Aide memoire

[talktooloose]

Admittedly, this is a long-shot, but...

Does anyone have 512mb (or 256mb, I guess) of Mac-friendly PC133 SDRAM dimms that I could have or buy cheap?

I need them to ramp up my machine for one project but then I'm going to buy a G5 next summer and it uses a different kind of RAM.

The Muse Terpsichore thanks you.

Comments

[nekidwhiteboy.livejournal.com]

I don't actually have any myself, but I can get it here (brand new, lifetime guaranteed against failure and all that) for around $60, give or take a dollar. If it helps, I'd be happy to snatch one up and send it to you, and you could like, paypal me, or whatever.

[talktooloose.livejournal.com]

That's very cool; thank you. I've been warned that bad RAM can fry the Mac's motherboard. Are you sure this is Mac-safe? I do have PayPal so it would be easy to transfer the money to you. Wait, didn't PayPal stop allowing naked users or something?

I'm poking around for deals here at home, but I may very well come back to you and your kind offer.

[nekidwhiteboy.livejournal.com]

well, it's the kind that Fry's (big megahuge incredielectronic store) sells. It's made specifically for macs, I think the actual brand name is Coursair (sp?) which I've seen sold at various online memory vendors. Anyway, this is the same 512mb chip that I got about two years ago (at Fry's, the same store even) for my ruby imac, and it's still pluggin along fine.

btw, I have had another memory chip go bad (in the imac) and it didn't do anything otherwise detrimental to the computer, other than the basic faulty memory chip behaviours (things like files randomly disappearing, root drives not mounting to the desktop when you start up, weird shit that doesn't happen consistenly). I guess it could cause logic board failure in a really unlucky scenario.

Anyway, the 512mb upgrade that I bought for my ruby, two years ago, came to $70 and change after sales tax and all. It actually might be cheaper now, what with all the new macs using DDR memory now and all that. Anyway, I was planning on going to Fry's tomorrow, so I'll see what the current prices are.

Exactly what mac is this for? May not even be the same chip that my imac uses- if it's an older model, chances are the memory chips are cheaper. One way or another, Frys will have it- they carry the full apple line, and a fucking ouvre of accessories and upgrades and add-ons that are made for macs.

Anyway, let me know! I'll be happy to play gopher and get you what you need.

[kuriadalmatia.livejournal.com]

What specific kind of machine are you putting it in? J's a tech for a Mac-friendly school district and has a few contacts that may be able to get it for school-district prices.

[talktooloose.livejournal.com]

So, basically, Fry's won't fry me. Got it.

I have a G4 466 mhz tower. I think it's called a Quicksilver G4 (?). It's from 2001.

Wow, that would be awesome if you would ask about it. I found an online site through eBay and their price was about US$107 plus shipping. In Toronto, I'm being quoted CDN$230. But that's from real Mac stores. I don't see other alternatives locally.

Thanks.

[talktooloose.livejournal.com]

I lied. It seems to be called a Graphite G4. My excellent lady of fandom below is also checking. Such fine LJ friends I have.

[talktooloose.livejournal.com]

It's a Graphite G4 466mhz tower. That would be awesome if he would ask.

[kuriadalmatia.livejournal.com]

No prob. A few other Q's: Are you running OSX? How much memory does it have now? J said he'll start hunting around tomorrow.

[qwantz.livejournal.com]

Is a Mac 133 SDRAM DIMM distinct from a PC one?

[talktooloose.livejournal.com]

I'm running OSX 10.2.6 at the moment. I have 256k in now. I don't remember anymore, but it might have shipped with 128 and I bought the other 128 at the time. Or else it shipped with 256. I don't remember. I'm old.

Thanks again.

[talktooloose.livejournal.com]

In theory, no, however Mac's seem to be picky about which RAM they will accept and which they won't. Two sources have said that either it will work or it won't with no harm to the computer. A real-live tech guy told me he had to replace a motherboard once because of bad RAM. I'm not sure I believe him but I'd hate to make my system a test-case. All Mac RAM is third-party at this time. Apple does not manufacture any.

[talktooloose.livejournal.com]

Hey, D, did you end up at Fry's yesterday? Any news?

[nekidwhiteboy.livejournal.com]

I went to fry's, and I found a few things out. They only had one G4 model listed with a 466mhz CPU (specifically referred to as the "silver G4-466 single CPU with Digital Audio"), so, assuming that's correct, they offer compatable 512mb memory modules for it from three brands (Coursair, Kingston, and I *think* the other was PNY). All three were about $100 each, give or take 2 or 3 bucks. I looked at the 256mb modules they had as well, since you've got two open memory slots (I'm assuming), but all the 256mb ones were $70-$80...less of a bargain than the 512mb modules.

I looked online at a few places also, and it seems that $100 ± $5 is the going rate...best I could find anyway. In that case, of course, I'd say just go ahead and buy the one you found online in that price range.

FYI: the ONLY time I've ever heard of a 'bad' memory module derailing its respective logic board is a rather bizarre incident in which a profoundly retarded mac owner installed a new memory upgrade in his brand new G4...while it was running. Something like that would handily fuck up the logic board, but a faulty memory chip would simply fail to be recognized by the OS, or, worst case scenario, cause the system to do sketchy things (odd file deletion, auto-mount drives not being shown as mounted in the finder, and other various poltergiest-like activity.

Actually, if you wanna be sure that the memory you end up buying IS working properly, you could install it, put in the Apple Hardware Test CD, reboot from that CD and run the "thorough" test. If there's anything physically wrong with your RAM modules (or your video card, or your hard drive, logic board, and a couple other things as I recall) it'll let you know.

Sorry I couldn't be of any better help!

[talktooloose.livejournal.com]

Thanks for all your efforts. I walked into my third Mac store today and they were able to undercut the nearest quote I'd received by almost $40. So I bought it, paying maybe $20 more than the Fry's one. Unless customs opened it and charged me Goods and Service Tax plus $5 for their trouble. Unless something was wrong with the product and had to be returned.

Yeah, all this poking around is worth it to save a lot, but not to save a little.

I hope I didn't put you to a lot of trouble and I appreciate the zeal of your help.

'Night.

[scbenji.livejournal.com]

Have you tried dealram.com? Also, check your computer's manual... I have a G4 Cube and I bought ram from some company online that wasn't mac-specific. That was so long ago that I don't remember what company it was.

By the way, Terpsichore is my favorite muse.