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Is it really worth paying for brand memory?

L

Leo V

Diamond Member
I'll make the question very simple, is there any reason to choose (2) over (1) when you buy 512MB?

1) 2x256MB PC133 from noname vendor (chipset-compatible) w/lifetime warranty, <$200 total
2) 2x256MB PC133 from well-known brand, >$300 total

Assume everything used within spec (no overclocking).
 
512mb (2x256) of generic goodness in my machine... not oc'ed so everything is running smooth as hell. With prices so low, I would personally just go with the brand name stuff, or then again, you could just get another stick of 256. 😀
 
You don't need to pay much more for brand memory,
because Crucial 256M pc133 cl3 is now just $128.
Of course you could get low quality no warranty generic for lower.
You get what you paid.
 
I swear by Crucial. I will not use anything else in my own PC's. I've gone with lesser quality RAM for use in PC's other than my own. But, I only buy the &quot;good stuff&quot; for my babies.

The last non-Crucial RAM I bought was a 256 MB stick of PC100 CAS2 Kingston ValueRAM for my sister's 500 MHZ Celeron system. I got it for $127.00 before the current drop in memory prices took place. Kingston's price is a laughable $236.
 
If you're not overclocking, and everything is generally set at default, then by all means get the cheapest RAM you can find.

If I'm building a computer for someone, that's usually what I do. On the other hand, I use Mushkin RAM in my own systems.
 
Generic RAM is absolutely fine as long as it's run at its rated speed and timings. Overclocking is where your mileage will vary (though I've seen generic PC100 hit 150 MHz cas 3).

Even generic brands give lifetime warranties, which tells you something: any idiot can make a good PC133 cas 3 stick 😉

Modus
 
Maybe you get what you've paid for. But those $87 brandless sticks do include lifetime warranty, and I need the 512MB for multimedia editing. On the other hand, I'm looking at 256MB/PC133/CAS222 brandless sticks for $118 each (I'm referring to the Premier's, the Microns are misadvertised).

I'm beginning to suspect serious snake oil w/memory branding. I used to have a 128MB/PC133 Corsair stick--for the price I sold it on Egay, I'll get a full 256MB/PC133 brandless stick. Maybe it only has 4-layer PCB, and lacks the premium gold contacts, but how does that affect actual performance? Only when you're FSB overclocking right? But then you might as well invest the cash in a 1200MHz at-spec CPU... :frown:
 
Samsung -GH
The most stable ram for BX mobo's out there (non-overclocked) 🙂
Samsung/hyundai make extremely good stuffs, so good IBM uses hyundai ram in they're Intel ***EB machines (I just fixed one)
Leo, if you plan on overclocking, then I suggest you get some nice ram, but otherwise, generic will do you fine.
Just make sure the generic stuff isn't that Synchmax stuff. 🙁
 
For $139, they also sell 256MB PC133/CAS2 Kingmax memory. Their &quot;25% faster&quot; hype comes from 7ns access (which the $118 stick also has), what interests me is they claim it's faster/more efficient than other sticks. Is this the kind of snake oil I'm suspecting exists?
 
Hrm .. I can get a 128mb pc133 stick for $79 canadian .. (www.a-power.com) .. all it says about it is 'oem' .. they want $87 for a micron stick .. is it worth the extra? I probably won't do any fsb overclocking, but what sort of problems could it cause if I did?
 
I've heard nothing but good things about that Kingmax Tiny BGA RAM. It sounds like the generic $118 RAM will meet your needs. Go for it.
 
well, speaking from experience i can tell you........ yes quality memory is worth it....


example: my $2 64MB stick of &quot;nanya&quot; ram(equalfooting hotdeal) is PC133 but doesn't even get detected(by bios or windows) went set @CAS2.. yet my crucial CAS3 PC133(7.5ns) does 140mhz @CAS2🙂

also if you haven't bought ram directly from crucial you can get 2x256MB crucial CAS3(that i can gaurantee will do CAS2@133mhz) dimms for $256.68 w/ free 2 day UPS🙂

here's the link dude.... Crucial 15% off w/ free 2 day UPS😀
 
e-phex, objection to running 7.5ns memory at 133/CAS2: aren't you referring to 2-3-3 timings, as opposed to 2-2-2? I have uneasy feelings about getting rock-stable CAS2-2-2 out of these..
 
to tell you the truth.... i don't know.... also.. i don't even know the difference between 2-3-3 and 2-2-2(ie what that means) all i know is that both my 64mb and 128mb stick did 140mhz @CAS2 on my buddys CUSL2🙂

going to do some research on that 2-2-2 thing now🙂
 
i got 128 of generic 8ns ram to 2-3-2. Stable there but won't boot on 2-2-2. I paid like $75 bucks for it a while ago and they do fine.
 
Leo V,

The memory from Premeir systems suck!! I bought 512MB of there memory and had nothing but on going problems for a month w/ my Athlon/KT7-RAID combo. I in the end took it back and bought my samsung memory. Plus, i ordered that memory 2 months ago, sent it back one month ago... and i'm still waiting for my money back as we speak!!
 
Geez! Thanks for warning me... I'm wondering at this point whether to &quot;return&quot; to PC133/CAS3 from a trusted vendor.
 
I use Crucial ram, if you want the best stability,buy well known high quality ram ,even if you don`t overclock it`s worth getting, for extra stability.

🙂
 
If you want to OC...Crucial, Hyundai, Kingston, Samsung, or Mushkin. Using default settings generic can be good as them. If you are going to push them (try CAS2 timings and such), go with brand name memory, and you will have better luck (Crucial will almost always OC just fine).
 
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