Most reliable brand of RAM?

[NewSc2]

I've had pretty bad experiences with most brands of RAM.

Corsair, Kingston, Crucial, and maybe a half-dozen 3rd party RAM's have all errored up on various systems I've owned throughout the years. They generally last up to 1 year, but after year 2 or 3, they start messing up.

I've been looking to get Samsung RAM (what Apple provides) but can't really find a good deal for it online.

Any recommendations?

 

[WildCowboy]

I recommend OWC or DMS...both places put together their own modules at good prices, and most of them come with lifetime guarantees. No place can guarantee that your RAM won't go bad, but guaranteeing that they'll send out a free replacement as soon as you notify them that a stick of theirs went bad is pretty darn close.

Terrific vendors who know Macs and have great customer service.

 

[NewSc2]

Do you know what happens when RAM goes bad on a Mac? My experiences have all been with PC's... BSOD's and crashes. I'm assuming the same happens with OSX?

 

[WildCowboy]

You can get kernel panics, or the RAM might just stop being recognized...it's similar.

 

[CanadaRAM]

Or the Mac will beep three times rapidly, at boot time, and fail to boot.

Apple does not use Samsung exclusively - they use Samsung, Micron, Hynix, Elpida and IBM depending on the machine and what supplier deals they have cut.

There is nothing magical about RAM quality; more important is that the RAM you get is the correct build for your machine. Brand name does not assure you of this - it's quite possible to get generic Kingston and Corsair for example, which are not appropriate for Macs.

A reputable dealer will test and guarantee compatibility with your Mac, and will offer a lifetime warranty.

Thanks
Trevor
CanadaRAM.com

 

[phungy]

Do you remember to de-static your hands before you install the RAM? Sorry to hear about all the bad experiences...I'd recommend G.Skill, it got great reviews on Newegg. Members here and myself have been pleased with it (I've had 4-1GB G.Skills) and all worked fine.

BTW, Newegg has a special on the G.Skill right now...$85 for 1x1GB and free shipping.

 

[NewSc2]

Do you remember to de-static your hands before you install the RAM? Sorry to hear about all the bad experiences...I'd recommend G.Skill, it got great reviews on Newegg. Members here and myself have been pleased with it (I've had 4-1GB G.Skills) and all worked fine.

BTW, Newegg has a special on the G.Skill right now...$85 for 1x1GB and free shipping.

yeah, the RAM doesn't go kaput right away... it's always after half a year or more... error messages start popping up, programs start crashing, blue screens, etc. I always think it's something else first (video card, hdd, mobo) but it's always the RAM. I usually run MemTest when I upgrade RAM to check, and none have errors when they're new. Samsung-branded RAM has never gone bad on me, even during my old overclocking days.

Surprisingly I haven't had an HDD, video card, CPU, mobo, etc. go bad on me for the past 5+ years.

 

[phungy]

Hm, I wonder if the warranty covers the RAM going ka-poot. G.Skill has a lifetime warranty, I'll have to look into that.

 

[dougnewman]

It depends on what you mean by "brand". The memory chips are not necessarily made by the same people as the board.

You could have, for example, Samsung chips on a Samsung board, or you could have Samsung chips on boards made by some third party.

 

[iW00t]

It is better to get "1st party" chips, such as Samsung, where they make the chips and assemble them into modules inhouse too.

 

[NewSc2]

what's Apple's? Samsung chips on Samsung PCB? That's what I've been referencing to for my PC's.

Also, they're very expensive. I should have just upgraded it when I bought my MBP but I didn't think they'd be that expensive. $175 on Apple, $190 on OWC.

 

[mmmcheese]

The key here is to sacrifice a virgin to the computer gods...

 

[mergemedia]

I personally prefer Crucial Technologies RAM. I have 2GB of it in my macbook pro.

Btw, this is my first post. I've been a longtime lurker, who finally registered for an account

hello everyone

 

[TraceyS/FL]

I had a Crucial DIMM(SIMM, whatever they are these days LOL) go bad in December, they were wonderful on the phone. Heck, he apologized for the time it took him to answer the phone.

But they were great working with replacing it. I had the option of paying for a new one and they'd overnight it that day and crediting when they got the bum one, or letting me send it and they'd still get it out that day when they got it - no charge involved.

I felt that more than fair - that why they knew i'd send the bad one back

I opted for option 2 because i had company coming & Christmas for the following 3 weeks and could "limp by" on 512. LOL, boy did I notice when i put that new stuff back in! (this was my G4 eMac)

I didn't think it was the RAM at all, neither did Apple until they exhausted both level 1&2 check-lists. I couldn't reinstall OSX! I had had random crashing issues of apps - but nothing overly major like i read here (no gray screens - only 1 message of you must reboot), i decided to just wipe it clean and start over and then couldn't go on. UGH.

Anyway, i will buy from Crucial again - they were there when i needed them!

 

[Father Jack]

I generally use Crucial ram, and have never had any problems.



FJ

 

[WildCowboy]

Just FYI...I've refused to buy from Crucial for several years now due to some what I consider to be sketchy pricing practices on their part...offering you different prices for the same RAM stick based on what your cookies said you had looked at on their site, offering different prices for the exact same RAM stick based on what type of machine you told them you had, etc.

And now that Crucial's prices aren't as competitive, there's even less reason to buy from them. Good RAM and good guarantee policy, but company ethics (and now prices) keep me away. I still stand by OWC and DMS.

 

[CanadaRAM]

what's Apple's? Samsung chips on Samsung PCB?

See post #5 above...

Yes, Apple buys direct from the mfg, so their RAM is on original boards of whatever mfg they buy from.

 

[e12a]

Kingston Value Ram is always a good buy.

I get hookups cause my friend's dad works there!

 

[mergemedia]

I've always had good experiences with Crucial. I generally don't buy it directly from their site, though. I buy it from Newegg, as it's consistanly cheaper, and the same identical part number. My macbook pro purrs like a kitten with 2GB of it.

 

[Boxer]

I have put G'Skill in both of my laptops and have never had a problem. I hear good, and bad about them though. I just went that route because it was cheap.

 

[Teh Don Ditty]

Crucial. Got 2GB in both my MB and Mini. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm.