is cheap ram really the difference?

richardtrussrichardtruss
Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
I bought a 512MB chip for my 17" 1.5GHz PB this past weekend from Fry's for @ $115. Put it in and everything seemed to work well. However i have noticed that my otherwise rock-solid stable PB is now crashing like 10x a day. and thats the only thing thats different.



It may sound like a stupid question, but would bad ram really lead to that much instability? I took it out, and so far so good (no crashed, knock on wood). I always thought ram was ram, and once it is in, all is well.



Should i instead buy name brand ram (i.e. crucial, kingston, etc?) and if so, what do you recommend and how much more would i pay for name-brand ram?



Thanks.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 6
    dmband0026dmband0026 Posts: 2,345member
    With symptoms like that, I would say that it is no doubt a ram issue. If after taking it out your system is solid again, return that ram and get some Crucial/Kingston stuff. Not only is OS X picky, but ram isn't just ram, there are differences in quality and manufacturing processes. Just spring for a little extra and get the good stuff.

    Good luck.
  • Reply 2 of 6
    richardtrussrichardtruss Posts: 36member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by DMBand0026

    With symptoms like that, I would say that it is no doubt a ram issue. If after taking it out your system is solid again, return that ram and get some Crucial/Kingston stuff. Not only is OS X picky, but ram isn't just ram, there are differences in quality and manufacturing processes. Just spring for a little extra and get the good stuff.

    Good luck.



    well, 4 hours after taking out the ram, still rock solid (knock on wood). contrast this with crashing (literally) once every half hour. i think i can safely say it is the ram. thank you for your help!



    i will be buying crucial. what do you think of The Chip Merchant? I have heard good things about them, or do you think they are on a par with Fry's?
  • Reply 3 of 6
    whisperwhisper Posts: 735member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by richardtruss

    well, 4 hours after taking out the ram, still rock solid (knock on wood). contrast this with crashing (literally) once every half hour. i think i can safely say it is the ram. thank you for your help!



    i will be buying crucial. what do you think of The Chip Merchant? I have heard good things about them, or do you think they are on a par with Fry's?



    It's the brand that counts, not the store you get it from (excepting return policies and such).
  • Reply 4 of 6
    lucaluca Posts: 3,833member
    Take the RAM back to Fry's. Get new RAM. Cheap RAM is more likely to work poorly like this, but it's perfectly capable of working fine. Take it back, get a replacement, and you'll most likely be up and running again with no crashes. If it keeps crashing, see if you can get a refund instead of a replacement and then buy from Crucial.
  • Reply 5 of 6
    1337_5l4xx0r1337_5l4xx0r Posts: 1,558member
    I've bought two 512MB powerbook ram sticks on two separate occasions from Otherworld Computing, and both have worked flawlessly for over a year. They cost me about $90USD each at the time, and come with a lifetime warranty.



    Edit: Ironically, they now cost $111 (PC133SODIMM)
  • Reply 6 of 6
    mmmpiemmmpie Posts: 628member
    Cheap comes from somewhere, and the easiest place to cut costs is in quality control. You may get a good cheap DIMM, or a crap one. If you want to save money just keep replacing them till you get a good one.



    Your hardware test cd includes a pretty comprehensive memory test. It is always good advice to run it every time you install new memory.
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