Question Re Mac Pro Ram Configurations

[meagsy]

Hi im about to buy Mac Pro and I have a question re Ram upgrade options.

So the Mac Pro comes with 1g in 2 x 512 sticks.
Id like to beef it up with a few more Gs or ram.
Can I use new 1g sticks along side the original 512s?.....
I ask this because I think I heard somewhere that all the ram sticks need to be the same size.
Is this true? or can I put 1g or 2g stick in with the original 512s?

Lookforward to your responses
Thanks!

 

[mustard]

Hi im about to buy Mac Pro and I have a question re Ram upgrade options.

So the Mac Pro comes with 1g in 2 x 512 sticks.
Id like to beef it up with a few more Gs or ram.
Can I use new 1g sticks along side the original 512s?.....
I ask this because I think I heard somewhere that all the ram sticks need to be the same size.
Is this true? or can I put 1g or 2g stick in with the original 512s?

Lookforward to your responses
Thanks!

You can put in any "pair" of ram that you would like but in order to see the maximum benefits you would need to install 4 equal sized sticks of ram.

You can install 8 equal sized sticks, or 4 equal sized sticks, or 2 sets of 4 equally sized sticks in order to achieve max performance.

 

[CanadaRAM]

Having said all that about 4 equal sized sticks for 256-bit access --- now forget about it and buy yourself some RAM (in pairs of course). It's more important to have more RAM than matched quads of RAM. The advantage of 256 bit access is more theoretical than it is RW performance.

 

[brooker]

This thread has a pretty complete explanation of how RAM works in the Mac Pro, and everything you could possibly want to consider as you plan your upgrade.

All the best.