this fits better under "buying advice"

[mike2q]

I'm upgrading the memory in my macbook from the stock 512mb to 2gb's. My question is that I keep reading that the Corsair value select pc5300 chips are "not guaranteed Mac compatible". What does that mean anymore? Don’t I have an Intel processor with an Intel motherboard? How is the Mac box different besides OSX? What good would buying more expensive ram do for me? I've always trusted Corsair in PC's and had great luck with them. Why does this forum always push Crusial?

Thanks for the advice.

-Michael

 

[eva01]

the logic board in an intel mac is not the same as your generic PC

some RAM will causes difficulties, such as kernel panics, and the system wont work with it installed.

 

[faintember]

Macs are picky, thats why. The same RAM that runs in a PC may or may not run in a Mac. It is the only annoying part of Macintosh computers to me, but there are ways around it. You don't have to buy through Crucial, they just sell a high quality product that is guaranteed to work in your Mac. There are other vendors out there that sell Mac compatible RAM at prices cheaper than Crucial. Such companies are Datamem and OWC, among others.

Others have reported using non-compatible RAM in their Macs and had good success and others have not been so lucky, even when it comes to the same brand in the same computer. For me, having had RAM trouble in the past, paying a bit more for certified RAM is worth it.

 

[mike2q]

Do you really believe that Datamem's Econoram is better than Corsair's value select? I was always under the impression that although value select is not Corsairs top of the line it is far from "generic memory". Whats your take on that?

 

[pna]

I'm upgrading the memory in my macbook from the stock 512mb to 2gb's. My question is that I keep reading that the Corsair value select pc5300 chips are "not guaranteed Mac compatible". What does that mean anymore? Don’t I have an Intel processor with an Intel motherboard? How is the Mac box different besides OSX? What good would buying more expensive ram do for me? I've always trusted Corsair in PC's and had great luck with them. Why does this forum always push Crusial?

Thanks for the advice.

-Michael

I'd try out the pqi (patriot) ram from newegg. It's cheap, and I've had great luck with patriot ram and macs in the past, despite no guarantee. A friend of mine bought the patriot 1 gb stick for his macbook pro, and it's been flawless.

 

[faintember]

Do you really believe that Datamem's Econoram is better than Corsair's value select? I was always under the impression that although value select is not Corsairs top of the line it is far from "generic memory". Whats your take on that?

Yes, as Datamem Econoram is running in my MB now with no problems at all. Being above "generic" is not important, being certified to work on a Mac is. Econoram is certified to work on Macs.

 

[Abstract]

Do you really believe that Datamem's Econoram is better than Corsair's value select? I was always under the impression that although value select is not Corsairs top of the line it is far from "generic memory". Whats your take on that?

OWC is good and reputable.

And if you want Crucial (who used to be a bit of a scammer, since their webpage works on "dynamic pricing"......do a search at this forum. The threads are from 2-3 years ago), go get your Crucial RAM at another site like Newegg or something. It's cheaper there than at Crucial's own site.

I won't buy Crucial ever again because of their dodgy pricing, and lots of people who have been here a long time know about "dynamic pricing" thanks to Crucial's site. If you want proof, clear your browsers cookies and cache, and go back to Crucial, select the same RAM, and see if you get the same price again. Do this after visiting a few expensive stores like BMW as well.

 

[azzurri000]

OWC is good and reputable.

And if you want Crucial (who used to be a bit of a scammer, since their webpage works on "dynamic pricing"......do a search at this forum. The threads are from 2-3 years ago), go get your Crucial RAM at another site like Newegg or something. It's cheaper there than at Crucial's own site.

I won't buy Crucial ever again because of their dodgy pricing, and lots of people who have been here a long time know about "dynamic pricing" thanks to Crucial's site. If you want proof, clear your browsers cookies and cache, and go back to Crucial, select the same RAM, and see if you get the same price again. Do this after visiting a few expensive stores like BMW as well.

I was curious, so I searched the forums and found the following thread: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/142173/ . I'm not sure if it's the one you mean, but I found that it also gave a good explanation. Thanks for the head's up about the different companies, btw!