G5 not reading memory speed correctly?

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ok i got a duel 2.0 g5, pci-e system. it came with pc2 4200. i just put in 4 gigs of PNY 5300 pc2 ddr2 suposed to be "backwards compatible" but it comes up as 3200 not 4200 to match the other memory. is there a way to tell the mac to read the speed how i want it? to match the 4200? or is this even an issue. i have noticed more crashes now when my memory usage gets about 1/2 full..
 
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It will only read them at what the system takes as standard. Waste of cash installing faster RAM as that is all it is capable of handling. RAM is backwards compatible, and not forwards. The 5300 will work at both 4200/3200 speed and not vice versa. Try removing the older RAM and running the 5300 on its own and see if their is an improvement?
 
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i did that , i took out the 1gig that i had in there, and now its got 4gigs, (4 sticks) that all read as 3200. i bought it because it was onsale, only 25bux a gig. so i was stoked, but now it looks like i might take it back.
 
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http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2248?viewlocale=en_US


Late model 2005 (what i have)

dual 2.0 GHz,
Dual 2.3 GHz,
Quad 2.5 GHz
Power Mac G5 (Late 2005) 8 16 GB PC2-4200 DDR2 SDRAM 240-pin DIMM Up to 2GB


thats what apple says, they shipped my comp with 1g of pc2-4200


i just bought pc2-5300 cuz it was on sale and didnt think that buying the faster ram would hurt it, instead of showing up as 4200, it shows up as 3200. weather or not the old 4200 ram is installed or not. right now i am still using the 5300 stuff. will this potentially hurt the computer, and can you explain what you mean by using up the extra cash on faster memory?


passes "rember" memory test downloading some other memory test apps now.
 
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Higher spec memory modules are certainly dearer and your machine will only read them as set out in the Apple System Profiler. Go to 'About this Mac'>'Memory' and see what the Profiler says about the speed of fitted RAM,

If your Mac used say PC100 memory and you installed PC133, which is 33% faster, it would read still as PC100.
 
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ya thats what i was checking to find out that my memory is slower than expected.


its supposed to read 4200

but only comes up as 3200
 
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Well either the model PowerMac is earlier than you thought or the modules have been incorrectly marked at the time of manufacture. If the model is right and the profiler working as it should, suggest taking memory back to the seller.
 
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PC5300 DDR2 showing as PC3200-288

I have the same problem. I bought 2, 1gig sticks of PC5300. They work but show in the System Profiler as PC3200-288. I thought maybe a bad batch of memory. So I ordered 2, 2 gig sticks from Crucial (reliable memory in my experience) and they show the same - PC3200-288.

Don't know why. I'm researching. Just wanted to confirm that I'm seeing the same issue.
 

rman


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If your system only supports PC3200 then it will only show up as PC3200, even thou you installed faster RAM.
 
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IMac G5, 2.1 GHz, 2.5 GB DDR2 SDRAM, 250 GB hard drive, OS X 10.4.11
PC5300 DDR2 showing as PC3200-288

I installed 2gb of PC5300/4200 667/533 in my 2005 Imac Isight and it showed as PC3200 - 288 when I checked in "about my mac". I returned the memory to the store (twice) and ultimately ordered Mac specific memory from a ram dealer, for not a lot more money $49 vs $63 plus shipping $8. I have not received it yet, I will post the results of this purchase. My fingers are crossed. My old memory showed as PC4200 which is what the system specs call for.
 

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What ever happened with this issue? I've seen similar posts in other forums, but never a definitive answer. This week, I bought and installed 4x2GB DDR2 RAM modules in my Power Mac G5 2 GHz Dual Processor machine. The new memory is what Crucial specified for this machine: PC5300. However, in the System Profiler it shows up as DDR2 SDRAM PC2-3200U-288. The original two modules still show up as PC2-4200U-444. Is this simply a System Profiler issue, or is my RAM being run at a shower speed?
 
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Think it is probably a case of the wrong type of memory, for instance high density and not low density. My 2.3GHZ Dual Core also uses DDR2 PC-4200 and purchase only from OWC, a Mac specialist.

All six modules show up of PC2-4200U-444 so I do not think it is a System Profile problem, more of a module problem.
 

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Thanks for letting me know your Dual G5 did recognize your memory correctly. You're the first one in all of the threads I've found that confirmed this. So, sounds like the memory I got isn't right. I would have thought that Crucial would have gotten this right.
 
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wrm


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harryb2448 I have the G5 dual core 2 GHz box (M9590LL/A). It came with two 512 MB DDR2 memory modules (PC2-4200U-444). Crucial lists faster RAM for this box (PC2-5300), which I thought should work fine. I assumed the new RAM would run at the 533 MHz set by the slower memory already installed. I can't tell the speed at which the new RAM is actually running, but System Profiler shows the new RAM as PC2-3200U-288.

OWC shows PC2-4200 RAM for this box, which I assume would work fine. I could return the RAM I bought from Crucial and get the PC2-4200 RAM from OWC, but that's somewhat of an annoyance. Is there any way that I can find out the speed at which my RAM is actually running? If not, is there a benchmark I can run from which I can back out an estimate of RAM speed?
 

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