Are you looking for the best RAM brand? Are you looking to upgrade your computers memory? If you are, its important to know that there are many RAM brands out there, and just like any other field, there are RAM brands to avoid. In fact, some manufactures of otherwise great electronics makes some pretty shabby RAM, so even going with a popular brand name is not safe. In this article, we will review the top RAM brands to avoid and we will also go over some great picks for upgrades and new builds.
The top RAM Brand to avoid is Crucial. Their Ballistix RGB series is known to have low performance in XMP configurations and some of the worst customer service in the industry. You have to spend a lot of time tuning these modules to get the most out of it as they are lackluster in their stock configuration. Also, these modules are known to have compatibility issues with motherboards from MSI. Also, there are no RGB controls, which is a huge let-down.
There are plenty of guides on the best RAM brands, but you will hardly find any guide on the worst ram brands to avoid, so we have compiled this list for you.
Worst Ram Brands To Avoid
We have constructed a list based on RAM performance, speed, longevity, and of course, price. Also, we scoured customer reviews on the most best and worst RAM brands mentioned below, and took that information into considering when making this list.
1: Crucial – Ballistix RGB
Image Credit: [Crucial]
- Low performance with XMP
- Awful customer services
- Takes a lot of effort to get the most out of
- Not compatible with motherboards from MSI
- Lacks RGB controls
2: Patriot Viper, & Signature
Image Credit: [Patriot]
- Lacking flexibility for tuning
- Dell compatibility issue with
- Known for label switching
- Known to crash in some games
- Lots of DOA (Dead on Arrival) reports
3: Kingston Hyperx Fury
Image Credit: [Kingston]
- Lacking adequate cooling
- Known compatibility issues with Dell XPS laptops
- Mislabeled
- DOA reports
5: Corsair Vengeance LPX
- Faulty RAM modules
- Terrible post-warranty period customer service
- No secondary DDR4 XMP
- DOA issues
- Speed is not as advertised
4: Samsung RAM
Image Credit : [Samsung]
Things to look out for and common issue reports:
- Compatibility Issues with MacBook PRO
- Fake dealers Known to sell knock off versions
- Sub-par durability
- Lots of DOA reports
So, if all these modules from top-end manufactures have good reasons to not buy them, are there any good ones? What is the best RAM brand?
Is G.Skill RAM Good?
Image Credit: [G.Skill]
- Speed: DDR4-3600MHz
- Timing: 18-22-22-42
- CAS Latency: 18
- Voltage: 1.35V
- High speed
- High capacity
- RGB kit
- Optimized for AMD Ryzen builds
G.Skill’s Trident Z RGB RAM is such a well-known hit that it has dominated many RAM guide for years now. The Trident Z Neo comes with vivid RGB lighting and is specifically optimized to run on AMD Ryzen builds. So, this is a great option for budget-minded and enthusiast consumers alike.
The Trident Z Neo offers you a lot of RAM for your dollar. With this kit you get 32GB of reliable, high-speed DDR4 memory for less than $200. So, that leaves an upgrade path to move to 32GB later.
G.Skill Trident Z Neo RAM comes in all kinds of speed configurations ranging from 2,600MHz to 3,800MHz. Each stick has 5 programmable RGB LEDs that can light up a PC build beautifully.
You can pick up this kit on Amazon today.
Another great RAM brand is Team. They are known to produce some outstanding modules at some of the best prices you can find.
Is Team a Good Ram Brand?
Image Credit: [Team]
- Speed: DDR4-3600MHz
- Timing: 14-15-15-35
- CAS latency: 14
- Voltage: 1.45v
- Built for AMD Ryzen
- Tastefully Subtle RGB
- Excellent Price
Recently there has been somewhat of a DRAM price crash due to DDR4’s increase in production maturity. That is really what makes a kit like this possible.
If you are planning on building an AMD Ryzen-based system then it is advantageous for you to get yourself some 3600Mhz RAM. This ensures that AMD’s Infinity Fabric clock is kept at a 1:1 ratio with your memory speed. This will provide the lowest possible latency you can get. So, a kit like the Team Xtreem is optimal for AMD Ryzen CPUs.
The RGB lighting on this kit is what you would refer to as ‘minimalist.’ Each DIMM features subtly-diffused RGB lighting that creates a soft glow effect almost that almost looks glow-in-the-dark.
So, if you want to get every little bit of performance that your CPU has to offer, then you are going to want to take a look at the T-Force Night Hawk RGB kit.
Is it Bad to Mix Different Brands of RAM?
No, it’s not. But you have to watch out for speeds and sizes. When running a matched pair of memory modules, your computer will access the RAM in what is called a dual channel configuration. This literally doubles the speed of your RAM. It used to be the case that RAM could only run in dual channel mode when the sizes and speeds are matched.
Things have, however, things have progressed to a point to where you can run modules with mismatched speeds, but the faster one will slow down to the speed of the slower one.
Also, if you run mismatched sizes these days, you will get dual channel memory speeds for the matched amounts of RAM and then any RAM left over will run at single channel speeds.
For example, if you have a computer that has 4GB of PC28800 RAM and you add a faster 2GB stick, the 2GB stick will slow down to the speed of the 4GB stick and that matched 4GB chunk of RAM will run at double the speed of the slowest stick.
While the 2GB of RAM in the 4GB stick that doesn’t have a 2GB counterpart (because the upgrade was not a 4GB module) will run at the single channel speed of the 4GB module.
Does the Brand Matter for RAM?
Not really. As you can see from the list above, otherwise great RAM manufacturers sometimes make unreliable product lines. So, it really comes down to each RAM module and the details regarding what RAM chips it uses.
Remember, the chips used in all RAM sticks are made by one of three companies. Micron, Samsung, and Hynix are the only global suppliers of RAM chips. However, the one aspect that genuinely separates all of these brands is their services and customer support. The quality of the PCB (Printed Circuit Board) used to make the RAM sticks is also a factor.
Is More RAM or Faster RAM Better?
That really depends on your use-case and the type of system you have. If you have a video card, that means it has its own really fast video RAM. The RAM found in a video card is much, much faster than system memory.
This is because you need a high bandwidth for all those textures, pixels, colors, etc. So, if you have integrated video because you are using one of AMD’s APU’s with Vega graphics, then faster RAM will make a massive impact in your gaming performance.
This is because when you have integrated graphics, some of your system memory is allocated as graphics memory. So in those cases, its important to make sure you have the fastest possible RAM that your system supports and it should always be run in a full dual channel configuration.
Conclusion
There are not a lot of articles out there that go over the top RAM brands to avoid, so we took the time to make this one for you. The brands mentioned here are not all-out bad, but they definitely have some modules that I wouldn’t recommend. There are, however, brands like G.Skill and Team that make excellent, top-quality RAM with relatively few issues to deal with.
We know it can be really difficult to make the right purchase when there are so many options out there. So, we hope reading this article made the buying decision a little easier for you.