Snow Leopard 64bit?

[Crown16]

hi,

I have a question that may sound noobish but ill ask it anyway,
Apple.com states that snowleopard is 64bit? and that because it is 64bit it can run huge amounts of ram...? does this mean my intel imac(white) can run more then 3gb ram if i get snowleopard? or will i still be limited to the 3gb cause of my hardware?

 

[Tallest Skil]

If you have a Core Duo processor or earlier, you may not even be able to run Snow Leopard.

If you have a Core 2 Duo or later, you might be able to use 8GB.

 

[Crown16]

If you have a Core Duo processor or earlier, you may not even be able to run Snow Leopard.

If you have a Core 2 Duo or later, you might be able to use 8GB.

i have:

Model Name: iMac
Model Identifier: iMac5,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 4 MB
Memory: 3 GB
Bus Speed: 667 MHz
Boot ROM Version: IM51.0090.B09
SMC Version: 1.8f2
Serial Number: CK6370DHX1A

 

[sidewinder]

Crown16,

Tallest Skil is giving you hope when there is none.

The memory limit you have has nothing to do with the OS. It is a chipset limitation and cannot be increased. See here:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2821?viewlocale=en_US

Macs running 32-bit OS X can see much more than 4GB of RAM. But 4GB is all 32-bit applications can use.

S-

 

[Tallest Skil]

Crown16,

Tallest Skil is giving you hope when there is none.

The memory limit you have has nothing to do with the OS. It is a chipset limitation and cannot be increased.

Then why does 8GB of RAM not work in the first Penryn MacBook family nor in the 13" and 15" unibodies, even though the chipset supports it and Apple lets it happen in the 17"?

It has a bit to do with the OS, I'd say.

 

[sidewinder]

Then why does 8GB of RAM not work in the first Penryn MacBook family nor in the 13" and 15" unibodies, even though the chipset supports it and Apple lets it happen in the 17"?

It has a bit to do with the OS, I'd say.

We are not talking about those other systems here. The Intel chipset used in the OP's iMac prevents it from ever supporting more memory than he has available now. In other words, that iMac is physically limited.

So it has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with the OS.

S-

 

[ayeying]

Crown16,

Tallest Skil is giving you hope when there is none.

The memory limit you have has nothing to do with the OS. It is a chipset limitation and cannot be increased. See here:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2821?viewlocale=en_US

Macs running 32-bit OS X can see much more than 4GB of RAM. But 4GB is all 32-bit applications can use.

S-

The OP has a hardware limitation.

Then why does 8GB of RAM not work in the first Penryn MacBook family nor in the 13" and 15" unibodies, even though the chipset supports it and Apple lets it happen in the 17"?

It has a bit to do with the OS, I'd say.

Penryn chipsets support 8GB however the firmware limitation restricts how much memory you can have installed/use

 

[sidewinder]

The OP has a hardware limitation.

That's what I said......

S-

 

[Crown16]

well thats toobad... thought snowleopard was going to be a usefull update lol. there goes an other reason to get it...

i dont suppose there is anyway to lift that psyhical limitation my imac has?