Quote:
Originally posted by BentNotTwisted
I am buying a new Dell Dimension 2400. It's a P4 2.4 Ghz processor with a 533Mhz front side bus. It has 128MB Shared DDR SDRAM at 333MHz installed. I am told by Dell it is PC2700 memory. I want to install an additional 512 Mb. What do I look for and how much should I expect to have to spend? I have tried pricewatch.com and a few retail outlets, but I want to make sure I am buying the 'right stuff'.
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Well that all depends. You can range all the way from generic to top-of-the-line. In my opinion, you get what you pay for, and as far as memory goes, I always try to go with the high end products. By this I mean, known brands, such as Corsair or Kingston. For a single 512MB chip, you are looking at around $85-$100. You DO NOT need ECC, so I don't think you should pay extra to get it. The key number in my opinion to look at is the "CAS Latency" (sometimes shown as "CL"). The best is 2.0, which will give you the highest performance. I try to use only CAS of 2.0, but you will pay a bit more. Right now on ZipZoomFly.com (formerly googlegear.com), they have 512MB of Kingston DDR333 PC2700 selling for either $82 or $97, the first is for a CAS of 2.5, and the later is for a CAS of 2.0 It is up to you if you want to spend the extra $15. In my personal opinion I would, because to me the difference is definately noticable. Whichever you decide, once you get it, I recomend that you put the 512MB chip in the first slot on the motherboard, and move the 128MB to the second. Hope this helps, and please post if you have anymore questions. Good Luck.
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