Corsair Vengeance Performance Memory Kit

I replaced the OEM RAM in my ASUS U32U-ES21 notebook PC (originally specced with 4 GB RAM) with Corsair's 8 GB ValueSelect RAM kit.Sure, I could have bought a single 4 GB SO-DIMM, but it wouldn't have saved me all that much money, and when possible I like to run matching memory modules in my machines.I also could have paid one and a half times as much for a different set touting itself as specifically-designed for ASUS' U-series and their ilk, but considering that I paid less than five hundred bucks for the U32U when it was new, Corsair's comfortably-priced ValueSelect option seemed worth a try.Corsair's packaging was clearly labeled and easy to open. I don't usually comment on packaging in product reviews, but it seems relevant here: the manufacturer's packaging for this upgrade kit is designed so you don't have to wave sharp objects around to extract your new memory modules, nor do you have to worry about getting label adhesive on your fingers and transferring it onto the precious cargo within.A little round sticker at the top of the box kept it closed; I just ripped that whole part of the box off and went to town. Inside, the memory modules were packaged in a little two-piece plastic shell that came apart easily with finger pressure while still keeping the modules contained until I was ready for them.The modules themselves are pretty much your standard DDR3 SO-DIMMs: green circuitboard, gold pins, bunch of black chips. They feel nice and rigid, with just enough flex to help get them in and out of their seats. They're definitely pretty durable (they certainly withstood the abuse they took during installation).I don't particularly love the giant sticker that covers the whole front side of each module, but it doesn't appear to impact performance in any way, so I'm not knocking off a star for that. Maybe if I could knock off a quarter of a star, I would, but that's mostly a matter of taste. For all I know, it might actually serve some purpose (maybe it's glued on with cooling paste, or something?).Installation was a pain in the neck, but that's not Corsair's fault -- it's a function of the way the clamps that hold the modules are arranged in my particular machine. Your installation experience will vary based on the design of your particular computer. If one or more of the modules is seated incorrectly, of course, the machine won't boot, leaving you to pop the cover back off and fiddle with it some more. Once the modules were properly seated (after much grumbling, dramatic sighing, and gnashing of teeth), my previously-wheezy old notebook booted right up.I expected a performance boost, but was actually really surprised by exactly how significant a boost I got.The U32U-ES21 was never intended to be a high-powered machine, but it's much, much quicker and more fun to use now. MS Office applications pop right up; Chrome runs like ... well, if not a cheetah, at very least a pretty fast pony; even a concurrent session of Photoshop, Pidgin, and a handful of Chrome windows flows along swimmingly.I guess I'll have to find a new window in my day for making a cup of tea; I no longer even remotely have time to do it while Photoshop launches. Meanwhile, Sims 2 and Sims 3 are significantly less slow, if not exactly blazing fast.In short, and perhaps rather obviously, dropping in 8 gigs of shiny new RAM won't turn your lazy old work mule of an notebook into a blazing gaming hoss. It can make you feel like you've got a whole new, much-peppier mule, at any rate -- and, in my case, I got a much peppier new mule than I was expecting, which is really quite nice.For about fifty bucks (at the time of purchase) with fast Prime shipping, I'm very happy with it.Full disclosure: one of my first "real" jobs was working in ASUS' tech support center; Corsair was one of the brands of RAM we routinely recommended for its reliability based on our experiences kludging together various motherboards and so forth that we got to build up in-house so we'd know what our callers were facing. That certainly influenced my purchasing decision. However, I have long since wandered away from the hardware-support world (though I do still do some tech-oriented work), and I paid Amazon's full price for this upgrade kit.

UPDATE 11-13-2010After the fantastic, good RAM I received from Corsair RMA Dept, I went ahead and ordered another 2 x 4GB RAM from Amazon.com and installed it into my laptop, and all is well! It is now running its full contingent of 16GB of Corsair 4GB SODIMMs (4 x 4GB SODIMMs), a full house such as it is, and it performs fantastic! It has passed each and every conceivable test, exam and Windows RAM Test besides, so I am certifying this RAM as good once again, finally! I changed the rating on this review to 5 Stars now, as I have nothing but compliments for Corsair and Amazon.com for sticking it out through a couple bad batches of this RAM, and now it's all good RAM that they are selling.I recommend this 4GB RAM, either in matched or single SODIMMs 100%, without any disclaimers or conditions, it's all good, so go ahead and score yours while the price is right here at Amazon.com, as you will not find it cheaper from a reliable merchant anywhere in the world. I will not change a word of the original review, as it was an agonizing, painstaking and disappointing process to go through, but now it's over, and I am happy to say that Corsair and Amazon.com are once again on the Wavey Davey Recommended List of 4GB SODIMMs for notebooks.Wavey Davey - 11-13-2010****************** ********************* ********************* ***************EDIT: Below was my real-world experience with Corsair 4GB SODIMMs bought at Amazon.com, and I am not changing a word of that original review, because it's all true. But Thanks to God for small favors and Corsair RMA Dept! I explained what had happened to Corsair RMA Dept, and they had me return the problem RAM, and sent me a brand new pair of 4GB SODIMMs that I am pleased to say work fantastic in my notebook, and all is now well with my Asus G51JX-A1 notebook and 2 x 4GB SODIMMs of this Corsair RAM...so far, so good as my 12GB configuration passes all tests and the notebook works fantastic!I have been reluctant to write another word until I proved this RAM in my notebook in all tests that it failed before with all the other RAM from Amazon.com, and by George I've done it to my satisfaction now, and will call Corsair RMA Dept. the life savers that they are, so thank you Corsair RMA Dept!I have put my notebook through every conceivable test, LinX, PRIME95, 3DMark06 and Vantage both, and both OCCT RAM and GPU tests and it passes with flying colors now. Say Yaaaay! I am happy, and Corsair is pleased with the results also, apparently, as I got a nice email from the head of their RMA Dept. about the whole thing I went through, and now all is well...thanks to God, good faith, and Corsair RMA Dept!I changed my rating of the RAM from 1-star to 4 stars, as that is the best that I can give it considering all the trouble I went through to finally have 2 x 4GB SODIMMs that work fantastic in my notebook, but such is life at times: it's unfair, it's difficult, but in the end if you persevere you can come up a winner, even in a bad situation like that which I went through with this RAM.Wavey Davey - November 9, 2010************** *************** *************** ***************I have been trying to live with this supposedly top-drawer Corsair RAM for the past month and a half in my Asus G51JX-A1 notebook which has a 16GB Capacity for RAM with 4 DIMM slots, each capable of running a matched 4GB 1333Mhz DDR3 notebook 204-pin SODIMM, and the RAM has consistently failed my needs miserably, so I am calling it what it is for this notebook, and my purposes, sub-standard 1333Mhz RAM that tests somewhat well, but is an enigma because it also generates terrible errors in OCCT v3.1's VRAM and SDRAM tests, and it won't pass multiple iterations of LinX 0.6.3 either in my notebook, with both 12GB RAM configuration, and the 16GB configuration both.So I dunno, I throw up my hands in the air at this RAM by now, at this point, after two returns to Amazon.com, one set of 2 x 4GB SODIMMs, single RAM SODIMMs that I used in the notebook, and a matched set of the 2 x 4GB SODIMMs=8GB x 2, when I tried to run 16GB of RAM in the notebook and failed miserably. I have come to the conclusion that it's not my notebook, because I RMA'd it to Asus for a video board replacement, which was faulty, and with the standard configuration of 3 x 2GB Kingston SODIMMs of the 1333Mhz variety, the OEM Asus RAM the notebook comes stock with, I get no errors in LinX, in PRIME95, and also pass all OCCT v3.1 VRAM tests where the notebook is subjected to big stress in the video RAM, and where RAM from the notebook's RAM cache is also utilized to wit with my notebook's VRAM, up to 4095MB total RAM used, which is up to 1024MB from the on board VRAM in the video card, plus a contingent of RAM from the physical RAM of the motherboard, the SODIMMs of Corsair and Kingston RAM.Now all this may be confusing, and it is admittedly, so I won't mince words about this when I tell you Amazon.com customers that this RAM may work fine in your notebook, especially if it doesn't need 1333Mhz RAM and the RAM defaults to 1066Mhz, such as happens in many of the Core i7 notebooks and Core i3 and i5 notebooks by Asus, Acer, Sony, HP, and other manufacturers. But if the notebook's requirements are strictly 1333+ rated Mhz RAM, and some overclocking of that RAM in the natural course of events of use for said notebook like my G51JX-A1 with Turbo Boost and Extreme Turbo boost in the CPU for overclocking, direct from ASus the manufacturer, then this RAM from Corsair is most likely going to prove incompatible with your system, and you'll end up returning it like I did after much testing, RMA's, and/or straight product returns because the RAM was defective out of the box on one occasion, and simply failed on the others.Additionally, one shipment of this RAM for a friend's G51JX-X5 Asus notebook, that I recently equipped with this RAM and the OEM Nanya 1333Mhz RAM (*in the case of his notebook he got Nanya 1333Mhz SODIMMs from ASUS OEM stock where I got Kingston SODIMMs of the 1333Mhz variety, which are comparable in all respect by the way*), for a 12GB contingent of RAM on board, I simply had to return it lock, stock and barrel because it was bad, bad RAM from the get-go, failing every RAM test I gave it when I installed it, giving false readings of a bad video card, system crashes of all sorts, and the worst of all, a locked computer where it simply would just FREEZE and you'd have to disconnect all power including the battery before you could go into BIOS, Load Defaults, return the battery to its rightful place in the computer, and finally start it up again successfully! What a bum trip that was!Frankly that was strange, just a bad batch of the Corsair RAM, for whatever reason, from bad handling at Amazon.com or UPS the shipper for all I know, but for my purposes the RAM failed miserably and Amazon.com had to send a Saturday Delivery FedEx shipment of replacement Corsair 2 x 4GB=8GB SODIMM "kit" to me, so I could finish putting the final touches on the computer, test that RAM for continuity and compliance, and it passed with flying colors, end of story there. So go figure, I have had two batches of my own RAM fail and have to be returned, then my friend's computer also got a bad batch of this RAM, where it failed every legitimate test I gave it over and over again, so that had to be returned also....a grand total of 3 shipments of this Corsair RAM out of 4 shipments that were bad, for one reason or another, so I am left with the inevitiable conclusion that this RAM is not to be trusted for 1333Mhz RAM-dependent machines/notebooks, and I think it's a good bet to try another brand perhaps: Kingston, Patriot, G. Skill (now is making notebook RAM), or even Samsung/Super Talent brands are all good, or shall I say BETTER choices than this Corsair RAM, no matter how many great reviews you have read here.I am writing from a purely objective state of mind...I walked into owning this RAM for my own computer, and my friend's both, and we were bitterly disappointed on 3 out of 4 shipments from Amazon.com of this RAM, both in 2 x 4GB SODIMM matched batches, or the single 4GB SODIMMs bought separately as a pair, (for saving a little $$$ ostensibly of course) and that is the final verdict I render it here tonight, with those circumstances behind me now, the RAM all returned but for my 8GB that I have to deal with now. I am not going to be using Corsair notebook RAM in my G51JX-A1 notebook any longer, if I can't get some great, big accommodation from Corsair in an RMA process.Since the RAM that is currently suspect in my use of this notebook is past the "Return Window" at Amazon.com, I am going to have to sell it openly and/or attempt an RMA at Corsair's facility up in Fremont, CA, and explain to them that I am getting LinX 0.6.3 and OCCT v3.1 errors both with the RAM installed in the notebook, and limited results in 3DMark06 by Futuremark for video performance, whereby the RAM from the notebook is used with the VRAM both for scoring in their very, very difficult cache or series of games, tests and data analysis, and see if Corsair can suggest something. We shall see!I would be willing to try another RMA, this time from Corsair on the RAM, I guess, bottom line, but I have little faith that it will cure the issue. I'll try anything at this point considering that I cannot return this RAM as it's 2 weeks too late to do so, but I feel 100% compromised by the RAM, and have little to no faith in this being resolved save for changing brands of RAM in my notebook, another expensive proposition.Those, dear readers, are my final thoughts on this Corsair 1333Mhz notebook RAM, both in matched 8GB form, and in single 4GB SODIMMs both: the quality is very questionable, and compatibility with a notebook such as mine that requires more than 1333Mhz RAM overclocking as a normal manner of operation of the notebook, well that is even more questionable...in such a case.I wish I had better words for the RAM but I cannot lie, and my experience with this RAM has been less than perfect, to be certain. I will update this review should anything change with respect to Corsair coming through with a set of the RAM that works much better than my present 2 x 4GB SODIMMs do presently, but again, I have little hope of such a thing happening after all I've been through with the Corsair notebook 4GB SODIMMs.I am glad that it works in *some notebooks* well, apparently by reading the other reviews here, but in my high performance Core i7 Asus G51JX-A1 notebook it's been a miserable failure, and I frankly am operating my notebook with it removed because it gives nothing but error after error in LinX 0.6.3, OCCT VRAM tests, and RAM tests both, and causes my notebook to perform miserably in 3DMark06, the standard FutureMark test suite for notebook video cards.Wavey Davey - October 18, 2010

I use VMWare Fusion all the time during my work day, running some Windows based applications as well as using Mail, iCal, Contacts, Safari, iTunes. With all these applications open in parallel, and only 4 GB of RAM originally in my 2010 Macbook Pro, things weren't so great performance wise. Whenever I fired up VMWare Fusion, everything started grinding to a slow crawl, and the computer was borderline unusable.After looking at an OEM upgrade from Apple (Expensive) to 8GB, and doing some research and reading to make sure this item was compatible with my Macbook Pro, I opted for this item instead. The installation was very easy. You simply remove the screws at the back of the computer using a thin screwdriver (I have a set of fine screwdrivers, both flathead and phillips-head). Once off, it's a simple matter of unclipping the old, and installing the new.Boot up, and the Macbook Pro recognizes the memory straight away. And, in terms of performance, WOW. Huge difference. It's amazing how "normal" my laptop feels now. All my apps load up faster, the computer boots up faster, and most importantly to me, VMWare Fusion and Windows 7 work perfectly fine, no issues at all. Some final notes for those that want technical specifications:Macbook Pro2.53 GHz Intel Core i55 GB 1067 MHz DDR3 *Note: The Macbook Pro will not recognize the faster clock rate of the memory, which is 1333 MHz. This is a shame, but not a huge deal for me*VMWare Fusion 3.10Windows 7 Ultimate1 CPU core and 1024 MB of RAM assigned virtually to this machine.Overall, this item is well with the money I spent for it. Highly recommended!