memory and some general editing questions

[valdez]

Ok, I wasn't sure where i should post this but first I have a question for anyone about Mac Memory.
I do pretty regular freelance shooting and editing and I use a Mac pro model1,1.
I'm trying to keep an open mind about final cut x and want to give it a chance for smaller projects that I shoot and edit alone since it seems fast for all in one kind of workflows. So I upgraded my Video card to handle it and I'm about to dump more memory into it but I can't find any definitive answer about if it's really that harmful to get 2 - 4GB sticks over 4 - 2 gb sticks in the interest of upgrading further in the near future without having to dump half of that and replace everything again. I know it's "suggested" that you balance your memory meticulously, and obviously I'll get them in pairs, but I'll end up with 2- 2gb sticks that I already have and 2- 4gb sticks. Is that such a bad idea in practice? I haven't found any resources that say whether it's just not 'optimal' or is there some risk of damaging anything? or is it no big deal at all?
BTW, I'm still finding FCP X to be stupid buggy, and I just got Premiere Pro. I may switch to that, it already feels like it's got the best of FCP 7 and FCP x all in one. And it reads my AVCHD files natively (i shoot with a GH2), which will save me tons of storage space! win. thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[JeganRX]

While it has typically been advised to maintain speed, size, and even brand of memory the same between DIMMs, here's a few things to soak in:

1. The matching is more important in a dual/triple channel setup than across the entire motherboard. For example, most motherboards work in dual channel pairs when possible, using the first and third slots, and second and fourth slots to achieve this. The matching is important to enable dual channel mode, but in recent years, it has become less important (if not at all important) to actually match all four slots. Intel's Flex Memory technology has enabled varying size DIMMs, and in measured tests, has shown negligible performance losses versus matched sets.

2. The rated speed of a DIMM is less important than the amount of RAM you use. In my case, I'm using DDR1066 RAM (which is DDR2; I'm behind, I know) but can drop in an additional two DIMMs if I wanted to at DDR800, which is far more common and cheaper. The 1066 RAM drops to 800, but this, again, is far less of a concern than having less RAM.

3. You have no "risk", other than it simply not working. Some boards are annoying about it, and I can't speak for Mac memory in all honesty. You're probably fine since Apple uses Intel chips, and seeing as how Intel has integrated the memory controller onto the CPU, you should be fine. If you can confirm it working, then do not fret about performance loss - you won't see it.