Last revision 15" 1.67ghz Powerbook's VRAM?? Confused

California said:

Were there three revisions of the 1.67ghz Powerbook?

A 64mb vram version, a 128mb vram with standard screen and a final rev powerbook with 128mb vram but a higher resolution screen?

I don't get what the difference is? Would the final rev. be better at running an external monitor? Is the final revision faster? And was there a middle revision with 128vram?

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Final rev had a 128MB video card, higher res and dual-link DVI standard.

This is the one that had the lower resolution, but could still have 128MB VRAM as a BTO. It uses PC2700... it's the computer you're describing.

This is the final "HD" one that had Dual-Layer.

OH yes folks.

sneeky apple puts the 533mhz ram and then on the last gen puts in 333mhz so ****ed up thats why i had to sell mine and go right to MBP.


you know the reason, so the core duo would seem even faster compared to the G4. I hear people who have the faster ram its just great.

PowerPC really had to go.........it was a no brainer!

capone2 said:

sneeky apple puts the 533mhz ram and then on the last gen puts in 333mhz so ****ed up thats why i had to sell mine and go right to MBP.

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Are you sure about that? The REV D powerbooks (non hi-res 1.67 ghz) use PC2700 DDR and the REV E powerbooks (hi-res 1.67 ghz) use PC4200 DDR2 ram. The final powerbooks had the 533 mhz not the REV Ds.

To the OP: you are right, there's 3 different 1.67 ghz 15" powerbooks. There's the REV D version with a 64 MB single link ATI 9700, a REV D with a 128 MB dual link ATI 9700 (this was a BTO option), and the REV E dual link ATI 9700 with a higher resolution screen and a Dual Layer DVD burner.

The REV E powerbooks, display, DVD burner, and DDR 2 memory not withstanding, are identical to the REV D BTO powerbook with the 128 MB ATI 9700. The 128 MB 9700 is dual link, which means that it can run the 30" ACD. 64 MB versions of the card are single link and can only power a max resolution of 1900 x 1200.

The REV E powerbooks also had a higher resolution built in screen as-well. It has a 1400 x 960 resolution compared to the REV D's 1280 x 854 pixel display. Finally, some of the REV E powerbooks exhibited banding and horizontal lines on their screens. This isn't a problem with the REV Ds.

lowendmac has a synopsis of all the powerbook models.

I have the second to the last which has pc 2700 (333 mhz) ram with 128mb vram and the lower res screen. The ram was never brought down in speed. I thought I has the last and greatest Power Pc laptop for a while. The last revs screen is actually better than the first MBP's.

If you get one with the 128MB video card, it has dual link, and you can run the 30" ACD at native resolution. Once you get there, it doesn't make a difference what the internal screen's resolution is, in terms of what is output to the ACD -- the ACD will run at the same (native) resolution on both Powerbooks.