I am wanting to put a 512mb pc133 sdram stick in my comp. When i look them up to buy online, they have high density and low density. I need to know which i need, i will give you some specifications of my computer. Its and asus model, series CUW-AM. The chipset is Intel Whitney i810. If you need anymore info tell me

I would be very hesitant to purchase a 512Mb RAM module for that system. The model number you quoted is the motherboard id, by the way, and the motherboard was manufactured for use in some HP and Dell systems, rather than for retail. I can't be sure of the situation for your board, as Asus do not provide support information for it, but quite a few similar boards of that era had limits on the RAM module size they would accept.

I'd not purchase a module larger than 256Mb for it unless the purchase was a 'try before you buy' arrangement.

Alright, would 384mb of ram be enough to run windows XP? 128mb + 256mb.
I know now that 191mb is not enough to run it efficiently.

Yeah 256MB would be minimum to run decently in my opinion but 384 should definitely be good enough (you could run it at 191MB as well but it may be a bit slow).

Ok cool, thanks alot, also one other thing, is there a certain brand of ram stick i should get or a certain one to stay away from? maybe they are all the same, but i just want to know what brand you would recomend if any.

There are plenty of good brands to pick out, really. But, I would just look at price and speed.

If possible, shy away from high density memory, or at least that's been my experience. That tends to be OEM, lower quality stuff, and had limited compatibility with several systems I've run, including Dells and HPs. It's WAY cheap, but you're taking a risk with it not working in your system.

ok cool, thanks alot, I will stay away from the OEM and high density. OEM is a manufacturer that buys a bunch of computers and then customizes them, to there specifications, and then sell them, like HP correct?

Make sure wherever you buy from will let you return the RAM if it doesn't work, several local places near me would not let you return defective or nonworking RAM- so if you get a stick that is defective or not compatable with your pc you would be out of luck. Circuit City has a 14 day return policy on RAM and Newegg.com are nice enough to let you return or get a credit if it doesn't work out so I would go with them if you don't know of a better place (Circuit City can be pricey though).

OEM in this sense basically means unpackaged, unbranded cheap RAM modules. It carries more risk of failure, and more risk that modules from different factories will have conmflict with each other. Hynix, Kingston and Kingmax are manufacturers which still have SD-RAM available for purchase.

I was just wondering if there is a way to limit how many megs of ram your comp uses? say if you 256mb ram can you limit it to use only like 230mb? I am asking because my friends computer says it has 511mb ram, im just wondering how and why they use 511mb instead of 512mb. I have also seen other weird numbers.