Corsair vs. OCZ

[Gigi]

From what I have read, both are excellent brands but OCZ is priced a bit more competitively and is a Canadian company based in Markham which makes RMAs very convenient. However, there have also been reports of bootup problems with OCZ. Am I missing anything?

These are the sticks I've been looking at:

Corsair http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=11180BD5443
OCZ http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=13220BD7505

OCZ sure is beautiful though! :D

[duckdown]

Long time OCZ user here, and its pretty much all I buy.. As you said, the RMA process is awesome and super-fast, and they come backed with a great lifetime warranty.. My reccomendation is definitely OCZ :)

[cjpark]

Long time OCZ user here, and its pretty much all I buy.. As you said, the RMA process is awesome and super-fast, and they come backed with a great lifetime warranty.. My reccomendation is definitely OCZ :)

+1

Definitely OCZ

[hightech]

I've used both OCZ and Corsair and find that Corsair memory is more compatible with the motherboards then OCZ. The RMA process is not an issue for me because Corsair does have a Mississauga office for RMA when I did call them to ask about it (never needed it).

I'd prefer Corsair since I have one less issue to worry about when building systems - incompatible memory and the hassles of exchanges with stores/suppliers, etc.

[Tofu Drift Shinji]

Although I am running Corsair memory in my rig, between the two links you have there, I would go with the OCZ.

IMO, they're great brands, both of them.

[importpsycho]

if it's corsair vs OCZ in general, i would say it's pretty much equal
but if it's Value Select PC2-5300 vs XTC PC2-6400, then XTC PC2-6400 hands down

[board123]

if it's corsair vs OCZ in general, i would say it's pretty much equal
but if it's Value Select PC2-5300 vs XTC PC2-6400, then XTC PC2-6400 hands down
What he said.

[Gigi]

Thanks guys, for your opinions. Which Corsair would be the equivalent to the OCZ I posted in the first post?

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=13220BD7505

(I only linked that particular Corsair because it was recommended by a friend. I am a total n00b in computer parts.)

[rilles]

I'm not to sure about OCZ quality - but their RMA process is one of the best. I purchased some OCZ years ago (no Canada office at that time), when a stick went bad they shipped the replacement before I had to send the defective stick back.

Recent motherboards with DDR2 (Asus) seem to be picky about the voltage of the memory of which OCZ (at least as of a few months ago) was too high for many boards.

I have the corsair PC2-5300 DDR2-667 memory in my Asus P5B and have no problems with it, seems to over-clock well to.

[aZnDeViLbOi]

they had a dual OcZ 219.99 after MIR but u missed it... and i pick OCZ since its pretty good and it doesn't screw up... used it for like 4 years now

[rabbit]

Recent motherboards with DDR2 (Asus) seem to be picky about the voltage of the memory of which OCZ (at least as of a few months ago) was too high for many boards.

I have the corsair PC2-5300 DDR2-667 memory in my Asus P5B and have no problems with it, seems to over-clock well to.


I think it was only the 6400/800 OCZs that Asus boards had problems with.

[smuncky]

Recent motherboards with DDR2 (Asus) seem to be picky about the voltage of the memory of which OCZ (at least as of a few months ago) was too high for many boards.

I have the corsair PC2-5300 DDR2-667 memory in my Asus P5B and have no problems with it, seems to over-clock well to.


I think it was only the 6400/800 OCZs that Asus boards had problems with.

didnt they fix that with new bios versions on their mobos?

[aZnDeViLbOi]

didnt they fix that with new bios versions on their mobos?

yea... i think they did... ur first deal addict post!

[Gigi]

So what everyone is saying is that I no longer have to worry about the OCZ problems with booting up, etc.?

[Jon Lai]

So what everyone is saying is that I no longer have to worry about the OCZ problems with booting up, etc.?

Only problems they ever had was compatibility issues with certain motherboards. As long as you do research, you should be fine. In case you're wondering, post the motherboard model and we'll tell you if OCZ can't run on it.

With the ASUS boards, however, I'ver heard that sometime ago ASUS released a new BIOS to fix that, can someone confirm?

[evanx]

I have the Asus P5B vanilla and it booted up fine with OCZ DDR2 800 Platinum sticks with 02XX bios. Always update to the latest BIOS though, as it helps with compatibility.

[Gigi]

Only problems they ever had was compatibility issues with certain motherboards. As long as you do research, you should be fine. In case you're wondering, post the motherboard model and we'll tell you if OCZ can't run on it.

With the ASUS boards, however, I'ver heard that sometime ago ASUS released a new BIOS to fix that, can someone confirm?

I'm thinking of the Asus P5B-E.

[jeffyjaixx]

So what everyone is saying is that I no longer have to worry about the OCZ problems with booting up, etc.?

Some motherboards have 1.8Vdimm voltage as default and some of these OCZ sticks need ~2.0Vdimm and this is the reason why some people cannot boot.

They need to buy or borrow some ~1.8Vdimm ram and then change it in bios.

I know because I've had this problem with a Gigabyte S3 mobo.

[galanz]

I've been using OCZ for a couple years now and have been very happy with their products. I haven't had any problems with their RAM. I personally have some in my DFI Lanparty, and have upgraded a bunch of PC's at work(HP and Dell business class desktops) with OCZ as well.

I've only tried Corsair once and it worked well for me as well, so I don't think you can go wrong with either brands.

The main reason I've been using OCZ more lately is the great support they provide. They have representatives on a bunch of forums such as the DFI forum.

[board123]

Some motherboards have 1.8Vdimm voltage as default and some of these OCZ sticks need ~2.0Vdimm and this is the reason why some people cannot boot.

They need to buy or borrow some ~1.8Vdimm ram and then change it in bios.

I know because I've had this problem with a Gigabyte S3 mobo.
Couldn't you just boot up with one stick, change the voltage and then put the second stick in?

Anyway, my memory is rated at 2.1v but I booted fine at 1.8v using both sticks.

[mau108]

both are awesome, but i'm going to side with corsair on compatibility. I picked up a dual channel ocz and it was incompatible with my old asus p5n32 sli se deluxe mobo, lucky for me canada computers took it back (a holes literally took a magnifying glass to the stick to make sure there were no knicks on it, what a bunch of asses) but i did trade it in for a corsair xms2 stick and soo far loving it. Pc2 8500 roxorz, 1066mhz ;)

[Minimal Effort]

Ajajaja. Forgot about Mushkin?

Ur 1066 is probably @ 5-5-5-15

According to X-Bit, Mushkin 996523 XP2-6400 DDR2 went to an insane 989MHz @ 4-4-4-12 and even more insane 1138MHz @ 5-5-5-15...

2GB for under 300.

[xwar]

if it's between the two that you provided links for .. go with the OCZ ones, I have those and they have been stable for me.

[jeffyjaixx]

Couldn't you just boot up with one stick, change the voltage and then put the second stick in?

Anyway, my memory is rated at 2.1v but I booted fine at 1.8v using both sticks.

You could do that.

It's pretty YMMV, because I tried with one stick and sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't.

[proj]

OCZ all the way :D

[Gigi]

For those familiar with Corsair, what would be the equivalent to OZN's OCZ2G8002GK (http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=13220BD7505)? Would it be XMS2 TWIN2X2048-6400 (http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=11180BD3839)? I really want to go with OCZ but am afraid of the hassle with the voltages...

[silentio]

You pay well over 300 for Corsair that boots up at 1.8volts. Of their whole line, I remember only 1 of their ram kits does 1.8 volts, the rest require 2.0 or higher, just like OCZ.

Why not OCZ Platnum? It's same price right?

[zerocool24]

I have the ocz gold kit, it is pretty good, I didnt have problems booting, but it wasnt very stable at first on my m2n sli, after flashing the bios it worked perfectly.

[lincoln]

Long time OCZ user here, and its pretty much all I buy.. As you said, the RMA process is awesome and super-fast, and they come backed with a great lifetime warranty.. My reccomendation is definitely OCZ :)

I think you might be able to buy this OCZ 800mhz ram for the $250 and it will automatically downclock to 667mhz.... correct me if I'm wrong though. That way you can upgrade ur mobo and keep the same ram.

Same price, faster Ram.... link (http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=13220BD3804&vpn=OCZ2P800R22GK&manufacture=OCZ)

[Gigi]

I think you might be able to buy this OCZ 800mhz ram for the $250 and it will automatically downclock to 667mhz.... correct me if I'm wrong though. That way you can upgrade ur mobo and keep the same ram.

Same price, faster Ram.... link (http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=13220BD3804&vpn=OCZ2P800R22GK&manufacture=OCZ)

So when you say it will automatically downclock to 667MHz, does that mean I won't have any of the voltage problem? That is, I can use these sticks right out of the box with the Asus P5B-E?

[lincoln]

So when you say it will automatically downclock to 667MHz, does that mean I won't have any of the voltage problem? That is, I can use these sticks right out of the box with the Asus P5B-E?

Just run a search in google for the OCZ platinum rev. 2 and see if it drops down to 667mhz if put on a slower mobo.

I know a lot of ram drops down slower than what it has the potential to run at..... having said that though, they only drop down so far and some doesn't at all.... so run a search first, but it makes sense to get the faster ram for the same price :P

I hope that helps you out. Let us know what you find out.