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cost justification of G5 memory from apple?

U

uspcommuter

macrumors regular
Original poster
Hello everyone,

Currently thinking of choosing what brand of memory to upgrade to my dual 2.5 G5 that i have in order(most likely crucial). One thing do come into my mind, I do want to see if I can max out the 8GB limit, so I plan on getting 1gb sticks, but one thing always come across is everyone (including myself) complains about apple's price on the 1Gb sticks. Does anyone know is there a justification on their part other than they want to make money? or do they offer better quality (i.e. lower CL value like a 2?) or it comes with a warranty that most dont know about? Anyone care to enlighten me on this topic? Also has anyone actually got apple memory and see a difference? Also on a side note, has anyone max out the 8GB limit? How does it feel?

Thanks

Tony
 
Nope, no justification except that you get to help goose Apple's bottom line -- being the extra profit you're tossing into Apple's coffers by not shopping around.

Nothing special about it, except that it's covered under Apple's warranty/aftermarket service instead of some 3rd party's limited lifetime warranty.
 
i think apple uses samsung ram (or something with an S). i think they tweak it to their own settings (i.e. i hear they use a CL of 2.5, which i've never seen elsewhere). i doubt you would notice the difference in performance if you got ram from a reputable dealer (i don't like crucial, but everyone else here does...so go figure).

you won't notice a performance difference with 1gb of ram to 8gb's of ram, unless you are actually using that much memory (i don't know what you would need 8gb's of ram for...do you?).

my feeling is this...
you bought a $3k+ machine. why skimp on one of the most crucial components (aside from motherboard and CPU) of a computer? for consumers, it makes little difference, for a G5, i'd want everything stock.

it's like buying a BMW M Series and then swapping the tires and rims for some gawdy aftermarket bling bling.

mikeyredk said:
It works!!! you don't have to worry about KPs from bad memory
Click to expand...
crack is not healthy.

bad memory is in fact the #1 cause of kernel panics (BSoD) in OS X. #2 is bad code.
 
BTW, if you buy from Crucial, just be aware that they use dynamic pricing, meaning that the price for memory will change according to which browser / platform, etc. you are using. Experiment with different browsers (and if possible) platforms to get the best possible price. 🙂
 
BrianKonarsMac said:
i think apple uses samsung ram (or something with an S). i think they tweak it to their own settings (i.e. i hear they use a CL of 2.5, which i've never seen elsewhere). i doubt you would notice the difference in performance if you got ram from a reputable dealer (i don't like crucial, but everyone else here does...so go figure).
Click to expand...
Yes I thought it was Hynix, which the Japanese govt is a little pissed at for dumping memory into their market.
 
I believe they use different memory - sometimes I believe I've gotten Samsung preinstalled, in my G5 it was Nanya.
 
alexf said:
BTW, if you buy from Crucial, just be aware that they use dynamic pricing, meaning that the price for memory will change according to which browser / platform, etc. you are using. Experiment with different browsers (and if possible) platforms to get the best possible price. 🙂
Click to expand...

Placed an order of 2 x 512 MB on Saturday (using Firefox) .... $177.98 (including discount and tax) or
 
Hoef said:
Placed an order of 2 x 512 MB on Saturday (using Firefox) .... $177.98 (including discount and tax) or
Click to expand...

For G5 memory! Wow, that's cheap...

I believe that Firefox will get you a low price (Safari users will probably pay more).
 
phiberoptik957 said:
Where did you get the statistics?
Click to expand...
sarcasm on the internet just never works does it?

i have no idea what causes kernel panics. i'm not a programmer. this advertisement was not endorsed by brian konar.
 
Sun Baked said:
Yes I thought it was Hynix, which the Japanese govt is a little pissed at for dumping memory into their market.
Click to expand...
so is this new ram supplier only in the G5's so far, or does it go back to other machines? I've only recieved Samsung ram from apple.
 
There's never any real reason to buy RAM from Apple, whether it be the 1 GB sticks or anything else - it is essentially a rip off, and although I like helping Apple's profits, I also am a smart consumer and know I can get better deals elsewhere for just as high quality RAM.

The hard and fast rule is, "Never buy RAM from Apple!"
 
uspcommuter said:
Hello everyone,

Currently thinking of choosing what brand of memory to upgrade to my dual 2.5 G5 that i have in order(most likely crucial). One thing do come into my mind, I do want to see if I can max out the 8GB limit, so I plan on getting 1gb sticks, but one thing always come across is everyone (including myself) complains about apple's price on the 1Gb sticks. Does anyone know is there a justification on their part other than they want to make money? or do they offer better quality (i.e. lower CL value like a 2?) or it comes with a warranty that most dont know about? Anyone care to enlighten me on this topic? Also has anyone actually got apple memory and see a difference? Also on a side note, has anyone max out the 8GB limit? How does it feel?

Thanks

Tony
Click to expand...

The only reason to buy Apple memory is if you enjoy throwing money away. Or if your buying through your company and its easier to spec from one vendor. Or, I suppose if you like the little Apple logo on the box the ram comes in. Apple doesn't manufacture ram, they get it from the same places as everyone else. As long as the specs are good, feel free to buy from anywhere reputable. Personally, I like Crucial.
 
alexf said:
BTW, if you buy from Crucial, just be aware that they use dynamic pricing, meaning that the price for memory will change according to which browser / platform, etc. you are using. Experiment with different browsers (and if possible) platforms to get the best possible price. 🙂
Click to expand...

I'm personally not planning on buying RAM anytime soon, but this is a really good piece of info to know - I had no idea! I'll definitely keep this gem in mind when it's time for some more RAM. I find it curious that their pricing is platform/browser dependent, but whatever I guess... How did you come across this bit of info?
 
That's interesting that Crucial does the dynamic pricing as mentioned. I wonder why Crucial would price discriminate based on browser choice? Is it possibly because they assume that a more educated consumer would be more likely to use an alternative browser such as Firefox and therefore could more easily find lower prices?
 
Well as it stands Panter and below can only use 4gigs max of ram. if you have more than that is just is not used. This is due to the limitions of the 32 bit OS. I have a feeling tiger will be the same due to the fact is base is still a 32 bit that can use some 64 bit Processor but then again onces you cross 1 gig all the other gains are miniumal
 
Sun Baked said:
Nothing special about it, except that it's covered under Apple's warranty/aftermarket service instead of some 3rd party's limited lifetime warranty.
Click to expand...

For what that's worth. One of the two original dimms in my two month old 2x1.8 G5 has gone bad, fails the AHT memory test and seems to be generating symptoms very similar to the ATI GUI/Quartz Extreme hang. The two new Crucial dimms I added myself after it arrived are fine.

Unfortunately I'm in the UK, and memory isn't classed as a user serviceable part, so to get a working stock configuration I'm going to have to take the G5 into a partner service centre and leave it there a couple of days while they change the memory. They could collect/return it, but that'll just add another two days to the time it's away.

Means I'm not going to bother getting the memory fixed until something serious goes wrong. According to the Apple tech I spoke to if I'd bought AppleCare there's a chance one of their engineer partners would make an on-site visit to change the DIMMS, but it's by no means certain. I will buy AppleCare for the long-term peace of mind, but having to buy it upfront for the possibility of decent service is pretty funny...

(Apple's policy probably makes sense for the majority of their non-technical users, so I understand where they're coming from).
 
Timelessblur said:
Well as it stands Panter and below can only use 4gigs max of ram. if you have more than that is just is not used. This is due to the limitions of the 32 bit OS. I have a feeling tiger will be the same due to the fact is base is still a 32 bit that can use some 64 bit Processor but then again onces you cross 1 gig all the other gains are miniumal
Click to expand...

Completely untrue. While many individual applications can still only address 4 GB of RAM (including Panther), the system itself can still allocate 8 GB of RAM, and any applications written for 64-bit processors can address 8 GB of RAM. The shell is simply an application, and is thirty-two bits and therefore can only address 4 GB of RAM, but on a more fundamental level, Panther has some 64-bit capabilities, including the ability to "see" 8 GB of RAM and allocate it to other applications.
 
Daveman Deluxe said:
That's interesting that Crucial does the dynamic pricing as mentioned. I wonder why Crucial would price discriminate based on browser choice? Is it possibly because they assume that a more educated consumer would be more likely to use an alternative browser such as Firefox and therefore could more easily find lower prices?
Click to expand...

Guys, its not the browser. Crucial prices things based on what's in your cookies. If you buy expensive items online (like a G5 😉 ), or have a history of spending money online, they make sure you pay a higher price. If you're broke and don't buy anything online, they sell you the RAM at a lower price. Why? If you're poor and see reasonably priced RAM that everyone recommends, you'll part with your money because it's not too expensive. If you're rich, then you won't care because Crucial is the RAM that people recommend to you. This way, poorer people aren't as turned off by the price. As long as rich people never see the RAM for $25 cheaper, they won't know any better, right?

For Powerbook RAM, the price difference for a 512MB stick of RAM can be $30. Anyway, the reason the price is different on each browser is because the cookies are different using each browser.

Go to the Crucial store using ANY browser, clear your cookies, disable your cookies, go to the page with the RAM you want and keep hitting "Refresh Page" and watch the price change. Oh, and keep hitting Refresh until you get the price you want. For 12" PB, I got a price of around $96 for a 512MB stick of RAM. 😎
 
BrianKonarsMac said:
crack is not healthy.

bad memory is in fact the #1 cause of kernel panics (BSoD) in OS X. #2 is bad code.
Click to expand...

reading comprehension *is* healthy. he was clearly stating that you don't have to worry about getting KPs from your memory if you buy it from apple. thus the comment about it working. that may not be a true statement, but it makes your comment completely unnecessary.
 
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