What does higher latency in RAM affect?

Higher latency in RAM primarily affects the speed at which the RAM can respond to commands. Latency refers to the delay between when a command is issued and when the action is completed. In the context of RAM, this means that higher latency leads to slower response times for data retrieval and processing operations. When RAM has high latency, it takes longer for the CPU to access the data it needs, which can lead to bottlenecks in overall system performance.

For example, when the CPU requests data from RAM, higher latency means that the time it takes for the RAM to deliver that data is increased. This results in the CPU having to wait longer, which can slow down the execution of programs and the overall responsiveness of the system. Therefore, RAM with lower latency can improve the speed at which applications run, making it a critical factor in performance, especially in high-performance computing scenarios.