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Misanthrope · Dec 11, 2003, 09:10 PM

Okay, I ordered a gig and a half of ram from crucial about two weeks ago for a dual 533 g4. So far, it's been smooth sailing with no crashes or various insanity.

Here's the problem: In the Apple System Profiler, it identifies the ram as PC100 and running at 322 (CAS3) latency. I distinctly paid for PC133 and CAS2 speed ram.

What makes it even more bizarre is that the system bus is still reported as 133MHz. Is the ASP simply being retarded or is the ram not what I purchased?

zigzag · Dec 11, 2003, 09:29 PM

I'm not sure, but I think I've read that APS shows CAS 3 regardless, because Apple specs require that the RAM be able to operate at CAS 3, or something like that. Hopefully someone with more expertise will respond.

Laurence · Dec 13, 2003, 07:41 PM

This seems to be a bug in ASP.

I have the exact same results, all three DIMMs report as PC100-322S but when I look at the DIMMs they are PC133. PC100 wouldn't even work in this computer as it requires PC133 RAM.

Maybe 10.2.3 will fix this, probably not though. Apple doesn't seem to care about accuracy in ASP as then more people would realize that they don't ship the best RAM in their computers. Of the last three Macs I've purchased I always had to replace the stock RAM with Crucial RAM to avoid random crashes/KPs. Since upgrading to high quality CL2 RAM about 9 months ago I have not had one KP or even any drive errors when running fsck. Before the new RAM, I had crashes as often as once a day and never went more than a few weeks without a KP.

dgbatchelor · Dec 14, 2003, 01:27 AM

I've got the similar "experience" as Laurence... however, my PC133 RAM is showing up as PC100-222S...

(Running Mac OS X (10.3.1) with System Profiler 4.0)

Starry Night · Dec 16, 2003, 01:27 AM

Originally posted by Laurence:
This seems to be a bug in ASP.

I have the exact same results, all three DIMMs report as PC100-322S but when I look at the DIMMs they are PC133. PC100 wouldn't even work in this computer as it requires PC133 RAM.

Maybe 10.2.3 will fix this, probably not though. Apple doesn't seem to care about accuracy in ASP as then more people would realize that they don't ship the best RAM in their computers. Of the last three Macs I've purchased I always had to replace the stock RAM with Crucial RAM to avoid random crashes/KPs. Since upgrading to high quality CL2 RAM about 9 months ago I have not had one KP or even any drive errors when running fsck. Before the new RAM, I had crashes as often as once a day and never went more than a few weeks without a KP.

I bought a G4 1.25 Powermac last summer. I left the stock ram in and added 512 from Crucial. I've not had a single crash or kp for the life of the computer to date (knock on wood).....

wulf · Dec 16, 2003, 01:45 AM

Originally posted by Misanthrope:
Is the ASP simply being retarded�?

Yes.

Mine shows as PC100-222S.

Eriamjh · Dec 16, 2003, 06:57 AM

What OS?

spoonernyc · Dec 16, 2003, 07:12 AM

so the moral of the story being?

Do not load up on memory in the Apple Store but buy it from Crucial instead?

Can anybody comment on this as this was to be my question posed to the forum:

If I am buying a machine through the apple store should I load up on RAM there or buy it from another distributer?

thanks

jon spooner

sideus · Dec 16, 2003, 07:16 AM

10.3 ASP show PC100-322 on my G4. I know my ram is 222, that is what it said under 10.2 when I bought the ram.

Misanthrope · Dec 16, 2003, 07:38 AM

Originally posted by Eriamjh:
What OS?

10.3.1

Originally posted by spoonernyc:
If I am buying a machine through the apple store should I load up on RAM there or buy it from another distributer?

Apple puts an insane markup on the RAM they sell, so you're much better off buying it from a third party. Crucial builds amazing RAM, albeit a little expensive, it's definitely worth it.

RTCW-A Mac User · Dec 16, 2003, 08:36 AM

It is a bug in OS 10....Boot into OS9. The correct RAM will show up. Same problem here with my DA667. Booted into OS 9. ASP reports the CORRECT type of RAM.

zigzag · Dec 16, 2003, 01:11 PM

Originally posted by spoonernyc:
so the moral of the story being?

Do not load up on memory in the Apple Store but buy it from Crucial instead?

Can anybody comment on this as this was to be my question posed to the forum:

If I am buying a machine through the apple store should I load up on RAM there or buy it from another distributer?

thanks

jon spooner

Here's a useful article about RAM.

http://www.barefeats.com/memory.html

Sarc · Dec 16, 2003, 05:00 PM

actually, for the original poster, ASP is correct.
the problem is that the DP 533's bus is clocked @ 100 MHz ... hence the PC133 RAM slows down to work with it.

that's all.

Misanthrope · Dec 16, 2003, 07:52 PM

Originally posted by Sarc:
actually, for the original poster, ASP is correct.
the problem is that the DP 533's bus is clocked @ 100 MHz ... hence the PC133 RAM slows down to work with it.

that's all.

I beg your pardon? That doesn't make any sense. If the bus speed were 100MHz, the processors would probably be operating at 500Mhz. But because the bus is infact clocked at 133Mhz, the bus multiplier makes the CPUs run at 533.

133 * 4 = 532
100 * 4 = 500
532 / 4 = 532

You see what I'm saying? I think it was firmly established that the ASP is pretty craptastic.