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Additional RAM

2K views 20 replies 6 participants last post by  Rich-M 
#1 ·
I am a Windows XP user, I want to upgrade my computer with an additional 256Mb of RAm. How do I discover what sort of RAM to buy?
 
#4 ·
ace_coffee said:
simpletech is another one.

or, take your system specs to best buy and have them get one for you.
That is what causes most of the "ram Hell" errors on these forums...don't ever take a ram stick to a store and ask them to "match it". Flusing pc down toliet will be a better experience!
 
#6 ·
ace_coffee said:
I didn't say take the ram stick, take the specs of your pc. They should be able to match it to your motherboard.
I'm sorry and believe me I am not being mean, it's just you could not possibly give worse advice as clerks in those stores are no only unknowledgeable on such things, they have a tendency to be pushed by management to sell what there is the most of in stock. Then when you come back with an opened package because itr never works, they charge you 5% restocking fee besides. Listen ace I do this for a living and I am not exxagerating in the least!
 
#7 ·
it's not like I'd do that either. It was just a suggestion if you really don't know how to get more RAM, that is a perfectly good solution. I do IT as a living as well and some of the web sites for memory can be pretty confusing if you don't know what you are really looking for.

that's my last 2 cents on this topic -
 
#8 ·
ace_coffee said:
it's not like I'd do that either. It was just a suggestion if you really don't know how to get more RAM, that is a perfectly good solution. I do IT as a living as well and some of the web sites for memory can be pretty confusing if you don't know what you are really looking for.

that's my last 2 cents on this topic -
Sorry I don't think those sites are confusing at all, and I have never seen anyone buy ram in one of those "brick & mortar stores" that did not crash the whole pc.
 
#10 ·
griffinspc,
I said I have never seen anyone...have we met? I have never bought anything in any of those places because they only sell old discontinued or second rate crap as far as I am concerned, and when what they sell you doesn't work, I won't pay 15% restocking charges either.
All I see in those stores is maxtor hard drives which you could not give me, Acer and Pacific cd drives (same story), Antec power supplies at $25 over list and then a whole pile of generic psu's I wouldn't give to my worst enemies, Acer, Ast and Emachine pc's I would never recommend...I mean I see no reason to even go into those places. But when it comes to "asking the salespeople"? They are neither salespeople or help and they only recommend what they see a lot of anyway.
 
#11 ·
http://www.compucare.com/
http://www.frys.com/
http://www.circuitcity.com/ccd/category.do?catOid=-12962&N=20012961+20012962&c=1

These stores carry what's shown on-line and more. CompuCare has top brand mobos, cases and PSU's. I bought my first Enermax PSU and Lian_Li case there. I've had occasion to take a DVD drive back to CompuCare and I was immediately given a replacement, no questions asked, no testing and no restocking fee, and i don't work for them.

I will admit that Best Buy is not a place I shop and won't but to say that all brick & mortar stores are crap and that everyone working in them is a low life is pretty discouraging. It's also misleading to people who may not have the expertise to shop on-line. Not to mention the fact that many many PC on-line stores have taken money and completely stiffed customers who never got their merchandise or got crap instead of what they ordered. Not to mention ID theft.

Buyers always need to use caution. Seems someone who works in the industry would acknowledge this.
 
#12 ·
#13 ·
Jazzman is in Bedfordshire, England. Do they have Best Buys over there?

And Rich-M: You are in Eastern PA? So am I. I don't know if there's a MicroCenter near you, but they are the best brick-and-mortar tech places around. They DON'T sell sound systems, big-screen TVs, etc. But they DO sell EVERYTHING related to computers. Their return policies are fair and their salespeople are knowledgeable.
 
#15 ·
The only bad ram I have ever bought was centon from compusa. That crap just wouldn't run. It wouldn't even install windows.

I had the specs right, as soon as I swapped it for kingston of the same specs everything was fine, although I had to return the centon to compusa and buy the kingston at bestbuy.

I figure if you know what you are looking for you should be fine.

Rich, the major outlets do not only sell discontinued crap. Get over that. They may not have what you are looking for but they stock the stuff normal everyday PC users are going to want/need. I don't buy from them because I like to save money and really study what I am buying.

I am an overclocker and I need parts that overclock well. Hell, this morning I overclocked my shower. I was steam cleaned in 2 seconds flat. Didn't even need to touch the soap. :p
 
#16 ·
Hey Skivvy, I am exxagerating a little, but frankly most of the brands in those places are secondary. I mean walk into anyone of them and you will see oceans of Maxtor hard drives yet everyday I read here at least 12 people who will never use Maxtor again. In contrast they may ahve a few of the others but I had the experience with psu's recently when I had one I needed quickly and had to settle for next day shipping. I went into 4 of those stores and could not find a single psu I would buy.
 
#17 ·
I always settle for next day shipping. I have 2 fair rigs here. I can survive 3 days if I have to.

I always hate when my primary goes up, but I can survive if it does. Hell, I'll build again this summer for myself. I want DX-10 and whatever is the best chip at the time money wise and OC wise. Until then, I will practice on others.

I actually found a DVD combo at walmart last weekend. 52x 32x 16x for $32. Liteon. Not bad for a "I gotta have it" for a customer. (Sis in law). :rolleyes: Made squat on it but I made a few off her a few months ago. It evens out I figure.
 
#18 ·
Hell, this morning I overclocked my shower. I was steam cleaned in 2 seconds flat.
:D

griffinspc, I said I have never seen anyone...have we met?
think I'll stop now and thanks for proving my point!!!!
Rich. I'm not trying to argue but the people who come here are varied in their knowledge. IMHO it's just not practical or accurate to tell them that every store sells crap and have disingenuous sales staff. Sure, some are but a lot really try and help. You haven't proven anything except you know how to surf the web and insult people that disagree with you.
 
#19 ·
I seem to have touched a nerve, sorry about that guys. Seriously though, my heartfelt thanks to you all for taking the time and making the effort to contribute to the debate. I did use the recommended website to try and identify the RAM stick that I needed but my computer is a custom built box based on AMD Athlon motherboard, not an off-the-shelf brand, so I could not answer the question 'what is your computer make and model?' from the drop down menu. I was hoping there might be a simple solution like - Windows Control panel or open the box and look at the stick that you are currently using; but obviously not so simple. I think I will just tolerate the machine going slow until it wears out.
 
#20 ·
#21 ·
griffinspc said:
:D

Rich. I'm not trying to argue but the people who come here are varied in their knowledge. IMHO it's just not practical or accurate to tell them that every store sells crap and have disingenuous sales staff. Sure, some are but a lot really try and help. You haven't proven anything except you know how to surf the web and insult people that disagree with you.
I am not disagreeing with all your thought griffins, just that the majority of those coming here do not know and they look to these inventory clerks as "pc gods". All you need to do is peruse this and other big forums to see the biggest single issue in hardware is incompatible ram, and it always starts with someone going to a store and buying a certain speed stick of ram their system "needs". I hate generalizations, but in this case that one is true. If computers did not use ram, didn't have usb ports, and were soundless, you could check this hardware forum weekly and find 10 posts.
I spent 35 years in another phase of retailing working for really large store chains in buying and management, so I know how the game works, and have seen the retail scene further deteriorate from when I was in it. It would appear the pc business, and hardware works on really low margins of profit and high volume, is really like the old "fair trade" only undeclared where the big chains like the small independents sell products for list price, it just isn't declared any more. So the only way to promote is to buy closeouts, discontinued mdse, or have specially made up "look-a-likes" you can show fake retails on, to then reduce and appear like you are on sale. This is the only way to promote in the retailing business today, much as it always was, and going into all these stores enough times in prior years, I could see that instantly, because I did it for so long.
Here is one easy way to tell. Ever go into an appliance store on a sale and look real close at a brand name tv on sale. Look so close you notice the floor model has bass and treble controls and the one you bought did not. Then look at the model and see Panasonic B1200
was the floor model and the one you bought is B1200X. That's how they do it and the really smart ones, pull the full price one off the floor and sub the promo one during the sale.
Now what I am saying is not for all stores, I have'nt been in all stores obviously. But of the ones I have hear in Eastern Pa, and that is Staples, Short Circuit City, Worst buy...they are all the same . Hardware sells at 10-15% margins. Normal branded clothing is at 50% so they can reduce that much and live off the full price sales made earlier. Hardware guys
need huge volume to support the costs of those big stores filled with minimum wage workers or they cannot survive, so they have no choice because really big volume discounts are not what you think. A really big volume discount might be .50 to $1 an item for an ungodly quantity, that would never allow any discount at all that would entice a shopper.
The average retail clerk if you can even find one, reads the box along with you, and I'm sorry but it is true, and he is pressured by management to get rid of what is "sitting" in the back room. Now you want to send a "noob" computer user into that environment to find the right ram for his pc, when online a configurator takes all the guesswork out of it?
I could care less if the user finds the model number at an online memory maker, and then takes that model number into Worst Buy and buys that alone, fine with me but that is not what happens. Even if they go in with the number, they are then told "makes no difference take this one as I don't have yours" by someone who means well but is probably equally clueless and duped by management to clear a shelf.
 
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