64GB RAM in 2006 Mac Pro (2,1)

[profinite]

2006 Mac Pro (MacPro1,1)
Flushed to 2,1 firmware
Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 [Purchased January 2, 2014 for $468]
Two Xeon X5355’s [Purchased February 25, 2014 for $45]
--> Upgraded to Xeon X5365's [Purchased November 12, 2015 for $90]
Macosxbootloader v3.1
OS X 10.11.6 El Capitan
64GB RAM (8 x 8GB) [Purchased November 18, 2015 for $199]
- - - - -

Caution:
The type of DIMM that works in 2006 Mac Pro is PC2-5300F 2Rx4 FB-DIMM ECC.
(1) The F after 5300 (or FB in FB-DIMM) means that the module is Fully Buffered.
(2) DO NOT get PC2-5300P DIMM’s. These parity modules are incompatible with MacPro1,1; both physically and electrically.

On eBay, use a search string like "64GB (8x8GB) PC2-5300F FB-DIMM”. I just did (November 21, 2015), and $176 is the lowest price at which you can get 64GB right at this moment.
Here are the search results.

 

[VAGDesign]

...and you just found out another upgrade for our almost 10 years old cMPs.
I wish the nMP owners to have this satisfaction in 2026.
Cheers and thanks!

 

[cw48494]

You can find (2x8gb)16gb/(4x8)32gb kits for cheaper, it comes out to $20/1x8gb so you can get 64gb for as cheap as $160 if you buy multiple smaller kits.

 

[nigelbb]

I'm guessing that these 8GB FB-DIMMs will work in a 3,1 just like the regular 667MHz 4GB FB-DIMMs.

 

[Surrat]

Those 8gb sticks dont have the large apple style heatsinks. Have you had any overheating problems with the ram?

Oh, by the way, VERY nice 1,1 you setup there!

 

[nigelbb]

There are three Mac Pro 3,1s in my household & all three have been upgraded to 32GB with cheap used 667MHz FB-DIMMs from eBay. I have run extensive testing on all of them & the lack of enormous heat sinks doesn't seem to be a problem. It's my understanding that the 667MHz FB-DIMMs run cooler than the 800MHz that were factory installed on the 3,1 so I assume that the system is designed to get rid of the heat effectively.

 

[CapnDavey]

two thumbs up you need to post this to xlr8yourmac.com outstanding!

 

[PowerMac G4 MDD]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/16GB-PC2-53...354136?hash=item5d57a474d8:g:FKsAAOSwAYtWHX~6

Does this seem like good RAM? BTW, I have already heard that these non-Apple heat sinks don't do the trick and cause the Mac Pro to have to raise its exhaust fan RPMs in order to compensate for 'em. While I AM asking if they will work, I'd also like to add - on a side note - that I'm a bit skeptical of non-Apple-heat-sink sticks. Am I too worried? Will 4 sticks take me past my desired 600 RPM on my exhaust fan? If not, I could settle for these 16GB of RAM and not leave my old RAM inside the machine. Hmm... or maybe I could remove these smaller heat sinks and use the Apple heat sinks from my existing, smaller RAM sticks - that is, if the smaller guys are removable.

(BTW, note that my RAM modules - as they are - already run at 125+ degrees F.)

 

[tripmusic]

2006 Mac Pro (MacPro1,1)
Flushed to 2,1 firmware
Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 [Purchased January 2, 2014 for $468]
Two Xeon X5355’s [Purchased February 25, 2014 for $45]
Macosxbootloader v3.1
OS X 10.11.1 El Capitan
64GB RAM (8 x 8GB) [Purchased November 18, 2015 for $199]
- - - - -

Caution:
The type of DIMM that works in 2006 Mac Pro is PC2-5300F 2Rx4 FB-DIMM ECC.
(1) The F after 5300 (or FB in FB-DIMM) means that the module is Fully Buffered.
(2) DO NOT get PC2-5300P DIMM’s. These parity modules are incompatible with MacPro1,1; both physically and electrically.

On eBay, use a search string like "64GB (8x8GB) PC2-5300F FB-DIMM”. I just did (November 21, 2015), and $176 is the lowest price at which you can get 64GB right at this moment.
Here are the search results.

Now you just need to upgrade to X5365's

 

[nigelbb]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/16GB-PC2-53...354136?hash=item5d57a474d8:g:FKsAAOSwAYtWHX~6

Does this seem like good RAM? BTW, I have already heard that these non-Apple heat sinks don't do the trick and cause the Mac Pro to have to raise its exhaust fan RPMs in order to compensate for 'em. While I AM asking if they will work, I'd also like to add - on a side note - that I'm a bit skeptical of non-Apple-heat-sink sticks. Am I too worried? Will 4 sticks take me past my desired 600 RPM on my exhaust fan? If not, I could settle for these 16GB of RAM and not leave my old RAM inside the machine. Hmm... or maybe I could remove these smaller heat sinks and use the Apple heat sinks from my existing, smaller RAM sticks - that is, if the smaller guys are removable.

(BTW, note that my RAM modules - as they are - already run at 125+ degrees F.)

For $19.95 including shipping for 16GB(4x4GB) what have you got to lose? Those of us who already upgraded to 667MHz keep telling you that the normal heat sinks work in a 3,1 & don't overheat without the mammoth Apple hunks of metal.

 

[Surrat]

I would not use that ram you linked. Those are quad ranked ram, or 4Rx8 type. At the start of this thread, you can see the 1,1 and 3,1 mac pro want dual rank or 2Rx4 ram. Read this thread carefully for some info:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1066mhz-ddr3-ram-down-clocked-by-mac-pro-to-800mhz.1016127/

Notice also on the pictures of that ebay ram, the shot with 4 dimms, has the rank numbers whited out. But the zoomed picture of the label has it clearly marked 4Rx8. Looks to me like the seller is trying to pass off quad rank ram as dual rank to attract more buyers.

 

[MacVidCards]

OP, do you have an SSD of any sort? There is another thread where a guy put 64GB in a 3,1 and it cut his SSD speeds way down, but he has a specific SSD card. Just curious how widespread the issue is.

 

[cw48494]

OP, do you have an SSD of any sort? There is another thread where a guy put 64GB in a 3,1 and it cut his SSD speeds way down, but he has a specific SSD card. Just curious how widespread the issue is.

I'm also extremely curious, I'm about to purchase a 64gb kit.

 

[PowerMac G4 MDD]

I would not use that ram you linked. Those are quad ranked ram, or 4Rx8 type. At the start of this thread, you can see the 1,1 and 3,1 mac pro want dual rank or 2Rx4 ram. Read this thread carefully for some info:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1066mhz-ddr3-ram-down-clocked-by-mac-pro-to-800mhz.1016127/

Notice also on the pictures of that ebay ram, the shot with 4 dimms, has the rank numbers whited out. But the zoomed picture of the label has it clearly marked 4Rx8. Looks to me like the seller is trying to pass off quad rank ram as dual rank to attract more buyers.

Know an example of RAM that would be good for a 1,1 Mac Pro? That thread you linked me makes sense, but that guy is dealing with a newer Mac Pro.

 

[Surrat]

My habit is to stick to certified ram, I considered getting the 32 or 64mb upgrades for my 1,1.. but think I'll be boring and just get 16. I honestly cant think of anything I would do on a 1,1 that would need more than 16 anyway.

These are the ones I'm looking at:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/230688154440

The 16gig of ecc ram in my G5 is from that seller, it has worked perfectly over the last 2 years, I never had a problem with it.

 

[Surrat]

With all this ram talk, here is an interesting write up on the mac pro 1,1.
It has a detailed description of how fb-ram works, was a good read.

http://anandtech.com/show/2059

 

[PowerMac G4 MDD]

My habit is to stick to certified ram, I considered getting the 32 or 64mb upgrades for my 1,1.. but think I'll be boring and just get 16. I honestly cant think of anything I would do on a 1,1 that would need more than 16 anyway.

These are the ones I'm looking at:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/230688154440

The 16gig of ecc ram in my G5 is from that seller, it has worked perfectly over the last 2 years, I never had a problem with it.

Ooh - pricey. I wonder if I can get RAM of the same module but without the larger heat sinks. If I wanted, I could get 16GB (4x4) and take the heat sinks off my current RAM and use them for it... but it seems as though the majority of RAM like this includes smaller heat sinks that can't be removed. Any stick that doesn't include any heat sink at all is likely going to be the wrong thing.

 

[redheeler]

Know an example of RAM that would be good for a 1,1 Mac Pro? That thread you linked me makes sense, but that guy is dealing with a newer Mac Pro.

Here is the RAM I purchased and installed in mine. It has larger heatsinks, but is still fairly inexpensive: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/i-found-a-great-deal-on-2006-mac-pro-ram.1936036/

 

[Surrat]

They are REALLY expensive, but they do exist as new with proper heatsinks:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/64GB-8X8GB-...3-1-and-3-2-/231344648892?hash=item35dd3732bc

As far as I know the 800mhz type for the 3,1 would work fine in the 667mhz 1,1/2,1

 

[PowerMac G4 MDD]

Here is the RAM I purchased and installed in mine. It has larger heatsinks, but is still fairly inexpensive: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/i-found-a-great-deal-on-2006-mac-pro-ram.1936036/

Wow, that looks good! Now, though, I've stumbled upon a free 2009 Mac Pro, which I'm in the midst of fixing. I probably would have upgraded this Mac Pro otherwise.

 

[owenave]

Does someone have a link to the software to Flash a Mac Pro 1.1 to 2.1
that everyone is talking about in this post?

Also please post any instructions to so this upgrade.
Thanks in advance.

 

[666sheep]

ActionableMango in other thread requested a word of confirmation, so here it is.
I upgraded a few flashed 2,1s with 64GB (including mine own) without issues. It works even with original dual core CPUs.

 

[tripmusic]

Does someone have a link to the software to Flash a Mac Pro 1.1 to 2.1
that everyone is talking about in this post?

Also please post any instructions to so this upgrade.
Thanks in advance.

http://forum.netkas.org/index.php/topic,1094.0.html
You have to be a registered user to download the file. You do the firmware update before you upgrade the cpu's I believe. Just get a 3,1 MP and save yourself the headache

 

[ActionableMango]

ActionableMango in other thread requested a word of confirmation, so here it is.
I upgraded a few flashed 2,1s with 64GB (including mine own) without issues. It works even with original dual core CPUs.

64 GB of RAM in a 10 year old Mac. Pretty amazing!

In fact, that's more RAM than my 5,1 supports.

 

[666sheep]

Yeah, still can't find the reason for retiring this MP. Even as I regularly have a few 4,1/5,1 for sale.

5365s, R9 280, Yosemite, XP941, 2x 1TB Velociraptors, WiFi ac + BT 4.0 and now 64GB RAM... still does what it has to do very well. And it started its service in 2006 with 5150s, 7300GT and whole 2GB memory. 10 years in my hands and certainly will last some more.

BTW, 1,1/2,1 isn't affected with "slow disks" issue https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...low-disks-while-48-gb-fast-disks-why.1940030/ I'm still getting 600/700MB/s W/R with XP941 with 8x8GB.