Memory interleaving in iMac G5 w/iSight?

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Memory interleaving in iMac G5 w/iSight?

Hi all!

I have an iMac G5 with iSight, with a 512 Mb memory chip pre-installed which is, as far as I understand, welded to the motherboard. I have installed another 512 Mb memory chip in the free slot, to take advantage of memory interleaving.

Now this is running short for what I'm doing and I want to get more RAM. Concerned about missing out on memory interleaving, I browsed different forums on the topic but the only thing I found was an official Apple page saying that the benefit of matching memory modules does not apply to the iMac with iSight:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=300082

True? The plan is to buy a 2 Gb memory chip and replace the 512 Mb I installed myself with that, ending up with 2.5 Gb. Any ideas on how well this might improve performance?

Thanks a lot!

//Huey

iMac G5 iSight Mac OS X (10.4.10)

Posted on Jul 12, 2007 3:40 AM

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Answer 1

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JMEH

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2,470 points

Jul 12, 2007 4:34 AM in response to //Huey

Hi //Huey!

I currently use the 2.5G configuration and for me it's been flawless so far. I do some image editing in Photoshop and it speeds things up when rendering images noticeably... Prices of a 2G module is really really low now!!!

Before upgrading I was runnning 512m with Photoshop, it was a bit slow and I could not use iTunes, or surf the internet etc at the same time, it became too sluggish. Now I can listen to itunes, surf the web, have other image editing apps open and work in PS with no problems. <imho>It will lengthen the life of my Mac...

Rick

iMac G5 iSight 20" - 30G iPOD & Hot Pink Nano 4G - WD 500G FW - Mac OS X (10.4.8) - HP Pav 15" WS and Toshiba Sat 17" WS LP's - Canon 20D & A620 Kodak P880

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Answer 2

//Huey Author

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Jul 12, 2007 4:39 AM in response to JMEH

JMEH,

Thanks! Will go for it then. Do you know anything about interleaving, though? Can the iMac use it, only we miss out on it, or can it not use interleaving at all, whatever the config?

//Huey

iMac G5 iSight Mac OS X (10.4.10)

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Answer 3

JMEH

Level 4

2,470 points

Jul 12, 2007 5:14 AM in response to //Huey

Hi again //Huey!

There is no mention re: our iSight models handicapped by not being able to match Memory modules. The iSight can max out Ram to 2.5G...

The older iMac G5's can have matched Memory but the max they can have is 2G's. Newer intel Mac's can also "benefit" from having matched modules upto 2G's (2 x 1G), the intels can max out at 3G's (2G + 1G) according to Apple, which are not matched modules...

iMac G5 iSight 20" - 30G iPOD & Hot Pink Nano 4G - WD 500G FW - Mac OS X (10.4.8) - HP Pav 15" WS and Toshiba Sat 17" WS LP's - Canon 20D & A620 Kodak P880

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Answer 4

//Huey Author

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Jul 13, 2007 12:28 PM in response to JMEH

JMEH,

I guess Apple left the idea of making it possible to benefit from memory matching when they started welding the built-in memory chips to the mother board. Or, they want you to pay for having a larger memory welded there ... In any circumstance, we can't match memory chips if we want more than 1 GB.

Thanks again!

//Huey

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Answer 5

JMEH

Level 4

2,470 points

Jul 13, 2007 2:07 PM in response to //Huey

Matched or unmatched the iSight model can still max out at 2.5G's and we have faster processors than the older iMac G5's.

<fwiw> I believe if you take a close look, the iSight has a faster Bus speed than the orginal iMac G5's as well as the first generation intel Macs, I think the Bus Speed is pretty critical to the all around functions of a computer...

iMac G5 iSight 20" - 30G iPOD & Hot Pink Nano 4G - WD 500G FW - Mac OS X (10.4.8) - HP Pav 15" WS and Toshiba Sat 17" WS LP's - Canon 20D & A620 Kodak P880

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