Can't believe what a difference a memory upgrade made to my Mac Pro

[richpjr]

I have a 2.66ghz Mac Pro and have been running it with 2 gig (4x512) memory. I do a lot of multitasking and get a fair amount, though not what I thought was an excessive amount, of page outs. I picked up a pair of 1 gig Crucial memory modules and installed them this past Friday, bringing me up to 4 gig of memory. I cannot believe how much more snappier my system feels now - and this with the memory not running in quad channel mode . I bumped up the memory for my XP virtual machine to a gig which helped it out a ton and the rest of the system is now flying along. I should have done this a long time ago. It is tempting to add another 2 gig and go back to quad channel mode, but that is a luxury I probably really don't need at this point. I'll wait and see how the new Photoshop sucks my memory before making that decision.

 

[Multimedia]

My Only Criticism Is Why Didn't You Add Two 2GB Modules Instead?

Since those type of 2GB sticks now cost the same as two 1GB modules, I don't understand why you didn't add two 2GB sticks instead of two 1GB sticks? Was it not wanting to spend the other $240? Performance would be even better and you wouldn't have wasted two slots.

FYI: You are still running in quad channel mode. It's a myth that all the sticks need to be matched to run in quad channel mode. Each pair of whatever size run that way and the total does too. Moreover, there is almost no penalty in performance if they are not.

 

[apfhex]

I have a 2.66ghz Mac Pro and have been running it with 2 gig (4x512) memory. I picked up a pair of 1 gig Crucial memory modules and installed them this past Friday, bringing me up to 4 gig of memory. I cannot believe how much more snappier my system feels now

Good to hear. I need to up mine to 4GB sometime. Gonna need to budget for it though. CS3 takes priority (and I'm hoping that the jump to UB for the Creative Suit makes up for some of the huge RAM usage of CS2 in Rosetta). Boy, the RAM for this beast is still pretty expensive.

You are still running in quad channel mode. It's a myth that all the sticks need to be matched to run in quad channel mode. Each pair of whatever size run that way and the total does too. Moreover, there is almost no penalty in performance if they are not.

You would want to put one 1GB stick in each riser, right? Although with the price of 2GB sticks about the same, almost makes sense to just buy one of those and deal with the probably imperceptible performance penalty.

 

[Multimedia]

Add 4GB At A Time Not 2GB

Good to hear. I need to up mine to 4GB sometime. Gonna need to budget for it though. CS3 takes priority (and I'm hoping that the jump to UB for the Creative Suit makes up for some of the huge RAM usage of CS2 in Rosetta). Boy, the RAM for this beast is still pretty expensive.


You would want to put one 1GB stick in each riser, right? Although with the price of 2GB sticks about the same, almost makes sense to just buy one of those and deal with the probably imperceptible performance penalty.

No you have to put them in in pairs. I'm saying add 4GB (2x2GB) at a time not 2GB (2x1GB). This assumes it's not a money problem.

 

[richpjr]

Since those type of 2GB sticks now cost the same as two 1GB modules, I don't understand why you didn't add two 2GB sticks instead of two 1GB sticks? Was it not wanting to spend the other $240? Performance would be even better and you wouldn't have wasted two slots.
.

The way I use my computer, I doubt I'll need more than 6 gigs of memory and 4 gig will probably be enough for my needs. The 2 slots I have open now give me the flexibility to add another couple of gig if I need it. I have had bad luck with off brand memory before and prefer to stick with someone like Crucial and am willing to pay the extra money for it. There is a hefty jump in price from a 1 gig stick to a 2 gig stick (about double).

Your comment about dual vs quad channel is interesting. I was always a bit skeptical about how much of a real world difference it would make running in one vs another. In any case, I am content with my system for now and have a bit of expansion capability if needed.

 

[mustard]

Since those type of 2GB sticks now cost the same as two 1GB modules, I don't understand why you didn't add two 2GB sticks instead of two 1GB sticks? Was it not wanting to spend the other $240? Performance would be even better and you wouldn't have wasted two slots.

FYI: You are still running in quad channel mode. It's a myth that all the sticks need to be matched to run in quad channel mode. Each pair of whatever size run that way and the total does too. Moreover, there is almost no penalty in performance if they are not.

To my knowledge you have to run four equally sized stick -or- eight equally sized stick -or- two sets of four equally matched sticks in order to take advantage to take full advantage - I swear I have read this on Intel.com as well as being confirmed by an Apple Genius.

It is essentially dual-dual channel memory.

 

[apfhex]

No you have to put them in in pairs.

OH yeah, right, brain fart. 2x2GB would be quite expensive.

 

[Multimedia]

+ $240 Is Not That Much Extra

OH yeah, right, brain fart. 2x2GB would be quite expensive.

No. $480 for both —*only an extra $240. You think that's too expensive?

To my knowledge you have to run four equally sized stick -or- eight equally sized stick -or- two sets of four equally matched sticks in order to take advantage to take full advantage - I swear I have read this on Intel.com as well as being confirmed by an Apple Genius.

It is essentially dual-dual channel memory.

Yes you're right. What I meant to say is that they don't all have to be the same. He could have added 8GB for a total of 10GB and still be running in the top speed. But all the tests say the benefit of running top speed configs is insignificant.

 

[Aniej]

multimedia, where do you get your RAM at? I would like to pick some up and I am diggin the price you are putting down.

 

[pixelbaker]

to the OP, thanks for posting. it's really reassuring. I've been having less than optimal performance with my mac pro and I wondered if maybe the problem wasn't that I was lacking in RAM with all the page outs occurring. I still am forced to run a lot of rosetta apps, even though I try to avoid them like the plague. I've got 2gb also and just ordered another 2x1gb sticks on friday (should be here monday). I'm excited to see what sort of performance boost I find.

as to the other posts, everything I read said that I could add the 2x1gb sticks to my 4x512mb sticks without a problem. this was according to the apple documentation about mac pro ram upgrades on the model I have.

did I miss something?

 

[bmat]

It took getting up to 6 gb for me to eliminate most of the pageouts. Although I do a great deal of multitasking when doing photo editing.

 

[Multimedia]

New Lower Price For Two 2GB Sticks $430 From Omni Via Ramseeker.com

multimedia, where do you get your RAM at? I would like to pick some up and I am diggin the price you are putting down.

Sorry for the delayed reply to your question. I was not on this thread since before you posted it 'til now.

We're approaching $100/GB. Now the price is down to $430 for two 2GB sticks.

I always use Ramseeker.com links to get the cheapest price. This link is from Ramseeker.com to Omni where the price is now at a historical low of $430 per two 2GB sticks. I have never had a problem with Omni Tech's OPTIVAL® ram. Others here will poo poo Omni. But I swear for many years now I have never had a bad stick from them.