Aurora-R7, HyperX Fury 2933 problem

I ordered an Aurora R7 on April 7th and chose 1 x 16 gb 2933 mhz RAM and wanted to get the alienware coupon and upgrade after my purchase.  I have found this page:                                                                  http://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/accessories/apd/aa101831

Is the above link the RAM that I will need to upgrade to 32 GB total??

Sorry if I am high jacking, I don't have answers for you since this is my first Alienware purchase OP.

FWIW, today (April 12, 2018) it looks like Dell has lowered the price of Aurora R7s by a little bit (not including promo discounts). I don't know if this is new, but the cost of a 1x16 GB DIMM running at 2933 MHz is the same price as 2x8 DIMMs running at 2666 MHz (they're both $200).

I also read all the comments in a post @AlaskaWolf linked to yesterday:

Aurora R6 Memory Question: Why a single DIMM?

On page two of that thread there's a comment from Dell moderator @Alienware-Eimy:

"The performance difference in dual channel and single channel has closed the gap significantly, especially with DDR4 memory iterations..."

I'm not sure.  But if you ordered the 2933 HyperX RAM, I'd compare it to the photo before I decided.  Dell Parts still insists that "No compatible products found for the requested service tag" when I input my service tag.  Keep in mind that having mismatched RAM can actually create problems, especially with RAM sensitive motherboards.  

@Pex Dual channel RAM is a bit of a complicated issue.  If you are mainly gaming, checking email and web surfing, or running office applicationsn, then the answer is no, dual channel RAM provides no real advantage and can actually provide a minor performance decrease. However, if you are running CAD programs performing tasks such as computational fluid dynamics or dimensional modeling, or if you are into heavy video editing and encoding then yes, you'll see some marked advantages in render times.  It just really depends on what you are doing.

Cost wise, 4 - 8Gb modules are generally a bit cheaper than 2 - 16 Gb modules.  It's just my personal opinion, but I feel it is better to have more RAM than you need, than not enough.  

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@AlaskaWolfwrote:

1. Dell Parts still insists that "No compatible products found for the requested service tag" when I input my service tag. 

2. Keep in mind that having mismatched RAM can actually create problems, especially with RAM sensitive motherboards.  

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1. Not all the Dell Parts are online (in fact, very few are). You have to call on phone.

2. Exactly.

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@Tesla1856wrote:

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1. Not all the Dell Parts are online (in fact, very few are). You have to call on phone.

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Dell Parts simply replies that "upgrade parts are not currently available."  

If anyone is interested, after replacing my motherboard to no avail, I got a followup call from Alienware Tech Support.  My Tech Support person called to let me know that the "Alienware Engineers" informed him that the Aurora R7 will support 3 - 8 Gb modules, but that "it cannot support 4."  The Tech Support representative went on to state that per "the engineers", the Aurora R7 "will not support 4 RAM modules of any type."  When I politely inquired as to how Dell was selling the R7 with a full Gb of RAM, my rep actually got quite huffy and told me that the Aurora will absolutely not run with 4 - 16 Gb RAM modules, and that the website was in error.

I really don't even know what to say at this point...  Anyone, tech support or engineer, in one of my past IT departments would literally have been fired on the spot, escorted out of the facility and told to never return for giving any of our customers a nonsensical answer like that.

To the OP, how were you able to get 4-8 GB sticks of HyperX at 2933? Dell only sells them with 1x16, 2x16, or 4x16 I believe. Even if you were able to get just 2-8 GB sticks, as everybody knows, it's impossible to get additional HyperX 2933 sticks from Dell after you purchase the R7.

If the R7 can run 4x16 GB HyperX sticks they should run 4x8. However in rare cases, MBs are finicky and might not like 4x8 sticks.

@Clevorwrote:

To the OP, how were you able to get 4-8 GB sticks of HyperX at 2933? Dell only sells them with 1x16, 2x16, or 4x16 I believe. Even if you were able to get just 2-8 GB sticks, as everybody knows, it's impossible to get additional HyperX 2933 sticks from Dell after you purchase the R7.

If the R7 can run 4x16 GB HyperX sticks they should run 4x8. However in rare cases, MBs are finicky and might not like 4x8 sticks.

 

Simple, it is possible to buy them through Kingston HyperX directly. 

https://www.hyperxgaming.com/us/memory/fury-ddr4?partnum=HX429C17FB2K4/32

There is "supposedly" a slight timing tweak between the OEM and factory version, but that fact remains neither proven nor disproven.  Neither Kingston, nor Dell, can/will say what the alleged timing differences actually are.  I do know the XMP 2.0 timing for both is identical from my troubleshooting with Alienware tech support. And yes, per Alienware they do sell an 8 Gb HyperX  option.  

As you say, if the R7 can run 4x16 GB HyperX sticks they should run 4x8.  This is the first time I have ever been told a mobo can run 3 RAM modules, but not 4 of any type.   That is not just finicky in my book, it's a factory defect.

The last I heard when I bought my R7 in January of this year is that it was impossible to get additional sticks of HyperX 2933 from Dell after purchase, and that Kingston would not sell direct, as you might expect since they supply the sticks to Dell. But I guess since Kingston came out with this 'automatic overclocking' hype/feature to market the sticks, now anybody can buy them. But therein lies the problem: there is supposedly a slight diff between those and the ones you get from Dell? :Huh?:

That is why I changed my order for the R7 and divvied up the significant bucks to get 32 MB of the 2933 sticks from Dell. Besides, at the time, 32 GB of decently clocked DDR ran $400-500 bucks off Amazon anyway, and there is no guarantee they will work on Dell's proprietary system. And if I did find aftermarket sticks that can run higher and at better timings than the 2933 sticks on the R7, I would have no problem selling the Dell sticks on Ebay.

But right now, unless you can get them for a better price from a distributor rather than direct from HyperX, it's only about $50 cheaper than getting them from Dell. I am surprised Dell is even providing tech support with your problem since you using - technically - non-Dell authorized RAM.

Have you tried getting the sticks replaced from Kingston? Although if each works fine in pairs, doesn't sound like there is anything wrong with the sticks. But if they were cheaper, off-brand sticks from a no-name manufacturer, it's entirely possible.

I used to overclock computers, and at the time, had RAM that was top ten in the world in overclocking. I had PC3200 that would run at 300+ MHz (stock clock was 200 MHz). Only a few motherboards at the time could handle a system at that speed, otherwise your video would get all **bleep** up on boot (I had to use a Prometaria phase change device to get the CPU to run stable at that high a multiplier - I think I got to 316 MHz). I had BH-2 ram that would run 2-2-2-7 timings overclocked to 200 MHz with 4.0 volts applied (stock clock was 133 MHz, 3-3-3-6 timings at 3.3 volts). Corsair only made sticks at a certain time that had the cherry chips in them. Overclocking RAM was a lot tougher at the time since you had to apply significantly more voltage than current sticks, so you needed special overclocking MBs that could run RAM at such high volts - or could even post at 300 MHz (the Abit IS-7). Nowadays, all the RAM is like that HyperX stuff with 'automatic' overclocking profiles programmed in (Meh).

The rule of thumb was: it's easier to overclock with 2 sticks versus 4, since less chance with inherent errors in a stick. Why didn't you go with 2x16 MB of the HyperX sticks as it's about the same price?

@Clevor  Simple, I found a matched set of 4 - 8 Gb HyperX 2933 at Walmart for a ridiculously low price; and yes, Walmart is apparently an Authorized Reseller for Kingston/HyperX.   As to any timing differences between OEM and factory HyperX, as I said that has been neither proven nor disproven.  I do know the XMP 2.0 profiles between the two are identical though.

Kingston manufactures all of their own RAM, including the HyperX brand, so there aren't any off-brand sticks from a no-name manufacturer with them, unlike some other manufacturers.  As far as the  'automatic' overclocking profiles, XMP profiles (eXtreme Memory  Profile) are an industry wide standardized specification for DDR3 and DDR4 that was devised by Intel that can be extracted by BIOS to “tune” the memory controller for optimal memory performance.  It is basically just an additional set of values stored in the EEPROM of the RAM which can be detected by SPD in the BIOS to allow for easier overclocking.  So none of that "plug and pray" overclocking we had to do in the past.  ;)

I'm not so much interested in overclocking anymore.  All I really want is to find RAM that will work in the R7;  HRGreen did mention that the G.Skills Ripjaws V 3000 works well, so I may just give that a try.  I'm just really disappointed that the Aurora R7 can not, or will not, support 4 - 8 Gb RAM modules.  As soon as the warranty is up, I suspect that Alienware's crippled motherboard may simply get replaced.

@Pex  Nope, never did try the 3 DIMMs, even though Alienware Tech Support claims that 3 will in fact work, just not 4.  As far as the 16 Gb Single Channel HyperX option goes, it does work, I tried it.  But keep in mind all of this info is coming from the very same people who informed me that 2933 MHz HyperX would not work in the Aurora at all, and that the Dell sales configuration page was wrong.

As far as your question about whether are there any plans to update the R7 so that it does support 4 x 8 GB, I don't know.  They did address the UEFI problems in BIOS I identified, after none of Tech Support's solutions would work, but mine did.  But since they won't admit there is anything wrong with the motherboard being unable to support the 4 x 8Gb, and they have validated they they have known about it, I suspect they they have no plans to fix the issue at this time.  At this point, I'm not even sure this is a BIOS issue anymore, it could well be a design defect in the motherboard.  But hey, but I have been wrong before, and would be pleasantly surprised to be wrong on this issue.

Personally, after this experience, this was my first and last Alienware purchase.  If it hadn't been for the fact that the entire system cost nearly the same as the individual prices of the 8700K and 1080ti, I would have just built my own.  And I still might, I have the parts now.   I've been buying Dells since I purchased my first one back in '85 from PC's Limited.  And although over the past 10 - 15 years Dell's warranties and tech support have been rapidly going downhill, I'll have to admit that Alienware certainly takes the cake.

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@AlaskaWolfwrote:
At this point, I'm not even sure this is a BIOS issue anymore, it could well be a design defect in the motherboard.

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Agree, that's why I've been hoping Dell would issue a clarification about future support for additional RAM configurations.

Personally, after this experience, this was my first and last Alienware purchase.

My current desktop PC is an Aurora R4, which I bought in late 2013/early 2014. It was refurbished, came with 16 GB of quad-channel RAM and an i7-4820K. I settled on a modest overclock of 4.2 GHz on all four cores and I can't remember the last time it crashed.

It cost something like $940, which turned out to be a steal. So when it was time to upgrade, Alienware was the first site I went to.

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If it hadn't been for the fact that the entire system cost nearly the same as the individual prices of the 8700K and 1080ti, I would have just built my own.

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That's the thing. Right now, I'm not finding any alternative that can come close to matching Alienware's prices, especially when you include their offer of 12-month no-interest financing plus Dell Rewards that would be worth more than $100 for the PC configuration I'd like.

I bought an R7 in February, returned it because it was defective, they sent a replacement, returned the replacement because that one was defective too. Based on what I've seen and read, it feels like the R7 is still in its beta-testing phase, but I'm rooting for them to get their act together.

@Pex  Lol, I'd stay on top of the Dell Rewards issue!  60 "business days" in, and I still haven't gotten mine.  They somehow applied mine to an ancient email accout, which they swore they had gotten rid of 10 years ago.  Funny thing is they could see that it had been ordered under my current account, but tried to tell me that was nothing they could do to fix it.

When I first got mine I had all manner of issues, including an "Inaccessible boot device" right out of the box.  Tech Support didn't want to listen to my thoughts on the matter, so we spent 3 hours doing it their way.  Finally  after none of their "fixes" would work, I went ahead and let them know what had fixed it.  Two days later, they released BIOS 1.0.8 that addressed the UEFI issues I encountered.  The NVME boot device had multiple duplicated and triplicated partitions as well as a large block of unallocated drive space, all totalling over 16.1 Gb.  It reinstalled correctly from a Microsoft USB image which just tells me that their drive imaging wasn't set up correctly.  So what issues did you encounter with the two they sent you?

Don't get me wrong, I like my Aurora a lot; I just don't like the issues I've had with it which have all been factory errors; it never should have been shipped in that condition.  Nor do I much care for the attitude I've gotten from some of the Tech Support personnel, now a couple have been absolutely great and have done everything they could to help.  The rest, well, not so much.  The RAM issue has just turned into the icing on the cake....