Cheap memory

Memory represents a very important part of your computer. Buying generic memory is not recommended, considering brand name RAM prices aren't much more expensive. Having bad and faulty RAM can lead to data corruption and unstable PCs. Also with better RAM you can overclock your computer, getting a free performance increase.

The standard in memory today is DDR RAM, with DDR II slowly integrating into current systems. You will not need SDRAM unless you are upgrading an older computer. You can easily chose the right memory for your computer by reading our memory selection guide .

If you are unsure of what type of memory you need, please use the memory selection helper . Chose the brand of your system or of the motherboard you are/will be using. Because there are so many different types of memory one can make a mistake and buy a memory that is not compatible with the motherboard in the system. Therefore by using a memory selector you can be sure that you will not make a mistake and buy a wrong type of memory. For newer systems that use dual channel memory, you will need to pair 2 sticks of similar RAM to get maximum benefits.

Memory (RAM) selection help

 

MULTIMEDIA PC/HOME THEATER

Corsair Value Select Dual Channel 1024MB PC2700 DDR 333MHz Memory (2 x 512MB)

You will need 1GB of RAM. It doesn't have to be the fastest PC4200. However make sure that you have at least 1GB in order for everything to run smoothly. You could buy slower memory like PC2100 , all depending how much money that will save you. Just don't go with the fastest memory out there because it is always much more expensive than the one level slower.

Having 1GB of RAM will allow your video stream to be loaded into RAM rather than your hard drive, which is much faster. This translates to not losing any frames of your video stream and being able to encode/multitask more at one time.

GAMING PC

Corsair TWINX Dual Channel 1024MB PC3200 DDR 400MHz Memory(2x512MB)

You will also need at least 1GB of RAM. Because of the fast processor and video speeds, RAM is now one of the major bottlenecks in computers. Not too long ago, 512 megabytes of memory was more than enough. However, the latest games such as Far Cry , Half Life 2 , DOOM 3 , require more than 512MB of memory to run smoothly. In this case the latest and the fastest PC4200 RAM would be preferable, because these games really need a lot of power to give you the best gaming experience. You can get a bit slower memory too, as long as you get more than 512MB.

Getting a good quality, fast RAM will also allow you to overclock your computer stably if you need just that little bit of extra power.

BUSINESS/BUDGET PC

Ultra 512MB PC3200 DDR 400MHz Memory

For Windows XP to run perfectly smooth you need more than 256MB of RAM. 384 MB of ram would be perfect,  but as 384MB of memory would take two slots from your motherboard, 1X256 and 1X128, and would probably not be much cheaper than 1X512, I would recommend you to get 512MB of DDR266 memory or faster.

You might wonder why you need so much RAM for a budget computer, but as new applications grow in features, they also grow in their system resource usage. You'll want to start off with 512MB so that your system can run programs of today and tomorrow.