System-specific RAM vs Value RAM?

Hiyas,

Ok, so I've decided to get either Corsair or Kingston RAM. Probably Kingston because it's much cheaper than Corsair, but not too much more expensive than the competition. Well, both of them have stuff that comes up if you do select you manufacturer > model > etc stuff, which appears more expensive than Value RAM which you just select by saying, this type at this speed. On their website, they say that system-specific is better, but I think that's just because they can charge you more for it. I know I need DDR2 533MHz, so I think I should just go with Value RAM. (Especially since my system is not showing up in the system search, so I'd have to call and they're not open on weekends.) Any disadvantage to Value RAM?

Also, I'm not seeing any 2GB kits, so I'll have to get 2 of the same 1GB modules. I think I heard that that's not as good as getting a kit. Is that true?

Malia

 

It all comes to testing. I believe system specifc RAM is basically the same thing, but it has been tested to work with that particular model from that particular manufacturer. The same goes for kits which are basically 2 sticks of RAM that have been tested to make sure they work in dual channel mode. You can get your own RAM and it should work fine, but it hasn't been tested yet so it's cheaper. So basically you are paying for testing and peace of mind kind of like an extended warranty.

 

Well the Corsair will be faster simply because it's better quality and the speed is more accurate. Corsair will even more be overclockable and more stable at more stressful timming settings. If the mili-second speed improvements and the tweakability aren't big factors then going with Kingston value-ram is a good call. I actually don't like the name kingston uses, calling it value ram makes it sound really cheap when its actually pretty good. My guess is they want to push their flagship HyperX series ram.