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Generic RAM - worth it?

L

LiekOMG

Golden Member
I need to buy some old PC100 ram, but since these are no longer price competitive, their prices from places like Crucial is more than double that of DDR ram - about $120 for a 512mb stick! I checked on pricewatch, and there are tons of vendors selling "generic" ram for very cheap. The thing is, they claim these chips will only work in old Via and SIS chipset motherboards (not even Intel!). Is this true? Is generic ram really that incompatible? I need the ram for an old iMac, but i can't justify spending more on the ram than I did for the entire computer! Do you think I should trust this generic ram?
 
Yes it is true. Your machine may be very finicky about what you put in it. You can try the generic ram but get it in a place that will allow returns.
 
Look around the local tech stores like Staples or OfficeMax.

I'm sure they'll have some generic type memory. That way, it's also local and free(r) to return if it doesn't work.
 
Actually, looking around online, now i'm even more confused. There seems to be several type of PC100/133 ram. High density (64x4), and low density (32x8). The high density chips are cheaper, but claim to only work in the newest computers (which makes no sense, since like nothing uses PC133 ram anymore). The low density chips claim to work in anything, but are twice the price 🙁
 
Noninterleaved, 168-pin, 64-bit-wide 8ns PC100 SDRAM (3.3v).
Click to expand...
Quote pulled from Everymac.com.
Also, What do you mean by "older iMac"? The earliest iMacs use So-Dimms (The kind you find in laptops) and the later ones use PC100/133. What revision iMac do you have? You can find more about your iMac here.
 
Yes older motherboards require low density. I have a Shuttle AI61 mobo in my old rig (it has a VIA chipset) and it won't see my high density 256MB PC133 so I threw in two old sticks of PC100 128MB and it works fine. But my older Intel SX440BX-2 mobo works fine with that PC133 256MB high density! Its crazy!

-Josh
 
Originally posted by: GonzoDaGr8
Noninterleaved, 168-pin, 64-bit-wide 8ns PC100 SDRAM (3.3v).
Click to expand...
Quote pulled from Everymac.com.
Also, What do you mean by "older iMac"? The earliest iMacs use So-Dimms (The kind you find in laptops) and the later ones use PC100/133. What revision iMac do you have? You can find more about your iMac here.
Click to expand...

Its an iMac DV 400mhz, which according to Apple's site can support a max of 1GB of ram using 2 512 chips. But I don't know if it supports this high density ram or not.
 
Just buy a stick from a place that will accept returns in caes it doesn't work and then try the lower density ram if the high density doesn't work. BTW, PC 66/100/133 will work. I've used many a generic ram in my G3 Mac's before(beige, B&W).
 
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