Difference between OWC and Netlist

I think, especially with the new batch of Mac Pro owners, an entirely separate subsection of this forum should be devoted exclusively to Mac Pro RAM.

Anyway, for the past year I've ran 4GB (4X1GB) of Netlist RAM alongside the 2GB of Apple RAM, and it works perfectly.

The heatsink on the Netlist RAM appears to be unique. I purchased it because (like a Stegosaurus' plates in the debated theory) heat dissipation is proportional to surface area and the Netlist heatspreader has greater surface area compared to other designs. I'm not sure how great a difference the heatspreader design really makes, but I've never had any problems with the Netlist RAM.

 

Yeah - I'd like to know the difference between the "certified" memory ($329) and the "qualified" memory ($199).

 

I think they both go through some form of certification but the pricier option may have more stringent testing; or that's what they want you to believe. It could be the difference between regular Kingston memory and Kingston Value memory.

Some one more qualified please clarify the discrepancy.

 

I really want to know too.

 

I actually spoke to an OWC rep today to ask him that very same question. The difference between the two is in the design of the heatsink - the shape differes slightly from the "certified" to the "qualified". He told me to order the $199.00 RAM, as performance/reliability-wise there would be no difference whatsoever, and that the price difference between them was NOT justified.
I am off to the Apple store tomorrow to purchase my new Mac Pro, so hopefully the above will arrive soon.

 

Just to be clear, Apple does not certify, qualify or endorse any third party memory. So when a vendor says that RAM is 'certified' it means that they themselves or another third party have certified that it works. It does not imply any approval by Apple Corp.

 

I hear you, but I have ordered my RAM from OWC for years, and never had a problem. Also, on the Apple Store website, they want an additional $450.00 for 4G Ram config (which would put the total RAM on the Mac Pro at only 4G). With my OWC order of 4 G, I will have a total of 6G for only $199.00!

 

On a mac, generic RAM should be just fine... overclockers like better-quality RAM as it allows them to run at higher clocks and lower latencies.. but AFAIK on Mac Pros, both the CAS Latency and the frequencies are very much static and unmodifiable.

So as far as memory goes, rule of thumb is if it's not DOA, it's going to work for life. They're not hard drives, so no moving parts to go bad.. and since you're not OCing/overvolting, no problem there either.

Now granted, some memory can be sometimes unstable.. but this is usually when a seller gives you factory-overclocked RAM branded as the speed it was overclocked to (not entirely honest). I've had that happen... about six years ago I built my mother a 2.4 GHz Pentium 4 with 1 GB PC2700 DDR... only, it turned out it wasn't PC2700 Enet DDR, it was PC2100 Crucial. And I had to clock it back down because it would restart every once in a while, especially when I'd play games on it. Just not stable.

Anyway, go for the cheaper RAM. If it runs stably, you can be pretty sure it's going to remain that way for the next five years (or longer, if you want). If not, just return it. Actually though, I wouldn't be surprised if OWC was using OC'd 667 FB-DIMMs and affixing them with 800 labels.. I've had some issues with them before... they're not always perfectly honest.

 

what makes you say that? everybody else says they're reputable....

edit: though, like i said in another thread, some of us are a little annoyed that they weren't sure to state that they didn't have the new modules ready to ship when they started selling them on their site.

 

Well, for one thing, there was a time when they were selling "Mac OS X 10.3" (back when Panther was out.. 2003ish), and showed a picture of a Panther box with Panther CDs. Turned out when you bought them, they were, in fact, Mac OS 10.3 CDs.. but were eMac install disks that didn't always work properly with non-eMacs. This was sort of tucked away in an unusual place, I forget where on the page, but it wasn't readily apparent. They also often marked up their "OWC ZIFs" (normal ZIFs they've bought and labelled OWC) as being "X MHz" when they're actually lower speed ones that (usually) work at higher speeds.

The G4 upgrade I bought several years ago that I have in this old Beige was called a 533 MHz G4 ZIF.. when it's in fact a factory 450 MHz-rated CPU, that works at 500 MHz- and crashes at 533 MHz or higher. They still sell these, by the way.

I've never had any trouble with their RAM, but then, it's pretty hard to go wrong with SDRAM.

I know other people who've had issues with them as well, and not just the issues I've mentioned. Actually, I think some people may have bought defective RAM from them.

Antiquated as the hardware/software I'm talking about may be, it's the same company... and again, they're still selling what I"m talking about, so it just wouldn't surprise me if they continued these practices.

 

hm, thanks for sharing your experience.

i guess i'm not worried enough to cancel my order or anything, since like you said, if it works now, it's probably fine for the long term.....