Adding more RAM memory to your computer will boost its performance.
Random Access Memory, or RAM, is like a waitress with a serving tray working inside your computer. If she has a small tray she has to make many more trips to and from the kitchen, while a large tray allows her to accomplish more work in fewer trips. Likewise, the more RAM you have in your computer, in the form of RAM chips or sticks, the faster your processor can perform. Increasing RAM to the maximum amount--the largest "tray" you can-- that is allowed by the motherboard specifications is always beneficial.
Instructions
1. Determine what type and speed of RAM chips are compatible with your computer motherboard. You can find this information by visiting your computer manufacturer's website or at a RAM upgrade site like Crucial.com or Kingston.com. The tool found on Crucial.com, for example, can instantly scan your computer specifications and provide you with the exact type of RAM "sticks" you need, whether it is old SODIMM or SDRAM RAM or newer DDR or DDR2 sticks. Crucial.com can advise you on how many RAM slots or "banks" are available on your motherboard and the maximum amount of RAM your motherboard can handle. Purchase new RAM accordingly.
2. Unplug all the cables from the back of your desktop computer and open the side cover. Ground yourself by touching a piece of bare metal or by wearing an anti-static wrist strap. If you have a laptop, unplug it from the power and remove the battery.
3. Find the RAM slots on the motherboard. On a desktop computer, the RAM slots are 5-inch long, narrow black plastic socket devices with a small white "ear" tab on each end. Your computer may have anywhere from two to four such slots; some will be filled with a current RAM stick while others may be empty. On a laptop, remove the plastic panel that covers the RAM slots. You will find one or two 2-inch wide laptop RAM sticks inserted into a small bank or rack of slots, one slightly atop the other.
4. Remove the current RAM stick(s) from the slots. On a desktop computer, release the small white "ear" tabs at both ends of the stick and pull the stick out with your fingers. For a laptop, press on a small metal lever found on the side of the RAM bank to release the RAM sticks from the slots.
5. Examine the RAM sticks to confirm the information you found online about your RAM capacity. In some rare cases the information provided by either the computer manufacturer website and Crucial.com can be wrong. It helps to visually confirm the correct RAM specifications now by looking at what was in the computer in the first place. You will usually find the memory specifications for the RAM type and speed on a label on the stick. Look for numbers like "PC3200" (sometimes also known as "DDR 400"). This number denotes the "bus speed" or "speed" of RAM your computer needs and wants. Your new RAM must, in most cases, match this PC or DDR number.
6. Look for the amount of available RAM on the stick label, too, as the manufacturer guides and the Crucial guides can be wrong. Confirm what RAM capacities you already have. Common indicators of the amount of RAM present on the stick will be "128mb," "256mb," "512mb" and "1 gig." If you have a total of 512mb RAM in your computer now, for example, that 512mb may be provided by a combination of two sticks of 256mb RAM. Other combinations are also possible; the final "tally" is the amount of RAM your computer is operating with now.
7. Insert the new, larger capacity and proper RAM sticks in the slot banks. Make sure the sticks are inserted into the slot completely. Most RAM sticks have a "key" or "tooth" that has to match a corresponding key or tooth inside the slot. Gently press the sticks into place and lock them into the slot by closing the little white ear tabs (desktop) or until the metal lever springs into place (laptop).
8. Reconnect and reboot your computer. You may have to reset your BIOS (usually by striking the F1 key) to accommodate the new amount of RAM memory added.
Tags: your computer, desktop computer, amount your, computer have, computer manufacturer