Hi , I'm going to go by some more RAM and update my graphics card on my dell dimension 8200. Can someone please tell me what is compatible with my system and where is the best place to get both. Money is not a major problem and I love my games, I was thinking 512Mb RAM and 256Mb graphics card. Will this be compatible? Also is it hard to fit them both myself? Thanks for any help. Sam

If I were you, I would get the 512mb Ram and get the hottest Ati Radeon 9800XT(If you don't care about the price...) 128mb(and up) video cards are great for gaming.

There are generally speaking no compatibility issues between graphics cards and RAM, but whether either of those is compatible with your motherboard is a tricky question. For purchasing RAM I would recommend a service such as Crucial RAM where you can select your PC model and receive a guarantee that the RAM you buy there will work with your computer. For the graphics card all you need to worry about is the type of slot it uses and to make sure you have one of those free. Installing both is generally very easy as they are likely to come with installation guidebooks to help you through it. RAM is easiest, you just have to pop out the old stick and push in the new. The pushing-in part requires a good bit of force, so you need to make sure you're putting it in the right way. As graphics cards are rather large items you may need to do some cable rearrangement in your computer in order to slide it into place. This does require a screwdriver, usually a phillips-head or however you spell that, to remove and replace the screw that holds the out-facing part of the card in position.

Don't go on a spending frenzy with ram and graphics.($1000+) If you are going to buy a new computer in later 2004, your hardware might not be compatable. DDR2 is the new standard that will be avalible for Ram. PCI Extreme will replace AGP when it arrives. Remember the Price\Performance ratio, and spend wisely