Upgrading RAM and getting a new PSU

[DeathSlayer]

hi, im new here and i wanted to know about somethings.

so i decided that i need a better machine for Battlefield 2 to play at med - high settings, and i will use these new upgrades for new games to come out. here are my specs first of all:

2800 AMD Athlon XP, 2079 MHz
2 sticks of 256MB DDR SDRAM PC2700 (166MHz)
200 watt PSU
9800 Pro
120GB HD


if you want any more just ask. but as you see here, my PSU is really dated and also my RAM is getting behind the times. it would be really helpful if you recommend a new PSU and RAM for my machine. (like should i get 1 512 stick or replace everything and get 1GB stick?). also, i need to know if the new RAM im getting has to be the same speed...etc. (PC2700). is it bad to get a 500W PSU when you only need 400 W nearly all the time? answers to the questions above will really do me good. thanks alot

i have a few more Q's: where should i see how much RAM my MB can handle? (im using everest right now)
and if i have a pc2700 type of RAM, i have to get that same 2700 right?
if i were to get a stick of 512, does it have to be the same brand, or just the speed?

finally my motherboard is a Asus A7N8X-LA.

thank you very much

 

[imported_Kensai]

Your motherboard should have a max of 3GB (3 sticks of 1GB). I suggest you get a 1GB kit do you can run it in dual-channel, you'll probably want a better video card too in addition to the PSU upgrade. I'm 100% sure that a 9800 Pro won't run BF2 at mid-high settings adequately.

You can get PC3200 rated ram, it'll just downclock to PC2700 speeds.

If you were to get another stick of 512MB, any stick that's PC2700 or higher is fine unless you want to take a performance hit by using slower clocked ram.

 

[CrucialLabs]

You have an A7N8X-LA motherboard which has only 2 slots and will take a max of 2GBs of memory. I would strongly recommend upgrading the PSU to a 500W so it will handle future upgrades. If you plan on upgrading the processor to a 400MHz FSB type then you could go with PC3200.