Ram Configuration in Mac Pro 3,1

[flyman]

Hi Everyone,

I have a Mac Pro 3,1 with 4gb (4 x 1gb modules) ram running Snow Leopard.
Unfortunately I've recently started to see strange things happening in both OS X and Windows 7 via Boot Camp (separate hard drive).
This intern led me to look more closely at my hardware only to discover that 2 of the 1gb modules appear to be faulty.

So heres the questions...

Because I want to add another 8gb ram should I add it as 2 x 4gb or 4 x 2 gb? (gaming performance in Windows 7 is the key issue here).
Also with the 2 remaining 1gb modules, would they be best assigned to riser board A to give me a total of 10gb ram?

Finally, the best prices I've found come from these manufactures:

Crucial
Integral
Hynix
Elpida

Any recommendations as to which I should go with and configuration advice would be really appreciated.

Many thanks in advance

 

[strwrsfrk]

Hynix is what I typically find Apple uses. I personally use G.Skill.

You should install in pairs (i.e. the RAM in slots A and B or C and D on riser 1, and the same for riser 2). Beyond that, it all depends on what you can afford and whether you decide to stick with DDR2-800 RAM or bump down to DDR2-667. Either way, 2x4GB is going to be more expensive than 4x2GB. At that point, it's price of RAM versus your desire to upgrade further in the future.

As long as the aforementioned DIMMs match (A & B, C & D) you can reuse your old RAM.

 

[flyman]

Hynix is what I typically find Apple uses. I personally use G.Skill.

You should install in pairs (i.e. the RAM in slots A and B or C and D on riser 1, and the same for riser 2). Beyond that, it all depends on what you can afford and whether you decide to stick with DDR2-800 RAM or bump down to DDR2-667. Either way, 2x4GB is going to be more expensive than 4x2GB. At that point, it's price of RAM versus your desire to upgrade further in the future.

As long as the aforementioned DIMMs match (A & B, C & D) you can reuse your old RAM.

What I ended up doing was installing 2 x 2Gb in slots 1 & 2 in riser B and 2 x 2Gb in slots 1 & 2 and 2 x 1Gb in slots 3 & 4 in riser A.

Now with a total of 10Gb Ram it's cured a few of the issues I had.

Many thanks for the advice.