# G5 Freezes and fans ramp up to a scream. Bad RAM?



## SloMo (Sep 23, 2007)

Hello, My wife's machine is a G5 power PC. (2.2 core duo with 1 gb apple ram)
She was having lock ups and the variable cooling fans were ramped up all the way when this would happen.
She couldn't do a software shutdown and had to push and hold the power switch and reboot.
Since it is covered under AppleCare we took it in to the store to see what was up.
The first thing the tech did was pull out the two six month old OWC 1 gb ram cards and screamed "AFTERMARKET RAM!!! ARGH!" He said that aftermarket RAM can cause this problem. I looked at him incredulously, (like when you take your car to the mechanic with a problem and they say it is a bad tank of gas) and asked him how this was possible. He had some explanation about the ram could cause the heat sensors to go haywire. Unconvinced, we left it there to do "stress testing" and thorough RAM testing. A few days later the called for us to pick it up and said that they could get it to lock up with the aftermarket ram but not when the 1 gb apple ram was alone in there with out the satanic RAM. The Other World Computing RAM claimed it had the same specs as the Apple RAM.

My question is: has any one else experienced this? We are concerned that it might be the reported "overheating problems" that G5s can have. If people have experienced this any suggestions about good "aftermarket" ram to buy? (We have ruled ot genuine Apple RAM due to the expense. Thanks, Steve


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## chas_m (Dec 2, 2007)

The tech sounds like he was being a bit of a drama queen , but absolutely that sounds like the source of your problem.

Generally, OWC uses quality goods, but as with ANY mass-manufactured product (particularly those sold at a discount), the potential for defect is there. At my old shop in Florida we saw a LOT of this phenomenon across all model types, and it's bedeviling because sometimes it is quite hard to track down (bad RAM does not always show up as bad RAM in Apple's Hardware Test or in other tests, and the results of bad RAM can sometimes be hard to exactly repeat or unpredictable).

OWC is a good company and will cheerfully replace the RAM if a certified Apple tech says its bad. But to answer your question, this is a common problem with discounted RAM -- quite often this RAM are actually sticks that were rejected by the original manufacturer as not up to their QC.

Hint: that is why I'm always telling people here that the rock-bottom price is not generally the best option when buying RAM.

Again: OWC are not bottom-feeders, it's just an accident that you got bad RAM from them, it happens to everybody (even Apple has been known to send us bad RAM from time to time!), they will make good.


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## rgray (Feb 15, 2005)

I also have had problems with OWC memory in my MBP. It would overheat, wouldn't sleep properly and got hot. Sometimes it would serially restart - 'bong', 'bong', 'bong'.... when closed and supposedly asleep although the LED was not pulsing... The problem only went away when the OEM Apple memory was reinstalled. The problem never recurred after installation of Kingston RAM from CanadaRAM.

Once bitten, twice shy! I won't be buying any more RAM from OWC.


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## Rampant AV (Aug 2, 2005)

SloMo said:


> Hello, My wife's machine is a G5 power PC. (2.2 core duo with 1 gb apple ram)


I'm confused. You say Power PC G5 the core duo. I have an iMac G5 PowerPC and in 3 years it has had the power supply replaced and just recently the logic board. My symptoms were the exact same. The fan would rev up and eventually it would sleep and I'd have to hard boot. Eventually it wouldn't even start up again. The more intensive the program the faster the process.

I would take it to the nearest Apple Store. And back up all of your important data.

EDIT - I have after market ram in mine with no problems.


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## monokitty (Jan 26, 2002)

SloMo said:


> My wife's machine is a G5 power PC. (2.2 core duo with 1 gb apple ram)


If it's a Core Duo unit, it certainly isn't a Power PC G5 - that would be contradictory. G5's are pre-Intel times. 

So, we need to ask again - what machine is it?


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## SloMo (Sep 23, 2007)

*Yes of course it isn't a core duo ...*

Thank you all for the helpful responses. I am trying to email OWC now but their server is down. Yes my wife's G5 isn't a core duo ... I was too lazy to go out to her studio and read the specs.


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## monokitty (Jan 26, 2002)

Aftermarket RAM wouldn't specifically be the problem, but it's entirely possible that the OWC RAM installed has since gone defective. OWC RAM should come with a life-time warranty.


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## Rampant AV (Aug 2, 2005)

SloMo said:


> Thank you all for the helpful responses. I am trying to email OWC now but their server is down. Yes my wife's G5 isn't a core duo ... I was too lazy to go out to her studio and read the specs.


Definitely take it in for service. I almost lost all of my important data. Thankfully I had extended AppleCare or $1200.00 for a new logic board, or so I was quoted.


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## dug320 (Feb 6, 2008)

My G5 ran into similar problems.

After market RAM is not the problem. I ran a memory test program for three days with and without aftermarket RAM with the exact same results. I then ran certain programs (itunes) to cause it to crash with and without the aftermarket RAM. Regardless of the RAM it crashed

I took it in for repair and both the powersupply and the motherboard are being replaced (thanks to purchasing the extended warranty).

:clap:


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## allanyong (Jan 22, 2006)

G5's cooling system is not very great for the processors for some machines. 
Some of Ottawa's local AASP doesn't even take any G5s to fix.


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## corey111 (Jul 9, 2007)

I had to exact same thing happen to me, I'd let some videos compress overnight, come back to the office in the morning and fans would be going like crazy, it's kinda scary.
I have since upgraded a few things, ram, new final cut studio, and it hasnt happend in a while, though that's no longer my main machine I use. But it's 6 months since it happend.


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## johnb1 (Aug 6, 2006)

*G5 freezes*

don't ask...just don't ask....It's been an expensive month
had same thing happen to me on April 1st. did as many things as I could to get it to boot (reset pram, tryed to boot to open firmware, even disconnected the power cord
and let it sit for about 20 minutes. No Good. Took it in-bad logic board-that'll
be $1300 please ! oh, and Apple Care ran out in late 2007, after $3,307 worth of repairs and 4-5 months in the shop

not taking in any G5's... I'm not surprised, not any more

John B

as was said here earlier-backup your important stuff, oh, and get a can of compressed air and blow out your machine. It can help, somewhat


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