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Is it worth the upgrade?

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nickd06

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 25, 2005
74
0
OKay well I have a couple different issues/questions. Hope I can get some good feedback.

I have a Mac Pro with 2Gb of Ram (2X512). I still have 4 Slots open.

First off: Is it worth buying another 2X1GB or possibly 4X1GB?

I am CONSTANTLY converting files. Retagging the meta-data (which takes a long time on files close to 4GB, which most of mine are. Transferring files between my HD's and downloading a good amount all at the same time.

Would I see a big improvement in any of these areas if I were to upgrade?

Second:
If so, then do I play it safe and buy apple's $$$ Ram, or take my business elsewhere?
 
Third party RAM will work fine, just make sure it is compatible. And yes, with that workload more RAM will help out, but don't break your bank; there is little cost difference between buying 2gbs twice or 4gbs at once, unless you want 2X2gb sticks, so it makes more sense to buy 2gbs now and, if needed, 2gbs later. Again unless you want to save the slots, which wouldn't be the worst idea in the world, but will cost more...
 
cool thanks for the info.

On apples website they only sell them in pieces of 2 (2-512, 2-1, 2-2). When I looked at the ports on my computer I have an A and B. 2 slots are used on each A and B. By the looks of this and what I have been told, It is wise to buy 2 of the same ram when upgrading a core duo processor, is that true? or is 1 2GB good?

P.S. I just took a look at the newegg site and I can buy 2 2GB chips for aroun 250.00 and apple is selling the same thing for 1,200 on their site.
 
nickd06 said:
cool thanks for the info.

On apples website they only sell them in pieces of 2 (2-512, 2-1, 2-2). When I looked at the ports on my computer I have an A and B. 2 slots are used on each A and B. By the looks of this and what I have been told, It is wise to buy 2 of the same ram when upgrading a core duo processor, is that true? or is 1 2GB good?

P.S. I just took a look at the newegg site and I can buy 2 2GB chips for aroun 250.00 and apple is selling the same thing for 1,200 on their site.
Click to expand...


I believe on Mac Pros you HAVE to purchase ram in pairs. so u can have 4 pairs of ram in it.


yes newegg, OWC, crucial's ram will all be cheaper than ram from apple.
 
And yes to the other question; since the G5, all Mac towers have required matched pairs. I believe it's a 64-bit processor requirement.
 
I just ordered 2X2GB chips. A total of 260.00 after S&H. All in all, a good deal considering the same from apple was 1,200.00!

Okay a couple more questions now.

My current setup looks like this (each X=512chip)
A B
x x
x x
_ _
_ _

Should I put the new 2X2GB chips in the A 1/2 Slots? As far as readin the installation of the RAM I need to position the next two ram chips like so:
A B
x x
x x
+ _
+ _

So should I instead make it look like this:
A B
+ x
+ x
x _
x _

Would this increase my performance having the 2X2GB chips in the first two slots?




Let's say I am converting a movie and it takes 2hrs with my 2GB, what would you guess with my new 6GB setup?

What about tagging a movie (coying the movie while adding metadata) that takes 2 minutes?

Im just trying to get a feel for what I should be expecting when these come in so I have a general idea if they are wokring properly, thanks!
 
nickd06 said:
Let's say I am converting a movie and it takes 2hrs with my 2GB, what would you guess with my new 6GB setup?

What about tagging a movie (coying the movie while adding metadata) that takes 2 minutes?
Click to expand...

I expect converting a movie is more CPU and disk IO bound than it is RAM. If the movie is small enough that it can be cached in RAM and you are reading it several times then you'll see an improvement otherwise I'd be surprised if it'd make much difference.

Again tagging the movie is reliant on disk IO than it is on RAM. The movie has to be read from disk, changed and written back again. Unless it's already cached in RAM then more RAM isn't going to help.
 
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