Originally posted by: rasputinj
Office Max has a great deal on the
Kingston 256MB PC2100 DDR RAM Style # KVR-PC2100DDR/256
on sale for
$39.98 - $20 rebate exp 4/10=$19.98
free shipping with orders of $50 and higher
Well, I just purchased this at the B&M store, and it rang up at $39.99, with two $10 rebates printing out, one to Kingston, and one to OM. It was advertised in the weekly sales flyer as $69.99 - $30 IR - $10 MIR (store) - $10 MIR (mfg) = $19.99. (Plus sales tax + postage, obviously)
The interesting thing is, the sales flyer did not specify a speed, and the two rebates that printed out also do not mention a speed grade, only "Kingstong 256MB RAM Memory purchased at OfficeMax store, OfficeMax.com, or OfficeMax Direct only", although the address to send one of the rebates to (the mfg rebate, sent to FL), includes the "KVR-PC2100DDR/256" product code on the first line of the rebate address.
Is this rebate valid on the PC2700 Kingston ValueRAM as well? I asked at my local store, they said that these (the PC2100 KVR) were all that they had left. The display in the aisle had a picture marked as PC2700, but the security tickets were marked as PC2100. I was really hoping to get PC2700 memory, if possible, as my current XP2000+ system is running with a 166Mhz DDR FSB, and I already have a stick of PC2700 in there.
The other thing that kinda sketches me out, is that the actual chips on the DIMM, have had their original mfg brand/codes completely removed/etched-off of the chips. I've seen absolutely bottom-of-the-barrel grade RAM where this has been true, but NEVER, in a (supposedly quality) name-brand package before. I'm not really sure what's going on here, in terms of Kingston's mfg and suppliers. The Kingston label on the DIMM also says "Made in China", which is news to me as well.
I've purchased many Kingston (ValueRAM and non-ValueRAM) memory packages before, and I've NEVER seen the chip mfg etched out like this. It quite frankly makes me rather nervous.
The only markings on the chips that I can see, are "32Mx8 DDR - 7 - T".
PS. I just remembered something - someone mentioned that one of the reasons that memory prices were going up, was that supply was constricted, and that Micron had to destroy some-odd 10000 wafers worth of memory chips. Do you suppose... that possibly these chips came from that bad batch? Perhaps they weren't really destroyed, but "sold out the back door", kinda like SpecTek (Micron's second-tier brand). (Which I have heard of recieving, in Kingston ValueRAM packages before.) The alternative, also somewhat based on speculation, is that these are actually PC2700 chips, that failed validation testing at that speed, and also "sold out the back door", with their original mfg markings removed.
On one hand, this memory might work at PC2100 speeds, and maybe even PC2700, and with memory prices supposedly going up, getting 256MB DDR for $20 wouldn't be so bad. OTOH, I'm the type of person, that has insisted on things like ECC RAM for all of my system, up until I got my XP2000+ system with Via KT400 chipset, which doesn't even support it.
I'm wondering if I can truely trust my data to some super-generic bottom-of-the-barrel RAM. Even if Kingston does offer a replacement warrantee on the product, that doesn't help my potentially bit-rotted data. I dunno. Maybe I'm being overly concerned, or maybe I should just eBay the stick in a few months if prices go higher?
I'm curious what everyone else's results were, who purchased this, in terms of what chips that they were getting.
(Another thought that I had, was having another store pricematch OM's price + store rebate (CC maybe?), and just forgo the Kingston mfg rebate, IFF I could get a retail package with decent name-brand chips, and hopefully PC2700-rated ones.)
Comments?
Edit: Update - I returned the RAM back to OM, and went on a (nearly futile) search to get CC or BB to PM OM. (The thing was, I originally thought that the deal was for PC2700 RAM, because that's what my machine needs, and the original OM ad didn't specify a speed. I was too concerned that due to lack of name-brand chips, I would not be able to overclock the unknown PC2100 to PC2700, even though the PC2100 was CAS 2.5.) The only Kingston DDR 256MB packages that the first BB had (and the second), were PC2700. The first BB was about to do the pricematch, but the lady was going to match only the instant rebate, but apply the savings to BB's original price ($100 - $30 = $70, wtf??), instead of matching the out-the-door price of OM. (BB's normal price is $100.) When I questioned the lady, she then decided to check with the techs, as "Our prices are normally competitive. [HA! - me, to myself] Let me make sure that this is the same item." So someone looks it up on OM's website, and as it turns out, the SKU listed in the ad is only for the KVR PC2100. So she nixes the deal, although she even went with me to the memory aisle, to see if perhaps they had any PC2100 in stock. So the plus side of this trip was, I've actually gotten more help out of the CSRs at BB than I ever have before. The sad part of all of this was, the newer stock of PC2700 that they had, also had the generic etched-off chips, but they had two older packages, with Hynix RAM.
So, beaten but undaunted, I hit CC, to see if they would PM OM. Interestingly, they had their regular price of Kingston PC2700 256MB DDR, marked down from $100-odd to $59.99. But they too had no PC2100 in stock. I showed the CSR the add and told them that I wanted to pricematch. The guy asked me if they had any in stock, and I mentioned the store that I came from did. He couldn't find the ad dates in small print in the flyer, so he went to check OM's web site, and again, found that the SKU matched the PC2100 DDR, so nixed the pricematch deal.
(Which, I think is somewhat unfair, the ad doesn't state a speed. But what can you do. Btw, CC too, would not match any rebates, even store-specific ones.)
So I hit up yet another BB. This time, after first talking to the CSR at the return/CS desk, a black lady that when confronted with the ad from OM, and requesting to match the out-the-door-price, at 110%, informed that that only applied if I had previously purchased the item already at BB. [True that, I guess.] And then, she further said that she couldn't possibly match the price, since that would mean taking $60 off of a $100 item, and "it would be just too much." (So much for employee training about company policies.) I persisted, and she called a manager down. Eventually he showed up, and then re-interated that BB doesn't PM rebates, after I asked him, but did say that they would match the out-the-door price of OM. (Now, all of the packages at this BB were unmarked generic RAM too, but at least it was out-of-the-box specced at PC2700. ) He briefly hesitated, concerned that the great price difference might indicate a difference between the items, but luckily for me, he didn't check their website. (This BB too, did not carry any Kingston 256MB DDR PC2100 memory.)
So after several hours, I finally have a package of RAM that is specced for PC2700, although unmarked, and without any sort of rebate. I guess I must be nuts, or at least damn stubborn. :|
The sad thing is, BB had PNY RAM on sale, with a rebate, 256MB PC2700 for $50 - $20 PNY MIR = $30, and 512MB PC2700 for $80 - $30 PNY MIR = $50. The 256MB packages had Samsung chips (good, I guess), and the 512MB packages had SpecTek (-6A). I'm not a huge fan of SpecTek, otherwise I probably would have gone for the 512MB. The Samsungs were very temping, and what I was going to get after returning the initial PC2100 256MB back to OM, except I guess something changed my mind.
But the good thing is, NO DAMN REBATES, and I have PC2700 RAM.
Was the wasted 4 hours worth it, driving around? Hell no. Next time I'll order it over the net, and have it sent to me instead.
I'm praying that I'll be able to do an even exchange for the Hynix chips tomorrow, and that they will end up overclocking mightily. Let's hope.
PS. Why does Kingston print "not dual-channel compatible" on all of their single lower-speed memory sticks? Is there anything technically different about "dual-channel compatible" RAM? (AFAIK, there is nothing different electrically about the DIMMs themselves...??), or is it just a marketing gimmick, designed to entice buyers into purchasing more expensive speed grades and DIMM bundle-packs, due to the increasing popularity of dual-channel memory array designs on newer motherboards?
PPS. The markings on all of the generic Kingston PC2700, are "32Mx8 DDR", with no speed grade markings appended. Though the label on the DIMM doesn't show it, the bottom of the box also shows CL2.5.
That's all for now.
Edit: Oh no, the saga continues.
Apparently CC now has Kingston DDR PC2700 256MB for $30 AR, and a 512MB kit (2 x 256MB) of PC3200, for $69.99 AR. Time to return the RAM to BB, and try to pick up a PC3200 kit at CC.
The crazy thing is, I've been reading up on the DramXchange web site, PC2700 256MB DDR generic sticks are going for like $40+ on the spot market. Yet, you can buy them at retail right now for less than their wholesale cost? Something very wierd is going on here, probably something that we don't know. (DDR2 is coming sooner than we think?)
Edit: Just got back from the store, got the 2 x 256MB PC3200 Kingston ValueRAM "dual-channel" kit, $92.99 + tax. Chips aren't totally generic, although the mfg logo is "Kingston", right on the chips. But they do have a line of additional codes too. "D3208DL3T-5A 0402PT02". Do those match any known chip mfg's codes? I'm curious who actually made these chips. The box shows CAS 3 and shelf label showed 3-3-3 for timings (@200Mhz, obviously). Now I'm wondering how to test these, alongside my single PC2700 stick, in my KT400 + XP2000 mobo. Not sure if I should try OCing the PC2700 (and set to CAS 3 alongside the Kingston, and run mem @ 200Mhz, CPU FSB @ 166Mhz, or just run all three @ 166Mhz, and see if the Kingston will take CAS 2.5 at that speed. Another thing that makes me wonder, all of the generic Kingston PC2700 sticks that I've looked at thus far (recent mfg), have been marked 2.5v. This pair of PC3200 is marked 2.6v. Time to download the most recent memtest86.