Kingston says there is a difference between there branded memory and valueRAM. If I buy memory for the notebook I bought for 12 yr old son from circuit city I get valueRAM. IS branded memory decidely beter/superior than valueRAM?

IHMO, no. Pretty much all RAM is guaranteed and returnable if it doesn't work. I have always gone for the best price and haven't had any problems yet.

According to Kingston, ValueRAM is returnable only if it's defective. If it does not work with your system, they don't consider it defective.

Two more questions.
1. Can one use DDR2 in place of DDR or mix and match DDR with DDR2?
What about using DDR PC/3200/4000 instead of or mixinng it with DDR PC2700?

I firmly believe that the differences between the Kingston and the Kingston Value Ram are the part numbers, the labels, and the price. I'm sure that the RAM is identical.

There is definite diference between ValueRam and HyperX (kingston's other RAM).

Effectively, ValueRam lacks a level of ECC (error correction) that is required in high-performance environments (as used by servers, gamers, and programmers). It also lacks an extra thermal displacement system (cooling uint) that is required when RAM is being used heavily.

In a nutshell, what this means is that a "normal" user would probably never notice the difference as they ran thier day to day appications. If however, the user started running more advanced applications, they may start to notice thier computer crashing for no reason, etc... The best example of this is the latest version of Photoshop CS... Run it on valueram in a laptop, and the RAM swapping will cause the notebook to overheat and shut down. Run it on HyperX in the same laptop, you won't have this problem.

Finally, while all ram is spec'd at a certain speed (ie, PC3200) Value Ram is tested to work at the lower end of the speed spectrum, where as HyperX is tested to wok at the upper end.

As far as your other question goes, the general rule is never, ever mix ram types... if you do, the best result is that they will run together at the same speed as the slowest ram in the system... Worst result, they overload, cook themselves, and your motherboard. If you ever need to get new RAM for a system, try and make it as identical as possible to the original (even down to brand, though this is less important), or replace the original as well.

Take care.

All of my notebooks and desktops are currently running with mismatched brands of memory with absolutely no problem. The workloads on them vary from light to intense.

If you're buying memory for the space shuttle, please buy only the most gold plated kind. For your 12 year old's laptop valueram should be just fine.

BTW, the difference in price between "premium" and "value" memory is frequently so large that it makes sense to try the cheaper kind and discard it in the unlikely event that it doesn't work as well as you like.

The difference between "value" memory products and "performance" memory products is usually the timing. "value" memory requires more delay periods between memory accesses. "performance" memory requires less delay periods between accesses.

ECC, registered, parity, etc is not a difference. (Well, it is a difference, but not when you're comparing different memory for any one given system.) If your system requires registered memory with ECC, then that's what you have to buy for that system. Typically, server systems support registered memory with ECC support. I don't know of any typical laptop or desktop system that support ECC memory, so that difference doesn't play in the mix here.

For typical users going for a memory upgrade, I usually point them to crucial.com. They guarantee compatibility with your machine, and the memory has a lifetime warranty. It might cost a few dollars more than what you can find out there yourself if you know what you're doing. I doubt it will be more expensive than anything you can find at Circuit City.

-David

Another vote for Crucial.com here.

BTW...it's my understanding that DDR2 RAM is not backwards compatible to DDR systems. In other words...if your system uses DDR RAM and that's all it's spec'd for, it can't use DDR2. "Mismatched brands" (i.e. Crucial running with Kingston, for example) is one thing...mismatches types is another entirely (i.e. DDR in a system with DDR2 and DDR+ECC). Mismatched types is a no-no.

As far as cost, etc. I always look at it this way: is it worth saving the few extra bucks if your system starts overheating, possibly leading to data loss? Invest a few minutes shopping the 'Net (Crucial.com, NewEgg, etc.) and find the decent memory at the right price.

Just to make sure I was clear, I agree with the two previous posters that you *cannot* mix different *types* of memory.

ECC, DDR, and DDR2 are all unique types and cannot be mixed together. (I lost confidence in the the response from LeavingLAS when it became clear he didn't know that ECC was a special type of memory, not a feature of premium versus value brands.)

You can however, mix different brands and speeds of DDR memory, so long as each stick is rated at least as high as the speed your PC memory runs at. (PC133 vs PC100 is an exception if that's what you've got.)

I have nothing against Crucial. (In fact they supplied the four sticks of ECC for my server which requires that type of memory.) They just aren't going to be price competitive with a Circuit City loss leader special on memory close to free after rebate.

If you are adding memory to a mission critical server, I'd go with Crucial. For a laptop for a 12 year old, I think the generic brand on sale at Circuit City is fine.

One more thought. There are only a few good reasons for adding memory rated at a higher speed than the pc it's going into.

1) the higher speed memory is cheaper. i've assume this is the case here. this frequently happens when the older speed is no longer used in new pc's.

2) you're planning to scrap the old pc *soon* and want to use the new memory in your new pc.

3) you are going to overclock. (added for completeness. please don't try this at home.)

Merely adding higher speed memory will not improve your performance. If one of these reasons doesn't apply, you'd be wasting your money.

Just to be clear

I thought your original reply was fine, RLG.

-David

Those things apparently have CPUs so out-of-date that 80188/6 would be considered avant gard. Kid you not, 8088/6 (if anyone remembers what those are) were leading edge CPUs when the shuttle was designed.

I have an assembly language book for that one. Genuine Intel from 1983.

FewMiles..