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RAM for older G5 PowerPC

T

T140V

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 9, 2025
28
19
i have an old Mac PowerPC G5 1.8 DP that currently has 4 Gigabytes of SDRAM installed. i have 4 more empty slots and I understand that 8 GB is its limit.
i don't use the G5 much but there are a few programs that were installed that I do still use like Photoshop. Performance is tolerable but if I could gain a little more processing speed, better.
Where can I get another 4 sticks of 1GB SDRAM for a decent cost other than eBay? Any advice would greatly be appreciated.
Anybody here have them to sell?

I have attached a photo of the RAM installed. Are there another types that would be compatible or should I stick with whats already in the Mac.

IMG_0918.jpeg
 
I thought the DP 1.8 did not support more than 4 sticks, max 1GB=4GB total, and only came with 4 slots.
You had to get the DP 2.0 to get the extra 4 slots, with the max on a DP 2.0=8GB (and the factory logic board with the DP 1.8 had only 4 slots total...
Are you sure that you have a DP 1.8, and NOT a DP 2.0?
 
DeltaMac said:
I thought the DP 1.8 did not support more than 4 sticks, max 1GB=4GB total, and only came with 4 slots.
You had to get the DP 2.0 to get the extra 4 slots, with the max on a DP 2.0=8GB (and the factory logic board with the DP 1.8 had only 4 slots total...
Are you sure that you have a DP 1.8, and NOT a DP 2.0?
Click to expand...
Yes its a 1.8
I recall asking for the Option to have 8GB when I ordered.
IMG_0919.jpeg
 
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Which model of PM G5?
( Go into your System Profiler (in the Applications/Utilities folder) )
( Top of the list is Hardware Overview. )
( What is listed next to Model Identifier? )
 
DeltaMac said:
Which model of PM G5?
( Go into your System Profiler (in the Applications/Utilities folder) )
( Top of the list is Hardware Overview. )
( What is listed next to Model Identifier? )
Click to expand...
What does this tell you?

IMG_0920.jpeg
 
It tells me that I was trying to convince you that some true facts were wrong, like telling you that DP 1.8 did not come with 8 slots. I was wrong. Yes, of course, your DP 1.8 came with 8 slots (which you already knew).
So, all you need is 4 more 1GB RAM sticks, giving you double the RAM that you have now (and you knew that already, too.) I apologize for the mixup.
 
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DeltaMac said:
It tells me that I was trying to convince you that some true facts were wrong, like telling you that DP 1.8 did not come with 8 slots. I was wrong. Yes, of course, your DP 1.8 came with 8 slots (which you already knew).
So, all you need is 4 more 1GB RAM sticks, giving you double the RAM that you have now (and you knew that already, too.) I apologize for the mixup.
Click to expand...
No worries and no need to apologize.
 
I picked up my pmG4 & g5 ram needs mostly from eBay auctions over the past 15 years or so. Of all my purchases, I have only had one stick be doa and was quickly replaced.

Does op happen to live close to FreeGeek ?
 
Certificate of Excellence said:
I picked up my pmG4 & g5 ram needs mostly from eBay auctions over the past 15 years or so. Of all my purchases, I have only had one stick be doa and was quickly replaced.

Does op happen to live close to FreeGeek ?
Click to expand...
Contacted them and found out why you mentioned if I lived near. No unfortunately and they offer no shipping. Did not mention if they had ram for me either.
 
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Certificate of Excellence said:
I picked up my pmG4 & g5 ram needs mostly from eBay auctions over the past 15 years or so. Of all my purchases, I have only had one stick be doa and was quickly replaced.

Does op happen to live close to FreeGeek ?
Click to expand...
My issue is when I’m on the bay, my ram numbers don't match any numbers offered. Close but with other numbers or letters included. And the few sellers I have messaged, they don't know if their item will work.
Is there any guide for me as to what item numbers to look for and or others that would still work?
 
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Doq said:
Should work no problem. Make sure to install them in pairs.
Click to expand...
Yeah? Ok, thats promising.
The seller emailed me this when I questioned fit.

“I'm not a Mac expert (much more PC), but it's all PC-3200, so I think it is likely to work. My memory is non-ECC (which is common). But some PowerPC's had ECC memory, which wouldn't work together.”

Do you still think they should work?

Thanks!
 
T140V said:
Yeah? Ok, thats promising.
The seller emailed me this when I questioned fit.

“I'm not a Mac expert (much more PC), but it's all PC-3200, so I think it is likely to work. My memory is non-ECC (which is common). But some PowerPC's had ECC memory, which wouldn't work together.”

Do you still think they should work?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
From what I know, G5s *can* accept ECC memory, but they do not *need* ECC memory.

Based on what you have installed, which is non-ECC memory from the looks of it, the memory should work.
 
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I agree. Dual 1.8 A1047 came with non-ecc 400mhz PC3200 DDR ram from Apple. As long as you install the ram in matching sets of up to 1gb sticks, you should be ok. I have a variant of A1047 with 2Ghz cpus but only 4 ram slots vs your 8 and I maxed mine out (up to 4gb) with matched 1gb sticks of PC3200 DDR. From my understanding, ECC wasnt an upgrade path with the Powermac G5 until the final revision A1117 multi-core models.

Good luck.

**FYI - this auction should work ok and is half the price of the Crucial ram.
 
Last edited:
Certificate of Excellence said:
I agree. Dual 1.8 A1047 came with non-ecc 400mhz PC3200 DDR ram from Apple. As long as you install the ram in matching sets of up to 1gb sticks, you should be ok. I have a variant of A1047 with 2Ghz cpus but only 4 ram slots vs your 8 and I maxed mine out (up to 4gb) with matched 1gb sticks of PC3200 DDR. From my understanding, ECC wasnt an upgrade path with the Powermac G5 until the final revision A1117 multi-core models.

Good luck.

**FYI - this auction should work ok and is half the price of the Crucial ram.
Click to expand...
Thanks.
Ordered new ram through MacSales for a better price than used, way better and their site helped me to choose the proper ram for my G5. Hoping to see some better performance with a whopping full load of 8 GB’s!
Thanks everybody for all your help.
 
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Sure can. You can clone the boot drive with something like carbon copy cloner to a sata ssd. Both my G5s have SSDs installed - in fact almost all my PowerPC macs have been upgraded to SSDs at this point. One caveat is that you can run into SSDs that arnt readable by ppc macs. Its not super common but it does happen. Most recently I ran into a few Netacs that were not recognized in ppc macs but worked flawlessly in my Intel macs.
 
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