What is Kingston ValueRam

  • Thread starter Thread starter Paul \(Erie\)
  • Start date Start date
It just means it's the "budget" stuff, very little if any overclocking
ability, often runs at CAS 2.5 or CAS 3 (high-end stuff usually runs @ CAS
2, lower is better). Compare that to their HyperX high-performance line
( http://www.kingston.com/hyperx/default.asp ). Notice the HyperX line is
guaranteed CAS 2!, and desgined to support (indeed, tested for) dual-channel
motherboards.

HTH

Jim
 
Paul (Erie) said:
What is Kingston ValueRam, do they call all their ram Value....or what?



i'm sure you will be better off with kingston's value ram
than going with some 'generic'
 
What is Kingston ValueRam, do they call all their ram Value....or what?

I don't know if kingston contracts for memory module production or
just buys already-made modules on the spot-market (or both) but
Kingston modules aren't guaranteed to be "identical" even in the same
speed, part number. If you bought modules at the same time, vendor,
the odds are high that you'd get two of the same, identical module,
but otherwise there are a variety of PCBs and chips on Kingston
modules.

They're typically high-quality modules built with CAS3 qualified
chips, and tested. "On average" they'll overclock as high as any
other brand of same speed-grade CAS3 module. It's the name-brand
assurance of good memory you're paying a little more for over the
better generic brands, but as always, if you're willing to spend a
fair % more $ to squeeze that last 5-10% out of your system then you'd
be better off with their "Hyper-Z" series or another manufacturer's
high-end part. There's nothing wrong with the memory, it's
appropriately called "ValueRam". Does this guarantee that it'll work
with brand "X" model "Y" motherbaord? Nope, there's always an outside
chance a module will be incompatible, even in situations like
Crucial's "memory selector" on their website it's happened that
modules were incompatible.


Dave
 
What is Kingston ValueRam, do they call all their ram Value....or what?

In the past theyve been one of the more decent brands of mem. Ive
boguth them locally cause they were rebated alot with pre-DDR mem and
they were one of the more reliable memory companies compared to
generic.

Some people have posted that the DDR FREE after rebate deals with I
think various brands - Kingston , PNY etc havent been very good
quality but I dont have any experience with them yet since they tend
to sell out really really fast .
 
Paul \(Erie\) said:
What is Kingston ValueRam,

It's their slower memory but still has the lifetime warranty and
toll-free support that their costlier memory has.

Kingston memory used to always contain name brand chips when I bought
it, but a few months ago I received some 256MB PC2100 with unmarked
chips. However it worked fine, except when every BIOS setting was at
the fastest (no errors if any setting was just below the fastest). My
luck wasn't nearly as good with more recent Kingston memory of the
same model number, where all three samples showed errors with the same
ECS K7S5A 3.1 mobo (and a friend's identical one), regardless of BIOS
settings, unless I slowed the memory bus speed form 266 MHz to 200
MHz. The first (unmarked chips) gave dozens of errors with MemTest86
and GoldMemory. The second (Hynix chips) gave about five, as did the
third (unmarked chips). Kingston had no solution, except for
replacement.

The older memory was marked:

KVR-PC2100DDR/256 266X64C25/256 ASSY IN USA

The newer memory was marked:

KVR-PC2100DDR/256 PC2100DDR/256 ASSY IN CHINA

The circuit boards were completely identical with both sets.

Kingston said that these modules were slightly different, and
Kingston said that these modules were exactly the same.

I also bought some 256MB PC2100 CAS 2.5 K-byte memory, which always
seems to have unmarked or second-rate chips, like Spectec or Mystic.
The first one, with Spectec chips (Micron), failed MemTest86 after
several hours, but the others, with Mystic chips (Nanya), passed, even
with every BIOS setting at the fastest.
 
It just means it's the "budget" stuff, very little if any overclocking
ability, often runs at CAS 2.5 or CAS 3 (high-end stuff usually runs @ CAS
2, lower is better). Compare that to their HyperX high-performance line
( http://www.kingston.com/hyperx/default.asp ). Notice the HyperX line is
guaranteed CAS 2!, and desgined to support (indeed, tested for) dual-channel
motherboards.

HTH

Jim
I visit the link you provided and learn there is still more
variety within RAM chips of the same speed. But the site
didn't explain much on the difference. Do you or anyone
here know what the difference is? What do 'A', 'K2', and
'AK2' in their model names stand for?


KHX3200/512 512MB Buy Now!
KHX3200K2/512 (2 - 256MB) 512MB (Kit) Buy Now!
KHX3200A/512 512MB Buy Now!
KHX3200AK2/512 (2 - 256MB) 512MB (Kit) Buy Now!
 
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