5.8 Our Picks
We use and recommend only name-brand
memory. Commodity memory may not work properly in a given
motherboard. Even if it appears to work properly at first, you may
later experience subtle problems attributable to the memory.
Name-brand memory costs little more than commodity memory, and is
definitely worth the small extra cost.
We have installed only Crucial Technologies (http://www.crucial.com) memory and Kingston
(http://www.kingston.com) memory
in the scores of systems we've built during the last
three years, and have experienced no problems attributable to memory
in those systems. That's something we
can't say for other brands of memory
we've tested, and certainly not for commodity
memory. We frequently use the Crucial Memory Configurator on their
web site, which allows you to enter the manufacturer and model of
your system or motherboard and returns a list of memory modules, with
prices, that are certified to be compatible with that system or
motherboard.
Here are
our recommendations for memory:
- SIMM
-
If you are upgrading a SIMM-based system, tread carefully. Such
systems are now so old that major upgrades make poor economic sense.
SIMM modules are quite expensive per MB, and it's
quite easy to spend more on large-capacity SIMMs than the cost of a
new motherboard, processor, and memory. If
it's a question of adding only 16 MB or 32 MB to
extend the useful life of an older system under Windows 9X, use the
Crucial Memory Configurator to determine which module(s) fit your
motherboard, and buy the appropriate Crucial SIMM. (http://www.crucial.com)
- SDR-SDRAM DIMM
-
For maximum flexibility when upgrading an existing system, we
recommend whenever possible purchasing only PC133 SDRAM memory, even
for motherboards that require only PC66 or PC100. Before you do so,
however, verify on the motherboard manufacturer's
web site that your motherboard functions properly with PC133 SDRAM. A
few motherboards designed for PC66 or PC100 memory have problems with
PC133. When we need SDR-SDRAM memory, we use Crucial or Kingston
modules exclusively. (http://www.crucial.com or http://www.valueram.com)
- DDR-SDRAM DIMM
-
If you are building a new Athlon/Duron or Pentium 4 system, we
recommend using DDR-SDRAM. As is the case with SDR-SDRAM, you can
nearly always use a faster module than required. For future
flexibility, we recommend avoiding PC1600 modules and instead buying
PC2100 DDR modules. Once PC2700 modules become widely available and
affordable, buy them rather than PC2100 modules. Buying commodity
memory is always a bad idea, but when it comes to DDR, buying
commodity memory is a very bad idea. DDR really
pushes the limits, and using a high-quality module from a good maker
is even more important than usual. If your motherboard supports both
unbuffered and registered DDR-RAM, consider installing registered
modules for additional stability. Note that some motherboards (e.g.,
the Tyan S2460 Tiger MP dual Athlon board)
require registered modules. We have used Crucial
and Kingston DDR modules with equal success, and recommend them
exclusively. (http://www.crucial.com or http://www.valueram.com)
- Rambus RDRAM RIMM
-
If you are building a Pentium 4 system and require the highest
possible memory performance, use an Intel 850-based RDRAM motherboard
and PC800 Rambus RIMMs from Kingston. (http://www.valueram.com)
Whatever type of memory you install, install plenty of it. For
Windows 9X systems, there seems to be little or no benefit to
installing more than 128 MB. For Windows NT/2000/XP, we consider 256
MB to be a good starting point, and usually install more. With the
price of memory so low, we recommend you fill all of your memory
slots with the largest supported modules and have done with it.
We've seldom encountered a system that was having
problems because it had too much memory. If you do install a large
amount of memory, use ECC modules for their error-correcting
capabilities.
For updated recommendations, visit
- http://www.hardwareguys.com/picks/memory.html.
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