PowerMac G5 2ghz DP Maximum Memory Upgrade?

What's the model identifier in System Profiler?

Everymac says it'll take 8GB but you must install it in pairs.

Yeah you're right, sorry, I looked at the PCI-X, 2GB to 4 is still a big jump though, remember that most Macs today ship with 4 and it is enough for most users.

Apple is right, 4gb is the max for your model. You only have 4 memory slots so 4x 1gb modules. There are 8 slot models that will take 8gb total. You need DDR memory.

The late '05 G5s used DDR2 and can take 16gb total with 2gb 8x dimms.

Did angone try to run more then recommended ram in these machines?

I have PCI-X machine with 8slots and found 2gb modules.

Will this machine take 16gb of ram?

I am thinking to upgrade it and looking for GPU X800 or similar, plus ram, ssd and the airport antenna.

Anyone have tried running larger modules? What are the limits here?

(I was running Mac Pro intel models with larger modules and went way over limits in spec for 2.1/3.1/4.1 and 5.1 fitting 64 to 128gb of ram in those machines)

Thanks for any advice!

goodfidelity said:

Did angone try to run more then recommended ram in these machines?

I have PCI-X machine with 8slots and found 2gb modules.

Will this machine take 16gb of ram?

I am thinking to upgrade it and looking for GPU X800 or similar, plus ram, ssd and the airport antenna.

Anyone have tried running larger modules? What are the limits here?

(I was running Mac Pro intel models with larger modules and went way over limits in spec for 2.1/3.1/4.1 and 5.1 fitting 64 to 128gb of ram in those machines)

Thanks for any advice!

Click to expand...

Unlike the Mac Pro, the maximum upgrade memory for PM G5 PCIX model is 8Gb with 1Gb PC-3200 DDR SDRAM. Only the DDR2 PC2-4200 SDRAM will take the PCIe late 2005 G5 to 16Gb with 8 slots.

The difference with the Mac Pro is that, they take more RAM because they can be firmware upgraded, take DDR2 (older Mac Pro) and DDR3 RAM (4,1 and 5,1)as well as CPU upgradable to X5690 Xeon on the 4,1 and 5,1 or DUAL X5690 which can address much higher memory ranges for which the PM G5 was limited by what technology and software OS then had to offer.

Thanks for very fast and well explained answer to my question!

I will try to source the 8gb that fits this machine

Anyone got good firas where to find these items at affordable prices pls let me know!

Thanks again!

//gf

Some very late DDR G5s are supposedly compatible with 2gb sticks.

At least on the Xserve the boards that ARE compatible with them are so marked, or at least the service documentation says so(and where to look for the marking).

Even if you do have a computer that's compatible, though, you have to find 2gb unregistered non-ECC sticks. I have some here that don't belong to me(and that reminds me that I need to get them shipped to their owner) but they're not easy to find.

That aside, I have a Quad where I went to the trouble of loading it up with 16gb. I struggle to use more than about 6gb of RAM. Even a lot of PPC "heavy" programs are 32 bit and can't use more than 3gb of RAM anyway(looking at you, Photoshop). You also have weird cases where you think you're doing yourself a favor with a lot of RAM, such as if you try to run VPC, and then find out that it runs better with less than the full amount of RAM allocated.

16gb in my Quad is about as useful as 1.5gb in my 9600, although fortunately it cost a lot less than the latter.

goodfidelity said:

Thanks for very fast and well explained answer to my question!

I will try to source the 8gb that fits this machine

Anyone got good firas where to find these items at affordable prices pls let me know!

Thanks again!

//gf

Click to expand...

Do you have a local computer and electronics recycling store nearby? I think this would be your best bet in scoring those PC-3200 SDRAM for your G5 for cheap, especially if you are able to strip them out off a broken or dead G5 as scrap parts.
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bunnspecial said:

Some very late DDR G5s are supposedly compatible with 2gb sticks.

At least on the Xserve the boards that ARE compatible with them are so marked, or at least the service documentation says so(and where to look for the marking).

Even if you do have a computer that's compatible, though, you have to find 2gb unregistered non-ECC sticks. I have some here that don't belong to me(and that reminds me that I need to get them shipped to their owner) but they're not easy to find.

That aside, I have a Quad where I went to the trouble of loading it up with 16gb. I struggle to use more than about 6gb of RAM. Even a lot of PPC "heavy" programs are 32 bit and can't use more than 3gb of RAM anyway(looking at you, Photoshop). You also have weird cases where you think you're doing yourself a favor with a lot of RAM, such as if you try to run VPC, and then find out that it runs better with less than the full amount of RAM allocated.

16gb in my Quad is about as useful as 1.5gb in my 9600, although fortunately it cost a lot less than the latter.

Click to expand...

I think that's for the Xserve G5 which does support up to 16Gb of RAM based on the official Apple document. Not the PCIX desktop model which only supports up to 8Gb of ram based on 8 slots.

It's true that there is little point in maxing out the RAM to 8Gb let alone 16Gb unless you want to create a giant RAM disk for caching purposes. But with the advent of SSD and Hybrid SSD drives, you no longer need to do that anymore. My G5 loads and respond really super quick with a SSD/HD hybrid in it already and with 4Gb of ram which is more than enough for CS3 unless you are loading very very large files.

iluvmacs99 said:

I think that's for the Xserve G5 which does support up to 16Gb of RAM based on the official Apple document. Not the PCIX desktop model which only supports up to 8Gb of ram based on 8 slots.

It's true that there is little point in maxing out the RAM to 8Gb let alone 16Gb unless you want to create a giant RAM disk for caching purposes. But with the advent of SSD and Hybrid SSD drives, you no longer need to do that anymore. My G5 loads and respond really super quick with a SSD/HD hybrid in it already and with 4Gb of ram which is more than enough for CS3 unless you are loading very very large files.

Click to expand...

I need to try it in the dual 2.7, which should work if any DDR-based G5 does.

As for me-when I was still using the dual 2.7 I was routinely working with scanned files in CS4 that were in the ballpark of 160,000x200,000 pixels. It was still pokey even with the RAM allocation maxed and two scratch disks. I never had an SSD, although if I went to do it on the G5 I'd probably add one now.

bunnspecial said:

I need to try it in the dual 2.7, which should work if any DDR-based G5 does.

As for me-when I was still using the dual 2.7 I was routinely working with scanned files in CS4 that were in the ballpark of 160,000x200,000 pixels. It was still pokey even with the RAM allocation maxed and two scratch disks. I never had an SSD, although if I went to do it on the G5 I'd probably add one now.

Click to expand...

Having an SSD definitely will help as it has close to zero latency and if you RAID them together on the G5 would help on the disk I/O part. On my Mac Pro, I have both my SSD and HD array raided so I can work on 4K material and edit up to 80MP files even with a lowly 18Gb of ram. The SSD and HD RAID 0 array help a lot in maximizing performance in Photoshop.

Generic DDR-400 works fine. I filled mine up with Corsair Value Select sticks that were spare at work, originally fitted as an upgrade to IBM ThinkCentre P4 towers. Hardly anything will use all 8GB though. Although it's fun to see 10.2.7 report 8GB!