Refurb Dual 2.5 PM on the way! Questions about extras!

[nihilisticmonk]

Hi guys,

After umming, ahing, I've finally bitten and have ordered a dual 2.5 off the apple re-furb store for £1400. Can't wait to get my machine :-D

I have a question about upgrading the Ram however.

It comes with 512 MB. I hear you have to install ram in the powermacs in pairs? is that true?
Would crucial ram be ok? Do I have to worry about CAS latencys for performance like on a wintel PC?

Any advice you can give me on what to get before my new baby arrivies will be of great help

Also, as it's a re-furb, it has no airport or bluetooth. I can buy a cheap airport card if required no problem, but is there any way I can add bluetooth to this monster?

 

[mad jew]

Install it in pairs and Crucial should be fine albeit Macs can be picky about their RAM sometimes.

As for CAS, no idea, sorry.

 

[nihilisticmonk]

Install it in pairs and Crucial should be fine albeit Macs can be picky about their RAM sometimes.

As for CAS, no idea, sorry.

That's great thanks.

Also, can I put a 16x dual Layer DVD burner inside this mac? Do I have to b
uy a specific make or something?

 

[FFTT]

You can also check with OWC www.macsales.com for their RAM prices
and other accessories.
They offer factory OEM Samsung RAM at reasonable prices.

You MUST be careful choosing any 3rd party optical drive for your Mac.

xlr8yourmac.com has a very good drive compatibility database.

You must make sure that any optical drive is fully bootable.

Most Pioneer decks are bootable off the shelf.

I'm not at all sure what Apple is using for their dual layer decks now.

Yes RAM must be added in matched pairs.


Adding RAM is easy, but you have to be careful.
The RAM slots are tight and it takes a bit of effort to get the RAM sticks all the way into the keepers. Make sure they click shut all the way.
Pressing too hard could damage the circuit board, so just be careful.
And of course make damn sure you've eliminated any static.

*Most important*

Run your new PowerMac AS SHIPPED for a few days just to be sure everything is working O.K. before you start adding anything.

If there is any problem at all then you know it's not because of something you did adding 3rd party gear.

Your Mac will ship with a diagnostic CD. I'd run it just to check the results.

Before you upgrade to Tiger and then add the 10.4.1 update from the
software update link, make sure you have your energy saver sleep setting
set to NEVER. The default setting can shut you down during your OS install and that would not be good.

 

[kbonnel]

That's great thanks.

Also, can I put a 16x dual Layer DVD burner inside this mac? Do I have to b
uy a specific make or something?

If I remember, CAS3 is the ram you get. Check on newegg.com (I know you can't order from there, but you can see part numbers of chips that seem to work fine. Read the reviews by people, they usually indicate if they are using them on a mac)

You can stick a 16x if you get a supported model (either apple supported or one were you can hack the system drivers to accept it.)

Kimo

 

[nihilisticmonk]

Great advice guys, thanks for all your help!
Can't wait to get it.
I'll run it stock for a couple of days, and run the diag disk as soon as I get my hands on it.

Glad to hear I don't have to get any expensive ram, will probably stick 2GB in there!

8-12 days to go

 

[nihilisticmonk]

Another question for you guys,

I plan on using SATA Raid. will any HDD work, or are macs a bit picky about what they choose?