Mac Pro, how much ram should I upgrade to?

[enomusic]

Hi there,

I recently purchased a Mac Pro 8 Core 2008 Model with 2Gb ram and 320Gb Hard Drive (Got a great deal on it!) I bought this computer exclusively for audio production work. I know I can upgrade up to 32GB of ram if I wanted to however, I have heard that the system won't recognize 32GB ram when running 32bit OS & Applications. I use Ableton Live 8.2 (32bit capable) and sometimes Logic Studio 9 (32bit & 64bit capable)..
Here is the question... What is the highest amount of ram I should upgrade to without overkill? In other words... what is the highest amount of ram I can upgrade to that I will actually notice the difference in performance and that the system will actually use when running Ableton Live and NI Komplete 6 @ 32bits? Any idea when live will come out with 64bit support?

Thanks,

[The Leveller]

RAM is cheap, get as much in it as it can take.

[d-track]

i don't see the point having more than 8 even in case of 64 bit logic unless you work with extremely huge sample libs.
i am fine with 2gb anyway

[enomusic]

Thanks for your responses folks, the same day I posted this questions I also sent the question to Ableton tech support, here is what Marcus had to say:

"Hello J.P.,

Thank you for your email.

Live is a 32bit application. We're currently working on 64 bit support however we don't know when it will become available.
As of Mac OS X 10.4, the Mac version of Live can make use of up to 4 GB of RAM. This is also true for Snow Leopard (10.6).
Live can use up to 3.2 GB of RAM in 32bit versions of Windows and more in 64bit versions.

The minimum amount of RAM would be 1GB and 2GB is recommended.

Please feel free to get back to us with further questions.

All the best,
Marcus

Marcus Kralisch
Ableton Technical Support"

Just in case anyone wants to know further details about this.

[enomusic]

RAM is cheap, get as much in it as it can take.

The leveller, I wish this was the case.... My Mac Pro uses DDR2 PC2 6400 DDR2-800Mhz Fully Buffered ECC Memory. I just paid $265.00 USD for 8GB (2x4GB) Kit so as you can see it isn't as cheap as you think... I really wish it was cheaper then I would consider taking it to 32GB however with this prices and now that I know that Live can only utilize up to 4GB of memory running at 32bit.. I feel I kind of went overboard. I guess you can never have "too much ram".

The reason why I upgraded to a Mac Pro 8 Core form my Mac Book Pro Core 2 duo had to do with the fact that I use a lot if NI Guitar Rig, Massive and Reaktor and sometimes when I have more that say 4 channels with either one of these instruments my laptop would start going a little nuts.

Thanks anyway man!

[The Leveller]

Yes, I suppose cheap is relative. If you can remember as far back as I can then $265 for 8gig ram is a steal.

[polyslax]

Yes, I suppose cheap is relative. If you can remember as far back as I can then $265 for 8gig ram is a steal.

Indeed. I remember paying $750 for an 8 MB stick!

I've got the 2008 8-core with 6 GB in it. Never had any issues.

[The Leveller]

Stunning how the price of memory has dropped. Saw a 2TB external drive in maplins yesterday for £89...

There will come a time when they may as well give it away for free.

[macmurphy]

RAM is cheap

lay off the insults, bro.

[The Leveller]

Ram is angry.

[steko]

http://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/Mac ... MM_DIY.pdf

http://eshop.macsales.com/Reviews/Frame ... ticle.html

http://barefeats.com/harper3.html

[xzusa8ky]

http://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/Mac ... MM_DIY.pdf

http://eshop.macsales.com/Reviews/Frame ... ticle.html

http://barefeats.com/harper3.html

Cool! This broadway musical looks like Live's beta testing labor! It hangs!

[steko]

[enomusic]

http://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/Mac ... MM_DIY.pdf

http://eshop.macsales.com/Reviews/Frame ... ticle.html

http://barefeats.com/harper3.html

Steko.. thanks so much for this very useful information about DYI memory installation Mac Pro early 2008!!!! I probably would've screwed it up without this!!!! Coincidentally, my memory upgrade is arriving to day so perfect timing dude!!!

Thanks again!!!!!!

[steko]

Don't call me xzusa8ky!

Don't wear your polyester socks when doing it...