wow, thanks guys. i didn't realise how much there was to think about. my mainboard doesn't appear to support more than ddr2 667 Mhz, so i guess that's what i'm getting.

i'll do a little looking into it and if anyone can confirm what lostclimate said about dual channels that would be much appreciated; not that i don't trust you mate, but i want to be sure

thanks for the heads-up,

julz