RAM for my G4

[Perseus]

I have a custom PowerMac G4 (Graphite color) with about 384 RAM, dual 500 mhz etc (see signature). I was wondering how much RAM my G4 can expand to? Can I go up to 1 gig? I am thinking of purchasing a 512 meg RAm chip, would I be able to do this on my machine? Thanks!

 

[bobw]

You can go to 2GB.

check here for prices;

http://www.ramseeker.com

 

[ElDiabloConCaca]

Correction: you can have 1.5GB of RAM, according to Apple. If you have 3 x 512MB chips, then you'd be at the maximum. If you added another 512MB chip to the last empty slot, I don't know if the computer would be able to utilize it.

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58666
http://www.lowendmac.com/ppc/g4mp.html

 

[DeltaMac]

The Mactracker app contradicts that... States that 1.5 GB is max with OS 9, but all 4 slots with 512 MB should work with 2 full GB, but only with OS X

 

[naodx]

www.everymac.com says that it is expandable to 2 gig, but the OS limits it to 1.5 gig. Now they don't say which OS it is, and I can't remember for sure if the dual 500's were out before OS X or not.

I would bet that with OS X, it could use all 2 gigs, but I don't know for sure. You would be safe with 1.5 gigs though.

If the place you are buying the ram from has a good return policy, you could buy an extra 512 meg strip, try it and if it isn't recognized, return it.

 

[ElDiabloConCaca]

Ah, yes, I think that's right... OS 9 could address a maximum of 1.5GB RAM, but OS X can address more. It's not a hardware limitation -- it's a software limitation that isn't a limitation anymore...

 

[bobw]

OS X can make use of 2GB of ram, OS 9 can't.