I choose the motherboard now what

[kermit]

I asked some question about 3 weeks ago about upgrade options.

I'm going with the ASUS A7N8X motherboard and probably the AMD Barton 2800+ processor.

- Also what kind of memory should I get. 1GB stick is a little out of my price range so I'm wanting to stick with 512 and just get three of them since the motherboard can hold up to 3GB

Now I need to find out about what kind of Hard Drive I should be looking for. I was thinking of going with a 120GB 7200rpm drive but don't know what kind (brand, type, etc.) I should get.

Also, is it easy to install this?

 

[Praetor]

1GB stick is a little out of my price range so I'm wanting to stick with 512 and just get three of them since the motherboard can hold up to 3GB

When you load up with 3 sticks, the 3 sticks will run slower than if u only used 2 sticks. You're best off with two 512MB sticks so 1. you run them at rated speed and 2. you can use dual channel.

Now I need to find out about what kind of Hard Drive I should be looking for. I was thinking of going with a 120GB 7200rpm drive but don't know what kind (brand, type, etc.) I should get.

Realistically, brands dont matter so much. If it's in your budget make sure you get the drives with 8MB cache rather than those with 2MB

Also, is it easy to install this?

Fairly

 

[messiahnet]

I agree with Praetor. To get full speed out of the memory in a dual-channel setup, you have to have 2 sticks. 8meg buffer/cache will help out. Shouldn't be too much more expensive than the 2meg cached hard drives. If you have any probs installing the stuff, post up on this forum. Someone will get you taken care of. Praetor's advice has helped me alot. Smart fella.

 

[4W4K3]

Praetor's advice has helped me alot. Smart fella.

tru dat dual channel will benefit you more with overall speed. I've run my computer with it on and off and i notice very small speedups but speedups none the less. It will show if you bench, your scores should boost a little. I would only suggest MORE ram if you are video editing or something like that...for gaming DC should be great.

 

[kermit]

Right now I have a 256 stick and a 512 should I. Sounds like I should just purchase another 512 stick and not even install the 256 stick right?

Also are you supposed to turn on the dual-channel set up and if so how?

 

[Praetor]

Right now I have a 256 stick and a 512 should I. Sounds like I should just purchase another 512 stick and not even install the 256 stick right?

Righto that would be ideal

Also are you supposed to turn on the dual-channel set up and if so how?

Plug it into your mobo. Read the manual on which slots to plug it into but typically its NOT 1 and2. (so either 1 and 2 or 2 and 3)