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Mac Pro ram upgrade

M

mostly-moronic

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 21, 2007
4
0
Hi. I have a mac pro with 2 3.0 ghz quad core cpus and I am upgrading from stock ram to 4 gbs. Specifically, I am looking for a 4 gb set (2 x 2 gbs). Here is the set I am looking at:

http://www.ec.kingston.com/ecom/con...://www.kingston.com&ktcpartno=KTA-MP667AK2/4G

Is that the best/fastest ram I can get for a mac pro? How would this ram compare to mac pro ram from corsair and crucial?

P.S. I was going to get this....

http://www.ec.kingston.com/ecom/con...p://www.kingston.com&ktcpartno=KTA-MP667K2/4G

....but it is apparently only for 4-core systems. The price of it and the other kingston set I listed is the same, so it doesn't matter.
 
mostly-moronic said:
Is that the best/fastest ram I can get for a mac pro?
Click to expand...
You understand, that to be fully MacPro compatible, all MacPro RAM must run at exactly the same speed? So there is no 'fastest'. (and dishonest companies that claim they have Hyper-speed Higher Performance Mac memory should be shunned IMO)
mostly-moronic said:
How would this ram compare to mac pro ram from corsair and crucial?
Click to expand...
I am not aware that Corsair offer Mac Pro compatible FB-DIMMs. Crucial does, both Kingston KTA- and Crucial are fine.
 
You need to check OWC, TransIntl, RamJet, Datamemorysystems, or Crucial. You will find that they are all significantly less expensive than what you are going to pay on the site that you referenced.
 
Okay...so ram for the mac pro must always be the same speed etc. Got it. Now, I should point out that I am in canada, so prices will be different from those in the us. I have had bad experiences with ordering computer components online, so I would preffer to buy it retail. The place I want to buy from sells it over 100 dollars cheaper than the mac stores I have asked.
 
Another thing, is crucial as good as kingston? It is 100 dollars cheaper than the kingston ram, but I don't know if it has the big, apple-approved heat-sinks.
 
The RAM you need is Fully-Buffered DDR2, also known as FB-DIMMs. It runs at 667 MHz, and there is no faster or slower. Even if they made FB-DIMMs at 800 MHz, it wouldn't be faster for the Mac Pro.

You need to make sure you buy properly heat-sinked RAM. They'll either say it is designed for the Mac Pro, or they'll show a picture. The heat sinks are truly massive.
 
mostly-moronic said:
Another thing, is crucial as good as kingston? It is 100 dollars cheaper than the kingston ram, but I don't know if it has the big, apple-approved heat-sinks.
Click to expand...

IMHO, Crucial is only slightly better than Kingston. I bought Crucial ram for my Pro from Newegg and it works great. I have mushkin (also from NewEgg) in my MBP and no problems there as well. I have some Kingston in some dell systems and it works fine (albeit, they're not FB-DIMMs so I can't comment there).

Crucial, Kingston, it's all about the same. You'll find someone who had a bad stick of either - Just make sure it has a warranty. I'd check NewEgg or DataMem for products guaranteeing mac compatibility with a lifetime warranty.

...And the heatsinks on the crucial FB-DIMMs are about the same size as the apple OEM ones.
 
Multimedia said:
Did you look at Ramseeker.com? Use this Ramseeker link to get Omni Optival 4GB kits for only $297.99 each.
Click to expand...
RAMseeker deals are not generally as good a choice for Canadians, because of shipping, brokerage, and the high cost of cross-border returns/warranty replacement.
Omni Technologies has one of the lowest failure rates among all resellers.
Click to expand...
OK I gotta ask - source of this statistic? Purely personal experience, or data supplied by Omni, or an independent unbiased source?

I appreciate that you have bought from them several times, but that's still a very small population to base the assertion on. The reviews on resellerratings.com suggest that others have had different experiences.
 
Any updates in the RAM upgrade area, is omni still a good route? Anyone find anyone cheaper... Also who is the best to get from if I'm ordering from Canada...?
 
illegalprelude said:
so when it comes to Ram for the MacPro, what brands do you guys like and more so, what is the speed the MacPro takes.
DDR3 PC 5300?
Click to expand...

No - re-read Post 6 in this thread, or the MR Guide to Understanding intel Mac RAM

The MacPro uses DDR2-667 MHz FB-DIMMs with large heatsinks. You cannot substitute any other PC type RAM - DDR2 DIMMs and DDR3 DIMMs do not work. PC server FB-DIMMs with flat heatspreaders may or may not work well with the MacPro cooling / airflow system, Apple recommends against them.
 
CanadaRAM said:
No - re-read Post 6 in this thread, or the MR Guide to Understanding intel Mac RAM

The MacPro uses DDR2-667 MHz FB-DIMMs with large heatsinks. You cannot substitute any other PC type RAM - DDR2 DIMMs and DDR3 DIMMs do not work. PC server FB-DIMMs with flat heatspreaders may or may not work well with the MacPro cooling / airflow system, Apple recommends against them.
Click to expand...

oohh...hhhmm. thats for sure different then my PowerMac G5 huh...

So under newegg, these are the only ones under the "MacPro"
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...0551+1327923908&name=For+Apple+Mac+Pro+System

is Transcend a good company?
 
illegalprelude said:
oohh...hhhmm. thats for sure different then my PowerMac G5 huh...

So under newegg, these are the only ones under the "MacPro"
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...0551+1327923908&name=For+Apple+Mac+Pro+System

is Transcend a good company?
Click to expand...

Yes, those are the only modules that will work

Transcend is a reliable RAM manufacturer, we carry some of their products, although I would still prefer to spend a little more and go with Data memory Systems for the service and good shipping/warranty support.
 
CanadaRAM said:
I appreciate that you have bought from them several times, but that's still a very small population to base the assertion on. The reviews on resellerratings.com suggest that others have had different experiences.
Click to expand...

Totally agree. I would not believe anything one company says about "their" ram or even "reviews" that they post on their sites.

For example, I got 8 2GB sticks from Crucial. All except 3 were bad. They were from different batches...now this was a personal experience I'm sure others who bought Crucial had better experience than me.

I went with OWC and on the first trial, there were zero problems so I stuck with them. Had the system for over 3 months now, and have zero issues whatsoever.
 
SDAVE said:
Totally agree. I would not believe anything one company says about "their" ram or even "reviews" that they post on their sites.

For example, I got 8 2GB sticks from Crucial. All except 3 were bad. They were from different batches...now this was a personal experience I'm sure others who bought Crucial had better experience than me.

I went with OWC and on the first trial, there were zero problems so I stuck with them. Had the system for over 3 months now, and have zero issues whatsoever.
Click to expand...

I'm actually looking at going with some OWC for my MP, but I'm trying to figure out if it's worth paying the premium for the "OWC Mac Pro Certified" or if I can get by with the "OWC Apple Qualified" modules since it would save me $45.

Thoughts?
 
ndriver182 said:
I'm actually looking at going with some OWC for my MP, but I'm trying to figure out if it's worth paying the premium for the "OWC Mac Pro Certified" or if I can get by with the "OWC Apple Qualified" modules since it would save me $45.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...

Is it worth the $45? I went with the most expensive ones just in case. $45 is not much considering that you spent thousands on your computer already :)
 
The qualified ram actually appears to be the same as OEM ram. I wouldn't go with the certified ram just because it has a different heat-sink design. I think its just marketing, as the qualified ram works fine (to the best of my knowledge).
 
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