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Mac Pro - Does 3 gb of Ram make a big difference?

M

Muttster

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 28, 2007
36
0
I have a Mac Pro with the standard 1 gb of ram and I'm getting a lot of spinning beachballs and lock ups. I would love to put 4 gb of ram in but the budget right now only allows for 2 gb of ram. What I was wondering is if that will give me a much better bang for the buck than what I have now. Also., is there an dramatic difference between 3 and 5 gb of ram? Where is the "sweet spot" with ram on this machine?

BTW, i use it mostly for word processsing, Itunes, test construction and the like. No heavy processor intensive applications.

Appreciate any and all advice.
 
Well, you are getting terminology wrong, mhz is a speed rating (cycles per second)..

..so I assume you are talking GB of ram; 1 is a bare minimum, a total of 2-3gb in the machine would be a "sweet spot" for what you are using the machine for. If you were doing alot of image-intensive tasks (photoshop, etc) then I would recommend more than that.

Also, for word processing, applications like MS Word are not yet "universal" that is to say they are not written for the Intel Mac architecture. Thus, they run in an emulated mode (transparent to you, the user) but they require more ram than they normally would.
 
Adding Two 2GB Sticks Minimum Is What You Should Do Immediately

RichP said:
Well, you are getting terminology wrong, mhz is a speed rating (cycles per second)..

..so I assume you are talking GB of ram; 1 is a bare minimum, a total of 2-3gb in the machine would be a "sweet spot" for what you are using the machine for. If you were doing alot of image-intensive tasks (photoshop, etc) then I would recommend more than that.

Also, for word processing, applications like MS Word are not yet "universal" that is to say they are not written for the Intel Mac architecture. Thus, they run in an emulated mode (transparent to you, the user) but they require more ram than they normally would.
Click to expand...
I respectfully disagree. You should add a MINIMUM of TWO 2GB Sticks Immediately! Buying 1GB sticks is INSANE since the 2GB sticks cost the same or less than 1GB sticks @ $45 per GB.

They cost only $180 for the pair here with this Ramseeker Link to Omni Technologies. Not spending money on RAM is crazy. I have 5GB and am adding 4GB more this week - perhaps 8GB. RAM is too damn inexpensive not to have a lot of it. The full 16GB kit is only $700 now.
 
They cost only $180 for the pair here with this Ramseeker Link to Omni Technologies. Not spending money on RAM is crazy. I have 5GB and am adding 4GB more this week - perhaps 8GB. RAM is too damn inexpensive not to have a lot of it. The full 16GB kit is only $700 now.[/QUOTE]

Have you used this ram and how does it compare to name brand ram with approved heatsinks. Also, will I see a much bigger performance leap by going with 3 gb over 5 gb. Wondering where the law of diminishing returns is here
 
OMNI Ram Is Just As Good As "Name Brand" Ram

Multimedia said:
They cost only $180 for the pair here with this Ramseeker Link to Omni Technologies. Not spending money on RAM is crazy. I have 5GB and am adding 4GB more this week - perhaps 8GB. RAM is too damn inexpensive not to have a lot of it. The full 16GB kit is only $700 now.
Click to expand...
Muttster said:
Have you used this ram and how does it compare to name brand ram with approved heatsinks. Also, will I see a much bigger performance leap by going with 3 gb over 5 gb. Wondering where the law of diminishing returns is here
Click to expand...
Yes. I have used Omni Optival RAM for many many years and it is always reliable and the heat sinks are totally Apple approved. They are certified Apple developers. Phone them and ask them yourself. It's toll free.

1GB per core is considered MINIMUM for optimal performance.
 
What about 4 GB per slot? I know it is expensive but down the road it may be nice to max out each slot. Also wouldn't it be a waste if you bought 2 GB now and have to chuck it later in order to get the full 32? Thanks guys. I'm new and a bit hmm -- shall I say slow?:)
 
4GB Sticks Aren't For Sale Yet

Nightfall said:
What about 4 GB per slot? I know it is expensive but down the road it may be nice to max out each slot. Also wouldn't it be a waste if you bought 2 GB now and have to chuck it later in order to get the full 32? Thanks guys. I'm new and a bit hmm -- shall I say slow?:)
Click to expand...
4GB sticks aren't even for sale. Apple supports 16GB with Eight 2GB sticks. It's really plain foolish to use anything but 2GB sticks now.
 
Multimedia said:
4GB sticks aren't even for sale. Apple supports 16GB with Eight 2GB sticks. It's really plain foolish to use anything but 2GB sticks now.
Click to expand...

Yes they are. You just need to go to the Xserve page to find them. The heat sinks need to be better on an Xserve than they do on a Mac Pro anyway so there is no need to worry about that with them either (well you do on the UK site anyway).
 
Multimedia said:
I respectfully disagree. You should add a MINIMUM of TWO 2GB Sticks Immediately! Buying 1GB sticks is INSANE since the 2GB sticks cost the same or less than 1GB sticks @ $45 per GB.

They cost only $180 for the pair here with this Ramseeker Link to Omni Technologies. Not spending money on RAM is crazy. I have 5GB and am adding 4GB more this week - perhaps 8GB. RAM is too damn inexpensive not to have a lot of it. The full 16GB kit is only $700 now.
Click to expand...

Eek, thanks Multimedia for posting that..you just took $200 out of my wallet. Bought another 4GB for a total of 9GB...
 
Multimedia said:
I respectfully disagree. You should add a MINIMUM of TWO 2GB Sticks Immediately! Buying 1GB sticks is INSANE since the 2GB sticks cost the same or less than 1GB sticks @ $45 per GB.
Click to expand...

In my own defense, I have 5GB of RAM in my MacPro, and find it to be a "minimum" for what I do on it. The OP came across as having a VERY limited budget, so within that framework, adding an additional 2GB only would give a good amount of performance increase without breaking the bank. Not everyone has unlimited financial resources, or the need for a macpro loaded out with ram.
 
RichP said:
In my own defense, I have 5GB of RAM in my MacPro, and find it to be a "minimum" for what I do on it. The OP came across as having a VERY limited budget, so within that framework, adding an additional 2GB only would give a good amount of performance increase without breaking the bank. Not everyone has unlimited financial resources, or the need for a macpro loaded out with ram.
Click to expand...

This was what I was thinking - while it would be wonderful to have 9 gb or even 5 gb, would I really need that much to do everyday word processing, internet browsing and the like. I remember reading that at a certain point, adding more ram only gives you minimal improvement (unless of course if you have a memory intensive program).
 
Muttster said:
This was what I was thinking - while it would be wonderful to have 9 gb or even 5 gb, would I really need that much to do everyday word processing, internet browsing and the like. I remember reading that at a certain point, adding more ram only gives you minimal improvement (unless of course if you have a memory intensive program).
Click to expand...

Going from a total of 1GB to 2Gb is going to be a huge difference in performance. 2 to 3 and 2 to 4 will be progressively less of a difference.

The prices multimedia posted are very cheap though, I would say, for an extra $80 or $90, to just go with the 2x2gb modules (giving you 5 total), unless you are on an extremely tight budget. It certainly wont hurt.
 
BTW, i use it mostly for word processsing, Itunes, test construction and the like. No heavy processor intensive applications.
Click to expand...

I'm curious, but why buy a mac pro?
 
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