More Than 1 GB RAM in a G4 iMac?

[~Shard~]

I have a 1.25 GHz G4 17" iMac, and bought it with a 512 MB stick of RAM in the factory slot and then added my own 512 MB stick in the user-accessible slot. My question is, could I swap out my 512 MB stick for a 1 GB stick? Would my iMac recognize it?

Furthermore, is this true of most G4s? At the time it was stated that the max my iMac could have was 1 GB, but is that because 1 GB sticks weren't really prevalent at the time, or is there some programming that limits this? If so, why, and how does that work?

The new eMacs appear to be able to take a 1GB stick, so why not 2x1 GB sticks? (And they are G4s...) Along these lines, can a Mac mini take a 2 GB stick?

Just wondering if anyone had any insight into this...

 

[joecool85]

I just went through the same thought process on my rev a PB. No, it won't work. The logic board won't recognize it as more than 512mb. :-( But who needs more than a gb of RAM anyway?

 

[~Shard~]

I just went through the same thought process on my rev a PB. No, it won't work. The logic board won't recognize it as more than 512mb. :-( But who needs more than a gb of RAM anyway?

RAM's getting cheaper, so I thought "Why not?". If it'll make my machine even snappier, might as well... But yes, on the one hand, I don't really NEED more than 1 GB of RAM - but on the other hand, I seem to remember saying, "Who needs more than 64 MB of RAM anyway?" about 3 or 4 years ago as well...

So the logic board in your PNB won't recognize more - is this the case for the iMac logic board then too? Why is this the case, why is it "capped" so to speak?

 

[yellow]

Shard, according to Mactracker, your model of iMac can have up to 1536MB.

 

[~Shard~]

Shard, according to Mactracker, your model of iMac can have up to 1536MB.

Cool, I wasn't even aware of this application, just downloading it now...

 

[~Shard~]

Interesting, it says my iMac can theoretically hold 2 GB of RAM. But, since the factory slot has only 512 MB in it, the most I could add is a 1 GB stick, bringing it up to 1.5 GB. Good to know! And handy little app!

 

[Mord]

867MHz powerbooks can take 1GB dimms they are just a little picky, order from a place that sells it as working with a 12" 867MHz powerbook like www.macsales.com or http://www.ramdirect.com/vcom/product_info.php?cPath=2_40_44&products_id=55, my sister has 1.16GB ram in her 800MHz G4 ibook and it works fine.

the imac can take 1GB dimms, you could easily replaced the user accessible dimm with a 1GB stick or you could with a bit of work (involes replaceing thermal paste ect you need a service manual a flat clear surface and about an hour to do it) replace the internal module with a 1GB dimm, which is allot cheaper as the internal slot is a dimm and the user slot is an SO-dimm

 

[~Shard~]

the imac can take 1GB dimms, you could easily replaced the user accessible dimm with a 1GB stick or you could with a bit of work (involes replaceing thermal paste ect you need a service manual a flat clear surface and about an hour to do it) replace the internal module with a 1GB dimm, which is allot cheaper as the internal slot is a dimm and the user slot is an SO-dimm

Yeah, I'm aware of the process in getting at that factory slot, but for me, it's just not worth the time and effort. Plus, I'm only entertaining this idea, it's not like I'm unhappy with 1 GB of RAM. But yes, I realize a 1 GB DIMM would be a lot less expensive than a 1 GB SO-DIMM.

At any rate, this is good to know, and maybe when 1 GB modules come down even more in price I'll pick one up as a treat for my iMac.

 

[dops7107]

Interesting, it says my iMac can theoretically hold 2 GB of RAM. But, since the factory slot has only 512 MB in it, the most I could add is a 1 GB stick, bringing it up to 1.5 GB. Good to know! And handy little app!

Cool program, but what's the point of the start up chime button? ;-)

Doesn't have the latest eMac update yet - but I guess that's a bit soon to expect it just yet! Still says max 1 GB. So what was eveyone else on about, saying it could take 2 GB?

 

[~Shard~]

Cool program, but what's the point of the start up chime button? ;-)

Doesn't have the latest eMac update yet - but I guess that's a bit soon to expect it just yet! Still says max 1 GB. So what was eveyone else on about, saying it could take 2 GB?

The chime button is one of those cool little pointless extras you find in programs like this. I'm going to play around with that feature just for kicks.

In theory, the new eMac should be able to handle 2 GB of memory, no? I would question why you would need that much in an eMac, but regardless, it should be possible... Someone correct me if I'm wrong...

 

[Mord]

every mac which has used DDR ram supports at least 1GB dimms from the 867MHz MDD G4(http://developer.apple.com/document...owerMacG4/4Expansion/chapter_5_section_2.html) to the new emac, if it has DDR 1GB dimms are supported, some may not like certain dimms but it's possible with some research it'll work, 2GB dimms i'm not sure about, they work in the G5 powermac and xserve and should do in the imac g5 but i have not come across a report) but i have not seen reports of them working in G4's

 

[punkmac]

more than 1 gig RAM...

* I posted a question like this before, yes your iMac will hold more. I'm just waiting for the RAM to drop a little more.

2 gig DIMMs will not work in G4's. I read an article in MACWORLD where the guy wanted to max out his mini. He changed everything but after poping in a 2 gig stick it didn't work.

Hope this helped..



I.

 

[~Shard~]

* I posted a question like this before, yes your iMac will hold more. I'm just waiting for the RAM to drop a little more.

2 gig DIMMs will not work in G4's. I read an article in MACWORLD where the guy wanted to max out his mini. He changed everything but after poping in a 2 gig stick it didn't work.

Hope this helped..



I.

Cool, thanks for the input. I was pretty sure 2 GB sticks wouldn't work at all, but that's kind of being excessive anyway...

 

[Mechcozmo]

Cool program, but what's the point of the start up chime button? ;-)

Because they've changed over the years. They are really cool to listen too!

every mac which has used DDR ram supports at least 1GB dimms from the 867MHz MDD G4(http://developer.apple.com/document...owerMacG4/4Expansion/chapter_5_section_2.html) to the new emac, if it has DDR 1GB dimms are supported, some may not like certain dimms but it's possible with some research it'll work, 2GB dimms i'm not sure about, they work in the G5 powermac and xserve and should do in the imac g5 but i have not come across a report) but i have not seen reports of them working in G4's

The iMac G5 and the PowerMac G5 use different RAM controllers. The Xserve G5 and the PowerMac G5 however use the same RAM controllers.

The bottom-of-the-line G5 (single) is a lot like the iMac G5... so I'm not sure if they support 2 GB DIMMs.

 

[7on]

Yeah, my powerbook uses SDR so no 1GB moduls for me. And to think, if would have gotten the 12" 867Mhz at the same time I could have gotten a Gig module for way less than I paid for my 15"