I've narrowed down my choice of Mac to a 20" iMac G5 with Bluetooth and Airport cards.

I'm thinking of ordering the iMac with mimimum RAM, i.e the basic setup with a single 256Mb DIMM. Then planning to get 2 * 1Gb DIMMs from Crucial and junk the 256Mb (or keep it as a spare) as this seems to be the most cost effective way to upgrade the memory to maximum.

Before I order the above, are both DIMM sockets accessable on the iMac without invalidating the warranty, and if so, how easy are they to change out? I'm hoping they'll be behind a little door/flap like on laptops...

Cheers

 

easy man. dem apple guys make it so easy even my grandmother could do it

Put imac face down on something soft like a towel.at bottom of imac are 3 pos screws.unscrew them (dont worry they dont fall out as apple has designed them as well !!).lift off back of mac, it is hinged slightly at the front.Locate dimm slots bottom right.remove exisiting 256MB, replace with 2 1GB chips.Replace cover, tighten screws.reconnect cables and power on and bask in the knowledge of extra memory ....mmmmm

or follow this link.

http://manuals.info.apple.com/en/ima..._0342855UG.pdf

Plus the manual shows you how to do all this as well

 

Brilliant, cheers for that.

Looks dead easy (famous last words!), i'm used to building/dismantling PCs but have never tried with an iMac before.

Looks like i'll be ordering one this week then, though I might wait till wednesday in case there are any in the refurb sale...

 

That will run fast as **** with 2 gig in it

 

I hope so! It might just get 1Gb for now and another 1Gb in a couple of months, but then again, if i'm opening it up it may as well get filled right up!

Just been doing a bit more research for stuff i want/need and noticed what Macromedia Studio MX2004 costs

Oh well, such is life.

 

Try and match both of your RAM modules (ie. identical size and timing) as the iMac will then run in "dual-channel" mode just like it's big brother the PowerMac. Then it will indeed be "fast as ****"

 

Ok will do, I believe the iMac G5 accepts 2Gb max so a couple of 1Gb DDR400 modules should fit the bill nicely.

 

It'll take the 2GB modules too, they just weren't on sale when the iMac G5 was launched. Trouble is 2GB DIMMS are loadsamoney

 

class_a you monki

what is he going to do with the other slot then !!

(and dont say give it to you either )

 

Oi Swiss, noooo!!! I meant buy 2x 2GB modules as the G5 iMac will happily accept 4GB total!

 

Will it? I think i'll just stick to 2Gb total to be honest, should be more than enough for a bit of website designing and surfing Scoobynet. Beside's i don't want to think about what 2Gb SIMMs cost, going to be spending enough on hardware/software as it is!

 

2Gb MAX for the G5 imac
if you have a G5 imac that accepts 4Gb i will have one off you

 

Seems you've got me there... hadn't spotted that the 2GB modules on sale were ECC only which the iMac doesn't support. When the "regular" 2GB DIMMs go on sale, I wouldn't be suprised to see the iMac support them.

Plenty of older Macs have had their RAM specs. exceeded without difficulty once higher capacity modules hit the market. The only restriction in Apple hardware seems to be height. I know my original iBook was only spec'd to accept an additional 256MB, but now you can fit "low profile" 512MB modules if you like.

 

If you buy it from Crucial, select you Mac from the drop lists to get a recommended list of dimms available. It makes it easier to swap them out if they don't work.

 

Just ordered the following from http://www.apple.com/uk/ : iMac 20" 1.8GHz G5, with 250Gb HDD, Airport/Bluetooth cards, and Bluetooth keyboard/mouse.

Then dashed over to http://www.crucial.com/uk/ to order 2 * 1Gb RAM modules to stick in it and - - - - - - - - - - they're out of stock.

Oh well, hopefully they'll have some in soon...

 

Congratulations. Let us know how you get on

 

Cool, checked Crucial again before leaving work tonight and the RAM is showing as being in stock. 2 * 1Gb on their way, along with a 1Gb USB flash drive.