RAM Recommendations/Help

[Mr. Anderson]

Ok, so I have an older dual 1.25 GHz G4 with only 512 RAM. It has 4 slots with only one used....I'd like to get some more RAM since I'll be using this machine for a bit and was wondering what type to get and how much extra...should I get two 512s or 3? (I seem to remember that the G4s could only use 1.5 Gig max, but I may be mistaken, especially with Tiger when I install it on this machine next week).

Also, what type do I need? Looking at the system profile I get

Size: 512MB
Type: DDR SDRAM
Speed: PC2600U-25330

So I'm a bit confused as to what SDRAM I need to buy - any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

D

 

[edesignuk]

According to Crucials memory selector, your machine takes "DDR PC3200" (edit: or 2700 it seems on closer inspection), and a maximum of 2GB.

Happy shopping

 

[CanadaRAM]

Hi Mr.A.

Your Dual 1.25 (just like mine BTW) takes PC2700 RAM, it'll take 2 GB
It was the Quicksilvers that were limited to 1.5 Gb

Here's a link
http://www.datamem.com/parts_that_fit_list.asp?M=Power+Mac+G4+Dual+1.25GHz+(M8573LL/A)&MF=Apple&C=

Edit: e is correct in that it will take PC3200 DIMMs, but there is no speed advantage because it'll run them at 333 MHz regardless. Paired DIMMs are also not required or beneficial.

Thanks
Trevor
CanadaRAM.com

 

[Mr. Anderson]

Excellent - I'll probably get it from Crucial....

But as for the using of the memory per application - I do remember that there was a 1 Gig limit to apps at one time - is this still the case?

D

 

[HiRez]

But as for the using of the memory per application - I do remember that there was a 1 Gig limit to apps at one time - is this still the case?

It's 4 GB per process (per application, for all practical purposes) in 10.3. I think that might be going up to some obscene amount in 10.4 but I'm not positive about that.

 

[homerjward]

is there a compusa or circuit city near you? they have that same memory for 37.99 (compusa) and 39.99 (circuit city) after rebates. newegg also has exceptional memory prices.

 

[Mr. Anderson]

Ah, newegg is a bit of a pain to find what you want...

http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Prod...evalue=521:7965,523:7857,524:7860&order=price

And I'm going to check with MacDonald and Associates, they've been pretty good in the past for me and I've never had a problem with the memory.

So HiRez, you're saying that 1 Gig limit is no more, even for the G4s? Great, I'll probably buy 3 512s then....

Thanks,

D

 

[homerjward]

Ah, newegg is a bit of a pain to find what you want...

http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Prod...evalue=521:7965,523:7857,524:7860&order=price

And I'm going to check with MacDonald and Associates, they've been pretty good in the past for me and I've never had a problem with the memory.

So HiRez, you're saying that 1 Gig limit is no more, even for the G4s? Great, I'll probably buy 3 512s then....

Thanks,

D

if you get anything from that list, i'd recommend the rosewill memory. ive had a stick in my emac for a few months and it's worked great.

 

[HiRez]

So HiRez, you're saying that 1 Gig limit is no more, even for the G4s? Great, I'll probably buy 3 512s then....

No question you can access more than that even currently, and for 10.4 Tiger, according to this Apple page:

64-bit Application Support
Mac OS X Server v10.4 delivers 64-bit memory addressing without compromising performance and support for 32-bit applications. 64-bit memory addressing lets you run processes that require more than 4GB of memory — ideal for high-performance server applications, computational engines and other command-line applications. For easy portability from other 64-bit UNIX-based systems, Mac OS X Server v10.4 supports the LP64 data model.

It doesn't say exactly how much will be permitted. Probably not the entire 64-bits theroetically possible, but I'm sure at least 8 GB. I seem to remember reading the practical limit being 42 bits of addressable space for some reason, still an enormous amount. So I think you'll be ok with a few gigs. Now a caveat is that the page is about OS X Server specifically, but that probably also applies to the vanilla OS X.

 

[Mr. Anderson]

Thanks for all your help! I ordered the memory this morning and it should get here by the end of the week. I imagine having 2 Gig in the machine as opposed to just 512 Meg should make a big difference with Photoshop RAW files from my Canon 20D and rendering more complex scenes with Lightwave

I'm going to have to order new memory for my wife's new iMac I'll be ordering as soon as they become available (tomorrow I hope).

D

 

[Mr. Anderson]

Well, got the RAM and its a happy computer. Photoshop is noticeably faster, especially the RAW files from my Canon 20D

Thanks for all the help.

D

 

[Lacero]

Photoshop CS 2 tops out at 4GB for it's cache. I have not gone to that limit quite yet. Are you using PS CS 2?

 

[Mr. Anderson]

I'm using CS V.1

D