I recently was notified my G5 was on its way. I didnt expect it, so I have little time to prepare. I bought the machine with 512 ram, becuase I would buy the rest later for a cheaper price. I need now to buy superb ram without the added hefty price tag that apple sticks on. What type do I need and where is a good place to buy it, furthermore, any brand recommendations.
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G5 coming, what about RAM
- Thread starter kenyabob
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Congrats!
I'm assuming that you bought a 1.8GHz or 2x2.0GHz machine, in which case you want "PC3200" 184-Pin DIMM memory.
BUT THIS IS KEY: You have to buy it in pairs. Most on-line retailers will sell them in pairs anyway to help you out (e.g., they'll offer a 1GB RAM upgrade for the G5 which will be 2x512MB DIMMS).
As far as brands, I use EDGE because I heard somewhere from someone (which is to say, pure rumor) that the woman who was the primary architect of Photoshop only uses EDGE. Look around for pricing at the regular on-line Mac shops (ClubMac, MacMall, etc.). If you're going to buy a lot, I'd actually call them because some places are willing to bargain a bit on the phone -- I got ClubMac to cut $20 of my tablet that way. Not much but it paid for shipping. Squeaky hamster gets the grease!
I'm assuming that you bought a 1.8GHz or 2x2.0GHz machine, in which case you want "PC3200" 184-Pin DIMM memory.
BUT THIS IS KEY: You have to buy it in pairs. Most on-line retailers will sell them in pairs anyway to help you out (e.g., they'll offer a 1GB RAM upgrade for the G5 which will be 2x512MB DIMMS).
As far as brands, I use EDGE because I heard somewhere from someone (which is to say, pure rumor) that the woman who was the primary architect of Photoshop only uses EDGE. Look around for pricing at the regular on-line Mac shops (ClubMac, MacMall, etc.). If you're going to buy a lot, I'd actually call them because some places are willing to bargain a bit on the phone -- I got ClubMac to cut $20 of my tablet that way. Not much but it paid for shipping. Squeaky hamster gets the grease!
Shouldnt it be "Squeaky Hamster gets the 'cheese?'"
or maybe alfalfa pellets?
Salt block?
No I got it--'running wheel.'
or maybe alfalfa pellets?
Salt block?
No I got it--'running wheel.'
Samsung 256MB True PC3200 400MHz DDR SDRAM DDR400 CAS 2.5 CL2.5 unbuffered. 184pin.
This configuration would work, granted I buy two?
This configuration would work, granted I buy two?
Originally posted by wdlove
Isn't it true that if you buy memory from a third party, you are on your own? It goes back to the security issue. If you purchase from Apple you pay a little more, but it will be covered under Apple Care!
Yes and no.
If you buy RAM from Apple, and there's something wrong with the RAM itself, then Apple Care will cover the replacement of the RAM. If you buy it from someone else, you'll have to convince that manufacturer that they should replace it if the RAM itself is defective.
So, as I understand it, Apple RAM (regardless of actual manufacturer) can be fixed through Apple, whereas RAM that you buy in the aftermarket has to be fixed/replaced by that company. Which is to say that you're only "on your own" to the extent that your RAM manufacturer refuses to back its products. If you feel more confident that Apple will come through, then it may be worth while to buy RAM from Apple.
Sleeping easy is worth something -- you have to decide whether it worth as much as Apple asks.
Since RAM installation is considered a user-level operation, it doesn't affect your Applecare.
Here's Apple's INFO PAGE on the RAM upgrades, including which bays to use first.
I bought mine from crucial. Prices good, and I never had problems with there stuff before. I stopped in the Apple Store the day before I ordered, jsut to see the prices. They wanted, without exaggeration, 5x the price I paid online. Rediculous.
Corsair makes great RAM, but I'm not sure if they'll work in a Mac. I imagine they would. They make great matched pair RAM with low CAS. You can alwasy checkout PriceWatch.com for Ram prices.. If you're in the 1GB - 4GB area they're usually sold in pairs..
Hey there! ...just an open question:
How does one know for sure that the RAM in a Mac is defective?
Test other RAM... If problems stop, then it probably is the RAM. I'm not sure if there's tool for testing it yet on OS X>
Sorry
...but I don't understand. Do you mean that if someone were to think that the RAM might be the the cause of a problem, they would have to:1) Buy a new RAM module (or two, in my case: [size=1.5]2 x [/size]512...)
2) Then test it out and compare the performance with the older one
3) If the problem is solved, then discard the old RAM
and keep the new one? [thereby loosing $320, from what I paid!!!]4) If not... then what to do??? Obviously they can't return the opened RAM... [In addition, since my PB will have only 2 slots, I would not be able to even add more memory without removing the chips already present....and it wouldn't make sense to replace 'em either!]
So THEN what could be done in such a situation?
Well what makes you think your RAM is bad in the first place? Are you having frequent crashes? There's a lot of variables. Unfortunately there's no easy way of verifying if RAM is the cause of such problem.Originally posted by Prabz
Sorry
1) Buy a new RAM module (or two, in my case: [size=1.5]2 x [/size]512...)
2) Then test it out and compare the performance with the older one
3) If the problem is solved, then discard the old RAM
4) If not... then what to do??? Obviously they can't return the opened RAM... [In addition, since my PB will have only 2 slots, I would not be able to even add more memory without removing the chips already present....and it wouldn't make sense to replace 'em either!]
So THEN what could be done in such a situation?
For example: I thought I had bought a stick of bad RAM because my computer kept crashing after I installed it. Then I removed each stick until I had the original amount. Problem occurred, but less often. Then I reinstalled the OS and put all the RAM back in. The problem cease to exist. I had another problem of my computer crashing coming out of sleep mode. Found out that if I left my POI flash card reading in the USB port, the computer would crash. So it's all a matter of trouble shooting.
Apparently there's a Free RAM checker on www.versiontracker.com I can't verify because I couldn't bring the site up this morning, but you may want to check it out. Try a google search for a RAM checker too.
Their more expensive stuff does, I believe, work in G5s, although the cool Pro models with the LEDs don't physically fit underneath the fans, according to a report on MacFixIt a little while ago.
Be careful with budget RAM if you've got a G5, though--they're sensitive about flaky RAM, for one thing, and apparently Corsair's dirt-cheap budget memory isn't JDEC compliant, which the G5s require. Their expensive stuff is, though.
I personally bought two pairs of 512MB modules from Crucial; their prices were only a tad higher than the cheapest generic stuff on DealRAM, they've got a lifetime warranty, they guarantee X ram will work in X Mac, and I've had zero problems with what I bought.
No need for the cool leads if you don't have a see through door. However, i'd probably go with blue or silver heat spreaders...