Will more RAM on my g3 make a difference?

[barryWest]

I've got an imac g3, 600Mhz, with OSX 10.3 and 640MB of RAM (1 x 512 stick and 1 x 128 stick).
It's primary purpose, with my USB wirless key and firefox, is for my kids to connect to the internet to play flash based games (up to ten, club penguin, etc...). Works okay, but I was curious to know if sticking another 512MB stick of RAM in there (to make it 1GB) would be worth the trouble. Do you think performance would be better for surfing with the extra memory, or is it mainly a cpu/video card limitation?

 

[Mac Pro]

Well no matter what you do, your machine will never perform like a newer machine. However, upgrading the ram could help out a little bit but don't expect any drastic performance increase.

 

[barryWest]

Well no matter what you do, your machine will never perform like a newer machine. However, upgrading the ram could help out a little bit but don't expect any drastic performance increase.

Thanks for the info, that is what I suspected. I may still go through with it though, its only about 20 bucks on the bay for a half gig stick.

 

[Collin Bl]

Of course your old G3 is getting on - 2001 - but i think if you plan on keeping it for a year then getting Tiger 10.4.11 and taking the Ram up so it is at least 512 + 256 will be as far as you need to go on that one. If u decide to go that way you will need Tiger on CDs; Looks like this but not the DVD as your G3 has a CD reader; Combo updater here


Click for full size

 

[hughvane]

Respectfully differing with Collin, your iMac will run Panther better than Tiger. It's all to do with the processor, as Mac Pro has said.

Regarding RAM, your iMac will run more smoothly, fewer hesitations, if you take it to its maximum of 1 Gb. That is certainly what I intend doing at some stage, although my iMac 600 is running on 512 Mb well enough.

A further pointer about RAM - make sure you use low-density modules, 2 x PC-100 3.3V 168-pin SDRAM. Best place to shop, or at least view, is Performance Upgrades; FireWire USB SATA Storage; Memory, more at OWC. Cheaper, high-density RAM for PCs may work for a while in your Mac, but will eventually fail or falter.

Another hint - the iMac's specs call for PC-100 modules, but PC-133 - more readily available - will work too, only at the slower speed.

Personally, I go with your idea of upgrading the RAM, it really will help the iMac's performance.

 

[barryWest]

Of course your old G3 is getting on - 2001 - but i think if you plan on keeping it for a year then getting Tiger 10.4.11 and taking the Ram up so it is at least 512 + 256 will be as far as you need to go on that one. If u decide to go that way you will need Tiger on CDs;

I was considering doing this as there are some apps (eg. latest firefox) that at a minimum require 10.4. However, I was told by the guy that I bought this imac from (who apparently knows his stuff) that 10.3 is the fastest OS for the G3 and that although the update might allow me to throw on some newer apps, in general everything would be slower. I am very new to Macs so am just following the advice of others at this point in time. Thanks for the tip though, I may try out 10.4 in the future if I can find another cheap g3 to play around with. I got my current one from a thrift store for 10 bucks.

 

[the8thark]

I would say look for A 10.4 disc and try it out. Just one word of warning. It will take ages to install on the G3 if you chose to try it out. Like hours. But let it go. And when it's installed it should run ok. Yes 10.3 will be faster but I think 10.4 will be just fine.