RAM2GS II (GW4201D) -- 8MB RAM for Apple IIgs

Name: RAM2GS II (GW4201D) -- 8MB RAM for Apple IIgs
SKU: 16720
Price: 42.00 USD
Availability: InStock
Rating: 4.89 (14 reviews)

(14 Reviews)

8MB RAM for Apple IIgs ][gs

Designed by Garrett's Workshop in United States of America

RAM2GS II (GW4201D) -- 8MB RAM for Apple IIgs 1

RAM2GS II (GW4201D) -- 8MB RAM for Apple IIgs 2

RAM2GS II (GW4201D) -- 8MB RAM for Apple IIgs 3

RAM2GS II (GW4201D) -- 8MB RAM for Apple IIgs 4

RAM2GS II (GW4201D) -- 8MB RAM for Apple IIgs 5

2020-09-16T00:30:04.974Z-FrontPicture..jpeg

2021-09-05T02:01:05.199Z-RAM2GS-MAXII.png

2020-09-18T04:52:39.079Z-Screen Shot 2020-09-18 at 12.53.27 AM.png

Buy with confidence.

Our Tindie Guarantee protects your purchase from fraud. Learn More

8MB RAM for Apple IIgs ][gs

RAM2GS II (model GW4201D) expands the Apple IIgs's fast memory to 8 MB. The RAM capacity can be reduced to 4 MB using the GWRAM.SYSTEM utility program. Low-Power, SDRAM-Based Design Thanks to a moder…

Low-Power, SDRAM-Based Design

Thanks to a modern, low-power design, RAM2GS II uses a maximum of 0.15 watts when idle (30 mA @ 5V) and 0.5W in active use (100mA @ 5V). These are worst-case figures and typical power consumption is much lower. Unlike other IIgs RAM expansion cards, which are built with vintage asynchronous DRAM chips, RAM2GS II uses modern SDRAM. This design allows for low power consumption and improved reliability over other memory cards using 15+ year old chips.

Small Size, Low-Profile

RAM2GS II features a small board outline and is the thinnest Apple IIgs expansion memory card ever produced, at under 4.5 mm thin. Small and thin dimensions improve the mechanical compatibility between RAM2GS II and peripheral cards installed into the IIgs's Slot 7.

Adjustable Capacity, Highly Compatible

The Apple IIgs can utilize up to 8 MB of fast memory, but due to limitations of the Apple IIgs hardware, not all 8 MB is considered "DMA-compatible." Only 4 MB of the 8 MB provided by an expansion RAM card such as the RAM2GS II is DMA-compatible, and peripheral cards which use DMA are not able to access expansion memory beyond 4 MB. RAM2GS II implements an adjustable capacity feature, allowing the user to select between fully DMA-compatible 4 MB capacity, or partially DMA-compatible 8MB capacity. Capacity settings can be set temporarily or saved in nonvolatile memory. The capacity adjustment utility, known as GWRAM.SYSTEM, is available on our website: http://garrettsworkshop.com

Activity LED

All RAM2GS II cards sold since 2023 are equipped with an activity LED. By default, the LED is disabled and will not illuminate. If enabled using the GWRAM.SYSTEM utility, the LED will illuminate during RAM access cycles.

Ecologically Friendly, Gold-Plated PCB

RAM2GS II is built with a lead-free, ENIG gold-plated, 4-layer PCB and is fully EU RoHS-compliant. All units are tested extensively before shipment, and only new parts are used to build RAM2GS II.

Open-Source Design

RAM2GS II's design is fully open-source. The schematics, board layouts, CPLD firmware, and utility software are all freely available for commercial and noncommercial use. To download the design files, visit the Garrett's Workshop GitHub page: https://github.com/garrettsworkshop

No country selected, please select your country to see shipping options.

Change Destination Country:

Review Breakdown

Average Ratings

Product: (5.00)

Documentation: (4.57)

Shipping: (5.00)

Communication: (5.00)

Bruce | Oct. 25, 2024

Just super great...

This is the only RAM card you will ever need for your IIGS. Maxes out the RAM to 8MB and works like a dream. And, its so darned tiny! It was amazing to see the size of the thing when it had arrived. I love it. I also purchased the IIe RAM card and that one is equally awesome.

There are some ridiculously expensive memory options out there. Just buy this, it's much cheaper and the quality is top notch.

Ivor | Oct. 15, 2024

Works great!

Very nice product! The card is very small and it doesn't take much space in the Apple IIgs. I had it for some time now and I am very happy with it.

Brian | May 3, 2021

Works great!

Upgraded my original 4MB RAM expansion with this and it couldn't have been simpler. GS/OS sees the full 8MB and everything works great!

Jared | March 17, 2021

Literally the Cheapest 8MB IIGS Ram card! But it works!

So here's the deal I ordered this for a IIGS I got about a month ago. I wanted 8MB or ram So I could check out all the cool stuff including an unrestricted GSOS experience. Well I got that with this 8MB ram card. at a price that is about a third of the cheapest other option. It works too. It would be even cooler if it had maybe a 32 MB ProDos Drive on it with some tools like other Ram options but at this price I am not complaining about a lack of that!

Brian | Feb. 9, 2021

Great addition to IIGS

I don't use my IIGS a lot but had been attempting to run GS/OS using 1.5 MB of memory. While it will run it's not very happy. Adding this 8 MB card proved to be very good and it seems to work properly in all ways that I tested it. Considering that this option seems well developed and is still somewhat cheaper than other similar products I believe it is worth the cost and then some.

John | Feb. 8, 2021

Love this device

Turns my Apple IIgs from an underperforming disappointment into a powerhouse. I didn't realise how many games needed the extra RAM.

John | Nov. 18, 2020

Just worked!

Plug and play, and great value. I’d picked up a Apple IIgs to play with, as I’ve never seen one before. I added a BOOTI to quickly load from USB, and once I added this card I was able to run GS/OS. Nice ;-)

Christopher | Nov. 17, 2020

Great product - no brainer for your Apple IIgs

At this price point, this beautifully small product is a true "no brainer" upgrade for your Apple IIGS! Thank you for making new products.

Chris | Nov. 14, 2020

Awesome product

Purchased the RAM2GS II 8MB card for my IIgs. Really well made and designed product. Works perfectly! Definitely recommend.

Krishna | Nov. 4, 2020

Fast shipping and great service!

I ordered my first GW 8MB module last month for my Apple IIGS. Over time I noticed that the machine would crash on a regular basis. I was able to perform a RAM test and determined that the module had several RAM errors. I sent a note to Garrett's Workshop and they straight away sent me a replacement memory module, which has worked flawlessly. My IIGS is rock solid stable now! GW has amazing customer service and stand behind their product. Buy with confidence!

Brent | Oct. 27, 2020

Sweet price, great features and function.

I have an existing, fully working vintage 8MB card, but - man, it's huge, and I'm sure draws a lot of power. After a recent rebuild of my IIgs power supply (X1 safety cap's blew and filled the room with foul-smelling smoke), it made sense to do what I could to reduce the power load. This card is perfect for that - low power draw, modern components, smaller footprint - it checks all the boxes and then some. I've had zero issues with it to date, and you just can't beat it for the price and features!

Perry | Aug. 13, 2020

Works Great

Works great right out of the box. No complaints. Got to me in a reasonable amount of time. I had a question and the customer service got right back to me.

Bryce | July 24, 2020

A great product at a great price

The process to order was easy and the goods were shipped quickly and arrived in a very reasonable time frame given the current international circumstances. The Memory expansion card came with a slip of paper with very clear instructions on how to install it. The installation was a breeze and my Apple IIGS now has just over 4MB of RAM and boots GS/OS 6.0.1 without any issues at all.

Thank you for providing these products to keep retro computing alive!

Vladimir | May 27, 2019

All good

I got this to replace original Apple 1MB board. The board works as advertised. Just plug and play. Takes very little space and allows easy access to the board in neighboring slot for HW debugging, which was previously obscured by large Apple board.

The quality of board is good, as shown on pictures. It was shipped fast, and packed well. The seller provided dedicated email for technical support, which I did not need to use, since everything was working.

I would recommend the seller and would likely buy again from them if they will come up with some other interesting gismos

Thanks

+ Show 9 more