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Why don't we just get 2 of these? MP RAM!

TheSpaz

TheSpaz

macrumors 604
Original poster
Jun 20, 2005
7,032
1
E

elbirth

macrumors 65816
Jan 19, 2006
1,154
0
North Carolina, US
I've never used Wintec RAM before myself, but the couple reviews on newegg sound promising (I'd really prefer more reviews to go by if possible though).

Has anyone here ever used Wintec? I'd also like to hear what people have to say about them. I'm buying a Mac Pro when the 8-core systems come out (either getting 8 cores if the price isn't a huge leap from what the current quads are.... or getting a quad since they'll likely fall in price some if the 8 is way too much) and I really want to put about 4GB of RAM into it.
 
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techster85

macrumors regular
Oct 17, 2006
190
0
Lubbock, TX
has anyone else noticed the reviews on the second RAM listed at newegg, "i now have a total of 10 gigs"...either some one is lying, or they have too much pocket change laying around haha...
 
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KKP925

macrumors member
Jan 16, 2007
32
0
Calgary, Alberta
TheSpaz said:
Or buy 2 of these

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820161130

That's STILL cheaper than anywhere I've seen! $618 for a 4GB kit, that's a pretty good deal.

Looking at the Photos, it looks like they use the same Apple Heatspreader (unless that's just a generic photo).

What does everyone else thing about this brand?
Click to expand...

Click on the link at the bottom of the Newegg page ("Manufacturers Product Page"), and you will see what the RAM looks like. It has a heat spreader rather than a heat sink, but this manufacturer makes an excellent product with a long running reputation. Lifetime warranty, etc...
 
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apoartar

macrumors newbie
Sep 30, 2006
13
1
Hawaii
KKP925 said:
Click on the link at the bottom of the Newegg page ("Manufacturers Product Page"), and you will see what the RAM looks like. It has a heat spreader rather than a heat sink, but this manufacturer makes an excellent product with a long running reputation. Lifetime warranty, etc...
Click to expand...

Well, I just received my new Mac Pro today (switched from the dark side...) and had ordered 4 2GB sticks of this (WinTec) RAM from NewEgg. After I ordered it I noticed that the manufacturer's picture was different. So I IM'd them and asked them about the discrepancy between their picture and the manufacturers picture of the RAM. They said that their picture was accurate and guaranteed.

I received the RAM today also and it was as in the NewEgg picture, with the heat sinks. The only difference between the WinTec heat sinks and the Apple heat sinks is that on one side of the WinTec RAM they are about half the width (depth of the fins) of the heat sink on the other side.

The RAM is working (for the last 15 minutes anyway!) and it did look like it was very well constructed, so hopefully it will hold up and last for years. I have a total of 9GB now and next will be some Photoshop testing with some big files.
 
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elbirth

macrumors 65816
Jan 19, 2006
1,154
0
North Carolina, US
wow, sounds like you've got a really nice setup there. Please be sure to report back here if you have any problems with the RAM, as I'm pretty sure this is what I'll be ordering when I get a Mac Pro (waiting for the 8-core system).
 
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hidea

macrumors regular
May 10, 2006
173
3
why 9GB?

let me guess.. the cost to upgrade to 4GB through Apple is the same as getting 8GB setting from NewEgg? :p (maybe a little more to get 8GB, but definitely worth the addition).


What are you gonna use 9GB for?

I plan on getting 5, but we'll see.. Photoshop CS3 maxes out on 4GB since it isn't a 64 bit app.
 
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elbirth

macrumors 65816
Jan 19, 2006
1,154
0
North Carolina, US
hidea said:
What are you gonna use 9GB for?

I plan on getting 5, but we'll see.. Photoshop CS3 maxes out on 4GB since it isn't a 64 bit app.
Click to expand...

I'd be interested in seeing what someone would use 9GB for as well... I mean, I'm a firm believer that you can never have too much RAM, too much hard drive space, etc, but I like hearing what uses people find for such powerful systems.

Also, that's interesting. I hadn't been keeping up on 64-bit processing and such, so I didn't know things maxes out at being able to use 4GB if they were still 32-bit. Is that the case with all non-64-bit applications? I would imagine that since the OS supports 64-bit that having more would still be useful if you have multiple apps running, of course.
 
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apoartar

macrumors newbie
Sep 30, 2006
13
1
Hawaii
hidea said:
why 9GB?

let me guess.. the cost to upgrade to 4GB through Apple is the same as getting 8GB setting from NewEgg? :p (maybe a little more to get 8GB, but definitely worth the addition).


What are you gonna use 9GB for?

I plan on getting 5, but we'll see.. Photoshop CS3 maxes out on 4GB since it isn't a 64 bit app.
Click to expand...

According to Adobe, Photoshop (CS2 or CS3) can use up to 8GB on the Mac OS, up to 4GB for the program and plug-ins and then the rest (the remaining 4GB) as a scratch disk cache. So I really only needed 8GB.

I shoot large format 8x10 photographs and then scan them and end up with 2.5GB TIFF files, so I need all the RAM I can afford.
 
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hidea

macrumors regular
May 10, 2006
173
3
Right. 32 bit apps cannot allocate more than 4GB of Memory.

It would run jut fine, but it will have a limitation to the amount of memory it would use.

I guess I'll get 9GB as well, or maybe 7.

The only reason why one uses that much of RAM is to run high-RAM-demanding applications like Illustrator, InDesign, etc. etc.

Ahhhhhh.. that's why. I guess the 4GB for the scratch disk.. never thought of it as being able to used in RAM that much.
 
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elbirth

macrumors 65816
Jan 19, 2006
1,154
0
North Carolina, US
apoartar said:
According to Adobe, Photoshop (CS2 or CS3) can use up to 8GB on the Mac OS, up to 4GB for the program and plug-ins and then the rest (the remaining 4GB) as a scratch disk cache. So I really only needed 8GB.

I shoot large format 8x10 photographs and then scan them and end up with 2.5GB TIFF files, so I need all the RAM I can afford.
Click to expand...

That's kinda cool, do you have to set up a special config in Photoshop's preferences to have it use the RAM as a scratch disk or does it do it automatically if it sees more there? I'm a hobbyist photographer (also shot a little for a campus fashion magazine and the paper in college) and process 8MP RAW files. Plus, my father runs his own screenprinting business, so since I know Photoshop and a little Illustrator, I was delegated as his art department- so I end up designing stuff for him as well. And of course, I'd love to do photography more professionally if possible, and a lot of RAM would definitely be a huge bonus.
 
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hidea

macrumors regular
May 10, 2006
173
3
how sure are you? I just looked at CS3's preferences panel, and it says nothing of that nature....
 
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apoartar

macrumors newbie
Sep 30, 2006
13
1
Hawaii
A

apoartar

macrumors newbie
Sep 30, 2006
13
1
Hawaii
OK, so out of the 4 2GB WinTec memory sticks that I ordered, one of them apparently failed shortly after being installed. It's weird because initially the system saw all 9GB of RAM (8 + the 1 GB the system came with). Then shortly after loading photoshop and testing on some big files, suddenly the system only saw 7GB of RAM.

When I checked the memory detail on the System Profiler, the 2x2GB sticks in Riser A suddenly showed up as 2x1GB sticks, but functioning OK. I'm not familiar enough with the Mac to know if there is a system log that logs errors, but upon looking at the back of the system I saw that a red LED light was on inside just past the fan. After I identified the bad RAM by swapping it around, I removed it and it's corresponding stick. Now their is no LED light on and my system only has 5GB.

I'll be mailing back the bad stick to NewEgg tomorrow.

It's weird that the 2x2GB sticks suddenly turned into 2x1GB sticks with a status of OK. I guess though that the LED indicator on the memory board did it's job.

Is there a system log or event viewer like there is in Windows?
 
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apoartar

macrumors newbie
Sep 30, 2006
13
1
Hawaii
bearbo said:
how do you have 5 now? 1 + 2 + 2 (so you have two bad rams?)
Click to expand...

No, I bought 4 2GB sticks and added that to the original 1GB in the system, so I had a total of 9GB. The RAM needs to be put in the system in pairs, so when one of the 2GB sticks broke, I had to take out the corresponding stick also. That leaves me with 5GB now. I'm sending the broken stick back and then holding the corresponding stick on the side now.

Does anyone know if there is an error log in the Mac OS, like the system event viewer in windows?
 
yojitani

yojitani

macrumors 68000
Apr 28, 2005
1,858
10
An octopus's garden
apoartar said:
No, I bought 4 2GB sticks and added that to the original 1GB in the system, so I had a total of 9GB. The RAM needs to be put in the system in pairs, so when one of the 2GB sticks broke, I had to take out the corresponding stick also. That leaves me with 5GB now. I'm sending the broken stick back and then holding the corresponding stick on the side now.

Does anyone know if there is an error log in the Mac OS, like the system event viewer in windows?
Click to expand...

Console is what you are looking for: applications->utilities->console
 
TheSpaz

TheSpaz

macrumors 604
Original poster
Jun 20, 2005
7,032
1
I finally decided to get the OWC RAM that has the standard Apple Heat Spreaders on them. I don't wanna get something that's gonna have cheesy heat spreaders on them making my fans go nuts. Plus, I feel better ordering from OWC because they are a well known company.
 
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bmat

macrumors 6502
Nov 24, 2004
459
6
East Coast, USA
Does that mean you got the Techworks ones, not the OWC/netlist ones? I find the OWC site a bit confusing, since they say the OWC/netlist ones are the same ones used by Apple, but then in a link shot the difference between the OEM and OWC/netlist ones.

I ordered the OWC/netlist ones, because they said same RAM, but the Techwork ones -- just a few bucks more -- look more like the OEM ones.
 
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hidea

macrumors regular
May 10, 2006
173
3
Well, a friend of mine is an apple specialist, and he can confirm that the cost price for a 4GB kit from Techworks is 700USD. So, NewEgg makes $40 on the RAMs.

I'd say get it from TW. Sure, it's OEM, what's wrong with OEMs?
 
kitki83

kitki83

macrumors 6502a
Mar 31, 2004
804
0
Los Angeles
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hidea

macrumors regular
May 10, 2006
173
3
LOL.

yeah, they're the same... oddly.

Well, no difference really... I mean, they're the same RAMs, packaged separately. two 1GBs.

while

2 x 1GB packages are well.. packaged together.


get whichever ones with better deals.

Apple Ram
Techworks
Kingston
Wintec


TW is a certified RAM, WinTec isn't. Kingston, not too sure.... but it seems that most of the Apple resellers I know recommend TW, relatively low in cost, and it's very up to par with Apple's RAM.
 
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