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Buying more RAM

johnjohn320

johnjohn320

Diamond Member
Time for a stupid newbie question: I want more RAM. I often hear people talking about buying more RAM, but I'm not sure how this works. Do you obtain more RAM by buying a new video/3d card? Or do you just buy RAM in itself? I know you're probably laughing your ass off now at how ignorant I am, but ah well.
 
Ram is a little chip that looks kinda like This. It plugs into a slot on your motherboard (the big circut board inside your computer) it looks like This. In this picture the RAM slots are labled something like 168-pin SDRAM, they are the black slots that run perpendicular on the board. Ram (and the slots they go in on the motherboard) come in different sizes and you first need to find the size that fits in your computer. If you computer is a couple years old, it will probably have shorter slots for shorter RAM. The documentation that came with your computer should tell you. Then buy some and plug it into the motherboard and if you are lucky you are good to go. Good Luck.
 
johnjohn320, the forum is here to help you so don't worry about what other people think about your question. They were once newbies too.
As to your quiery, you just buy more RAM (how much depends on you). No need to change your videocard which has its own memory,some cards having more than others!
 
So, can you add it to the RAM i already have? See, I have 96 Megs of Ram right now. I'm looking to upgrade to 128. Would I buy something that is 128 Megs by itself and replace what I have now? Or, could I buy an additional 32 Megs and add them up? Thanks.


p.s. It's funny how much I know about software and how litte I know about hardware.
 
johnjohn320, lol, you're like my best friend (check my sig- freejavahelp guy) except he learned, relatively speaking, a lot about hardware when he watched me build his computer and figure out what I wanted to put in it for him. 😛

Well, making the assumption that whoever built your computer used a 64MB DIMM and a 32MB DIMM to make 96MB, you should have at least one more slot for another 32MB. Unless of course you have three 32MB sticks, which is unlikely- in which case you would have to check what motherboard you have and find out whether you have 3 or 4 DIMM slots on your motherboard. I am assuming they are DIMM slots because you seem to be a programmer (your signiture) in which case you wouldn't have an outdated computer. 🙂

Anyway, could you maybe give us some specs on your system?
 
It might be a good start to list out your current PC specs. Then maybe we can go from there, on what type of RAM to buy, etc...
 
Sup johnjohn, with the release of DDR RAM, SDR RAM prices have plumeted...you might as well get a new 128MB stick, and up your RAM to 224 MB, it would only cost you like $30 or $40.
 
With the current prices opf ram, i'd see no reason not to splurge out and get a 256MB dimm and leave your other 2 dimms where they are. Leaving you with 352MB ram.
 
Ah crap, *sheepish tone here* I can't remember what motherboard I have, and I *cough, hack sputter* don't know how to check. Directions? Hehe thanks guys.
 
*cough, hack, sputter* check the manual silly. 😉

If you can't find/don't have the manual, then ask whoever built your computer- unless it was you, in which case don't waste the time because I don't think he knows. 😉 hehe
 
You can probably also look on the board and figure out what board it is. If im not mistake most manufacurers have a little sticker or something on the motherboard. Sometimes a sticker on the last (bottom) ISA/PCI slot.

 
Yeah, many manufacturers print the name of the board somewhere on its face. It's probably not too important, though. Tell us what processor (Pentium, PII, PIII, Celeron) you have and its speed, and we can tell you what kind of RAM to buy. Also, tell us how many (if any) RAM slots you have left. Don't be too worried about this type of upgrade, once you know what type you need, it is very easy to install and you rarely need to change any settings or anything to make it work. It usually just boots up with it, no problem.
 
I love these boards, I get so many replies so quickly. 🙂 Anyway, I downloaded SiSoft Sandra cause good ol' Deeko over there told me it tells you all this junk about your computer. There's an icon labled "Mainboard Info" but it's greek to me. Do you guys want me to type out everything that is says? Or should I not waste the time (I cant copy and paste from it).

Anyway, here's everything I DO know for sure:

Gateway
Pentium II-450
RIVA TNT 3D card
SB AudioPCI 64D Record sound card
96 Megs of RAM

Unfortunately, I'm a pussy, and my computer was built by the technicians at Gateway. This is actually a family computer, so I can't open up the case (my dad won't let me). Ah, let the snickers commence. Hehe.
 
By the way, if any of you would be willing to send me $4,000 or so, I'd be happy to go get my own computer, and then I can open it up and check all this stuff.🙂
 
So basically, do I have to open up my computer's case, and look for whatever you guys tell me to in order to find out how many slots I have left?
 
Well, when you get the ram you will either have to open it or a "technician" will have to.

If you do it, it isnt that hard. Its like a puzzle... It will only fit one way and all others will not work.

You just aline the notches on the ram to the ones on the board (make sure that the to white tabs on the end are up.
Then just push it in until it "locks" and its in.

Other can probably explain this better than I, oh and i will post a pic(close up) of a motherboard so you can see what the ram slots look like.

 
I was thinkin, i think it takes PC100 RAM...it's a PII, and it's a 450, putting those two together...I come up with PC100 SDR RAM. That's if no one else already said it and i missed it 🙂
 
What's the difference between all these types of RAM (SDRAM, DDRAM, I've heard a million), and which should I get? How do I know what I already have? By the way, according to SiSoft Sandra, here's my mainboard info (it calls it mainboard, which I'm assuming is my motherboard:

System Chipset: Intel Corporation 82443BX/ZX 440BX/ZX
Front Side Bus Speed: 100MHz
ACPI PM Support: Yes
SMBus/i2c Support: Yes

There's about a million other things, so tell me what else you need if anything. Oh, I think I just found what you guys were talking about🙂:

Logical/Chipset Memory Banks
Bank 0 Setting: 16MB SDRAM 8-1-1-1R 6-1-1-1W
Bank 1 Setting: 16MB SDRAM 8-1-1-1R 6-1-1-1W
Bank 2 Setting: 64MB SDRAM 8-1-1-1R 6-1-1-1W
Memory Bus Speed: 100MHz

Talk to me.😉
 
johnjohn320: Since it looks like all your memory banks are filled up, you're going to have to remove one of those 16MB modules and replace it with something else. I would say, go pick up a 128MB PC100 SDRAM DIMM, you could also get PC133, it's not much more expensive, but you don't really need it. That would give you 208MB total, which should be good for you. Don't buy the really cheapo generic stuff, get a decent module. A great place to order some memory would be Crucial

BTW, on SisSoft Sandra, there should be a listing for the type of memory you have, it's right below the information you just posted in Sandra. Post that info too.

 
What does it say below memory module? It should memory module 1, memory module 2 and on the right it gives info on the ram.
 
My memory bank says 64,64,64,64. And I have 2 sticks of 128. So it might not mean he has 2 sticks of 16mb and one stick of 64mb. Under memory modules it will tell that.
 
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