alkiry

This is to the site support people or anybody who is knowlegeable about computers
I live in augusta georgia and i am a hardcore world of warcraft gamer, my pc is a few years old and the only upgrades i have in it is 512 mb of ram and a 256 ATI graphics card which is minimum wow system req. (I will get my pc specs in the next couple days).

I have been doing alot of moving the past year so i havent been playing wow on my computer for about a year because i havent had internet yet but i will be getting internet in the near future. I am using my friends pc to make the post. Im just trying to get information so i can get straight to upgrading when i do get internet and wow running

So basicly i am looking to upgrade and tweak my pc with a small budget but i have a couple questions.
The first thing i think is a good idea is to upgrade the ram because it seems relativly inexpensive and makes a big difference. At first i was under the impression you could just go out and buy a ram stick and it will work with your pc but i read a couple articles and posts and it seems to not be quite that easy.
So if you could explain the basics to me and your recommendations of exactly how much ram i need and possible sites or stores with good prices, and if you could give me some info on installing ram physically and compadability and stuff like that.
And lastly if you could give me some info on tweaking my pc and graphics card settings for gaming performence, and just overall performence. i have read a couple guides but they didnt seem that good or just a little too complecated for me.
I know you dont have much to work with, with so little info about my pc but just try to bear with me and give me as much info as you can in simple terms that an average gamer could understand.
-Thanks