Skip to Content

5 RAM Brands to Avoid [Plus Top Recommendations]

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.

RAM Brands to Avoid

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

ram brands to avoid- Crucial

Image Credit: [Crucial]

The Ballistix series RGB is ideal for gamers. These modules are aimed at the more challenging end of the market for performance gaming enthusiasts.Crucial’s Ballistix RGB series comes in various speed and size configurations ranging from DDR4-3600 to DDR3-4400 with 16GB (2x8GB) or 32GB (2x16GB). options. If you need really fast speeds, though, you may want to take a look at the company’s record-breaking DDR4-5100.But before you go buy this intriguing-looking RAM, there are some things you need to know.
  • 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

ram brands to avoid - Patriot

Image Credit: [Patriot]

Patriot is a RAM producer based in the United States. They generally make good quality RAM but it is considered to be little expensive compared to modules offered by its competitors.The best thing about Patriot is that they have great customer service and excellent warranties. The best Patriot RAM modules are found in its Viper Elite, Viper RGB, Signature, and Mac series. Many users, however, are reporting several issues while using Patriot RAM. So, these are some of the things you need to know about before making your purchase.
  • 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

ram brands to avoid - Kingston

Image Credit: [Kingston]

Kingston RAM is known to work well in all kinds of motherboards. 95 percent of the time, Kingston RAM is going to work just fine and have no compatibility issues. Also, the Kingston RAM is known to have a low failure-rate compared to other modules on the market. Even though Kingston RAM is so reliable, that has not stopped many users from facing several issues when using Kingston’s Hyperx Fury RAM.Things to look out for and common issue reports:
  • Lacking adequate cooling
  • Known compatibility issues with Dell XPS laptops
  • Mislabeled
  • DOA reports

5: Corsair Vengeance LPX

Corsair is a very well-known to manufacturer some of the most high-performance RAM you can get. The company makes high-quality RAM for daily use at affordable prices. They have some of the best customer support that you will find in any company. While at first glance the Corsair Vengeance LPX seems like a perfect solution, there are some things you need to know.
Things to look out for and common issue reports:
  • Faulty RAM modules
  • Terrible post-warranty period customer service
  • No secondary DDR4 XMP
  • DOA issues
  • Speed is not as advertised

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?

No description available.

Image Credit: [G.Skill]

Absolutely. G.Skill holds the number one spot on a lot of gaming RAM buying guides. G.Skill has a solid reputation for making some of the most durable RAM you can get. G,Skill uses high-quality 2oz copper PCBs and excellent cooling systems for its RAM modules. When buying G.Skill memory, you can really have confidence in the purchase.G.Skill Trident Z Neo 32GB DDR4-3600MHz
  • 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?

No description available.

Image Credit: [Team]

Yes. Team uses high-grade PCBs (Printed Circuit Boards) that are made out of quality materials. Like G.Skill, they also use only the highest grade memory modules provided by the chip manufacturers. Most of sites that do RAM reviews have a top near the top of their lists reserved for Team RAM.Team Xtreem ARGB 16GB DDR4-3600MHz C14
  • 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.