Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Mac Pro 4.1 Memory upgrade. Don't see that much difference..

BrioBriss

BrioBriss

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 11, 2013
103
0
Canada
I was wondering about this since last year when I upgraded my memory. I actually upgraded for 4X 4GO instead of 1GO everywhere, so I'm now with 20GO overall. The thing is, I didn't really saw a difference when I upgraded, and to be honest I still didn't really see one (sometimes a couple of applications running at the same time (Premiere/Photoshop/After Effects/Maya and it's still slow). I was wondering if it's because I needed to upgrade something else to affect the performances of the RAM or anything else I can do to see a result, or it's actually normal and it's just an impression?

Here's what it looks like:

Capturedrsquoe3010cran2013-02-09a3000002737_zps7fd06aa5.png


Capturedrsquoe3010cran2013-02-09a3000002800_zps49af1272.png


Thanks!
 
Last edited:
DPUser

DPUser

macrumors 6502a
Jan 17, 2012
986
298
Rancho Bohemia, California
4,1 will not run RAM faster than 1066 no matter how fast your RAM is. Look into flashing the EFI to 5,1 and upgrading your CPU(s) to one that can use the higher RAM speed, then resetting SMC/PRAM.
 
M

MacVidCards

Suspended
Nov 17, 2008
6,096
1,056
Hollywood, CA
Have done the 4,1 to 5,1 flash on a couple machines now.

My dear friend "Paul" in San Diego figured this out, quite a useful hack.

But with both, I had to use a CPU and RAM that supported 1333 and then it still required a PRAM reset to show up.

With 12 cores at 3.33Ghz and an SSD boot drive and a GTX 580 3GB, you don't wait for much.
 
Loa

Loa

macrumors 68000
May 5, 2003
1,723
75
Québec
Hello,

You didn't see any performance increase either because you didn't need more ram, or because you didn't get enough. My guess is the latter with the apps you mentionned. 20GB for four major apps is quite little.

Also, don't bother with flashing the firmware just to get faster RAM, it won't make any real world difference. More ram is always better than faster ram.

Loa
 
BrioBriss

BrioBriss

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 11, 2013
103
0
Canada
Loa said:
Hello,

You didn't see any performance increase either because you didn't need more ram, or because you didn't get enough. My guess is the latter with the apps you mentionned. 20GB for four major apps is quite little.

Also, don't bother with flashing the firmware just to get faster RAM, it won't make any real world difference. More ram is always better than faster ram.

Loa
Click to expand...

Well since the RAM I actually added didn't seems to works at his full potential due to the CPU, I guess I'm better not buying more RAM and upgrade the CPU here.
 
DPUser

DPUser

macrumors 6502a
Jan 17, 2012
986
298
Rancho Bohemia, California
MacVidCards said:
Have done the 4,1 to 5,1 flash on a couple machines now.

My dear friend "Paul" in San Diego figured this out, quite a useful hack.

But with both, I had to use a CPU and RAM that supported 1333 and then it still required a PRAM reset to show up.

With 12 cores at 3.33Ghz and an SSD boot drive and a GTX 580 3GB, you don't wait for much.
Click to expand...

I love "Paul", and so does my 2009 "5,1" hex Mac Pro!
 
PowerPCMacMan

PowerPCMacMan

macrumors 6502a
Jul 17, 2012
800
1
PowerPC land
Even so..

1333 mhz DDR3 and 1066 DDR3 yield very negligible differences.. unless one is using scientific number crunching software and or anything requiring such applications.

If one is using their mac pro for regular everyday use, then the differences are minute, at best.

In the PowerPC days, I thought more memory was better as it increased performance of a PowerPC mac.. Doesn't seem relevant anymore in the Intel world of Macs.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom