New RAM. Corsair or Kingston?

[fimble]

About to upgrade my second PC's ram t0 4gb.

I'm looking at:

Corsairs TWIN2X4096-6400C5C and

Kingstons KHX6400D2B1K2/4G or KHX6400D2K2/4G

2 Questions.

1.) Corsair or Kingston?
2.) Apart from a slight price difference, what is the difference between the two Kingston RAM kits. Newer model?

I'd also like to be taken in to account customer service, just in case I need to RMA it.

TIA fimble

 

[DeVandal]

I can't get my Kingston HyperX PC8500 to operate at 1066 unless I run my FSB at 533.

No biggie, perhaps, EXCEPT it was marketed to run at 1066 by SPD.

Customer service is sub-par to the extent that their response is, "Well, just because we said it would do that doesn't mean it will do it for you."

But, they do honor their lifetime warranty, which I use about every six months, two chips at a time. Faulty chip or not.

 

[Hopalong X]

IMO

Crucial for service.
Mike

 

[fimble]

FFS!!

Thanks for throwing a wide ball into the mix Hoppy!!

 

[fimble]

I can't get my Kingston HyperX PC8500 to operate at 1066 unless I run my FSB at 533.

No biggie, perhaps, EXCEPT it was marketed to run at 1066 by SPD.

As far as I'm aware DDR2 (Double data rate), that's right, 2 x 533 = 1066

But good move on RMA'ing it !!!

 

[Phone Man]

IMO

Crucial for service.
Mike

I agree. Crucial is the best for service. They are part on Micron who manufacturers the chips and Crucial builds the units.

Jim

 

[Maguscreed]

I have also had bad personal experience with corsair in the past.
kingston has been rather good to me although I only use their lower end stuff.
Crucial and OCZ have been the best to me overall. Though I have heard a lot of horror stories about OCZ my personal experience with them has been good.

Anyhow given the options you have provided I would go with the kingston just on brand alone.

 

[Phone Man]

I can't get my Kingston HyperX PC8500 to operate at 1066 unless I run my FSB at 533.

No biggie, perhaps, EXCEPT it was marketed to run at 1066 by SPD.

Customer service is sub-par to the extent that their response is, "Well, just because we said it would do that doesn't mean it will do it for you."

But, they do honor their lifetime warranty, which I use about every six months, two chips at a time. Faulty chip or not.

DUH! DDR 1066 runs at 533 FSB thats why it is called Double Data Rate.
Also I can't believe that last line of your statement, you actually RMA good memory chips every 6 Months. You are either trolling or you are very dishonest.

Jim

 

[sygnus21]

I can't get my Kingston HyperX PC8500 to operate at 1066 unless I run my FSB at 533.

No biggie, perhaps, EXCEPT it was marketed to run at 1066 by SPD.

Customer service is sub-par to the extent that their response is, "Well, just because we said it would do that doesn't mean it will do it for you."

But, they do honor their lifetime warranty, which I use about every six months, two chips at a time. Faulty chip or not.

See these posts - might answer you question and help you out.....

- http://www.sevenforums.com/crashes-debugging/138554-new-rig-radeon-6950-trouble-2.html#post1191297

- http://www.sevenforums.com/crashes-debugging/138554-new-rig-radeon-6950-trouble-2.html#post1191432

To the OP, I love Corsair and they have outstanding tech support/customer service should you need them

DUH! DDR 1066 runs at 533 FSB thats why it is called Double Data Rate.
Also I can't believe that last line of your statement, you actually RMA good memory chips every 6 Months. You are either trolling or you are very dishonest.

Jim

We can agree to disagree without the insults. Lets be cool

 

[essenbe]

I have never had the 'good fortune' to deal with either one. However I have done a good bit of reading on the subject and almost everyone will say that Corsair has excellent customer support.

 

[r3plicat3]

I'd use either Crucial or Patriot. That's just me though.

 

[fimble]

Well, after much deliberation, e-mails and spec. sheets. I made a decision (toss of a coin, best of three) and the Corsair is on order.

Is it a good idea to put them through some Memtest86+ tests as soon as they arrive?

 

[Mashed1316]

Yes, it is a good idea to test for some errors, if there are errors on Memtest86+, then you could RMA the modules and get new ones

 

[sygnus21]

Is it a good idea to put them through some Memtest86+ tests as soon as they arrive?

NO. I've never tested my RAM unless I ran into problems.

 

[profdlp]

I always test my RAM. I've had too many experiences where I spent a day trying to pin a BSOD on a driver problem, only to later find out it was defective or incompatible RAM.

 

[pparks1]

I've never tested my RAM when I got it. I only test it when I suspect that I have a problem.

At the 1066Mhz ram thing above, is right with DDR2..it would need a 533FSB. My Corsair DDR2-800 RAM needs me to run a 400FSB or below. Anything over that and it just locks up.

My RAM of choice is usually Corsair or G.Skill. Neither have ever let me down.

 

[thefabe]

I prefer Corsair over Kingston every time. However with my next build I'm going with Mushkin.

When I frist got into overclocking on a 939 DFI Expert board Mushkin DDR500 Redlines where the best Ram I had ever used not to mention thier forum.

They actually setup a test board with My Ram and CPU to help me find the optimal timings.

IMO you can't beat that with a stick.
Fabe

 

[sygnus21]

There is no need to memtest RAM unless you are having issues. It's a wasted time consuming step.

BTW my Corsair RAM is running at it's rated 1600MHz speed and has never ever locked up. In fact my old system with Corsair's DDR2 RAM on my Q6600 system (975 chipset) has been running at it's rated 1600MHz speed for over 2 years and it's never ever locked up.

Corsair (as well as other companies) guarantees their RAM to run at their specified speed - whether it's 1066 or 2000MHz! It's when you go above those rated speeds that issues will occur