Which Memory for Mac Pro

[AdiosVista]

I'm going to be ordering a new Mac Pro this weekend with the default 2GB or Ram (two 1GB sticks) but am trying to figure out which Ram from OWC would be a compatible upgrade. The OWC says something like this:

"800MHz ECC: Mac Pro Quad-Core 2.8GHz, 8-Core 3.0GHz, 8-Core 3.2GHz"

I'm a little confused because I'm getting the 8-core 2.8ghz machine but they seem to list only the single quad core 2.8 in their description. Will this memory work in my machine?

Also, I was looking at getting the 2GB sticks from OWC, so 4 sticks of Ram total, and still using the standard two 1GB sticks in my machine from Apple. Will this work, or do all sticks have to be the same size?

 

[Umbongo]

That's the right memory.

You can mix sizes. Just make sure you put them in the right place. The two 2GB DIMMs will go in slots 1&2 on the top riser (A) and the two 1GB DIMMs go on the bottom riser (B) in slots 1&2. Currently you should have a DIMM on each riser in slot 1.

 

[AdiosVista]

That's the right memory.

You can mix sizes. Just make sure you put them in the right place. The two 2GB DIMMs will go in slots 1&2 on the top riser (A) and the two 1GB DIMMs go on the bottom riser (B) in slots 1&2. Currently you should have a DIMM on each riser in slot 1.

Excellent, thank you for the insight. Just picked up the new Mac today, loving it so far! Unfortunately, the store I got it from also didn't have the 8800GT installed in any of their machines and they wanted to sell that to me ON TOP of the cost of the pre-installed 2600 card. I decided to take the base model they had and now my goal is to up the ram to at least 6-8GB and install an 8800GT. Any recommendations on where to pick up the 8800?

 

[nanofrog]

Excellent, thank you for the insight. Just picked up the new Mac today, loving it so far! Unfortunately, the store I got it from also didn't have the 8800GT installed in any of their machines and they wanted to sell that to me ON TOP of the cost of the pre-installed 2600 card. I decided to take the base model they had and now my goal is to up the ram to at least 6-8GB and install an 8800GT. Any recommendations on where to pick up the 8800?

To buy one already configured for a Mac, go to Apple and buy it directly. It may be offered on sites like macsales.com and macpalace.com. Not sure on these sites though.

Another option is to buy a PC version that has a 128K ROM for firmware, and flash it. There are a few threads on this.
You could try the 8800 EFI32 Rom or the 8800gt EFI64 ROM threads for a link to the actual ROM itself. Other threads mention it, and may also make recommendations as to which manufacturers include the correct ROM size. IIRC, Evga versions do contain the 128K chips.

 

[Umbongo]

Excellent, thank you for the insight. Just picked up the new Mac today, loving it so far! Unfortunately, the store I got it from also didn't have the 8800GT installed in any of their machines and they wanted to sell that to me ON TOP of the cost of the pre-installed 2600 card. I decided to take the base model they had and now my goal is to up the ram to at least 6-8GB and install an 8800GT. Any recommendations on where to pick up the 8800?

If you are going to be paying the full price for a graphics card take a look at some of the ATI 3870HD threads on here and benchmarks at barefeats.com as it often is the better card.

3870HD is $217.99 from OWC http://eshop.macsales.com/item/ATI Technologies/100435928/
8800GT is $279 from Apple http://store.apple.com/us/product/MB137Z/A?mco=MTIxODk3Mw