Re: iMac G5 Ram

On 2005-12-21 03:54:07 -0800, John <nospam@xxxxxxxxxx> said:

Michelle Ronn wrote: 
On 2005-12-20 21:05:58 -0800, Oxford - <cola@xxxxxxx> said:

"John" <nospam@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

ram is ram as a "general rule", so as long as it's certified to work
on the mac, and has a lifetime warranty, you are golden, paying even
a $1 more for the same ram is kinda pointless, in crucial's case, you
are paying $57 more for a single GB! ouch! next time you see one of
their full page color ads, you now know who is actually paying the
$17,000+ fee for such frivolous "marketing".

You've just demonstrated incompetence. Sites like Macfixit .com love people like you.

you are the one not understanding how to buy ram, not me. years of practice has taught the in and outs of this game, and I learned long ago do not trust ram vendors that spend heavily on advertising. it's a commodity product and should be treated as such.

You are completely full of it. Even the best, tightest RAM will have problems. Based on MTBF numbers alone, anyone who claims to have installed as much RAM over the years as you have would have seen problems. That verifies that you do not know what you are talking about.

Have you seen how many different RAM parts Samsung has for a given spec? How about Micron? Then you have the folks that put modules together from base chips provided from DRAM manufacturers.

Take for example one of the new PowerMac Quad machines. It calls for PC2-4200. (http://www.apple.com/powermac/specs.html)

Now, we take a look at Samsung's site. (http://www.samsung.com/Products/Semiconductor/DDR_DDR2/ddr2.htm#platformsolutions) To help you out, this translates to DDR2-533. We will take a 512MB module as an example: First glance gives you 6 different SKUs for an unbuffered 512MB DIMM. Probably only two of those are close to the Apple spec, without getting into the thorny issue of tolerances.

Then, you have to look at other issues that can be problematic for a memory controller. Double sided or single. More chips on the DIMM or less.

This doesn't even start with the environmental issues. How much heat does the RAM give off and can the system cool it?

That is one manufacturer. Now you can think of several, and see how the problem space expands.

Looking at Crucial's site, they are throwing CL4 and CL5 parts at me when I tell them I want RAM for a PowerMac 2.5 quad. What's up with that?

Crucial, a division of Micron (one of those big RAM manfacturers), can't even keep their quality consistantly in spec:
"For example, maybe a specific 256MB module works in a certain system if it's made with one generation of chips, but if made with a different generation, the module won't work in that system at all. Or, it's quite possible that a particular module that worked with a system's old motherboard might not work with the new motherboard. " http://www.crucial.com/library/guides/mac/page02.asp

Kingston. Another great site. Yeah, they are recommending buffered and unbuffered modules for these new Macs. Which one should I use folks?? (hint: buffered is a waste of money if your memory controller doesn't support it, or if it does, it can seriously wig out if it sees both types) You would think Kingston would know better.

It gets irritating seeing complete morons, such as yourself, who purport to be "experts" blabbing total crap about things they know nothing about. Read: You know nothing about memory modules, yet claim that you do.

What is the meaning of "Mac Certified"? Can't find any references to it. Google doesn't turn any up either. I think that you made this up. If it does exist, please provide a link to someone who claims that their memory is 1) "Mac Certified" and 2) outlines what sort of process they go through to ensure that their memory indeed works. "We will take it back if it doesn't work" is not the same thing.




You're totally technically incompetent. Nothing but as bunch of clueless babble.

Incorrect. The argument was put forth that all memory is the same, provided that it is "Mac Certified". Buy the cheapest.

1) There is no such industry standard as "Mac Certified". Can't find the term in current common use at the major memory manufacturers either.
2) The memory manufacturers provided several bin numbers per specification. Therefore, all memory in a given specification is NOT the same.
3) This does not say that memory will not work in certain configurations.

If I purchase 4 x 1GB sticks from Apple directly, it should all meet the exact same specification, and Apple will stand behind it.

If I get 2 x 1GB sticks from a company like Crucial, and then later get 2 x 1GB sticks from a company like Kingston, I have no guarantees that all 4 sticks will work together properly. Yep, they may all meet the same "spec", and yes, they all might be guaranteed "Mac compatible" by their manufacturers. No gurantee that they will all interoperate together.

I purchase quite a bit of 3rd party RAM for front end systems that are not critical.

I am not under any illusions that this stuff is the same quality as what I get from the hardware OEMs.

.

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