PC3200 VS PC4200

i think it’s Return Merchandise Authorization or something like that… basically just make sure if it craps out on you, you can return it…

You look at every piece of hardware in your system and roughly estimate their draw. Compare that to the output wattage of your PSU and give it a good berth.

Sounds simple, but the problem is that many of your cheap PSUs out there don’t provide consistent, quality output. They may throw a number out for their output, but it’s like drinking dirty tap water. If you’re lucky, your computer won’t post and you won’t get past the bios. If you’re not, you’ll boot and then all hell will break loose. Personally, I only buy Antec. (I could put down a long list of the bad brands, but for god’s sake, stay away from Powmax.)

EDIT: I’m not sure I can give you an ‘indication’, per se. I’m just saying stick to quality brands and don’t skimp on cost. Most often I can save you the most money on video cards, HDs, cases and monitors. I don’t mess with ram, mobos (though Biostar is awesome and inexpensive), or PSUs and I use AMD cpus.

Is that a physical look or is the info in a system file somewhere?

As far as PSUs go, their output is right on the box. Good mobos will allow you to run a program that will monitor some aspects of your PSU from your desktop, at least the voltage some components are receiving. There really are no system files for your PSU. You don’t install it or have drivers or anything.

Am I understanding your question correctly? Basically, everything you put in your computer has a draw and your PSU needs to deliver that safely. The number is a good indication but I base that on the brand that’s delivering it.

I was wondering if I had to dismantle the computer to determine each component’s power consumption . . .

Well, if you bought a boxed system, like a Dell and whatnot, it’s tough to tell. Most components don’t usually say right on them. They have a pretty good idea what size PSU they need to put in there, and on your invoice or packing slip it usually lists info on the PSU they gave you. If you are looking at upgrading your system, especially new graphics card, adding additional hard drives, or having multiple optical drives, then yea, you may want to think about getting a bigger PSU.

Really, if you wanted to know the power consumption of each, you’d have to either call your computer’s assembler or open it, try to identify each part, then find info on each from their respective manufacturers.

EDIT: There may be a universal utility out there I don’t know of. I’m an English student by nature so I just research the heck out of stuff. Pen, paper, library, Google, whatever…

Is CompUSA a good place to return stuff?
Here is Centon’s warrenty.

GENERAL TERMS

All sales are final, shipped FOB origin and payable in U.S. Dollars. Centon’s maximum liability on any order shall be limited to the purchase price stated on the invoice. Any claim for shortage, damage, or shipment error must be made in writing within 7 days of receipt of goods.

Centon provides a limited warranty to the original purchaser of products manufactured by Centon. Such products shall be free from defects in workmanship. Centon’s sole obligation in such event shall be Centon’s option to either; 1) repair, 2) replace, or 3) credit the value of the product (based on the lower of the actual purchase or market price on the date the defective product is returned.) The length of the warranty varies as stated below.

Proof of purchase date will be required on all products other than memory modules. Products returned damaged or with tampered or missing labels will void the warranty.

Centon shall not be liable to any person or entity for any incidental, consequential, indirect, and special or punitive damages of any kind, loss of information or data, loss of revenue, loss of business or other financial loss arising out of or in connection with the sale or use of Centon products or services. Legal jurisdiction will be the County of Orange, California.

Centon shall not be obligated to repair or replace defective product, in whole or in part, by causes external to the goods such as catastrophe, power failure, improper use, unauthorized installation, unauthorized repair, disassembly or use of unauthorized parts.

Warranty by product

LIFETIME LIMITED WARRANTY

(Memory Modules)
The following Centon products are covered by this limited lifetime warranty:

All Centon memory modules.

Is most RAM unbuffered, It dosn’t say if it is or is not unbuffered.

“A buffer isolates the memory from the controller to minimize the load on the chip set. It is typically used when the system has a high density of memory and/or when a system has more than 3 memory module sockets.”

You can find plenty of buffered (registered) memory out there. Most of the time the average user really doesn’t need it. I have 2 gigs of ram, play resource intensive games, run photoshop and video editing software and multitask anything I want (in 2 slots). You don’t need registered unless you’re really clamoring for performance that most people never realize they need. You have 256 now? Yea, I’d skip it.

EDIT: It usually costs more, but if you think you’re getting it at a good price, it doesn’t really matter.

So, skip the unbuffered part, right?
Or do you mean skip this product?
Sorry, I get confused easily and I just wanted to be sure.

It’s cool. I meant buffered or unbuffered means nothing to you. Ignore it. Most likely you’re getting unbuffered at that price and you won’t miss it.

Ok, thanks.

True.
Even though they’re compatible on paper, some chips and front side buses just don’t work well with some memory brands. RAM is one of those things that’s worth spending a little more for the better stuff.

Very much agreed.

While we are talking about RAM, is it ok to install a 256 and a 512?

Like Blue, I am a fan of Crucial.com just to get information. Then I decide to either buy from them or not. I didn’t get my printer memory from them as I wasn’t willing to waste money upgrading a 2 year old printer.

Use their system scanner to determine what you have & what you need.

i don’t see why it wouldn’t be, but then, i’m no expert… i don’t think there’d be a problem, other than maybe putting a chip in one slot versus another, but i don’t think it should make a difference…

It’s ok, they’ll add up to 768. You just can’t do dual channel and if they’re different types it will run as fast as the slowest one.

Fen…
nevermind…

OK, I installed the ram, and I think my comp is faster, now to try a few things out.