hi guys whats up..well i just want to ask you guys a question...well ok..i have a compaq presario and it has 512 RAM...well ya i want to upgrade the thing...so i read the book thing and it says that the max is 4.0 gb..and it hasd 4 sockets...well ya if i do buy four 1 Gig Ram and put it in the sockets will my proccessor burn or overheat...i read some and they said it will well i just want to know before i buy the RAM'S

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I have not heard anything about maximum RAM burning out CPU. However, I suppose there is a possibility due to extra heat created by RAM chips themselves. And you do have Compaq (not that it's a bad computer brand but I just don't like how Compaq has BIOS stored in the hard drive sector instead of an actual BIOS chip).

I'm going to assume that you have a desktop. Make sure that you have free flowing of fresh air to minimize the heat buildup. As long as your user's manual says that it's capable of up to 1GB of RAM, I think you are alright. Make sure that you choose the RAM that is recommended by the manufacture.

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There is a good solution if you are not limited in your financial part, - you need to buy an OCZ Ram which comes with heatsink which reduces heating a lot. Basically you need this special type of Ram with cooling (heatsink) if you are really concerned about overheating problem. But the thing that would worry me the most, if the version of windows you use supports more than 2Gigs of Ram. because as far as I know, win xp fully supports up to 2Gigs of Ram, after depends...

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If your specs say that the system can support 4 GB of RAM... then the only way to achieve that with 4 sockets is to install 4 1GB RAM chips.

Having 4GB of ram has absolutely nothing to do with burning up your CPU. (Unless you try putting the new chips in with the computer running or something silly like that)

In reality... having 4GB of RAM will help other things... It will decrease hard drive access, therefore possibly cooling down your Hard Drive Temperature. This is due to the fact that your computer will not have to access the Windows Paging File as often. The paging file is hard drive space designed to act as RAM at those moments when your computer does not actually have enough physical RAM to complete the current task. Thus, with more RAM... the less often you will access the Paging File. This also explains why extra RAM makes a computer seem to run faster... Access to physical RAM is in the Nanoseconds range... while accessing the Paging File is in the Milliseconds range.

RAM=FAST
PAGING FILE=SLOW

Or at least that is a simple explanation.

Adding RAM is the single most important upgrade you can do to a PC... and there is no danger involved..

Since you have a Compaq Computer... just make sure that you buy RAM that has been tested to work with your model... Compaq is Notorious for needing specific manufacturer's RAM chips. Just any old chip off the shelf might not work properly.

 

 

 

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Hi theillestmc12,
4 GB of RAM will mostlikely actually "cool down" your computer (by a degree or two) due to less hard drive activity. (like ckuehner said above). There's now way it has anything to do with "burning up" the CPU.. just make sure you have good airflow thru the case (like BuffaloHELP said above). If your really concerned about heat bulidup ..then just install an extra case fan.. AND/or take the side panel cover off the computer (be sure to keep it clean though).
Also, Win XP "usually" only "plays nice" with a maximum of 2GB RAM (like malish said above).
Also, Compaq's do sometimes only work well with specific manufacturer's ram ( like ckuehner said above).
Check out Kingston or Crucial RAM sellers.. they both should be able to get you the correct type & amount of RAM for reasonable $$$.
Hope this helps
RGPHNX
PS- don't buy "bargain basement" RAM from the net..it's usually junk.

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ok...thanks for replying man..well i want to have more ram coz i want to render my things faster..do you think it wil lhelp???? thanks!

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Absolutely... adding RAM will definately improve rendering speed.

Other things you may consider are a processor upgrade, and a video card upgrade.

Not sure if your system can support a processor upgrade or not.. but you might check the manual to find out.

Also, if you are using the On-Board video card for the system... If the system has an AGP slot for a video card... Adding a newer higher powered video card would make a big difference.

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I don't think it will overheat computer is built to handle 4 gb and then it will, you can be positive about it

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In order to upgrade your RAM you should find out exactly what type of RAM your computer uses, it could be SD-RAM (old but still common), DDR RAM: 266, 400, 533, DDR2-RAM. After the installation is pretty straightforward.

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to upgrade ram follow my instuctions
1.umpluge all cables
2.open the case of youre pc
3.find a manual of your motherboard and look what kind of ram goes to your motherboard and how much can the motherboard take
4.after this the last step is to take the ram into the motherboard in the right ram slot

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