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Nice that the RAM is expandable to 4 GB. It wasn’t so long ago that that was the size of the hard drive....

Good to see you! And regarding the RAM, well, my job as a chip designer depends on people buying the latest and greatest, so let me say that: "YES, you need a 2.4 GHz dual core processor & 4 GB RAM to browse the latest websites, run Office, and keep track of your recipes!"

And regarding the RAM, well, my job as a chip designer depends on people buying the latest and greatest, so let me say that: "YES, you need a 2.4 GHz dual core processor & 4 GB RAM to browse the latest websites, run Office, and keep track of your recipes!"

I'm trying to squeak by with only 3GB on my Mac Pro (2x512MB + 2x1GB modules). And all I'm running right now is Firefox (18 tabs open), Vienna newsreader, M$ Excel, Adobe Acrobat, EyeTV PVR running live capture from satellite, Photoshop CS3, iTunes, and VMWare with a 512MB RAM configuration and running Red Alert 2 (a DirectX 7 game).

The database engine in the newsreader can actually seem a little slow with these programs all open at once. It's enough to make me stamp my feet in a fit of pique!

If I trade in (or sell) my 2 512MB modules, should I get two more 1GB modules ($200 at OWC less $65 trade-in on my 2x512MB modules)?

Or should I pony for two 2GB modules, keeping in mind the unique Mac Pro architecture which favors using only four dual-rank DIMMs for Xeon serial-memory bus? (For quality 2x2GB, $470 less my 2x512MB trade-ins or only $135 net to get to 4GB. And OWC just managed to install 32GB of RAM in a Mac Pro, serious server territory there.)

I keep thinking 4GB just isn't enough for a workstation I expect to own for 2-3 more years before selling and upgrading.

Maybe I should just wait and see if the RAM glut caused by Vista's short sales brings the price down sharply. Mid-summer might be very good to buy RAM.

I noticed that RAM prices at OWC for their better quality RAM for Mac Pro just fell. The 4GB kit (2x2GB FB-DIMMs) dropped from $470 to $450.

Wonder how low it'll go. Everyone who needs it should be shopping for memory.