RAM - Generic vs. Name Brand

[Fuzzmuncher]

With the dropping of RAM prices, is the difference noticeable enough to buy name brand? Also, if a board is pc100/PC133, does it make any sense to buy PC150? If so, why? Thanks.

 

[moolman]

Hi,
Name brand is compatible with any board, generic might have problems. I bought some generic 128MB Pc133, it wouldn't post on my abit kt7 and a asus a7v, only at pc100, but it worked rock solid at pc133 on a epox slot A board. So generic is very picky and unstable. It also probably won't work at cas2, only cas 3. pc150 is a waste unless you overclock or use it at 150, athlons can't go much over 100FSB, I have mushkin rev 2 but can't even go 101FSB.

Alex

 

[paulip88]

There is no reason to buy PC150 unless you area planning on doing some serious OCing on a P3 platform. Or, of course, you want to tell all your friends about the bas@ss RAM that you got.

 

[Jhhnn]

Depends on what you intend to do with it. Obviously, there is a lot of decent "generic" memory out there, and a lot of not so decent stuff, too. With prices being so low, it doesn't seem worthwhile to save a few bucks on a questionable purchase. That doesn't mean you need to go all out, either. A few things to keep in mind:
1. Athlon/Duron/T-Bird systems can be picky about ram, call the vendor before you buy any ram not specifically rated for these systems.
2. Even "budget"ram from quality vendors will perform as advertised; if you push it, the stuff will likely fall on its face.
3. A lifetime guarantee is only good for the life of the company, stick with vendors who are likely to be around for awhile.
4. Check out the hot deals section here and other forums, there are quite a few out there right now....

 

[cpebbles]

Is PC150 pretty much guaranteed to run @ 2-2-2 133 MHz? That's the only reason I'm thinking of snatching some of that cheap Kingmax RAM.

cpebbles

 

[paulip88]

Yes. PC150 is pretty much gonna run 222 at 133.

 

[StickHead]

I have never bought any other RAM than the generic stuff. Never had a problem. I ran generic PC66 at 100 for about a year and never had a problem.

 

[moolman]

Consider yourself very lucky because everyone else usually has problems with generic ram, but it pretty common to be running pc66 ram at pc100, especially that 10ns hyundai stuff. I ran mine at that too.

Alex

 

[Fuzzmuncher]

So 150 is supposed to run at 133 2-2-2? I've been trying to verify this with sellers before buying, but no one will confirm. =P

 

[Jhhnn]

One of the things that happened when pc100 ram was introduced was that producers rapidly shifted production to the faster ram. There was still strong demand for 66Mhz ram, even though actual production became virtually non-existent. As a result, a lot of pc100 ram was sold as 66mhz- nobody got cheated, 100mhz stuff is fully backward compatible, something that many consumers simply don't understand. They ordered 66, got 100, slapped it in, worked fine, no complaints.

The shift to PC133 has been slower since producers could sell all the PC100 ram they could make at a good profit.