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wowway1 · Jul 17, 2006, 03:42 PM

Any experiences using 3rd party memory from eBay? Seem to be a lot of powersellers out there that offer guaranteed memory. Prices I'm seeing there for a matched pair of 1GB sticks is better than anywhere else I've checked.

Anyone gone this route?

G5man · Jul 17, 2006, 03:47 PM

I bought a pair of 512's for my iMac G5 and there was a powerseller I think it was "hyperspeedmemory" The 512's are working fine and it is a good bargain.

Frugle · Jul 17, 2006, 08:28 PM

you will save money, but I'm pretty sure you will loose performance. I have read many opinions on this, and I have come to the conclusion that cheap ram runs cheap... and expensive ram runs at it's full potential.

Ram really is the only thing in the MBPs that will hold the whole computer back, get crap ram, you will feel it.

I put cheap (kingmax) ram in my old iBook and it ran "fine".. I had a huge performance increase from the stock onboard 256MB... but the new ram had a hard time deallocating and freeing up ram (if that is possible..) so the computer seemed to get sluggish quickly..

as always, you get what you pay for.

Eug Wanker · Jul 17, 2006, 08:49 PM

I bought this Samsung RAM for my white MacBook off eBhey. Works great.

Originally Posted by Frugle

I put cheap (kingmax) ram in my old iBook and it ran "fine".. I had a huge performance increase from the stock onboard 256MB... but the new ram had a hard time deallocating and freeing up ram (if that is possible..) so the computer seemed to get sluggish quickly..

Sorry to say it, but that makes little sense.

ghporter · Jul 17, 2006, 09:20 PM

Buy RAM from a low-dollar firm and you get what you pay for, even if you get a name-brand part. You're likely to get little or no customer service and have to pay more for shipping or something else. I stay with known brands and buy direct if possible, and from well known resellers (NewEgg, Buy.com, BestBuy, etc.) otherwise. I may pay a little more, but I'll get the right part and it'll work or the seller will make it good and fast.

Eug Wanker · Jul 17, 2006, 09:34 PM

Originally Posted by ghporter

Buy RAM from a low-dollar firm and you get what you pay for, even if you get a name-brand part. You're likely to get little or no customer service and have to pay more for shipping or something else. I stay with known brands and buy direct if possible, and from well known resellers (NewEgg, Buy.com, BestBuy, etc.) otherwise. I may pay a little more, but I'll get the right part and it'll work or the seller will make it good and fast.

Dunno about the US, but Best Buy Canada costs a LOT more than smaller resellers, for the exact same RAM. It's often as much as 50% more expensive at Best Buy.

P.S. Newegg has a 15% restocking charge, which is no better than my local small shops.

pyrite · Jul 17, 2006, 10:58 PM

it's up to you what you buy, but if i were you i wouldnt touch no-name brands. if you can get kingston or something similar on eBay for a better price than elsewhere, go for it. but after spending hard-earned money on quality mac hardware, why stuff it with cheap ram? its not about speed, ram brands rarely vary in speed, its more about reliability. just my opinion.

wowway1 · Jul 18, 2006, 07:36 AM

Good points all, thank you.

ghporter · Jul 18, 2006, 08:58 AM

Originally Posted by Eug Wanker

Dunno about the US, but Best Buy Canada costs a LOT more than smaller resellers, for the exact same RAM. It's often as much as 50% more expensive at Best Buy.

P.S. Newegg has a 15% restocking charge, which is no better than my local small shops.

Yes, BestBuy (even online) is typically significantly more expensive than competitors, but they sometimes have the one RAM part you need when others don't. Not often, but it happens. I'm much more impressed with Buy.com, which has no brick-and-mortar stores to pay for. I've been very happy with their prices and service for quite some time. Still, I'll go to Crucial, Corsair, or Kingston directly when I'm looking for RAM, and check out others like Mushkin just for comparison - I've had good luck with all of these companies, and their prices have generally been close enough that I look at shipping cost and time as well when deciding. RAM is often so crucial and tightly timed that getting a somewhat more expensive part is really worth it.

Tomchu · Jul 19, 2006, 01:28 PM

Originally Posted by Frugle

you will save money, but I'm pretty sure you will loose performance. I have read many opinions on this, and I have come to the conclusion that cheap ram runs cheap... and expensive ram runs at it's full potential.

Ram really is the only thing in the MBPs that will hold the whole computer back, get crap ram, you will feel it.

I put cheap (kingmax) ram in my old iBook and it ran "fine".. I had a huge performance increase from the stock onboard 256MB... but the new ram had a hard time deallocating and freeing up ram (if that is possible..) so the computer seemed to get sluggish quickly..

as always, you get what you pay for.

I'm sorry, but I don't think you know what you're talking about.

DDR2-667 5-5-5-15 RAM will run exactly the same regardless of the brand or how much it costs. If you're comparing equally-spec'ed RAM from different manufacturers, it will all run the same.

If the MBP RAM specs are the above, and you get DDR2-533 at less-tight timings, then yes ... you can expect lower performance. However, if you are buying RAM that does not meet the specs of what is required for the MB/MBP, then you only have yourself to blame, not the RAM.