OWC 32GB RAM sticks for the 2013 Mac Pro

[megalaser]

Hi, anyone tried the 64GB RAM via the 2 X 32GB that OWC are now selling? wondering how it compares to the 4 X 16GB - it says they are slower but wondering if anyone has experienced them? Thanks

 

[fuchsdh]

They're definitely slower--on the highest core configs they drop down to 800MHz, otherwise they're at 1066MHz. But depending on the application the amount of RAM matters much more than the speed.

There's some good additional info here, and in additional sections: http://macperformanceguide.com/MacPro2013-OWC_128GB-bandwidth.html

 

[megalaser]

Perhaps this is why the max Apple sells is 16GB X 4, to keep the speed high. I have 32GB at the moment, so 64GB will be a great upgrade for me, I can't see myself needing 128GB and actually was planning on getting 2 X 32GB and leaving two slots free for a future upgrade to 128GB maybe but then I saw that the speed is about 1/3 lower and that throughput might effect the whole system . . . .

 

[Umbongo]

Perhaps this is why the max Apple sells is 16GB X 4, to keep the speed high. I have 32GB at the moment, so 64GB will be a great upgrade for me, I can't see myself needing 128GB and actually was planning on getting 2 X 32GB and leaving two slots free for a future upgrade to 128GB maybe but then I saw that the speed is about 1/3 lower and that throughput might effect the whole system . . . .

You can get 32GB 1866MHz DIMMs, but they are LR-DIMMs which don'y work with E5-1600 V2 series CPUs. I wouldn't worry about dropping 1866 to 1600 or 1600 to 1333, but - yeah - 1066 instead is noticeable for what I do and can certainly be a detriment to a creative workflow.