Going from 640MB to 1.28GB memory on a iBook G4 800. Is this worth it?

[amberashby]

Hi,

I'm thinking about upgrading the ram on my ibook g4 to 1GB. Unfortunately it only has 1 slot so I would just be replacing the 512 chip in it with a 1GB chip giving me 1.28GB of RAM.

I'm just looking for a performance boost but wonder if the difference would be very noticeable for $112.

What do you guys thing?

Thanks.

 

[1nsanity]

hello

I would say go for it
I went from 256meg to 768meg to 1280meg on my old 12'' powerbook 1.33ghz.

Everytime I noticed huge improvement, especially when running many tasks simultaneously. Now I have a 15" pbook so I went for 2gig and even there I noticed another improvement.

It all depends of what you do. If you browse the internet, use word and some little appz maybe you shouldn't bother.

But one thing for sure you will see improvement I am positive on this. Adding more ram would also make your ibook live longer, I mean in terms of how good it will peform in general.

So if you don't plan to upgrade your ibook and even if you do the chip should be usable in the next generation(if they stick with the g4cpu).

It's a worthy upgrade!

just my 2 cents

 

[Artful Dodger]

Yes go for it. FWIW I maxed out my memory on my iBook and I'm glad I did and it helped with not seeing those beach balls. For $112 that is a good deal since I paid $179 back in Dec/Jan. for my 1 gig stick.

 

[amberashby]

Thanks guys. I think I'll go for it. The $112 is for generic memory from 18004memory, but I've used them several times for my other Macs with no probs.

Thanks again.

 

[Mord]

you'll be getting 1152MB ram as it's 128MB built in + 1024MB on the stick, the first gen ibook g4's dident come with 256MB built in.

 

[amberashby]

you'll be getting 1152MB ram as it's 128MB built in + 1024MB on the stick, the first gen ibook g4's dident come with 256MB built in.

Yes, you are correct. I bought it with the stock 256 and took out the removable 128 to add the 512 chip.

 

[shadowmoses]

Most definatly go for the upgrade you will see a nice improvement in performance...

ShadOW

 

[dmw007]

Go for it! More ram is always a good thing, you should notice the difference.

 

[mad jew]

I've got an original G4 iBook with 640MB of RAM too and have always had in the back of my mind that I should grab a 1GB stick but it's always been pretty pricey. However, in the last two years the price has fallen to a third of what it was (here in Australia, not sure if it's the same elsewhere). I would buy one but I can't really justify it now that I have an iMac.

I do all my intensive stuff on the desktop so I really can't justify it but I'd love to hear back from amberashby as to how much the performance gain truly is and whether it's worth it. Cheers.

 

[ibookhelp]

can you upgrade to a 1gb stick on an older ibook 800 g4? I thought the max ram was 640?

 

[Mord]

yes, apple just did not offer 1GB sticks at the time.

 

[ibookhelp]

Ok, cool. Now my question is would it take 1gb pc2700? I'm thinking it might be wiser to get than a 1 gb pc2100, if I want to upgade to a powerbook down the road? What do you think?

 

[Mord]

it takes 2700 fine.

 

[ibookhelp]

great. thanks for your help.

 

[moonislune]

Are you sure?

yes, apple just did not offer 1GB sticks at the time.

I've read online that the max is 640. I'd love to upgrade mine too. Where did you find this info?

Thanks!!!

 

[Mord]

because the memory controller on the motherboard did not change through the logic board revisions, and i have personally installed a 1GB stick in a 800MHz g4 ibook and a 933MHz 14" ibook

 

[moonislune]

You rock!

because the memory controller on the motherboard did not change through the logic board revisions, and i have personally installed a 1GB stick in a 800MHz g4 ibook and a 933MHz 14" ibook

Makes sense. Thanks!

 

[tvguru]

I've read online that the max is 640. I'd love to upgrade mine too. Where did you find this info?

Thanks!!!

Here's my iBook

 

[Dr. Dastardly]

Wow I thought it wasan't possible to go above 600mhz for some reason. Now I will definately get a nice gig in there. I will end up being more than my PB.

How come almost all the sticks that are all say that its for the 1.42 ghz iBook? Can that just be ignored since the memory controler hasn't been changed on the logic boards.