# Fake GEIL ram?



## P4-630 (Sep 17, 2008)

*Never knew that GEIL made single sided ddr2 pc6400 ultra 4-4-4-12*

RMA'd 1 set of GEIL DDR2-800 CL 4-4-4-12 GX22GB6400UDC (2x1GB), I wanted to RMA all my 4 ram sticks but they did not accept that.

Now I found out that my 2 new ram sticks have a sticker on the heatspreader it which reads: Voltage 2.0V

My other GEIL set DDR2-800 CL 4-4-4-12 GX22GB6400UDC (2x1GB) has a sticker on the heatspreader which reads: Voltage 2.1V

Also when I looked closely I found that the pcb/transistors are different from each other.
Ok, probably they changed the pcb design? And the ram sticks are manufactured in another week? Suprisingly when I open CPU-Z all 4 ram sticks: Week/Year 10/08

The new set won't run 960MHz 4-4-4-12 either, while the other set can.

Also with every new GEIL ram stick I found a thin plastic film sticked on the GEIL logo, the "new" set of ram that I just got returned only had this on one ram stick and there was no plastic film on the other stick.

Also I had a problem with the Voltage in the BIOS, my older ram stick rated at 2.1V I always had the Voltage at +0.5 which resulted in 2.3V, now with the new sticks rated at 2.0 I had to set the Voltage at +0.6 to get to 2.3V.

After trying different timings and speeds , at one moment the BIOS settings went back to auto and now when I would set the DIMM Voltage +0.5V results in 2.3V again with all 4 sticks in it.

Somehow I don't feel so good about these new ticks that I got returned(Thailand), the PCB design/transistors are different and the rated voltage is different, and manufactured in the same week as my older ram sticks to me it looks like FAKE geil sticks? Or just cheap pcb's with a orange heatspreader and GEIL logo sticked on it?

Now I run my 4 sticks at 5-5-5-10 960 2.0V (the voltage is not bad but they used to run 4-4-4-12 960 2.3V) the new ram sticks seem to be low quality

If anyone ownes GEIL DDR2 800 4-4-4-12 sticks, could you post a picture and  week/year from your ram sticks?


----------



## Laurijan (Sep 17, 2008)

They probably just changed the PCB and components a little.. that happens sometimes as RAM sticks mature.. looks genuine to me


----------



## P4-630 (Sep 17, 2008)

Laurijan said:


> They probably just changed the PCB and components a little.. that happens sometimes as RAM sticks mature.. looks genuine to me



Yes what I thought too but is it not weird that the returned set are manufactured in the same week as my older set

All 4 sticks are Week 10 2008 (cpu-z)


----------



## Laurijan (Sep 17, 2008)

P4-630 said:


> Yes what I thought too but is it not weird that the returned set are manufactured in the same week as my older set
> 
> All 4 sticks are Week 10 2008 (cpu-z)



True.. strage.. IDK why this is.. You could write the RMA department an email with this question if nobody here in this forum knows why that date is the same..


----------



## CrAsHnBuRnXp (Sep 17, 2008)

Doesnt this forum have a GeiL rep?


----------



## Laurijan (Sep 17, 2008)

You could also post your question in the Geil-Forum http://forum.geil.com.tw/ (seems to be down at the moment)


----------



## P4-630 (Sep 17, 2008)

Laurijan said:


> True.. strage.. IDK why this is.. You could write the RMA department an email with this question if nobody here in this forum knows why that date is the same..



I'm sending a message to GEIL right now.

(http://www.geil.com.tw/support_request/create)


Edit: Waiting for reply from geil.tw


----------



## P4-630 (Sep 17, 2008)

CrAsHnBuRnXp said:


> Doesnt this forum have a GeiL rep?



I don't know about that.
Would be nice if that person could help out.


----------



## P4-630 (Sep 17, 2008)

I found a photo on imageshack from a set of geil pc6400 ultra 4-4-4-12 and these sticks are exactly as my older 2 sticks and also these on this picture are rated at 2.1V

For a comparison:
My ram sticks (module at the top is a "new"(?..) one from the set I got returned yesterday):





picture from imageshack (not my ram sticks)


----------



## intel igent (Sep 17, 2008)

you have stix of RAM that are rated to 800 and are running 960 and you're complaining?


----------



## P4-630 (Sep 17, 2008)

intel igent said:


> you have stix of RAM that are rated to 800 and are running 960 and you're complaining?



Most, if not all(?) other 800rated sticks are able to run 960 when you change the timings

Most people buy the more expensive ram because they want to overclock, if I don't overclock I would buy cheaper value ram.

These GEIL ultra sticks are made for overclocking and thats what you pay for.


----------



## intel igent (Sep 17, 2008)

P4-630 said:


> Most, if not all(?) other 800rated sticks are able to run 960 when you change the timings



so what's the problem?


----------



## PaulieG (Sep 17, 2008)

CrAsHnBuRnXp said:


> Doesnt this forum have a GeiL rep?



Buffalo, Mushkin for sure. Geil? I don't remember ever seeing one.


----------



## P4-630 (Sep 17, 2008)

intel igent said:


> so what's the problem?



Never mind
Some people agree and understand, and some don't.


----------



## intel igent (Sep 17, 2008)

P4-630 said:


> Never mind
> Some people agree and understand, and some don't.



i do understand.

you got a set of RMA'd RAM that does not run as good as your original set but still OC's 160mhz with looser timing's.....


----------



## P4-630 (Sep 17, 2008)

intel igent said:


> i do understand.
> 
> you got a set of RMA'd RAM that does not run as good as your original set but still OC's 160mhz with looser timing's.....



Ok... Now and what if these sticks were yours, what would you do


----------



## PaulieG (Sep 17, 2008)

P4-630 said:


> Never mind
> Some people agree and understand, and some don't.



I think everyone understands, but a 160mhz OC on 800's is pretty good. Certainly nothing to stress about. Play around with the timings a bit more for extra performance.


----------



## P4-630 (Sep 17, 2008)

Paulieg said:


> I think everyone understands, but a 160mhz OC on 800's is pretty good. Certainly nothing to stress about. Play around with the timings a bit more for extra performance.



The fact remains: the other 2 modules are much better while suprisingly all 4 ram sticks seem to be manufactured in week 10 2008.


----------



## intel igent (Sep 17, 2008)

P4-630 said:


> Ok... Now and what if these sticks were yours, what would you do



i'd be slightly dissapointed but they aren't defective so.....


----------



## PaulieG (Sep 17, 2008)

P4-630 said:


> The fact remains: the other 2 modules are much better while suprisingly all 4 ram sticks seem to be manufactured in week 10 2008.



That's how it goes man. Every individual stick will clock different. That's the risk in RMA. Same goes for CPU, Memory, MB's etc. Remember, anything you get over stock you get for free. . Not to say I wouldn't be mildly disappointed, just not really upset.


----------



## P4-630 (Sep 17, 2008)

intel igent said:


> i'd be slightly dissapointed.....




yes because you know that 2 sticks can run faster with tighter timings then the ones you got returned from RMA even they seem to be manufactured in the same week.


----------



## P4-630 (Sep 17, 2008)

Paulieg said:


> That's how it goes man. Every individual stick will clock different. That's the risk in RMA. Same goes for CPU, Memory, MB's etc. Remember, anything you get over stock you get for free. . Not to say I wouldn't be mildly disappointed, just not really upset.




I'm not upset, but it's more like a strange situation because the modules are completely different from each other and yet they are manufactured at the same time!

If they only were manufactured in a different week, that would just make more sense.



Paulieg said:


> Remember, anything you get over stock you get for free. .


That's true


----------



## Wile E (Sep 17, 2008)

P4-630 said:


> Yes what I thought too but is it not weird that the returned set are manufactured in the same week as my older set
> 
> All 4 sticks are Week 10 2008 (cpu-z)



That's probably just the the date of the SPD file they are using.


----------



## PaulieG (Sep 17, 2008)

Wile E said:


> That's probably just the the date of the SPD file they are using.



 Man, I didn't think of that. Wile is probably right here.


----------



## P4-630 (Sep 17, 2008)

Wile E said:


> That's probably just the the date of the SPD file they are using.



yes, and who were "they"..*
And why would the modules be completely different at the same time.


*because here in Thailand they copy anything...

I hope I'll get a reply soon from geil.com.tw


------------------------------------------
Something else that has nothing to to with the tread but just noticed it while editing my post:





Well I just voted my post then


----------



## Wile E (Sep 17, 2008)

P4-630 said:


> yes, and who were "they"..*
> And why would the modules be completely different at the same time.
> 
> 
> ...



Did you RMA thru Geil?

EDIT: And the modules might actually be manufactured at different times, but not different enough to require a different SPD, saving Geil time and money by not having to program a new SPD file.


----------



## OzzmanFloyd120 (Sep 17, 2008)

I'm curious to find out what's going on.
the only thing I can think of is maybe they were made same week in different factories.


----------



## P4-630 (Sep 17, 2008)

Wile E said:


> Did you RMA thru Geil?



No I bought it at a local shop in Bangkok and I they gave me another set right away, if I have any problem I have to go there.. So actually they do the RMA to GEIL.
This is not geil usa


----------



## P4-630 (Sep 17, 2008)

OzzmanFloyd120 said:


> I'm curious to find out what's going on.



Yep me too!


----------



## CrAsHnBuRnXp (Sep 17, 2008)

P4-630 said:


> ------------------------------------------
> Something else that has nothing to to with the tread but just noticed it while editing my post:
> 
> 
> ...



Glitch? I dont get that with my other post.


----------



## Wile E (Sep 17, 2008)

P4-630 said:


> No I bought it at a local shop in Bangkok and I they gave me another set right away, if I have any problem I have to go there.. So actually they do the RMA to GEIL.
> This is not geil usa
> 
> *
> You pay for genuine GEIL products and you expect it be genuine.*


But there's really nothing about what you posted that 100% says they aren't genuine.


----------



## P4-630 (Sep 17, 2008)

CrAsHnBuRnXp said:


> Glitch? I dont get that with my other post.



I'm using a non-IE browser and till now it only happened once.


----------



## P4-630 (Sep 17, 2008)

Wile E said:


> But there's really nothing about what you posted that 100% says they aren't genuine.




That is correct, but I refer to that they also copy many products here in Thailand.


----------



## GLD (Sep 17, 2008)

P4-630 said:


> No I bought it at a local shop in Bangkok and I they gave me another set right away, if I have any problem I have to go there.. So actually they do the RMA to GEIL.
> This is not geil usa
> 
> 
> You pay for genuine GEIL products and you expect it be genuine.



You did not RMA thru GEIL. You did business with a local shop in your area, Bangkok Thailand. Your new sticks pcb's were made in Thailand. They probably are genuine imitation GEIL. Sorry to hear of your bad fortune. You could send the new sticks to GEIL and see what they say.


----------



## P4-630 (Sep 17, 2008)

I'm waiting for a second reply from GEIL now.

I also found some other info:
Look at the module size and memory timings


----------



## Wile E (Sep 17, 2008)

Looks like single sided modules.


----------



## P4-630 (Sep 17, 2008)

Wile E said:


> Looks like single sided modules.



Yes they are , on one side a piece of foam is sticked between the pcb and heatspreader.

The other 2 sticks are double sided


----------



## Wile E (Sep 17, 2008)

P4-630 said:


> Yes they are , on one side a piece of foam is sticked between the pcb and heatspreader.


Well, that would explain the crapping OCing. Single sided stix don't do well.

Still doesn't tell us if they genuine or not tho.


----------



## P4-630 (Sep 17, 2008)

Wile E said:


> Well, that would explain the crapping OCing. Single sided stix don't do well.
> 
> Still doesn't tell us if they genuine or not tho.




They asked me to send them photos and now I'm waiting for another reply from GEIL,
hope they reply again today.



Wile E said:


> Single sided stix don't do well.



Yes... I have noticed that:shadedshu


----------



## P4-630 (Sep 17, 2008)

Reply from GEIL:

_"Dear Sir / Madam,

Please print this message to tell the local retailer that they should provide you the same module size of GX22GB6400UDC. No matter 64X8 or 128X8 size, you should use only use same size on your single system.
You could easily look at the differences (Die & IC layout) between 64X8 or 128X8 by checking the side of PCB between the heatspreader. (no need to remove the heatspreader!)"
_

Ok, I hope the problem is solved after that.


----------



## Wile E (Sep 17, 2008)

Good. Hopefully they give you a double sided set instead.


----------



## P4-630 (Sep 17, 2008)

Wile E said:


> Good. Hopefully they give you a double sided set instead.



Never knew that till now that GEIL made single sided ddr2 pc6400 ultra 4-4-4-12 GX22GB6400UDC...

_*PC6400 DDR2 800Mhz, CAS 4-4-4-12
- Avialable in:
1GB (512MBx2 - SKU#: GX21GB6400UDC) Dual Channel Kit
2GB (1GBx2 - SKU#: GX22GB6400UDC ) Dual Channel Kit
4GB (2GBx2 - SKU#: GX24GB6400UDC) Dual Channel Kit
- Hand-picked BGA 64Mx8 Chips
- 240pin, Non-ECC, Un-buffered DIMM
- Racing-Orange Aluminum Heat Spreader
- Retail Package
- Lifetime Warranty
- Working Voltage: 1.8v ~ 2.3v*_

http://www.geil.com.tw/products/showSpec/id/65

?


----------

