Do new DDR2 Power Mac's require Mac Specific RAM?

[Andrew LB]

My father is a graphic designer and is about to buy a new Power Mac either Dual or Quad core rig and i'm trying to find him ways to cut costs yet have all the goodies he needs in it. (he's a software guy.... hardware ignorant)

The two Macs he's considering uses DDR2 PC2-4200 RAM and I wanted to know if you have to use the Mac specific memory or can he use any quality ram of that specification?

Here is the kit for Mac that he was going to buy which runs around $250 for 2gb.
http://www.ec.kingston.com/ecom/configurator/partsinfo.asp?ktcpartno=KTA-G5533/2G

Then on the other hand, i was looking on pricewatch for the same spec of memory but whats used in PC's and it only costs $130 for some Corsair.

https://www.monarchcomputer.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=M&Product_Code=140122&AFFIL=pricewatch&NR=1


I know Macintosh tends to use hardware specific to Macintosh, but do they do the same with RAM nowdays?

Any imput is greatly appreciated.

-Andrew

[Mats]

Check out Corsair's site or call them, maybe they can tell you.

[Charles Wirth]

I tried putting the PQI memory in one and it was rejected right from the start.

[Andrew LB]

Thanks man! After a quick search of Corsairs website, i found a reply from "the ram guy" who said any of their value select which is the proper speed should work fine. That means my dad can save $150 by buying Corsair Value Select PC2-4200 instead of the "mac specific" memory which costs FAR more and probably isn't as good since i've had great experience with Corsair over the years.

http://www.houseofhelp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=44878&highlight=Mac

[the_new_guy]

Why ram from apple is a ripe off any ram will work

[Andrew LB]

Why ram from apple is a ripe off any ram will work


Thats what i'm trying to find out since Apple does have certain specs that must be met. Just like certain PC motherboards don't accept various brands of PC memory even though they're "similar in spec".

I put up a post on Corsair's website and so far they just pointed me toward their "memory configuator" which wasnt any help because they don't have the new high end Quad systems or Dual Core systems which utilize PC2-4200 DDR2 memory.

I'm "assuming" from the following response in another thread from "Ram Guy" that I can use their Value Select memory. Hopefully any of their Value Select memory because the type he was specific about is actually quite expensive, much more so than the 2gb kits available at places like newegg...


As long as you are replacing the memory that came with your system our Value Select will or should run in that system, but the correct part# for an OEM system would be CMSS1GB-533.

http://www.houseofhelp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=44878&highlight=Mac

[the_new_guy]

stick to crassair hynix and Kingston and you wont have any probs

[the_new_guy]

i have a gig of kingston in my eMac

[Andrew LB]

i have a gig of kingston in my eMac


The same kinda stuff they sell at macmall? They do offer kingston memory but IIRC it was much more expensive since it was supposedly for "macs only".

[antipop]

You can try to take a look on the website of crucial, they always have ram that is certified for apple computers and they're much cheaper than those on the applestore

[einCe]

Why ram from apple is a ripe off any ram will work
was i the only one that got the joke?

[antipop]

was i the only one that got the joke?
Yes

[Disposibleteen]

was i the only one that got the joke?
I didnt think it was a joke i thought it was a typo.

[bypolar]

Geil makes apple ram too.

[BrokenWall]

any basic DDR2 works, with some of the Powermacs at my work, and high performance DDR was rejects, so i was stuck to memory with looser timings.

[boostdfd3s]

Any RAM will work as long as it has the correct SPD Tables coded in the chips. I had a set of XP4000 Redline that worked fine, but another generic 256MB chip that had f'ed up SPD tables would not boot.

-Zach