Mac Pro questions

[RedFoxy]

Hi all!
I' looking for some infos about Mac Pro. I don't remember where I've read it but I remember that I've read that Mac Pro use triple channel system for Ram, is it true?

I've a XFX GeForce 8800 GTX 768Mb PCI-x graphic card, do it goes on Mac Pro?

The Mac Pro's DDR3 Ram are standard DD3 Ram that I can buy in a computer shop or is it a special version like for server or similar?

Thank's and sorry for my bad englsh

 

[SDAVE]

Get Mac Pro RAM from here:

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/Mac-Pro-Memory (choose the third option for new Mac Pros).

And no you cannot use any graphics card in the Mac Pro, unless you just want to use your card under Windows. The card has to have an Apple firmware in it. Apple sells cards on their site, of course they are a bit outdated by today's standards and are more expensive, but you gotta pay the Apple tax.

 

[RedFoxy]

Get Mac Pro RAM from here:

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/Mac-Pro-Memory (choose the third option for new Mac Pros).

And no you cannot use any graphics card in the Mac Pro, unless you just want to use your card under Windows. The card has to have an Apple firmware in it. Apple sells cards on their site, of course they are a bit outdated by today's standards and are more expensive, but you gotta pay the Apple tax.

Bah!
But Leopard and Snow Leopard supports 8800 graphic cards... But if you said that Mac needs a specified firmware for mac... -.-

For MacSales.com... there is a trouble... I live in Italy and they don't send it here

 

[RedFoxy]

I checked on that web site and they send in Italy for ram (but not a new mac), but the price + shipping it's more expansive to get the ram directly with the mac

 

[SDAVE]

Bah!
But Leopard and Snow Leopard supports 8800 graphic cards... But if you said that Mac needs a specified firmware for mac... -.-

For MacSales.com... there is a trouble... I live in Italy and they don't send it here

Yes they support the graphics card, but not the one you have. It has to be Mac specific like this one. From Apple directly (or an Apple retailer).

As far as RAM, look in your area for an Apple distributor, they might have 3rd party RAM for the new Mac Pro. You don't have to get RAM from Apple.

 

[SnowLeopard2008]

Yes they support the graphics card, but not the one you have. It has to be Mac specific like this one. From Apple directly (or an Apple retailer).

As far as RAM, look in your area for an Apple distributor, they might have 3rd party RAM for the new Mac Pro. You don't have to get RAM from Apple.

Between an Apple Distributor and Apple, Apple has cheaper prices for ram.

To OP, you can choose ANY graphics card. But it only works under Windows.

If you want that graphic card to work under OS X (I don't know why since the default care smokes your 8800 by a significant amount) it has to have Apple firmware.

 

[lemonade-maker]

Between an Apple Distributor and Apple, Apple has cheaper prices for ram.

To OP, you can choose ANY graphics card. But it only works under Windows.

If you want that graphic card to work under OS X (I don't know why since the default care smokes your 8800 by a significant amount) it has to have Apple firmware.

The 8800gt can be flashed with efi firmware. It's faster than a gt120 which is a relabeled 9500gt and is similar to an 8600gt. You will need a mac specific power cable.

 

[gugucom]

Hi all!
I' looking for some infos about Mac Pro. I don't remember where I've read it but I remember that I've read that Mac Pro use triple channel system for Ram, is it true?

There are currently four models of the Mac Pro out and almost everyone has another RAM specification. So you need to check for your specific model.

The latest 2009 MacPro4,1 has indeed triple channel memory where the other Macs used to have dual channel per CPU. The MP4,1 is also different because it uses a memory controller integrated in the CPU instead of the north bridge of the chipset. The memory spec is very flexible. It can use registered and unbuffered DDR3 DIMMs of 800, 1066 and 1333 MHz frequency. The Apple firmware will switch 1333 MHz RAM down to 1066. You cannot mix RDIMMs and UDIMMs. Triple channel memory works best with the same DIMM load per channel. Due to the third channel having two DIMM slots and the first two channels having only one the fourth DIMM slot is best left unused in order to max the bandwidth. Alternatively slots three and four can be populated with DIMMs of 50% capacity to achieve nearly the same bandwidth.

 

[Shazaam!]

Thermal Sensors

My concern is with Apple's thermal sensor RAM spec for the Power Mac 4,1.

Most RAM I see advertised neglects to mention this sensor. I assume that if the chips see excessive operational temperatures, the sensor is there to trigger the fans to increase air flow cooling.

Is this sensor of practical importance or can I safely ignore this when purchasing RAM? If not, does anyone have a list of manufacturers (and hopefully part numbers) selling RAM that has integrated thermal sensors?

 

[gugucom]

My concern is with Apple's thermal sensor RAM spec for the Power Mac 4,1.

Most RAM I see advertised neglects to mention this sensor. I assume that if the chips see excessive operational temperatures, the sensor is there to trigger the fans to increase air flow cooling.

Is this sensor of practical importance or can I safely ignore this when purchasing RAM? If not, does anyone have a list of manufacturers (and hopefully part numbers) selling RAM that has integrated thermal sensors?

Apple used Hynix RAM in my MP4,1. I used the same brand when I bought two 2 GB UDIMMs to boost capacity to 12 GB. The only difference was my RAM was 1333 MHz but it switches down to 1066 fine.