Go over to crucial.com and run the scanner, it will tell you exactly what you need. You can then use that info to buy what you want where you want orf you can buy from them. Crucial is not always the most economic choice though. They have a downloadable version of their scanner for non activex browsers like Firefox or Opera.
John,
Tommy is correct....www.crucial.com has been touted as a godsend by people who needed to know how (and with what) to upgrade their RAM.
Thanks, Tommy....
Pete
And it's not advisable to install any RAM that your computer manufacturer doesn't recommend.
IOW, if your machine calls for 533 DON'T install 800 unless you know for a fact from the computer manufacturer that installing 800 will not harm your machine.
Also, if your machine will only take 1 GB of RAM, it's not a good idea to spend the money and install 2 GB and it could actually harm your machine.
Yup, crucial.com...highly recommend it. Write down or print out the recommendations and either search the web or head to your local computer store.
Hi John -
Happy our "go to guys" went and gave you the answers you needed, there is just no end to what these guys know.
Thanks for the answers!
Debbie
Hi John, I don't really believe you need more RAM. There is something else holding up your download speed. If you can get to your communications ports settings, make sure the bits per second is set to at least 115,000 or128,000. All computers are shipped with the setting at 9,600 bits per second. Then go to pcpitstop.com and run a diagnostic of your computer. After the test they will even give you tips to fix different problems. Dino22
Thanks to all for the info. Dino22, I upped my download speed to 15200 and my downloads improved considerably. I ran the pcpitstop diagnostics and they suggested some improvements, but I have to subscribe to their program to make it happen and I'm considering it. Is it worth the $29.95 they want or is this another piece of software that will occupy space on my hard drive? Again, thanks for the help. It's nice to know there is a place to get help. I started computing in 1984 but still have my moments of complete confusion.
You do not need to pay for that diagnostic software. There are some free ones that can do the same thing.
I'll try and find a link for you.
While I don't think it has a damn thing to do with your download speed. More RAM is always nice on a MS machine. Because it is a resourcse hog. Any RAM you buy will have to be 533 Mhz Front Side Bus (FSB). As that is what your MoBo is clocked at. You can buy matching 1 Gb 533 Mhz FSB DDR2 SDRAMM DIMMS from Crucial, Kingston, Corsair etc. Check out Newegg.com they have some really good deals on RAM. So does Frys.com those are the two cheapest, reputable places online that I can think of right off the top of my head.
Your board should be able to take atleast 2 Gb of RAM. Win98 can't use more than 750 Mb of RAM. WinXP can't use more than 2 Gb and Vista depending on the version can only see 3 or 4 Gb.
Mac's will use 4 Gb
Linux- 24+ Gb
Kirk is right.
Still if you want to stay with windows XP, you could get Windows XP 64Bit.
That OS can read a higher amount of ram.
I'm not sure if it's 4GIG or not.
Here is one of the things that might help you. This COULD speed up your machine, but not by much.
view linkThere's more but I have not found it yet.
