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In considering nMP RAM option…another reason not to go w/ Apple

A

analog guy

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Mar 6, 2009
387
12
I'm contemplating an upgrade of my MP3,1 to an nMP, and I've been putting some thought into what amount of RAM to buy and whether to have it pre-installed.

Part of the motivation was some perceived sluggishness on the part of my system; I figured it was degrading a bit with age, many programs, etc.

To cut a long story short, I realized just the other day that one of the FB-DIMMs in my MP3,1 went bad. I'm not quite sure when it happened.

Anyway, this happened to be from the pre-installed RAM. My MP has been fantastic and it is a testament that it is still quite powerful 5 years after purchase such that I am considering some upgrades to get another few years of use. That said, it is long out of warranty.

If some of the memory I'd purchased from a 3rd party manufacturer had failed instead, I could get it replaced for free. I don't think I have this option with Apple.

Am I mistaken on that?

If that is true, it could be another point in favor of ordering only the minimum RAM from Apple and purchasing the rest from elsewhere.
 
D

dyn

macrumors 68030
Aug 8, 2009
2,708
388
.nl
I did a quick check on pricing and it seems that ordering elsewhere is the better option. I can upgrade the cheapest Mac Pro from 12 to 16GB for 100 Euro via Apple, or 50 Euro if I do it myself.
In case of memory fail when you buy through the online Apple store I'm guessing you need to turn in the entire machine.
 
thekev

thekev

macrumors 604
Aug 5, 2010
7,005
3,343
I typically buy third party ram. It's still a good idea to test it upon installation.
 
D

dyn

macrumors 68030
Aug 8, 2009
2,708
388
.nl
I think that applies to any new machine and components (mem, disks, videocard, etc.) you buy.
 
P

paulrbeers

macrumors 68040
Dec 17, 2009
3,963
123
analog guy said:
I'm contemplating an upgrade of my MP3,1 to an nMP, and I've been putting some thought into what amount of RAM to buy and whether to have it pre-installed.

Part of the motivation was some perceived sluggishness on the part of my system; I figured it was degrading a bit with age, many programs, etc.

To cut a long story short, I realized just the other day that one of the FB-DIMMs in my MP3,1 went bad. I'm not quite sure when it happened.

Anyway, this happened to be from the pre-installed RAM. My MP has been fantastic and it is a testament that it is still quite powerful 5 years after purchase such that I am considering some upgrades to get another few years of use. That said, it is long out of warranty.

If some of the memory I'd purchased from a 3rd party manufacturer had failed instead, I could get it replaced for free. I don't think I have this option with Apple.

Am I mistaken on that?

If that is true, it could be another point in favor of ordering only the minimum RAM from Apple and purchasing the rest from elsewhere.
Click to expand...

So let's recap, 5 years after you bought your Mac Pro 1 stick of memory failed. If it had been 3rd party, and IF that 3rd party is still in existence, and IF they offered lifetime warranty on the RAM, and IF you can prove that it wasn't your fault said memory stopped working, then you could get your memory replaced for free.

I can see your point, but I think it is a pretty minor reason to forgo purchasing memory from Apple especially since it has been proven that up to 32GB Apple's price has been fairly competitive with purchasing/installing yourself (not saying it isn't more expensive, but certainly not excessively).
 
Wild-Bill

Wild-Bill

macrumors 68030
Jan 10, 2007
2,539
617
bleep
Any reputable RAM dealer is going to have a lifetime warranty. Buy your RAM from Apple and your warranty ends when AppleCare expires.

And, Apple has historically jacked up the price on BTO RAM. Why reward them now because their BTO RAM pricing isn't as offensive as it has been?
 
calaverasgrande

calaverasgrande

macrumors 65816
Oct 18, 2010
1,291
161
Brooklyn, New York.
I always go with 3rd party ram for my Apples.
For one, it's ALWAYS cheaper. This is not unique to Apple. Contrary to what some Apple bashers say, Dell, Lenovo and HP have significant markups on their pre-installed ram options as well.
The other thing at least in the case of the laptops and Mac Minis, is that you can often install more ram than Apple officially supports. EG; my 13" MBP is running 16gb of ram, but the highest amount offered when it shipped was 8gb. Not positive this will be the case with the NMP but I wouldn't be blown away if it was when we see wider availability of 1866 DDR chips.
 
D

Demigod Mac

macrumors 6502a
Apr 25, 2008
836
280
Apple uses Hynix and Samsung I believe.

I've been using Kingston for a while and never had any issues.

(if you want to make an old Mac Pro fly again, give it an SSD boot drive and a new video card)
 
A

analog guy

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Mar 6, 2009
387
12
Demigod Mac said:
Apple uses Hynix and Samsung I believe.

I've been using Kingston for a while and never had any issues.

(if you want to make an old Mac Pro fly again, give it an SSD boot drive and a new video card)
Click to expand...

i've had an SSD boot drive with a 4-drive RAID0 for a few years now (more recently switched to a RAID10, though), so i need something faster for a new fix. :)

seriously, though, i am noticing that my MP3,1 is only SATA II on the backplane, so i'm not tapping into the full potential of the new SSDs.

contemplating a 2013 core i7 imac or new mac pro. there are some things i like and some things i dislike about both options.

if i had a 2009 or newer MP i think i'd be more inclined to keep it. i can add a PCIe SSD to my MP, but i only have one spare PCIe 2.0 slot (unlike the 4,1 and 5,1s).
 
handheldgames

handheldgames

macrumors 68000
Apr 4, 2009
1,939
1,169
Pacific NW, USA
analog guy said:
i've had an SSD boot drive with a 4-drive RAID0 for a few years now (more recently switched to a RAID10, though), so i need something faster for a new fix. :)

seriously, though, i am noticing that my MP3,1 is only SATA II on the backplane, so i'm not tapping into the full potential of the new SSDs.

contemplating a 2013 core i7 imac or new mac pro. there are some things i like and some things i dislike about both options.

if i had a 2009 or newer MP i think i'd be more inclined to keep it. i can add a PCIe SSD to my MP, but i only have one spare PCIe 2.0 slot (unlike the 4,1 and 5,1s).
Click to expand...

The '09 has its challenges as well. With a GPU, USB3, SATA3 and PCIE Sata Express, my slots are packed. My only option to free a slot is to put USB3 on the mPCiE / airport express port.

Of you have a spare 2.0 port, go for it.
 
A

analog guy

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Mar 6, 2009
387
12
handheldgames said:
The '09 has its challenges as well. With a GPU, USB3, SATA3 and PCIE Sata Express, my slots are packed. My only option to free a slot is to put USB3 on the mPCiE / airport express port.

Of you have a spare 2.0 port, go for it.
Click to expand...

As of this moment, I have 4x1TB HDDs in a RAID10 configuration in the trays, 1x256 SSD in the optical bay for boot/apps, and 1x500MB HDD in the optical for a bootcamp/win7 drive.

I have 2x1TB SSD sitting here next to me as well as an OWC Accelsior 2 (1TB) -- unopened as I'm deciding what to do.

I have a free x16 2.0 slot (either for the Accelsior or something like a Highpoint 2720). The other 2 slots are x4 1.1s….but I believe they share the bus.

I'd like to go all SSD, probably 2-3x256 for boot and 2x1TB for data.

If I do the 2-3x256 on the backplane SATA connections, I think I would be limited in speed.

I think the Highpoint card could support 4xSSD on the x16 bus, so that could be the best option.

Hm..

Haven't yet had much use for USB3 so haven't needed that card (still a FW guy, but I'm thinking about how I will ultimately transition to USB3/TB).

On the other hand, I am thinking of the nMP or iMac 2013 27"…….Hmm...
 
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