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Has anyone tried registered memory in the Mac Pro?

G

Gonk42

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 16, 2008
288
0
near Cambridge
I originally posted this in the news thread having done a search but I think that is the wrong place so please forgive me for starting a new thread.

I'm currently weighing up the two options of building my own Linux/Windows workstation and buying a Mac Pro with student discount.

I'm curious as to why 4GB unbuffered modules are so much more expensive than 4GB registered modules of otherwise the same spec for example Crucial UK prices (which are presumably much more than say OWC US prices are)

Unbuffered for Mac 12GB (3x4GB) kit of 1066 memory is £1,277:44 inc VAT

whilst registered ram kit is £407.09 both are the same spec apart from being registered or unbuffered and both are 4GB modules.

It is strange because registered memory is normally more expensive.

Also many mother boards (such as Intels) take either registered or unbuffered (but not both) so has anyone tried registered memory in the Mac Pro??
 
Gonk42 said:
I originally posted this in the news thread having done a search but I think that is the wrong place so please forgive me for starting a new thread.

I'm currently weighing up the two options of building my own Linux/Windows workstation and buying a Mac Pro with student discount.

I'm curious as to why 4GB unbuffered modules are so much more expensive than 4GB registered modules of otherwise the same spec for example Crucial UK prices (which are presumably much more than say OWC US prices are)

Unbuffered for Mac 12GB (3x4GB) kit of 1066 memory is £1,277:44 inc VAT

whilst registered ram kit is £407.09 both are the same spec apart from being registered or unbuffered and both are 4GB modules.

It is strange because registered memory is normally more expensive.

Also many mother boards (such as Intels) take either registered or unbuffered (but not both) so has anyone tried registered memory in the Mac Pro??
Click to expand...

IF IT DID WORK (i'm not saying it does..)
Wouldn't people be using the cheaper option?
 
I don't have an answer to whether it'd work (I doubt it), honestly after paying almost £2K for a Mac Pro I wasn't going to risk causing it damage.

However, you have 8 slots in a Mac Pro, so if you want an extra 12gig just buy two 6GB kits for £244.

Also, incidently, I ordered my RAM from OWC and it arrived in the UK three days later in an unmarked box and I didn't have to pay any customs... I saved quite a bit, but then the exchange rate was better too.
 
UltraNEO* said:
IF IT DID WORK (i'm not saying it does..)
Wouldn't people be using the cheaper option?
Click to expand...

People are reluctant to try something that is not officially endorsed by Apple.

It definitely works on other workstations because if you go on the Dell site for the T7500 some of the memory options are unbuffered and some are registered. Similarly for the Intel workstation motherboard it states that either can be used as long as they are not mixed. On the other hand Supermicro only allows registered (at least that is what it puts in its manual).

As to buying two 6GB kits this is ok if you only want 12GB but if you want to have more and stick at three channel memory access then it would be handy to go for 24GB in future without having to remove the existing 12GB.

The lack of memory slots on the Mac Pro and the general proprietary nature of Apple systems (such as the way it is made very difficult to upgrade the processors, the lack of graphic card options, no blu-ray etc) are pushing me more towards the self-build alternative (I currently use Linux anyway) which is a pity as otherwise the Apple design and Mac OS X are very nice and the student discount makes the otherwise enormous prices more reasonable (they are cheaper than Dell anyway for workstations).
 
VirtualRain said:
If you can buy from somewhere that offers a no hassle return policy... try it out for us! ;)
Click to expand...

I live in the UK, it is a hassle buying anything in the first place let alone
returning it!;)

Besides, I don't yet have any Apple gear (apart from a mac book which my daughter uses). I've been dithering for 18months plus so far! I've only got another six months of being a student so I need to make up my mind soon but the latest set of Apple prices and all the uncertainty over RAM etc has rather put me off. If they had six ram slots per processor (like almost every other motherboard) I'd go for it despite the prices.

I was hoping some rich person who likes to experiment would undertake to do a few experiments.....
 
Gonk42 said:
I live in the UK, it is a hassle buying anything in the first place let alone
returning it!;)

Besides, I don't yet have any Apple gear (apart from a mac book which my daughter uses). I've been dithering for 18months plus so far! I've only got another six months of being a student so I need to make up my mind soon but the latest set of Apple prices and all the uncertainty over RAM etc has rather put me off. If they had six ram slots per processor (like almost every other motherboard) I'd go for it despite the prices.

I was hoping some rich person who likes to experiment would undertake to do a few experiments.....
Click to expand...

Eh? I used to live in the UK and I don't have much problems buying stuff or making returns. Guess that depends do you live in a city, or not. Right?
 
UltraNEO* said:
Eh? I used to live in the UK and I don't have much problems buying stuff or making returns. Guess that depends do you live in a city, or not. Right?
Click to expand...

It is probably just me. I also live in a village. An example of the typical hassle I have is when I tried to return a keyboard I'd bought (I think this was off scan or perhaps it was overclockers - I forget which). It took me several e-mails/'phone calls to get an RMA number. I then sent it (at my expense) back with a covering letter stating the RMA. A few days later I received my parcel back again as it had been rejected by the company. The reason was that the RMA wasn't stated on the outside of the package (this requirement was placed in the small print of their sales terms). I then had to pay to send it all over again. I spent almost the cost of the keyboard on return postage, more if you count my time as being worth anything!

To be fair, I have managed to return other things like defective motherboards without too much hassle, I just tend to remember the ones that go wrong.
 
Gonk42 said:
It is probably just me. I also live in a village. An example of the typical hassle I have is when I tried to return a keyboard I'd bought (I think this was off scan or perhaps it was overclockers - I forget which). It took me several e-mails/'phone calls to get an RMA number. I then sent it (at my expense) back with a covering letter stating the RMA. A few days later I received my parcel back again as it had been rejected by the company. The reason was that the RMA wasn't stated on the outside of the package (this requirement was placed in the small print of their sales terms). I then had to pay to send it all over again. I spent almost the cost of the keyboard on return postage, more if you count my time as being worth anything!

To be fair, I have managed to return other things like defective motherboards without too much hassle, I just tend to remember the ones that go wrong.
Click to expand...

Yeah... I've done that too. Some UK companies are a biatch to deal with, they like to have things done a certain way. From experience, just write the RMA in huge feckin letter on the outta packaging, that way they can't miss it. lol
 
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