Upgrading my pc on a budget

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cheers for the site, is dual channel something i need to install 2 identical sticks or just a bonus i can use with 2 identical sticks? Also how can i check if the mobo supports dual channel?
 
again not sure i understand your question.. hehe..

dual channel is something supported by your motherboard. if you install 2 identical sticks of ram (that your motherboard is happy with) then dual-channel will be enabled. if the motherboard doesn't like the sticks or they're not identical, then the ram will still work, just not in dual-channel. usually it just enables itself. if there are 4 slots then you'd have to check your motherboard manual (you have sony vaio...) to see whcih slots to stick them in for dual channel to work... because usually you can't just stick them in any two.

how do you know? run a program that finds the specs of your comp... (don't ask me which)
 
i was lookin at these benchmarks..

http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/05/24/vga_charts_vi/page3.html

since 6600gt is out of your budget, i guess you have to settle for the 6600. but it looks like the x700, which is cheaper than the 6600 is a lot better. it seems like a big gap between the 6600gt and the 6600. the overclockersuk website has some x700s for cheaper than the 6600 you showed. if you plan on purchasing from that website, then consider the x700 !!
 
One last question, my ram at the moment is PC2300, does that mean the RAM i buy to upgrade has to be PC2300 as well?
 
no.

you can buy ram as fast as you want as long as its 184pins. the ram will down clock to go the speed your motherboard will go. so if you buy pc4000 ram (don't!) and your mobo supports pc3200, then your ram will work at pc3200 speeds.. (400mhz..)
 
Memory
DRAM Type DDR-SDRAM
DRAM Size 256 MBytes
DRAM Frequency 134.0 MHz
FSBRAM 1:1
CAS# Latency 2.5 clocks
RAS# to CAS# 3 clocks
RAS# Precharge 3 clocks
Cycle Time (TRAS) 6 clocks
# of memory modules 2
Module 0 Infineon DDR PC2300 - 256 MBytes
Module 1 DDR2

hey i'm not sure what that means.. module 0 is ddr and module 1 is ddr2... dooes your mobo support both? (unlikely..)

have you opened your comp yet? how many dimms are there and are they all the same?
 
Just opened my computer, motherboard actually looks like it only has 2 long slots for RAM, and the RAM on it at the moment says something about SDRAM, does this mean it's SDRAM not DDR? Length of the slots are about 5.5 inches, or 14cm (very rough).
 
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