Memory Question. Probably an easy one.

[japerritt]

I have 128 pc100 ram right now. I am wondering if I was to get more memory would it make my pc much faster? I am mainly into online gaming (CS). Also my mother bd is a soyo 5ema+. If I get another stick of 256ram could I still use the stick of 128 along with it, giving me 384 or memory? Would I need to get pc100 or could i just go ahead and get pc133. I have read that pc133 works on a 100mhz bus system.

I'm still learning about PC's so dont jive me if my terms are not making sense.

Thanks

[eagle1]

Yes.. PC133 ram works in system with a 100mhz bus so A PC100 stick should work with a PC133 one.!

About Windows performance, it will take advantage of the extra Ram but not by much. The biggest gains in Windows are from 32mb ram to 64mb and from 64 to 128mb.!

[NDC]

Yes, you should see improvement in performance upgrading from 128MB to 384MB RAM regardless or which OS you're using. In my book, 128MB is minimum for running Windows 98 at a comfortable pace. You'll especially notice a difference when you multi-task (Have several applications open at one time). And the DIMM slots on your mainboard does support 256MB RAM Modules so you're ok in that area. And yes, you can use PC-133 with PC-100 memory sticks.

[This message has been edited by NDC (edited 06-21-2001).]

[hawkeye177]

You can use to a 128 stick and a 256 together but I *think* you need to have the same kind.


[This message has been edited by hawkeye177 (edited 06-21-2001).]

[superraton01]

a bigger increase in performance maybe geting
faster hard drive, for example ata 100, which
is 7200 rpm. imho.

[NDC]

Keep in mind that the hard drive will not operate at UDMA-100 mode since your mainboard only supports up to UDMA-33. But, yes, if you already don't use a 7,200rpm drive, you will see a performance increase from the 5,400rpm drive. It will be most noticeable on operations with heavy disk Input/Output. However, depending on how you use your system, I doubt that putting a faster hard disk Vs. additional memory from 128MB will increase performance... For multi-tasking purposes, there's nothing like having a lot of RAM. Not even a fast hard disk can do what RAM can do for that purpose.



[This message has been edited by NDC (edited 06-21-2001).]

[japerritt]

Thanks for all the replies. My question was answered.
As far as my hard drive it is only 5200. I am happy with what I have right now but only wanting to "tweak" it. With the price of memory right now it would be a cheap tweak and quick & easy to install. I'm only interested in tweaking it for gaming. Other than that I can wait the extra second it might take to find something on the drive. A year ago I had a 486, now this K6/2 500. Two weeks ago I trashed 56k and now I got DSL, So I still feel like I'm in heaven!

Sure, I would love to get a new screaming pc, but it isn't possible right now or in the near future.

Thanks Alot!

Oh yeah, Does it need to be the same kind of ram as Hawkeye mentioned? I hope not. I figure I will just purchase the 256ram and hope the 2 work together. If not I plan to just pull the 128 out and give it to a buddy.
Hopefully it will work though, as my *** is tight and dont like giving gifts until X-mas :+)



[This message has been edited by japerritt (edited 06-21-2001).]

[Jonty]

Don't worry japerritt, PC100 and Pc133 will work just fine together. You say you have a stick of 128mb and will get a stick of 256mb. Make sure the higher size (ie 256mb) goes in the first slot, generally marked DIMM1, and the next highest in slot 2, etc.
Go to www.crucial.com (http://www.crucial.com) and look at their faq section, most of your questions will be answered there.

[japerritt]

Thanks Jonty.