Buying RAM on eBay?

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Cipher

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Aug 8, 2014
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I hope this is the right sub-forum area for this question.

I'm currently trying to purchase/build a XEON Westmere based Workstation (Dell Precision T7500) and Server (Dell Poweredge C6100). In both cases, I'm looking at eBay for used/refurbished versions of these products. While I'm ok with picking up the Chassis, Motherboard, CPU, PSU, Addon cards etc through eBay, the one area I'm a bit wary about is RAM. I've always bought memory through retail channels and ran the modules through a stress test like MemTest which has occasionally uncovered issues. In these cases, it was an easy process to get a replacement for suspect sticks.

When buying through eBay do we still have the same replacement option or is this on a vendor by vendor basis?

How do you guys go about choosing which vendor to purchase RAM from, especially when buying larger volumes? I'm going to need 2 x 96GB of DDR3 ECC RAM which is around $2000 retail so I'd love to find a much better deal on eBay as long as there were some guarantees that I could replace sticks that failed a test like MemTest.

Any advice is appreciated.
 

Chuckleb

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Mar 5, 2013
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I'd look to see what the buyer has for reviews and also make sure to pay by Paypal to get the buyer protection. I bought RAM and had 1 bad stick out of 60 or so, they replaced and didn't need return. So pick a seller who looks reputable. China is slow and unknown quality.
 

Patrick

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I have also bought a lot of RAM off of forum members which has worked fairly well.
 

Cipher

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Aug 8, 2014
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Thanks, Chuck & Andrew. This makes sense and really helps me narrow down sellers on eBay and forces me to start watching for DDR3 sales on the forum.

One other question I have is how do I ensure I'm buying quality RAM? Am I looking for certain brands (Kingston, Corsair etc) or certain Chip types (Hynix, Samsung etc) or should I just be looking for Dell branded since it's guaranteed to work. Is this maybe less of an issue on the server side since we're looking at ECC and maybe most in the space are selling decent quality?
 

Chuckleb

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Mar 5, 2013
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If it is for servers, buy something on the HCL if possible, saves trouble. You could call up a refurbisher like the guys that I've bought my servers from, peter@metint.com. he could quote you for all of it and be done with it. Tell him that you heard about him from the STH forums. :) Patrick had bought from him before as well I think.
 

Patrick

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Patrick had bought from him before as well I think.
Ha! I actually stopped by MET the other week in Dallas but Peter was not there (11AM).

BTW if you need 4GB DIMM for a C6100 I have stacks of them... I actually think the 4GB models are reproducing in their ESD bags.
 

herby

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Aug 18, 2013
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I've had good luck with Amazon Warehouse deals, I think people buy server ram they can't use and return it.

The prices can fluctuate a bit though; I bought a few sticks at once and the next day the price jumped.
 

Cipher

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Aug 8, 2014
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Ha! I actually stopped by MET the other week in Dallas but Peter was not there (11AM).

BTW if you need 4GB DIMM for a C6100 I have stacks of them... I actually think the 4GB models are reproducing in their ESD bags.
Let me know if they start bearing 8GB offspring! :)

I need 12 x 8GB for my 96GB and this listing on eBay seems ok - 96GB 12X8GB PC3 10600 DDR3 1333MHz Memory Dell Poweredge T420 T610 T7500 | eBay

I'm also going to contact the store recommended by Chuck.
 
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Cipher

Member
Aug 8, 2014
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I've had good luck with Amazon Warehouse deals, I think people buy server ram they can't use and return it.

The prices can fluctuate a bit though; I bought a few sticks at once and the next day the price jumped.
Thanks, Herby. I've never shopped there so I'll take a look.
 

Pri

Active Member
Jul 30, 2014
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I must echo the Amazon Warehouse deals. I got my server board from there and it was about 40% off retail. The board was brand new and unused, it just had sustained box damage. If their items list "Very Good" or "Good" as the condition then it's a good buy.

When sleuthing around their listings I've found UDIMM, RDIMM, Server Boards and even XEON's listed mostly from damaged boxes but also returned goods.