PC Hardware in a Nutshell, Second Edition

Our Picks

We use and recommend only name-brand memory. Commodity memory may not work properly in a given motherboard. Even if it appears to work properly at first, you may later experience subtle problems attributable to the memory. Name-brand memory costs little more than commodity memory, and is definitely worth the small extra cost.

We have installed only Crucial Technologies (http://www.crucial.com) memory and Kingston (http://www.kingston.com) memory in the scores of systems we’ve built during the last three years, and have experienced no problems attributable to memory in those systems. That’s something we can’t say for other brands of memory we’ve tested, and certainly not for commodity memory. We frequently use the Crucial Memory Configurator on their web site, which allows you to enter the manufacturer and model of your system or motherboard and returns a list of memory modules, with prices, that are certified to be compatible with that system or motherboard.

Here are our recommendations for memory:

SIMM

If you are upgrading a SIMM-based system, tread carefully. Such systems are now so old that major upgrades make poor economic sense. SIMM modules are quite expensive per MB, and it’s quite easy to spend more on large-capacity SIMMs than the cost of a new motherboard, processor, and memory. If it’s a question of adding only 16 MB or 32 MB to extend the useful life of an older system under Windows 9X, use the Crucial Memory Configurator to determine which module(s) fit your ...