To RMA or not to RMA

I bought a Patriot 2x1GB PDC22G6400LLK DDR2-800 set rated at 4-4-4-12 2T at 2.1v. I installed these in a new box with an Asus P5W DH Deluxe MB with an E6600 CPU.

I couldn't get one of the sticks to do the rated 4-4-4-12 at DDR2-800 at either 2.1 or 2.2v. While emailing back and forth to Patriot tech support about this I went ahead and did some basic overclocking and discovered the RAS Precharge wouldn't work at 4 would would work at 5. I was able to get the system to run stable at FSB 350X9 (3.15GHz) with the memory set to DDR-875 at 4-5-4-12 at 2.1v, all components set at stock voltage.

The tech support guy got back to me today and said I should just run it at 4-5-4-12 and that "The difference is minimal." I suspect he's right but I don't know for sure.

The question is should I just run with what I have or go through the $$$ and hassle to RMA the memory for a stick that will do what Patriot rates it at? I need your expert advice!

Thanks in advance.

My minimum requirement for all hardware I purchase is that it performs as advertised. That being said, If I didn't have any other ram and therefore wouldn't have a rig until they got back to me...well lets just say it would be a tough decision.

do they offer advanced replacement?

smokie mcpott said:

do they offer advanced replacement?

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As far as I can tell, no.

I will be building a new box for my wife's birthday next month so I have the option of getting the memory for that box now and using it until I get the RMAed memory back...

As a rule I would want my ram to run it's rated speed/timings. I went thru a hassle with Corsair just a few weeks ago. I sent in a 1gb kit of CMX-4400 because it would fail to run it's rated speed of 275 as advertised and printed on the label, that's why i bought it

Well here's the long version .

Anyway I would recommend you RMA them. You paid for a certain level of performance and you should get it. I mean, hell, I would.

If by saying it wont run at the rated timings --- that it failes memory test then I would RMA it