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Memory - Crucial, Corsair or Kingston?
- Thread starter guklein
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Does it even make any difference? Go by the manufacturer specs. All three of those are reputable companies.
While I have used all three and never had any problems, I prefer Crucial. Great customer service, and they have a scanner tool on their site that will ensure that you get exactly what you need.
I have always used Kingston, never Crucial or Corsair, so I can't talk about those others. But Kingston has always been good. I buy it from Newegg.
Crucial = Micron which is an OEM supplier to Apple. For years now I've used their generic RAM in my Macs w/ no issues. They also have Mac specific RAM, but it's always a few $ more and it's the same as the generic down to the CAS rating.
Kingston. They used to be the best back in the 90's. Their specific RAM for Macs is great, but way overpriced. I use to use their ValueRAM but every now and then I'd get bad sticks, or at least sticks that were not up to Apple's standards so I stopped using them.
Corsair. Never used them. Supposedly they are good, but Crucial works so why take a risk.
Kingston. They used to be the best back in the 90's. Their specific RAM for Macs is great, but way overpriced. I use to use their ValueRAM but every now and then I'd get bad sticks, or at least sticks that were not up to Apple's standards so I stopped using them.
Corsair. Never used them. Supposedly they are good, but Crucial works so why take a risk.
You want to match the RAM speed w/ the bus speed. Using 800Mhz RAM isn't going to be faster in a 667Mhz machine. If you are lucky it will downclock to 667Mhz. At worst your Mac will spit it back at you and you'll have to go through the hassle of getting the right RAM.
Could I buy this one? Will my iMac be safe?
http://www.crucial.com/store/mpartspecs.aspx?mtbpoid=3299593DA5CA7304
Thank you.
http://www.crucial.com/store/mpartspecs.aspx?mtbpoid=3299593DA5CA7304
Thank you.
No, it's 800. Just bought exactly that Mac and let them install 4GB of memory. The receipt said 800, the sticker on the iMac box said 800 and in OSX it said 800. So I think your friend might be confused with the older aluminium model, which did use 667mhz RAM.
Could I buy this one? Will my iMac be safe? Is it a good memory?
http://www.crucial.com/store/mpartspecs.aspx?mtbpoid=3299593DA5CA7304
Corsair do not have 800Ghz memory for iMac? Just 667Mhz?
Thank you.
http://www.crucial.com/store/mpartspecs.aspx?mtbpoid=3299593DA5CA7304
Corsair do not have 800Ghz memory for iMac? Just 667Mhz?
Thank you.
Yeah, that's kinda what I was saying. There really isn't any difference - at all. Check your CL ratings and warrantee periods.
I just (3 hrs ago) bought 8gigs total for $180.
I bought two of these: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820208422 but in Japan where I live they're about $90 each instead of $175.
These are MP DIMMs but the same thing (stated above) applies for your iMac too.CL on these is programmable 3, 4, or 5. and Transcend offers a lifetime guarantee on those. $22.50 a gig seems nice to me.
I guess I'm the only one here that had a run of bad luck with Crucial ram sticks because I had bunch of them go bad on me after few years. So far I've had no problems with Kingston and Mushkin. One more thing. Buying a used ram on eBay is very risky. I learned the hard way that eBay's so called buyer protection is a complete joke. Always buy from reputable vendor like Newegg or OWC.
Any decent ram will downclock. In my experience it's the ultra cheap and often dodgy ram that misses out all the SPD information and you have to set manually (on a pc obviously you cannot on apple).
To be honest I avoid it.
There is some reason to go for higher speed ram though, it often has better latency at th lower speed than the slower ram. Though really this is gonna make no real world difference to anyone.
I always go with crucial and get speed that is the cheapest, or the higher speed if they are all the same price as often happens.