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Where is everyone getting their RAM?

MacRoom said:
16GB of Eight 2GB Sticks $800 for my son's 2.8GHz MP.
32GB of Eight 4GB Sticks $2900 for my 3.2GHz MP.

Did it on the phone and he gave us $50 off each order. They're listed $50 more for each set on the website. They use 7 fin heat sinks which should be cooler and keep the fans rolling slower. And there's a link from BareFeats.com that helps them. I trust their recommendation to use OWC and like to help them by using that link at the bottom of that page.

My 3.2GHz Octo MP is dead silent so far. I'm gonna buy a 2.8 base model when they go refurb in March or April. These Dual Harpertown Mac Pros are the world's greatest personal computer EVER. :)

Anyone know who is publishing a RAM Disk program that lets you create RAM discs bigger than 2GB?
Click to expand...

But do the fans (speed) run based up the heat in each ram module or do the fan(s) speed run based upon temperature inside the Mac Pro case? The ram is going to generate and give off the same amount of heat with or without fins. I think the extra fins cool the ram more efficiently, but generate the same amount of heat which then warms up the inside of the case and the fans then remove the heat.

It's good to hear that you have that much ram and yet your Mac Pro is still quiet. Very positive news.
 
More Fins Provide More Cooling Surface For Air To Pull Heat Off Chips At Lower Speed

Roy said:
But do the fans (speed) run based up the heat in each ram module or do the fan(s) speed run based upon temperature inside the Mac Pro case? The ram is going to generate and give off the same amount of heat with or without fins. I think the extra fins cool the ram more efficiently, but generate the same amount of heat which then warms up the inside of the case and the fans then remove the heat.

It's good to hear that you have that much ram and yet your Mac Pro is still quiet. Very positive news.
Click to expand...
I should have written "dissipate heat more efficiently". According to the Barefeats tests, they run substantially cooler than the 190 degrees F breaking point temperature - 160-176 degrees F. The extra fins let the heat that is in the chips fly off the modules more quickly as the cool air from the fans pass over them since there is more surface for the air passing over them to pull off the heat from the chips. So the air doesn't have to be moving as fast as it does with less cooling surface that the 4 fin heat sinks provide. Thus the fans can run slower i.e. quieter.

I am not reporting silence with 32GB inside yet. Won't have the set for another week or more. Will report back after they're inside.
 
TransIntl Memory

subaqua said:
I ordered memory from them a couple of weeks ago. (2x2GB, 800MHz). The memory worked fine and ran at the same temp as the stock apple memory (2x1GB) FBDIMMS.

However :-( One of the sticks started throwing ECC errors in the logs and I had one crash over a 1 week period of time. I moved the DIMMS around and I found the problematic FB-DIMM. I sent the whole set back to TransIntl and I should have the replacements soon.

At this time, I'm holding judgement on them (I usually order through crucial). I'll keep you informed.
Click to expand...

Just an update folks. I have received my replacement 4GB kit from transintl today and I just installed it. I also bought another 4GB kit from them late last week (what can I say, I'm a gambler...)

The customer service with them was pretty good. I talked to the same guy twice and never had to wait on hold. He just asked me to send the bad memory back before they would send the replacement. Fair enough I guess.

So now I have two sets of 2x2GB FB-DIMMS 800MHz from TransIntl in the machine. They are working fine and I'm no longer getting any ECC errors. The only time I saw the ECC errors was when the memory was very hot 170F + degrees. Lots of video encoding and/or setiathome procs stressing the system.

The only time the memory heats up above 150F is when I'm running 8 setiathome processes (one per core). I've actually seen a couple of the DIMMS (including a stock apple 1GB FB-DIMM) reach 170F. When this happens, iStat shows all the fans running at there normal slow speed... which I found weird. So now I've installed smcfancontrol2 and bumped the cpu and exhaust fans up to about 900rpms each. This now keeps the memory in the sub-140F temp range during long running 8-core processing. I didn't notice an increase in fan noise.

My guess is that had I just increased the fan speed a bit before, the original TransIntl memory would have worked fine. Just a guess though...

Maybe 10.5.2 will have an update for the fan controller...

Anyway; I took a chance going with TransIntl and for now, I'm happy. If these FB-DIMMs run a month without an ECC error, I'll consider using them again for sure. The prices are just scary cheap compared to apple and even crucial.

Here's my current memory configuration with 10GB. Note that the 2GB sticks do not present a serial number ... all zeros. The apple 1GB stick do.


DIMM Riser A/DIMM 1:

Size: 1 GB
Type: DDR2 FB-DIMM
Speed: 800 MHz
Status: OK
Manufacturer: 0x802C
Part Number: 0x3138484631323837324A4438304544364434
Serial Number: 0xE-------

DIMM Riser A/DIMM 2:

Size: 1 GB
Type: DDR2 FB-DIMM
Speed: 800 MHz
Status: OK
Manufacturer: 0x802C
Part Number: 0x3138484631323837324A4438304544364434
Serial Number: 0xE21-------

DIMM Riser A/DIMM 3:

Size: 2 GB
Type: DDR2 FB-DIMM
Speed: 800 MHz
Status: OK
Manufacturer: 0x05F7
Part Number: 0x000000003732353642363145353636374600
Serial Number: 0x00000000

DIMM Riser A/DIMM 4:

Size: 2 GB
Type: DDR2 FB-DIMM
Speed: 800 MHz
Status: OK
Manufacturer: 0x05F7
Part Number: 0x000000003732353642363145353636374600
Serial Number: 0x00000000

DIMM Riser B/DIMM 1:

Size: 2 GB
Type: DDR2 FB-DIMM
Speed: 800 MHz
Status: OK
Manufacturer: 0x802C
Part Number: 0x475232444632474258384D54383030510000
Serial Number: 0x00000000

DIMM Riser B/DIMM 2:

Size: 2 GB
Type: DDR2 FB-DIMM
Speed: 800 MHz
Status: OK
Manufacturer: 0x802C
Part Number: 0x475232444632474258384D54383030510000
Serial Number: 0x00000000


Current temps from iStat:

Temps in degrees F:

A1: 126 (apple memory)
A2: 115 (apple memory)
A3: 108 (transintl)
A4: 112 (transintl)
B1: 110 (transintl)
B2: 112 (transintl)

When the apple memory was alone on its riser, it was cooler than the transintl memory on the other riser.

One more note; one order from TransIntl produced memory from Micron (0x802c) and the other order I got from them was memory from 0x05f7 ... I'm not sure who 0x05f7 is. Anyone?

Anyway, that's it for now. I'll let you know if the memory starts giving me trouble but today I am up and running with 10GB and happy.
 
subaqua said:
One more note; one order from TransIntl produced memory from Micron (0x802c) and the other order I got from them was memory from 0x05f7 ... I'm not sure who 0x05f7 is. Anyone?
Click to expand...

I can't seem to find the mfr codes but would be interested; 0x05F7 is the same code as reported by the memory I rx'd from OWC (2G sticks of 800MHz for early 2008 MP). No serial numbers here either.
 
Subaqua: Your memory placement in the risers is not optimal. Put your 2GB modules in riser A slots 1 & 2 and riser B slots 1 & 2. Move your 1GB modules into riser A slots 3 & 4.
 
bigbird said:
Subaqua: Your memory placement in the risers is not optimal. Put your 2GB modules in riser A slots 1 & 2 and riser B slots 1 & 2. Move your 1GB modules into riser A slots 3 & 4.
Click to expand...

Never Mind ... Found the technote ... Thanks!

Okies; Can you give me a reference for this? I was just following directions :) I put them in using the instructions from chapter 3 of the owners manual.

The problem is that I cannot find documentation stating optimal memory configuration when you have varying FB-DIMM sizes. I think apple's manual assumes that all your FB-DIMMS are the same size.
 
subaqua said:
Never Mind ... Found the technote ... Thanks!

Okies; Can you give me a reference for this? I was just following directions :) I put them in using the instructions from chapter 3 of the owners manual.

The problem is that I cannot find documentation stating optimal memory configuration when you have varying FB-DIMM sizes. I think apple's manual assumes that all your FB-DIMMS are the same size.
Click to expand...

Here's your article:
http://www.barefeats.com/harper3.html
 
bigbird said:
Here's your article:
http://www.barefeats.com/harper3.html
Click to expand...

Thanks. I re-configured the memory and the system has been running with all 8 cores at 100% for about 5 days straight. A mixture of setiathome + video recording and encoding for apple tv (from eyetv/hdhomerun) plus two linux vitural machines running under Fusion.

Not a single ECC error.

I'd recommend TransIntl to anyone needing memory for their new MacPro.

I would however suggest that you watch your memory temps with iStat or some other tool and increase the fan speeds manually if your memory runs > 170F. I increased my cpu and chassis fans + 250rpm and all my memory stays below 140F when maxed out for days with an ambient temp of 70F.
 
GangsterTalk said:
I put in the order this morning with MemoryAmerica - this afternoon, I get the shipped message. Let's see how the rest of the experience goes.
Click to expand...

Got the 8GB (4 x 2GB) installed and working perfectly. It has 4 fin heatsinks on them. My fan hasn't kicked up once. So - MemoryAmerica.com gets my endorsement.
 
"Certified canadaram"

Anyone suggest getting this? I live in Canada and want to buy in Canada. Should I go for the cheap ram or get the kingston?

Thoughts??
 
(This is not a reply to the question from north-of-the-border.)
I bought 2GBx8 from OWC and just got my MP (3.2x2) this afternoon. The machine has been up for several hours as I play with it, and all seems to be well.

The hottest module right now (middle of the lower riser, I assume) is 151°F. What iStat lists as Mem Bank, which I assume reflect temp sensors on the riser cards themselves (correct me if I'm wrong) is mostly below 100°F.

And, I can say that Samsung Spinpoint F1 1TB drives, as I've read in the reviews, are a lot cooler than WD Caviar 16SE drives. The Caviar reads consistently above 90°F. When more-or-less idle, the F1 drives read 79°F; when I was creating my first backup using Time Machine, one got as high as 81°F. Ver' nahss.

Stuart
 
Has anyone tried "iRam" brand RAM? I've only seen it at Newegg.com, and there were no reviews as of yet. They appear to have similar heat-sinks to that of other brands.

I haven't been able to find the manufacturer's website either.
 
"Where is everyone getting their RAM?" Well, I was getting it from OWC, but for some reason the order shows as "Paily: Approval Denied". Why? I called my credit card company, and they say they authorised the transaction.

I've emailed OWC's customer service, but nothing back as yet - not even the automated response email they say they send... (And yes, I entered the right email address :) )

Great. One Mac Pro on its way and my 8GB RAM is nowhere to be seen. Is my money not good enough for OWC?!
 
I ordered a few GB of RAM from OWC yesterday afternoon. Upon checking the status of the order, their website claims that a snowstorm in the Chicagoland area will delay delivery by one day?

OWC ships from Cary, Illinois (Northwest Illinois, I believe). I'm in Chicago and haven't seen a single flake drop all day. I can't imagine it's that bad in Cary, or at least bad enough to delay UPS and Fedex a full day.

Anyone from that area? Are you getting hit hard?
 
jb60606 said:
Upon checking the status of the order, their website claims that a snowstorm in the Chicagoland area will delay delivery by one day
Click to expand...
That was from Feb 6th. Guess they haven't bothered to update their site?
 
Ordered 4GB of ram from OWC almost 2 weeks ago. Paid $9.95 for overnight with DHL and it was flawless. Works great. Awesome improvement, highly recommended. Wish I hadn't waited so long. $110.00 total.
Bought another 2GB from Newegg for my father (because he owns a PC :mad:) and got Kingston. Will post soon how his is as well.

+1 OWC
 
darkpaw said:
"Where is everyone getting their RAM?" Well, I was getting it from OWC, but for some reason the order shows as "Paily: Approval Denied". Why? I called my credit card company, and they say they authorised the transaction.

I've emailed OWC's customer service, but nothing back as yet - not even the automated response email they say they send... (And yes, I entered the right email address :) )

Great. One Mac Pro on its way and my 8GB RAM is nowhere to be seen. Is my money not good enough for OWC?!
Click to expand...

Hmmm... And now it shows as having been shipped. I guess they bothered to read their emails asking why they cancelled my order without bothering to tell me? Still, this experience just makes me not want to buy from them in future.
 
another +1 for OWC here. Ordered 4GB last night and I got a UPS confirmation telling me the shipped a few hours later. Scheduled delivery for monday. SO far so good...

JSpence said:
Ordered 4GB of ram from OWC almost 2 weeks ago. Paid $9.95 for overnight with DHL and it was flawless. Works great. Awesome improvement, highly recommended. Wish I hadn't waited so long. $110.00 total.
Bought another 2GB from Newegg for my father (because he owns a PC :mad:) and got Kingston. Will post soon how his is as well.

+1 OWC
Click to expand...
 
Where to buy

I just purchased a new MacPro 2.8, and I wanted to get some ram for it but I haven't done any deal-searching yet.

I joined this forum just recently so I can ask the community, where is the best place to get ram?

Where are the best deals and customer service?
Thanks in advance, I'm going to do some soul searching too..
 
MacAtaq said:
I just purchased a new MacPro 2.8, and I wanted to get some ram for it but I haven't done any deal-searching yet.

I joined this forum just recently so I can ask the community, where is the best place to get ram?

Where are the best deals and customer service?
Thanks in advance, I'm going to do some soul searching too..
Click to expand...

Its all right above you in this thread man, just look.

www.macsales.com
 
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