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You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Mac Desktops > Mac Pro RAM: where to buy?

Mac Pro RAM: where to buy? (Page 4)
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mduell
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Nov 12, 2006, 07:59 PM
 
Originally Posted by Daniel Bayer View Post
What is faster?

2x2GB, 4x1GB or 8x1/2GB?
4x1GB.

2x2: Low bandwidth, lower latency
4x1: High bandwidth, lower latency
8x.5: High bandwidth, higher latency
     
Daniel Bayer
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Nov 12, 2006, 08:15 PM
 
Originally Posted by mduell View Post
4x1GB.

2x2: Low bandwidth, lower latency
4x1: High bandwidth, lower latency
8x.5: High bandwidth, higher latency
Hmmm....Well.

Silly me, I have 8x512.

I think I want to sell the1/2GB's while they still fetch a decent price and either go
8x1GB or even 4x2GB. The latter would make more sense in the long term.
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all2ofme
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Nov 13, 2006, 05:31 AM
 
Mduell - wouldn't it be more accurate to say the following?:

2x2: Low bandwidth, lower latency
4x1: High bandwidth, lower latency
8x.5: Higher bandwidth, higher latency

Also, I know it's not what the OP was asking, but I've assumed it to be the case that the following two are equal in terms of bandwidth and latency (putting aside the total memory difference) - is that the case?:

2x512MB + 2x2GB: High bandwidth, lower latency
4x1: High bandwidth, lower latency
     
paulinbognor
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Nov 13, 2006, 07:47 AM
 
Just getting my heard round the latency/bandwidth stuff

would 8x 1GB be faster than 4 x 2GB?

If so how much faster are we talking about?
     
mduell
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Nov 13, 2006, 06:13 PM
 
Originally Posted by all2ofme View Post
Mduell - wouldn't it be more accurate to say the following?:

2x2: Low bandwidth, lower latency
4x1: High bandwidth, lower latency
8x.5: Higher bandwidth, higher latency

Also, I know it's not what the OP was asking, but I've assumed it to be the case that the following two are equal in terms of bandwidth and latency (putting aside the total memory difference) - is that the case?:

2x512MB + 2x2GB: High bandwidth, lower latency
4x1: High bandwidth, lower latency
No, saying that would be completely incorrect.

I guess I should have been more consistent in my original post, rather than using low/high and lower/higher. There are two bandwidth levels: if you have 2 slots filled you're at the lower one (dual channel); if you have 4, 6, or 8 slots filled, you're at the higher one (quad channel). There is also a latency penalty (~3-5ns) when accessing any of the higher numbered slots (the second slot in any of the four memory channels).

Yes, those two situations are equal, aside from capacity. The latter may have a slight edge if memory access is completely random (more likely to hit the 2GB bank than the 512MB bank).

Originally Posted by paulinbognor View Post
Just getting my heard round the latency/bandwidth stuff

would 8x 1GB be faster than 4 x 2GB?

If so how much faster are we talking about?
No, it would be slower due to the increased latency when accessing the 4 higher-numbered slots (see above).
     
all2ofme
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Nov 13, 2006, 06:25 PM
 
Ahhh, brilliantly explained. I thought (wrongly) that there was another bandwidth level above four filled slots.

In the second situation - that's what you're (at least partially) working to minimise by moving the bigger sticks to the first slots, isn't it? I put my 2GB sticks in the slots that the stock RAM came in, and the stock RAM in the others hoping that to be the case.
     
mduell
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Nov 13, 2006, 07:06 PM
 
Originally Posted by all2ofme View Post
In the second situation - that's what you're (at least partially) working to minimise by moving the bigger sticks to the first slots, isn't it? I put my 2GB sticks in the slots that the stock RAM came in, and the stock RAM in the others hoping that to be the case.
The first (closest to the logic board) two slots on each memory card are equivalent. There are 4 lower-latency slots and 4 higher latency slots in total.
     
Daniel Bayer
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Nov 14, 2006, 03:32 AM
 
Well this is nice! I put all 8 of my 512 modules in the buy and sell and get not a single offer, WTF?

I got my 2.66 a couple of weeks ago, made the mistake of getting 3GB in ram over 512 sticks, $300 a pair.....

I know I can't expect to get what I paid for them, but just how bad of a hit am I going to have to take???
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wei
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Nov 14, 2006, 04:06 AM
 
luckily i got my 512mb sticks for $135
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Daniel Bayer
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Nov 14, 2006, 04:13 AM
 
Originally Posted by wei View Post
luckily i got my 512mb sticks for $135
A pair?

I don't think a person getting ****ed for fiscal reasons is very funny. I donate money and time to charitable causes and this is less I can give to that cause now, not funny.
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wei
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Nov 14, 2006, 04:24 AM
 
sorry, shouldn't have put the smiley. yes its a pair ofcourse.
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Daniel Bayer
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Nov 14, 2006, 02:56 PM
 
Brand new Apple certified, 1GB in the box for $200 a pair:

eBay: APPLE MAC PRO 1GB KIT, 2X512 FB, 240 PIN, PC5300 DDR2!! (item 330049532650 end time Nov-19-06 17:39:51 PST)

4 pairs available.

I know if I can't sell these, I will have to return the new sticks since I can't be out that much money on a RAM upgrade, that would be the cost of a whole new machine.
( Last edited by Daniel Bayer; Nov 14, 2006 at 11:06 PM. )
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Daniel Bayer
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Nov 18, 2006, 01:56 PM
 
Canceled two of the auctions. People want things for free. I have 4 2GB sticks right now, I will put 4 512 back in and have 10GB of ram total.

I paid $299 for these two weeks ago. Now on ebay with starting bids of $100 and buy it nows of $175, they are not sellling. Two of the auctions have bids at $100.....WHOOP-DE-FARGING_DOOO!!!!
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gigaflop sandwich mister"
     
will61
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Nov 19, 2006, 04:00 PM
 
I'm still hoping ram drops some time soon, switching applications is killing me and i don't want to buy 512mb sticks... Too bad about your ram daniel B.

I live in Edmonton Alberta Canada and my local apple dealer sells ram for 599 for 2x1G sticks. Think this will come down? or should i stop waiting. I have never bought ram over the web, i guess i'm too leary (sp)
     
will61
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Nov 27, 2006, 10:34 PM
 
so i have been waiting for my Local apple dealer to get some ram and quoted me 599 Canadian ram still has not come in and now they say it will be 749!! QQ

So what's my alternative here do i wait it out or try buy ram off some web site??
     
powerbook867
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Nov 27, 2006, 10:40 PM
 
If newegg.com ships to Canada, they are extremely reputable and have great prices. Just look under server memory for the ECC stuff you need.
Joe
     
thebunny
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Nov 28, 2006, 12:09 AM
 
Originally Posted by will61 View Post
so i have been waiting for my Local apple dealer to get some ram and quoted me 599 Canadian ram still has not come in and now they say it will be 749!! QQ

So what's my alternative here do i wait it out or try buy ram off some web site??
OWC ships to Canada via USPS (no brokerage fees):

OWC: Apple Mac G4 upgrades, Laptop Batteries, Memory, Drives
     
will61
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Nov 28, 2006, 05:29 PM
 
Purchased 2gig kit thru OWC thank you very much, their was still a disclaimer that there may be some brokerage fees not guarranteed. Either way this saves me 150ish bucks

=)

thanks again
     
wei
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Dec 22, 2006, 10:29 PM
 
OK, this is a hard decision...

looking at this:
2x2: Low bandwidth, lower latency
4x1: High bandwidth, lower latency
8x.5: High bandwidth, higher latency

And now the retailer I bought the Micron FBDIMM from offered me a deal for 1GB kit at only roughly $70 (512MB x2 pair). Should I max up 4GB (already have 4x 512MB). Or stay away for higher latency?
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mduell
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Dec 25, 2006, 08:07 PM
 
Depends on what you do with the machine. The extra memory capacity may be worth the latency penalty.
     
wei
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Dec 25, 2006, 09:16 PM
 
well, i did mostly my work on Adobe (Macromedia & CS). + some amateur FCS works. some home use video convertion running on parallels. I'm quite happy with 2GB of RAM now. Maybe should save for 1GB module later. So I will get 4x 1GB.
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Corpsecorps
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Dec 28, 2006, 07:14 AM
 
Does anybody have experience with MaxUpgrades memory?

At $385.oo for a 2GB (2 x 1 GB) kit with their custom 2-clip heat sinks (not spreaders) and a lifetime warranty, theirs seems like the best deal i've seen so far in my searches.

MaxUpgrades.com: MaxSink: HeatSink for Fully Buffered DIMM Memory Module
     
justmetoo
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Dec 28, 2006, 01:38 PM
 
I already posted this in the "Cheap FB RAM" thread. MaxUp sold me 1x2 for $379.
Crucial has lost my business after their "wonderful" sale caused their prices to jump $130 on the 1x2 kit...
     
ppmax
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Jan 6, 2007, 03:45 PM
 
About to kick down for a well deserved new MP tower...few questions:
  • Is the best technique to buy from Apple with the 2x512MB config and upgrade to a 4x1GB kit?
  • Do you remove the 2x512MB or leave it in for a total of 5GB?
  • If you use the 2x512MB in conjunction with 4x1GB what sticks go in which slots?
  • Been checking OWC and listed all MacPro compatible kits. What's the difference between red, gree, and blue kits??

thx
PP
     
mduell
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Jan 6, 2007, 04:33 PM
 
Originally Posted by ppmax View Post
  • Is the best technique to buy from Apple with the 2x512MB config and upgrade to a 4x1GB kit?
  • Do you remove the 2x512MB or leave it in for a total of 5GB?
  • If you use the 2x512MB in conjunction with 4x1GB what sticks go in which slots?
  • Been checking OWC and listed all MacPro compatible kits. What's the difference between red, gree, and blue kits??
Yes.

Yes.

Put the 1GB modules in the first 2 slots (closest to the logic board) on each riser. The 512s can go in any remaining slot.

Color?
     
ppmax
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Jan 6, 2007, 06:38 PM
 
     
nedcook
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Jan 6, 2007, 08:48 PM
 
Is there any reason why this would not work in the Mac Pro:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820220095

After a $50 rebate this 2GB kit is only $203. The only difference I can find between this and what Crucial is selling is that this is unbuffered whereas Crucial's is buffered. What's the difference and does it really matter?
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mduell
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Jan 6, 2007, 09:51 PM
 
Originally Posted by nedcook View Post
Is there any reason why this would not work in the Mac Pro:

Newegg.com - Patriot 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

After a $50 rebate this 2GB kit is only $203. The only difference I can find between this and what Crucial is selling is that this is unbuffered whereas Crucial's is buffered. What's the difference and does it really matter?
That won't work, it's a totally different type of memory. You need FB-DIMMs for the Mac Pro.
     
mik735
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Jan 10, 2007, 03:56 AM
 
greetings every one .

is it a good idea to put 5 gb in 2x2 and 2 x 512 ?
     
mduell
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Jan 10, 2007, 02:46 PM
 
It's not a bad idea. What's the alternative?
     
mik735
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Jan 10, 2007, 04:03 PM
 
i am gon a buy a mac pro a the end of the month .i need 4gb at least but the price on the apple store for 4x1gb is 989$ . the price of a 2x2gb is 758$ on other sotrs , and i have the 2x512mb which come with the mac pro .
so i think that if i use 5 gb , 2x2gb and 2x512kb i can have a high bandwidtch , a lowe latency , and the chance to upgrade . all that at a good price .
thank you for your help
     
mduell
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Jan 10, 2007, 05:14 PM
 
It's going to be pretty much the same, so I'd go with the cheaper option.
     
onlyone-jc
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Jan 10, 2007, 06:46 PM
 
Given an amount of 4GB, which between a 2x2GB (which I presume would run in a dual-channel mode) or 4x1GB (which I presume would run in a quad-channel mode) would be the best configuration (concerning both bandwidth and latency)?

Within the next two years, I'm likely to upgrade to 8GB. So, I'm guessing that a 4x2GB configuration would be more beneficial than an 8x1GB configuration. This makes me think that it would be most-wise to go down the 2x2GB route now. But, at the end of the day, I want the best performance out of it now. So, would a 4x1GB configuration perform better?

Thanks.
     
mik735
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edit
     
mduell
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Originally Posted by onlyone-jc View Post
Given an amount of 4GB, which between a 2x2GB (which I presume would run in a dual-channel mode) or 4x1GB (which I presume would run in a quad-channel mode) would be the best configuration (concerning both bandwidth and latency)?

Within the next two years, I'm likely to upgrade to 8GB. So, I'm guessing that a 4x2GB configuration would be more beneficial than an 8x1GB configuration. This makes me think that it would be most-wise to go down the 2x2GB route now. But, at the end of the day, I want the best performance out of it now. So, would a 4x1GB configuration perform better?
4x1GB is better today (higher bandwidth "step" while still being on the lower latency "step") than 2x2G, but 4x2G is better than 4x1+2x2 down the road.

It really depends how sensitive your applications are to memory bandwith vs memory latency. Given the already high latency of FB-DIMMs, I'd guess the increased latency isn't as bad as decreased bandwith, so I'd go with 4x1 today and 4x1+2x2 in the future.
     
onlyone-jc
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Jan 12, 2007, 10:20 PM
 
Thanks, mduell. I appreciate your opinion!

Thanks again,
onlyone-jc.
     
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Jan 24, 2007, 03:42 PM
 
Originally Posted by mduell View Post
It really depends how sensitive your applications are to memory bandwith vs memory latency.
is there a way to tell, in general, what kind of applications prefer bandwidth vs low latency?

i do some image composisting, some real time video manipulation, some graphics content creation and some video editing.
     
mduell
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Jan 24, 2007, 08:14 PM
 
Not that I know of. You could profile the code, if you have the source. Or just run a lot of benchmarks.
     
someone
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May 19, 2007, 06:58 AM
 
So I have the stock 2x512 (which was the lowest I could get from Apple), and was looking to upgrade. The 2x1s seem about to be a good choice. But then I'd have two pairs of different sizes in my Mac Pro, for a total of 3GB. Is this okay? Or should I go with 2x512s?

Also, mduell, you recommended buying a 4x1 kit and keeping the 2x512. This would leave you with 6 ram sticks...shouldn't they be installed in multiples of 4?

thanks
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mduell
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May 19, 2007, 10:34 AM
 
Originally Posted by someone View Post
So I have the stock 2x512 (which was the lowest I could get from Apple), and was looking to upgrade. The 2x1s seem about to be a good choice. But then I'd have two pairs of different sizes in my Mac Pro, for a total of 3GB. Is this okay? Or should I go with 2x512s?

Also, mduell, you recommended buying a 4x1 kit and keeping the 2x512. This would leave you with 6 ram sticks...shouldn't they be installed in multiples of 4?
Yes, it's fine to mix sizes.

There's nothing special about multiples of four. Put the 1GB modules in the slots closest to the logic board, and put the 512s together on one of the riser cards. The 1GB extra memory capacity should outweigh the extra latency on that 1GB RAM.
     
someone
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May 20, 2007, 06:39 AM
 
thanks so much. is now a good time to buy, or will prices drop further? are they pretty stable at this point?

also, what's closer to the logic board -- the top riser or the bottom?
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mduell
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May 20, 2007, 12:40 PM
 
Originally Posted by someone View Post
thanks so much. is now a good time to buy, or will prices drop further? are they pretty stable at this point?

also, what's closer to the logic board -- the top riser or the bottom?
It's never a good time to buy/it's always a good time to buy.

Prices are pretty stable, just slowly/steadily moving downward.

Each riser has 2 slots closer to the logic board and 2 further from the logic board.
     
someone
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May 20, 2007, 01:08 PM
 
so then the enormous big question --- OWC versus Crucial?

do both have heat sinks, as opposed to spreaders? which are better/bigger? :-D
( Last edited by someone; May 20, 2007 at 01:25 PM. )
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mduell
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May 20, 2007, 03:28 PM
 
Originally Posted by someone View Post
so then the enormous big question --- OWC versus Crucial?

do both have heat sinks, as opposed to spreaders? which are better/bigger? :-D
Both offer the oversized heatsinks that the Mac Pro needs, I'd go with Crucial.
     
gangster
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May 21, 2007, 05:22 PM
 
A friend uses 2 sets of these without any complaints he says:

Newegg.com - Transcend 2GB DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) ECC Fully Buffered Memory for Apple Mac Pro Model TS2GAPMACP6K-T - Retail

I haven't upgraded to a Mac Pro yet, so its not first hand info but I trust the guy and the computers run 24/7.
     
mduell
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May 21, 2007, 05:35 PM
 
Yow. I still get sticker shock every time I see FB-DIMM prices.
     
olemed
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Aug 14, 2007, 07:10 AM
 
Hi all, I'm ready to buy some memory for my newly ordered mac pro and this forum has been handy for me to realize that for now it's best that I get 1x4 sticks of ram to add to my stock 512x2 because of bandwidth/latency issues. Down the road, however, I'd like to sell the 2 sticks of 512 and upgrade the remaining slots to 2x2. I imagine this is more than ideal, no?
     
mduell
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Aug 14, 2007, 05:37 PM
 
     
wei
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Aug 14, 2007, 11:28 PM
 
My turn to upgrade as well. Spotted a good deal for Kingston KVR667D2D4F5/2G coming in pair, anyone using similar model? Going to add the Maxxsink for this as well. So no issue on the heatsink part.

After the upgrade i have 4x 512MB & 2x2GB...
Should I get rid the 4x 512MB and get another 2x2GB???
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wei
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Aug 18, 2007, 12:17 AM
 
No one using KVR?
I really need to know will it work or not...
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