PowerBook - Going over max RAM capacity!?!?!

Finx_1 · Finx_1 #1 (**permalink**)

08-08-2007, 02:34 PM

Now this is a real head scratcher...

I bought a cheap Powerbook G3 (bronze keyboard) for my mum to have her own comp to browse the net on and chat to friends online....

The Max spec. of ram for this laptop is 384Mb...
But I Installed 512Mb and it didn't complain at all.. and it showed up in the "about this mac" as 512?????

Does anyone care to tell me how this happened???
because I thought it would just say... sorry.. to much i dont like it...

it does have OS X 10.3 on aswell...

RONE · RONE #2 (**permalink**)

08-08-2007, 03:56 PM

You might only be able to use 384 MB, even though the computer "knows" it's a 512 stick.

haribo · haribo #3 (**permalink**)

08-08-2007, 08:46 PM

A few older PB's can actually take more ram than Apple reported upon release (prob something to do with the ram available at the time). I have a Pismo and you can drop in up to 1 gig although Apple lists the max capacity as 512mb (something to do with the fact that low profile 512mb sticks weren't available at the time). Be happy, there's no problem man!

Finx_1 · Finx_1 #4 (**permalink**)

08-08-2007, 08:56 PM

also i was wondering if it had anything to dowith the fact that it's on OS X 10.3???

Because with mac's like the G4 powermac wen you upgrade to 10.3 / 10.4 the max capacity raises for some strange reason.. maybe to do with the max RAM the OS can take...

But still i'm happy...

Still a slow computer tho which is a shame...

400mhz cpu
(66mhz bus)
512Mb ram

would of thought it would run quicker then it is...

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PowerBook - Going over max RAM capacity!?!?!

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Finx_1 #1 (permalink)
Member Since: Jun 26, 2007 Location: Devon, England Posts: 100 Mac Specs: G4 Cube 450Mhz 1Gb Ram, iBook G4 1.2Ghz 1.25Gb RAM	08-08-2007, 02:34 PM Now this is a real head scratcher... I bought a cheap Powerbook G3 (bronze keyboard) for my mum to have her own comp to browse the net on and chat to friends online.... The Max spec. of ram for this laptop is 384Mb... But I Installed 512Mb and it didn't complain at all.. and it showed up in the "about this mac" as 512????? Does anyone care to tell me how this happened??? because I thought it would just say... sorry.. to much i dont like it... it does have OS X 10.3 on aswell...
	QUOTE Thanks

RONE #2 (permalink)
Member Since: Apr 02, 2007 Location: Merriam, KS Posts: 764 Mac Specs: 15" MBP Core Duo 2.0GHz 1.5GB, 20" iMac C2D 2.4GHz 4GB, PowerPC G4 500MHz 512MB	08-08-2007, 03:56 PM You might only be able to use 384 MB, even though the computer "knows" it's a 512 stick.
	QUOTE Thanks

Finx_1 #4 (permalink)
Member Since: Jun 26, 2007 Location: Devon, England Posts: 100 Mac Specs: G4 Cube 450Mhz 1Gb Ram, iBook G4 1.2Ghz 1.25Gb RAM	08-08-2007, 08:56 PM also i was wondering if it had anything to dowith the fact that it's on OS X 10.3??? Because with mac's like the G4 powermac wen you upgrade to 10.3 / 10.4 the max capacity raises for some strange reason.. maybe to do with the max RAM the OS can take... But still i'm happy... Still a slow computer tho which is a shame... 400mhz cpu (66mhz bus) 512Mb ram would of thought it would run quicker then it is...
	QUOTE Thanks

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