March 1999 SDRAM Comparison

1 - Third Party PCB
2 - Samsung (SEC) Made PCB

Although the most stable RAM in the comparison goes to Enhanced Memory Systems for their PC133 HSDRAM (High performance SDRAM), the lack of general availability of their HSDRAM modules (which are the closest things to above a PC133 specification) forfeits the victory to another tie between Mushkin and Memman with their Samsung (SEC) Originals modules. It seems like once again, the PCB makes all the difference, where the SEC chips with the SEC PCB manages to come out on top in all cases over the SEC modules with the third party PCB.

Who should you buy from, Memman or Mushkin? They are both reliable vendors, however unless you're buying more than just SDRAM, go for whoever happens to be cheaper...guys, let the price wars begin. Don't settle for anything less than a Samsung Original module, remember, the entire module must be manufactured by Samsung in order for it to be a SEC original (PCB & chips).

Close runners up are Corsair with their SEC based modules, however the word is that Corsair will be dropping their SEC based line in favor of Micron based modules. Their motives are still in the dark, however AnandTech hopes to find out shortly how the Micron parts turn out in the comparison. It seems like an investment in the Memman or Mushkin SEC Originals now, will last you the longest time until the PC133 specification is finally complete.

The modules to stay away from are the Memman Mosel Vitalic if you plan on running at above 112MHz, the stress endurance tests run by AnandTech proved the Mosel Vitalic to be unworthy of any sort of overclocked state. What you must keep in mind for all of these modules is that at 100MHz, there is no telling them apart, and even at 112MHz there is no real way of discriminating among the various SDRAM modules, so if you don't plan on overclocking, then as long as you get a decent PC100 module you should be fine.

Corsair was the only company to supply AnandTech with registered 256MB DIMMs, and as AnandTech's tests showed, the use of 256MB DIMMs was quite erratic in most motherboards. Most systems experienced quite a few cases of registry errors/corruption when the 256MB modules were installed, so if you're planning on installing more than 256MB of RAM, either check with your motherboard manufacturer first or purchase smaller sized DIMMs.

But when it comes down to AnandTech's favorites, the Memman and Mushkin Samsung Originals are the number one pick. Find the lowest price either of them will offer you, and go for it. Don't you just love price wars? Here's where you, the consumer, finally benefit.