Due to the continuous price reduction of memory, merchants' profits have become thinner and thinner. Unscrupulous traders have begun to make and sell fake memory chips to achieve greater profits. There are fake and inferior memory sticks on the market (such as polished strips, white strips, etc.). Second-hand strips, refurbished strips) can be found everywhere. Insufficient memory capacity and short service life seriously affect the overall performance of the machine and cause system instability. After you buy fake memory, although it can be used normally in the short term, after using it for a period of time, strange failures will occur, and sometimes the motherboard will be damaged. What is worrying is that many friends bought fake memory and kept it in the dark. When the computer crashed, they did not know that it was the fake memory that caused the problem! The following is a method to identify true and false memory, which is very helpful for you to choose memory!

Call the 800 toll-free number on the spot

Anti-counterfeiting inquiry

In order to combat counterfeiting, many brand memory manufacturers (such as Kingston, KINGMAX, etc.) currently have their memory chips on An 800 phone number anti-counterfeiting label is affixed to protect the legitimate rights and interests of consumers. In order to avoid buying fake products, it is recommended that you call the toll-free 800 number on the spot when purchasing to check its authenticity. The method is to uncover the label on the memory, find the product warranty anti-counterfeiting password, then call 800 and enter the anti-counterfeiting password to know whether the memory is genuine.

However, you must also pay attention to the 800 phone number, because there are many fakes now, and even the 800 anti-counterfeiting products have begun to imitate. Some fakes also provide the 800 inquiry number on the memory stick. It is recommended that before purchasing memory, you should first go to the memory manufacturer's website to find out its 800 anti-counterfeiting phone number, record this number, and use it on the spot when purchasing to prevent fake 800 phone numbers.

Check authenticity online

Many brand memory manufacturers have their own websites, and you can check the authenticity of memory sticks online. First, find the serial number on the memory anti-counterfeiting label; then log in to the manufacturer's website, enter the serial number, your own email address, seller name, and purchase date. The manufacturer will soon send a reply to your email regarding the authenticity of the product. , so you know the authenticity of the memory (Table 1).

Use software for identification

The following software can also help you identify the authenticity of the memory.

1. SiSoftware Sandra2004

(Download address.com/soft/8258.html)

This software can test software and hardware system information and display various aspects of the PC. Detailed information about the hardware, such as memory manufacturer, type and other memory label information.

Check whether the memory has cut corners

If the memory module you purchased has cut corners, then the memory must be fake. The method to identify whether the memory is cutting corners is as follows: first check the quality of the memory particles? Because the memory particles determine the overclocking performance of the memory, the better the quality, the better the overclocking performance of the memory. Secondly, check the gold finger of the memory stick. There is a row of capacitors next to the gold finger. If they are all omitted, it is a brand-name memory. , In addition, there should be a capacitor in the line pointed out by the first golden finger. This capacitor can filter clutter. If this capacitor is omitted, it is also a brand-name memory.

Finally, check whether there are decoupling capacitors. The reference voltage pin of each memory chip will lead to a circuit, which is generally relatively wide. If the decoupling capacitor is omitted from the circuit, it is also a miscellaneous memory.

Compare the anti-counterfeiting measures and identify the authenticity with the naked eye

1. Kingston

As a leader in the memory industry, Kingston has a strong brand and its price is about 50 yuan higher than ordinary memory. Therefore, Kingston memory also has fakes, but they only account for less than 2% of the total.

In 2005, Hengying Technology, the general agent of Kingston products in China, put a "digital gravure" anti-counterfeiting label on genuine Kingston memory.

The label uses RMB anti-counterfeiting technology. Touching the upper part of the label will have a distinct concave and convex feel, and the upper part of the label also uses different visual refraction patterns to prevent counterfeiting. If you look at the upper part of the label from one angle, the "upright oval" pattern of the Hengying Technology Logo will be displayed. If you look at it from another angle, the word "HENGWIN" will be displayed.

In 2005, another Kingston laser agent also adopted a new color-changing anti-counterfeiting label for identification on memory sticks. When you view the label from different angles, the national and joint warranty patterns on the anti-counterfeiting label will also change.

Since January 10, 2005, another Kingston memory dealer, Zanhe Electronics, has canceled the phone text message anti-counterfeiting labels on genuine Kingston memory and replaced them with new "nano-refractive" anti-counterfeiting labels. . This new green anti-counterfeiting label on Kingston memory (Figure 1) has high technical content and has not yet been counterfeited. It has become the main means of identifying Kingston memory today, eliminating the need to use phone calls, text messages, etc. to verify authenticity.

From a normal perspective, the "Nano Refractive" anti-counterfeiting label on genuine Kingston memory displays the words "Authenticity Guaranteed" (Figure 2) in the middle; if you change the angle and then Look, the words in the middle of the "Nano Refractive" anti-counterfeiting label will change to "JH 800 820 1399", which is Kingston's memory anti-counterfeiting inquiry phone number.

2． KINGMAX

KINGMAX has a high market share, and its memory modules are available in TINYBGA and TSOP packages. Among them, the TINYBGA packaged memory stick has a red coding particle (i.e. Guan Gong red core, Figure 3) on the front of the PCB at the fourth particle position. If a counterfeiter wants to imitate it, he needs to invest at least 100 million yuan, so this kind of packaging There are currently no fake memory modules.

However, there are many fakes of TSOP packaged memory modules. To this end, KINGMAX has affixed an ASIC chip (special purpose chip) on the front of the PCB board of this kind of memory and under the SPD. This chip (Figure 4) stores the global unified identification code (ID CODE). Each memory module The codes are all different; in addition, there is an 800 phone number inquiry sticker on the memory stick, through which the authenticity can be identified.

Recently, KINGMAX still uses the "Guan Gong Red Core" anti-counterfeiting measures for DDR400 SuperRAM produced before June 2005; and after July 2005, DDR400 SuperRAM will use the new "Guan Gong Red Core-Qinglongyan" "The anti-counterfeiting method is to enlarge the original "Guan Gong red core" and add a green IC particle (named "Qinglongyan").

3. Samsung

Since 2004, fake and parallel imports of Samsung gold bars produced by South Korea's "Samsung Electronics" are not uncommon in the market. To this end, the agents of genuine Samsung gold bars use anti-counterfeiting technology. First, they use transparent large box packaging (Figure 5). The packaging box contains an electronic warranty card (the first in the country to launch it) and Samsung gold bar instructions, while the counterfeit Samsung memory No! Second, there are white fragile stickers on the first and second particles from the left of the memory, with the model, capacity, and operating frequency of the product printed on them. Third, an anti-counterfeiting label is affixed on the second particle from the right of the memory (Figure 6 ), with the "Samsung Gold Bar" LOGO printed on the golden laser label.

4． Vitesta

Because of the high cost performance of ADATA memory, the profit from making fake products is not high, so there are no fake ADATA memories on the market. However, in the summer of 2004, ADATA was troubled by parallel imports, and a small amount of parallel-imported ADATA memory flowed into the market. Parallel imports do not have a CRL anti-counterfeiting mark on the memory modules (Figure 7). The two are actually the same quality, but the after-sales service is very different. Parallel imports do not have a 3 to 5-year warranty. If there is a problem, the buyer needs to do it himself. Bear the cost of repairs.

5. Apacer Electronics (Apacer)

The quality of Apacer memory is good. To identify genuine Apacer memory, you can start from the following places: First, check the upper right corner of the memory stick to see if there is a barcode sticker with the Apacer trademark (Figure 8 ); Second, check the upper right corner of the back of the memory module. Is there an anti-counterfeiting label? As long as you remove the label paint, you can see the serial number, then log in to the Apacer website (see Table 1) and enter the serial number to identify whether it is genuine.

Advice

1. Try to buy from agents

Currently, most memory sales adopt an agency system. For example, brands such as Kingston, Kingbang, Apacer, V-DATA, and KINGMAX have provincial agents in various places. It is recommended that you buy memory from regular dealers, because counterfeit products generally do not appear in these places, and the memory you buy also comes with a warranty. If there is a problem with the memory, you can also find the merchant to protect your rights.

2． You should buy branded memory

Do not buy HY bulk memory modules, because this kind of bulk memory modules are the easiest to fake and have the most fakes. The fake memory currently in the market are basically HY brand products. Compared with brand memory, their quality is not guaranteed and they are not much cheaper.

The quality of branded memory is guaranteed. Branded memory is generally packaged and has certain anti-counterfeiting markings. For counterfeiters, the cost of counterfeiting is high, so there are not many fakes. It is recommended that you purchase branded memory when purchasing.

3. Do not buy parallel-imported products

Although parallel-imported memory is not a fake product, it does not have a warranty, let alone after-sales service. Some friends bought this kind of memory for a small gain. Once there is a problem with the quality of the memory, you will consider yourself unlucky, because there is no after-sales service and there is no way to ask the merchant for free repair or replacement, and the personal loss will be relatively large. Finally, I would like to remind you that if you buy fake memory, you should go to the merchant and ask for a return or exchange, or complain to the consumer association or industrial and commercial department. According to the law, if you buy fake memory, you can ask for twice the compensation.

4. Understand the anti-counterfeiting measures of memory

Before purchasing memory, you should understand the anti-counterfeiting measures of each brand of memory. Compare this knowledge and check the memory stick on the spot to know its authenticity.