OK to mix ECC and non-ECC RAM in Powermac G5?

Question

OK to mix ECC and non-ECC RAM in Powermac G5?

I realized I have a combo of 6 sticks of DDR SDRAM ECC and 2 sticks of just DDR SDRAM in my Powermac G5 dual 2 GHz.

Is it okay to be mixing the ECC RAM and non-ECC RAM in this machine?

G5 Dual 2 Ghz, Mac OS X (10.5.6), 4 GB RAM

Posted on May 14, 2009 5:27 PM

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Answer 1

The hatter

Level 9

61,031 points

May 15, 2009 1:44 AM in response to David Lawrence4

No, and you will never see or find one document for any computer or RAM vendor (Crucial, Kingston, etc) supporting mixed configurations.

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Answer 2

May 15, 2009 11:36 AM in response to The hatter

so what kinds of problems can this cause?

I've had these sticks of RAM in there mixed ECC and non-ECC literally for months

what could that cause?

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Answer 3

May 15, 2009 11:39 AM in response to David Lawrence4

My understanding is that mixed RAM causes the G5 to not use ECC. It won't harm anything, but you won't get the benefits of ECC either.

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Answer 4

May 15, 2009 2:31 PM in response to Michael Haensel

Okay, now answer me this, does a Dual 2 GHz G5 even have the capability to use ECC???

A very knowledgeable person told me he thought they have no ECC benefits

???

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Answer 5

The hatter

Level 9

61,031 points

May 15, 2009 2:56 PM in response to David Lawrence4

Late 2005 dual core / quad core with PCI Express graphics.

When in doubt you can easily use Crucial Memory Selector or other vendors that will show available upgrades. There are also sites like Everymac.com and....

PowerMac specs from Apple includes all models.
http://support.apple.com/specs/#powermac

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Answer 6

Jul 24, 2009 12:57 AM in response to The hatter

best to not mix ram types

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Answer 7

Sep 6, 2009 8:07 AM in response to David Lawrence4

I had a similar setup - after searching on "slow G5" and seeing this thread, I pulled out the ECC, and the system seems much faster. It used to hang up quite a bit. Just try pulling the ECC out and seeing if it makes a difference. You hate to lose a GB, but my 3 GB system non-ECC only is faster than the 4 GB mixed was.

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