I recently received an old computer from a friend for free. It's super old school but it works and all it is used for is for my 4 year old son to watch netflix in his room and an occasional google search. The system consists of an asus P4P800SE motherboard, intel 3.4 ghz pentium 4 (478 socket lol) cpu, and 512 mb of ddr 400 ram. For some reason the ancient ddr400 ram is extremely pricey (around $25 per gb). My first question is how much improvement would I see by adding just 1gb of ram. If not, then how much would I need to notice a significant difference in performance?
Is upgrading ram worth it??
- Thread starter ross527
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claptonman
New Member
I'd say its an improvement. I had a P4 with 512mb of RAM and it maxed it out just browsing the internet. I'd say a 1gb stick would be enough for more tasks.
I'm actually running ubuntu 12.04 on it. The ram currently in it is CORSAIR 512MB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Desktop Memory Model VS512MB400 which they still have on newegg. So if I get 2 more sticks of the same ram I shouldn't have any compatibility issues should I? Sorry for the stupid questions I'm just not familiar with the old school technology lol.
claptonman
New Member
Or you can go with a single 1GB stick. That'd be the better option so it would run in dual channel mode. Unless your motherboard cannot run a single stick of 1GB.
Here's a good one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820159108
Cheaper than 2 sticks, and it would be compatible with your stick of corsair RAM.
Here's a good one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820159108
Cheaper than 2 sticks, and it would be compatible with your stick of corsair RAM.
Gun
Member
If it's more RAM you need then you can just buy maybe two more sticks of the exact same RAM (as you said), then you will definitely have no compatibilty issues. Just make sure you install it the right way around and you will be fine
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claptonman
New Member
Yes, you can.