For 6 years now I've plugged along with a Dell Dimension 4550, 1.0 gig of ram (after I added 0.5) and a lovely ol' GeForce 5500 VGA graphics card. Finally trading up to a new computer

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883227146

and I'm curious as to how much RAM is too much, if there is such a THING. I'm a gamer
first and foremost, but use SolidWorks 3d CAD as well. This new machine comes with 6GB DDR3 1333 (2GB x 3) and has 3 memory slots available, leaving another 6GB available for installation, if I'm not mistaken. It runs Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit. I've read that 64-bit Vista uses a percentage of a computer's RAM, so more RAM, faster OS and more RAM left over for the rest of the computer.

I know very little about these things outside of a *SYSTEM Requirement* telling me what I need to have. Would adding 6GB of RAM, going from 6GB to 12GB, be helpful, or would it just be a drop in the bucket?heh, I have a Dimension 4400 with similar specs as yours, same video card and RAM (I also upped from 512MB...)

Although I've only used it for about a year, before that, much older 350Mhz machine.

I'm just waiting for my new build to arrive from tigerdirect; It's going to have 8GB.

going from 6GB to 12GB would be an excellent idea, if you can afford it. I couldn't say the performance boost but I'm pretty sure it would be noticable, especially with games, multitasking, and your CAD program.My condolences on you using the Dell still Heh, truthfully mine was a great computer, never had any major problems with it, and I was surprised just how many programs it would keep afloat when it had no business running them.

I'll try out the computer for a little while and then DECIDE on whether I add more RAM or not, leaning towards yes. I'd normally be frugal about such things (case in point, 6 year old computer I'm sitting at) but after blowing the money on a new rig, what's a bit more RAM?

On a RELATED topic, is it important to get RAM that is the same speed? I SEE my computer comes with 1333 Mhz, would it be bad to install, say, 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 1066?if you install a lower speed memory, it will run at the lower speed.

Heh, this dell still beats the snot out of the 350Mhz K6-2 I was using before it, and it still runs well. Just doesn't run some of the new games all these darn kids are playing these days- I'm upgrading so I can see what all the hubbub is about