Buying memory: how important is certified MB compatability?

Am buying parts for a new system, and need to find memory for an Asus Z87 Pro.

Question is, how important is it that it's on the manufacturer list of compatible memory?

I have decided on 32 GB of 1866 Mhz. The listed compatibles are:


These modules are available (although not cheap). The first one is prohibitively expensive, the next 2 are within range although still painful, especially compared to prices a year ago.

I certainly have built systems, stuck in available memory and booted fine/worked, but then I did notice memory/MB behavior problems that surfaced later in the life of the components.

Just to make matters more complicated, Asus is specifying Version 3.23 on the Corsair memory and there is no version specified on Amazon or NewEgg. How would I find out the version of these memory modules? Is this important too?

In the home use sphere it's not terribly important at all.

I use GSkill 2x8GB 1866s that aren't on the Z87 Pro's compatibility list.

No issues yet.

I'd say not at all, considering on this last build, I went through multiple pieces of Corsair RAM that ASUS had listed on the compatibility list, wasting my time and money. Sent it all back, picked up some Samsung at Fry's, works fine. Later on I got an email that a BIOS update should have fixed my Corsair issues. Hey great, then why was it on the compat list?