new memory for slightly outdated computer

my girlfriend has a Dell computer

amd althlon 64x 2 5600+ 2.8 ghz
2gb ram
ati 4670 gpu


she uses it mostly to play wow and other light media use. i got her the budget gaming card about a year ago which helped her play wow at decent settings.. but lately she's been complaining that her fps is lower than usual. i checked and of course she has a ton more background services than she used to, but most of them she insists on keeping.. i checked during one of her wow sessions and her total memory usage was in the 90%'s so i figure i'd get her another gig of ram for a little padding.


the 2 options i found were

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134216

and

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146524


i remember hearing that installing memory in pairs ( 2 x 512) is generally better.. but as you can see it's 10 dollars more. will there be much of a difference if i just get the 1gb stick or is it worth getting the 2 x 512?

TLR 1gb stick of ram for 20$ or 2x 512 mb for 30$

 

I really would start there but if she insists they are needed...:innocent I'm not a memory expert but get the cheaper one that's on your QVL. If that doesn't help the speed then she'll have to look at the services/startups and trim.

 

well WoW and vista alone seem to take up 1.5 gigs of the 2 easily.. then add in her music player, instant messenger, virus scan, something for her cellphone and webcam and other things she insists on keeping. and she has 32 bit vista so 4 gb would be a waste.. so 1 gb is really the only upgrade we can make. just didnt know if 10 dollars more for the pair was worth it or not.

 

Vista will always seem like a memory hog but it's really not as the Vista philosophy is to use the available memory that you paid for and is very good at relinquishing it when needed for other things like WoW in your case. I have 4 GB and 1.8GB is being used.

 

awesome i guess i'll go ask on another forum where people will actually answer the question being asked, peace.

 

Good luck man. Oh, avoid the forums that tell you to reformat. I answered your question, you just didn't hear it. Peace to you too.

 

The only reason to get memory in pairs is if your motherboard is dual-channel capable; the good news is that most motherboards made in the last few years have this as a standard feature.

Here's a good source of information to help you understand how it works, if you're interested.

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/133

That being said, if you have two open slots, go ahead and spring for two identical 1GB sticks. It will only cost you $10 more and the performance difference will be much more noticeable.