Question Is this a legitimate matched pair of SO-DIMMs?

Turbonium

Platinum Member
Mar 15, 2003
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I recently ordered some older DDR2 RAM (SO-DIMMs) off a merchant selling on Amazon.

The item description is:
"Crucial 4GB Kit 2GBx2 DDR2 667MHz PC2-5300 CL5 SODIMM 200-Pin Notebook Memory Modules CT2KIT25664AC667"

Upon arrival, everything looks sealed. However, the one thing that makes me wonder is that, while the sticks both seems identical in terms of the number of modules and such, the sticker on each stick says "CT25664AC.16FG". I don't see it saying "KIT" anywhere (aside from on the sleeve).

Again, the sticks are identical to one another. However, because they are removable from the sleeve, it just makes me wonder if at some point, the original matched pair got taken out, and replaced with 2 sticks meant for individual sale.

I've attached some images (the latter 2 images are of the same stick, but again, both the sticks seem to be identical). Any thoughts?

*images now removed*

Furthermore, the packaging/stickers are not the same as with some other Crucial RAM advertised as being the same. Is that normal for Crucial? Is their packaging inconsistent (I've even seen pictures online with both sticks in the same plastic casing)?
 
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VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,229
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126
The item description is:
"Crucial 4GB Kit 2GBx2 DDR2 667MHz PC2-5300 CL5 SODIMM 200-Pin Notebook Memory Modules CT2KIT25664AC667"

Upon arrival, everything looks sealed. However, the one thing that makes me wonder is that, while the sticks both seems identical in terms of the number of modules and such, the sticker on each stick says "CT25664AC.16FG". I don't see it saying "KIT" anywhere (aside from on the sleeve).

Again, the sticks are identical to one another. However, because you they are removable from the sleeve, it just makes me wonder if at some point, the original matched pair got taken out, and replaced with 2 sticks meant for individual sale.
Sounds fine to me.
 

damian101

Senior member
Aug 11, 2020
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They both use identical memory chips, and are clocked to the same frequency, which means timings might very well be identical. Crucial is just a Micron sub-brand after all.
I expect this kit to perform identical to a pair of either of those two models.
 

Turbonium

Platinum Member
Mar 15, 2003
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They both use identical memory chips, and are clocked to the same frequency, which means timings might very well be identical. Crucial is just a Micron sub-brand after all.
I expect this kit to perform identical to a pair of either of those two models.
That's fine and all, but this is more a question of "Did I get what I paid for?"
 

Turbonium

Platinum Member
Mar 15, 2003
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Just installed the RAM.

BIOS took a longer time than usual to POST or whatnot (which I figure is normal, given I just changed the amount of RAM, meaning it was running diagnostics or something).

It came up with an error at one point, however (expected X, got Y). I'm going to run memtest86 for a few hours and see what happens (not sure if the error was a bug with the BIOS, but I'm rather concerned - the OS seems to be running fine so far).
 

Turbonium

Platinum Member
Mar 15, 2003
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Well, that didn't take long...

Ran memtest86 and got 10 errors in the first 2 minutes. I'm pretty sure the RAM is defective.

Any input would be appreciated.
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,229
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Crucial has lifetime warranty, generally, so I would contact them for a warranty replacement. Should be fairly painless, if you have Memtest86(+) results.
 

Turbonium

Platinum Member
Mar 15, 2003
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Crucial has lifetime warranty, generally, so I would contact them for a warranty replacement. Should be fairly painless, if you have Memtest86(+) results.
How does one "prove" or show the results?

If it matters: I ran an old version of memtest86, given the legacy BIOS (no UEFI).

EDIT: I ran a full pass of memtest86, but it gave me no option to save the results to USB (which I was expecting).

Anyway, Windows even crashed at one point while using the new RAM. I have since installed the old RAM (2 GB), and I'm working on getting the 4 GB exchanged (with the vendor off Amazon).
 
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Turbonium

Platinum Member
Mar 15, 2003
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So I just got the replacement pair, from the exact same vendor, and they're totally not brand new as they were advertised to be.

Each stick is in its own plastic container, neither of which is sealed. Furthermore, there's difference between them in terms of the actual modules, the PCB, etc. The Crucial stickers look legitimate though (they say made in China, not Malaysia, however).

I'm rather annoyed.
 
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