Max ram size for a quad core Mac pro tower?

I have a 4-Core, Xeon 3500 series, 3rd gen Mac pro tower with four DIMM slots and would like to know what is the largest size ram I can put in each slot and what is the best configuration for that ram?  My main concern is maximizing the rendering speed of Final Cut Pro X and I have read that since it is a 64 bit program it can utilize much more ram than the previous version.
Can I get the benefit out of 8G sticks?  Is it better to have the ram spread across multiple slots??
Thanks!

Andy Drefs wrote:
Just installed my 3 new 8G sticks and I see NO DIFFERENCE WHATSOEVER!!!!  And now suddenly the cooling fan has kicked in to overdrive and is buzzing away - this is such a great result of spending over $300!  What a waste of $$$$$$
Sometimes when you change hardware configurations --  internal drives, dimms. video cards -- it may help to do a smc reset.
If adding memory didn't change your performance perhaps you should look at how much disk space you have for your boot drive or consider a ssd as a boot drive.

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