Is RAM better between brands or is it just the same thing everywhere?

Question

Is RAM better between brands or is it just the same thing?

Answer 1

Well, there is generic RAM and then there is name brand PERFORMANCE RAM. Several things influence the differences.

1)Mhz: DDR[Double Data Rate] or DDR II is one of the bigger items. 333Mhz[PC-2700] and 400Mhz[PC-3200] are the two you'll find most these days in DDR. DDR II is 400Mhz[PC2-3200], 533 Mhz[PC-5400], and 667Mhz[PC-6200]. 800Mhz and 1066Mhz are AVAILABLE, but not many of eve nthe newest motherboards support those two yet and they are BLOODY expensive. ALWAYS try to get the best speed possible thats compatible with your Motherboard and Processor.

2) CAS LATENCY: You'll probably see this listed next on RAM as CL. This is how many CLOCK CYCLES it takes your RAM to do ANYTHING memory-wise. CL3 is standard generic DDR timings. CL2.5 is better and if your Motherboard can handle it CL2 is as low as it goes. DDRII the two standard CLs are 4 and 5. Generally the FASTER the Mhz, the slower the latency. Lower CL numbers are better. My BOOT time with Windows XP pro droped from 1 min 23 secs to 44secs total from power switch to desktop when I went from generic CL3 RAM to CL2 Performance RAM and I had my timings set as low as the RAM and Motherboard would let me.

Good Name Brand RAM that do performance modules are
CORSAIR
CRUCIAL
KINGSTON
MUSHKIN
PATRIOT
BUFFALO among others. Honestly Corsair seems to be the darling at the moment for there TOP end stuff.

Answer 2

I have a Gateway with an AMD 64 dual core processor. I know this is a good computer, with muti-function capabilties that are seemingly endless. I looked for and at 100's of models, stores, brands, and so on. In late 2005 to early 2006, this computer (the AMD64 in particular) was the fastest, with the most "stock" memory avaible at the time of when I purchased it. It was severa hundreds of dollars over other brands with tv tuners, 2005 windows media center, dvd, cd, all kinds of plug in. There's a lot of high priced stuff that can't do one-tenth of the stuff a computer with an AMD 64 processor. I'll never go back to semperon, celeron, or other low memory drive-processor again. If you never experienced multi-taking, multi-function, and the speed of something like my Gateway with the AMD64, then you might never have experienced such a headache-free computer experience. I know I sound like an advertisement for Gateway or AMD64, but, my previous 5 computers sucked. The one I got now, I can store like 65 hours of video, like 100,000 sounds or songs, 10'000 pictures, countless files, and still have 95% of free space when I'm done. Does this help? I would look into AMD64. I think they came out with an even faster, more memory processor. And, I can also install another hard drive in this computer. It's almost a living being!

Answer 3

The performance brands are better, but really you need to just look at the speed and the latency. If they have the same speed and latency, they will work pretty much the same. It is only if you are an overclocker or a real high performance user that you need to pay extra for the performance brands.

Answer 4

Definately a battle between OCZ and Corsair. Both are great companies. If you are buying ram, DO NOT pick any brand, go with either of those.

Answer 5

the speed also matters, for example 7200 or 6400...if everything else is the same go for a higher speed. ram is the power of your computer (basically) and the speed is how quickly that power is put to use

Answer 6

cheap ram may also have poor tolerances.. you are slightly more likely to end up with compatibility issues with cheap chips.