BinaryT - I would definitely upgrade the Ram if I were you.

I am in the process of getting 4Gb of RAM that I am trying to get to 4-4-4 timings.

I spent only $55 for FOUR gigs on Newegg. I will be posting most likely Tuesday when they arrive to let everyone know if I hit the timings.

Upgrading from 2Gb of PC-5300 ram to 4Gb of PC-8000 ram can and will make a big diff. plus its cheeeeeeeeeeeaaaaapppp!!

As for your other questions, I am too tired. I am sure you will get a detailed response from some of the other guys here.