iMac G5 Memory

[Eidorian]

I have AppleCare on my iMac G5 and I have two sticks of RAM in it. The original 512 MB stick that came with the Rev. B iMac G5's and an additional 1 GB stick that is supposedly Apple pulled RAM. (1.5 GB total) I remember reading that you need to keep one stick of Apple memory in your machine to avoid voiding your AppleCare. I really don't want to cough up $200 for a 1 GB stick from Apple. Could I just get another pulled 1 GB stick? Or should I confirm that my current 1 GB stick IS an original Apple one?

I've been tossing around buying Aperture since I've outgrown iPhoto and I like the features that Aperture provides. I'd just like to have 2 GB of RAM. Still, I'll only be handling 5-7 MP images and no RAW images. At $149 for the Academic version it's not that bad. Should I just stick with my 1.5 GB? I seem to have narrowed down the source of my page outs to Skype usage.

 

[CanadaRAM]

Don't sweat it, just put the 512 in a static safe bag when you take it out, and store it with your OSX DVD and owner's manual. Then if you ever have to send it in for warranty, pull both your new modules and reinstall the 512. Voila, stock machine again.

 

[Eidorian]

Don't sweat it, just put the 512 in a static safe bag when you take it out, and store it with your OSX DVD and owner's manual. Then if you ever have to send it in for warranty, pull both your new modules and reinstall the 512. Voila, stock machine again.

Ooo..yes. That works too. $89 for a 1 GB stick on DataMem looks really nice too. Thanks CanadaRAM, I was hoping you'd reply. Just not THAT quickly. I'm usually replying that quickly.

 

[CanadaRAM]

I was hoping you'd reply. Just not THAT quickly. I'm usually replying that quickly.

Ehh.. 4 minutes... I'm losing my touch. Got distracted reading the Easter Weekend thread...

Quick is when you get the same timestamp on the reply as the OP

 

[Eidorian]

Ehh.. 4 minutes... I'm losing my touch. Got distracted reading the Easter Weekend thread...

Heh, well I really liked your idea of keeping the original RAM. I'd like to max out my iMac anyways. It's still a powerful machine for me.

 

[dcv]

Oh really, where did you read that? I was just about to get rid of my original 512 stick.

By the way there's a support note about the benefits of matching RAM modules for the older iMac G5s here. I have the same machine so I bought the same 2 x 1GB modules from Crucial.

 

[Eidorian]

Oh really, where did you read that? I was just about to get rid of my original 512 stick.

By the way there's a support note about the benefits of matching RAM modules for the older iMac G5s here. I have the same machine so I bought the same 2 x 1GB modules from Crucial.

I can't remember where I read that about AppleCare and original memory. I know about matching pairs of RAM but I've seen the benchmarks and they aren't that great. Do they have to be matching pairs from the same manufacturer or just the same voltage and latency?

 

[dcv]

Do they have to be matching pairs from the same manufacturer or just the same voltage and latency?

I'm not really sure to be honest. I would assume just the latter but I guess the way to guarantee it would be to buy them from the same place.

I've yet to install the second 1GB so can't really comment on performance difference. (hehe, fat lot of help I am, huh? )

 

[CanadaRAM]

Oh really, where did you read that? I was just about to get rid of my original 512 stick.

By the way there's a support note about the benefits of matching RAM modules for the older iMac G5s here. I have the same machine so I bought the same 2 x 1GB modules from Crucial.

Barefeats tested the realworld benefit of matching RAM for 128-bit access, and the net benefit was nil.

If you know you're going to go to 2 Gb, then by all means buy a matched pair of 1 Gb. But don't stop at 1 Gb (2 x 512), because 1.5 Gb total RAM unmatched trumps 1 Gb total RAM matched. If you do want to match RAM, it has to match for "capacity, speed and composition", so theoretically 2 different manufacturer's DIMMs could match... but how would you ever tell?? The composition refers to the organization of the rows and columns of memory within the chips, and the SPD settings, which you cannot tell without some serious testing machinery -- so in practice the easiest way to match is to buy 2 of the same brand and model at the same time. Problem -- RAM manufacturers change their module builds all the time, so it is not even 100% guaranteed that a Brand "A" module bought two months ago will match the same brand and model # module bought today.

It isn't so much that Applecare is voided if you don't have Apple RAM -- RAM is after all a user replaceable part, and in the USA the Magnusson-Moss act prevents Apple from denying warranty coverage IF the third party part does not damage the machine. BUT there have been persistent reports of Apple service centres automatically blaming third party RAM for being the cause of any failure, and sending the machine back un-fixed. So it is best practice to remove any third party add-ons (and back up your data!!) before sending any machine in for warranty service. It removes the opportunity for the service centre to cheat.

 

[Eraserhead]

Oh really, where did you read that? I was just about to get rid of my original 512 stick.

By the way there's a support note about the benefits of matching RAM modules for the older iMac G5s here. I have the same machine so I bought the same 2 x 1GB modules from Crucial.

I did that and upgraded from 512 Crucial/512 Apple to 1GB/1GB Crucial, it made my Mac noticably quicker (which i didn't notice when going from 512 to 1GB in total.)

 

[Eidorian]

Barefeats tested the realworld benefit of matching RAM for 128-bit access, and the net benefit was nil.

If you know you're going to go to 2 Gb, then by all means buy a matched pair of 1 Gb. But don't stop at 1 Gb (2 x 512), because 1.5 Gb total RAM unmatched trumps 1 Gb total RAM matched. If you do want to match RAM, it has to match for "capacity, speed and composition", so theoretically 2 different manufacturer's DIMMs could match... but how would you ever tell?? The composition refers to the organization of the rows and columns of memory within the chips, and the SPD settings, which you cannot tell without some serious testing machinery -- so in practice the easiest way to match is to buy 2 of the same brand and model at the same time. Problem -- RAM manufacturers change their module builds all the time, so it is not even 100% guaranteed that a Brand "A" module bought two months ago will match the same brand and model # module bought today.

It isn't so much that Applecare is voided if you don't have Apple RAM -- RAM is after all a user replaceable part, and in the USA the Magnusson-Moss act prevents Apple from denying warranty coverage IF the third party part does not damage the machine. BUT there have been persistent reports of Apple service centres automatically blaming third party RAM for being the cause of any failure, and sending the machine back un-fixed. So it is best practice to remove any third party add-ons (and back up your data!!) before sending any machine in for warranty service. It removes the opportunity for the service centre to cheat.

Yeah, I bought a 1 GB stick ages ago. I would either get 1 GB or 1.5 GB. (Rather then 512 + 512 or get stuck with 512 MB again.) I got my 1.5 GB and I'm happy. I just want to go to 2 GB of memory now. I saw that Barefeats benchmark about matched pairs and the gains are almost non-existant. They still post matched vs. unmatched benchmarks are part of their trials. I'll just go with the 1 GB stick off of DataMem and put it in with my current 1 GB stick. (It's a Samsung, just no Apple label on it. I'll have pictures tonight.)

 

[dcv]

Barefeats tested the realworld benefit of matching RAM for 128-bit access, and the net benefit was nil.

Oh well, too late, I bought it anyway. Out of interest, is it only Samsung RAM that Apple use in the iMac G5s or does it vary?

My 17" iMac came with 1 512MB stick but I'm not sure what brand it is. I recently bought a 20" (also a Rev B) and that came with 2 x 512MB Samsung-stickered modules. I'm about to upgrade that to 2GB and already have the RAM. I've found that the 20" with 2x512 seems to perform better (fewer beachballs and just seems snappier) than the 1.5GB I have in the 17". Weird!

 

[Eidorian]

Well I have two sticks of RAM in my iMac. Both are Samsung and are CL=3. One is just 512 MB and the other 1 GB.