Will iMac TFT RAM fit in eMac ?

michaelsanford

michaelsanford

Translator, Web Developer
I'm needing more and more power and I was thinking of selling my iMac TFT which is relatively low power and buying an eMac.

Since I already have a 512 mb RAM upgrade, I'd kind of like to take it with me to my eMac.

I have a feeling it won't fit, though.
 
the imc g4 and emac insides are very similar. not in layout but in technology used. I bet it will work. don't buy an emac right now though as there will be an update very soon it seems.
 
Depending on the version, imac G4 TFT uses PC133 144-pin SODIMM, PC2100 200-pin DDR SODIMM or PC2700 200-pin DDR SODIMM, while, again depending on the version, emac uses PC133 168-pin DIMM or PC2700 184-pin DDR DIMM.

While emac uses DIMM, imac G4 TFT requires SODIMM (laptop form-factor sticks), so you can't use your imac ram on emac.
 
OK, just did some leg work. The iMac G4 700 which is what michaelsansford has uses PC133 SDRAM. The current eMacs use PC2700 DDR SDRAM which isn't compatible. However, models released before April 13th 2004 use PC133 RAM so if he bought a second hand emac, he'll still be able to use his RAM.

Personally, I'd just sell the RAM on eBay and buy a new eMac once it's launched.
 
Viro said:
Why does the iMac use 200 pin sticks? Those are made mainly for notebooks.
Click to expand...

This is what Mactracker says about imac G4 700:

1 - PC133 144-pin SO-DIMM (user accessible), 1 - PC133 168-pin SDRAM (factory installed)
Click to expand...

So I think that the extra 512 MB stick that michaelsanford owns has SO-DIMM form factor.
 
That is so weird. Any reason why they opted to use laptop RAM in a desktop? You don't really save much space, the memory speed isn't as good as a desktop's plus the memory costs more. Why?
 
My guess is: space considerations on the logic board (easier to find a 2.5 inch space for the SO-DIMM, than a second place for the 6 inch slot for the SDRAM)
 
Plus SO-DIMM RAM doesn't run as hot, making it suitable for such a close environment. My guess is, the computer could deal with the heat of one DIMM-slot's worth of RAM, but two next to one another would potentially lead to problems.

Plus it allows the little RAM upgrade flap on the bottom to be more accessible.
 
Wow thanks everyone ! I do recall vaguely buying PC 133 RAM back when I upgraded it. Now that my senses are back, I checked System Profiler :
DIMM0/J12:
Taille: 512 Mo
Type: SDRAM
Vitesse: PC133-333


The eMac now a days takes "256MB of PC2700 (333MHz) DDR SDRAM" I've never heard of PC2700 RAM before though. :P

So I'll glean from all this that the answer's no. And who knows what will happen when (if) they release a G4 eMac or other new model eMac.

Apple has a tendancy to throw new technologies in that aren't compatible with old ones (iMac DV -> iMac TFT ram for example). But, I guess that's what you call an upgrade, eh.
 
PC2700 is 166 MHz DDR RAM. It's pretty much industry standard these days, as was PC133 in days of old. That said, I'm pretty sure the G4 would have gotten on with just PC133 since it doesn't make use of DDR at all and thus all that extra bandwidth goes to waste.
 
Just one small advantage, however. Those systems that use the DDR memory can generally be upgraded to more than Apple specs. The newest eMac can be upgraded to a full 2 GB, at least according to 2 different vendor sites - HERE'S ONE
 
That's quite true, actually. I hadn't thought about that. Now if someone came up with a 2GB piece for laptops, I'll get it. Of course, I need to sell off half my belongings but I'll still get it :D.
 
Thanks for all the ingo guys ! And viro you're right, you'd probably have to sell everything to afford a 2 GB laptop RAM chip...whatever happened to cheap ram...
 
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