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2GB SO-DIMM!!

G

gangst

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
I was shopping aaround for a 1gb so-dimm upgrade for powerbook to bring it up to 1.256gb, but then I cam across this 2gb so-dimm and was wondering whether a powerbook would be able to use it and whether it would work.

Thanks.
 
gangst said:
I was shopping aaround for a 1gb so-dimm upgrade for powerbook to bring it up to 1.256gb, but then I cam across this 2gb so-dimm and was wondering whether a powerbook would be able to use it and whether it would work.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

I thought that the PB only took up to 1GB so-dimms... Could be wrong.
 
yea me to, but this is brand new technology and i dont think it was around at the time of apple testing
 
hcuar said:
You could always call and ask Apple.
Click to expand...

You think they'd say "sure"? I'm not so sure.

The G5s can use up to 16GB of RAM. A poster for the Xserve G5 advertised "...up to 16GB of RAM..." but that poster was quickly taken down. They use the same memory controllers in the towers as the servers, so its reasonable to assume that you can. Hell of an expensive computer though...
 
i doubt ringing aapple will help me, probably just annoy me lol. does the logic board limit the maximum ram or does the os? because os x 10.3.7 can activley use 4gb and so can windows xp. If thats the only limitaation it should work. Any of you guys know if the 12inch logic board only allows a max. of 1.25gb?
 
gangst said:
i doubt ringing aapple will help me, probably just annoy me lol. does the logic board limit the maximum ram or does the os? because os x 10.3.7 can activley use 4gb and so can windows xp. If thats the only limitaation it should work. Any of you guys know if the 12inch logic board only allows a max. of 1.25gb?
Click to expand...

I don't think that OS X has a 4 GB limit... Perhaps per DIMM limit of 4 GB? Anyhow, it's usually the logic board that limits the RAM. It's incapable of addressing that much memory.
 
If the store has a return policy, just by it an see if it works. If not, return it. If the store says they wouldn't take it back if you returned it, don't chance it.
 
hcuar said:
I don't think that OS X has a 4 GB limit... Perhaps per DIMM limit of 4 GB? Anyhow, it's usually the logic board that limits the RAM. It's incapable of addressing that much memory.
Click to expand...

Its the 32-bit datapath and such. The 32-bit datapath gets you accessing calls for up to 4 GB of RAM. 24-bits got you 8MB, but there was a patch that Apple released to circumvent that (32-bit dirty). 64 bits gets you a huge amount of calls. To many to remember 🙂. But the OS can use the swapfile on the harddrive as a cheating way to get more than 4 GB of RAM.
 
If you look at specs for old Mac models on sites like www.lowendmac.com or www.everymac.com, you often read that they accept higher density RAM than that what was written in the original specs.

It's common that (probably not only) Apple only guarantees currently available size memory to work, because that's the only thing they can test at that time. When there is a problem with components released after the product development and test cycle, they can always say "Hey, stop whining, the specs don't say it's supported, do they?". However, there is a big chance these new components will work.

Your options are:

- Just buy the thing and try (return policy would be nice)
- Call Apple (very small chance they will be able to help you)
- Wait for reports from other people who tried
 
simply put... no. You can not use a 2GB module, the machine will only see 1GB of it. Plus, you have two slots on your machine, unless you have a 12", why pay more for a 2GB module?
 
mgargan1 said:
simply put... no. You can not use a 2GB module, the machine will only see 1GB of it. Plus, you have two slots on your machine, unless you have a 12", why pay more for a 2GB module?
Click to expand...

can you give a reference to backup your claim? because i don't think you are right.

rev. A 12" PB was listed as having max. 640 MB (128 built-in + 512 in one slot) but we all know that 1 GB SODIMM can be added for 1152 MB (1024 + 128 MB) - all recognized.

i don't see any reason why 2 GB won't recognized.

it is, however, very early in the development and i'd be surprised to see any "common" vendors offering it and if it is offered, it'll be very expensive, perhaps over $1000. (1 GB SODIMM was around $800 two years ago... now it's coming down to around $200 or even less for generic ones.)
 
This question comes up with a great number of Apple machines, especially those with soldered memory. In short, Apple tests and guarantees the machines to work with the highest capacity of memory that is readily available at the time that the machine is produced. 2GB memory sticks, either SDIMMs or SODIMMs, are not readily available, as there are few companies making them, and even they produce far fewer of them than 1GBs. As such, Apple didn't test them. Likewise, when the original 12" PowerBook was released, 1GB SODIMMs were not readily available, despite the fact that they will work.

As for the suggestion that the software limits the recognized ram, this is false. Since the advent of OS X, there has not been any significant limitation on recognized ram. The OS is built to recognize more ram than you could possibly stuff into a current machine. OS 9, however, only recognized up to 1.5GB os ram total.

Essentially, if you want to spend the money on the module, it's likely that it's going to work. However, Apple will not support it officially. This isn't to say it will void the warranty, but according to Apple's official line, "It won't work". From a technical standpoint, there seems little reason why it would not work.
 
jxyama said:
can you give a reference to backup your claim? because i don't think you are right.

rev. A 12" PB was listed as having max. 640 MB (128 built-in + 512 in one slot) but we all know that 1 GB SODIMM can be added for 1152 MB (1024 + 128 MB) - all recognized.

i don't see any reason why 2 GB won't recognized.
Click to expand...

I was going to say the exact same thing, and also point out older iBooks.
 
My guess is yes, it can take 2Gig so-dimms. Look here , this company claims that they will work, I would think it would have to or they wouldn't advertise that.
 
Mechcozmo said:
I want. Too. 😀

Birthday present, anyone?
Click to expand...

Actually it's my birthday today so thank you for your generosity! 🙂
guess my age, and i'll send you my email haha ... good deal eh?
 
fuzzwud said:
Actually it's my birthday today so thank you for your generosity! 🙂
guess my age, and i'll send you my email haha ... good deal eh?
Click to expand...

Well happy B-Day! But you'll havet to settle for the congrats. 😀
 
I'm going to go against the crowd and say my guess is no.

Why ?

Because that specific 2gb dimm is ECC Registered Ram. The powerbooks don't use ECC ram...that's something that servers tend to use etc.

I'm not sure if ECC ram will even work in a powerbook, someone else might have more information about this than I do at least...but...that's my guess.

I'm sure a nonregistered 2gb dim would work just fine, but that specific one I would have to say no to.

Justin

EDIT : I just looked at the first link again , it's not ECC registered ram , so I bet that one would work. The second one the 870 dollar one , that is registered, I bet that wouldn't. Maybe.
 
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