Memory upgrades in a 6 core upgrade

[mikeyg36]

I will soon be buying a quad Mac Pro (after WWDC) and I will also be upgrading it to a 6 core model using the thread here. I also plan on upgrading the memory by slowly putting in 4 gigs at a time. The problem it that the memory that it comes with in the quad runs at 1066 where memory for the hex runs at 1333. I plan on buying from OWC. If I buy 1333 ram will it throttle down to 1066 until all modules are switched? Or will it not run properly? My last question is about Lion. If it is not completely released at WWDC will I get upgrade pricing assuming my Mac Pro comes with Snow Leopard? Thank You! EDIT: Sorry about the title, I know it sounds idiotic.

 

[philipma1957]

I will soon be buying a quad Mac Pro (after WWDC) and I will also be upgrading it to a 6 core model using the thread here. I also plan on upgrading the memory by slowly putting in 4 gigs at a time. The problem it that the memory that it comes with in the quad runs at 1066 where memory for the hex runs at 1333. I plan on buying from OWC. If I buy 1333 ram will it throttle down to 1066 until all modules are switched? Or will it not run properly? My last question is about Lion. If it is not completely released at WWDC will I get upgrade pricing assuming my Mac Pro comes with Snow Leopard? Thank You! EDIT: Sorry about the title, I know it sounds idiotic.

it is my thread and here is my ram. it is 1333ghz ram downclocked to 1066 here is the link


http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php...33-8GB-512x4-ECC-REG-Hynix-Chip-Server-Memory


the down clocking loss is not much . you can always roll the dice and buy this cpu


http://cgi.ebay.com/Intel-Xeon-W368...923?pt=CPUs&hash=item3f0a1cac4b#ht_2663wt_907


this is the w3680

for only 785

you could buy a square trade warranty on it for about 99 . I use square trade on certain ebay buys. personally unless your are "JOE RENDER" the small loss in speed with the 3.2 and the downclocked ram is under 5 percent.

this link gets you a 3.2 hex for about 500 it may have the warranty included

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1157300/ if you sell the 2.8 you do the 3.2 upgrade for about 300 bucks.

 

[mikeyg36]

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I would like to thank you for the reply and the amazing thread about the hex upgrade. I'm a bit confused though. Can the 3.2 use 1333 or will it always downclock even if the every other stick is 1333?

 

[philipma1957]

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I would like to thank you for the reply and the amazing thread about the hex upgrade. I'm a bit confused though. Can the 3.2 use 1333 or will it always downclock even if the every other stick is 1333?

the 3.2 downclocks any higher stick to 1066 max



the 3.33 and the 3.46 run at 1333 max.


It is really a cost thing. My 3.2 costs under 400 to do(after selling the oem cpu) and I boosted my scores a lot.

a 3.46 or a 3.33 upgrade costs about 900 after selling the oem cpu.

so spend 400 to boost your geekbench scores and the overall machine about 50-55 percent.

or spend 900 or so to boost your scores about 58 to 62 percent.

the ram problem is not much just get 4 sticks of the same 4gb either 1333ghz or 1066ghz. the differences are not so big.
1333 ram has slower latency 9
1066 ram has faster latency 7

they kind of equal out in this case. just look for a good dealer and buy 4 sticks of what you want.

the big question is do you just want a fast machine because you like to know you have it or do you want the machine for a lot of work that needs good speed.


I did a lot of testing .

I purchased the 2.8 and modded it to a 3.2 total cost was 2700
I also purchased a 3.33 from apple direct a refurb. total cost was 3300.

the machines are very close to equal .


the refurb you pay all the money upfront 3300


the 2.8 is in stages I paid 2300 for it with a fed government discount.

months later i did the cpu upgrade for 400. So have a machine that is a little more then 96% on the geek bench scores and costs 80% of the price.

Also it is hard to find a refurb on apple online.

Buying quad 2.8's for under 2k and modding them for 400 is not impossible. So for me this works. lots of others have done this

 

[mikeyg36]

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Ok thank you! I am going to be doing A LOT of HD video editing in FCPX (whenever it launches) and I will also be doing photoshop work as I'm getting into photography. I don't think that it will justify the extra money for the apple upgrade or the 3.33 upgrade by myself. Your thoughts? Also do you have any insight in terms of the Lion upgrade? You have been a HUGE help in this thread, your threads, and other people's threads on here and I would like to sincerely thank you!

 

[philipma1957]

Here are my thoughts the quad 2.8 2010 has a nice easy upgrade path. This is rare in the land of Apple. Take advantage of the hex 3.2 upgrade in a few months . Get used to using the quad 2.8 with 16gb ram


https://www.superbiiz.com/detail.ph...3-1066-4GB-256x8-ECC-Hynix-Chip-Server-Memory

this is a good company and good ram

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other World Computing/85MP3W4M16GK/

 

[mikeyg36]

That is a good idea too! I was thinking of doing a cpu upgrade basically as soon as I get it, and then adding the 4GB stick totaling 7GB. Then as I get more money I will replace the included 1GB sticks over time to get the 16 GB. As a side note I've been running snow leopard on my MacBook for years now with the stock 1GB, so 7GB will be a huge improvement for me. Question about the 3.2 CPU, is it Nehalem or Westmere architecture? Thanks again, and sorry for all of the questions.