RAM upgrade?

[mike314]

stupid question, but when you upgrade your memory RAM, are there any drivers you have to install or does your motherboard and system recognize them automatically??

also if I already have 2GB,(2x1GB) RAM with heatspreader (corsair), does the the 1GB upgrade have to have heatspreader and have be the same PC6400??
thanks

 

[cwiz]

system should recognize it automaticlly. you should keep your ram in pairs, all the same. 2gb is as much as computers can utilize right now, you'd have to go to 4x1gb to fully utilize the type of ram you probably have, ddr2. and 3-4 gb's of ram is not useful to windows anyway

 

[b1gapl]

...unless you are using programs that do video editing and graphics rendering which take up alot of memory. Also if you had Windows x64 edition.

 

[mike314]

yeah i would be using it for gaming

so the only thing that has to be identical is either if its SDRAM or DDR2 correct

different brand names dont matter right?? also if 2GB(2 1xGB) has heatspreader then the other 2GB that I would get doesnt need headspreader right???

what is heatspreader for btw???

i see it alot on cyberpowerpc

thanks

 

[Sakeri]

it takes the heat and spreads it out, making it a little cooler. and no, you don't need them.

 

[reckliss]

um no game takes more then 2gb of ram

 

[mike314]

ok so let me clarify things here

1. If i have a pair of 1GB sticks that have heatspreader then the other pair does not need to have it?

2. I originally wanted 4GB of RAM total in my PC, cause I will be using it for gaming. It is true that most games are just now toping out at 1GB recommended. Is 4GB really unncessary? I mean I see some alienware PC's that have 4GB of RAM. I just wanted 4GB of RAM so I can do more than one thing at a time and I wont get any slowdown.


3. So if a PC game requires 1GB of RAM and I have 4GB of RAM then while playing I will have 3GB doing absolutly nothing? My PC wont utilize the extra RAM?

4. Is it true that if your PF usage is more than the amount of RAM you have then your PC will temporarly use hard drive space??


thanks!

 

[cwiz]

1) heat spreaders are for extreme overclocking and looks. they take the heat generated by the little black rectangles and spread it out across a metal plate/sleeve. they are not usually nessiary. if one of them has it then both should (as you should always use matching ram)
2) 4GB is unnessiary. for gamming you will not need more than 2GB at least not until Windows XP is obsolete, even then it is doubtful. i have heard you may actually slow your computer down w/ 4GB.
3) again, get 2 sticks for 1GB DDR 400 (DDR500 if you plan on OC'ing hardcore)
4)i dont know what youre talking about (PF?)

i hope you are talking about a s939 processor. if you are looking at AM2, you need ddr2 ram

 

[mike314]

what I mean by PF usage is the meter that you get in the Windows Task Manager under performance