Gold or Silver?

[ArnoldLLerch]

Whast is the difference between gold pins and silver pins on RAM?

 

[Sundog]

<< silver pins >>


Do you mean tin leads?

 

[SCUBA]

nothing actioly just diffrent companies use diffrent lead materials
you also must make sure when buying new RAM that they use the same lead materials with ur existing ram due to compatibility issues

 

[thorin]

&quot;you also must make sure when buying new RAM that they use the same lead materials with ur existing ram due to compatibility issues &quot;

As long as it's metal (tin or Gold) how can it make a difference as long as they're not scraped and they conduct electricity.

&quot;Whast is the difference between gold pins and silver pins on RAM? &quot;

Well Gold conducts better then most other metals. Silver pins are usually based on another light inexpensive material like tin.

Thorin

 

[Adul]

Thorin this is thing about dissimilar metals you need to worry about. Lets say you have a MB with TIN leads on the ram slots, and you have memory with gold leads. Since the metals are not the same, the ram slots will become corroded. It is worse in humid enviroments.

 

[thorin]

Ok I can agree with that however there isn't any reason that you can't mix RAM with different types of leads/pins.

Thorin

 

[ArnoldLLerch]

Okay, I mean the little connectors on the bottom edge of the RAM modules. Some are gold colored in appearance and some are silver colored in appearance. This was a description of their appearance not a statement of their content. The question here was intended to be if there was any difference between the two colors other than the color itself, in other words, in their operation or kind!

 

[NelsonMuntz]

It probably won't make much difference if you are just talking about appearance. A company could make a metal that looks silver have a gold color just by adding some zinc. I am not saying companies do this, just saying that the appearance doesn't tell you what it's made out of.

 

[grant2]

Thorin this is thing about dissimilar metals you need to worry about. Lets say you have a MB with TIN leads on the ram slots, and you have memory with gold leads. Since the metals are not the same, the ram slots will become corroded. It is worse in humid enviroments.

When was the last time you've seen corroded leads in a computer case that wasn't dunked in a pool? Probably never, even in 10+ year old computers I haven't, and this is a pretty wet coastal city i'm in. Unless you're going to surf on your mobo, corrosion is the least of your worries. Before it's even an issue you'll be using SDRAM to prop up the corner of you table.

I agree dissimilar metals will corrode faster, especially with electricity running through them, but realistically you shouldn't even think about the colour of the leads.

 

[thorin]

&quot;The question here was intended to be if there was any difference between the two colors other than the color itself, in other words, in
their operation or kind! &quot;

That's the question we answered, some are &quot;GOLD&quot; some are &quot;TIN&quot; (or other inexpensive, highly conductive metal).

Difference in operation = GOLD conducts better/best.
Difference in kind = GOLD vs TIN

Thorin

 

[Sugadaddy]

<< Unless you're going to surf on your mobo >>



LOL, what if you DO?

 

[guitronics]

Well, Gold does cost the manufacturer more than silver, or tin.Methinks you are right about the &quot;Silver&quot; being &quot;Tin&quot;.Silver is an excellent conductor of electricity, but it corrodes easily.Gold,OTOH,does not.

Anytime you mix two different metals together (touching)you get an electrolytic action....that's what happens inside a battery.One or both of the differing metals gets eaten away,converted to some other substance.

Electrically,gold and tin should not be much of a problem, unless you have a fair amount of moisture over a long period of time.

Stainless steel can normally be used between two differing metals, it is almost completely inert to the electrolytic effect.

Go for the Gold.