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OWC vs Crucial RAM

roland.g

roland.g

macrumors 604
Original poster
Apr 11, 2005
7,569
3,403
I did a search but didn't find any current threads on this. It seems that RAM prices have been going up. In the past I have always ordered RAM from OWC and without any issues. However, Crucial RAM is cheaper at this time, though OWC says there is no issue running their RAM in addition to the stock RAM, whereas Crucial doesn't guarantee compatibility, rather saying it is best to take out the stock RAM and only run theirs.

This is for a 2013 iMac with 8GB standard, looking to add 16GB (8GBx2 kit) for a total of 24GB.

The Crucial price is $163.99 plus tax, free shipping - about $171.

The OWC price was $189.99 no tax, free shipping but went up today to $199.99 :eek:

I know a lot of users here use both. Any recommendations.
 
OWC doesn't make RAM. They buy it and resell it. Crucial is the retail division of Micron, who manufactures RAM. Micron is one of Apple's RAM suppliers.
 
roland.g said:
...
The Crucial price is $163.99 plus tax, free shipping - about $171.

The OWC price was $189.99 no tax, free shipping but went up today to $199.99 :eek:

I know a lot of users here use both. Any recommendations.
Click to expand...
If you're looking at going to 32GB of ram, I would order the iMac with 2x8GB from Apple since there is no real savings there. And you do want to hold on to the Apple memory in case Apple decides to replace your system. It's no real savings since you can't really sell the Apple memory while it's under warranty/Applecare.

And then buy the other 16GB from OWC or Crucial or ...
 
Bear said:
If you're looking at going to 32GB of ram, I would order the iMac with 2x8GB from Apple since there is no real savings there. And you do want to hold on to the Apple memory in case Apple decides to replace your system. It's no real savings since you can't really sell the Apple memory while it's under warranty/Applecare.

And then buy the other 16GB from OWC or Crucial or ...
Click to expand...

I ordered the 8GB, not the 16GB iMac. The 16GB is $160 or $180 more, something like that. For $140-200 depending on Amazon, Crucial direct, or OWC, I can get 16GB more and up it to 24 total. (my 2011 model came with 4 and I added 8 for 12 total - so a mix) I don't anticipate taking out the original 8 and replacing it with 16 later for 32. But I would prefer to have 24 to 8 or 16, and if I can do that for about the same price as Apple charges to go to 16, that is my plan.
 
roland.g said:
I did eventually find your thread. And read it. $139.99 from Amazon or $199.99 from OWC. Hard to spend the extra $60, especially when Crucial is a retail outlet of Micron and I believe OWC is currently reselling Micron. Sounds like markup of the same RAM.
Click to expand...

$60 if your only buying 16gb, but its an extra $120 for 32GB! Thats a huge markup for it being the same ram! Since OWC doesn't make ram its pretty obvious that they get it from crucial.
 
Bear said:
If you're looking at going to 32GB of ram, I would order the iMac with 2x8GB from Apple since there is no real savings there. And you do want to hold on to the Apple memory in case Apple decides to replace your system. It's no real savings since you can't really sell the Apple memory while it's under warranty/Applecare.

And then buy the other 16GB from OWC or Crucial or ...
Click to expand...

Crucial price is $180/16G - I have tax in WA
Amazon is $153/16G - Tax again
OWC is $199/16G

Though it is cheaper to get to 24G buy leaving the imac standard and getting 16G on your own - if you are really headed towards 32G in the end - starting with Apple 16G is $200 + 16G ram price (lets use $150 - $200) - $350 to $400 total. Pure aftermarket is $300 to $400. Not much savings there!

But after all I have heard I would still go OWC + Apple 16G = $400 and guaranteed. Going purely crucial is $94 less though.
 
Last edited:
propower said:
Crucial price is $180/16G - I have tax in WA
Amazon is $153/16G - Tax again
OWC is $199/16G

Though it is cheaper to get to 24G buy leaving the imac standard and getting 16G on your own - if you are really headed towards 32G in the end - starting with Apple 16G is $200 + 16G ram price (lets use $150 - $200) - $350 to $400 total. Pure aftermarket is $300 to $400. Not much savings there!

But after all I have heard I would still go OWC + Apple 16G = $400 and guaranteed. Going purely crucial is $94 less though.
Click to expand...

You can take the 2x4gb rams from the imac and stick them in your macbook pro if you have one... They might even fit in the macbook air if their are two slots in it (i've never seen ones so im not sure).

I was going to do the 16gb from apple, but it was more than the cost of 16gb from crucial and you lost 2 4gb sticks. If you want to get your money's worth, get the 2x4gb sticks and buy 32gigs from crucial and stick the 2x4gb ram in your macbook air that you have in your profile. If it doesn't work, then you can always sell the ram on craigslist to someone who does have a macbook pro.

I have a 2011 macbook pro 2.3 I5 and it accepted the 1600mhz ram and runs at 1600mhz as well.
 
buster84 said:
You can take the 2x4gb rams from the imac and stick them in your macbook pro if you have one... They might even fit in the macbook air if their are two slots in it (i've never seen ones so im not sure).

I was going to do the 16gb from apple, but it was more than the cost of 16gb from crucial and you lost 2 4gb sticks. If you want to get your money's worth, get the 2x4gb sticks and buy 32gigs from crucial and stick the 2x4gb ram in your macbook air that you have in your profile. If it doesn't work, then you can always sell the ram on craigslist to someone who does have a macbook pro.

I have a 2011 macbook pro 2.3 I5 and it accepted the 1600mhz ram and runs at 1600mhz as well.
Click to expand...

I get your point - yes - starting with Apple 16 costs more. Though I am headed towards 32 I can easily make do with 16 for a while - maybe a long while :)

Can't sell the Apple ram while still have applecare :)
MBA ram is soldered in too :)
 
buster84 said:
...
If you want to get your money's worth, get the 2x4gb sticks and buy 32gigs from crucial and stick the 2x4gb ram in your macbook air that you have in your profile. If it doesn't work, then you can always sell the ram on craigslist to someone who does have a macbook pro.
...
Click to expand...
MacBook Air ram is not upgradeable. And as for selling the Apple memory, that becomes an issue if Apple wants to replace your system. Also, under certain circumstances, Apple will want the original memory in the Mac to make sure the memory you put in is not causing the issue that you've brought it in for.
 
Why is RAM prices going up?!

In the UK some brands of RAM have doubled in price the last 12 months?! :confused:
 
roland.g said:
I did eventually find your thread. And read it. $139.99 from Amazon or $199.99 from OWC. Hard to spend the extra $60, especially when Crucial is a retail outlet of Micron and I believe OWC is currently reselling Micron. Sounds like markup of the same RAM.
Click to expand...

For late 2013 iMac, the OWC ram I installed was made by Hynix which was the exact same kind that came pre-installed from Apple.
 
roland.g said:
I know a lot of users here use both. Any recommendations.
Click to expand...

Yes... find out the specs for the RAM you need and buy it wherever it is cheapest from a vendor who you believe will be there if you have a warranty issue.

There is nothing special about OWC RAM and no reason to pay extra for it.
 
OWC is an aftermarket specialist. Crucial is a big name company. It's like choosing walmart vs your local mechanic for a oil change.
 
Weaselboy said:
Yes... find out the specs for the RAM you need and buy it wherever it is cheapest from a vendor who you believe will be there if you have a warranty issue.

There is nothing special about OWC RAM and no reason to pay extra for it.
Click to expand...

A thousand times this. Ram is Ram, only fools buy expensive Ram with silly names. Don't fall for marketing tricks.
 
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