how much memory?

[flattius_maximus]

How much RAM should i put into my system i am using an athlon 64 3700+ and a MSI K8N Neo Platinum MOBO with a seagate 7200rpm 300gb SATA HDD i have yet to choose the video card and i want to know how much RAM i should use for the system to perform at its best. is too much RAM a bad thing?

[Stuey]

There is one question you must answer: what do you plan to use this machine for? Gaming? General multi-purpose use? Video authoring? Etc...

The suggested minimum that you should use for Windows XP is 512mb. If your purposes exceed general purpose tasks, you may benefit from 1 gig.

Too much ram is not a bad thing, but can be wasteful depending on the circumstances. For example, if you only plan to surf the web and type up a document or two, you don't need 2 gigs where 512mb should suffice.

[flattius_maximus]

sorry for the lack of info. i am building this machine primarily for gaming but it will be needed to surf and also to record and mix original music

[Stuey]

Then I'd suggest 1 gig of ram, although you *might* benefit from 2 gigs. You can't really go wrong starting with 1 gig and adding another gig later on if you're not satisfied with your performance.