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What's the best way to stress test Mac Pro ram? I need it when I get OWC ram. It might pass the test as others here have stated, but ecc errors are important.
 
What's the best way to stress test Mac Pro ram? I need it when I get OWC ram. It might pass the test as others here have stated, but ecc errors are important.


Couple of things I did to stress test the RAM. I used all of these to get ECC errors to show (or not show):

Rember:
http://www.kelleycomputing.net/rember/

Try not to have any programs open, to allow it to use as much RAM as possible. Also let it do multiple passes.

iPhoto import:
I brought about 13,000+ images over to my Mac, and imported them into iPhoto. I got ECC errors almost every time on the bad RAM I had doing this test.

Just keep an eye on fan speeds and mem temps during the tests.
I use:
http://homepage.mac.com/holtmann/eidac/software/smcfancontrol2/index.html

and

http://www.bresink.com/osx/TemperatureMonitor.html


-Kevin
 
Hey guys, got the OWC RAM! Ran the extended Apple Hardware Test on 8GB of RAM (did not put in the stock yet) and I got ZERO errors!!! :D

Also ran Rember on 2 passes, and it said "All Tests Passed" During these tests, my ambient was a constant 25C, RPMs jumped up to 800RPM max for exhaust and CPU, but constant for power supply. The RAM jumped to 70C Maximum.

Are these good results? Please let me know, because I have 10 days to return these. Should I run more Rember tests? I don't have any complex AECS3 projects to render and test.

Thanks guys!
 
Hey guys, got the OWC RAM! Ran the extended Apple Hardware Test on 8GB of RAM (did not put in the stock yet) and I got ZERO errors!!! :D

Also ran Rember on 2 passes, and it said "All Tests Passed" During these tests, my ambient was a constant 25C, RPMs jumped up to 800RPM max for exhaust and CPU, but constant for power supply. The RAM jumped to 70C Maximum.

Are these good results? Please let me know, because I have 10 days to return these. Should I run more Rember tests? I don't have any complex AECS3 projects to render and test.

Thanks guys!
Yup, that all looks good.
 
Sweet! No need to run any rember tests again? I've been fooked by Crucial twice, don't want to take any chances.
 
Thanks man...I feel "lucky" that my "money" gave me a good product :D

Should I Put in my 512x2GB OEM Apple RAM to have a total of 9GB?

I have 2GB and 2GB in Riser A slots 1&2 and 2GB and 2GB in Riser B 1&2 right now.

I'm safe right? No need to do more tests? First time Apple owner just needs reassurance.

Thanks
 
I'm safe right? No need to do more tests? First time Apple owner just needs reassurance.

Thanks

Congrats of getting good sets this time. Did you get the OWC heatsinks on them?

I don't think you need to run any more tests like Rember. Have you checked the System Profiler to see if the RAM is giving any ECC errors?

The real test is stressing the RAM doing real applications and work. When I was testing all my RAM, everything passed the Apple Hardware Test and multiple passes of Rember.....however, doing that huge iPhoto import would give me ECC errors.

So I say, use the machine and stress it as much as possible in the next few days.

-Kevin
 
Yeah, it was the OWC Netlist 8GB kit.

I ran all kinds of tests and got zero errors. Did a sample After Effects CS3 project, seemed be a bit sluggish but that's probably because I used the new "All Cores" tickbox.
 
Just did an AECS3 test with all cores in use. Test ran fine without any errors.

Am I lucky or is OWC working as it should? I don't have iPhoto so I don't know what else to test it. I haven't bought the Mac version of Cinema4D yet to do any tests.
 
Am I lucky or is OWC working as it should? I don't have iPhoto so I don't know what else to test it. I haven't bought the Mac version of Cinema4D yet to do any tests.

Probably because you didn't mix the ram, and the numbers are even.

You tested the Crucial by themself right? #7

I've never known anyone to install memory that comes in dual kits to go 3 6 9. Or rather mix others with whats already there.

Sure for single dimms, I've seen some people with 3 gig of memory. It's usually always safer to keep them even. I've had my fair share of picky ram on PC's like this, more so with dual channel kits.

Thing is, all the Mac's don't use dual channel memory so... maybe its none of this... maybe they were faulty, maybe they weren't... maybe their heat spreaders weren't up to par.
The only thing thats different about dual channel kits is to insure both sticks are identical in their timings and volts.
I remember when the Mac Pro first came out and people getting 3rd party ram. The same sort of things happened. The sticks getting too hot and start producing errors as the heatsinks weren't up to standard with some. Who knows. Freak incident? we'll never know. Life goes on. :)
 
I was using exact same chips from Crucial. On all tests I only had Crucial ram in the system. 5 2gb sticks were faulty.

With OWC, I took out the apple ram, popped in OWC Ram and started to test. All went well. After I was done, I put in the 1GB apple ram and ran tests again. No errors on either.
 
I ran a 48 hour REMBER test on infinite loop and got zero errors when I had the activity monitor on and in the log it said zero errors.

One thumbs up for OWC for me! If anyone out there needs reassurance, OWC is good RAM and you shouldn't pass them up.
 
Brrr. Tale of horrors. Gives you the shivers.

I was counting on 'upping' my McPro with Crucial FB DIMMS, basically because they now have hefty heatsinks solving initial 'issues', and the price is fair.

BTW. Why do they have different 2 DIMM kits for 4 core and 8 core? The DIMMS look identical!

I can get Kingston FB ram locally so visits to the store are easier. Can I risk it? Is it well cooled? The heat spreaders are twee little clamps.

A-Data is also available, seems better cooled, but are not sold in matched sets.

Any experience with Kingston FB DIMMs out there? Or A-Data?
 
The Crucial heatsinks are exactly the same as the Apple OEM Nanya ones that came with my Mac Pro.

The OWC is totally different, but it stays REALLY cool, at around 70-75C on full load.

I think you should give OWC a try before Crucial. They will cover your return shipping if you don't like it within 15 days. I had to cuss out Crucial just to get my money back on shipping.

I think all the Crucial RAM is not being tested fully before shipment.

OWC came to a total of $802 for an 8GB Kit with shipping. I got the Netlist ones.

If these companies are giving different RAM kits for the 4 Core vs 8 Core, then you should stick with their recommendations.
 
I think you should give OWC a try before Crucial. They will cover your return shipping if you don't like it within 15 days. I had to cuss out Crucial just to get my money back on shipping.

I'm surprised that Crucial charged you for shipping considering that the RAM was bad. When I had to send RAM back to both Crucial and OWC, they both paid for shipping if the RAM was bad.

-Kevin
 
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