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  4. New Macpro Advice

  • New Macpro Advice

    J
    J

    I recently upgraded from the First Edition to Appassionata Strings and the Special Edition and I am looking to buy a new Macpro to handle my DAW (DP5 or 6) and most of my VIs (eventually).  Here is the configuration that I am considering:

    Dual 2.8 Quad

    2 GB Apple RAM + 4 X 2 GB of Crucial RAM

    4 Internal Drives:

        320 GB Apple drive for leopard and apps

        3 X 500 GB 7200.10 Seagates, 1 for project files and 2 for libraries

    I'd like to know what experience any of the other users have had with 3rd party RAM.  I've always understood that Apple essentially just assembles the RAM that they install with a 100% markup, but a few people with no connection to Apple have said that there may be some performance drawbacks to using 3rd party RAM.

    Also, is anyone here using Raptors or any other 10k drives to stream samples? I'd like to know if the higher cost and smaller size is worth any performance increase.

    Any advice would be much appreciated.

    John Rodriguez 
  • S
    S
    Hi

    Go here www.macsales.com. They sell RAM and it is certified and very cheap!!! I have bought 16GB of them and never had any problems!! Also I wouldn't buy the hard drives off apple either and get them from macsales.com as well.
  • S
    S

     As far as I know, Apple does not "assemble" RAM, but simply buys it from manufacturers like Samsung or Crucial and generally charges several times the going market price. For example 16GB of RAM (8x2GB sticks) costs $3500 if purchased from Apple, the same 16GB from Other World Computing (http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/Mac-Pro-Memory) costs $850.

    One difference between RAM purchased from Apple and that purchased from OWC is the warranty:

    Apple RAM has the same warranty as the computer - 1 year or 2 additional years if you also purchase Apple Care.

    RAM from OWC has a lifetime advance replacement warranty - - which means that if you have a bad stick, you notify OWC and they immediately send you a new stick and do not charge you unless you fail to return the defective RAM within a specified time period. 

    I have purchased RAM over many years from OWC and have NEVER encountered a defective chip.

    It would seem that Apple spreads negative propoganda about RAM from 3rd party vendors simply to justify its outrageously exorbitant pricing.

    Save the RAM that comes with your computer. If, at some point, your computer needs to be repaired by Apple, remove the 3rd party RAM and reinstall the RAM that came with the computer. If you don't do, this Apple will claim that, whatever the problem was, the 3rd party RAM was, at least partially, to blame. Thus, if the power supply should fail or the liquid cooling system on a G5 PowerMac develop a leak, or a hard drive die of head crash, Apple will blame 3rd party RAM even if, according to the known laws of physics, defective RAM could have no possible connection to the problem. Again, this appears to be a a way of attempting to make consumers fearful enough to pay Apple's exorbitant prices.

    Similarly, Apple does not manufacture hard drives, it buys them from companies like Seagate, and charges almost twice the going market price. For example, each additional 500 GB drive (manufacturer unsepecified) costs $250 when purchased from Apple while a Seagate 7200.11 500GB drive costs $135.00 from OWC and a Western Digital 500GB RE drive costs $115 from OWC.   
  • cmC
    VSL Team
    cmC

    just for vindication of apple (if that is even neccessary) ... they have to guarantee you for a certain period availability of spare parts - now we all know RAM (new type of) is relatively expensive in the beginning and price decreases over the years.

    so the current price in the apple store is probably a mixed calculation of current price and storekeeping for 2 or three years.

     

    i know the same policy from SGI where you could get additional original RAM (for an awful price of course) after 5 or more years when this memory type wasn't longer available from any other (third party) company.

     

    just to shed some light on the other side of the medal too ... christian

    and remember: only a CRAY can run an endless loop in just three seconds.
  • S
    S
    last edited
    last edited

    @cm said:

    just for vindication of apple (if that is even neccessary) ... they have to guarantee you for a certain period availability of spare parts - now we all know RAM (new type of) is relatively expensive in the beginning and price decreases over the years.

    so the current price in the apple store is probably a mixed calculation of current price and storekeeping for 2 or three years.

     

    Christian:

    System 6-9 die-hards will be glad to learn that they can obtain RAM for Macs made more than 10 years ago such as the Mac II (1987), Mac IICx (1989) Quadra 700 & 900 (1991) as well as the "beloved" Performa (1992) - -sold at Sears - - at very inexpensive prices (with same day shipping) from Other World Computing. They also have RAM for Mac clones such as those made by Umax, Motorola, Daystar, Radius and Power Computing.

  • J
    J

    Thanks for the advice and info.  Has anyone had any experience running libraries off of 10k drives?

    John Rodriguez 
  • S
    S

     One last thing: Apple's tactics regarding RAM are, in my opinon, so completley unjustifiable, outrageous and unseemly, that I strongly suggest that Mac users contact the Federal Trade commission to report these practices.