[Rik111]

I'm not really familiar with the inner workings, so to speak, so i'm looking for some input first

I have a Compaq (desktop) i bought a couple years back, and I want to upgrade its ram and/or harddrive (motherboard, too if need be, but we'll get to that)

This program i downloaded called SIW by Gabriel Topala is telling me a few things... first that I have PC3200 ram. I think I get that much. THEN it says I have 4 slots, and i'm using 1024 ram. 2048 maximum capacity. Does that mean I can only buy 2 more 512 sticks? or can I do 4 2 gig sticks? I want to upgrade to 4 gigs... but I'm not sure if i can.

Also, I'm looking into a new harddrive. My 150 gb isn't doing the job anymore, so I was looking into a 750 gb one. Would that be compatible?

Thanks in advance,
Rik

PS- Where is the best place/manufacturer to get the best bang for your buck when it comes to ram?

Edited by Rik111, 17 August 2008 - 01:47 PM.

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If you're board will only support 2 GB, then no, you can't upgrade to 4. You could also put in 1 1GB stick, if you wanted, instead of 2 512MB sticks. About the hard drive... It depends on if your current hard drive is SATA or IDE, or (if it's IDE) if your board supports SATA. SATA (Serial ATA) is much faster then IDE (Don't remember what this stands for right off the top of my head,) but if your comp is a couple years old, it might not support SATA. Anyway, where I was going with that is this: I *highly* doubt that you'll get a 750 GB drive that is IDE, so if you're going to go that big, you'll definitely want to go SATA.

About manufacturers... I know a lot of people like newegg for their computer parts. I personally have never used newegg, but thats because I have a national distributer for my business.

[jt1990]

If you're board will only support 2 GB, then no, you can't upgrade to 4. You could also put in 1 1GB stick, if you wanted, instead of 2 512MB sticks. About the hard drive... It depends on if your current hard drive is SATA or IDE, or (if it's IDE) if your board supports SATA. SATA (Serial ATA) is much faster then IDE (Don't remember what this stands for right off the top of my head,) but if your comp is a couple years old, it might not support SATA. Anyway, where I was going with that is this: I *highly* doubt that you'll get a 750 GB drive that is IDE, so if you're going to go that big, you'll definitely want to go SATA.

About manufacturers... I know a lot of people like newegg for their computer parts. I personally have never used newegg, but thats because I have a national distributer for my business.

[Rik111]

it says it supports AT/AT... is that the same thing?

[kamille316]

For the RAM, get a second opinion in www.crucial.com and see if you get the same results on which RAM your computer can support and the max it can support.

EDIT: Changed reply about ATA.

Edited by kamille316, 18 August 2008 - 01:06 PM.

[stettybet0]

You probably cannot use a 1GB stick as jt1990 suggested. Since your system supports a maximum of 2GB using 4 memory slots, this means the maximum density for any particular slot is most likely 512MB. So, if you are looking to maximize the amount of RAM on your system, you would be best off buying two 512MB modules.

I also have never heard of AT/AT as a hard drive type, and neither has Google. Judging from the age of the machine, it most likely only supports ATA (also known as PATA or IDE). This brings me to my next point. ATA and SATA are not the same.

ATA (aka PATA or IDE) uses connectors looking like this:
http://images.tomsha...ide_w_cable.jpg

SATA uses connectors looking like this:
http://images.tomsha...es_101/sata.jpg

Perhaps you could open up your computer and verify what connectors your machine has.

Edited by stettybet0, 18 August 2008 - 03:17 PM.

[kamille316]

I also have never heard of AT/AT as a hard drive type, and neither has Google. Judging from the age of the machine, it most likely only supports ATA (also known as PATA or IDE). This brings me to my next point. ATA and SATA are not the same.

Oh my bad, I will change my previous post to avoid confusion.

Edited by kamille316, 18 August 2008 - 01:06 PM.

[CrazyIvan007]

Check your Board for max-RAM-type supported as well. Being a couple years old, I am guessing it will only support a maximum RAM of PC3200.

While you can use a 1GB stick of PC3200, you CANNOT use a 1GB stick of PC5400, PC8000, etc...

So take that into consideration.



As far as a Hard Drive:

You probably only have ATA/IDE ability on your board. You may have SATA-100. But, I DOUBT you have SATA-300. Check that out and take it into consideration when buying a new hard drive.

Lastly, if you want to ADD the hard drive to your existing one so you will have 2, be sure your Power Supply can support 2 hard drives. Being a pre-boxed computer, they usually build them with minimal requirements and don't offer much room for upgrades.

[stettybet0]

Check your Board for max-RAM-type supported as well. Being a couple years old, I am guessing it will only support a maximum RAM of PC3200.

You are guessing? Or you read that the original poster stated this.

While you can use a 1GB stick of PC3200, you CANNOT use a 1GB stick of PC5400, PC8000, etc...

As I said in my last post, getting 1GB sticks is not a good idea. Your system can most likely only support 512MB per memory slot. Don't worry about getting PC5400 or PC8000, as neither exist. PC3200 is the highest speed of DDR RAM, so as long as you stick with DDR RAM, you will be okay. Of course, you want to get PC3200 as it is the fastest, but any speed would work.

You probably only have ATA/IDE ability on your board. You may have SATA-100. But, I DOUBT you have SATA-300. Check that out and take it into consideration when buying a new hard drive.

SATA-100 also doesn't exist. We are still waiting for the original poster to respond with what type of hard drive they have. As I stated, it is most likely ATA. If it is SATA, then it would probably only be SATA/150. However, a SATA/300 drive would work fine on a motherboard that only supports SATA/150, but it would only operate at SATA/150 speed. This is not a big issue, as most SATA hard drives barely saturate the SATA/150 link.

[CrazyIvan007]

Check your Board for max-RAM-type supported as well. Being a couple years old, I am guessing it will only support a maximum RAM of PC3200.

You are guessing? Or you read that the original poster stated this.

While you can use a 1GB stick of PC3200, you CANNOT use a 1GB stick of PC5400, PC8000, etc...

As I said in my last post, getting 1GB sticks is not a good idea. Your system can most likely only support 512MB per memory slot. Don't worry about getting PC5400 or PC8000, as neither exist. PC3200 is the highest speed of DDR RAM, so as long as you stick with DDR RAM, you will be okay. Of course, you want to get PC3200 as it is the fastest, but any speed would work.

You probably only have ATA/IDE ability on your board. You may have SATA-100. But, I DOUBT you have SATA-300. Check that out and take it into consideration when buying a new hard drive.

SATA-100 also doesn't exist. We are still waiting for the original poster to respond with what type of hard drive they have. As I stated, it is most likely ATA. If it is SATA, then it would probably only be SATA/150. However, a SATA/300 drive would work fine on a motherboard that only supports SATA/150, but it would only operate at SATA/150 speed. This is not a big issue, as most SATA hard drives barely saturate the SATA/150 link.

Jeeze dude...yur bustin my balls here...

He never said it only uses DDR. I am not stupid, and I know PC8000 does not exist in DDR...

Ur like that geeky dude who works in IT and pretends to control everyone's world in the office, and runs around fixing problems, acting like it is Top Secret what you do, right? Do you actually help people on this site, or do you just wait to make posts of how superior you are?

Now, where is that ignore button?

Edited by CrazyIvan007, 22 August 2008 - 11:30 PM.

[Troy]

Jeeze dude...yur bustin my balls here...

He never said it only uses DDR. I am not stupid, and I know PC8000 does not exist in DDR...

Ur like that geeky dude who works in IT and pretends to control everyone's world in the office, and runs around fixing problems, acting like it is Top Secret what you do, right? Do you actually help people on this site, or do you just wait to make posts of how superior you are?

Now, where is that ignore button?

Hi there CrazyIvan007,

Being a few years old, and the fact the OP has already run a scan and received a result, it's highly unlikely this computer will support both DDR and DDR2... Nobody is accusing you of being stupid. If you know PC8000 does not exist in DDR, then you should know that technically it does not exist at all. PC2-8000 does exist, with the 2 indicating DDR2.

Whether or not you understand all this, or even the OP, is not the point. There may be some members (or even guests) who eventually read this thread, who have absolutely no clue about RAM, and are looking for helpful information. Therefore, it's up to everyone, at all times, to post as helpful and technically correct information as possible. As a Tech Apprentice at this site, I am in the same boat as stettybet0 - we are being watched by the forum moderators to ensure our technical ability is top-notch, and, pending approval, we eventually will be offered a Tech Staff position. It is imperative that anybody in a high-level position is always technically correct.

All this talk about whether or not a 1GB module will be compatible in this motherboard is quite easily achieved - we just need some more information.

Quite simply, from another person's perspective, stettybet0 has been quite helpful so far in this thread. I also liked your point about the PSU, this is a common problem from OEM desktops, I've experienced this myself before.

And I don't know exactly what you intend to achieve by posting that question last, but you'll find the ignore controls here.

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To the OP, can you please post the Make and Model of your desktop computer (you said Compaq in post 1)? From this, we should be able to find out all information needed.

Cheers

Troy