Mixed Brands of RAM

[utilizer]

Alright here's the deal. I have a Pismo and 512 MB of RAM. I want to bump that up to 1 Gig. I've done this before and had to send the computer in b/c of bad memory to WeFixMacs. They kept the memory, which was from Mohawk Industries (never buy from them) and I never saw it again.
Anyways, that's a different story -- What should I do?:
Option 1: Add a generic brand, or Samsung, Crucial memory in addition to the generic stuff I have in my machine now.

Option 2: Take the generic chip out, sell it on eBay and put in a 1 Gig kit from RamJet or get the top brands from Crucial or Samsung?

I'm pretty much limited to 200 bucks but would be willing to go with the $139 option from Crucial, IF it will run reliably with the generic RAM.

TIA

 

[OutThere]

I have some generic (mitsubishi or something) RAM that came in my computer from apple, and I have a 512 stick of crucial RAM and it seems to work fine. If you are looking for raw performance then the bigger the stick is the faster it runs. It seems like it would be simpler just to get 512 from crucial and be done with juggling your RAM.

 

[jxyama]

as long as each RAM set is working fine, mixing shouldn't be a problem at all...

many people do the reverse: purchase a generic RAM to be added while keeping the (Samsung, i think?) soldered RAM.

 

[OutThere]

By the Way: its reliable enough for me

 

[utilizer]

Sounds terrific! Looks like it's going to be Crucial then.
Thanks for the advice!

 

[utilizer]

One more thing...

I see at Crucial that the 512 MB chip is PC133 RAM while the one at RamJet is PC100 but has a CL rating of 2 while the CL rating of Crucial's is 3, as, they admit, is indeed slower than 2. Wondering if it really matters anyways.

 

[G5orbust]

CAS Latency is worthless unless you are building the worlds fastest computer. It only gives you a minor, insignificant and almost undetectable, speed boost from CL3 to CL2. Most RAM companies dont even tell you the CAS Latency of their RAM. Dont let that influence your decision.

 

[bobindashadows]

Originally posted by OutThere761
By the Way: its reliable enough for me

Yeah, the only time I ever had problems mixing RAM was when I put 64 MB in an old iMac, and the RAM had been sitting in an unsealed static bag for 3 years.... we got the dust off of it but that wasn't enough, believe it or not.

My uptime? 3 hours. I shut down and booted to see if I would get better Xbench scores.