<----- total RAM newb.


I want to upgrade my RAM to make running things faster.
Right now I have this amount of RAM:

It's not working for me. I want more.

I did the Crucial.com system scanner, and these were my results:


^Notice how I have 2x 512MB RAM things, but somehow my total RAM is 960.. ? weird.

It told me the kind of RAM I needed, and it even gave me the option to buy some of that kind.


and I thought, "Wow! That's so cheap! *big smile*"

BUT, I saw on a Tech website that multiple people said Crucial's prices were absurdly high.



Is it really "ridiculous"?





Where can I get cheaper RAM that will work for my computer?

Go to the store or online and buy 2-3 GB sticks. Buy the PC2-5300s, 1 stick of 1GB per each memory slot.


You currently have 1gb of PC2-5200 RAM which is split with two 512MB ram (which is primitive now a days). Your motherboard can handle a maximum of four PC2-5300 memory sticks, each one being 1GB.


I recommend going with the PC2-5300 than the PC2-5200 for the sake of speed. And stay away from 512MB sticks... go with the 1gb sticks.

Thanks for your response, but which stores will sell them cheaper than Crucial.com?

craigslist.com

That's not funny.

Newegg... specially the PC2-5300.

didn't have the kind I need :/

wait i was looking for the wrong thing XD

edit//


the only two I could find that were even close to what I need are these two:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16820146526

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16820134046

but notice how they are not just DDR2 PC2 5300's.. they have weird text in between D: it's confusing me.


what does the bolded + underlined mean?

edit///





what is 240-pin ddr2? crucial had that also...... CONFUSING!

Yep... those are them.


I'd go with these: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16820146526

The first one you posted, "crucial".

Thank you for being so helpful ^_^

Can you tell me what those mysterious things are that I bolded and underlined?

DDR2 SDRAM (double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DDR2_SDRAM



667MHz natively (this is the speed of the RAM)



Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory (Dual-channel architecture)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual-channel_architecture

http://www.legend.com.au/modules.php?op=mo...cle&sid=317

OK, I bought a new graphics card and 2 Gigs of ram.

I must say, I FCKIN LOVE THE RAM ^^ Things load amazingly fast now.

BUTTTTTTT

I don't understand my graphics card. I will take pictures after I post this so you can help me better.

I have an "integrated" graphics card.. NVIDIA GeForce 6150 LE

It has 256 MB (w/e that means)

And I bought a NVIDIA Geforce 8600 GT and it was $50.

The reason I bought it was because I asked about which graphics card I should buy that would be better than the one I had but $50 or less on another forum full of tech people. They recommended that one.

I got the box today, and It said it was 256 MB.... I just spent $50 on a graphics card that is the exact same as the one I already have?

I'm not sure if the 256 MB means anything.. maybe there's something else about the card that makes it faster. Can you help me?

This is the one I bought http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814130297

edit:

also, I can't figure out how to install it. I found the slot, and I put it in there and everything, but I can't figure out why it came with so many wires. I feel like I did something wrong.

Also, I read somewhere that I shouldn't use the CD... that I should just let windows handle it?? I think that's what someone said on the other website. I'll go check right after I post this.

It also came with this installation guide thing.. which didn't help me at allllllll. It didn't tell me where to plug it in or how to connect it to my monitor. Not helpful AT ALL.

I looked for youtube videos, but I couldn't find anything that helped me.

It's GPU core speed you bought. It came with a bunch of wires because you have to hook it up to a bunch of crap, like the motherboard, PSU etc.

Use the CD, please. Windows default drivers are complete shit.

Always clean your RAM with alcohol.
You can drink the remains.

I want to point out that I had to push the ram in really hard to get the little hook things to fit in them and hold them in place.

Is that normal?

How do I figure out where to plug the graphics card in?

You would be better off looking for a tutorial video. Every motherboard is different.

what kind of tutorial?

Crap on youtube. Video tutorials.

Your motherboard should look like this, you replaced the ram in the same slots; if you bought 4 sticks 1GB each you put one in each slot completely, you can go to system properties from the control panel and it'll tell you how much ram you have installed. Granted if you bought 4gb chances are you're only allowed to use up to 75% of it depending on your OS. Yes, sometimes pressure is necessary to fit new ram.

That's where you'll want to install your graphics card, with the EVGA label facing upward. You don't have to connect a pci plug from your psu because your graphics card doesn't require that much power.

after plugged in, you should be able to run the cd, restart the computer and be fine. If your monitor is VGA you connect one end of the blue cord to the monitor and the other to the graphics card. or if you want the subtle differance of using dvi, connect the adapter to the end of the vga cord that you'll connect to the graphics card..

I'm sure that was extremely helpful to someone else, but that's not what mine looks like. I'm going to stop procrastinating and just take the pictures now :P

ZOMG PRONZ

I wrote about each picture UNDERNEATH the picture.


It came with a cord that had this thing on both ends


That's the card I put in there.


There it is again


On the outside of the box thingamajigger the graphics card panel has these plugs.


It also came with a cord that has these things on one side


and this on the other.


Fun facts


Probably shouldn't eat it.


Yay information!

Good choice getting EVGA. They dominate the market when it comes to Nvidia cards.

Well which cords go where? D:

From the looks of it, you're not going to have to plug anything fancy in.

YOU SO UNHELPFUL.

I THROW CHAIR AT YOU



HOW YOU LIKE DAT HUHHH??

I came a chair once. True story.

You will not need that "fancy" cord.
Unless you want to plug your PC to your Television.

You will only need a VGA Cable :P Which I guess you will be using atm.

the VGA one is the one that doesn't have three heads on one end?

I don't see a spot for this cord to fit into my monitor



or any cord for that matter...

HALP MEEE I IZ WANTIN TO HAZ UBERR SPEED

The colored cables are component cables for HD, and the other one is an HDMI (I think) cable, those are if you want to hook it up to your TV or something.

OK, I just stopped being a pansy and disabled my integrated graphics and installed the new card. It works now :D yay. I'm currently using it.

The only thing that I have to ask (maybe more questions later) is... well on my old graphics thing, my frame rate was 60, but now it is set to 59... ? Should I leave it at 59 or just change it back to 60?

Wut.

It used to say 60

edit:

isn't screen refresh + frame rate the same thing?

lol.

Set it to 60
No, Screen Refresh is not the same as Frame rates.

Ummmm... Also, when I start a game, weird sounds come through my earphones. It's like some sort of system noises.

When I unplug the earphones and use the speakers on my monitor, I don't hear it.

(?)

Then thats your sound problem :O

well what do i do? it sounds like computer noises.

My guide that came with the card says this



nvm I think I figured it out.

my guide told me to go here

http://www.evga.com/support/drivers/Default.asp

but I can't figure out what my card series is......

it's NVIDIA GeForce 8600

its Geforce 8 Series

8= Series
6= Importance or something (having 8 or 9 as the highest)
0= just for the lulz
0= alo for the lulz

8800 is more powerful cause it has 8800

Your 8600 will beat a 9400 because 6 > 4

geez that's confusing.

It's still making the noises.. and I just updated and restarted my computer..

Probably not related to the GPU. Plug into the soundcard instead of the speakers.

Thats cause your brain is tiny.

It doesn't reach that far.

it still makes the sound even with everything on mute.

As far as your question about RAM goes. You don't need fancy looking RAM with a heat sink or anything. I would buy the following sticks of RAM as they are made by a reputable company (Corsair) and they're inexpensive.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16820145098

I wouldn't put in more than 3GB though, because 32 bit OS's (what you have) cannot see more than 4GB of RAM (sometimes less). Also, the boost in performance between 3-4 GB of RAM is very small.



It's very similar to the frame rate. It is the maximum number of physical frames your screen could display over the course of one second. This is why 120Hz in the HDTV industry is such a big deal. Because the physical frame rate of the screen is pushed to 120Hz it allows for a much smoother picture.

Your frame rate is the number of frames your video card is pushing out to your monitor. Your monitor simply doesn't display all of them.

Is the screen refresh rate the same as the frame rate? In some cases, yes.



That's not always the case as certain cards like the 9500 are better than the 8600. Here is a great graphics card hierarchy chart.

Anyway, your 8600 GT should have more than enough juice to handle most games on a medium setting. :)

you only answered the questions that were answered already

What about the weird noises I'm hearing?

It's probably the fan on the gpu.

So what do I do? O_o

Aftermarket fan?

Try this one. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16835118212

You can try an after market fan or if you feel uncomfortable installing an aftermarket fan you can upgrade your video card for 50-60 bucks.