Which mac OS can use 32GB ram?

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Which mac OS can use 32GB ram?

Hiya I didnt realy want to post in this foum as it is a bit limiting to the OS but its the newest OS from mac and i have no idea what mac os look like.

yeah im a windows guy,

But im also in the process of putting my new PC together and the main aspect is the high RAM i will have installed (4X8GB)this is going to be a high end games computer not bussnes.

anyhoo i sent an amail to mac/apple asking if they could inform me if any of the apple operating systems would allow me to use 32gb of ram (upto 32gb).

i filled in the form set it of and got a reply that was not what was expected.
well actually it was a pile of jibberish with links to errelevent posts and such.

so i finnaly joined just to post here and to ask the normal users if they know the anwwer since andy at apple hasnt a dam dam clue what hes on about.

is there any apple/mac Operating system that will allow me to utilise my 32gb ram.
anything from 8gb upwards is ok.

i have seen some info on the new mac pro that says it will do 32gb and duel gfx cards but it alo seems to imply a ready made unit that can be upgraded i just want the Operating system.

i am asking the same question to linux and microsoft because i can now build a 8gbram 3.2 cpu 750gbhdd pc for £450 ($900 usd) this is not a sale im not gona make or build one for you but if site rulles permit can point you to the components supplyer (depending on site rules)

ayhoo a nice answer would be greatfully apreatiated.

Windows XP, apple virgin

Posted on Mar 24, 2008 11:46 AM

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Answer 1

a brody

Level 10

85,366 points

Mar 24, 2008 11:51 AM in response to khanm78

Welcome to Apple Discussions!

Macs have shipped with 64 bit processors for several years now, but Mac OS X 10.5 is the first system that has more 64 bit support than ever before. 10.4 had some as well, but not as much as 10.5. The real 64 bit bottleneck comes from third party applications which haven't been optimized for the 64 bit CPUs that Apple has had. G4s offer 64 bit vector processor, G5s have full 64 bit support, and Intel Core2Duo and Xeon Macs are all 64 bit.

Message was edited by: a brody

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Answer 2

Yer_Man

Level 10

166,098 points

Mar 24, 2008 12:32 PM in response to khanm78

There is no legal way to install Mac OS X on a home built machine. Period. The OS is licensed for use on Apple Hardware only.

Regards

TD

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Answer 3

a brody

Level 10

85,366 points

Mar 24, 2008 12:44 PM in response to khanm78

khanm,
What Terrence says is correct. You can run Windows on a Mac, but you can't run Mac OS X on a homemade box. The firmware is different, and Apple's license does not allow installing on non-Apple machines.

If you don't like the prices of new Macs, consider a used or refurbished Mac which meets your needs*:

http://www.macmaps.com/usedrefurbished.html

- * Links to my pages may give me compensation.

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Answer 4

khanm78 Author

Level 1

0 points

Mar 24, 2008 1:08 PM in response to a brody

ahh i see, ok best i explain a bit more but i count this as solved thanks guys.

money was never the issue i just enjoy building my own pc's.
so now i have found out that to be a mac user i must use mac suppled hardware.
so i must own a mac built computer and i am only allowed to upgrade to there hardware but i canot install there operating system into my own built computer.

now i know hwy mac is ehind bill gready git gates.

ok so now based on this info does anyone know how much the new macPro will cost as it states it can handle upto 32gb ram as is my origanal request.

and thank you guys for a speeedy first round answer that was a dam sight better and informed than Andy at apple was 😉

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Answer 5

a brody

Level 10

85,366 points

Mar 24, 2008 1:17 PM in response to khanm78

You might also want to read:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=503342&tstart=50

And you might want to consider this, saying that Apple is behind gready Bill Gates's Microsoft (which really is now owned by Steve Balmar) is not quite a fair comparison. Bill Gates's company does not make computers. It only makes game machines, peripherals, and certain software titles. Apple makes the whole widget. And even though it may appear to be "behind" in terms of shear numbers of users, it is ahead in quality control, customer service, and customer satisfaction over other computer vendors. If it truly were behind, it wouldn't be a profitable company.

It is very hard understanding what you write. Did you have a technical question about how to do something on a Mac?

Message was edited by: a brody

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Answer 6

Mar 24, 2008 1:42 PM in response to khanm78

All of the Mac OS X versions will permit you to use 32G of RAM, however, only the Mac Pro can physically accommodate so much (32G of 800MHz fully-buffered ECC RAM). Mac OS X versions 10.5.0 and higher permit individual processes to address 2^63 bytes of memory (more than 32G, so, at that point, you'd be paging to disk).

On your PC, you'll note that depending on the make and model of motherboard, you will be able to use between 4G and 64G of RAM (though many will permit installing more RAM than the provided chipset will address). Later versions of Windows can address > 4G of RAM, but processes are generally limited to a 4G address space unless you use a 64-bit version of Vista or XP. Regardless most Windows applications target the 32-bit platform and even on a 64-bit system, are limited to 4G of RAM (actually, due to Windows memory fragmentation, processes may actually run out of allocatable memory before reaching the 4G limit). You'll note that all commercially available Windows games are 32-bit applications and won't directly benefit from the additional memory.

If you run Linux on such a system, 32-bit processes are limited to 3.5G, and 64-bit process have no effected memory limit (same as Mac OS X 10.5.0 and up) -- there's also no memory fragmentation under Linux (or Mac OS X).

I wouldn't worry about the operating system working with your hardware. As you are aware, the license agreement stipulates that you use the OS on Apple hardware, and no drivers are provided for non-Apple supported hardware. Though it may be technically possible to run OS X (keep in mind, the OS expects you to have EFI instead of a BIOS, and non-volatile PRAM available), it's not advisable. Doubly so since the terms of the OS X license agreement are enforceable in the UK.

The Mac Pro is fairly competitive with PCs as far as cost goes, when compared with the same grade of components. You can build cheaper PCs, however. The base model Mac Pro is a 4-core unit, and the standard model is an 8-core unit (whereas the typical whitebox PC is dual-core). You can also purchase PCs with lower memory bus speeds and smaller caches than is available for the Mac.

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Answer 7

khanm78 Author

Level 1

0 points

Mar 24, 2008 1:56 PM in response to J D McIninch

Let me first appolagise if caused any offense,
my intension wa not to cause disrespect or offence in anyway but was my personal view.

also my tec question is just about the ram, im all about the ram i have always built my own computers and used components that whilst not being the leading edge are ahead of there times o where as most peopple have to upgrade or buy new every 2- 3years i am still going strong.

in final conclusioni think it is best that i now buy a new MacPro as this is the michine that will best supply my requirments based on the small amount of specs i have read the MacPro will be able to keep me going and going with the least amount of future costs.

thank you all in helping me with this it realy is much apretiated 🙂

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Answer 8

WWJD

Level 6

15,830 points

Mar 24, 2008 5:45 PM in response to khanm78

Your apps may not like 32GB RAM. You will want to check with the publishers first.

Regards,

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