MAC G5 won't post with XMS memory

[Quasmo]

At work here my boss is trying to install ram in his power mac G5 1.7 ghz version. He bought a 1gb stick of corsair XMS3200 3-3-3-8 timing ram. (Why he would buy damn expensive ram I dont know) It's a one gb stick and when installed in the system the system with either post but the ram will not be recognized (2x256 modules installed as well) or will not post at all (2x256 modules not installed). Are there problems with low latency ram with mac, and dont the older (1.7ghz) G5's run at PC 2700 and not 3200, could all these factors be leading up to the demise of this ram? Should I just buy the ram off him and throw it in my Athlon 64 3200 system?

 

[NokiaDude]

Doesn't matter even if he bought DDR600 ram, it'll automatically run at the fastest speed the chipset can support. I would think the G5 can handle low latency RAM or else Apple is retarded. Has he tried returning it for a new one?

 

[Quasmo]

Originally posted by: NokiaDude
Doesn't matter even if he bought DDR600 ram, it'll automatically run at the fastest speed the chipset can support. I would think the G5 can handle low latency RAM or else Apple is retarded. Has he tried returning it for a new one?

He just realised toda that it only has 512mb of ram "active" I was like, this computer needs more ram, he goes, "it has 1.5gb." well it did, but onlt 512 was recognized.

 

[shoRunner]

macs are picky about memory. if it wasn't approved by apple to work or specifically a mac part, its more or less a shot in the dark if it will work.

 

[aatf510]

Doesn't XMS run on higher voltage than normal memory?

 

[Quasmo]

its running at 1.3 volts and another Mac G5 that we have here is running the same module (bad stick probably)

 

[mwmorph]

macs have a approved hardware list for a reason. the rma probbly wont run for some reason or other,not that it's a bad stick.

 

[imported_2x]

I would never get any other brand of memory for a Mac except Crucial. They are guaranteed to work and I have never had a problem with their memory on Macs, which as others here have stated are EXTREMELY picky when it comes to memory compatibility. It's not the latency, not the voltage etc. It's the G5. Go with Crucial and you won't have this issue.

 

[supagold]

I had this problem mixing crucial RAM with the stock stuff that came in the G5. Pulling the Apple-supplied RAM fixed the problem. Tossing the apple RAM wasn't an issue for us, since it was just 2x 128MB sticks. We never bothered tracking down the root of the problem. We did try all of the standard stuff like zapping the PRAM and resetting the PMU.

 

[Arcanedeath]

Mac's don't work w/ low latency memory you have to use cas 3 or 2.5 memory depending on the model of the MAC and in some cases the type of memory you use matters too, eg the configuration can't be single sided 512mb module for example.