What do I need to know before upgrading RAM??

Question

My motherboard specs list:

-Dual-channel DDRI & DDR2 memory architecture
-2 x 184-pin DDR DIMM or 2 x 240-pin DDR2 DIMM socket support up to 2 GB
- Support DDR400/333 DDR SDRAM or DDR2 533/400 DDR2 SDRAM

Is this all the information i'll need to insure the new RAM I buy will be safe for my computer?

Answer 1

yes, you need 2 ddr2 533 sdram 1gb each

Answer 2

This will be an educated guess in that I don't have the specs on your board.

It sounds like you have a board that supports both DDR and DDR2. Most of these types of boards won't support both types of ram at the same time, so if you just want to add to the ram that you have you will first need to find out which type is installed. To do this you can either physically look at the ram or you can use some software that will diagnose and report what you have . If you would like to try the software thing here are a couple of programs that work pretty well.

The Belarc Advisor.

http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html

Cpu-z

http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php

Once you have determined what you have you can purchase more of the same type.

Note: DDR2 is faster then DDR, but you will probably need to either change a BIOS setting or a jumper when you change over. Check your motherborad manual for advice and instruction.

Answer 3

Pretty much. A couple of tips. DDR2 will be faster than DDR. Most motherboards that support both types will only allow you to run 1 type at a time. For example, if you've got DDR memory in your computer now, don't expect to buy 1 stick of DDR2 and keep your existing DDR stick and it work. Another performace note is that Dual-channel motherboards perform better with 2 sticks instead of 1. For example, your computer would be faster with 2 512MB sticks (1G total) than if you just bought 1 1G stick.