Ram question

[Sonokamome]

I was looking around newegg today for RAM that I might consider buying and I saw this

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820148254

now it said that it was "unbuffered" so am I to assume that any does not have that listed is "buffered" ?

What is the advantage (or disadvantage) of having unbuffered memory?

 

[pjkenned]

Unbuffered = desktop because you have direct memory controller access
Buffered = server with a registry between the modules and the memory controller. Oftentimes buffered varieties comes along with ECC which you want in servers.

Most likely if you are asking the question, you want unbuffered

 

[Sonokamome]

Nice thanks. What do you think of Crucial Ballistix? Too much? Have they always been this much?

 

[ochadd]

Crucial is a solid company. Crucial, Kingston, Corsair, and OCZ I've all had success with.

 

[Sonokamome]

Then Crucial Ahoy!

 

[Blain]

Crucial Ballistix memory has lost some of it's reputation for quality in the last few years.

1.5v G.Skill, Mushkin or Corsair XMS3 would be better options.

 

[Sonokamome]

Ah how so? The thing is that I've heard nothing but good things about them. Granted that was suring the DDR2 days (especially when this company started shooting prices sky high back then).

But I ask not to contradict because I would like to see if the cheaper DDR3 is going to be the same, or better, than what the traditional crucial brand of ddr3

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Originally posted by: Sonokamome
Ah how so? The thing is that I've heard nothing but good things about them. Granted that was suring the DDR2 days (especially when this company started shooting prices sky high back then).

But I ask not to contradict because I would like to see if the cheaper DDR3 is going to be the same, or better, than what the traditional crucial brand of ddr3

The manufacturers jockey for lead position with every new generation of RAM. Crucial got a lot of hype for its Micron D9 chips for DDR2, and so disappointments began to pile up as people tried volting the RAM just below the maximum recommended -- to have a module go south.

I couldn't say what to expect from Crucial DDR3 modules. These days, I'd try G.SKILL based only on a survey of customer reviews. If not certain, you should look for benchtest reviews from a review site like TechReport, CDinfo, Tom's Hardware, etc. [And of course, run a search on Anandtech's archives and any articles they posted on DDR3 comparisons in recent months.] Anandtech had given the Crucial DDR2's a great boost in a benchtest review a couple years ago. It was justified, but I've had modules that blinked out after six months or a year.

 

[Blain]

Originally posted by: Sonokamome
Ah how so? The thing is that I've heard nothing but good things about them.

Take some time to search through these forums and read about Ballistix memory dropping dead.
The main forums for these threads are "General Hardware" and "Memory & Storage".

 

[Sonokamome]

will do Blain thanks!

 

[Sonokamome]

Any word on Mushkin?