Powerbook G4 RAM Help?!

[helios16v]

hello everyone, i have a powerbook g4 DLSD/HR(dual layer super drive/high resolution) 1.67GHz aluminum laptop. standard 80gb hard drive and upgraded 1gb stick of ram when i bought it making 1.5gb

i was checking online and on everymac.com it says this laptop can only go up to 2gb of ram max but on tiger direct i found the exact fitting ram for this laptop that comes in 2gb chips?

does this mean everymac.com is just out dated because this was said when only 1gb pc2 4200 ram sticks were made or can the powerbook not handle 4gb of ram and thats why its only 1gb sticks max?
the reason i was thinking this is wrong is because it says it takes pc2-4200 ddr ram. my mac under "about this mac" says 1.5gb ddr2 sdram. there for everymac.com is wrong when it said it uses ddr ram because my mac has ddr2 ram.

i was just going to buy a single 1gb stick for this and max the ram out but once i found out i can double what i was going to have i decided its worth asking about it.

thanks to anyone who can help
-Ben

 

[HBeagley]

Max RAM in 1.5GHz PB

I would go to Crucial and download there Mac System Scanner and that will tell you exactly how much RAM your PowerBook can handle.

Also Crucial will sell RAM that runs at the correct Speeds ect.

As not all RAM will work in the PowerBooks my PowerBook G4 12" can only take 1.5GB of RAM.

I think you model has some memory soldered to the logic board as mine has 128MB soldered to the logic board plus the 256MB Module in the expansion slot.

http://www.crucial.com/mac/index.aspx and click "download the Scanner" and it will tell you what you can get for your powerbook.

HBeagley

 

[clyde2801]

The 15" powerbook is limited by its hardware to 2 gigs of ram; it will not be able to use more than that. Likewise, the 12" powerbook is limited to 1.25 gigs of ram.

 

[helios16v]

this just made things even more confusing.
that program said it failed to find blah blah blah so i had to put in all of my laptop info on the webpage that popped up and it said my laptop can only handle max of 2gb and not to exceed 1gb per slot.

so that answers my question.. kinda..
it also says the laptop comes with 512mb pre installed which mine still has the oem ram in it. now the problem is that program/site says i need DDR PC2700

IN the "about this mac" section under more info it says the 512mb stick in this laptop is DDR2 PC2-4200 ??!?

so clearly this is wrong because my laptop can run ddr2 pc2-4200 ram yet im getting different information from other sites?

should i just drop the whole 4gb idea and go for a single 1gb stick of ddr2 pc2-4200 ram to match the other one in here or would this really be work looking into this more?

-Ben

 

[gr8tfly]

The maximum it can handle is 2GB, so it sounds like you would want to buy an additional 1GB PC2-4200 DDR2 200-pin SODIMM (for a total of 2GB). (source: MacTracker & Apple)

Only the DL SD model took DDR2.

 

[macstatic]

Like the original poster I also have a 1.67 GHz Powerbook G4 with 1.5 GB RAM and would like to upgrade to 2 GB.
I used Kingston's memory tool to find out which memory to buy, but to confuse things even more there seems to be "generic" memory and "system specific" memory (the latter being the most expensive).
I posted about this in another thread where nobody's replied so far, so I'm wondering if someone here knows if I can just go for the "generic" memory and save a bunch in the process?

 

[rdowns]

Buy the system specific RAM. Macs are notoriously flaky with cheap RAM.

 

[macstatic]

When I bought the Kingston 1 GB memory module more than 3 years ago I didn't know there was such a thing as "system specific", so I just asked for a 1 GB with the specifications needed. It's worked fine ever since.
If I am to follow your advice and buy system specific memory for it I need to scrap all my existing memory and buy two 1 GB modules.
Do I really need to do that?

PS. The RAM I bought wasn't cheap (and not in the sense that it was a "no-name" brand either).

 

[techkingston08]

Powerbook G4 Maxes out at 2GB

Hi,

Kingston's configuration tool shows this system maxes out at 2GB of memory, see the link below. http://www.ec.kingston.com/ecom/con...67GHz+(PC2-4200)&distributor=0&submit1=Search

Kingston's system specific memory (part number KTA-PB533/1GB) is guaranteed compatible with this laptop. The memory is also covered by a lifetime warranty.

You can currently buy this product directly from Kingston for $37 (as of 11/5).
http://shop.kingston.com/partsinfo.asp?ktcpartno=KTA-PB533/1G

 

[California]

The 12" Powerbooks had only 128mbs of ram soldered on the board in the first two revisions. when they hit 1.33 and 1.5ghz, Apple put 256mbs on the board. No 12" powerbook could take more than 1 gig extra because they only have one memory slot. Total for last revision powerbook of ram is 1.25gb.

On the 15" aluminum powerbooks, they had two memory slots.

The first revisions took DDR 2700 ram. The final revision which OP owns, takes faster DDR2 ram. I think there is some advantage to having matched pairs of ram, but I could be wrong.