AMD has officially lifted the lid on a new line of desktop RAM modules. But why should we buy AMD RAM over the competition.
There are in fact three lines of RAM, each to suit a particular need:
These RAM modules are supplied by Patriot Memory and VisionTek, so this is AMD-branded RAM as opposed to AMD RAM. The difference is subtle, but it’s important.
AMD is big on branding, and ever since acquiring ATI it’s worked on branding OEM systems featuring AMD CPUs and GPUs. Adding a RAM brand to this makes sense in that AMD can guarantee that the RAM will be happier when overclocked using AMD’s OverDrive software (although AMD’s warranty doesn’t cover damage caused by overlocking, even when using OverDrive). That said, the motherboard is just as critical as the RAM when it comes to overclocking (many times, more important), so even with AMD RAM, things might not plain sailing.
I don’t think that AMD is working hard to convince us to buy AMD RAM here. There’s no pricing, and no details on what the warranty coverage will be like on this RAM. It would also be nice if AMD covered overclocking damage done when using its OverDrive software (although truth be told, it’s not easy to fry your RAM).
Given how competitive the RAM market is, how razor-thin profits are, and how many big players there are already selling retail RAM, I’m a little surprised to see AMD doing this.
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