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Mac Pro 8 Core...need memory help

SDAVE

SDAVE

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Jun 16, 2007
3,620
670
Nowhere
Hey guys, new here!

Never been a Mac owner, but have used it over the years....G5's to be exact. Not really a Mac nut (Yet!!) but have been around computers longer than I remember...

Anyways, enough with the introduction.

The system I chose was a Dual Quad Core, but I chose 1GB RAM because Apple seems to think that we're all pooping money here and charges us double of what others charge...sure it says "Premium" parts, but $116 for a 500GB drive (Should be $20, since 250GB is default)?? $2,000 for 8GB of RAM????

Anyways, I've been reading this forum and others, and I came across Crucial so far...as well as OWC RAM. I am looking for 4x2GB sticks, so I can upgrade to 16GB later on as needed. Now, OWC and Crucial seem to have the same price (about $900?)...so which to pick? Or none at all? I'm too lazy to buy RAM and stick heatsinks myself (that's why I'm going the Mac route in the first place) but I don't mind sticking new RAM in there, it takes a few seconds.


Also, once I get either RAMs (or any other) should I keep the 1GB that came with it as well? It won't bother the 8Gb's in there?

Thanks for any help! Appreciate your replies.
 
I think OWC is the best company in this case. The RAM is of course guaranteed for life (advance replacement, too) by OWC so you don't have much to lose.

Crucial has been charged with some suspicious business practices on these forums before. I don't know the validity of those allegations, but some of the more senior members have confirmed them.

Which ever you decide to get you can leave the 1GB in, but I believe you will see a 1-3% speed increase from only have 4 sticks in the machine instead of 6 (something about quad-channel memory). Basically it just depends on whether your apps need more RAM or faster RAM.
 
Thanks for the reply!

What chips do the OWC use? Since I used to build PC's, Crucial had a really good name in the biz, but as you said it might be tarnished now?

As for the extra 1GB, if it doesn't bother the 8GB RAM, then it's worth the extra 1GB. I will be using After Effects CS3 and all the other CS3 applications...AECS3 uses all cores.
 
crazzyeddie said:
I think OWC is the best company in this case. The RAM is of course guaranteed for life (advance replacement, too) by OWC so you don't have much to lose.
Click to expand...


Word of caution -- only the OWC branded memory carries the life-time warranty from OWC. I bought TechWorks (by Buffalo Technology) memory from OWC which failed shortly after 30 days. I had to deal with Buffalo, which was a great deal of pain, as they were in the process of moving to another location. I finally got my replacement memory after a 3 week wait. They sent me double the RAM (4 GB instead of 2, yay!), which made it a little easier to take the aggravation.
 
Who is TransIntl? Trusted? What chips do they use? I don't want any problems down the line. I usually hate being cheap, but Apple rums your bum with their "premium" RAM line and it's ridiculous. Saving $1,000 is no joke.
 
Wow... that ram is certainly cheap!! £170 cheaper than what crucial would charge...

wonder how much they charge for shipping to the UK

EDIT: just looked... $19
 
I keep getting different opinions...are there any that more than 1 person agrees to? Please? Gotta order this weekend so I can have everything by next week. :cool: :apple:
 
Get The TransIntel Deal $298/4GB Kit of Two 2GB Sticks

SDAVE said:
Who is TransIntl? Trusted? What chips do they use? I don't want any problems down the line. I usually hate being cheap, but Apple rums your bum with their "premium" RAM line and it's ridiculous. Saving $1,000 is no joke.
Click to expand...
They're just fine. Save money. Memory is memory and TransIntl is very trusted. Heck they're sponsor of xlr8yourmac.com.
 
Multimedia said:
They're just fine. Save money. Memory is memory and TransIntl is very trusted. Heck they're sponsor of xlr8yourmac.com.
Click to expand...

Memory is not really "memory"...the cheaper, the worser it is...I speak from experience when I built all these high end PC's.

macenforcer said:
I got 8gb from TransIntl. First batch had 1 bad stick, sent back now all is fine. Mac Pro memory is very finicky.
Click to expand...

Did you ever read off the chips the brand of them? They're usually Samsung, but I wouldn't be surprised if these used other brands.

I'm still undecided...$200 here and there is no problem, $569 is a sweet (Awesome!) deal, but sounds a bit fishy...they're losing money if they're using good memory chips. Did the fan speeds go up when you put in these chips after the original Apple chips?
 
Dude if they go out after 30 days, I'm going to have to bother with the damn warranty.

What kind of work do you do?
 
Ok I'll go with these guys since they offer lifetime warranty...one question though, how should I arrange the 4x2GB cards? Should I put them all on the Riser card 1? Then put the 1x512MB Apple OEMs on the second risers slot 1 and 2? Or should I just take out the apple OEM's and let alone the 8GB in there?

What's the best memory tester for OSX so I can test the RAM once I get them so I can find out which is problematic so I can get a replacement real quick?

Thanks
 
macenforcer said:
Dude, you are hopeless.
Click to expand...

Dude, you need help.

On a serious note, don't be an ******. It's not worth being mad at people for no reason, all I did was ask a few questions.

If Crucial and the rest are $900 for the same amount of RAM, and TransIntl is $560, it would make you think as well. How the hell are they selling it so cheap when Apple charges about $2000 for the same "chips"? $600 is not monopoly money, it's more than a half a thousand dollars.
 
SDAVE said:
Dude, you need help.

On a serious note, don't be an ******. It's not worth being mad at people for no reason, all I did was ask a few questions.

If Crucial and the rest are $900 for the same amount of RAM, and TransIntl is $560, it would make you think as well. How the hell are they selling it so cheap when Apple charges about $2000 for the same "chips"? $600 is not monopoly money, it's more than a half a thousand dollars.
Click to expand...

I'm an a hole hugh. I posted the how to doc for you, recommended where to buy for cheap and that is how you repay me? I hope you pay too much for ram and it doesn't work. Your on your own buddy. Jeez, some people.
 
I appreciate your efforts, but idiotic remarks such as "You ask too many questions" pissed me off. You're the only one in this thread recommending the Ram that you talked about, so I don't have the right to question why only person recommends it? Jeez...some people.

I've been helping people on forums with technical problems (PC side) for years man, and I've never acted like you. Maybe you don't have patience, but that's not my problem. Your high and mighty attitude will get you nowhere, just remember that. A simple answer would be enough. I explained in the first post that I am no newbie when it comes to computers, but Macs (hardware wise) I'm so so. I guess that gave you the free will to hover around my head with your bloated self righteousness? Come on now, I know you're not like that...no human is. We're all good somewhere inside.
 
If you can't afford Apple's RAM, I'd go with OWC. They're a reputable seller and won't leave you up a creek. If a price sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

You definitely pay a premium (sometimes a very hefty premium) for Apple's RAM, but make no mistake, it's good stuff. The Mac Pro is especially finicky, as someone already mentioned. Apple's RAM is nice for a few reasons. One, it matches the exact thermal specifications of the Mac Pro. Two, the chips are high quality and more reliable. Three, if you need repairs they won't blame the RAM. So if you get your memory elsewhere, save your Apple chips, just in case for warranty coverage.

Hope that helps. :)
 
Thank you! I have two for OWC and a few more during my search in this forum. :)

The TransIntl sounds too cheap for me...which as you said sounds a bit fishy. I work in the graphics business, and don't want any downtime...and also don't want to fork out $2,000 just for 8GB of RAM from Apple, when the only difference they have is probably the heatsink and that's about it.

I'm now 50/50 will probably decide in a day or two once I do a bit more research, but your thoughts have helped me!
 
OWC has high rankings from about everyone here,

SDave, are you on some other forums I am on? Possibly rimfirecentral? i KNOW i have seen that screen name somewher else. but idk. lol


Brad
 
I'm about to buy a 4x2gb ram upgrade and an extra 500 GB SATA II drive for my soon to ship Mac pro..

I looked at the XLR8yourmac link.. and the ram is 648 vs 899 from OWC..
HD prices are identical, though i prefer the selection from OWC, XLR8 only has seagate and hitachi.. i like the WD owc has.

so my purchase is 817 vs 1069.. shipping seems to be more at OWC also.

Anyways, im still gonna go with the OWC, i dont like the vibe/look, lack of info and pics from the transIntl site.. i prefer the look (crazy?),lifetime warranty, and all the claims of similar or better standards than the Apple OEM on the owc ram, 5 yrs warranty and 1.2 million hrs on the WD drive. Ppl seem to say good thinsg about OWC and crucial all the time on this forum.

My piece of mind is worth the 250$, ecspecially if i end up leaving north america in a few months with this computer. My 0.02.
 
spaz8 said:
I'm about to buy a 4x2gb ram upgrade and an extra 500 GB SATA II drive from my soon to ship Mac pro..
Click to expand...

Might want to check this 750gb sata II hd that MovieCutter had posted on another thread in the Buying Guide.

Link

Cheers.
 
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