What is the difference between these sticks of RAM

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lchiu7

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#29602 13-Jan-2009 09:54

Wanting to help a friend put more RAM in his desktop. Looking at the current RAM (IBM desktop) it's DDR400 PC3300 SDRAM. This is a P4. Looking at a couple of local sites I came across two types with nearly $30 difference in price

RAM One

RAM Two

One would think Kingston RAM would be "better" but I am not sure what unbuffered RAM means. Any thoughts on this?

Thanks

Larry

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Ragnor

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#189148 13-Jan-2009 10:21

Unbuffered RAM:
There is no control between the chipset and the memory chips, meaning that data can be given to the chips at any time, even in the middle of a clock cycle. Used in desktops, max 4 ram slots (usually), cheaper.

Buffered RAM:
Provides a delay (buffering) so that all data from the chipset is collecting at the beginning/end of a clock cycle. Used in servers, usually slower (because of ECC), over 4 ram slots, expensive.

You can't mix buffered and unbuffered, just get unbuffered for a desktop machine (assuming the existing ram is regular unbuffered ram).

From your links, I would say the Adata is unbuffered also, the Kingston is more expensive because it's a top tier brand with a lifetime warranty.

lchiu7

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#189190 13-Jan-2009 13:06

Thanks. That makes sense. What confused me was for a while the Kingston memory was listed for $10 on Pricespy and when you went to the page it still showed $10. That is why I was confused why Kingston, a name brand was so cheap. They have fixed that now :(

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/h/wellycbd PM me and mention GZ to get a 15% discount and no AirBnB charges.