256mb chip with 128 mb chip

I am looking to by some more memory for my computer. I have 1 stick of 128mb pc133 ram with a p3 500 system (not overclocked). I am looking to by another 128mb or 256mb. Is there any problems issues with putting a 256mb pc133 chip in with the existing 128mb. Thanks for the help.

Looking to by from crucial by the way.

no you can mix and match sizes, and speeds, as long as they are all either SDRAM or DDR, SDRAM in your case. but no that is all good you can add another stick of a seperate size, i have never heard of any problems

thanks for the info

Thanks for the answer. I felt that it was ok but I like to get to opinion of people that know alot more than i do about something like this.

Yea what he said is correct but I thought Id go a little further for yea, jsut fyi if yea didnt already...

The only time you need to watch what ram you put in is if its PC100 or PC 133 - if you can run 133 then make sure the new stuff you get is also 133 or the new 100 will cause the 133 to run at 100 as well... unfortunatly the 100 obviouslly wont run at 133... well it might but its not designed to!~!

Sure this is just another pot bump but just a lil fyi if yea didnt know!~!

any info is appreciated

I was aware of the pc133 and pc 100 differences, but I really appreciate you posting. I always appreciate any additional information. There is alot I still dont understand. These great sites have helped alot though. Anything I can learn I will use someday.

Knowledge is power.

Welcome Housedad, have fun! You have to be sure that your mobo can handle sticks of 256MB or larger. Try doing a search on google for "SiSoft Sandra", it will tell you the maximum memory allowed for your system, as well as the maximum memory stick size per slot.

new question

Thanks again for everyones help and the welcome. I ordered the 256mb pc133 chip and it should arrive today. Now I am wondering if I should turn off virtual memory or leave it set to a low amount?
I will have 384mb now.

I've heard that if you're running multiple sticks of RAM, you can't overclock as high. Happened to me, actually. I was running 256 @ 2-3-2 @ 142, but when I added another stick (128) I had to throttle it back a bit. Its all good though, I can run both sticks @ 2-2-2 @ 141 ^_^

virtual memory should still be on, there will be times when it will still be needed. I think the rule is something like 2x or 1.5x but I am not sure. The tweak for VM is to manually set the fields and make the min the same as the max so windows never has to think about what its VM size should be. You shouldn't have any problems with the RAM. If you go to crucial.com you can go through their system/motherboard selector and it will give you a list of RAM that is compatible with your computer. I would look for a stick of CAS 3 RAM as it will be cheaper and there really isn't a reason for you to get CAS2 especially if you are not overclocking. It will be listed as either CAS 3, CL 3, or CN 3(i think I saw this somewhere).

I got my 256 mb chip yesterday (cl 3 from crucial) and installed it. I went with the cl 3 since my other memory chip was cl 3 and since I am not overclocking. I am pleased with the performance gain I got. I was also very pleased with Crucial's service. I wasn't sure how much it would help but for the price (barely over $30 with tax) I had to try.