Question about RAM

[myles]

So, I got $250 for my birthday!:speakcool:

I decided I want to spend some of it on RAM and an external hard drive (my current Hard drive is only around 18GB)

However, after reading through the internet and searching eBay, I am CONFUSED! There seems to be so many different types of RAM, and I'm not sure which one to buy! I realize some are different quality, but should each type of RAM fit into the same type of slot on my computer? Or does each computer only hold one type of RAM?

I have a Pentium 4, with Windows XP, from around 2002.

Thanks,
Myles

 

[Zatnikitelman]

What you need to do is find the mother board manufactuer and type. Then use their website to try to find what type of RAM it supports, and how much.

 

[joeybigO]

Let me see if I hear you right....

Do you need some RAM?????
I think they are less than 250 too... what a bargain.

 

[Quick_Nick]

Well first of all, if your computer is from 2002, you probably need DDR(NOT DDR2) RAM. I don't know what other little parameters RAM normally has that you need to worry about, but be aware that you can only upgrade by so much. (I think the limit may be 2GB total) Another option would be to wait for your next birthday (or another time of good money ) and get a new computer! Just ajusting RAM won't have near as much effect as upgrading processor too.

 

[myles]

Quick Nick, I'm trying to get a job!!! Once I finally get one, I will wait a few months and get a supercomputer!!! But in the mean time, I figured out that I have 2 (already filled) slots of DDR-SDRAM. One is 512MB, and one is 128MB. I heard that it's best to have equal sizes, correct? I think I found some really good deals (we payed about $100-$150 for 512MB RAM a few years ago, ripoff?), I just want to be sure I buy the right ones!

Thanks,
Myles

 

[thomasantony]

Buy a P35 mobo + E7200 processor . And some DDR2 RAM if possible.

 

[myles]

Hi, I just got a 500 GB external hard drive!

My new question: Do I even need to buy RAM anymore?

The reason is that If you go to Control Panel and click System (or Windows key+Pause Break), and click advanced, performance settings, advanced, virtual memory, you can set extra disk space as RAM. However, I'm not really noticing a difference after starting my computer, and it only lets me do 4096MB. Is there a way to make this actually work or do I need RAM?

Thanks,
Myles

 

[MAPitard]

The hard drive is much slower then actual RAM, so it wont be too helpful.