Re: ? Opinions:How's US Modular RAM?

Paul wrote:
: 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.

Thanks Paul, your post is very informative. I would say that my bios
for this Asus MB is quite picky. I dont think you mentioned the CAS of
the ram too. It is unlikely I will get them to match in that regard
since I have an older 512 MB Tiger Direct Ultra brand.

I am now actually wondering if I indeed 2 GB (the max the board will
take) or if 1 GB will do just fine. This would be the last upgrade this
PC would see until I get another one in about 2 -3 years. I also don't
do any gaming but do the occasional transferring of video to DVD from my
camcorder.


.

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