Mac Pro max ram?

mac-daddy · Aug 6, 2007

Just a quick question. On Crucial's site, they say that they sell an 8 gb pair of 4gb modules...

http://www.crucial.com/store/listparts.aspx?model=Mac Pro (8-core)&pl=Mac Pro&cat=RAM

Would that mean that the Mac Pro could go up to 32 gbs of ram?

Eric559 · Aug 6, 2007

I believe the Mac Pro only supports up to 16GB of memory.

mac-daddy · Aug 6, 2007

The reason for my confusion is that some sites say that it can go up to 32 gbs but the apple site still says 16.

Eric559 · Aug 6, 2007

mac-daddy said:
The reason for my confusion is that some sites say that it can go up to 32 gbs but the apple site still says 16.

Interesting. Do you have any links so I could check them out?

Sproit · Aug 6, 2007

I would go with the Apple site...

bryphotoguy · Aug 6, 2007

It's always been that Apple will say it works with the max RAM available at the time it first hits the market. If the Mac Pro hit the market and only 2GB sticks were available for sale at the time, well they could only say it could hold 16GB RAM.
This was before Intel Macs that the following was true. Well that I am 100% certain of... With PPC Macs, you can shove as much RAM in it as it can hold. Say a G4 says it can only hold 1GB PC2700 RAM (2x512MB) according to Apple because there was only a 512MB stick when the tower launched. Now that they make 1GB sticks, that PowerMac can actually fit 2GB RAM and it works perfectly fine. Apple just doesn't update its specs.
As for Intel Macs, I don't know. The Macbook Pros are weird. I've seen one where it said you could only install 3GB RAM (1-1GB stick and 1-2GB stick.) Someone said there was some kind of overlapping in terms of memory use so if someone stuck in 4GB, 1GB just wouldnt be used.
To be honest with you, I have no clue if filled it with 32GB of RAM if it work or not. I assume it would but I have no experience with the Mac Pro.
Bryan

mac-daddy · Aug 6, 2007

Look at Crucial's website. It says the mac pros can have up to 32 gbs of ram.

smurfy · Aug 7, 2007

mac-daddy said:
Look at Crucial's website. It says the mac pros can have up to 32 gbs of ram.

dude.

dude....

READ THE FIRST POST.

mac-daddy · Aug 8, 2007

I have read the first post. I have yet to receive confirmation of the 16 gb limit.

Eric559 · Aug 8, 2007

Mac Pro can only hold up to 16GB of ram. The Apple Xserve is what holds up to 32GB. The memory you see being sold is for the Xserve also.

Kash · Aug 8, 2007

Don't get too confident, it would seem as though the Mac Pro is perfectly capable of utilizing 32GB of RAM:

32GB RAM in a Mac Pro (using 4GB FB-Dimms)

Devin6224 · Aug 8, 2007

my god 32gbs of ram!!!!!! thats crazy

mac-daddy · Aug 8, 2007

Is that your system?! That's amazing!

adler · Aug 8, 2007

Yea theres a dell ( cough cough) on the business site that can hold 64 GB. But that amount is nuts. Now I look and see my MBP only has 2 compared to 32!!! I'm upgrading to 4Gb!! HAHA

Bluesmudge · Aug 9, 2007

I can't see 32GB ever being usefull on modern day systems. There are too many bottlenecks for that to help anything.

PowerBookG4 · Aug 9, 2007

bryphotoguy said:
It's always been that Apple will say it works with the max RAM available at the time it first hits the market. If the Mac Pro hit the market and only 2GB sticks were available for sale at the time, well they could only say it could hold 16GB RAM.
This was before Intel Macs that the following was true. Well that I am 100% certain of... With PPC Macs, you can shove as much RAM in it as it can hold. Say a G4 says it can only hold 1GB PC2700 RAM (2x512MB) according to Apple because there was only a 512MB stick when the tower launched. Now that they make 1GB sticks, that PowerMac can actually fit 2GB RAM and it works perfectly fine. Apple just doesn't update its specs.
As for Intel Macs, I don't know. The Macbook Pros are weird. I've seen one where it said you could only install 3GB RAM (1-1GB stick and 1-2GB stick.) Someone said there was some kind of overlapping in terms of memory use so if someone stuck in 4GB, 1GB just wouldnt be used.
To be honest with you, I have no clue if filled it with 32GB of RAM if it work or not. I assume it would but I have no experience with the Mac Pro.
Bryan

what makes you think you can put any amount of ram in a ppc mac? I do have a powermac quad and thought it could only hold 16gb or ram, if i can hold more, I might as well invest in the 32gb of ram and sell out my current ram.