8x1 or the 4x2 + stock 2 ram?

[fergusonbk]

I know much has been said about this already, just a quick question before I order my macpro. It sounds like for maximal memory I need to have 8 matching dimms, can I mix in 6x1gb of OWC memory with the apple stock 2x1gb for a nice total of 8gb? Or would it be better to buy a 4x2gb with the 2 stock for a total of 10gb? (Or if the apple and owc dont play together perhaps just use the OWC 8x1) Thanks people for the knowledge
Ferguson

 

[ColdCase]

You will be getting a so called early 08 MacPro which has slightly different memory considerations than others.

For optimum RAM access speed its best to put the memory you want on four sticks (and install them in the first two in each riser). Real world you would probably notice the performance of more RAM than optimum access speed, however. So as long as the modules are paired up there should be no issue. Make sure you put the largest modules in the first two slots of the risers and the largest first pair on riser A.

IAW a 8GB memory configuration of four 2 GB modules will provide faster access than eight 1GB modules. A 10GB configuration of four 2GB modules and two 1GB modules will be faster than 8 GBs on eight modules but slower than the 8GB on four module configuration, but you will probably notice the benefits of more RAM than RAM access speed..

You can fit 32 GB of RAM in there if you want, 8 4GB modules.

 

[Gonk42]

IAW a 8GB memory configuration of four 2 GB modules will provide faster access than eight 1GB modules. A 10GB configuration of four 2GB modules and two 1GB modules will be faster than 8 GBs on eight modules but slower than the 8GB on four module configuration, but you will probably notice the benefits of more RAM than RAM access speed..

Not according to measurements by Barefeats which showed that 8x1 is faster than 4x2

see:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/435909/