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Crucial vs OWC memory for iMac Retina

Noctilux.95

Noctilux.95

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 20, 2010
556
354
LA
Hey guys,

Is paying a higher premium for OWC over Crucial worth it? OWC sells their 16gb ram on sale for $160 vs $115 for Crucial.
 
Weaselboy

Weaselboy

Moderator
Staff member
Jan 23, 2005
34,153
15,639
California
Noctilux.95 said:
Hey guys,

Is paying a higher premium for OWC over Crucial worth it? OWC sells their 16gb ram on sale for $160 vs $115 for Crucial.
Click to expand...

Absolutley not. If the memory meets the specs and is from a vendor who will be around if you have a warranty issue, just get whatever is cheapest.
 
rkaufmann87

rkaufmann87

macrumors 68000
Dec 17, 2009
1,760
39
Folsom, CA
Noctilux.95 said:
Hey guys,

Is paying a higher premium for OWC over Crucial worth it? OWC sells their 16gb ram on sale for $160 vs $115 for Crucial.
Click to expand...

Not really unless customer service is critical to you. IMHO OWC's customer service is the best around, however for a RAM upgrade the bottom line is it works or it doesn't.
 
S

shaunp

Cancelled
Nov 5, 2010
1,811
1,395
I've always used Crucial in several laptops and a nMP. Never had an issue with any of it. I wouldn't buy anything else as they have always been reliable and the price has always been good.
 
K

kant

macrumors 6502
Jul 22, 2004
337
0
UPS just dropped off my 5k purchased from BH.

I came very close to buying the crucial 2x8 for $114 but there was one review that said that his Apple ram didn't play well with the Crucial. It worked fine with one or the other but not together.

So I'm going to fly for a couple of weeks with just the Apple ram (16gb) and if I see any lag*, I'll buy 32gb of the Crucial and do something with the OEM sticks.


*if I see any lag, first I'll tear up a bit, then I'll buy the Crucial. :)
 
aesc80

aesc80

Cancelled
Mar 24, 2015
2,250
7,144
kant said:
UPS just dropped off my 5k purchased from BH.

I came very close to buying the crucial 2x8 for $114 but there was one review that said that his Apple ram didn't play well with the Crucial. It worked fine with one or the other but not together.

So I'm going to fly for a couple of weeks with just the Apple ram (16gb) and if I see any lag*, I'll buy 32gb of the Crucial and do something with the OEM sticks.


*if I see any lag, first I'll tear up a bit, then I'll buy the Crucial. :)
Click to expand...

I read a couple of those posts too. Though one found that the CT2C8G3S160BM Crucial did well at 32GB, while another found that having the old Apple ram with the same Crucial worked reliably as well. Sounds like the late 2013 27" is finicky with memory. That being said, I still ordered 32 GB today - hoping the forum recommendation is right.
 
R

richard371

macrumors 68040
Feb 1, 2008
3,610
1,802
I was getting crashes and the wake from sleep crashes etc with Crucial. I switched to OWC about 3 weeks ago and its been fine. A few others have had to do this too.
 
SaSaSushi

SaSaSushi

macrumors 601
Aug 8, 2007
4,156
553
Takamatsu, Japan
kant said:
UPS just dropped off my 5k purchased from BH.

I came very close to buying the crucial 2x8 for $114 but there was one review that said that his Apple ram didn't play well with the Crucial. It worked fine with one or the other but not together.
Click to expand...

monokakata said:
I have 16 gb of Crucial playing happily with 8 gb of Apple.

I haven't noticed any problems.
Click to expand...

And I have 16GB of the Crucial coexisting happily with 16GB of Apple Elpida and no problems at all. I've been using it for over a year now.
 
fuchsdh

fuchsdh

macrumors 68020
Jun 19, 2014
2,018
1,818
rkaufmann87 said:
Not really unless customer service is critical to you. IMHO OWC's customer service is the best around, however for a RAM upgrade the bottom line is it works or it doesn't.
Click to expand...

This is my thought as well. RAM from Crucial or OWC are pretty rock-solid, so I don't see the point in paying the premium to OWC for something as basic as RAM. One the occasion one of the old '06 Mac Pro sticks went bad OWC was damn fast with replacements, but I can't think of any RAM I've had go bad from either of them aside from that across all my and my company's Macs.
 
SaSaSushi

SaSaSushi

macrumors 601
Aug 8, 2007
4,156
553
Takamatsu, Japan
fuchsdh said:
This is my thought as well. RAM from Crucial or OWC are pretty rock-solid, so I don't see the point in paying the premium to OWC for something as basic as RAM.
Click to expand...

Crucial RAM has a lifetime warranty and their support is actually quite good in my experience. They also actively monitor and participate in their own user support forums.

As rare as it is, bad RAM is usually immediately identifiable. If purchased through Amazon you need never deal with Crucial at all.
 
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