> I want to add more memory to one of my machines. How can I > determine what type of memory is needed? There seeems to be > many types. Also, what about "speed?" Need the speed be > the same as what's currently installed? > > shel
If you have documentation for your motherboard, it should say what kind of memory it needs and how it can be installed (older machines sometimes needed memory sticks in pairs, for example, and newer ones can often FIT more memory than they can actually use) Failing that, I'd take one of the chips out and take it to a computer store and have them tell you what the heck it is. There are a couple of different sizes and a lot of different technologies (DDR, SDRAM, etc) and you normally need an exact match to work. Sometimes computers can accept several different kinds (sizes or technologies) and need to be configured in BIOS for this. Usually memory that is faster than specified will work, although I don't know how MUCH faster will work. 100 used to work fine at 66, and 133 at 100, but I don't think they promise any greater difference. Note that the memory that is IN the machine already may in fact be faster than the motherboard spec if the motherboard was an old design and the newer, faster memory was cheaper or easier to find at the time the machine was assembled. This is all assuming PC. For Mac, it should be a bit easier (less variation) but more expensive and possibly harder to find. I know nothing about the inside of a Mac, whereas I build PCs from parts. DJE
