Have you ever had to build a PC on your own without having too much experience or knowing too many technical details when choosing components? We get you. Most beginners choose their components based on the brand they’re made from. That’s okay and we don’t blame you, at least if you’re choosing from a reputable and reliable brand with great offers and customer trust.
But, how do you know what brand is reputable, especially when a component such as RAM is in the play? RAM cards can last a whole lifetime of PC, and even longer. All the reputable brands offer at least 10 years of warranty, and some simply state that it’s a lifetime warranty. If you choose the right model, you can easily move it to your next-gen PC, but choosing the right model can be tricky.
RAM is the most durable component in computers. An SSD or a hard drive can die within years of use but RAM can live much longer. RAM failure occurs rarely and its death is either caused by some electrical issue or poor manufacturing process that led to it arriving dead on spot.
Even though RAM is durable and has great longevity, there are exceptions. Some brands use this advantage of longevity of RAM cards to apply poor manufacturing practices and cheap materials thinking that they can get the same result without tricking customers. Such brands should be avoided at all costs, but the trickiest bit is discovering them.
In this article, we’ll educate you on all things you should know when distinguishing between a reputable and a bad RAM manufacturer and brand. We’ll teach you what features, values, and bits and pieces you should focus on and give you the 5 worst RAM brands to avoid.
We’ll give you a list of properties to focus on when choosing the RAM brand you can trust and answer most commonly asked when it comes to buying RAM. That being said, sit tight with us and absorb the knowledge about RAM brands to avoid.
Things That RAM Brands to Avoid Have in Common
Because of its longevity, long warranties, and durability a bad RAM brand can be difficult to discover. That’s why we’ll show you what things to read about and focus on when choosing the RAM brands you should avoid.
Reputation
Reputation is not just what ad-influenced media talks about some brand and product. The most organically-visible reputation can be seen through review and rating websites where consumers leave their views of products, with use cases and videos. Further on, forums like Quora, Reddit, and others are quite helpful in choosing the best or worst RAM brand.
Further on, it’s worth mentioning that blogs that are not influenced, as well as small creators on YouTube, leave unbiased commentary about certain products. That being said, you should always go to small content creators, bloggers, YouTubers, Twitch or Facebook streamers, and those who have had experience building their PCs before, using compatible components and reliable brands.
Warranty
Like we said before, RAM is supposed to last for a long time, to the point that you can likely add the same RAM to a new computer. One good thing about RAM cards is that they are supposed to be manufactured to be so durable that when you’re shopping for a new PC you can buy already used RAM parts because the chances that they are damaged are minimal.
With that in mind, it’s impossible to find RAM that won’t come with at least 10 years warranty, which is more than enough to abuse it with intense applications, multitasking, and gaming on your PC or laptop. Companies that offer less than 10 years of warranty for their RAM should be avoided.
Another thing that is important when it comes to warranties is that the warranty is relatively easy to claim. Most companies have a clear warranty policy where if RAM comes damaged or can’t set the right XMP settings, in addition, voltage problems should be replaced.
If the warranty is hard to claim and the company is not cooperative, this brand should be avoided.
Return Policy
Of course, another thing to consider next to the warranty is the return policy. If the product comes defected and consumer is disappointed to the point they don’t want to shop from the same vendor anymore, they should have the right to return the product in 30 to 45 days and get their money back.
Additionally, with some pricier models that offer a larger frequency range, clock speeds, and better performance in general, the manufacturer should offer a longer return policy or a trial period, although, with RAM, it’s pretty simple – it either works or it doesn’t.
Customer Service
The quality of warranty and return policy also depends on the customer service that the company offers to its consumers. Consumers can easily get curious and decide to inspect certain features that some company offers and want to contact customer service to learn more.
There are a lot of technical features to consider when shopping for RAM, which is why the customer support staff needs to be knowledgeable and patient with potential customers and understand the issue or problem they are trying to solve.
Additionally, customer service needs to be cooperative if the user already knows what the issue is and they want to get RAM swapped or returned, and not shut them down and make claiming warranty difficult.
Fishy or No Website
There are a lot of “companies” or “brands” that import RAMs from different independent makers that use cheap, gimmicky, and potentially harmful materials to make RAM. This is not only from a technological aspect but also from the electronic one.
If RAM is made out of unreliable and poor electronic materials and components there’s a risk of shortening out, making a short circuit that can damage your other components. A brand needs to provide transparency and through an easy-to-navigate website and detailed product labels and explanations.
If the brand only exists within some shopping websites like Amazon, Walmart, and Newegg, chances are that it’s not so reliable.
Ridiculously Low Price
RAM goes through different price stages, depending on the clock speed it boasts. Sometimes, it can be crazy cheap or crazy expensive. Although there are periods where RAM can get extremely inexpensive, there are also crazy crazy instances of its price, which should be avoided.
These days, RAM is more expensive than affordable, but ridiculously high prices for 2400MHz to 3200MHz should be ignored and avoided.
5 Worst RAM Brands to Avoid: Detailed Reviews
Now that we highlighted all the features that the bad RAM brand has, let’s see which brands are there and why they ended up on our list.
Disclaimer: This list is purely informational and doesn’t represent the opinion of an individual. It’s based on customer reviews, benchmark reviews, and overall performance on different machines. This article doesn’t aim to defame any brand or company and doesn’t discourage consumers to use these gadgets if they’re aware of the drawbacks and potential risks.
Samsung OEM
- Why avoid it: A lot of problems with premature failure and poor warranty management.
- Warranty: 1-year
- Customer support: Could be better
Samsung is a class, world-leading tech giant and manufacturer. When it comes to their products, we don’t know what is better, whether it’s the TVs, phones or monitors or some other products. However, even though most of their RAM models are doing a great job, this particular OEM module comes flawed in many ways.
It comes with 32GB DDR4 2666MHz clock speed and is suited for laptop computers, as most of the Samsung RAM modules are. However, many customers complained about this model coming dead on arrival or dying after just a few months of use, which is unexpected of Samsung as a company and compared to other models.
Moreover, a lot of people had problems contacting customer service regarding these issues and had to give up returning or swapping it for replacement. Moreover, while most of Samsung’s RAM modules come with a lifetime warranty, this model is available for warranted service only for a year, for unknown reasons. Many customer reports refer to this problem when they talk about this model.
GeiL
- Why avoid it: Impractical heat spreader, compatibility problem, and short lifespan
- Warranty: Lifetime warranty
- Customer support: Okay
GeiL is a RAM brand you probably didn’t hear about before, and you probably shouldn’t. This RAM may appear attractive to someone inexperienced with computers, but most people who used it found its heat-spreader ugly and ineffective at distributing heat that comes from RAM functioning.
While it may operate decently for a few years, it has a relatively short lifespan and usually starts to manifest malfunctions at 3 to 4 years of operation. Luckily, unlike is the case with many other RAM manufacturers, this company has decent customer service that will help with claiming a warranty.
Some people also experienced the inability to clock the RAM at 4000MHz even with XMP, with RAM fixing itself at 2666MHz or 3200MHz clock speed. It’s also worth mentioning that the RAM may be too big for some motherboards so it’s not recommended to use it with laptops.
Also, we advise you to shop from Amazon or some other online store that distributes this brand, as the website is outdated and unreliable.
Astra Gear for iMac and MacBook Pro
- Why avoid it: Installation problems and compatibility issues
- Warranty: Lifetime warranty
- Customer support: Could be better
When purchasing a MacBook or iMac many people don’t think that they’d need to replace RAM after some time. Not many companies make RAM specifically for Apple’s computers which is why finding a brand such as Astra Gear can be refreshing.
However, being a new company Astra Gear still has a lot to work on before it gets on the top of the industry. Using in-home labs, Astra Gear delivers great performance, but sometimes there can be compatibility issues with installing the RAM on the computer, causing the iMac not to start. Some users reported that the device doesn’t recognize the whole kit and detects only half the amount of RAM on the PC.
Other users reported that the sticks are designed in a way that is extremely hard to fit and one needs to use brute force to get the stick to fit in. That can be troublesome as too much brute force could damage the sockets where the RAM fits in, especially if the person is inexperienced and is doing this for the first time.
The customer service is generally-okay but is slow with replies and difficult to contact.
Patriot
- Why avoid it: Compatibility issues with certain branded laptops. Faulty after a matter of months.
- Warranty: Lifetime warranty
- Customer support: Bad
Being a US-based brand, a lot is expected from Patriot. Generally speaking, it’s a good brand that works wonders on light machines that don’t require a lot of multitasking and aren’t built for gaming, graphically-intense work, or multitasking.
That being said if you want this RAM to run a powerhouse PC maybe you should avoid this brand.
Many people report compatibility issues with DELL and HP laptops and difficulties adjusting the clock speed and tuning manually. Additionally, some people reported that the RAM either dies after a few months or comes faulty on arrival.
The customer service is slow to reply on the matter and it takes a lot of negotiation and explanations before they’ll let you claim your warranty.
Crucial Ballistic RGB
- Why avoid it: Dead on arrival, compatibility issues, and complex XMP settings
- Warranty: Lifetime warranty
- Customer support: Unresponsive
Crucial is one of the most well-established brands on the market of RAMs and has a proven experience making excellent performance sticks for gaming laptops and desktops. However, its Ballistic RGB option has poor XMP performance, although it’s praised for great overall performance. It’s said to be compatible with MSI Mystic Light motherboard, but it generally faces a lot of compatibility issues with MSI’s motherboard.
Even though it says to sport automatic overclocking with XMP 2.0, the overclocking process usually has to be done manually, and add poor XMP performance with that you’ll have to look for complex solutions. Its construction is sleek and modern thanks to the aluminum heat spreader, which just additionally saddens us that we are disappointed in the performance.
Occasionally, it happens that the RAM comes dead on arrival which disappointed a lot of customers. The customer service is slow with replies so customers have to go back and forth with claiming a warranty. Still, it’s more than possible to get it swapped if it dies. If you still trust Crucial as a brand, you should try other options they offer on the market.
Things to Consider When Shopping RAM from Reputable Brand
Reputable RAM and tech brands put certain features in front of other features, starting from reputation and reliability. Here’s what you should consider if you want to get RAM from a reliable brand.
- Reputation – The brand that is good is widely praised by customers, streamers, content creators, and other people who’ve tested and used RAM for a long time.
- Longevity and durability – RAM mostly comes with a lifetime warranty, which is why it should last for a long time. The usual lifespan is 8 to 10 years.
- Warranty – The RAM comes with a lifetime warranty.
- Customer service – Professional customer service that is educated on the matter of RAM sticks and has basic knowledge about compatible PC components in case the consumer is facing problems with building their PC.
- Minimal latency – Most companies prioritize speed and don’t consider latency. Latency in RAM should be minimal when multitasking and running intensive apps.
Frequently Asked Questions About RAM Brands
Questions that you may have about choosing RAM brands for your next PC build are answered below.
Why You Should Buy From Branded Manufacturer?
Most people say that RAM is just RAM. Most manufacturers offer a lifetime warranty and it’s the most reliable component. But, not all RAM stick makers use the same components, same chips, and more importantly not all electronics are sourced from the same place.
Poorly made components for RAM can lead to short circuits and damage to other components. That’s why it’s important to buy from a reputable brand.
Can You Mix Two Different RAM Brands?
Mostly yes. You should read about the type of RAM, whether it is DDR2, DDR3, or DDR4, as well as whether the clock speeds are compatible as well as XMP settings. You need to make sure that the two modules will stack and act as one when you plug them into the PC.
What is the Most Reliable RAM Brand?
In our humble opinion, that’s Corsair and Kingston HyperX. HyperX is more affordable, as well as Kingston, its parent company but it provides outstanding performance. We also love Crucial brand, although the aforementioned model underperformed. TeamGroup-T is also a good brand if you’re looking for cheaper brands.
Also Read: 5 Worst SSD Brands to Avoid: Ultimate Guide (2023 Version)
