Q: ok, so many questions so little space. are there different "types" of Ram or all they all the same, just differing in size? how do you know how much ram your pc can actually use... can you mix sizes of ram like a 256 and a 512....? what happens if you put in a too much or a too big amount of ram? is 512 (2-256 cards) sufficient for most everyday uses? is ram expensive?
A: these are good questions to ask. Go th the website that was given to you but the other user: http://www.crucial.com it will scan your computer and see what mother board you have and tell you what type, speed, and max amount of ram you can have on your board and it will show you what type of ram they have that will work on your system. Note not all ram is the same there is ram called rdram and it is very expensive and has to be put in in pairs and not only that all of the ram has to have the same chip sets in order for it to even work ( 4x16x256 or 8x32x256 ) you get the message. but if you have sdram ddr or ddr2 or even the new ddr3 ram then you are ok that ram can be placed in one at a time and can be mixed ( 256 512 or 1 gig ) but there is a few other things to look at first of all if you have: sdram is it pc 66 pc 100 or pc 133 stay with the speed you have. meaning if yours is pc 133 do not put pc 100 or pc 66 because it will slow the faster ram down to the match the speed of the ram you put in by default example: 256 mb pc 133 in already you put in 256 mb pc 100 or 256 pc 66 the it will make the pc 133 slow to the default of the slower ram and will look like this: 512 mb pc 100. eventhoe you incressed the amount of ram it still will be slower than if you used the same speed of pc 133. The same rule follows ddr ram but the info looks like this on the ddr ram: 256 mb ddr 266 or 256 mb ddr333 or 256 mb ddr400. what you are looking for is the crystle speed of the ram along with the amount of ram example: 256 mb ddr 400 is alot faster than 256 mb ddr333 and 256 ddr 266. Now if you put in to much or to fast of ram you will get an error message and you will know it is either to fast or to much so look and write down the information the website gives you and you can't go wrong. ddr is more expensive than ddr 2 but not as expensive as ddr 3 so if you have ddr2 then you are in luck because it is about have as much as ddr ram and alot faster in speed.