On Oct 9, 2008, at 4:17 AM, g3-5-list group wrote: > > > == 4 of 4 == > Date: Thurs, Oct 9 2008 1:07 am > From: "Simon Royal" > > > Peter > > I know the differences between SDRAM, DDR, DDR2, 144pin, 168pin, > 200pin and 240pin. > > You do get PC RAM and Mac RAM, in the sense that some sticks will > work in a PC but not a Mac. > > Some PC specific RAM will also work in a Mac. My question was, how > do you tell. > > I pressume it is down to number of chips and CS latency. >
SImon: By the technical standards of RAM design, there is no such thing as PC RAM and Mac RAM. Things go awry when vendors do not comply with the technical design standards. That is how some RAM gets to be dirt cheap. Regrettably, one may learn of an incompatibility on a specific Mac with a specific version of the OS only by trial, unless you buy from a vendor who certifies, or at least claims, that the RAM will meet the design standards assumed by Apple. If you are looking at used RAM from PCs, or RAM that is otherwise non-specific, you get into the trial and error mode. This is a old issue. I do not believe you can isolate the RAM sticks that will not work in a Mac by simply looking at its manufacturer's specifications. Non-compliance with the design standard goes deeper than that. I hope some experts on this list can weigh in with the technical details, such as I have seen as recently as a couple years ago. Or you may find previous discussions in the archives. Even when third-party RAM is known to work on a Mac with a particular version of the OS, users have occasionally discovered that RAM to be a problem when attempting to upgrade the OS. Through the years, Apple has demanded less and less tolerance for RAM production deviations. I know this does not help much. Al Poulin --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed Low End Mac's G3-5 List, a group for those using G3, G4, and G5 desktop Macs - with a particular focus on Power Macs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/g3-5-list?hl=en Low End Mac RSS feed at feed://lowendmac.com/feed.xml -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
