How hard is it to solder big DIMMs?

[rabidz7]

I am asking because the RAM in my 12" is quite low, and seeing it isn'r BGA, I wondered what would happen if I soldered on 1GB, ore maybe even 2GB? I know a 2GB chip would exceed apple specs for the chip, but not freescale's, a 1GB would theoretically work, but would it work when attempted?

 

[666sheep]

Only way to answer your question is to try this. 1GB would theoretically work, but you'd need to replace all 4 512Mb chips with 2Gb ones. TBH IDK whether such chips with compatible specs (bit organization, bank number etc) were even made by Samsung.
Soldering these is possible only for professional electronics workshop equipped with right soldering station.

TL;DR: don't bother

 

[Intell]

Since Freescale didn't design the Powerbook's memory controller Apple did, the machine would still be limited to 2GB of accessible of ram.

 

[ChrisA]

I am asking because the RAM in my 12" is quite low, and seeing it isn'r BGA, I wondered what would happen if I soldered on 1GB, ore maybe even 2GB? I know a 2GB chip would exceed apple specs for the chip, but not freescale's, a 1GB would theoretically work, but would it work when attempted?

You'd need a hot air re-work station. You can get a decent one for $100 at Sparkfun.com. If will take a few hours to learn to use it. Prctice on junk like old PC motherboards, take the chips off and solder them back on.

You will also need some kind of magnifier to inspect your work

For a one-off job you should hire out the work even if they charge $100/hour.

Here is a hot air system and a video of using it.
https://www.sparkfun.com/products/10706

Notice where the guy in the video says "If the board starts to smoke or warp..." Well yo have to practice enough on those old dumpster boards that smoke just does not happen. Do about 100 chips that are junk before working on something you care about. It is not hard to learn