Upgrading Computer Memory

[lookafallingroc]

I guess its time for me to upgrade my computer. It's a few years old now and it seems to be trailing behind in the speed-department. All the games i run are pretty slow and/or laggy. The only problem is that i don't know exactly what kind of memory to buy, nor do i know how much i need to get. these are my specs:

Dell Dimmension 4300
Intel Pentium 4 CPU 1.7 GHz
256 MB Ram
64 MB ram video card (NVIDIA GeForce MX/MX 400)
100 mbps cable internet
37 GB hard drive

The only other question i have is should i just get 512 (since im pretty sure that's my computer's maximum) or should i go ahead and buy a new motherboard with higher memory connections. If so, what type of motherboard. My computer case is pretty large (at least it seems regular size) so i don't think space will be much of a problem. Thanks

 

[JMMD]

RAM is only part of the problem with your PC. Your CPU is slow and your video card is pretty low end.

Your computer should be able to support more than 512MB of RAM. Check to see how many memory slots there are. On Dells it may only be two, maybe three.

If you go to Dells website and enter your service tag it will usually list what type of memory was originally installed. Chances are it's PC2100 DDR or something similar.

 

[N3051M]

Once you've figured out what RAM speed and type it can take, make sure you buy the fastest (your motherboard can take) and make sure its matched to your existing one

Also, this is a good read for you..
Tutorial: How to speed up your pc for free - TechSpot OpenBoards