Upgrading RAM and Graphics Card?

I want to upgrade the RAM on my laptop and the graphics card on my desktop.
I've never done something like this before. I'm not sure which kind of RAM I need, which kind of video card I need, how to find out if it's compatible with my desktop/laptop etc.

Both my laptop and desktop are running Windows 7 Ultimate 32 bit.
Laptop has 1GB of RAM
Desktop has 2GB of RAM.

If any other additional information is needed, I'm not sure how to find it, help would be appreciated.

This is the video card I was looking at:
http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product...spx?path=556dd29c8c9a0022ccfa644ad0d71825en02

I'm not sure if it's good, or if it even would be compatible with my desktop, but the price is appealing. xD
I'm not looking for something crazy powerful or too expensive.

I have about 300MB~ RAM free on my laptop, it's really sluggish, I want to upgrade it to about 2GB, that's good enough for me. I'm not sure how to find out which kind of RAM I need.

Also, I live in Canada, does anyone know any good places to buy RAM/video cards? Online or in store.

 

I'm not sure how to find out the make + model. ;x
BC, Vancouver area~

 

Look at the bottom of the laptop, it should have the model number on it.

32-bit OS Windows 7 can run up to 4GB of memory. We would need you motherboard specs on the desktop.

Download this program on both the laptop and the desktop. It is a free PC Audit by Belarc. It should give us the information that we would need.

Belarc Advisor

Just copy and past the information for us to look at. leave out any information that is not relevant to the PC.

 

Desktop:

Operating System new – server role

Windows 7 Ultimate Service Pack 1 (build 7601)
Install Language: English (United States)
System Locale: English (Canada)
Installed: 02/04/2010 4:44:20 PM

System Model

Compaq-Presario GX618AA-A2L SR5350F
System Serial Number: MXF8060BZY
Enclosure Type: Desktop

Processor a

1.80 gigahertz Intel Pentium Dual
64 kilobyte primary memory cache
1024 kilobyte secondary memory cache
64-bit ready
Multi-core (2 total)
Not hyper-threaded

Main Circuit Board b

Board: ASUSTeK Computer INC. Lancaster8 1.04
Bus Clock: 200 megahertz
BIOS: American Megatrends Inc. 5.18 11/20/2007

Memory Modules c,d

2040 Megabytes Usable Installed Memory
Slot 'DIMM0' has 1024 MB
Slot 'DIMM2' has 1024 MB

Controllers

ATA Channel 0 [Controller] (2x)
ATA Channel 1 [Controller] (2x)
Intel(R) 82801G (ICH7 Family) Ultra ATA Storage Controllers - 27DF
Intel(R) 82801GB/GR/GH (ICH7 Family) Serial ATA Storage Controller - 27C0

Display

Intel(R) 82945G Express Chipset Family [Display adapter]
mv video hook driver2 [Display adapter]
VNC Mirror Driver [Display adapter]
ViewSonic Q7b [Monitor] (17.1"vis, s/n PU3054300744, October 2005)

Bus Adapters

AE1YM7GA IDE Controller
Intel(R) 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB Universal Host Controller - 27C8
Intel(R) 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB Universal Host Controller - 27C9
Intel(R) 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB Universal Host Controller - 27CA
Intel(R) 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB Universal Host Controller - 27CB
Intel(R) 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB2 Enhanced Host Controller - 27CC



Laptop:

Operating System new – server roles

Windows 7 Ultimate (build 7600)
Install Language: English (United States)
System Locale: English (Canada)
Installed: 03/08/2010 6:28:40 PM

System Model

Hewlett-Packard Compaq Presario CQ60 Notebook PC F.32
System Serial Number: 2CE8503580
Enclosure Type: Notebook

Processor a

2.15 gigahertz Intel 585
64 kilobyte primary memory cache
1024 kilobyte secondary memory cache
64-bit ready
Not hyper-threaded

Main Circuit Board b

Board: Wistron 3612 09.48
Serial Number: 2CE8503580
Bus Clock: 667 megahertz
BIOS: Hewlett-Packard F.32 11/20/2008

Memory Modules c,d

956 Megabytes Usable Installed Memory
Slot 'DIMM0' has 512 MB (serial number DD2E6E7D)
Slot 'DIMM2' has 512 MB (serial number DD2E6E7F)

Controllers

ATA Channel 0 [Controller]
ATA Channel 1 [Controller]
ATA Channel 4 [Controller]
ATA Channel 5 [Controller]
Standard AHCI 1.0 Serial ATA Controller

Display

Mobile Intel(R) 4 Series Express Chipset Family [Display adapter] (2x)
LGD LP156WH1-TLA1 [Monitor] (15.3"vis)

Bus Adapters

ALWZ9MJW IDE Controller
Intel(R) ICH9 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 2934
Intel(R) ICH9 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 2935
Intel(R) ICH9 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 2936
Intel(R) ICH9 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 2937
Intel(R) ICH9 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 2938
Intel(R) ICH9 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 2939
Intel(R) ICH9 Family USB2 Enhanced Host Controller - 293A
Intel(R) ICH9 Family USB2 Enhanced Host Controller - 293C


I hope I didn't leave out anything you guys needed. ;x

 

Tainted3,
Well, for your desktop you are maxed out on memory. That MB does not allow for 2x chip sets, so 2GB is as high as you can go. However, I know that you were looking for a graphics card. You have available a PCI Express X1 and a PCI Express X16. Graphics cards can vary in price greatly! When I say greatly I'm talking anywhere from $15 to $5,000. I don't know exactly what you want from your graphics card. Do you need HDMI so that you can connect to your TV or are you using it for gaming? Let me know and I'm going to point a buddy of mine 64026402 here. This guy knows cards and has helped me select nice cards a at good price. However, that information will help him as well in selecting a card for you.

Memory for your laptop can be upgraded to another 1GB. This of course means that you need to purchase two 1GB memory chips and replace your current 512MB chips with the new memory. Unfortunately, Belarc did not give me enough information to go on, so I could not find the exact MB for your computer. All this means is that you need to pull one of the memory cards to get the type of memory off of it. You will need to know if it is standard DDR, DDR2, or DDR3, and the speed that it is like PC 2700 or PC3 8500. I may be able to find out for sure if you can look at the bottom of your laptop and find the sticker that says: "Compaq Presario CQ60" and let me know what the following numbers are. This information "Notebook PC F.32" is not enough for me to find your exact Motherboard. This might be correct, but I'm not sure...

Memory Type DDR2
Memory Size 3072 MBytes
Channels Dual, (Symmetric)
Memory Frequency 332.5 MHz (1:2)
CAS# latency (CL) 5.0

Anyway, pull a memory card from the laptop to give me the specs on it, and I will send a PM to 64026402 and he can help with the graphics card!

 

The video card on my laptop is more powerful, right?
I want something more powerful than the one on my laptop.
I would be using it primarily for gaming. I've noticed that on the desktop, I have graphic issues with almost every game I've played. Either the textures don't load properly and I'm playing in some strange black world with random stripes and static, or if the textures are fine, I have horrible FPS even on the lowest graphics settings. The laptop is able to play them fine though. An HDMI port would be great, but I can live without one if it impacts the price significantly.

As for the numbers on the laptop: Compaq Presario CQ60-218CA
I'm not sure where my dad puts his tools (we moved recently) so I can't open up the laptop and take out a RAM stick ATM. I'll have to wait until he gets back from work later on tonight.
If my laptop supports it, can't I use 1 2GB stick, and 1 of the 512MB sticks currently in the laptop (Totaling to 2.5GB)? I'd like to have the option of upgrading to 4GB in the future without spending too much money, and would rather not buy 2 1GB sticks. Or can I use 1 2GB stick, and leave the other slot empty?

Thanks so much for your help!

 

Thanks!
Do you know if I can get just 1x2GB and 1x512MB, or 1x2GB and leave the other slot blank?
Also, is the Radeon HD6450 better than whatever video card my laptop has? How much better? I really like this one as it has and HDMI port and I found it on newegg for like 35$.
You're 100% sure it'll work with my desktop, right?

 

Awesome! This is the RAM stick I'm looking at. Just want to confirm if this one will work.
http://www.crucial.com/store/mpartspecs.aspx?mtbpoid=30149DC7A5CA7304

As for the graphics card, the link in the first post is from Best Buy. This is what I found on NewEgg. It's the same thing that you posted, right? This will work? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102933

Thanks for being so quick and helpful guys, I really appreciate it!

 

That is the correct memory. The only suggestion that I would like to make, and I may be wrong when I say this. I've heard that some older computers do not handle the PCI Express 2.1 very well. I might suggest finding the same card that is PCI Express 2.0.

Newegg is having some server issues right now, but I will take a look and see if I can find one for you. Other than that, ddp may be correct and the PCIe 2.1 will work.

 

I think I found the same card and it says it's PCI Express 2.0..

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=365400&CatId=3669

Would this work? Is this website any good? I haven't heard of it.

EDIT:
I found a few with similar stats, but they're not the same as the Radeon 6450.
Are any of these good/compatible?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500237
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150558
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814187134
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127538
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127627

 

Tainted3,
The Sapphire 100322L Radeon HD 6450, or the first one you linked to from TigerDirect is your best of the choices you provided. Nice price and it is PCIE 2! That's what I know will work for you. They are suppose to be both backwards and forward compatible, but like I said before, I would feel safer with you getting the 2.0 version just in case it wouldn't work.

 

I think I found it in the Canadian store.

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=365400&CatId=3669

This is it, right? xD

 

Great! Thanks so much, you guys both have been so patient and helpful!