Won 8GB DDR3 on ebay for a good price.

[Th3_uN1Qu3]

Look what i won last night: http://www.ebay.com/itm/141437227531...2.M-724.R2.TR5

Now i just gotta get to the bank and pay for it. Need to get my CC replaced (it expired last month, couldn't be arsed to go replace it, now i got a good reason to). The main idea is, until the RAM arrives on the slow boat from China, i should be able to cough up enough money for a mainboard and CPU.

I'm looking at the new Kaveri APUs from AMD. I thought about an AM3+ system first as i still have my HD3870 graphics card, but i wouldn't go back to a 95W or 125W CPU, especially since i'm planning to overclock a bit and i'll be going mATX on this build. I'm set on the AMD A8 X4 7600. While it's not a black edition CPU, it is cheap, configurable for either 65W or 45W TDP, and has got a lot of favorable reviews. I have my sights on a nice board from Gigabyte (and cheap too).

The idea is, i got this 8GB DDR3 1600 stick so i can have something to run on, then i'll buy another one later on. Also with the new R7 graphics cores built into the Kaveri CPUs, they can run pretty much all games on the IGP with medium details at 720p at least. Thus a graphics card becomes an optional extra and not a requirement. I don't really game much anymore, but i've always liked having the GPU and not using it rather than the other way round. There's also Hybrid Crossfire support where cheap CPU + cheap GPU = win.

There's one main reason why i'm looking to build a desktop machine again - i no longer use my Acer 5742G as a laptop and i'm looking to sell that. Also i've got my eyes on a really nice monitor with a resolution that can only be driven thru DVI or DisplayPort, and i ain't got any of that on my laptops... For desktop type stuff, why not build a desktop instead?

Also, there's one game that'll be coming out that i really want to play, and the alpha version that's out so far runs like crap on the Acer. It's Carmageddon: Reincarnation. I pre-ordered it last year.

[JuniperSprouts]

Re: Won 8GB DDR3 on ebay for a good price.

Nice buy! I'd offer a CPU if I had what you were looking for.

[chozo4]

Re: Won 8GB DDR3 on ebay for a good price.

I thought about an AM3+ system first as i still have my HD3870 graphics card, but i wouldn't go back to a 95W or 125W CPU, especially since i'm planning to overclock a bit and i'll be going mATX on this build.

Very nice find on that stick! Hopefully for a Kingston stick of ram it's overclockable enough. Makes me wonder what the lowest voltage to tightest timings ratio is with it.

As for overclocking with a 95w/125w chip and MicroATX - I can feel the pain when it comes to finding anything half decent anymore for the AM3 lineup. The mATX pickings are slim and pretty crud nowadays on the AMD side of things. Only 2 boards that seem to be have anything good enough for VRM's were ASRock's 890GM Pro3 R2.0 and Gigabyte's 880gma-usb2 each capable of 140watts and 850 southbridge and both are hard enough to find anymore.

[Th3_uN1Qu3]

Re: Won 8GB DDR3 on ebay for a good price.

I've always gone for the cheapest RAM i could find. And it's always worked out good.

I bought Corsair once when one of my cheapo DDR2 800 PQI modules failed after 2 years of running 1000MHz with 2.2v, and the new one i bought to replace it would not work when all 4 were installed. So i sold them off as kits of 2GB and 4GB respectively, and ordered two kits of 4GB Corsair Dominator.

All 4 Corsair DDR2 1066 modules that i bought came DOA and i had to return them. The replacement ones ran fine until this year when i sold them, but still, that taught me a lesson: a price premium and fancy heatspreaders does not = good RAM. In fact, under the heatspreaders (which aren't even glued on properly on most "performance" RAM, they're just for show), you're likely to find the same chips as on "value" RAM, just the SPD timing data they present to the motherboard is different, and they demand higher voltages to run stable.

Take value RAM, overclock it to the same level, and they will work at exactly the same settings with the same voltages. And you can always buy heatspreaders separately if you feel you need them.

It's just like pre-overclocked video cards - you can always do it yourself and save the money.

[c_hegge]

Re: Won 8GB DDR3 on ebay for a good price.

^
I've had similar luck with Corsair. Just about every module we bought at work a couple of years ago would cause stability problems straight out of the box. I use mostly Kingston RAM in new PCs these days.

[momaka]

Re: Won 8GB DDR3 on ebay for a good price.

Good score, but I hope it works fine. Cheap RAM can be finicky sometimes. Most I've ever had problems with was Buffalo RAM, but I'm sure there are many others. Do a full memtest when you get it.

I think the best RAM deals on eBay are on used RAM lots. But you have to be on the lookout for those on a regular basis, and that takes time.

I myself prefer the bog-standard OEM pulls from HP, Dell, and other major-brand PCs, because those usually have Samsung, Nanya, Micron Technology, and Infineon chips.

[Th3_uN1Qu3]

Re: Won 8GB DDR3 on ebay for a good price.

It's Kingston, it should work good. I hope to have the board and CPU too by the time it gets here.

[momaka]

Re: Won 8GB DDR3 on ebay for a good price.

It's supposed to be Kingston, it should work good.

Fixed that for you.
Again, I don't mean to be that negative, but whenever I see anything described as new and "genuine" comming from HK or China, I am a bit weary. You may very well get RAM with Kingston chips, but it still doesn't mean it is genuine-built RAM stick by Kingston.

Do me a favor. When you get the RAM (and hopefully you do get your mobo and CPU before then), pull up CPU-Z and check what you get under the SPD tab. If you don't see a proper part #, serial #, and a meaningful manufacturing date, but if the chips on the RAM stick are actual units made by Kingston, it was probably made from factory reject chips from Kingston (or recycled ones, if you are lucky).

I see this stuff on eBay all of the time. Most of the time, these modules have absolutely no problem and do work just fine like the genuine RAM brands. But don't hesitate to do a Memtest as soon as you get it and definitely don't rush to leave positive feedback for the seller just yet. And if it fails memtest or you get any weird problems with the PC that seem even remotely related to RAM issues, just return it, ask for refund/exchange/etc. and leave neutral feedback or less than 5-star rating.

I am by no means saying to absolutely fear and never use no-name RAM stick or questionable ones, though. (Heh, if I did say that, then I'd be the biggest hypocrite, as my pile of junk PCs is a monument full of questionable RAM sticks .) But I did have a few modules start to act up after a few years of use. I never bothered to do a full memtest, but I'd get random game crashes. The craches disappeared when I switched to a RAM stick of the same size, speed, and density, so it was definitely the questionable RAM module that I had that did it.

[diif]

Re: Won 8GB DDR3 on ebay for a good price.

The sticks might have a Kingston sticker, but they don't make RAM chips so you won't see their name on them. Don't worry, just run Memtest86.
If you want a guarantee your memory will work with a particular board, buy Crucial.

[momaka]

Re: Won 8GB DDR3 on ebay for a good price.

The sticks might have a Kingston sticker, but they don't make RAM chips so you won't see their name on them.

Oh yeah, this is DDR3... In that case, the chips will probably be Elpida, Nanya, or some other major brand. But nonetheless, you should still get meaningful mfg dates, serial and part #s.