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DeusExMachina · 09:34 PM

I have a new powerbook and I am going to buy some new ram for it. I was just what was recommended, a 512MB stick or or go for a 1GB stick? is having 1.5GB of memory worth the price over having 1GB of memory, or is 1GB fine? I was thinking that 1GB would fine but I thought I would ask first.

mrmister · Oct 25, 2005, 09:16 PM

Depends on what you do with the machine, but I've found that 1 GB is sufficient for most normal usage.

mduell · Oct 25, 2005, 09:25 PM

I'd go for 1.5GB... you can never have enough RAM.

brokenjago · Oct 25, 2005, 09:27 PM

If you want to do heavy photo or video editing, get as much as you can afford. If you want it for every day normal usage (in which case I don't know why you got a PowerMac, they're made to be abused

) then 1 GB should be fine.

DeusExMachina · Oct 25, 2005, 09:36 PM

sorry about that, I made a typo. for some reason I said powermac and not powerbook.

anyways a powerbook is what I have. if I would have got a desktop it would of been a imac, dont need the power of the powermac.

brokenjago · Oct 25, 2005, 09:37 PM

1 SO-DIMM of 1 GB should be great then.

DeusExMachina · Oct 25, 2005, 09:42 PM

Originally Posted by brokenjago

1 SO-DIMM of 1 GB should be great then.

so the 1GB to bring my powerbook up to 1.5GB is worth the extra $50 - $60 over the 512MB stick?

brokenjago · Oct 25, 2005, 11:11 PM

Absolutely.

iomatic · Oct 26, 2005, 10:50 AM

Sounds like you all should pay the premium, and stick to the Crucial RAM and others recommended here.

http://discussions.info.apple.com/we...Pg.9@.68bcf9d7

I've never had problems with non-Mac-specific, third-party RAM, ever, for over ten years now with Macs; however I understand that's always a crapshoot. I hope the Kingston Value RAM I got from ZipZoomFly doesn't eat my machine.

KVR533D2S4/1G

If it does, I'll report here. Most likely today.

jesset · Oct 26, 2005, 11:12 AM

One thing to also keep in mind is that buying the 1 gig is also more of an invesment than the 512mb. I would think that one day you'll want to max this machine out and if you bought a 512 then in order to max it out you'd have to throw away both sticks that were in there to upgrade to two 1 gig sticks. Sorry if that was confusing.

inkhead · Oct 26, 2005, 11:39 AM

Absolutely. add the ram it's worth every nickle. If a 1GB module costs $500 I would still buy it on the day I bought the powerbook. RAM is everything. If you got the new 15" go with ddr2 4400? can't remember so-dimm 200pin I got one for $100.

Originally Posted by DeusExMachina

so the 1GB to bring my powerbook up to 1.5GB is worth the extra $50 - $60 over the 512MB stick?

iomatic · 02:48 AM

confirmed. this RAM makes my computer chime when booted, the sleep light glows steadily, and nothing else.

I guess I didn't make it clear: this RAM DOES NOT WORK FOR ME.

But damn this screen is nice.... a tad pinkish....

(Not anymore.)

Originally Posted by iomatic

Sounds like you all should pay the premium, and stick to the Crucial RAM and others recommended here.

http://discussions.info.apple.com/we...Pg.9@.68bcf9d7

I've never had problems with non-Mac-specific, third-party RAM, ever, for over ten years now with Macs; however I understand that's always a crapshoot. I hope the Kingston Value RAM I got from ZipZoomFly doesn't eat my machine.

KVR533D2S4/1G

If it does, I'll report here. Most likely today.

brachiator · Oct 26, 2005, 11:55 PM

I just upgraded the stock 1GB RAM (2 512MB sticks) in my previous gen Powerbook 15" with two 1GB sticks of Crucial RAM (DDR). No problems at all so far, been about 3 days. I'm very glad I took the recommendations on this forum to buy Crucial.

I share the opinion that one can never have too much RAM, and even if you don't think you need it now, you may later. For example, I just started using iListen voice-recognition software, so the maxed out 2GB in my machine seems just about right...

Oh, the 2 sticks were about $460 to my door, Saturday delivery. Mind you, DDR2 for the new Pbooks may be more expensive.

mduell · Oct 27, 2005, 12:05 AM

Originally Posted by brachiator

Oh, the 2 sticks were about $460 to my door, Saturday delivery. Mind you, DDR2 for the new Pbooks may be more expensive.

2x1GB DDR2 for the new PowerBooks is $242 from Crucial. Probably includes free 2nd day shipping.
Price was one of the reasons Crucial switched from DDR to DDR2.

brachiator · Oct 27, 2005, 12:23 AM

mduell, do you mean that price was the reason APPLE switched to DDR2 -- or that Crucial switched? Could i have put DDR2 in my machine and saved $200? (The Crucial memory advisor recommended the DDR sticks.)

mduell · Oct 27, 2005, 01:42 AM

Originally Posted by brachiator

mduell, do you mean that price was the reason APPLE switched to DDR2 -- or that Crucial switched? Could i have put DDR2 in my machine and saved $200? (The Crucial memory advisor recommended the DDR sticks.)

The reason that Apple switched was that Crucial (Micron) and all the other RAM manufs are ramping up DDR2 capacity and phasing out DDR.
No, you cannot use DDR2 in the place of DDR. Unfortunately on laptops they are physically the same size/shape (on desktops they're not), so they could be confused.

brachiator · Oct 27, 2005, 10:11 AM

Ah, I see. Interesting. Well, I'm stuffed to the gills with RAM now (or, rather, my Pbook is), so it is good to know that I couldn't have gotten a better deal.

Thanks for the explanation!

jesset · Oct 28, 2005, 11:27 AM

What is the difference between these sets of ram:

http://www.crucial.com/store/MPartsp...;WSPN=CT479557
http://www.crucial.com/store/MPartsp...;WSPN=CT479196
and
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145097

All of them are made by crucial but all of them have different part numbers. The only difference I can find between the top 2 is that one runs at 128meg * 64 and the other runs at 64meg * 64... what does this mean... is there any difference performance wise?

Thanks

John123 · Oct 28, 2005, 02:03 PM

Originally Posted by jesset

What is the difference between these sets of ram:

http://www.crucial.com/store/MPartsp...;WSPN=CT479557
http://www.crucial.com/store/MPartsp...;WSPN=CT479196
and
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145097

All of them are made by crucial but all of them have different part numbers. The only difference I can find between the top 2 is that one runs at 128meg * 64 and the other runs at 64meg * 64... what does this mean... is there any difference performance wise?

Thanks

Huge difference. You will notice that one of them is a "kit" of 2 chips, while the other is not. With one, you're getting two 512MBs whereas with the other, it's a single 1GB DIMM.

jesset · Oct 28, 2005, 02:19 PM

Originally Posted by John123

Huge difference. You will notice that one of them is a "kit" of 2 chips, while the other is not. With one, you're getting two 512MBs whereas with the other, it's a single 1GB DIMM.

What about the difference between the newegg one piece one gig and the crucial one piece one gig?

jesset · Oct 28, 2005, 02:20 PM

Originally Posted by John123

Huge difference. You will notice that one of them is a "kit" of 2 chips, while the other is not. With one, you're getting two 512MBs whereas with the other, it's a single 1GB DIMM.

What about the difference between the newegg one piece one gig and the crucial one piece one gig?

John123 · Oct 28, 2005, 03:53 PM

Originally Posted by jesset

What about the difference between the newegg one piece one gig and the crucial one piece one gig?

They are likely, but not necessarily, the same chip. The official Crucial link would give you a chip that's guaranteed to work. By contrast, the other one has a chance of not working, and then it's your responsibility to pay restocking fees if it doesn't. One guy on here mentioned problems getting Kingston RAM to work, so it's a question of how risky you want to be.

I personally ordered my 1GB stick from 18004memory -- $98 + $1 for insured shipping.

John123 · Oct 28, 2005, 04:00 PM

Duplicate post

mduell · Oct 29, 2005, 01:29 AM

Originally Posted by jesset

What about the difference between the newegg one piece one gig and the crucial one piece one gig?

The difference is that the chip from Crucial is gaurenteed to work, while the one from Newegg is not (but probably will).

Tesseract · Oct 29, 2005, 01:40 AM

I just ordered an extra 1GB of RAM from Newegg.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820208312

I'll post once it's installed with compatibility and rough performance info.

iomatic · Oct 29, 2005, 02:02 AM

Honestly, I think it may have been my stupidity, because I put the Crucial RAM in, and the PowerBook beeped without starting up. Well, checking on my handiwork, indeed I did not seat the RAM properly. You really have to shove it in there until the contacts nearly disappear, and then click the card down in place. I've not yet tried the Kingston in the same manner, at least correctly, so my data is bogus.

Oops. Great 500th post.

Originally Posted by John123

They are likely, but not necessarily, the same chip. The official Crucial link would give you a chip that's guaranteed to work. By contrast, the other one has a chance of not working, and then it's your responsibility to pay restocking fees if it doesn't. One guy on here mentioned problems getting Kingston RAM to work, so it's a question of how risky you want to be.

I personally ordered my 1GB stick from 18004memory -- $98 + $1 for insured shipping.

John123 · Oct 29, 2005, 02:28 PM

Originally Posted by Tesseract

I just ordered an extra 1GB of RAM from Newegg.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820208312

I'll post once it's installed with compatibility and rough performance info.

Wow. That's a crazy good price. Wish I hadn't put my order in Thursday - I'd love to know if that stuff works well.

Mack · Oct 29, 2005, 04:38 PM

I'm using 2GB Kingston RAM in my new 17" PB with no problems.

As for installtion, you really don't have to "shove" the chip into the socket. It's more about angle than force. If you have the memory chip at the correct angle (tilt less than you expect), you can gently push it into the slot until the gold contacts disappear. You won't necessarily hear or feel a "click," but if the gold contacts aren't visible, you've got it seated properly.

John123 · Oct 29, 2005, 07:53 PM

Originally Posted by Mack

I'm using 2GB Kingston RAM in my new 17" PB with no problems.

As for installtion, you really don't have to "shove" the chip into the socket. It's more about angle than force. If you have the memory chip at the correct angle (tilt less than you expect), you can gently push it into the slot until the gold contacts disappear. You won't necessarily hear or feel a "click," but if the gold contacts aren't visible, you've got it seated properly.

Interesting. Sounded like iomatic, from his post above, was using the same chip but with a very different result.