The OWC ‘MaxRAM’ Certification Program determines the maximum amount of memory that can be installed in a Mac as validated by a series of comprehensive, in-house laboratory tests. While OWC “MaxRAM” configurations exceed Apple’s officially supported maximums, all OWC brand memory upgrades are assured to perform flawlessly and are covered by a Lifetime Advance Replacement Warranty and Money Back Guarantee.
Recently added to our growing list of machines are the 2010 Mac Pro dual processor (8-Core and 12-Core) systems. Whereas Apple lists the supported memory as “eight memory slots (four per processor) supporting up to 32GB of main memory using 1GB, 2GB, or 4GB DIMMs,” OWC has confirmed that our 8GB memory modules perform to their fullest capacity allowing us to support 8GB DIMMs for up to 64GB of memory in your 8-Core or 12-Core Mid 2010 Mac Pro.
Stay tuned to the OWC blog for further information including benchmark results.
I just bought a 2010 hexacore Mac Pro. My previous 8 core Mac Pro had 24 GB of RAM, but at the time I can only afford to put in 16 GB in the hexacore machine. After receiving the machine and installing the 16 GB the machine runs great, but seems slower than it seems it should (it is a 3.33 GHz hexacore). With barely anything running (under Lion), the machine only has 8.3 GB of free memory. I’m thinking I might be able to swing 24 GB (3 x 8) with another 8 sometime in the near future. How much performance gain should I expect to get. I use Photoshop and a lot of other photo rendering programs. I also do a serious amount of statistical analysis using the 64 bit implementation of “R”.
Thoughts?
To really see what additional memory will do for your specific machine, check out our memory benchmark pages which show the performance increases more memory can make in your system.
I can’t give you specific numbers of what kinds of performance increases you can expect to see in your particular instance. However, we have measured performance benefits of adding memory over common tasks, the results of which can be seen here. While not exact, perhaps this information will be enough for you to extrapolate the benefit you’ll see from more memory.
Hi,
I have 2.8 GZ mac pro dual processor ,can I upgrade to 12 core processor??
Thanks.
If that’s the 2010 model you’re referring to, then absolutely. Details can be found here:
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/turnkey/MacPro/2009_2010_Xeon_Processor
I have a Mac pro 2.4 8 core ….what would be the major difference if any if i max out the memory at 64GB verse 32GB performance wise?
thanks
If you’re running lots of programs at once, or ones that will utilize all the memory in the system, the difference is huge. Check out the “Adobe Photoshop CS5 Large Action Test” Results for an example. However, if your workflow doesn’t need more than 32GB of memory to get the job done, then the performance difference will be minimal, such as with the Medium Action test shown on the same benchmark page. It’s all a matter of your personal usage.
Hi, I have a 12 core macpro mid 2010
I have 6x1GB apple ram in at the moment. I just bought 8GBx2 from OWC ie 16GB. can I/should I, just take out all the previous apple ram and put in the two new ram modules from OWC, or didn’t I buy enough ie am I meant to have more than 2 modules minimum in the computer?
The ram I just bought is PC10600
and this is my current specs below as i haven’t installed the new ram as yet:-
Model Name: Mac Pro
Model Identifier: MacPro5,1
Processor Name: 6-Core Intel Xeon
Processor Speed: 2.93 GHz
Number Of Processors: 2
Total Number Of Cores: 12
L2 Cache (per core): 256 KB
L3 Cache (per processor): 12 MB
Memory: 6 GB
With the OWC or Newertech 8GB modules, you do need to remove the original Apple RAM as the modules are not compatible with each other. (This is only true of the 8GB modules themselves, going with the 4GB or smaller modules there are no issues on compatibility between brands).
You can run the Mac Pro with only two 8GB modules without any issues.
I just purchased a 2010 Mac Pro with 2 x 2.93 GHz 6-Core Intel Xeon processors. Running 10.6.4. ATI Radeon HD 5870. It shipped with 6GB of RAM. I purchased 64GB of RAM from OWC to swap out. With the OWC RAM, I am getting a combination of jagged lines on screen, followed by full system freeze (occasional kernel crash reboot message). With the original RAM, no problems so far. I need to now isolate whether it is the RAM modules or the amount of RAM (going above the 64GB recommended amount). Anyone have suggestions on how to isolate? My experience is identical to http://discussions.info.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=12281351. Thanks!
Hi Matthew and sorry to hear of your experience. Checked internally here and no reports of this being a common occurrence or even a spike in such. Must just be an isolated incident. Try moving the modules around to different slots just to make sure it’s the modules and not a slot. Also, try adding modules in increments to try and isolate the suspect module.
Suggest you contact our customer service dept http://eshop.macsales.com/Service/index.cfm to start discussing an RMA for a lifetime warranty replacement.
I have 2×2.4 MacPro with 6x1GB.
I am thinking to add OWC 4x4GB (+ 4x1GB in total have 20GB). I am also want to keep possibility to upgrade CPUs some day therefore to go with1333MHz RAM modules.
Will such mixing work (4GB with 1GB modules)?
Or should I better think about 4x4GB + 2x1GB (to have working in triple channel mode)?
What would you suggest?
Hello Joel,
The 8GB Module sets require that all installed modules be of the same kind OWC 8GB module – so it will not mix with the stock Apple RAM.
I am purchasing a 12-Core Mac Pro for work and I am trying to determine my best options for RAM upgrades. If I go with 8GB from Apple (4 x 2GB), will the stock Apple RAM mix with your 8GB modules, or will I have to choose one or the other? Thanks
Thanks Grant!!
Apple website says that the single processor systems will only support memory running at 1066MHz not 1333Mhz. The only exception is 3.33GHz 6 core system. I want to get the 3.2Ghz 4 core system but will i be able to use your memory “DDR3 ECC 1333MHz PC3-10600” so i can get up to 32GB of memory> I just wanted to verify it. Thanks
Dual-processor systems
2.4GHz system: 1066MHz DDR3 ECC SDRAM
2.66GHz and 2.93GHz systems: 1333MHz DDR3 ECC SDRAM
Eight memory slots (four per processor) supporting up to 32GB of main memory using 1GB, 2GB, or 4GB DIMMs
Single-processor systems
2.8GHz and 3.2GHz systems: 1066MHz DDR3 ECC SDRAM
3.33GHz system: 1333MHz DDR3 ECC SDRAM
Four memory slots supporting up to 16GB of main memory using 1GB, 2GB, or 4GB DIMMs
Hey Rome…you can use either…but no benefit to using the faster memory in your machine unless a faster processor…so here’s the 32GB 1066MHz:
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/85MP3S8M32GK/
32GB Certified compatible and recognizable!
If using 64GB of 1333MHz memory on a 12 core does the memory speed drop to 1066MHz as per Intel’s memory specification for using more than one 1333MHz RDIMM on a memory channel?
I know some board makers offer ways to get around this, but I can’t imagine Apple have as they don’t support RDIMMs.
I’m wondering if there would be any cooling problems with 64 GB of RAM?
Haven’t seen any heat issues whatsoever. The 8GB modules run well within temperature specifications for the machine.
Hello
I currently have an early 2008 mac pro with 8gb of ram (8 x 1). Will the 8gb modules work on this machine or am i restricted to 4gb as my maximum.
I want to increase my ram but will have to do this one 4gb module at a time. Is this possible as I read somewhere everything needs to be in pairs for ram upgrades.
Any info on ram setup would be much appreciated
Thank you
Jamie
Hello Jamie,
With the 2008 Mac Pro you have 8 total memory slots for a maximum of 32GB obtained by utilizing 4GB modules. Yes, that machine requires matched pairs for installation. http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/Mac-Pro-Memory#800-memory
Dear OWC,
just a question regarding the “unusual” 3 x multiples in RAM configurations. I heard it’s related to the most recent i5-i7 specs and their memory management (multiple read of 3 memory addresses in 1 clock, or something like that).
So, as the new Mac Pro is quite a champ in memory expandability, do you think it’s better to go for 6-12-24 etc, or the more usual 8-16-32 RAM configurations, I mean in term of gaining more speed in memory access?
Many thanks,
Luca
OWC Chris answered this best in his blog post from last week: Make your Memory a Triple for best performance!
Yes, you certainly can go with four 8GB modules for 32GB of memory in your 2010 Mac Pro.
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/Mac-Pro-Memory#1333-memory
Hi, my name is Graziano Mossuto and I’m a musician composer from Italy, first of all excuse me please for my english,
the 18 of august I bought a new macpro: one Intel Xeon 6-core “Westmere” at 3,33 GHz
and with 3 GB (3 x 1 GB)
I need to buyfrom 16 gb to 32 gb, is possible put 4 x 8 gb and arrive to 32 gb on my macpro?
Thank you
Graziano