I currently have 1 gig (2 512 mb) of PC 3200 sdram. With memory so cheap now, should I double my memory? I am an occassional gamer but do not do anything too intensive with my rig, internet, a little music listening and word processing. I understand taht "it could not hurt" to get more memory, but for my rig is there a definite upside?

I can get 2 more 512 mb sticks for about 35 bucks

Thanks for any comments.

"I understand taht "it could not hurt" to get more memory, but for my rig is there a definite upside?"

Considering what you say you use your system for, I doubt you'd notice much of an improvement, if at all. RAM upgrades are subject to the "law of diminishing returns" & going beyond 1GB usually yields little return for your upgrade buck unless you run apps that are lagging with just 1GB.

I doubt it will speed your computer up. If you haven't noticed any definate periodic lag when working then you probably have suffiecent RAM already.

You could Google for "memory usage programs". These programs show realtime usage of your RAM. If you never peak at the current capacity then additional RAM will be of no help.

Regular housekeeping and tuneups would probably be more benificial. Run CCleaner regularly and analyze your partitions to see if they need to be defragged. The registry module in CCleaner is also good.

Thanks for the quick replies. I never noticed any lagging so I figured it was unneccessary but wanted to ask the experts. You guys provide a valuable service here and it is much appreciated.

Ultimate Memory Guide
How Much Memory Do You Need? etc.
http://www.kingston.com/tools/umg/u...