Purchased a DDR4 RAM module from eBay with crossed-out labels on each chip.
Purchased a DDR4 RAM module from eBay with crossed-out labels on each chip.
I purchased this brand new DDR4 RAM module from eBay to improve my client’s Dell Inspiron, which was running very slowly. I observed that the chips had their text and numbers partially covered with three lines. Could you explain why this happened? Is it safe to use this part in the computer? I’m concerned it might be low-quality Chinese-made. The Micron logo on the chip is hard to see, so I’m worried it could affect performance.
This part only works with around 4600 DDR4 RAM sticks. It's a low-bin model, so the fake memory chips don't actually exist. Unless the chips are bad, it should be okay. You might get a warning about missing ICS, but it’s probably just a sign of a faulty stick. If you’re unsure, it’s safer to return it rather than risk further issues.
Just set it up and run a memtest from the USB drive. If you don’t see any errors, keep using it. My initial thought is it might be one of the chips on the stick that failed and was swapped in with a working one from another source. They probably didn’t want the new chip’s date visible (a 4-digit number showing week and year) so they ran those tests. That seems unlikely. Other possibilities include trying to make the surface rougher for labeling or removing a label entirely—unlikely given how cleanly the damage appears over the text.