256 vs 512

[oiseau]

Hi again.  You folks were helpful with my previous question, so I thought I'd ask another.

I'm definitely buying that Athlon XP 2000 now, and I was wondering if I should buy an extra stick of 256 DDR ram to make my total memory 512.  Is there a big difference in performance?  I may be doing some more demanding gaming later on, so is it worth the extra X-amount dollars?

[scuzzy]

Although you may not notice a screaming difference between 256MB and 512MB, it is a worthwhile upgrade. If you are using Win2000Pro or WinXP, it will make good use of the extra RAM.

[Neon]

Yes, there will be little difference in email, but you should notice some improvement in gaming, video encoding, and other memory intensive tasks.

Also, AMD is supposedly stopping production of all desktop CPUs below XP 2100+, but you should be able to find 2000+ at retail for some time.

[scuzzy]

By the way, if you are buying your system, I don't recommend that you buy the RAM upgrade through the manufacturer. Instead, buy the system with the smallest RAM option available. Then, buy extra RAM through a company such as Crucial.com. You'll get high-quality RAM for a *much* better price.

Whatever you do, don't buy generic RAM. It may work, but it probably won't perform as it should. If you buy from Crucial, use our link on the left side of this page. You'll get a great deal, while helping to support this site.