I have a Pent.4 w/ hyper threading, 3.0ghz,800 mhz fsb,512mb of ram(2x256) It is what ever stock ram Dell uses. Would I gain much performance by going to 1gb of ram?
I do not do any gaming or video editing. Not sure if I want to spend the money if I see little or no improvement. I ran a program called cpu-z & it seems my memory now is running at 3-3-3-8(does that seem right?) Mike

3-3-3-8 sounds aout right. That's not a horrible horrible latency, I've seen much worse. Honestly, running XP and just surfing the web, you will not notice much diff'ce between 512MB and 1024MB (1GB) of RAM. If you use graphics programs like Photoshop or often do things like ripping a CD to mp3's you should notice a difference.

I typically run all of my systems with 1GB of RAM (2 512MB sticks) and my gaming rigs get 2GB (2 1GB sticks). IMHO, If you're running XP it is suggested you have a minimum of 512MB and recommended minimum of 1GB.

PS - if you need to find good, compatible replacement RAM, do one of two things:

A) Crack open the case and look at the DELL sticker on the side of your RAM chip to see if it is DDR 266, DDR 333 or DDR 400. Go to NewEgg and buy OCZ brand RAM (gold or platinum preferrably) in that same speed - get the two-stick package deal. Try to find something with a latency like 2-3-2-5 if you can afford it.

or

B) Go to Crucial.com and use their memory selector to find the specific memory for your system. They are a great way to find inexpensive but highly compatible RAM that is warranteed for life. (OCZ also carries lifetime warranty)