[GTALUG] war story: buying RAM

[Lennart Sorensen]

On Tue, May 09, 2023 at 03:33:17PM -0400, D. Hugh Redelmeier via talk wrote:
> I bought a ThinkCentre M75s through ebay.ca
> It came with a single 8GiB stick of RAM.
> I wanted more!
> 
> DDR4 RAM is pretty cheap these days.
> 
> I bought 8GiB (to pair with the original stick) and 2 x 32GiB.  Lots!
> I got it from amazon.ca
> 
> - DDR 32000MHz, as per the "psref" documentation for the computer
> - DIMM, not SODIMM, since it is a desktop
> - fairly low latency
> 
> When I got it, I could install it in my machine but I could not reassemble 
> the machine.  I needed "low profile" DIMMs.  Not mentioned in the manual.

Strange.  Checking M75s (both SFF and Gen 2) on crucial.com doesn't
mention anything about needing low profile and their compatiblity list
is usually very accurate (often more accurate than the manual the system
came with).

> So I have initiated a return with Amazon.ca.  They would even come to 
> pick the 2 x 32GiB units up, but that's no use since they require me to 
> drop the 8GiB DIMM off at a Purolator establishment.
> 
> I have now tried to order low profile versions.
> 
> This time, Canada Computer was cheaper.  They offered free shipping for 
> the 32GiB x 2 but $10 for the 8GiB.  I asked if the 8GiB could piggyback 
> on the free shipping for the other DIMMs: no.  Shipping from 
> memoryexpress.com was more expensive.  NewEgg.ca didn't seem competitive.  
> So I'm not going to buy a mate for my 8GiB.
> 
> So this is what I bought for $159.99:
> <https://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=24_311_1326&item_id=195989>
> 
> I think I paid roughly the same for 64MiB of RAM for my first PC clone in 
> the mid 1990's.

I remember 4x32MB EDO Dimms were about $900 in early 1997.

-- 
Len Sorensen