Older Mac, Newer Processor, Which RAM?

[mugwump]

I put a top of the line Xeon 5690 processor in my Mac Pro 2009, and it's been working great for the past year. But I have been having random Kernel Panics restarts and I am thinking it is the memory.


Should I purchase DDR3-1066 RAM for the year of the machine (2009-2010 4,1 flashed to 5,1)

Or should I purchase DDR3-1333 RAM for the later 5690 Processor?

Thanks much for this help!

-- I am looking to purchase from this site:
https://macramdirect.com/macpro.html#mp3

 

[h9826790]

Both are the same in terms of compatibility. However, 1333 should be the better choice, because it's faster.

 

[MacUser2525]

Both are the same in terms of compatibility. However, 1333 should be the better choice, because it's faster.

Only by couple of percent so it does not really matter unless of course your looking for the bigger e-penis. Forget that site go to ebay and get a real price on it. Just make sure you are buying all the same type for example single sided registered, the double sided variety of that or the buffered. The modules all have to be of the same type or your machine will not boot. Don't be put off by the Dell or HP you will see in the description ram is ram and contrary to some believing it there are no special magical Apple parts it is all standard PC parts that have been used. Oh and if you have not reset the PRAM in that year then the 1333 will only run at the slower speed in that flashed Pro. And another Oh you just might want to see if you can track down a hardware diagnostic disk just to make sure it is not some other part failing so you do not waste the cash unnecessarily.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odk...333.TRS1&_nkw=4GB+ECC+DIMM+ddr3+1333&_sacat=0

 

[ActionableMango]

But I have been having random Kernel Panics restarts and I am thinking it is the memory.

The Kernal Panic report indicates a memory problem?

 

[mugwump]

The Kernal Panic report indicates a memory problem?

This had been going on for a year. I tried everything. The recent fix I did was remove a mis-matched 8gb stick, and some stability improved. Then tried different configurations of the other RAM sticks. Sometimes it wouldn't boot, other times it would just freeze and restart.

Finally I have removed one of the OWC sticks and everything is currently stable. Better memory is on the way.

I had posted Kernel Panic logs on this forum about a year ago, and no one had any idea what it could be. I believe the final kernel action was cache related. Anyhow, this should fix it.

 

[ActionableMango]

Oh man, over a year... that's rough.

I haven't seen the old thread. Did you try running memtest x86? You need to do it from a memtest boot disk, don't just run the app in OS X (if you do that, it cannot test any of the ram used or reserved by the OS).

If you happen to be near Seattle I have a bunch of RAM you could borrow to try it out and see if your RAM is the problem.