PC2700 RAM in a PC2100 iMac G4

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Level 1

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PC2700 RAM in a PC2100 iMac G4

Finally getting round to replacing the non-user accessible RAM in my 1Ghz G4.

Problem is, the factory slot requires PC2100 and most places do not sell it any more (or charge a small fortune for the priviledge).

Will there be any problem putting PC2700, or even PC3200 RAM in the PC2100 slot. I am assuming the iMac will just clock the RAM below its rating, which should not casue any problems....or am I wrong?

Thanks all

iMac FP 17" 1Ghz Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Posted on Sep 2, 2006 12:33 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

macbike

Level 2

275 points

Sep 2, 2006 1:24 PM in response to davrouk

There shouldn't be any problem using fast RAM with slower boards, cause DDR-RAM is backward compatible (like SD-RAM and probably DDR2, too).

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Answer 2

mrtotes

Level 6

11,836 points

Sep 3, 2006 9:19 AM in response to davrouk

davrouk,

As macbike says this should be fine. Any DDR memory (not DDR2) should slow down to the PC2100 speed however the tolerances in cheap RAM may prevent this from happening correctly. Therefore for an easy life and to avoid potential Kernel Panics, re-stocking feed and unnecessary shipping I recommend you buy from a Mac-friendly supplier and tell them it is for a PC2100 system. They may well send your PC2700 but at least then they are assuring you that that RAM is suitable for downspeeding correctly.

I usually recommend Crucial in the UK (as I'm more than happy with every transaction from them ) however they don't official support the factory slot upgrades for iMac G4 so when I last order from them I just ordered the PC2700 part I knew I needed.

Of course contry to Apple's specs the factory slot maximum is 1Gb so you should go for this size.

regards

mrtotes

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Answer 3

Sep 7, 2006 1:03 PM in response to davrouk

Well i've just installed memory pack labeled... pc2100 ddr 512mb 200pin sodimm 266mhz. in my imacg4 17"fp. Suprisingly the system profiler reads that its pc2700 though status is OK.

It seems to be working ok. Though i am not sure if i should be concerned?

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