Just another issue with my Dell-It's ram this time.

OK, Hardware Guys. The saga of my lemon Dell continues. I have another head-scratcher and another on-going battle with Dell, so I need to be sure the ammunition I go into battle with is correct.

My Dell Optiplex 7080 came with 2x 8gb sticks of Micron MTA4ATF1G64AZ-3G2E1 PC3200AA DDR4 ram located in dimm slots 1&2. The ram speed tested 2933 Mhz as per system specs.

Because of the chip shortage and the fact I can’t buy directly from Micron, I was unable to find the exact same Micron ram, so I went to Crucial (who uses Micron chips). They had me run their system scanner and guaranteed their 2x8gb kit of CT8G4DFRA32A DDR4 PC3200 cl22 was 100% compatible. Even Crucial did not have the sticks in stock but they directed me to Amazon where I purchased the last kit they had.

I inserted the 2 Crucial sticks into dimm slots 3&4 and ram speed dropped to 2400 Mhz.

I removed the Micron ram in 1&2 and replaced it with the Crucial sticks-speed tested 2933 Mhz.

I inserted the Micron ram in 3&4 and speed dropped back down to 2400 Mhz.

The conclusion is that it doesn’t matter which of the matching pairs is in slots 3&4 the speed is at 2400 Mhz.

First thing I did was go back to Crucial just to verify. Although I already knew it, I was told if the Crucial sticks run per specs in primary slots 1&2 and if the timings were the same (which they are) that the ram is correct.

Knowing I would get the run around I contacted Dell anyway. After a long drawn out process, I was told it was normal for ram speed to drop if all 4 slots were populated. HUH!! I’ve never heard of such. I know all about matching pairs and ram running at the speed of it’s slowest sticks but the attached HWinfo readings are identical.

Please tell me I’m not wrong here. If the specs say 2933 Mhz with 4x8gb sticks, then it should be 2933 Mhz. 2400 Mhz is less than the expected speed of an i3 (which is 2666). I have an i9.

I am attaching the specs and timings of one in each pair for comparison. Each of the other 2 sticks are identical.

I have read, though I can't remember where, that populating all four slots leads to a drop in RAM speeds and that it is better to upgrade RAM by taking out the 2 current sticks and replacing them with 2 of higher capacity. The other thing that occurred to me was to look out for if Dell say up to 2933 MHz with 4 x 8gb. That up to is a great get out for suppliers. Sorry to not be more positive. I do agree with you that you should get what they say and less than that spec should only be in exceptional circumstances.

Straight from Dells webpage they state that that computer model should support 2933MHz in both 2x and 4x RAM configuration when using an i7 or i9.

Can you post the exact model numbers of both types of RAM you have. It is possible that some single timing is a bit off for certain frequencies and they default to 2400MHz because of this.

There is also a slight chance you can manually configure the speeds and latencies in the BIOS.

...but first let's check the exact details for both RAM-models.

oh, wait, you have screenshot there...hold on

Looking at the Dell forums it seems this behavior is normal for this computer model. 2 slots occupied works great, but 4 slots drops the speed to 2400MHz and no way of configuring this in BIOS.

BUT, Dell DO state that the model supports 4x 4/8/16/32GB RAM at 2933MHz...so there is that. They are lying to you.

Which BIOS version are you on?

In CMD-prompt type the following:

Device name DESKTOP-1ULGF16
Processor 11th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-1165G7 @ 2.80GHz 2.80 GHz
Installed RAM 8.00 GB (7.64 GB usable)
Device ID 0A7A2DB8-DF9E-4A47-A4CB-72E8D7CB3618
Product ID 00331-10000-00001-AA421
System type 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor
Pen and touch No pen or touch input is available for this display

Edition Windows 11 Pro
Version 21H2
Installed on ‎09/‎02/‎2022
OS build 22000.556
Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.22000.556.0

I have a DELL as above with 8gb RAM and its a AIO format and I am far too wimpy to even try changing the ram for more at this early stage !
All I can say and don't all moan it's that from "cold" and power button on, the desktop is up and running at about +/- 10 seconds.
It is a delight to use and the first computer where I felt absolutely no urge to tweak it or do anything other than enjoy it for minor games and the general computing but mind you guys I am approaching dinosaur age and appreciate my needs may not meet your ones.
Paul.

@glasskuter I think that is normal, as @Graulges said. It is not the speed of the ram it is the bus for the new 2 slots. Have you got or can you download the online manual? On mine it tells you the relevant speeds per configuration. I actually phoned Crucial and the lady explained it to me. and basically the speed of the ram is the maximum achievable, and the other factors with the motherboard slow it down

Maybe worth popping into the BIOS and setting em all to you're desired speed and see how it goes? I also dont know if XMP is a thing on you're machine but i'd turn that on too if it is.

Try this:

Install the original modules into slots 1 and 3 and then the new modules into slots 2 and 4.

I recommend you try this as Dell states in the manual that modules must be installed as matching pairs or the speed will be reduced.

If this did not work, then you need all 4 RAM sticks to be the exact same models or you'll be stuck at 2400MHz.

Also try slots 1 and 2 for the original RAM and 3 and 4 for the new RAM. Whichever order you have not yet tried.
Usually pairs are installed in every second slot but there are exceptions.

@SlicEnDicE Having done this a while back It should make no difference which slots you use. you need to look at the mounting of the slots to check the bus

The-Hive said:

can you download the online manual?

Click to expand...

first screenshot in OP is right out of the manual

Devlin1888 said:

Maybe worth popping into the BIOS and setting em all to you're desired speed

Click to expand...

Can't-it's a non K CPU

SlicEnDicE said:

Which BIOS version are you on? Can you post the exact model numbers of both types of RAM you have.

Click to expand...

SlicEnDicE said:

It is possible that some single timing is a bit off for certain frequencies and they default to 2400MHz because of this.

Click to expand...

bios 1.8.2. Ram models in OP. As per screenshots, HWinfo states timings are identical

I am adding a picture of my mobo. On the mobo is it stamped (reading from cpu out)
Dimm 3-Black
Dimm 1-White
Dimm 4-Black
Dimm 2-White

As stated the original ram was inserted into slot 1&2

@glasskuter ok on the manual, it is not as good as the Area 51 manual. I wouldn't worry about it, as any difference shouldn't be noticeable and the ram is at a let speed so it must be the bus as I said earlier, I had the same issue with mine

glasskuter said:

first screenshot in OP is right out of the manual

Can't-it's a non K CPU




bios 1.8.2. Ram models in OP. As per screenshots, HWinfo states timings are identical

I am adding a picture of my mobo. On the mobo is it stamped (reading from cpu out)
Dimm 3-Black
Dimm 1-White
Dimm 4-Black
Dimm 2-White

As stated the original ram was inserted into slot 1&2

Click to expand...

Can, were not OC'ing the CPU, the ram should still have speed settings in the bios irrelevant of a K model or not. Done it before myself. XMP isn't linked to the cpu per say, More Mobo capability than anything.

Check out the "SPD" tab on CPU-Z to see what the RAM is capable of doing. Here's mine



Here my RAM is using XMP and thus why it's running at its native 3600MHz. If you BIOS has such a setting you might enable it. Some OEM board may do this automatically for you, but I've only used Intel vendor specific boards, so I've no idea about OEM boards. Also, if this is an AMD system, I don't have enough knowledge on those systems to feel comfortable in my suggestions.

Good luck.

If I missed it in the posts sorry. I would remove the OEM ram and just test the new sticks where the old ram was.

I haven't bought a Dell (or other appliance PC) since 1995.

Does Dell provide a QVL (qualified vendors list) for RAM? The motherboard I've used over the years usually do. Some memory is qualified to run with 2 DIMMs, some for 4.

If 2 DIMMs are compatible, 4 may not be stable at the rated frequency. I am using some DDR4 3800 RAM in my X570 motherboard. It's qualified for 2 DIMMs, but not for 4. When I added a second identical pair, I had to drop the RAM clock to 3600 to get it to run reliably.

Maybe Dell is lying to you. Or maybe their claim is contingent on using different RAM than what came with the machine.

I see that Crucial doesn't offer a 4 X 8GB kit for that machine. Not definitive, but suggestive.

I have no idea what BIOS settings are available on an Optiplex. I take it that you can't manually set the RAM to the officially supported frequency of the I9-10900 (2933 MHz).

Dru2 said:

Check out the "SPD" tab

Click to expand...

SPD Ext is grayed out

That dell optiplex has no XMP profile settings. On the AMD side, it's a motherboard-specific setting. Asus uses DOCP and gigabyte EOCP

glasskuter said:

SPD Ext is grayed out

Click to expand...

If it's greyed out, it sounds like you have no choice but to run the RAM at its default 24MHz setting. You could try manually setting the RAM, but again, your board has to support manually RAM settings. Unfortunately, most OEM boards lock things down

This is why it's best not to buy high speed RAM unless you know your board can support it; otherwise, it'll default to its default slower speed, and you out of money for something you can't use