Mac Pro Early 2007, worth adding extra Ram???

[Ignacy]

Hi,

I currently have 4GB of Ram that I bought from owc a few years back (www.macsales.com).
I was wondering if adding more ram would at all speed up the system since this mac pro doesn't support 64 bit and I seem to recall that 32 bit only addresses 4 GB's of ram max.

I mostly work with audio software (Cubase mostly).

[Bennieboy©]

regardless of 64 Bit, your machine will recognise and use more then 4Gb of ram, open your activity monitor and go look at your ram stats, if the page outs is equal or more then your page in's , then you should add some more ram ;)

[Peace]

^^^^----- What he said.

The more memory that Mac Pro has the better it's going to run. Especially if you do a lot of multi-tasking.

[Ignacy]

Thanks for the responses guys. I guess I'll fill up some of those empty banks then :D
I'm considering either an upgrade to 12 GB or to 8 GB. Those modules aren't as expensive as they used to be so that's great !!! :)

[Ignacy]

Ok, so I think I'll be getting an extra 8 GB of Ram.
Currently I have a pair of 2 * 2 GB of ram that I purchased from OWC.
I'm conisering getting myself another 4 of these sticks (thus 4 * 2 GB).
I'll then put 3 sticks in the upper tray and 3 in the lower tray.
Is this the best solution?
(I got this idea from http://macperformanceguide.com/SnowLeopard-Hardware.html but that's an article concerning the more recent mac pro's so I'm not sure...).

Also, any one of you know a cheaper alternative to OWC?
Probably since I already have OWC it would be better to stick with that brand but still interested if there are any worthy alternatives.

Cheers and thanks for the help so far!!! :)

[666sheep]

http://www.glennwolsey.com/2007/11/19/uncut-guide-to-ram-for-macs/

See paragraph Pairing for performance

[Ignacy]

Okidoki,

I'll probably change the way I'll put the modules in.
According to this website (which I think is the better option as far as my 2007 mac pro is concerned) I should put them in pairs.
Thus, I'll fill tray 1 and put the left over 4GB in first 2 slots of the second tray.

Now, still on the lookout for some cheaper ram. I've come across Kingston Value Ram, Crucial and Corsair so far..
Any tips :)?:o

[Bennieboy©]

crucial is pretty much where the best are, dont skimp and remember you need specialized ram with the heatsinks ;)

[666sheep]

Okidoki,

Thus, I'll fill tray 1 and put the left over 4GB in first 2 slots of the second tray.


...or fill them both (buy 6 instead 4) ;)

I use Samsung for IBM workstations with regular heatsinks and they're quite hot, near 80 C at full load (Handbrake). At idle average temp is about 65 C.

Look for those with decent heatsinks (like Apple memory).

[brendon2020]

ram is very cheap these days, id go to at least 6 or 8gb.

[Ignacy]

Hey guys,

I think I've found a pretty sweet price for single 4GB ram modules online. They're from the Nanya brand (Mac Pro's usually have either Nanya or Micron ram if I'm not mistaken).
I'm thinking of getting myself a pair of these 4gb's (=8GB) thus totaling 12GB ram in my mac pro (including the orig. pair 2 * 2GB)

I will thus place 8GB (pair of two 4GB modules) in the lower tray and leave the 4 GB (pair of two 2GB modules) in upper tray.

Anything I should look into before buying the modules? Any risk to using more than the standard 2GB modules instead of 4GB?

Eventually in the future I might end up buying an extra 4GB (2*2) to fill up the upper tray.

Waiting for some answers before dropping the cash :D

[Ignacy]

Bought!
I'll update you guys on the performance once I get them ;)

Thanks for all the help :rolleyes: