Third party RAM expanders vs. Genuine Nintendo Expansion Pak

[TheWaddleWaddle]

I was wondering if there is any difference in the performance or anything because I am on an extremely tight budget and the third party ones cost about 4 dollars cheaper than the genuine ones. I heard that some of the third party ones either crash or blow up your console, but I also heard that they work exactly the same without any flaws. Is it worth the risk of a console failure or should I use the extra couple bucks to buy a genuine one? Thanks for any reply!

[blaze3927]

havent heard of any performance issues, however some use 2 x 2MB chips instead of one 4MB one, not that big of deal

[Krayer]

About two weeks ago I purchased an expansion pak on Amazon and it was listed as being OEM. The product shown on the listing didn't look like an original Nintendo expansion pak. However, it said OEM so I took a chance. I got the product around 5 days later and it looked nothing like the product listed on the ad, and it didn't look like an original. I was a little annoyed, but decided to just try to use the product. I started to read the reviews and they were mixed. Some people said it worked perfectly, and some said it caused their console to have issues. I changed my mind and decided to not take a chance. I emailed the seller, and then purchased the higher priced product that showed to be genuine. The seller of the third-party expansion pak acknowledged their mistake and said they would send out a shipping label and issue a refund once the product is returned.

If I do not receive a shipping label on Monday I will let you have the third-party expansion pak. It's by "Tomee." All I ask is that you pay for shipping. It should only be a few dollars. The package will be coming from Texas.

I had the same issue with a N64 AV cable. The ad showed the product to be "by Nintendo," and the pictures shown looked like a third-party item; however, there was also a genuine Nintendo cable shown. I ordered the item and sure enough I got a third-party item. About 10 email exchanges later the seller finally decided to issue a refund and told me to just keep the cable. It works, but I don't like being mislead.

[Haunted360]

It is just RDRAM and the official Nintendo RAM chips would be no different from another RAM manufacturer.

Well, unless there quality is so bad it fries under its own heat, then there should be no true difference

Direct Rambus DRAM is crap stuff anyway. Produces an intense amount of heat. Nintendo was not to good with picking the right RAM modules and even the size for that matter

[TheWaddleWaddle]

havent heard of any performance issues, however some use 2 x 2MB chips instead of one 4MB one, not that big of deal

Oh. Thank you for the clarification!

If I do not receive a shipping label on Monday I will let you have the third-party expansion pak. It's by "Tomee." All I ask is that you pay for shipping. It should only be a few dollars. The package will be coming from Texas.

How much would shipping cost from Texas to New Jersey?

Well, unless there quality is so bad it fries under its own heat, then there should be no true difference

Well that's good news


Thank you all for your replies!

[Bush]

Supposedly the 3rd party ones get much hotter than the 1st party ones. I've only used 1st party so I couldn't say for sure, but in all practicality you may want to grab an official one.

[Krayer]

How much would shipping cost from Texas to New Jersey?

I'm not sure of the exact cost of postage. Given that I associate New Jersey with Snooki, I looked up the zip code of where that show is filmed and used it as the destination. It looks like it will cost around $2.56.

[TheWaddleWaddle]

Supposedly the 3rd party ones get much hotter than the 1st party ones. I've only used 1st party so I couldn't say for sure, but in all practicality you may want to grab an official one.

Actually I want to get an official one but I don't have enough money. There's only so much money that a 14 year old can work for to get

I'm not sure of the exact cost of postage. Given that I associate New Jersey with Snooki, I looked up the zip code of where that show is filmed and used it as the destination. It looks like it will cost around $2.56.

Well at least that show is useful for something . How exactly would I pay you?

On a similar note, I just found out that my friend who has a gold N64 has been using a third party expander for years and it has not failed on him yet. Thank you all for your replies!

[Bush]

Just keep in mind that if this is for a portable, heat = bad.

[Krayer]

How exactly would I pay you?

Eh, don't worry about it. You probably don't have access to a PayPal account, and trying to figure out something would be too much trouble.

I'll post here this evening letting you know if I get the shipping label or not.

EDIT: I received the shipping label today. You're on your own. Sorry.

[TheWaddleWaddle]

Just keep in mind that if this is for a portable, heat = bad.

That's why I'm gonna have 2 fans in my portable

Eh, don't worry about it. You probably don't have access to a PayPal account, and trying to figure out something would be too much trouble.

Actually I do have temporary access to a friends Paypal account...

EDIT: I received the shipping label today. You're on your own. Sorry.

Thank you for your efforts anyway, Krayer!

I actually had my name day celebration yesterday and I got a little money from that so I'm safe

Thank you all for your help! I really appreciated it!

[Haunted360]

Just keep in mind that if this is for a portable, heat = bad.

That's why I'm gonna have 2 fans in my portable

Seriously?

lol. 2 are not needed. You could have a hundred fans. No difference.

You dont even need any if you have a decent sink on the processors and RAM modules.

Remember: It is not an Xbox 360

[Reubensupernerd]

I have heard many reports of the Yobo expanders bricking n64s but I've been using a retro-bit pack (I checked and its a single 4mb chip) and it's given me no problems (gets hot though and its heat sink is a joke).