My Memory Is Going......

OK; not really that memory. Actually my computer memory (although, that other memory isn't all that great either these days). Let's back up and let me explain the situation.

As you're probably aware, I've been in the process of upgrading my computers. When I upgrade, I typically do it in the Intel style.....Tic Toc, Tic Toc. For those unfamiliar with that. Intel's famous Tic Toc process goes like this. The upgrades alternate between major changes with relatively minor ones. This current upgrade is a major one. There are a variety of items involved in moving platforms. Some are minor, and some are major. Among other things, a big change is a move in types of memory. In this case, a move from DDR2 to DDR3. I was partially there already with some machines, but this pretty much moves all our front-line machines to that type of memory. In the space of the last few months, I've bought a lot of it. These days, when you buy a fair amount of RAM, it's almost inevitable that you'll get some bad "sticks".

Yup, one of my sticks of Patriot RAM that went into the In-Law machine is "FUBAR'd". OK, maybe not that bad, but it does give me BSODs when I try to use it. Of course, it being a "name-brand" product is warrantied, but it will have to go back to the manufacturer via RMA. In this case, it's not the end of the world, just a pain in the a**! I should have predicted, since it was a "matched" pair, they want me to send both back! The issue is that I don't have any extra memory of that spec laying around.

Where am I going with this? Well, it's an opportunity to discuss the issues associated with buying memory. I know I've covered this ground to some degree in the past, but this latest situation has refreshed the topic for me and reiterated certain points. First of all; like money, there's no such thing as too much RAM! Conversely, it's easy to not have enough. Back in the Windows XP days (R.I.P. 2002-2014), if you had 2Gb, you were "OK". Like most of the world, we'll skip Vista: so, moving on to Windows 7, all conversations begin at 4Gb. Why 4Gb? Well; the OS and the typical utilities such as Anti-Virus etc. is going to use up close to 2Gb. Given that most machine are able to use dual channel memory, it just makes sense to at least put in one in each of two sockets. So, that pretty much leaves us ready to work today if you have 4Gb in a machine. What's going to happen when you start that long-put-off project to archive the old family videos. start editing photos. Microsoft pushes out the next service pack? Are you a user of many, many tabs in your browser? My wife routinely has at least 6 open at any given time. This is why I recommend 8Gb for any regular-use machines.

If you aren't aware, memory has taken a upward spiral the last year or so. Right now, base-line price of a 2Gb pair of sticks run at least $40, and 4Gb pair $60. That's the lower end of the manufacturer spectrum. If you want to get into mid-line, it'll be a $15-20 jump, then another $20 or so, if you want something like, Crucial or Corsair. If you want high-end gaming stuff, it'll at least double that outlay. If I haven't been clear before, let me state categorically that I will only use mid-line or better that have life-time warranties. What you are paying for is the warranty and to some degree, extra testing by the manufacturer to be sure the sticks are up to the rated spec. Unfortunately, the fact is that testing is expensive, and it's cheaper to RMA memory that's bad. So yeah; you REALLY want to be sure you can at least get replacements if something goes wrong......kind of like my sticks of Patriot G2s.

Over the last few months, through patience and judicious selection, I've been able to pick up memory for some good prices (below market), so I can't complain. I do have one cautionary tale to tell, it's this. Enough isn't enough! No; I don't mean you need a lot of RAM in capacity, although that's good as well. I mean if you have several machines like me, it's a good idea to have spares. As this latest episode has pointed out, I'm now busy trying to find some temporary RAM while the bad stuff is being replaced.