Weird MacPro memory configuration: 7G with 3x1g + 1x4g ?!?!

[aponsin]

Hi All,

Sorry I have already asked this question in another thread, but it's kinda lost in the middle of a ton of other questions...

For monetary purposes, I would like to by the MacPro with the default 3g (3x1g) from Apple and by a fourth Ram module, but a 4g this time...

Is this even going to work ? No even talking about optimization, etc. ?

Will it detect and be able to use the full 7g ?

Alex

 

[Dr.Pants]

I've heard of some weird configurations running, so I can't say if it will or will not work. What I can say is that it'll be running in Single Channel which decrease memory performance.

Better off buying two 4 GB DIMMs and running them alongside two 1 GB DIMMs and keeping the extra stick for testing purposes should you run into a problem, IMO/

 

[gugucom]

I have answered the question in the other thread. He is looking at a Nehalem Quad with triple channel. So none of the above will give optimum speed but having more than 3 will most likely keep him longer from falling back to disk speed. It would be better to sell the RAM and buy three 2 GB or 4 GB sticks.

 

[Dr.Pants]

....It would be better to sell the RAM and buy three 2 GB or 4 GB sticks.

Good point.

@OP: Basically, keep RAM in pairs or trios. If you have four RAM sticks the memory configuration will default to dual-channel if there are two pairs or single channel if one is not like the others (in the OP's original description)..

And yeah, getting 3x2 GB is probably the best idea on a budget.

 

[aponsin]

Good point.

@OP: Basically, keep RAM in pairs or trios. If you have four RAM sticks the memory configuration will default to dual-channel if there are two pairs or single channel if one is not like the others (in the OP's original description)..

And yeah, getting 3x2 GB is probably the best idea on a budget.

Right but again, I am starting from scratch, so yes I could buy 3x2g... but if I do this, then I need to through away the 3x2g if I want to upgrade to 12g... which is literally throwing money out of the windows...

My desired configuration for the future is to hit 12g... but I can't afford 3x4g for now... and because of my need I don't want to have less than 6g...

So I was thinking getting the 3x1g that comes by default (there is no escaping that) and buying just 1x4g which I can afford for now.

And then latter upgrade slowly...

But based on your comments I could do 2x1g + 2x4g ?

Alex

Alex

 

[dsiew81]

Right but again, I am starting from scratch, so yes I could buy 3x2g... but if I do this, then I need to through away the 3x2g if I want to upgrade to 12g... which is literally throwing money out of the windows...

My desired configuration for the future is to hit 12g... but I can't afford 3x4g for now... and because of my need I don't want to have less than 6g...

So I was thinking getting the 3x1g that comes by default (there is no escaping that) and buying just 1x4g which I can afford for now.

And then latter upgrade slowly...

But based on your comments I could do 2x1g + 2x4g ?

Alex

Alex

If you're that worried, honestly, leave the stock RAM and save up for more RAM. You really should be selling off your unused RAM as people will buy it -- bit silly to be "througing" (sp) stuff out instead. If you really did, you can't talk about prices.

 

[Dr.Pants]

....So I was thinking getting the 3x1g that comes by default (there is no escaping that) and buying just 1x4g which I can afford for now.

And then latter upgrade slowly...

Personally, if you're REALLY wanting RAM besides stock, I would grab a 1 GB stick for now and then save up for the 3x or 4x 4GB DIMMs if that's the configuration you really want to end up with. IIRC, there wasn't much of a difference between dual and triple channels.

But based on your comments I could do 2x1g + 2x4g ?

Yep. That shouldn't be much of a problem, IMO. It'd be a good middle-of-the-road upgrade, and it'll tell you if you'll need more RAM.

If you're that worried, honestly, leave the stock RAM and save up for more RAM. You really should be selling off your unused RAM as people will buy it -- bit silly to be "througing" (sp) stuff out instead. If you really did, you can't talk about prices.

Throwing away RAM Seriously, you could be using that on another build or selling it! Is this your first desktop?

 

[aponsin]

Throwing away RAM Seriously, you could be using that on another build or selling it! Is this your first desktop?

Don't worry... I am not actually going to throw it away ! It was figurative speech... no it's not my first desktop... but it's the first one in a long long time...
And I know myself, if I am going to get 50$ out of 3x1g.. I am never going to bother and sell them on ebay on anything... that's why I am more concerned of making sure that I can keep a maximum of what I am buying...

Alex

 

[dsiew81]

Don't worry... I am not actually going to throw it away ! It was figurative speech... no it's not my first desktop... but it's the first one in a long long time...
And I know myself, if I am going to get 50$ out of 3x1g.. I am never going to bother and sell them on ebay on anything... that's why I am more concerned of making sure that I can keep a maximum of what I am buying...

Alex

Trade it in with OWC/Macsales then. You'll have some monetary benefit. No point complaining about lost money if you can't be bothered to sell.

 

[Dr. Cheesesteak]

I'm actually running a sort of similar setup - 3x2 and 1x1 for a total of 7.

I know I'm losing out on the triple channel benefits but in practice I haven't seen the difference it makes. I ran it with just the 3x2 for a while and thought I'd throw one of the extra 1x1's I had from the stock build in to see what would happen, and I couldn't really tell the difference.

I'd be interested to see some benchmarks or something that really show the difference between the two, but so far I haven't noticed it. I haven't really noticed the benefits of the extra 1x1 either though, so a fancy bar graph telling me it's a bad idea would probably be all I needed to yank it back out

 

[goMac]

The new Xeon is optimized in hardware for memory in pairs of 3. Doing anything otherwise will make it run slower.

It's beyond me why they put only 8 RAM slots in there (not multiple of 3), but if anything has an idea, I'd like to know why...