I wouldn't say I'm a new computer user, but I'm definitely not an expert. I have a decent amount of both software and hardware experience. I've installed memory before but it's been awhile.
Just recently I purchased a Dell Dimension 4700 desktop computer. It's a P4 3.2 Ghz, 80 gig HD, ATI 128mb video card, and it has 512 MB DDR2 (PC2-4200 I believe) ram. I am wanting to upgrade my ram and I'm curious how the DDR2 works. I'd really like to gave a gig of a ram in the system and I'm pretty sure I have 4 slots total. Right now, it's configured with 2x256 DDR2 chips. Should I simply add 2 more 256MB chips or should I buy 2 512MB chips and run them side by side? I'm quite curious as to what my best bet it for getting a gig of ram that will run fast.
On a side note, does the brand of the ram make a lot of difference? I found some pretty cheap ram on ebay but then I also found more expensive ram like Corsair and Crucial. Hope someone can help, I'm looking to order ram tonight if I can find out what I should do. Feel free to e-mail me with you have experience with this and know what my best bet is. Thanks!