Question on RAM

[chgo29]

I built myself a computer 3 years ago with a lot of help from you guys on this board. It's still running great but I want to add some RAM. MB is ASUS"A7V8X-X" and processor is AMD Sempron 2400+ 1.667 GHz. I built it with two strips of Corsair RAM - DDR333(PC2700) - 256 MB each for a total of 512 MB. Can I add one strip of 512 MB - same specs as above - to get a total of 1024MB? Or, does the new one have to match the 256 MB capacity of the two that are in there now? Thanks for your help - Cliff

[flanzig1]

Yes, you can add a 512 meg stick. If the old memory is running dual channel, you will run only single channel. Probably won't see much diiferance if it is running single channel.

[chgo29]

Thanks for your reply Flanzig - but, how do I know if it's running single or dual channel? Cliff

[alex530]

It's probably running dual channel right now since you have two sticks of 256 MB. If you were to add one stick of 512 to bring you to 1 GB total, you would lose the benefit of running in dual channel. One way to tell which memory you need is the handy adviser on crucial.com. If you are running XP, I'd recommend at least 1 GB.

[chgo29]

Thanks Alex for your response. Your suggestion to use the Crucial upgrade guide was sure helpful. The Crucial web site will scan your computer - tell you what memory you have in there now - and recommend various levels of upgrade - all guaranteed to be compatible with your present set-up. How neat. How simple. Thanks - Cliff