The PowerMac officially prefers to receive matched pairs of DIMMs. (up to 8 slots, though)
Basically, in a limited RAM slot config like the iMac or 'Books, you want to maximize the RAM per slot in order to get the best bang for the buck, and potentially to keep a slot free for later upgrade.
If you buy 2 512s, you've filled your slots, and any subsequent upgrade means you've got to pull one of your 512s (potentially 'wasted' if you can't recycle it into another machine with the same RAM spec or resell it).
If, OTOH, you buy a single 1GB module, you've got the same RAM in the short term (at a small premium), but when it comes time to upgrade the machine, you've got a slot free and your existing RAM was the maximum capacity for a reasonable price, so it retains a longer usable life.
That's always the way I've looked at it. Get as much as you can, per slot in limited slot machines.
i am in full support of partitioning for several reasons.
1.) if, for some reason, an software update should render your startup drive inoperable (and don't EVEN say that's unlikely... hell, there have been ITUNES updates that have rendered macs inoperable), your data can still be recovered from a startup CD and basic networking or firewire target disk mode from another computer
2.) if you use a lot of fonts, you owe it to yourself to devote a partition for fonts, mostly because, aside from corrupted fonts, the second largest cause of system instability is incorrect permissions set on fonts that are loaded and unloaded. instead, fonts can reside on their own partition, you can check "ignore permissions on this volume" in its get info box, and then lock the volume so the fonts are never modified. this process is rock-solid stable (pun intended)
3.) should you ever find yourself needing to reinstall the boot drive (a recent xerox driver installer hosed every permission on my drive, and corrupted umpteen plists, etc), you will not need to sit there for an afternoon getting stuff backed up onto a secondary disk (edit: of course, if i had a good backup plan, then that wouldn't be an issue, either... oh well)
since you're getting an imac, you can't add a second drive, but the BEST scenario is to keep all of your modified files (work in progress, etc.) on a separate disk altogether. if it's fast, you'll never se a difference (okay, unless it's video... then all bets are off), and you have a massive troubleshooting edge in case anything goes haywire.
also, back in the day, you could have an anti-virus utility scan only the data partition/disk, and download all files directly there as a "safe zone," which added an extra level of security between your downloads and boot drive. unfortunately, virex, to my knowledge still does not do this, and norton has screwed up enough of my machines in the past to never trust it again. maybe intego's do?
also, macfixit solicited feedback on the matching ram pair advantage, and in a heads-up speed test between imacs with a matching pair of 512's versus a maxed out unmatched pair of maximum ram, the matched pair OUTPERFORMED the larger ram amount.
also, apple has issued firmware updates that do not respond well to third-party ram chips. apple's official response is "remove the 3rd party ram, and then apply the firmware update, and then put the 3rd party ram back). well, if ALL YOU HAVE is 3rd party ram, you're screwed. and since this imac is definitely 1st generation, you can bet there will be a handful of firmware updates for issues in the year or two ahead.
3. Do you need several bluetooth-modules if you need to do several bluetooth-tasks? i.e. one module for keyboard and mouse, another one for cellphone-connections etc?
No, you don't need several cars if you need to buy several breads in different bakeries either.
Thank you for replying on the RAM-issue guys ! I feel smarter allready
But can anyone answer my n00b-question about amount of bluetooth modules? *refering to earlier post*
No you only need the one built in module to handle many connected devices. and buying the bluetooth module wouldn't be just for the keyboard mouse (I personally hate wireless keyboard mouse) connecting your your cell phone is the cool part about it.
No you only need the one built in module to handle many connected devices. and buying the bluetooth module wouldn't be just for the keyboard mouse (I personally hate wireless keyboard mouse) connecting your your cell phone is the cool part about it.
Comments
Basically, in a limited RAM slot config like the iMac or 'Books, you want to maximize the RAM per slot in order to get the best bang for the buck, and potentially to keep a slot free for later upgrade.
If you buy 2 512s, you've filled your slots, and any subsequent upgrade means you've got to pull one of your 512s (potentially 'wasted' if you can't recycle it into another machine with the same RAM spec or resell it).
If, OTOH, you buy a single 1GB module, you've got the same RAM in the short term (at a small premium), but when it comes time to upgrade the machine, you've got a slot free and your existing RAM was the maximum capacity for a reasonable price, so it retains a longer usable life.
That's always the way I've looked at it. Get as much as you can, per slot in limited slot machines.
1.) if, for some reason, an software update should render your startup drive inoperable (and don't EVEN say that's unlikely... hell, there have been ITUNES updates that have rendered macs inoperable), your data can still be recovered from a startup CD and basic networking or firewire target disk mode from another computer
2.) if you use a lot of fonts, you owe it to yourself to devote a partition for fonts, mostly because, aside from corrupted fonts, the second largest cause of system instability is incorrect permissions set on fonts that are loaded and unloaded. instead, fonts can reside on their own partition, you can check "ignore permissions on this volume" in its get info box, and then lock the volume so the fonts are never modified. this process is rock-solid stable (pun intended)
3.) should you ever find yourself needing to reinstall the boot drive (a recent xerox driver installer hosed every permission on my drive, and corrupted umpteen plists, etc), you will not need to sit there for an afternoon getting stuff backed up onto a secondary disk (edit: of course, if i had a good backup plan, then that wouldn't be an issue, either... oh well)
since you're getting an imac, you can't add a second drive, but the BEST scenario is to keep all of your modified files (work in progress, etc.) on a separate disk altogether. if it's fast, you'll never se a difference (okay, unless it's video... then all bets are off), and you have a massive troubleshooting edge in case anything goes haywire.
also, back in the day, you could have an anti-virus utility scan only the data partition/disk, and download all files directly there as a "safe zone," which added an extra level of security between your downloads and boot drive. unfortunately, virex, to my knowledge still does not do this, and norton has screwed up enough of my machines in the past to never trust it again. maybe intego's do?
also, macfixit solicited feedback on the matching ram pair advantage, and in a heads-up speed test between imacs with a matching pair of 512's versus a maxed out unmatched pair of maximum ram, the matched pair OUTPERFORMED the larger ram amount.
also, apple has issued firmware updates that do not respond well to third-party ram chips. apple's official response is "remove the 3rd party ram, and then apply the firmware update, and then put the 3rd party ram back). well, if ALL YOU HAVE is 3rd party ram, you're screwed. and since this imac is definitely 1st generation, you can bet there will be a handful of firmware updates for issues in the year or two ahead.
But can anyone answer my n00b-question about amount of bluetooth modules? *refering to earlier post*
Originally posted by kanogil
Nice thread
Some questions:
...
3. Do you need several bluetooth-modules if you need to do several bluetooth-tasks? i.e. one module for keyboard and mouse, another one for cellphone-connections etc?
No, you don't need several cars if you need to buy several breads in different bakeries either.
Or do you? Let me know
Originally posted by kanogil
Thank you for replying on the RAM-issue guys
But can anyone answer my n00b-question about amount of bluetooth modules? *refering to earlier post*
No you only need the one built in module to handle many connected devices. and buying the bluetooth module wouldn't be just for the keyboard mouse (I personally hate wireless keyboard mouse) connecting your your cell phone is the cool part about it.
Originally posted by Mac Write
No you only need the one built in module to handle many connected devices. and buying the bluetooth module wouldn't be just for the keyboard mouse (I personally hate wireless keyboard mouse) connecting your your cell phone is the cool part about it.
But what can your cell phone and Mac do together?