[tcap5225]

I have a Gateway 510 series computer. It takes DDR 400 Mhz PC 3200 184 pin RAM. I currently have 512MB and want to upgrade to 1G. I opened her up and I currently have 2x256MB sticks in there. A friend of mine at work told me my computer and RAM type is new enough that I can buy 1 stick of 512MB and it will run fine, but another friend told me I need to keep it even and get 2 more 256MB sticks. I've searched on here and don't exactly know which is my case. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you in advance

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well it can depend on the motherbord and what it can support

do you no what model it is and if it can support dual channel RAM???


tropppo

[troppo]

well it can depend on the motherbord and what it can support

do you no what model it is and if it can support dual channel RAM???


tropppo

[SRX660]

MB's that support Dual Channel ram usually have 4 slots for the ram and usually the ram slots will be differently colored. If you have only 2 or 3 ram slots the Mb does not support Dual Channel. If it does not support dual channel a single stick of 1 gig of ram would work. If it does support dual channel you need to buy 2 matching 512mb sticks of ram or even 2 matching 1gig sticks of ram. i have not been able to see any difference between 1 gig and 2 gig's of ram in a computer. Maybe a gamer might see the difference but on my comuters and what i do on them i don't think windows even uses the second gig or ram.

SRX660

[tcap5225]

I have four slots with two differen't colors. Black and Gray. It goes from left to right, black, gray, black, gray. The 256 sticks are in the black slots. I want 1Gig of RAM total including what I already have.

[stettybet0]

Well, I would recommend getting two matching 512mb sticks and taking out the two 256mb sticks, because by maxing out your RAM slots and only having 1gig, that doesn't give you much upgrade ability in the future. This way, you have the 1gig you want, and can upgrade to 2gig in the future, without having to replace any sticks. (I don't recommend keeping in the two 256mb sticks, because most dual channel mobos will get angry that you are using two different types of RAM)

If you really want to get two 256mb sticks, you should get two exactly identical to the two you already have.

But a pack of 2x256mb sticks of Corsair ValueSelect are $51.99.

And a pack of 2x512mb sticks of Corsair ValueSelect are $97.99.

Now would it be more cost effective to buy the 2x256mb sticks and have to replace them a few months down the road (for Vista and pretty much any game made in the future, etc.) with the 2x512mb sticks or to just buy the 2x512mb sticks in the first place?

[troppo]

and also if all of the RAM slots are maxed out then your computers FSB speed can lower from lets say 800mhz to around 760 or lower

its better just to buy 2 512 sticks and place them in the same slots as your other 2 256's

troppo

[HPDV8315LOVER]

I recommend buying just 1 gig with 1 stick. That way you have more space to upgrade more ram.

[troppo]

if you buy only one stick of 1 gb RAM then you wont be able to run in dual channel mode and would be missing out on half of the bandwidth

get 2 512 sticks and put them in both the black slots

troppo