Upgrading to 4GB of memory?

psychofish

psychofish

CAGiversary!
So here's my computer:

Mobo: Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6420 @ 2.13 Ghz
Video: Gigabyte Nvidia GeForce 8600 GTS
Memory: 2x 1GB GSkill DDR2 800

So yeah, it's a couple years old.

My most processing intensive work is probably photo editing/graphics processing, and gaming of course. I'm not looking to switch out any of my major parts for another year or so, but I can probably eke out some better performance by doubling the memory to 4GB -- which I think I'm definitely going to do. Now that I've been out of the market for memory for a while, I thought I'd ask for some advice.

1. Is it better to just buy 2 more of the same 1GB sticks I already have? (I have 4 memory slots, only 2 are used now) Or should I just buy newer better memory to replace them?
2. Where's the best place to get some cheap ass deals on GOOD memory?

While I'm here, what's the best way to uninstall Windows 7 beta? I guess I could just wipe the partition that it's on but I really mean getting rid of the Windows 7 boot up menu, where I can choose to boot from Windows 7 or XP. I'm assuming that's hidden somewhere on the boot sector of my primary drive.
 
I say buy 4GB of new memory. I'd get 2 x 2GB sticks in a matched set. You'll get the best possible performance boost that way, which is the goal of the upgrade to begin with amirite?

Whenever you mix memory, all the memory (old and new) perform at the specs of the lowest memory stick. Your new sticks will perform at the speed of your existing memory.

Also, the fewer slots you use for memory on your mobo, the more stable your system will be. So 2x 2GB is better than 4x 1GB.
 
Yeah I recommend 2x2 as well. Memory is so incredibly cheap you might as well. And the best place to get deals, like usual, is newegg. Here are a few deals I found quickly:
OCZ:
$34.99 AR:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227267
$35.99 AR:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227269
$36.99 AR:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227420

Corsair $34.99 AR:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145241

I like OCZ and Corsair since I recently had several bad sticks from Patriot and Crucial.
 
Wow, that first OCZ looks like a beast... cheap and with a huge number of positive reviews. I just checked the inside of my PC and it looks like it wouldn't clear the CPU heatsink if I put it in slot 1 (my memory is currently in slots 1 and 3, for dual channel) but if I use 2 and 4 instead, it will clear. That should be fine right?
 
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