Please explain

[The Super Pope]

Please speak slowly and don't use technical terms.
Can someone explain what MB, GB and KB are and what order they come in. I also want to get more RAM, how much should I get and how much should I pay? (Pound sterling)

[Black Hawk]

I'm no expert, but are you talking about Gigabyte, megabyte, and kilobyte?

If so than the order I put above is from big to small and they are measurements for information or data.

You should get no more than 3 Gigabytes if your using Vista and 2 for XP, since your system will not be able to use it.

I'm not English so I can't say on price

[ProneStar!]

lololol............... *ahem* *cough* alrighty then here goes.

KB 2^10 Bytes = 1024 Bytes
MB 2^20 Bytes = 1024 KB
GB 2^30 Bytes = 1024 MB
TB 2^40 Bytes = 1024 GB

so if your getting ram just stick with 1gig cards right now, 512mb is a waste of space, and 2gig is overpriced usually. how much ram do you currently have, what OS do you have, what mobo do you have, how much ram can it support?

@blackhawk

you are incorrect sir, XP 32bit can support 4gigs of ram, while XP64bit can handle 32gigs of ram(more than a single mobo is going to be able to handle for a home comp), Vistas limit is more than your mobo can probably handle as well so dont worry about it.

[Black Hawk]

Damn I thought XP 32 bit could only handle 2 gigs, or was it that anything over 2 gigs was worthless.

Been out of the loop for a while

[The Super Pope]

KB 2^10 Bytes = 1024 Bytes
MB 2^20 Bytes = 1024 KB
GB 2^30 Bytes = 1024 MB
TB 2^40 Bytes = 1024 GB

so if your getting ram just stick with 1gig cards right now, 512mb is a waste of space, and 2gig is overpriced usually. how much ram do you currently have, what OS do you have, what mobo do you have, how much ram can it support?

I think that's what I want to be looking at but it's confusing.
To answer you questions
Ram(part 1) - 480ish
OS - ? (is that operating system? windows)
mobo - ?
Ram(part 2) - ?

[Sidus Preclarum]

mobo = mother board.
He's asking how many slots are there for the RAM on it ...

[The Super Pope]

Ah, thank you. I can't check at the moment as i can't get to the back of the tower thing

[ProneStar!]

alright for further clarification.........

OS = operating system ex. XP or whatever(i doubt you use linux lol)
Really as to the ram questions a simple rule is you cant have too much, its a simple fact. 2gigs for ram is great for a majority of people with a single monitor and only do one or two things at a time, but if you actually do quite a bit of things at once then 4 is great FOR XP. with vista it is simply a fact you need at least 1 gig of ram, but 2 for decent performance.

google cpuz and open it, that program will give you a lot of info you need when you are considering upgrading your computer. everything from your actual mobo(motherboard) to your cpu information, to your ram info with everything from timings to the manufacturer serial number.

[spartan_phalanx]

Damn I thought XP 32 bit could only handle 2 gigs, or was it that anything over 2 gigs was worthless.

This is helpful in understanding what and why 32-bit OS's can handle for memory.

32-bit - 4GB max, less actually available.

[Simetrical]

you are incorrect sir, XP 32bit can support 4gigs of ram, while XP64bit can handle 32gigs of ram(more than a single mobo is going to be able to handle for a home comp), Vistas limit is more than your mobo can probably handle as well so dont worry about it.

XP can nominally support 4 GB of RAM, but in practice anything over 3 GB is going to be partially wasted, and anything over 2 GB might be. 64-bit Vista supports various amounts of RAM depending on the exact version: Basic allows 8 GB, Premium allows 16 GB, Ultimate and higher allow "128+ GB" (which I take to mean "we haven't bothered to compile in support for more than 128 GB but will consider it when that can actually fit on the craziest hardware junkie's motherboard").

Of course, Linux can give you 16 EB (a.k.a. 17,179,869,184 GB) if you compile it with the right switches, but I think this is one of its less profound advantages.

[ProneStar!]

so i was off about the 64bit(then again i havent used 64bit as it was a pointless development), however my point still remains that the max allowed on most systems is more than you can probably install. It is true that very(and i mean very) few programs actually receive an increase in performance from 4gigs compared to 2 or 3. As to linux i figured its pointless to go into that since i figured he more than likely doesnt use it. Right now having at least 2 is going to be the best bet for anyone.

[Simetrical]

so i was off about the 64bit(then again i havent used 64bit as it was a pointless development),

Not remotely pointless. Just more trouble than it's worth on PCs, for now.

It is true that very(and i mean very) few programs actually receive an increase in performance from 4gigs compared to 2 or 3.

Not quite true. Unused memory will be used by the operating system to cache disk reads, and Vista at least is clever enough to cache entire programs that are commonly accessed even if they haven't been recently accessed. That latter bit in particular could make a substantial difference in starting up random programs that you use occasionally, giving you overall better performance. It's a somewhat minor benefit for the cost, but it's still there.