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majus

Contributor
Mar 25, 2004
480
427
Oklahoma City, OK
Is there an easy breakdown somewhere about what parts are user upgradable for the mac pro? It seems modular, but you would need to purchase all the components from apple themselves.
The MR Front Page article on the nMP release yesterday has numerous links to Apple support documents which will answer most if not all of your questions.
 
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Macshroomer

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Dec 6, 2009
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Would not suggest anyone purchases 8GB stick upgrades as new from 3rd party. There will be small flood of Apple issued modules on the "used" market in 6-12 months when everyone starts upgrading these machines, so if you can wait it out, buy those instead.

+1. And honestly I would be going 16GB or 32GB sticks anyway...
 
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Korican100

macrumors 65816
Oct 9, 2012
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Simple answer, it depends. In past machines it's been an issue because Apple (generally) used more expensive variety and OWC sold/resold a cheaper variety. They did not match manufacturer or spec and could create issues.

Would not suggest anyone purchases 8GB stick upgrades as new from 3rd party. There will be small flood of Apple issued modules on the "used" market in 6-12 months when everyone starts upgrading these machines, so if you can wait it out, buy those instead.

Personally would use the cost savings and start at 16GB or 32GB modules from Crucial, Hynix, Samsung or Kingston.
i already have 48gb from apple. not sure what to do from here. either sell the apple sticks, and go full owc, or invest in more apple sticks
 

Macshroomer

macrumors 65816
Dec 6, 2009
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i already have 48gb from apple. not sure what to do from here. either sell the apple sticks, and go full owc, or invest in more apple sticks

Change your order to the minimum (32GB) and buy what you need from either OWC or Crucial. I do believe OWC will offer a rebate for your current sticks. I would go at least 16GB sticks though that way you can add more later and be more effective in your upgrade path.

For example if you go 6x 16GB sticks for 96GB from OWC it would be $649 minus whatever they give you for your 6x 8GB sticks. Then you can still add 6 more later.

Or 4x 32GB sticks would be $799 for a total of 128GB, and you have 8 more slots open for an even bigger upgrade.

Either way I would not pay the premium for Apple ram and it might be cheap insurance to keep the 8GB sticks handy for warranty / backup.
 
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Stephen.R

Suspended
Nov 2, 2018
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Thailand
Adding 6x32GB Crucial and throwing out the supplied 32gb would cost about 900€.
If I would leave the original Dimms inside as well, would it cost me any speed?

Other alternative: If I wanted to add just 2x32 to the existing 4x8GB - how would that impact system performance?

I'm just not sure if I really need 192 Gigabytes of Ram for editing and After Effects, it sounds INSANE kinda ;)
The base is 4x8GB DIMMs.

You cannot "add" 6 DIMMs: it's not a supported configuration. You can add 2, 4 or 8 (i.e. you can use a total of 4, 6, 8 or 12 DIMMS. Essentially you need a multiple of 4 or a multiple of 6, so that it operates in either quad channel or hex channel mode.
 

macsquared

macrumors newbie
Apr 6, 2010
8
0
Looking at Crucial's website I see multiple varieties of the same type ( DDR4-2933; RDIMM). One kind is single-ranked vs dual-ranked. One is x4 based vs x8 based. Do these details matter? Or effect compatibility with existing Apple memory?
 

MisterAndrew

macrumors 68030
Sep 15, 2015
2,881
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Portland, Ore.
When I upgrade the RAM in mine I'll look for Samsung server pulls on eBay. That worked well for my 5,1. That's what's been so great about RAM upgrades for Mac Pros is that we can get used server RAM. I guess it sells cheap because it can't be used in most anything else besides servers.
 

bsbeamer

macrumors 601
Sep 19, 2012
4,308
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Apple is using Micron RAM in MBP16,1 in case that matters to anyone. (That's same brand/maker as Crucial, FYI.)
 
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majus

Contributor
Mar 25, 2004
480
427
Oklahoma City, OK
Looking at Crucial's website I see multiple varieties of the same type ( DDR4-2933; RDIMM). One kind is single-ranked vs dual-ranked. One is x4 based vs x8 based. Do these details matter? Or effect compatibility with existing Apple memory?
I don't what rank Apple is sending from the factory, but generally ranks should not be mixed in the same channel. If you are replacing them all, then I would go with all dual rank -- if they are Mac Pro compatible -- and on Crucial's web site they are not in the Mac Memory section although that may not matter. The number of pins should be 288.
 
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macsquared

macrumors newbie
Apr 6, 2010
8
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I don't what rank Apple is sending from the factory, but generally ranks should not be mixed in the same channel. If you are replacing them all, then I would go with all dual rank -- if they are Mac Pro compatible -- and on Crucial's web site they are not in the Mac Memory section although that may not matter. The number of pins should be 288.
What about the memory being x4 based vs x8 based? What's the deal with that? Just make sure not to mix them in the same channel?
 

fuchsdh

macrumors 68020
Jun 19, 2014
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Amazing that a commonly known criminal practice would leave no trace on google.

So the alternative is trusting random people on forums versus actual lived customer experience.... I know which I'll take.
 

chfilm

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Nov 15, 2012
3,307
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Berlin
I don't what rank Apple is sending from the factory, but generally ranks should not be mixed in the same channel. If you are replacing them all, then I would go with all dual rank -- if they are Mac Pro compatible -- and on Crucial's web site they are not in the Mac Memory section although that may not matter. The number of pins should be 288.
And do you know about the “jedec norm”? I see the OWC ram has PC23400 while my crucial dumm of choice has PC4-23466R whatever that means.. nothing about that on the Apple support document...
will it matter? OWC still is pretty expensive compared with other sources..


[automerge]1576112599[/automerge]
And do you know about the “jedec norm”? I see the OWC ram has PC23400 while my crucial dumm of choice has PC4-23466R whatever that means.. nothing about that on the Apple support document...
will it matter? OWC still is pretty expensive compared with other sources..



Basically: is this https://www.crucial.de/deu/de/ct32g4rfd4293 one gonna work? It should?
 
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majus

Contributor
Mar 25, 2004
480
427
Oklahoma City, OK
What about the memory being x4 based vs x8 based? What's the deal with that? Just make sure not to mix them in the same channel?
I got the answer to that from Kingston. The x4 & x8 has to do with the type of DRAM chip used to assemble the modules. A short summary of the article:
• No difference in performance
• x4 uses twice as many chips as x8
• x8 is more energy efficient than x4 because half as many chips
• Don't mix the two types in the same channel

Appears then that x8 is the better choice, especially since it might often be cheaper.
 

chfilm

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Nov 15, 2012
3,307
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Berlin
Looks correct to me, just buy it from someone with a generous return policy just in case ?
Yea, the store that I have in mind offers 14 days return, but they have it on sale right now for 146€ each and my MP is not gonna arrive within that time frame ;)
 

thisisnotmyname

macrumors 68020
Oct 22, 2014
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known but velocity indeterminate
Yea, the store that I have in mind offers 14 days return, but they have it on sale right now for 146€ each and my MP is not gonna arrive within that time frame ;)

Pay attention to restocking fees as well. You may be able to return within 14 days but if you open the box (or even don't) you could be hit with 15-20% for restock when you return. Not a huge amount in the grand scheme of things but avoid an unpleasant surprise by knowing if that's the case before you buy.
 
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Halfdrac

macrumors newbie
Dec 12, 2019
2
1
I just order 2x32gb for a 16-core from OWC—$399, 14 days until available. From apples support site it sounds like you can combine it with lower ram size like the 4x8gb as long as you put them in the correct slots—total 96. Do you think it will be bad to mix apple and OWC RAM—i've done it before in iMacs but just wanted to get your thoughts
 

eric.blair

macrumors member
Sep 26, 2007
43
13
These are the manufacturer part numbers for the genuine Apple DIMMs (ascertained from reading the chip numbers on the memory kit DIMMs shown on Apple's website):

Micron: MT40A2G4SA-062E

SK hynix: HMA82GR7CJR4N-XN

Could you find the part numbers for the 64GB DIMMs?


Anyone have any experience with Memory.net?

I found these options for 64GB DIMMs:

Samsung
Micron
SK Hynix
 
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