 1:1 relationship between frequency and transfer speed. Because square waves are used, the amount of data that can be transferred at the same clock speed is doubled.
Currently, 3,600 MHz frequency modules refer to the amount of data the RAM can transfer per second (MT/s) not the speed (MHz). Actually, when we see a frequency of 3,600 MHz, we are really being told that the memory has a speed of 3,600 MT/s or a frequency of 1,800 MHz.
Well, now you know the difference between frequency (MHz) and transfer speed (MT/s) in RAM and why it has been misused for nearly three decades.
