How do I know what ram to buy or I can use

[Tha General]

I am using something called DDR2-SDRam memory, but is there a version number, like " PC2-4200 " etc or something which i must use.
Or could i use any ddr2 for ram

 

[EXCellR8]

PC2-4200 basically just means the RAM runs at 533mhz. You need to go by what your motherboard can support.

 

[xehqter]

kingston.com has a good compatibility list, look up the max memory and spec there, then look for it cheaper elsewhere (ie: newegg)

 

[Tha General]

Motherboard

 

[EXCellR8]

To be safe, I would just go with what you have already because Dell's are notoriously picky when it comes to RAM compatibility. Are you looking to replace or increase the capacity of your current physical memory?

 

[Tha General]

I am getting crc errors when installing games, some of them won't install or in the middle of installing them, i get errors like crc , volume is corrupt, file is broken, crc mismatch, code 1335, all types of madness, and i heard that its ram related. Its driving me nuts, because i can't play none of my favorite favorite games. I am going to do a fres install of winxp sp2 soon tho , maybe there was a issue at first.

I already downloaded the memory test thing, no errors. But i think it has something to do with the ram and i plan to buy some brand new sticks from best buy soon.

 

[EXCellR8]

Which physical RAM test did you use and how many passes did it run? I would run Memtest for at least 7-8 passes before coming to any conclusion on RAM modules. You can just run it over night because it may take a long time to complete. If you do end up buying new RAM, make sure you get something mainstream (i.e. Corsair, OCZ, G.Skill, Kingston, Mushkin etc...) and steer clear of the more generic brands (i.e. Samsung, Hyundai, Compaq etc...). You will be better off and the modules themselves will be of better quality. DDR2 is cheap enough that you can at least splurge a little bit

 

[Tha General]

I am using samsung now lol. I will run the test over night and see how happens. But i will make sure to buy a good brand.

Btw, if my memory or hd was bad, how come for the games that i do have install, they work just fine. Also some games do install, while others do not. for example, in Jericho it will install about 50% or 98% , then a error comes up, about crc corrupted cab file, but if i install say a different game crashday, no errors.

I do plan to do a fresh install soon, and i will see happens also.

 

[EXCellR8]

^Just depends on what the game installer is trying to copy to the disk. A fresh install will most likely fix that. You could always purchase a bigger hard drive and install your games onto that as a slave drive. That way, the 80GB drive can be the OS drive and your games will be on a separate drive. You would probably have less problems that way and you wouldn't need to reinstall them again if you needed to reinstall Windows again. Just something to consider for future computing

Post up the results of that extended RAM test when you get the chance...

 

[Tha General]

I have a 500gb external hd, and i have the same problems. So once i do a fresh install first i will see how it goes, if that doesn't fix the issue, i will buy the ram and see how it goes.
peace

 

[EXCellR8]

Not sure if installing games on an external drive is such a good idea. I mean, it should work fine in theory since it's just a regular hard drive but I can see problems occurring more frequently than with an internal drive. There is software (other than just drivers) in between most external devices which can cause issues, not to mention USB ports and other micro devices that are going to be constantly accessed if you are running games for hours at a time. Also, external drives are not as passively cooled as internal units which can lead to problems down the road. You may want to consider buying another internal drive for gaming purposes, if you have the time and money that is.

 

[Tha General]

hmmm this is interesting

In device manager, there are 2 listing of primary ide channel, so in advanced settings i change it from UltraDMA to PIO for both listing. I went to go extract the files from my internal and no errors. I went to go install 2 games , no more errors. One of those games i install onto my external, no errors.

But i did notice under my external hd, i still go crc errors, volume is damage. So i am kinda confused now, is it my ram or something to do with ultra dma.
I also notice in the advanced tab for both primary ide channels, it says device 1 and device o. I am going to show you the photos later.

What do you think is going on now, could it still be the ram?