eMac's memory...

drustar

drustar

Gold Member
I recently bought an eMac this weekend (so I don't have to use my wintel machine). I am loving it because of all the space my PC used to take up is now gone.

My question is - specifically what memory would be compatible for my eMac? I tried the memory that my PC used (it was a PC133, 256 MB, 168-pin) and it didn't work. It said it wasn't compatible.
 
A PC133 SDRAM DIMM should work nicely.

Check out Price Watch for the best prices on Apple G4 PC133 RAM.

I don't see why but I guess there is some difference between PC and Apple Certified memory.

BTW, I'd get 512MB if I were you, it's a much better value. Get the generic for around $75. Generic RAM is like generic prescription medication, the only difference is the price.

Buy from Crucial and ger raped.
 
Do you think I need to remove the 128 mb of ram it came with, swap the first slot with 256 and put the 128 on the second one?

Basically, would my PC memory work with my eMac? I'm trying to save rather than having to buy another memory.
 
I'm a lot more familiar with PC hardware than Mac.

Other than not being Apple Certified, your PC133 DIMM has the same specs as the Apple ones.

I don't know why it wouldn't work. On some occassions, RAM from different manufacturers refuse to work together.

You could try just installing your PC DIMM and seeing if it works, then putting the Apple DIMM in the second socket and seeing if that doesn't correct the issue.
 
usualy you will have t o buy Mac RAM. i have only seen it work one time where PC RAM actualy worked in a Mac
(sorry :eek: :( you don't get to save)
 
You may want to read this thread. It explains about the different types of ram that's out there, and generic ram is NOT the same as crucial ram. In fact, I HIGLY recommend buying ram from crucial as they have very decent prices, high quality ram and free shipping. (I and my family have purchased memory from them on at least 4 occasions.)
 
I had a problem when I added RAM to my Power Mac G3. It takes PC100 RAM. There is NO DIFFERENCE today between Mac RAM and PC RAM. It's all the same RAM, but some RAM cards have better specifications than others. The problem I ran into was that some RAM cards from different manufacturers play nicely together and others don't. I went through a few headaches trying to get a combination that would work. Apple has certain MINIMUM speifications for RAM. I didn't understand why they did this until I thought about the specifications. Apple simply doesn't want cheap RAM in their hardware causing crashes. I think the issue with RAM came up a couple of years ago with a firmware update to the Blue & White G3. The release notes said something about some RAM not working afterwards because the system would reject it. There is some test that the RAM goes through before the system starts up. That's probably the reason the cheap PC133 RAM didn't work in your eMac. Now, if you go to Best Buy or Circuit City and tell them you want to buy PC133 RAM for your Mac they aren't going to want to deal with you claiming that the Mac uses "different" memory - not true. Only better specifications for the memory are required.

I purchased my RAM from Other World Computing (http://www.macsales.com/).
 
It explains about the different types of ram that's out there, and generic ram is NOT the same as crucial ram. In fact, I HIGLY recommend buying ram from crucial as they have very decent prices, high quality ram and free shipping.
Click to expand...

Awwwwwwwww horsesh*t. What does Crucial have to offer? Gold leads, woopadedoo! What are we setting up a stereo here? :p When you buy Crucial RAM, all you're paying for is the name.

I've built hundreds of PCs from scratch, using generic RAM and never had a problem with one of them. :cool:

The only difference isr Crucial RAM is twice the price. :eek:

The only time I ever had trouble with RAM is when I tried to install a Crucial DIMM with a Kingston DIMM. :( Both are name brand. I swapped the Crucial DIMM for a Samsung DIMM and everything was fine.

If you feel you must buy name brand RAM, don't buy Crucial, they are hardly the best, only the most well known. Samsung makes the highest quality memory in my opinion. ;)
 
Before I started buying Crucial, I bought a 128 mb stick of ram for like 80$ (a great price at the time) at a Fry's Electornics. It was one of those no-name OEM or whatever brands. The thing lasted 34 days. Exactly 4 days longer than it's warranty.

Sure you can buy the cheap sh*t for half the price and maybe get lucky, but if you get a bad stick you won't be happy and you usually don't have much of a warranty to work with. It's a crap shoot.
 
Your first mistake was buying anything OEM from Fry's. Do you know how their OEM DIMMs come in?

Imagine a big box of DIMMs, like you'd see stuffed toys on clearence at the toy store, all mixed together.

Now imagine Skippy the Stock Boy going back to the cage to get your DIMM, handling it with his hands improperly, wrapping it in a static bag and labeling it for whatever price, probably dropping it several times along the way.

Not necessarily get a sh*tty DIMM, but certainly sh*tty quality control practices.

After all the name brand OEM HDs I've had die on me from Fry's, I vow never to buy from their again. Their prices aren't even that great anymore.
 
Kingston and Siemens make good and cheap RAM (for a quality product). but basically, any SDRAM-DIMM should do. you'll find information even on apple.com's support site about the 333/323 and 322/222 DIMMs. I don't really know what those numbers mean, but it seems that the less 2's are in it, the better it is. (the latter two don't work.)
 
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