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Mac Pro - How Much RAM do YOU have?
- Thread starter TheSpaz
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We have 6 Mac Pros - all 2.66 GHz
2 x 16GB RAM (8 x 2GB sticks)
2 x 13GB RAM (6 x 2GB sticks + 2 x 512MB sticks)
2 x 10GB RAM (4 x 2GB sticks + 4 x 512MB sticks)
All the slots in all machines are full and the 512MB sticks are being replaced with 2GB sticks until all machines are maxed out.
3d rendering by the way.
3dsmax with Mental Ray/Vray/finalRender
running x64
It helps having all the machines with pretty much the same spec. Most of our software uses network licenses so it is possible to work on any machine to do any task without ever having to settle for lower performance.
Btw, all the RAM is 3rd party except for the 1GB that shipped from Apple. It's a mixture of sticks with oversized heat sinks and sticks with normal sized heat sinks. Had no problems up to now (since last October) and would avoid buying the RAM from Apple due to the massive mark-up!
2 x 16GB RAM (8 x 2GB sticks)
2 x 13GB RAM (6 x 2GB sticks + 2 x 512MB sticks)
2 x 10GB RAM (4 x 2GB sticks + 4 x 512MB sticks)
All the slots in all machines are full and the 512MB sticks are being replaced with 2GB sticks until all machines are maxed out.
3d rendering by the way.
3dsmax with Mental Ray/Vray/finalRender
running x64
It helps having all the machines with pretty much the same spec. Most of our software uses network licenses so it is possible to work on any machine to do any task without ever having to settle for lower performance.
Btw, all the RAM is 3rd party except for the 1GB that shipped from Apple. It's a mixture of sticks with oversized heat sinks and sticks with normal sized heat sinks. Had no problems up to now (since last October) and would avoid buying the RAM from Apple due to the massive mark-up!
It's hard to get page outs if all you are doing is posting on MacRumors! Seriously, it's only because you aren't pushing your machine. I had all 4 processors running at least 90% the other day and I have close to 3,000 page outs, and that's with 6GB of ram.
Try running a 3d render or exporting video, burning a disk, editing in Photoshop, uploading files with Dreamweaver, all at the same time and then get back to me if you still have zero page outs.
Yea I happened to do a restart when I last posted here the other day and after 1.5 days I'm at 347147/6521 currently with 1.58GB of 10GB free. Still far better off that I was with 4GB
Yea I happened to do a restart when I last posted here the other day and after 1.5 days I'm at 347147/6521 currently with 1.58GB of 10GB free. Still far better off that I was with 4GB
that is some intense stuff you must be doing.
on a side note: why doesnt 'inactive ram' become free ram??
Inactive RAM is basically RAM that has been used before and is being left with it's current data in it in the hope that it will be used again (eg caches). If an application requests RAM for use and there is no free RAM then the inactive RAM will be used.
So your free available RAM is free+inactive.
Took delivery of 64Gb of Kingstone memory today for my desktop machines.
Once installed I`ll have eight macpros (sixtyfour cores) running at 16Gb each on my desk.
I got a big desk.
you are exremely lucky. and rich!!!
Took delivery of 64Gb of Kingstone memory today for my desktop machines.
Once installed I`ll have eight macpros (sixtyfour cores) running at 16Gb each on my desk.
I got a big desk.
I hope you have a very, very productive job. And a big discount on all that RAM.
Im almost as productive as the discount was large....I hope.
I use computers like a person spins plates on sticks...expensive plates.
may i ask what it is you do?
Took delivery of 64Gb of Kingstone memory today for my desktop machines.
Once installed I`ll have eight macpros (sixtyfour cores) running at 16Gb each on my desk.
I got a big desk.
Question for emeldahay: I was thinking about this: 8 machines, with 64 GB of RAM total, is only 8 GB per machine. Is that right?
You mentioned 16 GB per machine, and I am just curious about this.
I already had memory spread out over the machines. This 64gb takes them all to 16gb each.
Means I got a lot of the half gig chips left spare...
I`ll ty to get pics of the set up - its too messy just now
They are connected to 30 inch apple monitors - the mp I use the most has 2 monitors attached to it and the others share 4 with gefen monitor switches. I tried VNCing which is too slow - remote desktop is better but I prefer monitor switches.
I`ll be reducing the number of monitors once I get larger capacity monitor switch. Just now I just slide my chair up and down the length of my desk. Its not too bad.
Means I got a lot of the half gig chips left spare...
I`ll ty to get pics of the set up - its too messy just now
They are connected to 30 inch apple monitors - the mp I use the most has 2 monitors attached to it and the others share 4 with gefen monitor switches. I tried VNCing which is too slow - remote desktop is better but I prefer monitor switches.
I`ll be reducing the number of monitors once I get larger capacity monitor switch. Just now I just slide my chair up and down the length of my desk. Its not too bad.
I already had memory spread out over the machines. This 64gb takes them all to 16gb each.
Means I got a lot of the half gig chips left spare...
I`ll ty to get pics of the set up - its too messy just now
They are connected to 30 inch apple monitors - the mp I use the most has 2 monitors attached to it and the others share 4 with gefen monitor switches. I tried VNCing which is too slow - remote desktop is better but I prefer monitor switches.
I`ll be reducing the number of monitors once I get larger capacity monitor switch. Just now I just slide my chair up and down the length of my desk. Its not too bad.
Thank you for the clarification. Amazing setup you have.... It makes my Mac Pro look like a toy.
Just purchased 2 2gb chips to bring my total to 7gb. To see the system eat all but 100mb kinda pissed me off. Considering i only had Flash/Photoshop CS3, FCP, Safari, Entourage, iChat and GoLive open. Thats my norm, nothing heavy in PS either, a small jpeg i was making into a thumbnail. The majority was Inactive though.
As I've mentioned previously in this thread inactive RAM should be counted as free when you're working out how much RAM you have. Inactive RAM is just caches, the includes the disk cache, if you read a large file from disk (eg just to copy it from one place to another) you will soon have no free RAM left but a large chunk of inactive.
After your machine has been on a while the ideal situation is to have almost no free RAM and a large chunk of inactive.
He's right folks. Don't go out and buy more RAM if your free RAM is empty... take a look at your inactive RAM... that will give you a clue as to whether or not to get more RAM. Your system will only go slow if it's crunching a bunch of page-outs... so until it's paging out like crazy, don't go and run out to get more RAM. Be happy with what you've got.
cheers - I think I might have read your thread ???- yours is certainly no toy.
I`d like to get the main mp using 3 monitors like you have but I dont really have a need just now. Its amazing how easiy you fill the technology your given.
Well I was surprised mostly because at the time I wasn't doing anything to justify all the memory being cached.
So until i open a large PS file, or i'm working heavy in AE or FCP... i still sit and wonder whats going on.
So until i open a large PS file, or i'm working heavy in AE or FCP... i still sit and wonder whats going on.
It doesn't matter if you're doing something intense... over time, your RAM is going to fill up and that's what it's designed to do. Do not worry, inactive RAM is a good thing... it's just like free RAM that hasn't been overwritten yet. It accumulates over time.
Yes It's True, put that RAM in Right!
Well, I swapped the RAM and what do you know, my MP is much 'snappier'. Apps seem to open faster. Logic opens in about 3 seconds now even though it has to load over a hundred plug ins, previously it took about 10 seconds. Thanks MM for the tip. The threads on page ins/outs, inactive vs free ram have all been most helpful. I realise that to really get the best from my MP I'll have to get another 2Gb to take me to 5Gb.
I wonder though if HDD performance is really the limiting factor in the MP and a RAID 0 setup would be more beneficial (and less $$) than more RAM??
Should be, but don't ask me to explain it. I only know that this chart shows you how to maximize performance with the sticks you have. Looks like the upper rear is the first part of RAM addressed by the system so you always want that to contain your largest two sticks. Lower rear next then upper front and finally lower front. But not always. Sometimes the third pair goes in the lower front instead of the upper front.
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Well, I swapped the RAM and what do you know, my MP is much 'snappier'. Apps seem to open faster. Logic opens in about 3 seconds now even though it has to load over a hundred plug ins, previously it took about 10 seconds. Thanks MM for the tip. The threads on page ins/outs, inactive vs free ram have all been most helpful. I realise that to really get the best from my MP I'll have to get another 2Gb to take me to 5Gb.
I wonder though if HDD performance is really the limiting factor in the MP and a RAID 0 setup would be more beneficial (and less $$) than more RAM??
Same here, I started with the 1GB from the factory, but added 2 x 1GB sticks of Crucial before I ever fired her up. Added another 2GB about 6 months latter. Can't remember if the second set was Crucial or OWC. After 2 days 22 hours of up time I have 161000 page ins and 4367 page outs. I generally keep Parallels open most of the time and find that the jump from 3GB to 5GB helped keep things sane. Really improved performance with LR