i just got a 256 RAM stick for my pc. when i installed it on my pc it made the computer run slower. but when i put the 64 mb stick back it runs faster. what the hell is wrong with my pc? the board is a p5ss-me mobo with a AMD k-2 II processor 4.0 gig hd and Ati xpert 128 pci card i will be very happy if you nice people could help me out. from Roy

Roy, It sounds like you bought the wrong RAM type for your setup. I am guessing that you have a PC100 stick and your machine, if I remember correctly requires PC133. Check and make sure what your mobo requires.

the 256mb stick is pc133. the system is running at 100mhz. but i heard that pc133 can work with pc100?

I don't think the PC rating of the memory is the problem. If it's slow even in posting (before windows starts) it could be the bios is having a problem with it. 256 sticks probably weren't around to be tested when your MB was made. If it's slow just in windows you may need to adjust the vcache. Do a search on this site for vcache. There have been some excellent comments but as usual I didn't note them since it wasn't a problem I had experienced.

Some mobos of that era weren't set up to cache more than 128 mgs of RAM. Windows will run slightly slower when you try to use more than that on those systems. Find you mobo specs or manual to confirm L1, L2 and RAM caching. Find the Cacheman utility and use it to optimize your system's caches to get best use of the new RAM.