More power!

In preparation for my Adobe CS3 bundle arriving, I juiced up my Mac. I'm not sitting happy at 5 gigs of fully buffered DDR2 667MHz ECC PC5300 RAM. That is just shy of 1/3rd the amount of memory I can slap in this box (by putting 8x 2 gig modules in).

This memory exceeds the JEDEC specs. Memory that only meets the minimum requirements for heat disapation will run too hot for the low (and quiet) fan speed that the Mac Pro can use. So, this ram (and the modules I've bought previously) all conform to the additional specs put forth by Apple.

Mac Pro Air Flow for FB-DIMMs
The Mac Pro controls the air flow for FB-DIMMs and regulates the maximum permitted memory bandwidth to maintain a safe operating temperature for the FB-DIMMs.

To minimize acoustic noise and maximize memory bandwidth, FB-DIMMs are recommended to be equipped with sufficient thermal dissipation capabilities, to maintain a safe operating temperature on the FB-DIMM components, while with an air flow of 0.5 meters per second and at an ambient temperature of 25° C, during maximum memory bandwidth utilization.

The Mac Pro will ensure FB-DIMMs maintain a safe operating temperature by raising fan speeds to increase air flow, up to a maximum of 2 meters per second. If needed, the Mac Pro will also lower the maximum permitted memory bandwidth.

Note: To maintain a safe operating temperature at an ambient temperature of 35°C on FB-DIMMs using a JEDEC standard heat spreader requires an air-flow of approximately 3 to 6 meters per second. Therefore, designing adequate thermal dissipation capabilities on FB-DIMMs for the Mac Pro is strongly recommended to avoid raised fan speeds and lowered bandwidth during user operation.

I recently read that Apple is pushing for their additional thermal spec to be an optional addendum to the 'official' JEDEC specs.

Oh, and before you ask... 'Yes'. Yes, it does indeed suck that this 2 gigs was half the price of the 2 gigs I bought in Sept. 06