RAM for my Dell 8300

[Mazer18]

Hey y'all,

A few years back I used to be able to play BF2 so smoothly on my Dell 8300 until my old video card died. I ended up getting a cheap replacement and lived with it for a while but now I'm looking to try to get back into the game again. I recently picked up a nice Radeon HD 3850 256-bit GDDR3 AGP video card and it seems to be running pretty good now. I can fire BF2 up and it looks good and all but it lags like crazy now and I'm getting decent FPS.

I suspect the problem now is that I only have 1GB RAM. Would getting more RAM help me out? Also, do I need to buy a specific "type" of RAM for a Dell 8300 and is it difficult to install?

Sorry, I don't know a whole lot about computers. I appreciate everybody's help.

 

[Trotter]

BF2 likes its RAM. 2GB is the sweet spot for it when running XP. According to Dell's specs it uses DDR 333 or 400 (non-ECC) RAM.

To add a gig, I would use this:
Newegg.com - G.SKILL Value 1GB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory

To push it to 3GB (the max for XP once you include your GFX memory), I would use this:
Newegg.com - G.SKILL Value 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Dual Channel Kit System Memory - Desktop Memory

 

[hikaricloud]

Let's just hope Dell didn't have a weird CAS in there...but knowing them, they went with the highest they could go to save on costs, haha.

Trotski's got the right idea.

 

[Mazer18]

Thanks so much fellas. I just went ahead and purchased the 1GB link. Now I'll just have to work on trying to clean some of this clutter off this computer until it gets here. Thanks again. I appreciate it.

Oh, one last thing. When I do get it should I put it in the paired slot with the 1GB stick that came with the computer (DIMM2) or should I put it in a seperate unpaired slot (DIMM3/DIMM4)? Is she just "plug and play" or do I need to run some scan or such to detect it once it's installed?

 

[Trotter]

Your motherboard doesn't use dual channel, so just put it in the next open slot. RAM is plug and play so your computer will automatically recognize it and use it.