OWC 2GB DIMM Temperatures

[netnothing]

Interesting that a lot of people on here are getting 2GB DIMMS from OWC....I guess the price is finally to that sweet spot.

For those that just got some, did you get the Apple Qualified (with the similar stock heatsinks) or the Netlist with the flat heatsinks?

I picked up 8GB (4 x 2GB) to add to my machine, the Qualified version (with the Apple style heatsinks).

I now have Slots 1&2 on both risers with the OWC 2GB DIMMS, and 2 1GB DIMMS from Crucial on one riser and the stock 512 MB DIMMS on the other.

What are others getting for temperatures on the OWC RAM?

With an Ambient of 68F, my OWC RAM is:

Riser A Slot 1: 142F
Riser A Slot 2: 153F

Riser B Slot 1: 149F
Riser B Slot 2: 151F

Fans are at the lowest default settings (around 500 & 600 rpm)

I did notice that the 2GB DIMMS do run hotter, I'm guessing because they have more chips on them?

However, now that I have all 8 slots filled....FINALLY, my Mac Pro under load will ramp up the fans. I think even with the Ambient Temp getting up to 85F, and running Rember and other tests, the Mac Pro would only let the OWC RAM get to around 177F.

Just curious to see if others temps are about the same.

-Kevin

 

[JesterJJZ]

I got the more expensive ones. The "MacPro Certified" ones. The heat sinks are flat on the sides. I dunno what the difference is but if $100 bucks puts my mind at ease that I get better memory then so be it.

 

[/\/\]

OWC Shipping

I am planing to buy the next (January) Mac Pro.

Is OWC shipping outside of the United States? To Germany would be nice.

Does anybody knows?

Or is there an other memory reseller for the Mac Pro in Germany? (not )

 

[netnothing]

I got the more expensive ones. The "MacPro Certified" ones. The heat sinks are flat on the sides. I dunno what the difference is but if $100 bucks puts my mind at ease that I get better memory then so be it.

Back when I got the Mac Pro (Mar 2007), I got some of the Netlist RAM with the flat heatsinks. I had awful results with them. Very hot and lots of ECC errors.

So far the Apple Qualified are working great.

-Kevin

 

[JesterJJZ]

Back when I got the Mac Pro (Mar 2007), I got some of the Netlist RAM with the flat heatsinks. I had awful results with them. Very hot and lots of ECC errors.

So far the Apple Qualified are working great.

-Kevin

How would I know I'm getting errors? You are scaring me...

 

[JesterJJZ]

Also, how to I check temperatures and fan speeds?

 

[netnothing]

How would I know I'm getting errors? You are scaring me...

In Applications -> Utilities -> System Profiler

In System Profiler, under the Hardware section click on Memory. It will list all the slots and what they are filled with. Status should be OK. If there are ECC errors, it will list them here.

EDIT: These stats get reset after each reboot.

-Kevin

 

[netnothing]

Also, how to I check temperatures and fan speeds?

For both temps and fans speeds, I use the iStat Pro widget:
http://www.islayer.com/index.php?op=item&id=7

To see all the temps, make sure you view the widget in the Tall config, not the wide (wide hides some)

For more detailed temp history, you can get the free Temperature Monitor at:
http://www.bresink.de/osx/TemperatureMonitor.html

-Kevin

 

[JesterJJZ]

In Applications -> Utilities -> System Profiler

In System Profiler, under the Hardware section click on Memory. It will list all the slots and what they are filled with. Status should be OK. If there are ECC errors, it will list them here.

EDIT: These stats get reset after each reboot.

-Kevin

So how do I know anything happens? Should I just check that before I shutdown? I usually just sleep, does that reset it?

 

[netnothing]

So how do I know anything happens? Should I just check that before I shutdown? I usually just sleep, does that reset it?

Not sure about the reset at sleep. Basically if everything is running fine you shouldn't have any problems. The ECC RAM in the Mac Pros are there to correct errors. However, typically bad RAM or overheating RAM can produce many ECC errors, which could lead to instability or kernel panics.

Maybe, after using your machine heavily for a while, check the system profiler to see if there are any errors.

-Kevin