1 gig of Ram, huh?

[Tim-E T]

Well I here is my situation. I originally bought a 512mb stick of Buffalo (PC3200 DD4002-512/WC). Has winbond CH-6 chips I believe. Anyways, I think I read somewhere they arent making it anymore and newegg doesnt have it listed. So I wanted to upgrade to 1gb while Im visiting here (US). I think I will just buy 2 new sticks and sell the buffalo I have ( I want matching). I'm unsure about which company to go with. At this point I am more thinking of reliablity because when I go back to Canada I want to have this memory work, RMAing is there would be a huge pain. I dont want to pay very much, but still have reliable stuff (CAS2.5 PC3200)(cheaper is nice). So my REAL question is:
Which company would be the most reliable (RAM working on arrival)?
Thanks for your help guys!

[David]

I would highly recommend Crucial RAM if you are looking for stability. I have two 512MB sticks in my rig (one which is 1.5yrs old and one about 0.5yr old) of PC2100 and they work perfectly. Never had any trouble. Rated at CAS2.5 but been running at CAS2 with no problems.

[Gautam]

What's your system configuration, and how much are you willing to spend?

[flapperhead]

the pc3200 has ch5 chps to the best of my knowledge. also check this out. its in the refurb section.http://images10.newegg.com/productimage/20-141-402-02.JPG

[Reefa_Madness]

Samsung ram would also match up with your needs, either PC3200 or maybe even the PC3700, depending on your needs. The Crucial is on sale at their site, $97 for the first 512 stick and $7 off the second, so a gig would be at just under $200 (all are USD). The last time I checked, ZipZoomFly had the Crucial for just a little bit cheaper, however, right around $90 or so for each stick. Another choice, of course, is the old standby, Kingston ValueRam, either direct, or from Newegg or ZZF. Their prices vary, sometimes one has it cheaper than the other. I also just read a post from one of the guys touting the value ram from OCZ, at about $85 per 512 stick. I would think that any of these would be good, dependable ram from which you could make a choice almost strictly on cost.

[Tim-E T]

Just by running a search at Newegg I brought up these choices which I thought might be good. All are PC3200, 512mb, CAS2.5 unless specified

Corsair Value Select (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-145-026&depa=0) $85
Mushkin (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-146-219&depa=0) $79
OCZ Premier Series (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-146-917&depa=0) $85 (not in stock)
TwinMOS (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-218-032&depa=0) $85 (not in stock)
Crucial (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-146-541&depa=0) $78 (sale) CAS 3
Kingston (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-141-424&depa=0) $83 CAS 3

Now it pretty much depends on which company would be the best to get from :) Im sorry for stretching this out, but I am really not sure. $200 is my limit.

Maybe I should get a 1gb pack?
Corsair Value Select 1gb (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-145-440&depa=0) $195

Xp 2500+
Abit NF7-S V2.0
ATI 9500np

EDIT: Also which company may give me better Chips?

[Moto7451]

There's 2GB of RAM in my mom's G5, 1GB in my mom's internet computer, 768MB in my computer & it's a night & day difference between the 256-512MB I had in each machine before I upgraded.

[Tim-E T]

If you had read my original post I am buying 1gig of memory. Please read thread before posting. Thank you.

[deathstar13]

just a few hints on how to buy cheap ram that oc's like mad.
use this web site to see what ic's are used on your favorite companys sticks,mainly the high end sticks in particuler.
http://pub.lorenz.bei.t-online.de/marsramworld.htm

go to stores physically and look for sticks with these chips on them.
most times this works well and you get almost the same exact sticks at half the price.
this depending on who made this "value" stick your selecting as not all pcb's the ic's are on isnt the same,nor are they tested.
its a gamble but one that pays off big rewards and usually more than not does oc just as well as the high end sticks.

[ajrettke]

I don't see why the corsair value "pack" is more.

I'd go with muskin or corsair, both are top notch memory companies and your odds of getting a bad stick are just as low with either one. So based on that, I'd go mushkin simply because it's cheaper.

Out of all the ones you listed you can't really go wrong, for every company your gonna find someone who's had a bad stick, but the ones you listed thier all good...I mean corsair, mushkin, crucial, kingston...all are top notch names (I will never buy OCZ out of principle, but they are probably just as good as the others now)

[deathstar13]

I don't see why the corsair value "pack" is more.

I'd go with muskin or corsair, both are top notch memory companies and your odds of getting a bad stick are just as low with either one. So based on that, I'd go mushkin simply because it's cheaper.

Out of all the ones you listed you can't really go wrong, for every company your gonna find someone who's had a bad stick, but the ones you listed thier all good...I mean corsair, mushkin, crucial, kingston...all are top notch names (I will never buy OCZ out of principle, but they are probably just as good as the others now)i dont blame you for the feelings of ocz.i dont want to crap this thread up about it either.
but you will be the one selling yourself short if you didnt look at their products now.
alot of thing have happened in a year. and ocz has the best ocing memory now imo.
but they cant change the past but work on the present and presently they kick ass!

[Reefa_Madness]

Ditto on the last OCZ statements. They have been accused of pretty crappy behavior in the past, but corporations are made up of people and their attitudes. If you look at their current products and the kind of assistance and responses that people who visit this forum get from guys like Sean, it is hard to fault them now. You've got to believe that they have the right people now, or those that were there before, got some new 'tudes, because they're just about doing everything right these days when it comes to ram.

Back to the original topic. You have a good group to choose from, and like most have stated, any of them will work fine for you. If you are trying to get some top of the line performance, then your list would change, but at the price range you have selected, all of these will work just fine. If you were willing to ante up maybe a little more, say to $250, then that would open up some additional choices for you, but unless you are wanting to O/C that 2500 past 200-210, there is no need to spend any more.

Good luck with your ram choice and enjoy your visit to the States.

[speed bump]

I would avoid the Mushkin value ram I was about to buy some but found out that they have started putting elixer chips in some of them. I personally am looking at Corsair value select, OCZ premier series or Crucial(Crucial supposedly uses Micron chips in their ram or so the ad goes). I would look for KVR but I live in Montana and the closest BB is 2hours away.

[Reefa_Madness]

Earlier I mentioned the KVR and to check out the various vendors, as you never know who will have the best prices. Ran across this a few minutes ago. It is the 512 stick of KVR DDR400 for $75 per stick, after MIR. A gig for $150 is about as good as it gets.

http://www.shop.kingston.com/0704kvr/default.asp?sls=shop_spcl

[johan851]

I built two PC's for a client and had a horrible time with Corsair PC3200 Value RAM. I bought three 512mb sticks, and the two sold together for dual channel produced tons of memtest errors at stock speeds, stock speeds with relaxed latencies, single channel, extra voltage, etc. Had to drop them down to 166 for it to work right. Not cool.

[Tim-E T]

Thanks for the suggestions of going to a store and looking for memory. But I dont have any stores like that in my town. If the OCZ memory was in stock I would get that. mmmm how long will it take to be in stock, anyone have a guess? if its not in stock by Thursday or friday I will prolly get the Mushkin or the Corsair Value Select. My freind has a computer he said I could use to test the memory before I leave. Thanks for the help guys.

[RedScare]

if you are looking for simply stability and a guarantee that they will work out of the box id say your best bet is crucial. ive had the same crucial ram in my system for the last three years and its done very well. i dont know how well they overclock though, although i have heard some reports of them doing well in that area as well. i guess if you are looking for the combo of high performance and good price, id go with ocz, but im not sure that you would be as asured of getting perfect sticks out of the box.

[Tim-E T]

I was just thinking of what would happen if I got bad modules. I am considering the crucial again. Is there a huge real world difference between CAS3 and CAS2.5? Would the Mushkin memory be a good bet for reliability but still being fast?