Newb said:
Paul wrote:
: Newb wrote:
:: I am not familiar with them and I just need a performance boost and I
:: would like to go dual channel with my P4 2.8 ghz Intel D CPU on an
:: Asus MB. I was looking at this from Tiger Direct. I won't be doing
:: any OC so that's not important.
http://tinyurl.com/36besc or
::
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3157063&CatId=1354
::
:: Thanks
::
:
: You can get some Corsair ValueSelect CAS3 for $55 a stick, and no
: stinking rebates to fight with.
:
:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145505
:
: The thing is, the Tiger Direct part number listed, doesn't appear
: on this page. At least I cannot see it. And I like to do some
: simple checks, before I buy memory. For 1GB sticks, I'm looking
: for 64Mx8 chips, 16 chips total, 8 per side.
:
:
http://www.usmodular.com/MCE/default/0/groupCOM1/71/technology:DDR
:
: The info that Tiger is giving you, is pretty useless. Find a retailer
: who gives more specs.
Paul, thanks for the info. I am looking for dual channel 2 x 1 GB. The
US modular is for 2 GB. I
thought about buying 2 sticks of 1 GB but there is no guarantee they
will work as a dual channel pair. I dunno if this is unique to the Value
Select brand but the dual channel overheats and the price jumps:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145579
The US modular is a kit of two sticks of 1GB each. For the single stick
ValueSelect, you would buy two of them. The only question, is whether
Corsair would somehow change the architecture of the sticks in mid-production,
causing two entirely different sticks to be made. As long as the
supplier is not a generic (untraceable manufacturer), a 1GB DIMM
will be constructed with (16) 64Mx8 chips. I wouldn't expect
a problem mixing two random ValueSelect 1GB sticks.
As for the quality, there are over 500 review entries for the ValueSelect
product, with mixed results. Even with a brand name, you have to
review the available data carefully. Some brands and models do have
a better track record than others. Sometimes, any proposed savings
are lost, when it comes time to send back defective sticks.
In terms of the memory I've got here, I bought four separate 512MB
sticks some time ago, and never had any trouble mixing them in dual
channel situations. They don't have to be "tested as a pair", to
work. To work, on the most restrictive chipset, the rows, columns,
banks and ranks have to match. Those are all the chip addressing
dimensions. Less restrictive chipsets, like Nforce2 and some of
the later Intel chipsets, only require the total memory to be
the same on both channels, to work in dual channel. Thus, on
the less restrictive chipsets, a 512MB double sided can be put on
one channelm, and a 512MB single sided on the other, and it
still works.
If you had an Athlon64 using DDR RAM, I might be tempted to buy a
kit of two for that. Some early BIOS designs were unnecessarily
cranky, and were checking fields in the SPD that they should not
have been looking at. But you'd know, if you had been following
the experiences of fellow users, as to how cranky the BIOS
was for the product.
Whether you are buying a $50 module, a $54 module, or a
$57 module, at the low end there will always be the possibility
of dropouts. When memory is being sold cheaply, there are only
a couple ways to make money. One way, is to buy UTT (untested)
chips from a memory manufacturer, and test them yourself. A
second way, is to take shortcuts on memory testing. (Testing
time costs money - not testing the whole GB, with all useful
test patterns, means the factory staff can process more modules
per day.)
The real pisser, is modules that are so poorly tested, they didn't
even use an ohmmeter to check whether the rails were shorted
together. Some people have had DIMM slots burned, by new DIMMs.
If the DIMMs had been tested, even a little bit, they would
have burned the manufacturer's DIMM slot, and not the end
user.
I no longer buy bargain RAM myself, having had two batches go bad
after 1.5 years of use. It would take a lot of purchases of
cheap RAM, for me to get my money back. The products I bought,
only had a 1 year warranty, and one seller went out of business
before I could even talk to them.
So check the reviews on Newegg. You don't have to buy the memory
there, but you can check the reputation of the various brands
and models. And that way, perhaps you can find a product that
will last and be good value.
Good luck,
Paul
