Apart from saying that you'd done it, is there any good reason to put 512MB of RAM in a Quadra, especially if 128MB SIMMS cost $20 a pop?
I suppose that, with 512MB, you could run everything, including large graphics applications, from a RAM disk, which would be something to behold (a utility like Maxima would allow you to double the 512 to a full megabyte, by the way), or 101 programs at once (though the OS certainly will not like it). It would be fun to see one wet Saturday afternoon.
For real usage, however, 512MB would be entirely over the top. The thing would take an aeon to start up, and even longer to start up/ shut down from a Maxima RAM disk (which has to be loaded/ saved); there really is no 68k software that requires such a complement of memory; and the inherent limits of the processors, Motorola and AT&T, come into play. The idea of putting 512MB in a Quadra reminds me of those youngsters whom you encounter from time to time who want to put 9GB scsi drives into Classics running System 7.1: sure, it can physically be done, but the fact that it can be done does not change the fact that it cannot really be done for any good reason.
I have an 840av and find 128MB to be plenty, even for intensive graphics programs like Photoshop and the like, which can then be given generous RAM allocations (though I prefer to run my old version of Photoshop 5 on a 604e). Less than 128MB in an 840av and you can run into memory problems, say, when running the large Adobe products and a couple of standards like Word or ClarisWorks all at once.
I'd go for 4 x 32MB chips, which will also be a good deal easier to source, as well as cheaper because of the relative rarity of 128MB chips.
Having said all that, if I had 4 x 128MB SIMMS available, I'd long since have tried them out in my 840av one wet Saturday.
I suppose that, with 512MB, you could run everything, including large graphics applications, from a RAM disk, which would be something to behold (a utility like Maxima would allow you to double the 512 to a full megabyte, by the way), or 101 programs at once (though the OS certainly will not like it). It would be fun to see one wet Saturday afternoon.
For real usage, however, 512MB would be entirely over the top. The thing would take an aeon to start up, and even longer to start up/ shut down from a Maxima RAM disk (which has to be loaded/ saved); there really is no 68k software that requires such a complement of memory; and the inherent limits of the processors, Motorola and AT&T, come into play. The idea of putting 512MB in a Quadra reminds me of those youngsters whom you encounter from time to time who want to put 9GB scsi drives into Classics running System 7.1: sure, it can physically be done, but the fact that it can be done does not change the fact that it cannot really be done for any good reason.
I have an 840av and find 128MB to be plenty, even for intensive graphics programs like Photoshop and the like, which can then be given generous RAM allocations (though I prefer to run my old version of Photoshop 5 on a 604e). Less than 128MB in an 840av and you can run into memory problems, say, when running the large Adobe products and a couple of standards like Word or ClarisWorks all at once.
I'd go for 4 x 32MB chips, which will also be a good deal easier to source, as well as cheaper because of the relative rarity of 128MB chips.
Having said all that, if I had 4 x 128MB SIMMS available, I'd long since have tried them out in my 840av one wet Saturday.