I need some good cheap RAM
 

looking to upgrade to at least 4gigs.. i have 4 slots open... wheres the good deals at these days?

Newegg.com
Tigerdirect.com

Pricewatch.com still works great for finding cheap stuff.

- Justin

I like corsair's website they make it really easy to find the correct ram for your computer and what is recommended so you don't over do it. They also guarantee it to fit and I think have free shipping, at least go there find out what kind you need and buy it on newegg :)

Crucial.com is good too.

Just remember to get the full effect of 4+ gigs of ram, you need a 64 bit os.

ill be the first to admit i know nothing about computer hardware, i just know i have 1 gig of ddr2 pc2-3200, and i know absolutely nothing about what those numbers mean... i just know i have 2 slots of 512 in there lol... if anyone can cliff note me on ram that would be great

and 89, how do i figure out what i have?... im assuming its 32 since its an xp build from 06

Arguable thing whether 32bit supports 3 or 4 gigs of ram. I've always had 4gigs in my 32 bit systems and it recognized and used all of it. It is true that windows its self cant make use of more than 3gigs but that doesnt mean that a heavy program wont use the 4th gig while windows utilizes the other 3.

Yes squirrel thats a 32 bit OS.

Take a look at OCZ ram on newegg. Theyre an up and coming company that I tried out on my desktop build with ddr3 and I think they make some good stuff. I have 8 gigs of DDR3 1333 clocked down to 1000 with jumped timing, copper tube heatsinks. Very cool looking stuff I never use.

Theyre very reasonably priced too. Just make sure you get ram thats all matched timing and speed.

Yeah OCZ FTW, I'm running their Reaper series, good stuff.

follow up question... do i have to stay with ddr2 pc-2 3200?

This isn't true at all. 32 bit systems have 32 bits of addressable memory space. That memory space first gets allocated by the Windows kernel to hardware registers and cache such as graphics cards / hard drives, then the remaining chunk becomes addressable to your RAM. It's limited by the OS, not by your application. If your application requires more than 4GB the OS will virtualize further storage into your system swap or page file.

EDIT: There's also nothing arguable about it, 32 bit systems support 4GB of RAM

look up your motherboard specifications and you will find your answer

so im shopping right now, how would i do this?

nevermind, got it
"Each memory slot can hold DDR2 PC2-5300, DDR2 PC2-6400 with a maximum of 1GB per slot.* "

edit2: are there any companies i should def. stray away from?

Wintec makes really nice stuff for the money, if you want inexpensive.

I usually look for a product on Newegg and then find it on Amazon so I dont have to pay sales tax or shipping. Newegg is in NJ too so you have to pay tax, :-?

I didn't read the whole thread but here is what you can do;
1) Upgrade your OS, any 32-bit system can use up to 3.95 gigs of ram and a 64 bit system can support much more, depending on which one.
2) For deals check techbargains.com and the best site I use is newegg.com but they will charge you tax (we are in NJ and so are they)
3) Look at what your MB can support and get the best, just realize you can't mix and match, if you want to reuse your old sticks buy the same if not you can buy all new ones.

that's about it, if you have a specific question let me know!

1. this is an old xp box so i wont be upgrading my mobo so im gonna stick with 32 bit
2. will do
3. i got 4 slots, and "Each memory slot can hold DDR2 PC2-5300, DDR2 PC2-6400 with a maximum of 1GB per slot.* "

just bought this
Crucial / 1GB / 240-pin DIMM / DDR2 PC2-5300 X2

just make sure you can use 240 pin ram. as for upgrading your OS all you need to do is see if your prossesor or mobo is compatible.

There is a 64-bit version of XP too.

No really? :rofl:

check out microcenter.com and dealextreme.com , some good sites as well.

Beat me to it, Ryan!

See I've always thought that but I remember reading somewhere an article that was something along the lines of "32 bit system, really only good for 3gigs of ram".

Which is a good idea to steer clear of. It has no software support, practically everything runs in 32bit mode on it anyway therefor defeating the purpose of it.