- last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT
heheh... PRAISE JESUS!
Okay, here's the lowdown on RAM for you my friend.
Most RAM nowadays is DDR. DDR operates at different frequencies, which can complicate things... For example, PC2700 DDR runs at 333 MHz and PC32000 DDR runs at 400 MHz.
Now obviously, a higher running frequency means a faster RAM. Here's the catch - so pay attention o_0 - you can NOT mix and match RAM of different speeds.
Big No-No - as in No Way, Jose - Hasta Lasagna, don't get any on ya. It can cause damage to your mobo (probably won't happen - what will probably happen is that you won't see much of an improve as you fast RAM will be limited to the speed of your old RAM - or vice versa, and you'll overheat your old RAM and melt it into your board or ruin it...) Just... don't do it...
Seriously, though - DDR2 is a Dual Channel Memory - which means that it works by splitting the stream into two streams, thereby increasing the badwidth and decresing the latency.
Got it? Good. Now, for the kicker. You need to make sure your Motherboard will support the speed of RAM you're buying. Nothing would suck more than for you to drop $350 on a Gig of PC4200 DDR2 only to find that your Northbridge is a Via 333 chipset. Translation - You mobo only supports up to PC2700 - 333MHz. You need to check this out before you go and buy more memory.
I would say that 1 gig is plenty, and PC 2700 works for me. Before you buy a whole new set of RAM, I would see about buying more of the same stuff I already got - otherwise, you're starting from scratch.