Help, any other ways to reduce the cost of a G5?

[reajesse]

hello all,
I am an creative advertising student soon to buying my first mac. I'm planning on getting a 1.8 G5. I was wondering if there were any other ways besides buying my additional 512 RAM from an outside source, and is that even a good idea? Will outside RAM cause possible problems with the system operating at maximum efficiency? I am planning on getting the combo drive instead of the superdrive to also help. Are there any other ways I can reduce the overall cost by buying third party or other options for the G5 that are really not necessary for someone not in a business type setting yet?

thanks for any help, i really appreciate it

also, is installing third party RAM easy? i've never done any of my own installation of hardware, i know my way around the OS and software and that's about it

jesse

 

[Sun Baked]

About all you can delete is the SuperDrive.

Not getting an LCD display and using any monitor you currently have will defer front end cost.

Buying with a student discount would also help.

 

[XnavxeMiyyep]

If your a student, you may be able to get an education discount. Outside RAM should work fine if it's the right type(PC3200). Also, RAM is easy to install on a PM G4, so I would imagine it would be easy to install on a G5. You could also use the payment plan and pay $50 or so per month for a few years.

 

[Simon Liquid]

Drop the modem and you can save $30. It's probably more like $25 on the Education store, I imagine.

 

[Pete_Hoover]

No, outside RAM will not mess things up. It is the same thing that is in the machine to begin with, only you buy it from another source and save $$$.

 

[morlium]

if you buy it from an online reseller (NOT the Apple Store), you'll save on tax.

 

[Foxer]

Originally posted by morlium
if you buy it from an online reseller (NOT the Apple Store), you'll save on tax.

Yes, but you may lose the student discount if you do.

 

[Lyle]

Re: Help, any other ways to reduce the cost of a G5?

Originally posted by reajesse
I am an creative advertising student soon to buying my first mac. I'm planning on getting a 1.8 G5 ... Are there any other ways I can reduce the overall cost by buying third party or other options for the G5 that are really not necessary for someone not in a business type setting yet?

I would echo what others have said about making sure you get whatever kinds of student discounts are available to you.

One program that is of special interest to me (since my University doesn't seem to have any special arrangements with Apple) is the Apple Developer Connection's Student Developer program. When you join this program (for $99/year) you get a one-time hardware discount of around 20 percent. To put this in perspective, the list price for the "standard" 1.8 GHz PowerMac G5 is $2,399.00 at the Apple Store, but with this hardware discount it's only $1,919.00 -- a net savings of about $380.00.

 

[bennetsaysargh]

i think you can only save by buying a cheaper moniter or usinfg an old one, and dropping the modem. sorry.

 

[Abstract]

I think you have the right idea on how to save money, but make sure you use your educational discount. What you're planning to do is all you can really do. Can you go to a smaller HD, and possibly buy another HD later to install yourself? If you don't need the space immediately, you may save money that way.

 

[reajesse]

thank you

thank you everyone that has provided information, it has been most helpful

if I join ADC for the $99, is there anything else I will have to pay besides that? are there any hidden fees or actions required on my part? thanks

jesse

 

[reajesse]

question about ADC membership

I was looking through the information about ADC student discount on hardware. It sent me to this link for the store. It lets me select my order up to the point of giving credit card information. It doesn't ask for any verification of my membership with ADC. Will the order not go through because i'm not a member? It looks like it would. Has someone else seen this. Am I crazy or is it possible that I could get the discount without actually being a member? The reason I ask, I was going to get a discount where I work for the summer (an advertising agency) and all you have to do to access that discount is go through their site to the apple store link. So anyone that could get to the link could purchase at the reduced price. Any clearing up of this would be greatly appreciated.
thanks

jesse

 

[blogo]

I was wondering if i buyed 512mb ram from an outside source, should i buy 2x 256mb modules? Can someone confirm that the g5 uses somekinf of dual-channel memory technology?

 

[Lanbrown]

Buy memory manufactured by a reputable company instead of the generic stuff. The big names have a lifetime warranty and manufacture the memory to the same specifications the OEM uses and guarantee compatibility. If you use the cheap stuff on sale at the local computer store, it may or may not work. Sometimes other problems surface as well. Don't skimp too much on the memory.

 

[Lyle]

Re: thank you

Originally posted by reajesse
If I join ADC for the $99, is there anything else I will have to pay besides that? are there any hidden fees or actions required on my part?

Not to my knowledge, although I haven't actually taken advantage of my discount yet. (That is, I have paid the $99.00 to sign up for the ADC Student Program, but haven't bought a computer yet). If you have doubts, give them a call; when I called them (for a different reason) they didn't leave me on hold too long and were very helpful.

 

[Lyle]

Re: question about ADC membership

Originally posted by reajesse
I was looking through the information about ADC student discount on hardware. It sent me to this link for the store. It lets me select my order up to the point of giving credit card information. It doesn't ask for any verification of my membership with ADC. Will the order not go through because i'm not a member? It looks like it would. Has someone else seen this. Am I crazy or is it possible that I could get the discount without actually being a member?

According to this page, "You should confirm that you have verified your student status and have an active ADC Student Membership asset on your Manage Assets page before placing an order; any orders received for unverified students will be cancelled."

 

[Sun Baked]

Originally posted by Eple
I was wondering if i buyed 512mb ram from an outside source, should i buy 2x 256mb modules? Can someone confirm that the g5 uses somekinf of dual-channel memory technology?

It is dual-channel, but it uses a pair (as in two) of 64-bit memory modules.

---

As far as what the memory is...

Originally posted by Sun Baked
RAM Expansion

The main logic board of some configurations of the Power Mac G5 computer have four pairs of DDR SDRAM expansion slots for unbuffered DDR400 (PC3200) dual in-line memory modules (DIMMs) for a maximum memory of 8 GB. The main logic board of other configurations of the Power Mac G5 computer have 2 pairs of DDR SDRAM expansion slots for unbuffered DDR333 (PC2700) dual in-line memory modules (DIMMs) for a maximum memory of 4 GB.

Each DIMM can contain 256 and 512 MB (also is capable of 128 MB, 1 GB, and has future expansion ability of 2 GB) of double data rate synchronous dynamic RAM (DDR SDRAM). At least one pair of the RAM expansion slots contains factory installed DIMMs.

Additional DIMMs must be installed in pairs of the same size. The slot pairs are numbered: J11 and J12, J13 and J14, J41 and J42, and J43 and J44; see Figure 4-1 for slot locations and numbering for both the 8-slot and 4-slot configurations. When installing additional memory, populate starting with the lowest slot pair numbers. The combined memory of all of the DIMMs installed is configured as a contiguous array of memory.

For all microprocessor speeds and for both DDR400 (PC3200) and DDR333 (PC2700) SDRAM DIMMs, the Power Mac G5 supports CAS latencies of 2, 2.5, 3, 4, and 5.

And the Power Mac G5 RAM requirement

DIMM Specifications

The RAM expansion slots accept 184-pin DDR SDRAM DIMMs that are 2.5 volt, unbuffered, 8-byte, nonparity, and DDR400-compliant (PC3200) or DR333-compliant (PC2700).

Important

DDR266 (PC2100) or slower DIMMs do not work in the Power Mac G5 computer.

Important

DIMMs with any of the following features are not supported in the Power Mac G5 computer: registers or buffers, PLLs, ECC, parity, or EDO RAM.

Mechanical Specifications

The mechanical design of the DDR SDRAM DIMM is defined by the JEDEC specification JESD21-C, MODULES4_20_4, Release 11b. To find this specification on the World Wide Web, refer to "RAM Expansion Modules" (page 80).

The maximum height of DIMMs for use in the Power Mac G5 computer is 2 inches.

Electrical Specifications

The electrical design of the SDRAM DIMM is defined by the JEDEC specification JESD21-C, MODULES4_20_4, Release 11b. To find this specification on the World Wide Web, refer to "RAM Expansion Modules" (page 80).

The Serial Presence Detect (SPD) EEPROM specified in the JEDEC standard is required and must be set to properly define the DIMM configuration. The EEPROM is powered on 3.3 V. Details about the required values for each byte on the SPD EEPROM can be found on pages 68-70 of the JEDEC specification.

Important

For a DIMM to be recognized by the startup software, the SPD feature must be programmed properly to indicate the timing modes supported by the DIMM.

 

[illumin8]

Wow... great prices

Man, that ADC one-time hardware discount is sweet!

You can get a Dual 2.0 ghz. G5 for only $2,216.00!!!

You have to remove the Superdrive and the modem for that, but still, that is one sweet deal. I wish I was still in school.