Extra storage and RAM upgrade recommendations?

[nmaxcom]

Hi!

Yes! Two for one: RAM and storage.
RAM: I have 16GB of ram, and now doing some video work i think my mac pro could use a bit of an upgrade. But I'm completely lost, I don't know what kind of RAM to buy, where, what's the right price...?

Storage: Also, I've been trying to look for a reasonable priced storage solution, ideally something fast. I'd love to have about 500GB, but I don't know if I SHOULD get it thunderbolt or not, SSD or not... I don't know enough to know what's worth it and what's not. Looking through amazon and ebay I got even more confused.

Any guidance?!

 

[h9826790]

You forget to tell us the most important factor, which Mac do you own?

It looks like you have the nMP, isn't it?

 

[nmaxcom]

I'm sorry. I have very little idea about Mac hardware, I thought there was just "a Mac Pro",

Here's the output:

Model Name:Mac Pro
Model Identifier:MacPro6,1
Processor Name:6-Core Intel Xeon E5
Processor Speed:3,5 GHz
Number of Processors:1
Total Number of Cores:6
L2 Cache (per Core):256 KB
L3 Cache:12 MB
Memory:16 GB
Boot ROM Version:MP61.0116.B16
SMC Version (system):2.20f18
Illumination Version:1.4a6

 

[h9826790]

The RAM spec is

DDR3
240pin
PC3-14900 (you may see some variation like PC3L-14900R, this also work, both PC3 or PC3L works on your Mac. However, you CANNOT mix the R RAM (RDIMM) with the non-R RAM (UDIMM))
CL13
ECC
4, 8, 16G stick (for 4 and 8G stick, there should be no 'R" after 14900. For single 16G stick, there should be a R)
2Rx4 (this is the ranking, 2R means dual rank, 4R may not work properly on your Mac)
NO heat spreader / heatsink, etc.

So, you will expect something like this.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Apple-C...383000?hash=item4d3462f7d8:g:rOMAAOSwnH1WaQ6r

I am NOT saying that you should buy this one, I didn't check if this is the lowest price, but you can see the spec on the RAM label "16G 2Rx4 PC3-14900R-13-13-E2". This fit the spec you need.

And if you count the number of chip on the PCB, you will realise there are 9 pair of IC's on the PCB (not counting the centre one, that's the SPD EEPROM / temperature sensor). Normal RAM should only have 8 ICs (or 8 pair), but ECC RAM will have the extra chip(s).

If you are in doubt, you can share the link at here, and I am sure plenty of nMP users are willing to help.

For storage, it depends on what you want. If that's for large file storage, few small HDD RAID together inside a USB 3.0 enclosure is good enough. However, if you have lots of small files access (e.g. working on lots of photos), or you really need some very high speed storage. Yes, TB enclosure with SSD(s) inside will give you a much better performance storage unit.

 

[nmaxcom]

The RAM spec is

DDR3
240pin
PC3-14900 (you may see some variation like PC3L-14900R, this also work, both PC3 or PC3L works on your Mac. However, you CANNOT mix the R RAM (RDIMM) with the non-R RAM (UDIMM))
CL13
ECC
4, 8, 16G stick (for 4 and 8G stick, there should be no 'R" after 14900. For single 16G stick, there should be a R)
2Rx4 (this is the ranking, 2R means dual rank, 4R may not work properly on your Mac)
NO heat spreader / heatsink, etc.

So, you will expect something like this.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Apple-C...383000?hash=item4d3462f7d8:g:rOMAAOSwnH1WaQ6r

I am NOT saying that you should buy this one, I didn't check if this is the lowest price, but you can see the spec on the RAM label "16G 2Rx4 PC3-14900R-13-13-E2". This fit the spec you need.

And if you count the number of chip on the PCB, you will realise there are 9 pair of IC's on the PCB (not counting the centre one, that's the SPD EEPROM / temperature sensor). Normal RAM should only have 8 ICs (or 8 pair), but ECC RAM will have the extra chip(s).

If you are in doubt, you can share the link at here, and I am sure plenty of nMP users are willing to help.

For storage, it depends on what you want. If that's for large file storage, few small HDD RAID together inside a USB 3.0 enclosure is good enough. However, if you have lots of small files access (e.g. working on lots of photos), or you really need some very high speed storage. Yes, TB enclosure with SSD(s) inside will give you a much better performance storage unit.

Well, that seems simple ... I'll look into it a bit more and ask back.

On the meantime, would you recommend this for extra storage?

 

[h9826790]

Well, that seems simple ... I'll look into it a bit more and ask back.

On the meantime, would you recommend this for extra storage?

This looks like a very good deal to me. $200 for 960G SSD. You make me want to buy this one as well. I don't need any extreme speed, but prefer large capacity SSD.

 

[nmaxcom]

This looks like a very good deal to me. $200 for 960G SSD. You make me want to buy this one as well. I don't need any extreme speed, but prefer large capacity SSD.

I may get that one then. How would I go about connecting it to the tower though?

 

[h9826790]

A USB 3.0 to SATA 3 adaptor / cable / enclosure, etc.

 

[ActionableMango]

You might want to check Activity Monitor for RAM usage first, during a period of high workload. If you're not using up your RAM, then adding more won't help. If you are running past your RAM capacity, then the swap size can help you determine how much more RAM you need.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201464

 

[nmaxcom]

A USB 3.0 to SATA 3 adaptor / cable / enclosure, etc.

Isn't a USB3 sort of a bottleneck for an SSD?

You might want to check Activity Monitor for RAM usage first, during a period of high workload. If you're not using up your RAM, then adding more won't help. If you are running past your RAM capacity, then the swap size can help you determine how much more RAM you need.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201464

You're absolutely right, I'll keep an eye on it. I've stumbled upon huge swap files so I deduced RAM might be an issue, but I'll keep tabs on it first.