So heres the story my comp is slow and i dont know why, we had it built by a small computer shop in town. its got a 2.8 ghz processer(intel) 256mb of ram, 80gb hard drive, and we're running windows xp(SP2). im thinking its the RAM, maybe? The reason i say this is because when i go into the system info section in the control panel it says i have only 192mb of RAM:S i was thinking maybe its a bad RAM chip or should i just get a 512 or something, I am not sure what it could be because im not very computer-literate so help would be nice!
You'll never see the same amount of RAM in the specs as you actually have, the PC uses some. 256 isn't very much memory, upgrading will make a difference, if it's not something else. When was the last time you defraged the hard drive?
Just yesterday and its still slow, i usually do a defrag once a week or so. its nice to know that something was wrong with the RAM at least because we had a problem before when the RAM chip was only half working lol. So I will see an improvement if i get a nother RAM chip? what would you suggest a 512 or 256? and i have another question, does it matter which brand of RAM or does it have to be the same brand?
A RAM upgrade will definitely show improvement, but go with 512 or 1 gig to see some benefits. Make sure that you also get the proper type of chip as there are different types. Check with the builder to make sure that you get the proper type. Brand name does not matter, the type matters. However, there are more reputable brands above others.
Okay so if i were to get a 512 chip by kingston do you think that will be ok? i have 2 slots for RAM on the motherboard and its DDR RAM, so i would be upgrading to 768 total RAM would that be sufficient?
XP SP2 is notoriously memory hungry and it uses app. 192k just to run. So, everyone above is correct. I would just take out the 256 chip and go to newegg and get a 1 gig. Make sure it is exactly the RAM you need. The difference will be huge. Corsair Value Select is IMO the best for the money and I have never had a problem with it in multiple systems.