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Can adding more memory slow down my Mac Pro?

well 6 GB are better than 4 GB ... sure you might not get the full quad channel bonus etc. but still you get more speed since it simply have to page less down on the hard disk if it's looking for something in the virtual memory since it can keep physically... especially if you do multi tasking with lots of apps

on the other side it's much better to have memory properly aligned at 4 Gb than to have mixed ram at 4 GB

the only point would be perhaps if all your apps use less than 4 GB virtual memory and thus would fit completely in the 4 physical memory


which it won't if you do run stressing apps

currently my mac mini has a virtual memory space of 4,29 GB while i run safari, mail,preview and adium...
 
deathshrub said:
Stop giving advice because you have no idea what you're talking about.
Click to expand...

dot.gif


Made sense to me.
 
ok so i've got a question about this if anyone knows the answer....

i have a mac pro coming with the stock 2gb
i already have 2x2gb sticks of ram from OWC ready to go

what is the best config for this?

i was originally just going to go

Riser 1
2
1
0
0

Riser 2
2
1
0
0

But now im having doubts...this is really starting to confuse me as to whether i need more ram or i can just configure this differently..

help:confused:
 
jatkins123 said:
ok so i've got a question about this if anyone knows the answer....

i have a mac pro coming with the stock 2gb
i already have 2x2gb sticks of ram from OWC ready to go

what is the best config for this?

i was originally just going to go

Riser 1
2
1
0
0

Riser 2
2
1
0
0

But now im having doubts...this is really starting to confuse me as to whether i need more ram or i can just configure this differently..

help:confused:
Click to expand...

Riser 1
2
2
0
0

Riser 2
1
1
0
0
 
So, I was going to buy 6x1gb sticks to make 8 for my new MP 8 core 2.8. Is this crazy? I am just shooting my self in the foot by filling up my machine? Should I just get 3x2 and still have some room left over. Is it better to have all the slots full?
 
MaddMacs said:
So, I was going to buy 6x1gb sticks to make 8 for my new MP 8 core 2.8. Is this crazy? I am just shooting my self in the foot by filling up my machine? Should I just get 3x2 and still have some room left over. Is it better to have all the slots full?
Click to expand...

I'd buy 4GB (2x2GB) and use that in addition to what you have for 6GB. If you need more then either pick up someone's 2x1GB on ebay, here (marketplace) or new if you must. Or get another 2x2GB and sell what you have if you need to.

Simply put: try to buy 2GB sticks and you can't use 3x2 as you need patching pairs.
 
Right duh, I knew you couldn't put 3x2. I meant 4x2 (or 2x4)-giving me 10 if I leave the stock 2 (why not, right?). Decisions Decisions. I guess it is smarter to leave empty slots for future compatibility.
 
No!

Umbongo said:
Riser 1
2
2
0
0

Riser 2
1
1
0
0
Click to expand...

Did you read the original post? You just told two people to do something that was brought to question in the original post! Buying two 2GB sticks and using them with the two 1GB stick appears to hit overall performance. The ENTIRE purpose of this thread....
 
Lumpydog said:
Did you read the original post? You just told two people to do something that was brought to question in the original post! Buying two 2GB sticks and using them with the two 1GB stick appears to hit overall performance. The ENTIRE purpose of this thread....
Click to expand...

I don't understand this...I've read the thread, but I'm pretty thick.

So, I'm supposed to just throw away the stock 2 X 1gig sticks that come with the stock configuration? And, just use the 2 x 2gig sticks I bought from OWC?
 
GarthAlgar said:
I don't understand this...I've read the thread, but I'm pretty thick.

So, I'm supposed to just throw away the stock 2 X 1gig sticks that come with the stock configuration? And, just use the 2 x 2gig sticks I bought from OWC?
Click to expand...

I would tend to think that the speed is the same with 2 x 1gb DIMMs (2gb total) as with 2 x 1gb & 2 2gb (6gb total) DIMMs in the system. Neither configuration gives the benefit of 4 matched pairs.

However with 6gb you still gain the benefit of additional ram.
 
I just put an order in for an extra 2x2 gig set from OWC, so that'll push me to 10 gigs total...unless I get into heavy video editing, I'll never need to upgrade this thing...

The price went up as well...I bought my first set for $199, but now it's $219. Better grab some before it goes up any higher ;)

-Bryan
 
After reading the discussion I decided to buy 4x2gb sticks. I am going to keep the stock 2 and put them both on the top riser (as per the Article) this will give me 10gb. According to the article this will not give me a significant hit in speed, especially compared to installing just 6gb. This is the best configuration for the money. It will allow for additional upgrades in the future. I spent $400 at OWC. Thier site says 1 day to ship. Not that it matters, my rig won't even be here until Feb 20. :( Thanks Lumpy for the article!
 
hi there

I am thinking about ordering 3.0GHz Mac Pro with 4GB RAM (1x4)

If I were to buy another 2x1 GB RAM from Apple later... will i see any difference in term of speed?

will there be any benefit of having 3 matched pairs of RAMs (6 x 1GB)?

or should I spend that money on a RAID card instead for my 4 hard drives?

or would it be better to pay more and get the 3.2 GHz model instead?

I don't do video editing stuffs btw...
 
Lumpydog said:
Did you read the original post? You just told two people to do something that was brought to question in the original post! Buying two 2GB sticks and using them with the two 1GB stick appears to hit overall performance. The ENTIRE purpose of this thread....
Click to expand...

Some people need some perspective on this. Having enough memory is more important than whatever synthetic benchmark result 4x2GB vs 2x2GB & 2x1GB gives you (if there is even any difference). I told them to do that, because as far as I am concerned it is already covered in this thread that it doesn't much matter. As much as I respect what barefeats does, there are no numbers in that article. We know what is optimal, you can read why in Intel's design documents. However the benchmarks of dual vs quad channel memory for the previous Mac Pro all conclude it doesn't matter for real world performance.
 
I'm still a bit confused. When barefeats suggest you should have all matched memory, do they mean all the same size, or do they mean EXACT matched memory (ie. all from the same source, purchased together)? Is it really not a good idea to have 4 x 1GB and then add 2 x 2GB?
 
I know i'm confused!!!

Ok I am going to receive my MP with the stock two 1GIG sticks. Then I ordered two 2GIG sticks from OWC. What else do I need to order to get this to run in the "Quad" mode??? I'm a photographer not an IT guy this is like almost too much for me to keep up with.
 
Alright i've done some more research

Now after looking up (a lot) I think the information they have provided does not seem acurate about the stock memory. On the diagrams they have listed at http://developer.apple.com/documentation/HardwareDrivers/Conceptual/HWTech_RAM/Articles/RAM_implementation.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40003899-SW3_1200331177 it clearly shows that each riser has its own connection to the branch of the North Bridge, which if i'm not inept only carries data from each riser at 6.35GBps. I dont get how having all of the slots full on each risers makes it faster with matching memory when the two risers do not talk to each other at all. i'll quote the link "The 5000X features a quad-channel FBD memory controller, with two channels going to each riser card". Just to sum up if i've lost anyone you could have a riser with only two slots on each and it would run just as fast as having a riser with 10 slots on each (sans latency for pushing data across the bus). So I dont understand how they came up with these results, I need to see real world numbers based on their findings, or if someone has the memory could they just post some results???
 
pfleischman said:
Ok I am going to receive my MP with the stock two 1GIG sticks. Then I ordered two 2GIG sticks from OWC. What else do I need to order to get this to run in the "Quad" mode??? I'm a photographer not an IT guy this is like almost too much for me to keep up with.
Click to expand...

I have the same configuration as you and I am also trying to figure out if I need to do something else.

What I am getting from all of this (and I may be wrong) is that matched configurations are faster than non-matched configurations. So 2x1GB+2x2BG will be slower than a 6GB configuration made of 4x1.5GB sticks (which in this case does not exist?). But I don't think that an unmatched 6GB configuration will run slower than a 4GB matched... it will still be faster but not by 50% as you might expect otherwise.

Anyway, I think you are fine. Someone let me know if I am reading this wrong...
 
to zmunkz

I'm anoyed that they put out a page saying all of this info with no benchmark #'s. I think someone needs to just set this up themselves and come back with some real solid info.
 
Okay I have not followed this post completely so if this is answered, I am sorry. But I did not want to make a whole new post on this same topic. So I just want to rest assured of one thing: I just ordered a Mac Pro with 4 GB RAM (on the configuration page, it said 4 x 1 GB) ... is that going to be an okay configuration? I know I got ripped off by buying Apple's RAM, but oh well. All of this, "more RAM can slow you down" has me confused. I do not need to understand it, I just want to know if my Mac Pro is going to be okay. Thanks.
 
c073186 said:
Okay I have not followed this post completely so if this is answered, I am sorry. But I did not want to make a whole new post on this same topic. So I just want to rest assured of one thing: I just ordered a Mac Pro with 4 GB RAM (on the configuration page, it said 4 x 1 GB) ... is that going to be an okay configuration? I know I got ripped off by buying Apple's RAM, but oh well. All of this, "more RAM can slow you down" has me confused. I do not need to understand it, I just want to know if my Mac Pro is going to be okay. Thanks.
Click to expand...

I would just call apple and ask if your running in quad chanel memory mode with your setup. If you are then your fine. If not then no body really even knows because there are no real world numbers showing the performance boost outside of the synthic benchmarks.
 
c073186 said:
I just ordered a Mac Pro with 4 GB RAM (on the configuration page, it said 4 x 1 GB) ... is that going to be an okay configuration?
Click to expand...

Yes, that config will maximize the RAM's speed. Four matched sticks, 2 in Riser A (upper) slots 1 & 2, and 2 in Riser B (lower) slots 1 & 2.
 
Hard Drive Questions

I've ordered the 2 x 2gb sticks from OWC. I plan on still using the stock 2 x 1gb sticks.

Riser 1:
slot 1: 2gb
slot 2: 2gb
slot 3: empty
slot 4: empty

Riser 2:
slot 1: 1gb
slot 2: 1gb
slot 3: empty
slot 4: empty

Is what I will be running. I'm contemplating ordering another 2 x 2gb set and running that in addition to the 2 x 1gb for a total of 10gb. I will see what kind of performance "hit" I will suffer with loading applications and such.
 
GoKyu said:
I just put an order in for an extra 2x2 gig set from OWC, so that'll push me to 10 gigs total...unless I get into heavy video editing, I'll never need to upgrade this thing...

The price went up as well...I bought my first set for $199, but now it's $219. Better grab some before it goes up any higher ;)
Click to expand...

What the hell? They sure picked the sweet spot for jacking up the prices...

Anybody selling 2GB Dimms for cheaper?
:cool:
 
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