Hi lookoo, I have 2 gig Ram in my 2.6 Athlon PC, XP appears to be very good at handling it, Certainly it's a lot more usefull than my previous 1 gig system. One thing I would say is that I stopped using my 'work' machine for gaming a long while ago and I now rarely encounter any problem's. Your problem may also arrise from one of the 'too many other proggies' on your HD. I'm no expert but it's been my bitter experience in the past that some software packages just don't like being on a HD with other's, for what ever reason. Over the past 7 years I found that if your using a PC for 3D graphic's, then JUST use it for 3D graphic's and NOTHING ELSE! Expensive I know but for my part it DEFFINATELY WORK'S! No doubt one of the technical expert's here could give you a perfectly reasonable explanation as to why that should be. So, ditch the games, lose some of the unnecessary 'proggies' and try it again, i'm willing to bet you'll see a marked difference!