Memory upgrade question

[Fleetboy]

I'm upgrading the memory in my dad's Dell pc because 1Gb of DDR2 RAM is not enough for Vista. It has 4 slots with currently has 2 x 512 at 533 mhz speed. I have ordered 2 x 1gb cards from Dell which are now at 800 speed & Dell say will be OK. I understand that if you have mixed memory of different speeds, the memory will always run at the slowest card speed.

My query is do I: just fit the 2gb and run at 800 speed or leave the 2 x 512 in as well (filling all 4 slots and have 3Gb of RAM but at the slower speed. My dad really only uses his PC for internet, email etc and at 78 he certainly isn't a gamer!

What's your view - RAM quantity over speed?

Thanks, Nick

 

[mpj88]

Firstly yes it will run at a lower speed, secondly its not usually recommended to mix different sized memory modules. And just because youve bought 800 memory doesnt neceseraly mean it will run at 800 it depends on your mobo and cpu too