Ram upgrade question - Mac Pro

Hi,

I'm have a 3GB Mac Pro (2009) (3GB (three 1GB DIMMs) of 1066MHz DDR3 ECC SDRAM). I'm looking to add more RAM from a third party and wanted to know if mixing RAM is Ok. Here are two I was looking at:

Newegg.com - iRam 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 1066 (PC8500) ECC Memory For Apple Model IR6GMP1066TC

8.0GB Mac Pro Early 2009 Memory Matched S... (85MP3E2M08GK) at OWC

Also, what order should I put it in if I end up with 4 2GB and 3 1GB?

Thank you!

I am wondering this too. How do you know what kind of RAM to purchase? For example, I want to upgrade my Mac Pro (2007 Quad 2.6) and I originally put in 2 GB of RAM with the 1 GB that it came with. How do we know what speed of RAM we need for the MAC? Is it alright to mix different speeds? Will it only run as fast as the slowest RAM?

If anybody knows where we can get this type of information, I would greatly appreciate it too. Thanks.

It sounds like some folks really need ram info for their Mac Pros...I have to honestly say that some simple internet searches would easily "unearth" this info.

Regarding ram...sure it's ok to mix brands. As long as the ram meets Apples specifications for the ram (ram type, and speed)...it should work fine.

Of course from time to time problems will "pop up"...that's why you buy ram from a third party that really knows Macintosh computers, and has a liberal return policy (such as "MacSales/OWC" that I linked below).

To help out, here are some sources of the info:

- Find the latest Performance Upgrades, Firewire and USB Hard Drives, SATA, Memory, Laptop Battery, and more at OWC
- Mactracker - get info on any Mac
- Mac Specs, Prices, Answers, & Comparison @ EveryMac.com - Est. 1996

There are many other websites for this info as well.

Hope this helps,

- Nick

pigoo3 said:

It sounds like some folks really need ram info for their Mac Pros...I have to honestly say that some simple internet searches would easily "unearth" this info.

Regarding ram...sure it's ok to mix brands. As long as the ram meets Apples specifications for the ram (ram type, and speed)...it should work fine.

Of course from time to time problems will "pop up"...that's why you buy ram from a third party that really knows Macintosh computers, and has a liberal return policy (such as "MacSales/OWC" that I linked below).

To help out, here are some sources of the info:

- Find the latest Performance Upgrades, Firewire and USB Hard Drives, SATA, Memory, Laptop Battery, and more at OWC
- Mactracker - get info on any Mac
- Mac Specs, Prices, Answers, & Comparison @ EveryMac.com - Est. 1996

There are many other websites for this info as well.

Hope this helps,

- Nick

Click to expand...

Nick,

Thanks for your help.

FWIW, I am involved in many different forums and I know how to do the search functions and Google and everything. My Google searches brought me to this forum and after searching this forum and not finding my answers, only this post asking the same questions, I thought it would be good to support him on his question. It gets a lot more confusing these days as the new generations of mac pros can also be Mac Pro Quad 2.6 Processor. All the information I searched brought up the latest Macs.

The main question I have is whether you can mix speeds. I know mixing brands is okay, but I wonder if I buying a faster RAM stick would be of any benefit over buying one that is the same speed as the current RAM I already have in my computer.

Your links will definitely help. Thanks.

Dizzi45Z said:

It gets a lot more confusing these days as the new generations of mac pros can also be Mac Pro Quad 2.6 Processor.

Click to expand...

I totally agree that it can be very confusing figuring out what ram & what speed ram each computer needs.

Apple and other computer manufacturers change the ram they use with almost every new computer they launch...which is totally understandable, since the newer ram they use is in most cases higher performance ram, and maybe even less expensive.

I don't claim to be any sort of "ram expert"...and I certainly don't memorize the type of ram each Macintosh computer uses. When I need an answer I "Google" it, or VERY frequently I use one of the websites I linked above.

As far as ram speeds. I have mostly heard that as long as you use the correct type of ram & speed of ram for your Macintosh...everything should be fine.

But if the type of ram you need also comes in a "faster version" (greater mhz speed)...generally that will still work...BUT the computer may not be able to take advantage of the "faster" ram. So if you buy the "faster" ram, it will probably work, but you may be wasting your money paying a higher price for it.

So in the end, you're best off just buying the type of ram & speed of ram Apple recommends for your computer model.

Hope this helps,

- Nick

Nick,

Thank you. That did help and answer my question. Also, the links you posted helped me discover what RAM I needed to order and etc. So I am all set now. Thanks again for your help and time.

Dizzi45Z said:

Nick,

Thank you. That did help and answer my question. Also, the links you posted helped me discover what RAM I needed to order and etc. So I am all set now. Thanks again for your help and time.

Click to expand...

Good deal, glad the info was helpful!

Depending where you were going to purchase your ram from...OWC/Macsales is usually (in my humble opinion)...the BEST place to order from. Low prices & a very liberal return policy!

Find the latest Performance Upgrades, Firewire and USB Hard Drives, SATA, Memory, Laptop Battery, and more at OWC

- Nick

pigoo3 said:

It sounds like some folks really need ram info for their Mac Pros...I have to honestly say that some simple internet searches would easily "unearth" this info.

Regarding ram...sure it's ok to mix brands. As long as the ram meets Apples specifications for the ram (ram type, and speed)...it should work fine.

Of course from time to time problems will "pop up"...that's why you buy ram from a third party that really knows Macintosh computers, and has a liberal return policy (such as "MacSales/OWC" that I linked below).

To help out, here are some sources of the info:

- Find the latest Performance Upgrades, Firewire and USB Hard Drives, SATA, Memory, Laptop Battery, and more at OWC
- Mactracker - get info on any Mac
- Mac Specs, Prices, Answers, & Comparison @ EveryMac.com - Est. 1996

There are many other websites for this info as well.

Hope this helps,

- Nick

Click to expand...

Thanks, it turns out my ignorance runs deeper than I thought. I understood the Ram speed issue. However what I wasn't clear on was how many of the 8 slots you could use for a single quad core. Looks like only 4?

blex said:

Thanks, it turns out my ignorance runs deeper than I thought. I understood the Ram speed issue. However what I wasn't clear on was how many of the 8 slots you could use for a single quad core. Looks like only 4?

Click to expand...

As far as I know...the 2009 Quad Core Mac Pro only has 4 ram slots...not 8 slots!

So if you have 3 gig of ram currently (three 1-gig sticks of ram)...then you only have 1 slot free.

- Nick

I have a new MacPro and it does have 8 slots

cmstewart87 said:

I have a new MacPro and it does have 8 slots

Click to expand...

The quad appears to have four slots. If you have the 8-core you have eight slots. It appears it is a different motherboard. This wasn't clear in the description on Apple's site. It may have said this but I didn't see it. I may have bought the 8-core in that case because I thought I could upgrade later but looks like upgrade means new motherboard.

Anyway quad is plenty fast for my needs and so is 8GB for that matter ;-) .

blex said:

The quad appears to have four slots. If you have the 8-core you have eight slots. It appears it is a different motherboard. This wasn't clear in the description on Apple's site. It may have said this but I didn't see it. I may have bought the 8-core in that case because I thought I could upgrade later but looks like upgrade means new motherboard.

Anyway quad is plenty fast for my needs and so is 8GB for that matter ;-) .

Click to expand...

Yeah...you should be fine. By the time you need more than 8 gig of ram...Apple will have MUCH faster & more capable computers...and you'll probably be ready to upgrade your computer at that point anyway!

- Nick

Talked with Apple technician today about Mac Pro RAM upgrade

I was surprised that there was little good information about upgrading Mac Pro RAM out there (including on apple site), so I just called Apple.

I talked to an Apple technician today (nice guy) and here is what he told me:

My computer is a 2007 era Mac Pro 2 x dual core intel (4x2.66 ghtz CPUs)

1) order from name brand company (e.g. samsung, mushkin, patriot, kingston, etc)

2) Specify form and shape - for my computer it is FB-DIMM 240 pin

3) Install matching pairs in 1/2 and 3/4 slots on each board

4) Get specific clock speed for original installed RAM. For example, my computer came with 667 htz RAM. Replacement RAM should run at this speed. There are two ways to designate RAM type for my machine (they are synomynous) -- PC2-5300 or DDR2-667

5) install up to 16 MB in 8 RAM ports (no more than that).

I'm no expert at this stuff... but basically, get the right clock speed, buy name brand (he specifically steered me to cheaper alternatives than Apple) and load it up in even pairs.

I'm buying an additional 4x2GB DDR2-667 RAM so this will go in the two 1/2 pair slots on the two memory board (there are 8 slots in my quad processor mac pro). I currently have 4x512 gig. I'll move the 512 gigs to the two 3/4 slots. This will have a nice complement of 10 GB of RAM. This should crush the performance I limped along on with only 2GB. Machine used to hang up with simple photo edit operations. I hope this will be a thing of the past! I always planned to upgrade but never to the hour out of my life to run the issue to ground. I think I finally have. I'll let you know how install goes!

Cheers!
- Andrew