about to buy more memory (RAM).. but

so.. i am about to checkout from OWC for memory 4x4GB but noticed an email from newegg about a memory sale.

i really wanted to get 2x8GB to leave room from expansion but settling on 4x4gb due to cost, but....

OWC sells 2x8 at $243 link

NewEgg sells 2x8 at $149 link

wondering if its a good idea to settle with the RAM from newegg

thoughts?

So long as Newegg have a good returns policy, and you have an anti-static strap to use (they're cheap, get one), get the newegg ones. It has mac memory written on it.

I doubt more than 16GB will be beneficial this generation of computers, 32GB is overkill for most people unless you have something special you do. 4x4GB is just fine.

I process 20GB of images per week with 16GB of ram and it works just fine. The only possible benefit of 32GB I can think of is then every single image will be cached in RAM. In practice I cull down to 8GB or so, so they fit into RAM along with the software and OS no problem.

There are much better choices on the market. Those two are not exactly up-to-date tech.

IMO Corsair makes the best RAM available at the moment. Great out of the box, and handles overclocking better then most anything else.
But those, I would not go anywhere near, even with that name on them.

In any case. Unless you need/want to go straight to 32Gb now, there is no reason to pay more for the 2x8. Ram is cheap as dirt (even the good stuff), so if the need arises later on, prises will have dropped to a point where the overall expense would not be all that different.
But by that time, you will most likely be looking at either a major rebuild or a new complete build, since other parts will most likely end up bottlenecking before the RAM does.

quiksquirrel wrote in post #14010904
There are much better choices on the market. Those two are not exactly up-to-date tech.

IMO Corsair makes the best RAM available at the moment. Great out of the box, and handles overclocking better then most anything else.
But those, I would not go anywhere near, even with that name on them.

any recommendation?

I'm not sure I would worry too much about brand. As was already mentioned, as long as the warranty is good, I would say go with the Newegg brand. The ability to overclock is not anything most people need, and as long as the memory performs within it's stated specifications, you'll be fine.

kingdavidd wrote in post #14012585
any recommendation?

If you want to get really anal about it you can go to your motherboard manufacturer's website and look at their QVL (qualified vendor list) for the brands of memory they recomend.

As long as you're within spec you should be ok.

kingdavidd wrote in post #14012585
any recommendation?

Without knowing anything about your system, and particularly your motherboard? No.
I could be recommending something that would at best give you a crappy result, or perhaps not even work.

Find the specifics of your system and then go to one of the many gaming or overclocking forums. Even if you are not into that sort of thing, it is the best place to find good info on the best products.
I'm not an enthusiast, but I do a fair bit of overclocking. And for that, you need the best possible parts. Both in terms of power and reliability.

quiksquirrel wrote in post #14023441
Without knowing anything about your system, and particularly your motherboard? No.
I could be recommending something that would at best give you a crappy result, or perhaps not even work.

Find the specifics of your system and then go to one of the many gaming or overclocking forums. Even if you are not into that sort of thing, it is the best place to find good info on the best products.
I'm not an enthusiast, but I do a fair bit of overclocking. And for that, you need the best possible parts. Both in terms of power and reliability.

Looking at his original links I would guess he has a Mac of some type, doubt he will be doing any overclocking or have a need for higher priced "performance" memory.

My recommendation would be for any reputable brandname like Corsair, Crucial, Kingston, etc. They most all have a "value" line of RAM that will run stock speeds perfectly fine. Just check you system specs and buy RAM that matches or are slightly better then those specs.

thanks everyone, so i have a mid 2011 27" iMac. (not seeing overclocking in the near future).

with an iMac; will high performance ram get me improvements?

anyway, most recommendations are just get to what my iMac ram spec is, after some googling, i found this: iMac ram spec

so as long i get ram that meets those specs, I'm should be golden, right?

oh and of course from a reputable memory company like you guys already mentioned.

kingdavidd wrote in post #14025718
thanks everyone, so i have a mid 2011 27" iMac. (not seeing overclocking in the near future).

with an iMac; will high performance ram get me improvements?

anyway, most recommendations are just get to what my iMac ram spec is, after some googling, i found this: iMac ram spec

so as long i get ram that meets those specs, I'm should be golden, right?

oh and of course from a reputable memory company like you guys already mentioned.

Why are you even asking?
Just a quick glance at that page, make it pretty clear that you don't really have much choice.
Maximum memory supported is 16Gb. And each slot will accept no more than 4Gb @ 1333Mhz.

So basically, you are stock with slow RAM and each individual block may not exceed 4Gb.

Shouldn't really surprise anyone. Old tech in overpriced "new" plastic, is what they sell, after all

kingdavidd wrote in post #14025718
thanks everyone, so i have a mid 2011 27" iMac. (not seeing overclocking in the near future).

with an iMac; will high performance ram get me improvements?

anyway, most recommendations are just get to what my iMac ram spec is, after some googling, i found this: iMac ram spec

so as long i get ram that meets those specs, I'm should be golden, right?

oh and of course from a reputable memory company like you guys already mentioned.

To be honest there is very little real world performance gained by using higher clocked RAM. If you like to run synthetic benchmarks and ooh and aah over every little gain then buy the most expensive RAM you can find(not that it will actually be supported by your Mac).

The truth is, when it comes to DDR3....unless you are overclocking RAM is RAM.

Even then you can push most modules pretty high these days...I have a set of 1600Mhz modules running at 1800Mhz at 1.65v and its been stable for months (with decent timings too).

OWC is normally overpriced. Newegg is probably the best retailer for computer equipment such as RAM. Their prices are low, the selection great, the return policy excellent, and the reviews very helpful.

I guess the advantage to OWC is they're a mac specialist and you can be confident that what they say is probably right. A smaller company might also be more flexible than newegg.

thanks everyone!!

i leaning towards newegg and go from there...

appreciate all your insights!