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RAM: Which Manufacturer?

K

kwong2006

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 16, 2006
209
0
I was wondering which manufacturer I should buy my new RAM from. Are Mushkin and PQI good RAM manufacturers? What about Transcend?
 
RAM is RAM. The top tier manufacturers (Crucial, Samsung, etc.) are going to charge you a little more but they *might* offer a better warranty. If my machine is a business production unit then I might consider spending a little extra just to have the peace of mind. Mid tier suppliers (Kingston, Mushkin, etc.) are, for all intents and purposes, the exact same product as the top tier guys at a decent discount. It's perfect for the average user. As for the more generic stuff (like the Transcend DIMMs I just bought from Fry's), it's usually the exact same stuff at lower prices due to a lack of overhead recovery. By that I mean that Crucial advertises HEAVILY, Kinsgton pretty noticeably, and Transcend non-existently. There's a LOT of money to be saved in not advertising. In the end, buy what you're comfortably buying. I've had Crucial RAM, Samsung RAM and Kingston RAM fail, whereas I've had generic OWC RAM running for four years in my everyday use 12" PowerBook without so much as a hiccup. Me personally? I'm done spending more for a name brand.
 
I am really starting to like OWC.. i've had 3 orders PERFECTLY smooth with them.. and they all answered my emails promptly and I will continue to use them ;)
 
This is why I love MacRumors. I need more RAM for my Mac Pro.

I have a question. On OWC's site for Mac Pro memory, they list "OWC Mac Pro Certified" memory that is more expensive than "OWC Apple Qualified" memory. What is the difference, other than price? I need to know 'cuz I'm slapping more memory into this beast as soon as possible. :apple:
 
wsteineker said:
I'm done spending more for a name brand.
Click to expand...

Smart decision.

I've always used Kingston with no problem at all... In fact, my first G4 is running on Kingston for like 7-8 years. I've recently upgraded my MBP and G5 with Samsung though... The difference in price was quite negligible.

Cheers,
sash
 
I've heard good stuff about kingston also...
and they are cheaper than the brand RAMs
warranty is also pretty good as far as I can remember.
 
Kingston's good stuff. I've only had one DIMM fail out of what I imagine to be 20 or so pieces used over the years. That one was an easy fix because I bought it at Best Buy. ;)
 
valdore said:
This is why I love MacRumors. I need more RAM for my Mac Pro.

I have a question. On OWC's site for Mac Pro memory, they list "OWC Mac Pro Certified" memory that is more expensive than "OWC Apple Qualified" memory. What is the difference, other than price? I need to know 'cuz I'm slapping more memory into this beast as soon as possible. :apple:
Click to expand...

I think the price difference comes from the fact that the "OWC Mac Pro Certified" is specifically designed for Mac Pro's whereas the "OWC Apple Qualified" is more generic

I purchased 4GB of OWC RAM recently and have had no problems whatsoever. In Australia, 4GB of RAM will set you back anywhere up to $USD700. Ridiculous.
 
What do you guys think about G.Skill? I seriously want to know about the brand because I want to know if it is reliable.
 
kwong2006 said:
What do you guys think about G.Skill? I seriously want to know about the brand because I want to know if it is reliable.
Click to expand...

I think as long the specifications are met and the warranty is decent you can go with any RAM regardless of the brand.
 
RAM: Which Manufacturer?

I used to do a search online to get the cheapest RAM I could find, and buy it.

I don't recommen doing that, I don't anymore.

The reason being, that I got burnt once, with bad RAM.

Corollary , I can find my RAM online, but I always call the vendor, to be absolutely sure that I'll be getting exactacly the RAM I need.

For the last few years I have been buying all of my RAM through OWC, their url is macsales.com. Their service, and prices too, are excellent.
 
OCZ and Corsair are the best barnone desktop ram. Youd want some of that for a mac pro running heavy apps. They have no real competition for ultra performance ram except maybe Patriot.

Other good ram:
G Skill (their price/performance ratio is unrivaled)
Crucial
Patriot
Geil

I would 100% stay away from PNY... Kingston ram or the other department store stuff that are always getting rebates can be a gamble. Kingston can be good or it can be horrible, it probably is the least consistent ram manufacturer, never ever buy Kingston without looking at a customer rating.

If youre looking for performance in a Mac Pro then I would go with OCZ, if you want great quality for a low price then I would go with G Skill. For most people I think G Skill is the best ram brand out right now thanks to their great prices and quality that exceeds most other "notable" brands like Crucial.

Samsung does not normally sell ram, it is a generic OEM manufacturer. Nothing special about them.
 
OWC & Crucial are the only aftermarket brands we use. Higher end external HDs too.

No point in having important components fail on you.

Many of the "problems" that people have can be attributed to cheap RAM after it goes bad.

Your money, Your Mileage WILL Vary
 
I just bought 2 x 2GB of transcend RAM for my macbook pro.

Transcend uses Micron chips (the exact same chips Crucial uses). Just got my 2 sticks today and they have the nice little "M" logo on all of the ram chips.

I paid $59.50 per ram stick at the transcend store, part number TS256MSQ64V6U:

http://ec.transcendusa.com/product/ItemDetail.asp?exid=1&ItemID=TS256MSQ64V6U

Just make sure you buy the standard memory line and not the jetram memory line - that is their value line and doesn't use micron chips as far as I can tell.

No need to pay more for crucial...
 
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