[ebuddy]

It was mentioned that a G5 RAM thread would be important. Well, here it is.

256mb PNY 3200 did not work in my G5 and Hardware Test gave me error codes J14 no matter where I placed the PNY RAM. In one case Hardware Test even gave me J11 error. (where I had Apple RAM). Replaced PNY RAM with...

Crucial RAM! Couldn't be happier and my computer now successfully has 1gig of memory. Whew, I was starting to think the J14 bay was bad.

[phantomac]

2 x 512MB extra RAM from Crucial here in my dual. Works flawlessly.

[kaz7777]

4 x 512 mb Corsair... Total Flop. Nothing. Can't see it at all. I don't get it. Why wouldn't it work? PC3200 is PC3200 right? I have to send it all back. Looks like people are having luck w/ the Crucial stuff. Where is a good place to buy it?

[phantomac]

I bought it at Crucial's online store. The RAM they sell specifically for the G5.

[Xaaron Swiftblade]

I got 2x 256mb corsair value select dimms sitting here but i can't get 'em in the computer. I sound really stupid, i know, but when i put them in they don't click, the latches to either side don't fit in the grooves - is this normal?

[vasu]

my crucial ram for my dualie g5 works great!

[idyll]

Xaaron Swiftblade: make sure you're putting them in the right way. You have to use a little force to put them in.

[kaz7777]

my cosairs were really hard to get in as well. and when i finally got them in...the machine didn't see'em. i'm sending them back. just ordered some crucial dimms.

[josborn]

Just to second some other comments, I've noticed that you have to push *really* hard to get the RAM in the G5 slots. Obviously be careful and push the chip in evenly, but the black clips on the edge of the slot should be even with the existing RAM.

On the plus side, it will be very difficult for G5 RAM to wiggle out.

[Hydra]

Originally posted by ebuddy:
It was mentioned that a G5 RAM thread would be important. Well, here it is.

You stole my thread idea I was really hoping to use a thread like this to not only discuss success and failures of different brands of RAM but also CAS ratings issues as well.

FACTS:

1. The 2.0 and 1.8 G5 use PC3200 DDR400 RAM. The 1.6 uses PC2700.

2. Apple developer documents state that the G5 supports RAM CAS ratings of 2.0, 2.5,3.0 and higher. Nowhere do they state that the computers will actually run this RAM at anything but 3.0 at the fastest, they only state they support the use of the memory.

3. RAM will run at the speed of the slowest RAM stick in the computer, this is platform agnostic and applies to all computers.

4. RAM running at a faster CAS rating should give some boost in performance but how much is difficult to say.

5. Not all PC3200 DDR400 is created equally.

6. Apple’s Hardware Test disc recognizes CAS 2.5 and 3.0 in my machine. Anyone with 2.0 stuff have it recognized as well?

7. The more RAM the better ( fact or opinion I think not )

8. RAM specs can be confusing

9. G5 RAM MUST BE INSTALLED IN PAIRS. BUYING MATCHED PAIRS IS A WASTE OF MONEY IF THEY COST YOU MORE, as long as you buy the same RAM 2 at a time you should be fine.

MY EXPERIENCE:

1. I put 1GB (2x512MB) PNY PC3500 DDR433 CAS 2.5 in my dual G5, pulled the stock RAM, and tested it with a bunch of apps from CineBench to Quake3 and saw no discernable difference from the OEM CAS 3.0 RAM when running by itself. It appeared to make no difference. Could there be some app out there that shows a difference, maybe but I doubt it. I also got 2x512MB Crucial RAM for a total of 2.5 GB and just kept the PNY sticks because they worked fine. I’ve had it running 24/7 for almost a month now with no problems. I saw a nice boost in speed going from 512MB to 1.5GB and from 1.5-2.5GB it was only noticeable if I had big 10 apps open at once and a dozens of web pages open. By speed boost I’m talking about lack of page-outs and elimination of hard drive grinding with VM. Actual app performance was the same but if you want a more responsive Mac and like having a bunch of things running at the same time, buy more RAM.

2. High performance RAM seems to have trouble in the G5. It seems that all CAS 2.0 sticks may not actually have the CAS 2.5 and 3.0 trimmings programmed on the stick. In the PC world this is not a problem because there are utilities that you can manually change the timings to even faster than the rating ( over-clocked so to speak). There are no such utilities on the Mac and if you get a stick that is rated at CAS 2.0 and has no 3.0 timing onboard your G5 in all likelihood will not even see it. It would seem that if a CAS 2.0 stick lacks the CAS 3.0 timing the G5 balks and will not run it. Does anyone have any success running CAS 2.0 in a G5 at CAS 2.0? You’ll need to check with the Apple Hardware Test Disc for this one beacue you may have a CAS 2.0 that has 2.5 and 3.0 timings and it will default to the slower timing.

3. Not all high-priced high-performance RAM is actually shipped with the faster speed onboard. It is assumed in many cases that the end-user of this enthusiast type RAM will set the RAM timings to whatever they they like. The problem with this on the Mac is indicated above. I think if you pay a premium for CAS 2.0, you should get it. If buying CAS 2.0 I would make an effort to speak to a customer service rep and see what the company policy is. The G5 is all likelihood will see little benefit but you should get what you pay for.

4. You are better off spending a little more money with a quality company and worrying less about the speed because bad RAM will cause more problems that a potential 2-3% theoretical boost at best is worth

5. The RAM sockets on the G5 MB are very snug and the DIMMs require a nice even push as stated above. Make sure the black snaps on each side of the socket are fully open before attempting to put the DIMM in.

6. More RAM is good Less RAM is bad.

I hope this was helpful to others here and feel free to correct me or add anything to the above.

-Jerry C.

[Cadaver]

Good post...

Just to clarify point #4 - Faster CAS rating = lower number (CAS 2 is faster than CAS 3).

[CIA]

On older PC100-PC133 machines, you needed low density modules. Example: 512MB sticks needed to be 8X32, and 16 chips per dimm. Modern 64x4 would not work.

Does density apply with G5 DDR RAM?

[killergator]

2. High performance RAM seems to have trouble in the G5. It seems that all CAS 2.0 sticks may not actually have the CAS 2.5 and 3.0 trimmings programmed on the stick. In the PC world this is not a problem because there are utilities that you can manually change the timings to even faster than the rating ( over-clocked so to speak). There are no such utilities on the Mac and if you get a stick that is rated at CAS 2.0 and has no 3.0 timing onboard your G5 in all likelihood will not even see it. It would seem that if a CAS 2.0 stick lacks the CAS 3.0 timing the G5 balks and will not run it. Does anyone have any success running CAS 2.0 in a G5 at CAS 2.0? You’ll need to check with the Apple Hardware Test Disc for this one beacue you may have a CAS 2.0 that has 2.5 and 3.0 timings and it will default to the slower timing.

This is not true. I bought some overclocking ram from tiger direct..Ultra Ram
and had no problem whatsoever in running it on my dual g5. I plan on getting more. It is running at cas latency 2 btw.

[Hydra]

Interesting. That's good to know the G5 sees it at 2.0 but it really doesn't indicate whether or not the G5 is actually using that 2.0 Speed. Did you try running it with the OEM stuff and see what happens? Did you bench any apps before and after? The more info the better.

-Jerry C.

[ebuddy]

How long were you going to wait to post this badboy Hydra? I couldn't resist quickly initiating help for millions.

All kidding aside. I needed info on RAM/G5 in the worst way and kept reading; "GET CRUCIAL RAM". I did and it worked. I didn't bother to eyeball the Crucial RAM, but the PNY 256mb RAM has 8 chipsX32 per DIMM. I recall the Crucial RAM feeling a little thicker (more like the Apple RAM) and it seemed to fit tighter. I guess bigger is better. That's all completely speculation though and I'd be curious to see what actual specs are. Overall, I'm just glad the Crucial worked. As I mentioned before and cannot stress enough, The Hardware Test results themselves were skewed as long as the PNY RAM was involved anywhere in my G5.

I'm glad I caught info from Hydra and others before having the J14 bay checked. (i.e. violated)

[ebuddy]

Someone also offered a helpful tidbit that I think is important to repeat, you have to push hard. I'll be honest with you, I did not push my RAM in "evenly". It seemed to me more merciful to the hardware behind it to push the RAM in evenly until I felt resistance, then pushed each side in one at a time (with medium to heavy pressure) until the obvious snap and voila! The RAM was seated firmly and tabs fully inserted.

Keep the info comin' folx!

[Hydra]

Originally posted by ebuddy:
How long were you going to wait to post this badboy Hydra?

I've posted some other RAM experiences in other threads but RAM is a touchy subject. I posted more stuff a month ago but as I get to actually enjoy this beast I'm spending less time testing it and enjoying it more You can go out and buy utter crap that will run fine for 10 years and top of the line expensive platinum plated RAM that is faulty. That's why in the end it pays to go with a name you can trust. Your problem in the other thread was a fairly common problem as RAM failures go. I think the nature of the dual memory banks in the G5 may end up giving wacky errors and reports of slots that are erroneously being reported as bad.

CAS speeds are even more tricky. At best the difference between CAS 2.0 and 3.0 may only amount to 2-3% max most likely. I've even seen some PC benchmarks that indicated for certain tasks the CAS 2.0 would HURT performance. I'm not really bent on squeezing out an additional 2% of speed from my G5 I'm just curious if it actually runs the faster speeds.

-Jerry C.

[Hydra]

Originally posted by killergator:
This is not true. I bought some overclocking ram from tiger direct.. It is running at cas latency 2 btw.

Also, make sure you are reading the Hardware report correctly. My PNY DDR 433 PC3500 is reported as:

CL2.5:5.0,CL2:6.0(ns)

The first number is the rating at DDR400 speeds which is the 5.0 ns, the second number is actually the number for DDR333 at 6.0 ns. If you have CAS 2.0 it should read as:

CL2:5.0(ns).

My OEM Apple Ram is reported as :

CL3:5.0,CL2.5:6.0(ns)


Not trying to contradict you, I just want to make sure people are getting what they paid for

-Jerry C.

[bri-guy]

I just added 1GB (2x512MB) of Crucial RAM to my G5. It booted right up afterwards and I've had zero problems at all. It was recognized and put into use by OS X right away

[benny h]

ok my question is for us people with a mac g5 1.6.
what would be the best choice in ram for this computer.
should i take out the ram i got with the computer when i install it.
or just add on 2x512's????

[kaz7777]

Just popped in 2 gigs (4x512) of Crucial. Worked like a Charm. This stuff is the way to go it seems.

k

[Scotttheking]

Crucial is the way to go. They have a memory selection on their site. Works well.

[voyageur]

I second (or third) the comments that you have to push ridiculously hard to get the RAM in. I was absolutely paranoid I was going to break something, or that I had the wrong shape RAM. I did what one poster already said, push one side in a little, then the other, back and forth, till it was all the way in evenly. Nerve-wracking.

I used Crucial also, and it's been running in our Dual G5 for over a month without an issue.

[oranjdisc]

Okay, this is getting boring...but...another satisfied 2x512mb RAM customer from Crucial. Popped em in my dual 2ghz G5 and was off and running.

[zigzag]

Crucial is out of stock on 512MB DDR PC3200. Would anyone have any reservations about ordering from Mushkin?

EDIT: Nevermind, Mushkin is twice as expensive. I'm sure it's good stuff but not that good. I'll order elsewhere.

[LudwigVan123]

Originally posted by benny h:
ok my question is for us people with a mac g5 1.6.
what would be the best choice in ram for this computer.
should i take out the ram i got with the computer when i install it.
or just add on 2x512's????

I'm curious too about mixing Apple's stock RAM with, say, Crucial SIMMs in a 1.6 G5 (though it appears other posts in this thread imply that new RAM SIMMs are being added with the stock chips).

[sodamnregistered2]

Originally posted by zigzag:
Crucial is out of stock on 512MB DDR PC3200. Would anyone have any reservations about ordering from Mushkin?

EDIT: Nevermind, Mushkin is twice as expensive. I'm sure it's good stuff but not that good. I'll order elsewhere.

I ordered from M Wave

$89.77

I ordered 4x512MB modules. Can I still use my stock 2x256MB modules for a total of 2.5GB? That should hold me until I can order another 2GB for 4GB total.

[ss1]

Originally posted by LudwigVan123:
I'm curious too about mixing Apple's stock RAM with, say, Crucial SIMMs in a 1.6 G5 (though it appears other posts in this thread imply that new RAM SIMMs are being added with the stock chips).

I just recently, on Friday added 2x 512Mb sticks of Crucial RAM to my stock 1.6 G5 RAM configuration (2x 128Mb). I had no issues with such a setup.

Cheers,


ss1.

[Hydra]

Originally posted by LudwigVan123:
I'm curious too about mixing Apple's stock RAM with, say, Crucial SIMMs in a 1.6 G5 (though it appears other posts in this thread imply that new RAM SIMMs are being added with the stock chips).

It shouldn't matter if the OEM RAM is there or not. Why take it out, unless you run out of room and need space for bigger sticks

-Jerry C.

[zelig2]

I ordered two sticks of 512 ram for my dual G5 today. Just thought I'd let everyone know that if you use BBUSERGROUP for the coupon code you'll save 5% which is nice, so that drops the price another $10 for me. Add that in with free 2-day shipping and it's a great deal. 1GB for this month and I'll probably buy another 1GB in January.

[Rev-O]

Izzat promo code for Crucial? Gonna order two 512 for my G5 and a 512 for my iBook from Crucial, and 5% of would save me $15 bucks!