2 questions here. 1.) does RAM make your pc move faster when installed? or does it make your computer faster and not add to the CPU? 2.) would a new stick of memory work on a Dell Optiplex GX110. Sys.Specs:^ OS: Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional CPU: 866 MHz RAM: 256 MB L2 Cache 256K Vid card: Intel Corporation 810 Graphics controller 4.0 MB

Ram= random access memory The amount of ram you use does in fact speed up your computer if the ram is needed. The more ram you have, the more remains open so the processor doesn't have to work as hard to obtain files needed by going back and forth to the HD. Does it speed up the CPU? yes if you look at it as not working the cpu as hard. "would a new stick of memory work on a Dell Optiplex GX110" yes, but make sure you get memory that is compatible. We can fix this, but you're gonna need a butter knife, a roll of duct tape, and a car battery

does it have to be a certain brand of memory? like if i have kingston do i need kingston? and do i have to check if its like DDR DDR2 etc.?

1. Memory doesn't affect your cpu speed. Depending on your circumstances, it can increase performance. In a computer, data is stored on the hard drive. The computer can do stuff, like read numbers off the hard drive, do some calculations, then write the answer back to the hard drive. However, the hard drive is very slow...the computer would spend most of its time waiting for the hard drive to access the data. Thus, we have memory. It's temporary storage (the computer can read and write to it), but when you turn off the computer, it loses the data. Memory is like a buffer...the computer reads and writes to it just like it would a hard drive, but since memory is faster, the cpu can do more work and less waiting. The memory controller can read/write data while the cpu is working on something else. If you do alot of cpu-intensive and graphic-intensive programs, the computer needs alot of space to work with. It'll first try to use your memory, since it's quicker. When it runs out of space, it uses virtual memory (the page file). Basically it's just a file that sits on the hard drive, and appears like memory to the system. The computer reads/writes to it, just like it would to memory. The problem is that virtual memory sits on the hard drive, so it's slow. For example, a program might need 400 MB of ram. In your current set up, 256 MB (well, less than that, since your other programs like windows will be using some of it up) will go to memory, and the rest to your hard drive. If you upgrade to 512 MB, then all 400 MB can stay in memory. And considering that you multitask (chat programs, web, e-mail, etc.), those take up memory. And so does your OS (my particular system takes up 400 MB right at boot up...good thing I have 1 GB memory). So your computer could have already been paging to the hard drive (paging = using the page file). Data in memory is stored in units that we call pages...so a particular program might have multiple pages of data in memory. Now, this was a simplified explanation. In reality, more stuff goes on. The memory controller tries to keep the most used data in memory, and pages out the least used data into the page file. If the computer requests data that exists in the page file, it gets swapped with data from memory (a page). So basically, more ram is always better. Certain OS's have limits (win2k and xp can handle up to 4 gb, but no one ever goes that high. They get sloppy after 2 gb). And if your system supports dual channel memory, you need two memory chips of similar timings, characteristics, etc. It can then double your memory bandwidth (like doubling the lanes on a freeway, so more traffic can go through). Just get another copy of the ram you already have, if that's the case. 2. According to your manual, you have two DIMM slots (Click here). You can only go up to 512 MB, so the biggest memory you can buy would be another 256 MB stick.

No, you don't need to match brand names (although it sometimes helps...some motherboards are picky, etc.) Even if you want to go for dual channel mode, they can be different (although if you don't have access to memory timing control, you might have a problem). You can even combine ram of different speeds, although the faster ram will downclock to the speed of the slower ram. Most likely you have 184-pin ddr. Check your manual, or go to dell.com and look at the specs there. Or go to crucial.com and use their tool to check.

That's kind of what I was trying to explain in a different way. Excellent description ... We can fix this, but you're gonna need a butter knife, a roll of duct tape, and a car battery

Lol, thanks...I graduated with a comp. sci. degree, and we were required to have multi-disciplinary education. Thus, I had to learn electrical engineering too (learned to build circuits, and even to design my own pentium). Lately I've been worried that my memory's going...so I figured I'd try to add as much detail as I could lol...too bad I can't remember numbers anymore...like how big the pages are and stuff hah