Crucial, Corsair and Kingston - differences?

[Martin C]

The post title basically says it all.

I want to get 2 x 512MB of DDR2 PC3200 sticks to go into a new PC. The
question is, are there any real differences between equivalent sticks from
either Crucial, Corsair or Kingston (or any others that any of you feel that
I should be considering)? Or are they all basically the same?

The obvious reason that I ask is that there is a difference in prices -
which could mean something, or course, but equally I could be just paying
for the brand name.

Opinions?

Thanks
Martin

 

[Mike T.]

The post title basically says it all.

I want to get 2 x 512MB of DDR2 PC3200 sticks to go into a new PC. The
question is, are there any real differences between equivalent sticks from
either Crucial, Corsair or Kingston (or any others that any of you feel
that
I should be considering)? Or are they all basically the same?

The obvious reason that I ask is that there is a difference in prices -
which could mean something, or course, but equally I could be just paying
for the brand name.

Opinions?

Thanks
Martin

You should look at OCZ and Geil, also. I'd personally go with OCZ,
Kingston, Geil, Crucial or Corsair, in that order. Oh, and go for one stick
of 1GB instead of 2 X 512MB.

It has always been true, and still is, that systems run more stable with
fewer sticks of RAM, to a point. Yeah, there are systems that run RAM in
dual-channel mode, but they really aren't significantly faster that way. I
think it's a scam to get you to buy more RAM, and more often. The reason I
think so is simple:

If you buy (2 X 512MB) for example, and want to upgrade to 2 GB later, the
only reasonable way to do it is to replace both of your RAM boards with new
ones. If you have 3 RAM slots, you can add a 1GB stick, but that will nix
the dual-channel (if you were using that). If you have 4 RAM slots, you can
add (2 X 512MB), but this will give you 4 total RAM boards.

It's best to keep your total number of RAM boards to 2 or less, for
stability reasons. Many mainboards (not all) have a problem running stable
with more than 2 sticks of RAM. Also, the more sticks of RAM, the more
likely that one of them will go bad, so the KISS principle applies. If you
end up with a bad RAM stick (quite common, btw, even if your RAM is a good
name brand) in a system with 4 RAM sticks, good luck figuring that one out.
-Dave

 

[DaveW]

Corsair cost more, but really are of higher quality materials than the other
two. You get what you pay for.

 

[Roy Coorne]

The post title basically says it all.

I want to get 2 x 512MB of DDR2 PC3200 sticks to go into a new PC. The
question is, are there any real differences between equivalent sticks from
either Crucial, Corsair or Kingston (or any others that any of you feel that
I should be considering)? Or are they all basically the same?

The obvious reason that I ask is that there is a difference in prices -
which could mean something, or course, but equally I could be just paying
for the brand name.

Opinions?

There are differences between 'equivalent' DIMMs: Some may be run with
sharper timings, others are suitable for overclocking.
The value versions are suitable for normal use.

I am happy with Crucial, Infineon, MDT, and Samsung modules.

Roy

 

[Paul]

The post title basically says it all.

I want to get 2 x 512MB of DDR2 PC3200 sticks to go into a new PC. The
question is, are there any real differences between equivalent sticks from
either Crucial, Corsair or Kingston (or any others that any of you feel that
I should be considering)? Or are they all basically the same?

The obvious reason that I ask is that there is a difference in prices -
which could mean something, or course, but equally I could be just paying
for the brand name.

Opinions?

Thanks
Martin

I think you are referring to the "Valueram" segment of the market.
Check the customer review entries for the products where they
are listed on Newegg.com . If a product is crap, you'll see reports
of them being DOA (dead on arrival) or of them being barely able
to run at stock speeds. That should give you some idea as to
which products are binned too close to their rated value.
(Memory runs slower with increased temperature, and should easily
meet its speed rating at room temperature. If it fails to pass at
room temperature, it would not stand a chance of passing at
commercial max temp.)

Since the source of the chips and modules changes with time,
a recommendation that was valid three months ago, may no longer
be valid today. The most weight should be given to the most
recent reviews, as they reflect recent samples of the product.
Valueram modules can use more than one make of memory chips.
(The exception might be Crucial, as they are the retail arm
of Micron, and most of their product will have Micron chips
on it.)

And if you want to deal with modules that might not be
the best, check the returns policy of your retailer carefully.
Places that have the best prices, might be "Internet only"
e-tailers, people that don't list a physical location for
their company, or they may refuse to talk by phone. Make sure
you are adequately protected (i.e. credit card purchase),
so if they give you the cold shoulder, you can use your credit
card company for complaint resolution. You should also know
exactly what the warranty period is, and who provides the
warranty, whether it is the retailer or the memory DIMM
manufacturer. I've had two lots of memory go bad, a bit
more than one year after purchase (and of course, the
warranty on them was only one year).

While the companies you have listed above should be good,
you can use the customer reviews as a "tie breaker".

HTH,
Paul

 

[Bob Davis]

The post title basically says it all.

I want to get 2 x 512MB of DDR2 PC3200 sticks to go into a new PC. The
question is, are there any real differences between equivalent sticks from
either Crucial, Corsair or Kingston (or any others that any of you feel
that
I should be considering)? Or are they all basically the same?

The obvious reason that I ask is that there is a difference in prices -
which could mean something, or course, but equally I could be just paying
for the brand name.

I would just make sure you don't mix brands, especially when implementing
dual-channel, as there is more chance of issues doing so. I've never had a
problem with Crucial, but this system and several others I've built lately
(all Asus and Gigabyte with Intel 875p chipsets) use Kingston CAS3 PC3200,
also with no trouble. Never used Corsair, but I feel it is also a worthy
contender.

Some mobos are picky about brands and types of memory, and I selected
Kingston for this one three years ago because MWave offered only this brand
and a generic for their bundles. Plus, this mobo (Gigabyte GA-8KNXP)
originally had issues with some brands. I would do some Googling and find
out what others have had success with on your brand and model of mobo.

 

[John Weiss]

The obvious reason that I ask is that there is a difference in prices -
which could mean something, or course, but equally I could be just paying
for the brand name.

I've used all 3, with no problems/failures from any of them. I like
Crucial's service. They once sent me the wrong sticks, then sent me a
prepaid return label with the right ones. OTOH, Corsair is in my newest
machine, because that's what the vendor offered.

I suspect the actual hardware quality is comparable.

 

[jamarno]

I want to get 2 x 512MB of DDR2 PC3200 sticks to go into a new PC. The
question is, are there any real differences between equivalent sticks from
either Crucial, Corsair or Kingston (or any others that any of you feel that
I should be considering)? Or are they all basically the same?

I would expect fewer problems with Crucial modules simply because it's
the only company in your list that manufactures RAM chips from scratch
(parent is Micron Technology). Corsair, like most module makers,
simply buys finished chips. Kingston buys not only finished chips but
also whole silicon wafers of RAM chips that it dices and places into
plastic packages. While this makes Kingston much more sophisticated
than most module makers, their quality doesn't seem to be significantly
better than its competitors', possibly due to insufficient testing or
incorrect timing parameters written to the serial presense detect
EEPROM chips of the modules. Kingston may have unintentionally
confirmed the latter when they told that several parameters should have
been slower than the really were for my modules.

It's safest to buy modules made by chip manufacturers. The next safest
option is modules made by someone else but containing prime chips that
were graded by their manufacturers and marked with real part numbers.
But many modules are made with untested chips - do a search for "UTT
chips" to see how bad they can be. Instead of being tested with > $1
million machines used by chip manufacturers, they're tested with
machines costing well under $100,000, sometimes less than $5,000,
sometimes with just ordinary PCs.

 

[Brian K]

Martin C wrote:



I would expect fewer problems with Crucial modules simply because it's
the only company in your list that manufactures RAM chips from scratch
(parent is Micron Technology). Corsair, like most module makers,
simply buys finished chips. Kingston buys not only finished chips but
also whole silicon wafers of RAM chips that it dices and places into
plastic packages. While this makes Kingston much more sophisticated
than most module makers, their quality doesn't seem to be significantly
better than its competitors', possibly due to insufficient testing or
incorrect timing parameters written to the serial presense detect
EEPROM chips of the modules. Kingston may have unintentionally
confirmed the latter when they told that several parameters should have
been slower than the really were for my modules.

It's safest to buy modules made by chip manufacturers. The next safest
option is modules made by someone else but containing prime chips that
were graded by their manufacturers and marked with real part numbers.
But many modules are made with untested chips - do a search for "UTT
chips" to see how bad they can be. Instead of being tested with > $1
million machines used by chip manufacturers, they're tested with
machines costing well under $100,000, sometimes less than $5,000,
sometimes with just ordinary PCs.

Currently I have an older Pentium - III based machine with Hyundai
Electronics memory in it. This brand of memory has lasted more than 10
years. I can get Hyundai chips for a 939 AMD based system I am planning
to build. The question is, should I...?

--
________
To email me, Edit "blog" from my email address.
Brian M. Kochera
"Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once!"
View My Web Page: http://home.earthlink.net/~brian1951

 

[JAD]

Currently I have an older Pentium - III based machine with Hyundai
Electronics memory in it. This brand of memory has lasted more than 10
years. I can get Hyundai chips for a 939 AMD based system I am planning
to build. The question is, should I...?

Been buying Mwave branded memory for the last 5-6 years..Never had a single
stick DOA nor have I had to replace any of them. Guess what memory I'll buy
tomarrow...............