Has my chain been yanked? PC100 memory

[Macaw]

Ok so I go to pricewatch to buy another stick of PC100 128MB memory for my Pentium 2/400 PC. I see these hella good deals ($38) and call in on one to order.

The guy says that because of my motherboard/processor I can't use the generic memory on my P2/400 but instead I need to buy Micron memory which was $68... which I did.

Did I just get my chain yanked?

 

[rhinox99]

Yup

 

[paruhd0x]

I'd get his name and talk to the manager about that. He lied to you.

 

[rhinox99]

You should've asked us before you ordered not the other way around

 

[sciencewhiz]

It depends on what motherboard/chipset you have. I have seen many advertisements for very cheap sdram, but then it says it only works with certain chipsets and motherboards (usually new ones).

I have no idea if that ram really will or won't work with older motherboards, but it is something that I have seen.

 

[Macaw]

So I'm hearing two sides to this. I need to know whether I should call this company and give them hell or not. I think my chipset is BX with a true Pentium II. Motherboard is Asus.

 

[shawnmos]

Give those liars HELL!!!

 

[Wingznut]

You can put cheap memory in there, no problem.

 

[Workin']

Not so fast there, buckaroos......

It is possible that the really cheap RAM is made up of newer, high-density chips and that his older mobo will not work with them.

You all (except sciencewhiz) need to do more research. Not everyone is trying to rip you off! I suppose that if they would have sent the cheap stuff and it didn't work they'd be liars, too? Maybe the guy should be you new best friend, for saving you days and days of aggravation trying to get incompatible RAM working in your system......

 

[Wingznut]

I have yet to buy a stick of RAM that didn't work on any of the PC's that I've built, which is too many to count.

I thought that would be enough "research".

Most .com stores don't make a dime on cheap memory, or even lose a little. (A "loss leader".)
It's more likely that they tried to upsell him, than actually tried to help.

 

[rhinox99]

Well the only way to find out the truth would've been to order the generic stuff but now it's too late. So no matter how we argue there isn't going to be a right answer. I conveyed my experiences with generic ram and then some guy comes along and tells me I didn't do enough "research" No kidding sherlock, I have better things to do than research stuff, I just try it out for myself and that is what I concluded. Before you go jumping to conclusions about how everyone is mis-informed why don't you get to know the person!!!

 

[WoodDogg]

Workin - I bet he could know what he's talking about. But the chances are they are trying to do a "bait and switch" Typical marketing crap that most companies do but supposedly not on purpose(riiiiigggghhhhttt!!) It could also be some lame proprietary(spelling?) RAM. I know Compaq and IBM sometimes make that crap.

 

[doubledc]

thats the trade-off to buying online. I have bought a ton of cheap ram from fry's and have had several sticks of their 128mb pc133 that wouldnt co-exist with pc100 or even by itself would slow down and sometimes fail to reboot unless all power was cut. the guy probably did save you a headache but that doesnt necesarily mean that that was his motive.
if you are going to buy cheap ram then remember thats what you are going to get regardless of your chipset. when I,ve seen a particular chipset singled out it is usually BX440 which is what I am currently running and to date the only cheap,cheap ram I find to work somewhat reliably(at least from Fry's) are 128mb pc100. (256 shows up as 128 etc.)
By the way I dont mind running cheap memory I just go in prepared to return it a few times. besides a year ago you would have killed for 128mb for $68

 

[Macaw]

Well I appreciate all the advice folks. Any more comments or is this a case closed?

Certainly an interesting topic: Is cheap RAM not meant for some PC's?

 

[Slapstick]

I have 3 brand new Dell Dimension 4100?s at work that wont recognize 2 sticks of cheap 128 MB PC133 but run fine with Crucial sticks. The cheap ram works fine in a Compaq at work and OK in one of my PC?s at home, (took it home to test and had to back it down a little because of registry errors when over clocked to the max). Personally I think it?s worth the extra money to get good ram, (Crucial or Mushkin) and not have to worry whether it?s going to work and to avoid problems that are hard to track due to poor memory

 

[nortexoid]

get real, he ripped u off...that Micron brand, like Infineon's, is generic.

if it's rated at pc100, it would probably work...mind u, some chips are picky on different chipsets and mobos (i.e. it wont' work at all, it'll only work by itself unless identical memory is put into other banks, etc.)...

 

[monotone]

Old motherboards (like your asus/bx), only recognizes 16Mbit per row, newer ram has 32Mbit per row, which means you mobo would only see half of it. Micron (among others) still make ram sticks with 16Mbit per row.

 

[Wingznut]

I think saying that Macaw "got ripped off" is going too far. After all, there's nothing wrong with buying higher quality, brand name RAM.

 

[Workin']

Golly, fellas, I didn't mean to insult anyone. Obviously, there are cases where certain things don't work with certain other things, and just because you were not aware of them or haven't come across them in all your vast experience doesn't mean you should shoot the messenger. At least disclaim your blanket proclamations with "in my experience" or "as far as I know" or something, so that the poor schlub trying to fix a problem doesn't close off a whole branch of a troubleshooting tree by incorrectly assuming a problem can't possibly be down that path.

Parts compatibility's not usually a problem when you build a new PC, because then the parts are generally of the same vintage. The big problems come with upgrading. In at least 25% of the gazillion RAM upgrades I have done, there has been some sort of incompatibility between the RAM and some other component (mobo, other RAM, etc.)

 

[Stephen24]

I have been using generic memory for a long time now and I havn't ever had any problems with it. Even on AMD systems.

 

[erniecc]

It's not a question of cheap or high quality ram. Lots of older boards don't support newer sdrams, or sometimes different types of sdram in combination. I'd suggest you go to the Crucial site and use their configurator to see what memory will work on your board. Then look at the specification for that particulat module so you can use that information to evaluate other brands of memory on an apple for apple basis.

 

[Workin']

<< It's not a question of cheap or high quality ram. Lots of older boards don't support newer sdrams, or sometimes different types of sdram in combination. >>

EXACTLY

 

[Sir Fredrick]

In the future, so save yourself from any hasstle or worry, if a company advertises one thing and then says &quot;oops, you can't use that, buy this more expensive thing over here&quot;, don't buy from them. Whether it was a scam or not, it sure sounds like a bait and switch, and they lured you in with that cheaper memory. If it was incompatible with many systems they should have used a disclaimer. You may have been able to find the stuff that you ended up buying for cheaper elsewhere.

 

[Workin']

I'mnot sticking up for the vendor in this case, since I know nothing about them. But to give the benefit of the doubt since the details are not given......

It doesn't seem like a bait and switch - if it's advertised as &quot;128MB PC100 DIMM, $39&quot; it's up to you (with help from the vendor) to determine compatibility. It's not the vendor's fault that your mobo can't accept the cheapest stuff. Now, if they said &quot;compatible with every system ever made&quot;, then you'd have a bait and switch scenario.

The lesson here is that it pays to buy from a vendor you trust. If you shop by price alone you are bound to get burned sometimes - and it is your own fault.

 

[monotone]

Hmmm I guess none of you guys read my post, or you wouldn't be ranting on about this

I'm being ignored!