I have a RAM question?

Question

Currently, I have 1 GB of RAM, and I find that crap worthy. I have 2 old 256 MB RAM sticks laying around. Can I just install those 2 and have 1.5 GB of RAM? Will It work? Will It make my PC better? I just made a custom gaming computer that slows down every once and a while, and I want to know whether the extra rAM will work or not.


If anyone asks:

-specs-

Intel Pentium D processor
x2 ATI Radeon 256 MB x1300 (CrossFire config.)
Antec 500w PSU
DVD x12 speed
CD x16 speed
Blu-Ray x2 speed (hurrah!)
1.2 TB storage memory
Sony TV Tuner card

Answer 1

This is a quote from your 'Can your PC beat mine?' question.

"Over clocked Intel Pentium Extreme Processor at 4.26 Ghz
3 x Nvidia SLI 7900 gs with 1.86 GB of video memory
3 x DVI out
3 x S-Video out
1 x HDMI (1080p capable)
2.5 TB of storage
8 GB RAM
1 GB DDR
Blu-Ray x2 speed optical drive
DVD x12 speed
CD x16 speed
12 x USB 2.0 ports
Liquid cooled CPU
4 x Liquid cooled GPU
7.1 surround sound
1.3 kw power supply shared by internal and external bricks.
all hooked up to a Monster power supply and a 60 inch Sony SXRD.

My rig kills 360 and PS3 combined! "

So what was all that then? I figured you were lying based on how none of this even makes sense but I willl still answer your question. You should be able to add those extra sticks of RAM with no problem. make sure you have the sticks in the right configuration though. Even if it does work, the higher quality RAM with the fastest, tightest timings will downclock to the lower quality, probably your 2 sticks of 256 MB. n other words, doing this, even though it may work may actually decrease system performance. I would recommend getting more of the same 2 x 512MB sticks you already have if you really want to see a difference. And if everything worled out perfectly you still won't see that big of a performance gain whether it's 1 GB to 2 GB or even "8 GB". 1 GB of RAM is still considered a decent size even these days. I still find it crazy/unbelieveable that you have 2x Blu-Ray drives considering the cheapest one I've seen is $700 and a single BLu-Ray disc is $15. Why you would spend 2x $700 on drives that don't have much support yet and buy 2 X1300's for crossfire is beyond me. a single X1300 is a waste of money for gaming or anything. You'd have been better off not buying Bluray at all getting 2 GB of RAM from the start and buying one or 2 X1900xt's, gotten a better processor and still saved money. You can even try overclocking your spu on the motherboard you still have failed to mention. If you want to email me pics, I'd be happy to see it. If you need help overclocking ask and I'll be glad to direct you to a plethorah of info on it.

Answer 2

The most important specification, that you left out, is the make and model and revision level of the main board everything is attached to, into which you will be inserting the RAM!!!

DANGER is that the "2 old RAM sticks, laying around" will blow up your nice gaming machine, because they aren't in static proof sealed packages, you probably have been handling them without ESD protection.

If you can afford to replace the total batch of equipment, and you wear an anti static strap, then, you might try the sticks one at a time, powering down, to remove and install them.

But, the entire RAM stack runs at the speed of the SLOWEST stick! So, if they are even compatible, would it be worth the effort?

I would test the memory in one of my old machines that I can afford to explode.

Answer to Question #2 - Machine slows down...

Microsoft is of course what you are running, because of the 821 Operating Systems out there, most of which are FREE for the DL at http://livecdlist.com and http://distrowatch.com ,
ONLY Microsoft has the background 'housekeeping' prioritized to interrupt and stall the User processes, in order to 'phone home' and report all your keystrokes, latest download URLs, etc.

No amount of memory will 'fix' that Microsoft chaos. Get used to it in your gaming.

Answer 3

What happened to the one you had the other night? Anyway, it would depend on what type of RAM the old stuff is, and if you have any slots available.

Your problem however might be the fact that you spent all that money on hard drives and that stupid Blu-Ray burner, but put in two crappy video cards and an outdated processor.

Answer 4

That's average for 32-bit models of Windows computing device working strategies. You can lose at any place from 256MB to 1GB seeing that of the the have to reserve cope with house for reminiscence-mapped I/O instruments. A sixty four-bit variant of Windows do not need this main issue, or a 32-bit variant of Windows that helps PAE (bodily cope with extension) When you begin the laptop, the BIOS will have to effectively become aware of all 4GB or RAM.

Answer 5

A gig of RAM should be plenty. Adding sticks of RAM would theoretically never hurt, but mixing RAM sizes and brands sometimes doesnt give the performance that it should. More likely the cause is your video card. Lots of newer games have 256MB cards as the lower limit.

Answer 6

I think mixing of RAMs may not work. You can increase the RAM capacity if your computer mother board has the provision. I can give you a link that deals with hard drive problems. Some RAM/hard drive problems can be easily fixed yourself by using easily available tools. I found the info at http://fixit.in useful. Try this site, if you can get what is required.

Answer 7

In order for this to work you should have 2 more empty memory slots in your mainbord, and your old memory cards to be of the same type!

Also in memory chips, apart from the capacity, important is the clock speed. If your old memory is of smaller clock speed than the new one, then your new memory would function in the lower speed, thus making your system slower overall!!

Answer 8

Yes, its work and its will making your PC better
IF you have extra slots and they are the same Bus speed