Ibook G3, Upgrade RAM?

Question

Ibook G3, Upgrade RAM?

Hello:

I own an Ibook G3 with 500mhz and 128Mb of RAM, I currently run OS 10.2.8, and while I am very satisfied with my investment, the years have made my ibook a bit slow. I was thinking of expanding my memory by adding 256 Mb of RAM and to fulfill some software requirements, upragding my OS. I'm still unsure, however, if I should upgrade to Tiger or to Panther, won't Tiger be a bit too much for my ibook to handle? Will the extra RAM actually make a diference?

Thank you very much

Posted on Oct 22, 2005 9:31 PM

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Answer 1

Oct 23, 2005 4:53 AM in response to Patricio Estevez

Patricia, welcome to the Apple Discussions!

You'll probably get unanimous replies here - that is, maxing out your ram to 640 mb (by adding a 512mb module) will make a huge difference in how your system runs.

But since your iBook is a 500mhz, do you still plan to keep it for a long time? If so, then it's still worth it to upgrade your ram, regardless of which OS you're using.

I have an 800mhz with 640mb ram. Panther ran great on it, and Tiger runs good too although it causes my iBook to heat up faster and uses the fan more often. Tiger seems to be hungry for more processing power.

If you have more questions, ask away - there are plenty of friendly members here willing to share their experiences and perspectives.

John

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Answer 2

Oct 23, 2005 9:28 AM in response to Patricio Estevez

Hi, Patricio. What size hard drive do you have in your iBook? Most of the 500 MHz iBooks came with a 10 gig hard drive, and if that is what yours has, I wouldn't recommend going any further with the OS if you are happy where you are. The newer OS's take a lot of hard drive space for the way they access virtual memory. I would, however, recommend increasing the RAM with a 512 MB module instead of settling for anything less. It will make a big difference for you.

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Answer 3

Oct 23, 2005 9:59 PM in response to Ronda Wilson

Thanks for your help, both of you, it really comes in handy.

Ronda: Yes, my HD has 10GB, I wouldn't upgrade my OS, however, I need to download Skype, and it requires OS 10.3 and up. A way of saving up space, i've delelted many apps I don't really use (imovie, ichat av, mail, Internet explorer, etc...), and kept only what i need.

I will buy the extra RAM, however, when i searched the apple store for the memory modules they offer, I had no idea which is the the one that fits my Ibook, anyone knows?

Thanks again!

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Answer 4

Oct 24, 2005 2:39 AM in response to Patricio Estevez

The G3 iBooks use 144-pin SDRAM SO-DIMM, PC-100 or PC-133 modules. You can also find them at Ramseeker.

I just realized I spelled your name wrong in my first post.

Sorry, Patricio!

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Answer 5

Oct 24, 2005 2:52 AM in response to Patricio Estevez

I've just bought a 512mb RAM module for my iBook 700 from Kingston ValueRam. You should also look at crucial.com, the RAM from the Apple store is very expensive. You are looking for [144-pin SODIMM SDRAM PC133 CL3] and I paid £74 sterling inc tax for mine (£100 on the UK Apple store).

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Answer 6

Oct 24, 2005 4:57 PM in response to mymacluvsme

Thnks again,

I looked into it, they do have good deals on the pages you refered. I've never bought any uprgades, and apple's got me brainwashed to believe that only their products are good enough to put into my ibook. I found a very good deal for 99 dlls for 512mb on Memory Ten, they are good right? I mean they claim they have a lifetime warranty and all. There was one that was cheaper, 79 dlls (also 512mb) , but I'm scared it might not be good, it was offered by a company called omni and this was their "generic" line, whatever that means.

Well, thanks for the help, and don't worry about the name!

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Answer 7

Nov 1, 2005 8:11 PM in response to Patricio Estevez

Patricio como estas? Yo vivo en Monterrey, acabo de hacer upgrade de Memoria Combo Drive y Disco Duro a mi iBook, creo que yo la consegui mas barata deja te investigo donde y a cuanto.

Me puedes llamar al 13 400 200 Profitness para mas info. la compre en ebay la memoria y tengo un DD de 20GB disponible si te interesa tratamos.

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Answer 8

Nov 1, 2005 8:22 PM in response to Art Garcia

Ya cheque, la memoria la compre en www.pbfix.com a US99 el sim de 512 numero de parte PBF1122 funciona perfectamente cero crashes.

Mi iBook es de 700Mhz corre muy bien con X.3.9

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Answer 9

Nov 2, 2005 11:42 AM in response to Art Garcia

Gracias!!

Voy a agregarle la RAM, por ahora son los únicos cambios que me puedo costear.

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Answer 10

Nov 2, 2005 1:30 PM in response to Patricio Estevez

Patricio, puedes pasarme tu email y telefono? con la idea de apoyarnos en nuestras dudas. Mi email es agarcia arroba profitnessmx.com mandame un email y te respndo mi tel.

Saludos!!!

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Answer 11

Nov 3, 2005 9:48 AM in response to Patricio Estevez

I have tried upgrading my RAM with a 512MB module from Centon. It is a PC133 chip. I have tried 2 different ram modules, but each time, the machine locks up and becomes totally non-responsive. The Boot ROM version is 4.6.4f1, if that would have any bearing on the problems I am seeing. The machine has run fine with the 128MB module it came with.

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Answer 12

Maxit

Level 4

3,649 points

Nov 3, 2005 11:50 AM in response to James O'Hagan

It is possible that the slot for the extra RAM is faulty, but it may also be that the brand RAM is not playing well with your iBook--

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Answer 13

Nov 3, 2005 9:36 PM in response to James O'Hagan

It's funny that you mention the Centon brand.
A friend of mine tried upgrading his Powerbook memory with Centon and encountered the same problem.

TRENT

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Answer 14

Nov 4, 2005 8:27 AM in response to Trentonn Smith

Well, now that there is some confirmation, that makes me feel a little better. Trouble is now finding notebook RAM that is non-Centon and 512MB. 🙂

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Answer 15

Nov 5, 2005 12:02 AM in response to James O'Hagan

I have a iBook G3 with 384MB ram, I upgraded the HD a wile ago to 20GB 5400rpm, Combo Drive, AirPort, and OS X Tiger 10.4.3. I have recently reinstalled OS X Tiger hoping that would fix the speed problems and errors I was getting when running it. After reinstalling Tiger, It did get rid of the errors, but the speed continues to get slower, or at least to me. I am comparing this to my 1.6Ghz iMac G5, so it seems to get slower every time. I am running 512MB in my iMac, so I was thinking a boost in ram would help the speed issue of my iBook G3. I have 128MB on the motherboard and 256MB in the slot. I have two questions:

If I were to install a 512MB in the ram slot, would I see a major boot increase time and loading time of programs such as MS Word, Safari, iChat, iTunes, and more programs like that?

When the iBook G3 was released, there was NOT a 1GB iBook ram module, since that is true, would the 1GB ram module be compatible with the iBook G3, even though Apple says its not, only because it wasn't out when those standerds were set?

Anyone that can respond will be greatly appreciated, please respond here or e-mail me at fishera@gmail.com, and visit my Blog at http://www.McMACSite.com/Aaron.

THANKS.

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