cheers mate,I think Im going to add 6 or 8GB of RAM. But I need to check how many RAM slots I have first

If you need help with that get CPU-Z and post a screenie with the "Mainboard", "Memory" and "SPD" tabs in it

so before I do that I get a screen shot of my current RAM specs etc...how hard is it to add more anyway? All you have to do is buy the ram, remove the cover and place the ram stick in the slots, close it up and its done right? And regarding upgrading CPU since someone said to upgrade the motherboard if I get something that the motherboard is already used to e.g AMD would I not have to change the motherboard?

The CPU-Z screens are to know your specs (motherboard and RAM, the "CPU" tab contains the CPU details)Without that info we can't really suggest anything. Installing the RAM is just that, yes, but you need to know which one to getAlso important, is your case's form factor (ATX, mATX), PSU, budget, overclock (yes or no)

Looking at mine, could you suggest anything that is hindering the peformance of my pc? Also are you able to tell me what speed ram i should buy for this system?Thanks.

Looking at mine, could you suggest anything that is hindering the peformance of my pc? Also are you able to tell me what speed ram i should buy for this system?Thanks.

Your RAM is working at half it's rated speed. It's set to 400MHz when it can run at 800MHzNot like it will make a huge difference upping the RAM frequency to 800MHz, it's a pretty old and basic system Luke.You could upgrade CPU (Phenom II x4) + GPU and boost performance quite a lot

yeh, i know its starting too age just a little. To be fair to the system it does a very good job at running fsx, suprizingly.Although you say upping it to 800 isnt going to make a great deal of diffrence, i need every little bit of help i can get.I know i need to change settings in bios - but i've never done it, i just put the ram in the slots, what am i looking for?Thanks Dazz, great help.

I got here holding F11 whilst starting.

here's the manualhttp://download.gigabyte.eu/FileList/Manual/motherboard_manual_ga-m57sli-s4_2.0_e.pdfI couldn't figure out where to set RAM speed. You'll need to search for it sorry

Thanks for the manual Dazz.Its doesnt get very techical though.Would increasing the ram voltage, increase the MHz? ( ref: page 50)

ok guys im now here with my computer so now I have much more information,my specs are,windows vista 32GB (I really thought it was 64 intel core 2 quad CPU Q6600 2.40GHz 2.39GHz RAM 3327

Thanks for the manual Dazz.Its doesnt get very techical though.Would increasing the ram voltage, increase the MHz? ( ref: page 50)

No, I don't think so. I did a quick google search and someone in a forum posted something about setting RAM speed to manual first

ok guys im now here with my computer so now I have much more information,my specs are,windows vista 32GB (I really thought it was 64 intel core 2 quad CPU Q6600 2.40GHz 2.39GHz RAM 3327

Vista 32 bit and 3327MB of RAM? that changes everything. You probably have 4GB of RAM installed, so what you need is Win 7 64b

yeah that was definetly it. How much better would my pc be with 64bit? And should I wait for windows 8? would the NGX be better with that or not?

I think like me, a new system is in order :).

Ive got to make my mind up by this weekend, either wait for the windows 864 bit or get the windows 764 bit. How much of a difference would they both make?

I don't know anything about Win 8 or if it's worth waiting for it, but Win 7 is a solid OS