Mac Pro 3,1 RAM

[andyrugbyref]

Simple question really.

Just picked up an old machine, Mac Pro 3,1 3.2ghz and it has 4gb RAM in.

Do I upgrade to 8gb or 12.

Its quite an expensive upgrade (about 90 GBP) so would like to know whether its worth it.

Uses - Lightroom, Photoshop etc but for light use.

 

[sigmadog]

Assuming the current 4GB is composed of 4 (1GB) sticks, which would leave 4 empty slots, I'd go with 4 (2GB) sticks to bring your total to 12GB.

I just purchased the same 4 (2GB) Mac Pro 3,1 PC2-6400 800Mhz DDR2 FB RAM from eBay a week ago. The eBay seller I bought from is 1-800-4-memory and the cost was only $62.

Seems to be working fine on my 3,1.

 

[OS6-OSX]

Since you bought the MP from someone check to make sure the current 4GB is 800Mhz. If not, all the ram will run at 667Mhz when you buy the new 8000Mhz.
Secondly research how much ram is enough for the apps you use and apps you may eventually use. To purchase 4 2GB's to get to 12 and have to take out 1GB's to get to 16+ is not that bad.

 

[flowrider]

I just checked RAM Pricing here:

http://www.datamemorysystems.com/ap...-2-8ghz-ma970ll/a-early-2008-memory-upgrades/

And, 2 4GB Sticks is less expensive than 4 2GB sticks.

You may want to check that out. But Two 4s and you'll have room for future expansion.

Lou

 

[andyrugbyref]

Thanks folks

I had a good deal from a US seller on ebay so I have gone for the 4x2gb

I do have 4x1gb currently in there and its defo 800mhz stuff.

Runs ok with 4gb (Yosemite Dev Preview and Mavericks).


More than likely I shall add 2 4gb sticks next, once i have sorted a new graphics card and SSDs

 

[gpzjock]

The best config for light use but max bandwidth is 8 x 2GB for 16 GB total:
http://diglloyd.com/articles/MacPro/memory.html

4 x 2GB is as good for bandwidth as 8 x 4GB and you won't touch the sides of 16 GB tbh.
The test is only with a single CPU but the result is the same with dual CPU boards.

Running mismatched RAM slows you down.

For best speed with 2Gb and 1GB modules put them in the risers thus:

2 GB A1, A2, B1, B2.

1 GB A3, A4, B3, B4.

This matches the pairs up.