Mac Pro - RAM question

[Chris G]

Do the memory cards in the Mac Pro have to be installed in pairs, or can you add them one at a time?

The reason I ask: Apple offers a 4GB configuration as four 1GB cards, which of course screws you for future expandability when a 4GB card already exists. I'd rather install a single 4GB card and have more room for future expansion but, at least on the Apple Store website, they don't give you that option.

(In the past, some Macs have required memory cards to be installed in pairs, while other don't.)

Thank you for any assistance.

[JavaFiend]

Pretty sure the Pro requires pairs... My understanding is that the top tier must match the bottom tier. So you should be able to mix things up as long as the Ratio matches. I don't know if that makes any sense, but I currently have mine split with 4 512 MB cards an top and two 1Gb cards on bottom for 4GB total. This leaves two slots open. Also, for some reason you have to keep any Apple RAM grouped together or the machine will not read all of the installed RAM. Hope that helps, a little.

[JavaFiend]

Just to clarify... When I purchased my Mac Pro it came with two 512 MB chips on top and 2 more on bottom. I added 1 GB card to each tier for 4 GB. With that configuration the machine would not read the additional RAM. I don't really understand why that doesn't work, but re-stacking the chips as I mentioned above fixed the problem.

[Charles T. Duck]

what, do I look like a Genius™ or something?

[fantasygoat]

Don't waste money on Apple memory. Buy it with the least amount you can and get Crucial or Kingston online for less than half the price.