[APCSystems]

I think it's time to upgrade the memory on my PC. I have a Dell Dimension that came with 1GB of (2x512 Samsung?) memory. Can someone recommed me something? I'm probably going to go with 2GB. What should I look for as far as brands, and what do I need to know when shopping for memory. Should I remove my current memory completely just so all the memory will match once I put the new stuff in or is it okay to mix and match? I was looking at Corsair XMS but there's some that's $45, and some that's $200+....what's the difference? I'm not a gamer and don't do anything too crazy. I mess with photoshop but not that often. Besides that I browse and download. One thing that drives me nuts is if I'm burning a CD or DVD and trying to do other stuff my machine seems sluggish. Will more memory fix that? Please advise.

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I could tell you more if I knew a little more. What model is the Dell? Are you looking at DDR RAM or DDR2?

Mix and match is doable (I did on my previous system for a while) but your both sticks will run at the slower speed. Same if you put a faster stick then your board is rated for.

As far as brands, I've had good experience with Kingston. Good RAM for a decent price. Corsair has some really high quality RAM, but as you found out, can get rather pricey.

[jt1990]

I could tell you more if I knew a little more. What model is the Dell? Are you looking at DDR RAM or DDR2?

Mix and match is doable (I did on my previous system for a while) but your both sticks will run at the slower speed. Same if you put a faster stick then your board is rated for.

As far as brands, I've had good experience with Kingston. Good RAM for a decent price. Corsair has some really high quality RAM, but as you found out, can get rather pricey.

[APCSystems]

It's a Dimension 9100. 2.8ghz dual core. It has DDR2 RAM. I should have probably mentioned that before. Thanks.

[jt1990]

Looks like this system will take either DDR2-533 or 667. I would go with the 667 because it's almost as cheap as the 533, and it's faster. The max amount of RAM you can put in is up to 4.0 GB.

[APCSystems]

I actually knew that already. I guess I'm looking more for memory recommendations. I don't understand the whole Latency thing. I'm not sure what brands I should look for, etc. I want something good but don't want to break the bank to get it. My computer runs good, I just want it to run better.