This is a continuation of my post last night...

A quick rundown...i'm after some decent quality DDR RAM but cant decide on a brand...not really after super performance, just stability and RAM that isnt fraught with error (like the last generic s*** i had).

Someone mentioned yesterday that if i get any of the name brands (Corsair, Geil, KingMax) i'd do alright when it comes to quality, when compared to the generic brands.

Corsair has stood out for me due to their reputation. Though one thing has bothered me. Within their value select range you can get 1Gig for $140. Though the generic brands are pretty much the same price. Is this an indication of Corsair using a different manufacturing process resulting in lesser quality RAM, comparable to the generic kinds?

And what is with these matched pairs of memory? A Corsair Value Select matched pair goes for 30 bucks more than two 'normal' sticks of RAM.

I'm thinking of just going with Geil...i've heard some good things and the XMS series just seems a little too much.

Again, cheers for the help!

I'm running 2x512mg Value Select Corsair matched pair. I don't really know anything about RAM performance etc, but i can tell u they have never given me any trouble.

I think the idea of buying matched ram is that they work together better and without problems...

Corsair has stood out for me due to their reputation. Though one thing has bothered me. Within their value select range you can get 1Gig for $140. Though the generic brands are pretty much the same price. Is this an indication of Corsair using a different manufacturing process resulting in lesser quality RAM?

you get what you pay for. unfortunately.

http://www.memtest86.com/

A great test for memory quality.



Anything more than 0 errors is a fail....i got 30 something on mine.

ive got 2x GeiL DDR400 sticks. I don't really trust generic ram.

i buy generic,
i also drive a white corolla

imo nothing wrong with generic as long as you don't want to overclock

Take into account the other thing you pay for with the Name brand memory is reliability of warranty. Corsair's been in the game for quite some time now. It would take a momentous occasion for them to go under, therefore voiding all warranty. However manufacturers such as "elixer" or "veritech" or "RamOS" although being in the industrry for some years now, still couldn't be guaranteed because of a lesser reputation (i.e. less sales, harder times).

If I was after ram that wasn't extreme speed sorta stuff, I'd personally buy the noname-lookalike "LEGEND" Australian factory in Adelaide manufactures this stuff. The major reason I'd choose this brand is because I know I can still buy EDO ram from them if I wanted it. Hence, their lifetime warranty is actually valid for much longer than some other brands. THis isn't to say that corsair or GEIL won't honour their warranties..

when a memory stick sells with "lifetime warranty" it is only honoured for the lifetime of the manufacturing of that particular type of ram.

Better to stick with a name brand that would hopefully have large quantity of buffer stock to honour "LIFETIME".



last edited by Moo at 20:26:33 11/Feb/07

Compatibility is an issue too. I've found generic ram often won't work in particular combinations, depending on your motherboard. Generally name brand sticks get along fairly well though, I guess it just comes down to keeping to specs.

I haven't noticed any difference between a pair of singles or a dual pack though, although you're better off buying 2x of the same type of stick than not :p

I have two (2gb) sticks of some uber fast Corsair ram (matched pair)that I bought specifically when I did my last big upgrade, they weren't cheap but man they have been rock solid, fast and reliable. I would defineately consider a respected brand name in the future based soley on my experience with these sticks alone.

imo nothing wrong with generic as long as you don't want to overclock

I never overclock, but I've had so many problems with generic ram its not even funny (both on home PC and work PCs). I've given up on it now as cursed and am sticking with the more expensive stuff just to rule out the possibility of any more problems.

The big issue with RAM problems (at least for me) is that they're so f***ing random and annoying they're really hard to track down.

Lifetime doesn't mean they supprt it for ever.

Lifetime is defined. The "Lifetime" on memory is usually defined as 3 years which means that you have a 3 year warranty on your ram not 10-20 years.

Lifetime can be a very misleading term.

As for RAM i have had both brand name ram and generic. The generic stuff seems to fail after a few years where as all my brand name ram is still running.

I have a mixture of kingmax corsair and geil in verious computers.

What actually happens when u have faulty RAM?

My folks' computer is a bit of a pain in the ass and does some random stuff sometimes...

Most common symptoms are unexplainable errors or blue screens. A program may be working then randomly crash. Because ram is "random" may run for hours and then hit the faulty bit of the ram and cause the crash.

Best check is the microsoft check called memtest that is downloadable from ms and fits onto a floppy in which u boot off of. If you get 1 fail then ram is faulty and you need to get it replaced.

if a computer does anything weird (like bsod more than once in a blue moon) i run my memtester on it

i got a microsoft ram tester that i like, its solved lots of problems for me and it easy to use and reasonably quick

does memtest report which bank is faulty?

afaik it doesn't.

I know that we use Dell's here at work and their tool does report it.

Um, I use generic ram atm (A-data was the brand IIRC) and it works just fine for me, and I have some pretty tight timings on it too. Their warranty covers the ram if it's run .1v more than most brands though, so that's why I've been able to do well with it.

my microsoft ram tester will report which bank is faulty, which is very useful

i spose you can just remove the sticks and run them one at a time

^ Are we talking windows memory diagnostic here?

possibly, i got it off the ms site a few years ago

it doesnt actually say microsoft on it anywhere though

vista boot screen has the memory diag tool.

On the topic of ram,

With most motherboards having 2x2 ram slots...

whats best,

4x512mg or
2x1gig ???

With a new pc im thinking of only getting 1gig first up and adding another gig later (yes i know this has some risk but i cant afford 2 gig straight up)

so should i get 2x512 now and 2x512 later or

1x1gig now and 1x1gig later?

i dunno about speed wise (probably more small is better)

but id always go as big as you can afford so that you have room for upgrading later

over two years ago i got 1x512, then a few months later 1x512 (different brands oh nos!) then just recently 2x1G

i would say go 1x1G, it won't be long before you'll be doing your darndest to get the next 1G in there

1g is just not enough for todays man,