Shopping for Memory (RDRAM)

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

I'm upgrading my PC, and finding that RDRAM is very expensive. I don't want to replace my motherboard, so I'm just going to bite the bullet and buy the memory. I've found the following three online stores have the best prices on the memory I need, but I don't want to get ripped off or find that they are selling inferior chips.

Has anyone purchased memory from any of these online stores? Any others you can recommend?

Memory Giant
http://www.memorygiant.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.

Computer Memory Store
http://www.computer-memory-store.com/index.html

Memory Suppliers
http://memorysuppliers.com/

 

[Rackhir]

Memory Giant
http://www.memorygiant.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.

Computer Memory Store
http://www.computer-memory-store.com/index.html

Memory Suppliers
http://memorysuppliers.com/

I'm not specifically familiar with any of them, but www.pricewatch.com is always a good place to check prices.

www.newegg.com I've purchased a substantial amount of stuff from. They aren't necessarily the cheapest, but they are reliably among the cheapest.

You can get reviews on stores by going to www.epinions.com, searching for the item you want and then check to see if there are reviews of any of the stores.

 

[GlassJaw]

RDRAM died pretty quick. Intel was hoping it would overtake DDR/SDRAM and it never happened. Rambus was only made by one company and that didn't bode well in the marketplace.

Anyway, I have no idea how much it costs nowadays (you won't find any new computers that use it) so I don't recommend spending a lot of money on it. That money would be better spent towards a new system. Just one computer geek's opinion.

 

[Krieg]

Try:

http://www.pricewatch.com/

http://pricescan.com/

http://www.pricegrabber.com/

I'm sure you already know this but...remember that RDRAM has to be used in matching pairs and any unused memory slots have to be filled with CRIMMS (Continuity Modules).

 

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

Anyway, I have no idea how much it costs nowadays (you won't find any new computers that use it) so I don't recommend spending a lot of money on it. That money would be better spent towards a new system. Just one computer geek's opinion.

Yeah, I know. The problem is, being a computer geek myself, I just dropped a new hard drive, USB card, and some other upgrades into the system, and memory was next on my list. Having spent the time and money already, I'm not going to get another system yet. Putting an additional 512 into my system is going to run about $200. I can afford it, but it's more than I wanted to spend.

I'm sure you already know this but...remember that RDRAM has to be used in matching pairs and any unused memory slots have to be filled with CRIMMS (Continuity Modules).

Yep. That's part of why it costs so much...

 

[Krieg]

Yep. That's part of why it costs so much...

Not really, the cost is primarily due to it's relative scarcity when compared to DDR. If RDRAM had taken off and other companies had began manufacturing it in volume, then prices would be comparable.

Keep in mind that dual channel DDR is pretty common these days, so buying two sticks of it is even more likely than RDRAM.

 

[drothgery]

RDRAM died pretty quick. Intel was hoping it would overtake DDR/SDRAM and it never happened. Rambus was only made by one company and that didn't bode well in the marketplace.

Actually, the only big memory maker that didn't make RDRAM was Micron. No one (except for whoever supplies RDRAM for the PS2) ever made it truly large volumes, though.

 

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

Not really, the cost is primarily due to it's relative scarcity when compared to DDR. If RDRAM had taken off and other companies had began manufacturing it in volume, then prices would be comparable.

What I ment was that I can buy 2 sticks of 256 for $50 each of SDRAM or 2 sticks of 256 for $97 each of RDRAM. So it becomes even more expensive because I'm buying two sticks of RDRAM that each cost as much as I'd pay for two sticks of SDRAM. Twice the $ for the same amount of memory.

 

[talmar]

www.crucial.com

It's the only place I buy memory.

 

[drothgery]

www.crucial.com

It's the only place I buy memory.

While I follow that policy myself (since I didn't buy a P4 while the RDRAM-based machines were the only high-performance option), Crucial.com only sells Micron memory (Crucial is a Micron brand). Micron doesn't make RDRAM, so Crucial.com doesn't sell it.