Considering both cost efficiency and performance, we recommend 400MHz DDR memory. All of the motherboards recommend here supports DDR memory, so the high-speed, very efficient memory is possible.

Memory comes on long, thin modules named DIMMs, or Dual Inline Memory Modules. One should obtain 1 512MB DIMM: motherboards come with a restricted number of DIMM sockets, so keep the extra sockets empty for future upgrades. Windows XP and all latest games run with 512MB of memory without issues. With less, Windows moves information through its paging file very often. Extra memory may never be used unless one uses memory intensive software’s like video editors.

Check the branded memory like Corsair, Mushkin, or Viking. General memory is usually cheap and sloppy and it won’t allow running it as vigorously as branded memory.

Another feature to watch out is the Column Access Strobe latency. The higher the latency, the longer memory takes to react to data process. A lot of DDR memory has a CAS latency time of 2.5 cycles. Which means that after the memory controller has tapped the memory for data from an address, it takes about 2 and a half clock cycles for the memory to react. The lower the CAS latency, the faster the memory.

According to the motherboard, the BIOS setup program to force the PC to run with a lower CAS latency time is required, but the PC might become unsteady.