Ram Compatability between 8 and quad core Power Macs

Hey All,

I'm looking into purchasing a new power mac. I am currently using a Mac Pro 3,1 Which I bought some additional ram for recently. I am looking at purchasing the Apple Mac Pro MC561LL/A which has 8 cores. I understand there are some compatability issues with ram between the two so I am wondering if anyone can verify that the RAM i currently have installed will work in the new mac.

Below I have pasted the compatibility guidelines from Apple but I don't see the ram I am using listed at all.

I have also pasted my memory specs from system profiler. If you guys need any more info let me know!

Thanks in advance for your sage advice.


Apple kits compatible with all Mac Pro computers (quad-core and 8-core)

Part Number and description

* MA985, 1GB 667MHz DDR2 FB DIMM ECC - 2x512MB
* MA986, 2GB 667MHz DDR2 FB DIMM ECC - 2x1GB
* MA987, 4GB 667MHz DDR2 FB DIMM ECC - 2x2GB
* MA988, 500GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s Hard Drive for Mac pro
* MA989, 750GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s Hard Drive for Mac pro

Apple kits compatible only with quad-core Mac Pro computers

Part Number and description

* MA684, 1GB 667MHz DDR2 FB DIMM ECC - 2x512MB
* MA685, 2GB 667MHz DDR2 FB DIMM ECC - 2x1GB
* MA833, 4GB 667MHz DDR2 FB DIMM ECC - 2x2GB
* MA690, 500GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s Hard Drive for Mac pro
* MA851, 750GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s Hard Drive for Mac pro


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ECC: Enabled

DIMM Riser B/DIMM 1:

*Size: 1 GB
*Type: DDR2 FB-DIMM
*Speed: 800 MHz
*Status: OK
*Manufacturer: 0x80AD
*Part Number: 0x48594D5035313241373243503844332D5335
*Serial Number: 0x6816270D

DIMM Riser B/DIMM 2:

*Size: 1 GB
*Type: DDR2 FB-DIMM
*Speed: 800 MHz
*Status: OK
*Manufacturer: 0x802C
*Part Number: 0x3138484631323837324A4438304544364434
*Serial Number: 0xE214203E

DIMM Riser A/DIMM 1:

*Size: 1 GB
*Type: DDR2 FB-DIMM
*Speed: 800 MHz
*Status: OK
*Manufacturer: 0x80AD
*Part Number: 0x48594D5035313241373243503844332D5335
*Serial Number: 0x6816250E

DIMM Riser A/DIMM 2:

*Size: 1 GB
*Type: DDR2 FB-DIMM
*Speed: 800 MHz
*Status: OK
*Manufacturer: 0x802C
*Part Number: 0x3138484631323837324A4438304544364434
*Serial Number: 0xE2142173

DIMM Riser B/DIMM 3:

*Size: 2 GB
*Type: DDR2 FB-DIMM
*Speed: 800 MHz
*Status: OK
*Manufacturer: 0x80AD
*Part Number: 0x48594D5031323541373243503844332D5335
*Serial Number: 0x08676104

DIMM Riser B/DIMM 4:

*Size: 2 GB
*Type: DDR2 FB-DIMM
*Speed: 800 MHz
*Status: OK
*Manufacturer: 0x80AD
*Part Number: 0x48594D5031323541373243503844332D5335
*Serial Number: 0x08676403

DIMM Riser A/DIMM 3:

*Size: Empty
*Type: Empty
*Speed: Empty
*Status: Empty
*Manufacturer: Empty
*Part Number: Empty
*Serial Number: Empty

DIMM Riser A/DIMM 4:

*Size: Empty
*Type: Empty
*Speed: Empty
*Status: Empty
*Manufacturer: Empty
*Part Number: Empty
*Serial Number: Empty

pickel182 said:

Hey All,

I'm looking into purchasing a new power mac.

Click to expand...

I seriously doubt it. The last Powermac desktop computer was discontinued in August 2006.

- Nick

Briefly, your Mac Pro uses DDR2 memory modules; the new Mac Pro machines use DDR3. So no, the memory is not compatible.