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RAM for Apple Notebooks

post #1 of 55
5/17/05 at 1:37am
Thread Starter 
Hello all,

Given the seeming ritual questions regarding RAM for the Apple laptops I decided to make a sticky addressing some "where to find" issues. Please feel free to volunteer and echo or distinguish your own RAM pursuits/experiences for your Apple notebook, whether it be a Powerbook or iBook.

Rule #1: Don't buy RAM from Apple. It's waaay overpriced, not unlike other computer vendors that gouge you on the upgrades. I got my current 3rd party stick of 512MB of RAM for $94. My friend got her 256MB stick from Apple for $90 at the time. Prices have come down somewhat from Apple, but they are still overpriced.

The following websites for buying PB/iB RAM are not the usual Crucial or Kingston websites, but rather RAM price seeking sites, not unlike Pricewatch and Pricegrabber for more general computer components. The sites also allow you to find memory that has been configured for your Apple notebook, similar to the configurators at the mentioned brand specific sites. I also injected one link from Newegg for a specific stick of RAM, simply because it has a solid host of Apple user reviews, and thus far has proven to be one of the cheapest variants around.

For the record, I used Dealram to pick up my 512MB stick at buy.com, which was guaranteed to work w/ my iBook G4.

Where to shop/buy:

256-512MB
- Dealram

- Ramseeker

1GB - PC2700 or DDR 333 - Compatible w/ the last gen of PBs and the current iBs. While it is not a stick specifically configured for the Apples, there are a bunch of reviews from happy iB and PB owners. lately however apple reviews seem to be split.
- Newegg

So here you go. As said, feel free to add your own experiences
and or links to RAM sites/products which you've found to be useful for your Apple lappies.
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post #2 of 55
5/25/05 at 4:42am
I just added a gig of ram for my latest revision Powerbook, bringing me up to 1.5 gigs. I bought it through Newegg and it works fine.
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post #3 of 55
6/7/05 at 3:44pm
I just bought 8 gb of RAM from OWC (Other World Computing) for my PowerMac Dual 2.7GHz.

I heard nothing but positive stuff about them and found that they were linked as an approved vendor directly from the Apple Site (here). Anyway, it works great and the customer service was excellent. The sales rep personally made sure I got all my ram from the same batch run (I checked and all the serial numbers were in the same range).

The RAM I bought was obviously for a desktop, but they have ram for all models of Macs. I'm in the process of ordering more RAM for my wife's iBook as I type.
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post #4 of 55
7/10/05 at 3:40am
Can anyone tell me if they envision any problems running PC2700 or PC3200 SODIMM RAM in a 12" iBook and running it at PC2100 speeds?
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post #5 of 55
7/10/05 at 12:11pm
the 2700 or 3200 will have to slow down to 2100 speeds so you will see no performance benefit at all as far as ram speed goes (you still get the benefit of just having MORE ram). your best bet is to replace both modules. Also, although I am not sure on this one, you might want to double check what is the highest speed the chipset will take, 3200 or 2700.
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post #6 of 55
7/10/05 at 5:04pm
Thread Starter 
there have been very few reports of ppl buying 3200 for the iBook or the PB. the few i've seen say it works fine. most ppl however have picked up the 2700, as it's spec'd for the PB and ppl buy it w/ the option of also using it in a PB if they upgrade someday. as such, it's difficult to find 3200 RAM, at newegg for instance, that ppl have gotten for the iBooks and PBs that are reviewed to work. unless u have a wintel machine that also uses 3200 i'd say go for the 2700. per the intel move by apple, they'll be using some variation of ddr2 next year so get what u need now.
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post #7 of 55
7/13/05 at 4:43pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by abf
the 2700 or 3200 will have to slow down to 2100 speeds so you will see no performance benefit at all as far as ram speed goes (you still get the benefit of just having MORE ram). your best bet is to replace both modules. Also, although I am not sure on this one, you might want to double check what is the highest speed the chipset will take, 3200 or 2700.
Yes, but I'm wondering if PC 3200/2700 RAM will have a much better chance of running with faster memory timings that the iBook will demand @ PC2100. The reason I'm asking is because I'd like to try non-Apple approved RAM in the iBook. Also, all iBook's have 256MB onboard RAM, and one-slot for RAM sticks, unlike the PowerBook.
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post #8 of 55
7/13/05 at 5:37pm
so are you suggesting that although the integrated 256mb are pc2100, if you stick in a pc3200 module the mobo will OC the 2100 a little bit and have them meet somewhere in teh happy middle (like pc2500 of sorts... )
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post #9 of 55
7/14/05 at 1:53am
anyone knows what brand memory will work on a ibook g3 700mhz??
is sodimm 144-pin memory =D
thanks ^^
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post #10 of 55
7/14/05 at 2:03am
ibook g3 will take any old 144 pin SDRAM PC133. I sell IBM Micron, Infineon, Mitsubishi, Hyundai, Samsung, Hynix and Elpida to iBook users every so often. If i am not mistaken it will take up to either 512 or 768mb (not sure on this one fact). Don't worry about the brand much, just get something quality (all of the above i named are good). A 256MB module can be had on ebay for $40, luckily PC133 is cheap (and i should know as a seller, and an owner of Thinkpad T23 that uses PC133 ram and I have a gig of it...512 x 2..they are samsung i think.
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post #11 of 55
7/18/05 at 10:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by abf
so are you suggesting that although the integrated 256mb are pc2100, if you stick in a pc3200 module the mobo will OC the 2100 a little bit and have them meet somewhere in teh happy middle (like pc2500 of sorts... )
No, that's not what I mean. I know that the RAM will have to run at the same clock frequency as the memory bus (i.e. PC2100 or 133MHz@DDR/266MHz). However, whatever RAM you add will have to run at PC2100 and meet the memory latency timing requirements that the iBook is already running the built-in 256MB of RAM at. So, if you buy cheap and lousy PC2100 RAM, it might not be able to run with fast memory timings even though it's rated for PC2100 operation, but I was wondering if getting decent value RAM @ PC2700 or PC3200 speeds will have a better chance of meeting the timing requirements at PC2100 bus speeds. In other words, I don't want to buy expensive Mac-certified RAM. But I'm probably going to end up trying different sticks of RAM at a specialty PC store to make sure it'll work before I do buy it.
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post #12 of 55
8/9/05 at 11:55am
i'm buying an ibook at 512mb ram. does this mean there will be 2 slots filled with 256mb ram chips?

cuz if i want to upgrade to 768, i can't do that without buying a 512.
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post #13 of 55
8/9/05 at 1:00pm
The new iBooks should have one 512 chip soldered onto the logic board and one free slot for up to a gig of extra ram.
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post #14 of 55
12/31/05 at 8:35pm
On Crucial's website, the new PowerBook 17" G4 DDR2 uses the following for 1GB RAM:

DDR2 PC2-4200 • CL=4 • UNBUFFERED • NON-ECC • DDR2-533

Notice that it's a 4200.

Recently, I've noticed that Crucial is selling:

DDR2 PC2-5300 • CL=5 • UNBUFFERED • NON-ECC • DDR2-667

Notice that it's a 5300, for $15 more.

Anybody know if the 5300 version would provide any performance gains or if it'd actually drop down to 4200 speed?

Thank you,

Michael
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post #15 of 55
12/31/05 at 9:56pm
It'd go down to 4200
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post #16 of 55
12/31/05 at 9:59pm
Thanks.

Hey, I've also noticed that the PowerBook G4 17" uses the exact same spec memory as the Inspiron XPS Gen 2. I'll give it a try and see if it'll work.

Newegg.com sells both the Kingston and Crucial modules for cheaper than the manufacturers, and for some reason Kingston's sells for cheaper than Crucial by about 40% less.
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post #17 of 55
7/27/06 at 4:11am
Im curious. I recently recieved a iBook(iBook G3 proc. 500mhz) with 128mb RAM. I want to upgrade to 256mb RAM for MAC OS X. Do I need a 128mb stick or do I need the 256mb stick?
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post #18 of 55
7/27/06 at 4:56am
One, you'll want to upgrade to more than 256. And two, I believe the 128 is soldered onto the motherboard so you'd need another 128 if you were going to go to 256.
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post #19 of 55
7/27/06 at 5:02am
Ok. I wasnt sure if it was soldered in there or I had to buy the whole 256mb. Well Now that I know that. I will probably get 512mb.
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post #20 of 55
7/28/06 at 9:44am
you guys have any info regarding RAM for macbooks?
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