Area 51-R2, DDR4, Higher than 2133 MHz?

Hi Admatuszak,

The RAM speeds the Intel Core I7 5960x supports are DDR4 1333/1600/2133.

As you said, we as Alienware can’t recommend you any higher speed than the one we certified. However, we can recommend you to visit the Alienware Arena forum since they normally do all this kind of tests. You may find someone who already tried a higher speed and see if it worked. 

Just posted this over at Alienware Arena, I'm now running 32GB at 2400Mhz:

(TL;DR: 2400Mhz is definitely maximum supported by motherboard. XMP profiles are still in A04 BIOS. System recovered from failed OC by itself, resetting CMOS battery wasn't necessary).

I found this thread about a week ago when googling prior to buying some extra RAM, so hopefully this will be useful to somebody:

I just installed the following in my Area 51 R2 running the new A04 BIOS:

Crucial Ballistix Elite 32GB Kit (4 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 UDIMM CT6332650
Specs: DDR4 PC4-21300 • 16-17-17 • Unbuffered • NON-ECC • DDR4-2666 • 1.2V • 1024Meg x 64

I was previously running the standard Samsung-branded 16GB 2133MHz RAM (4 x 4GB) that came with my Alienware direct from Dell.

I fitted the Crucial RAM and switched on. Got a message about "system RAM has changed", and was given two options: Continue, or go to system set-up. I chose system set-up and was taken to the usual BIOS settings. The "memory available" was showing as 32GB, and the "memory speed" was showing as "Auto" on the OC page, and 2400Mhz in the summary box on the main BIOS screen. Booted into Windows 10 Pro, and checked CPU-Z, Control Panel / System, and Support Assist; all were showing 2400Mhz and 32GB RAM. Ran all four Sandra RAM benchmarks, and very pleased with results!

Booted back into the BIOS, and manually set the memory speed to 2666Mhz to match the actual memory speed. Saved BIOS settings and rebooted, but the machine switched off and back on again twice (and my heart missed several beats), then displayed a message saying that overclocking settings had failed and default values were being loaded. This gave me chance to go back into BIOS and change "2666Mhz" back to "Auto". Saved, rebooted back into Windows 10 Pro, and everything is running stable and fast again.

I notice that "XMP" enabled/disabled is still there in the A04 BIOS (I think somebody said it had been removed), but will try that another time.

Summary of Sandra results:

2133Mhz / 2400MHz:

Aggregate Memory Performance : 39.08GB/s / 47.66GB/s

Integer Memory Bandwidth B/F AVX2/256 : 38.5GB/s / 46.84GB/s

Float Memory Bandwidth B/F FMA/256 : 39.66GB/s / 48.48GB/s

Performance per Thread Aggregate Memory Performance : 6.51GB/s / 8GB/s

Cache/Memory Bandwidth FMA/256 : 216.47GB/s / 237GB/s

I went to Crucial and ordered based off everything I read above, but now I just realized that these memory chips won't fit in the slots.  They are larger than the ones I had in here before (a bit longer).  I am using the same exact customer as you (Alienware Area-51 R2); so why is this not working for me?  Here is a pic of the original memory and the Crucial Ballistix Elite 32GB Kit (4 x 8GB) DDR3 side by side, and you can clearly see that the 8gb chips are longer than the 4gb chips, and so they don't fit into the slots.

www.dropbox.com/.../File Jan 18, 5 36 59 PM.jpeg

 I ordered the KIT (32gb 4x8)  I had plenty of room!. It is working great!. Set to auto  I get 32gb @ 2400 hz.  1.2 volts.  I too have seen the xmp option as described above but have questions about what will change if Enable the option. I rewad that it will attempt 2666 ( crucial KIT spec) but might try adjusting BC to achieve..  Which would be a problem if u have Manually OC'd  the cpu ratio ( no onger in AUTO-35).  I can verify the KIT is good though.

(Bware)  the working kit is ddr4. ( u indicate ddr3- )

Hi there. Today I´ve installed my new DDR4´s with 2400 MHz. "Kingston HyperX Fury KHX2400C158G (15-15-15-35-4-55-18-6). Restart Alienware Area51-R2 (from Okober 2015) with no problems, direct to Windows 10. After that I made a newstart into BIOS. Settings:  XMP = disabled,  DRAM frequency = Auto,  DRAM Timing Mode = Auto. The BIOS automatically recognizes the DRAM as 32 GB (4x8 GB) with 2400 MHz. Check with CPUiD: Also 32 GB  with 2400 GHz and with 1,2 V.  SiSoft Sandra: Performance: 46,7; Integer: 49,8 and Float: 45; Cache Memory Bandwidth (CPU) 358,7 GB/s   for the first results.  My System is running with an i7-6950X@4.0 GHz, Bios A10 and all chipset-updates, with DDR4-2400-CL15. So the Change of the DRAM was absolutely unspectacular. Just turn on again an start with Windows 10. Note: The original DDR4-2133 GHz CL 15 from Dell/Alienware are not really slower. Performance SiSoft Sandra was 44,8. I think, in normal use, you will probably notice no diference. But. It´s nice to have and works well.  OK. second test with SiSoft-Sandra after turn on the System  [Aliencommand off and Intel Turbo Boos Max 3.0 disabled] : SiSoft Sandra: Performance: 49,89; Integer: 49,83 and Float: 51,09; That´s really good.

I installed 64 GB Crucial Ballistix Tactical. XMP Enabled. Worked fine. However I Overclocked the RAM to 2666 MHz and it works.

The RAM You Pick has to be non ECC,, unbuffered, 1.2v.

Question:
What is considered to be too hot for RAM? I think 50 - 75 °C are okay. Right?

Hi. Yes I´ve installed 4x8GB DDR4-2400 CL15 with non ECC, 1,2V. Because the i7 don´t Support ECC.  The 6950X supports 2133, 2400 and 2666. And I don´t Change anything with the BIOS (XMP = disabled) The BIOS installed the same Settings, that the DDR4 supports : 2400-15-15-15-35. So no need to change. To the last Question: Termpature: The Max Temperatur is ~85° Celsius. For Special DRAM maybe 95° C. Normal Temperatur for DDR4 is ~ 35° to 50° C. So I think everything lower than 70° C is OK. If the temperature is to hot, the DRAM foget faster, it will be slower. So if there are problems, so you can decreas the Clock to 2400 MHz or increase the cooling. In the front of my case I have 3 fans.  Note: check all fans and maybe cleaning them, so they can work properly.

I can confirm this RAM at 2.666 MHz (XMP enabled):

Corsair VENGEANCE® LED 32 GB (4x 8 GB) DDR4 DRAM 2.666 MHz C16 (CMU32GX4M4A2666C16R)

My CPU is an i7 5930K, BIOS Version is A11.

I installed the 32 GB (4x8 GB) DDR4 yesterday. First I started without any changings in the BIOS, ran fine but as expected at 2133 MHz.

In the second try I changed the DRAM frequency manually to 2666 MHz, no problems, CPU-Z confirmed 2666 Mhz.

Third startup was with XMP enabled, again no problems, CPU-Z confirmed 2666 Mhz. Noticed a slightly higher NB Frequency with XMP on. No clue what this means, but I'm a simple man, so if I see a higher result I smile and leave it there!

Some random thoughts:

Don't buy Corsair RAM from their own page: I saved 30 % (almost 100 €) by just copying the product number into Amazon.

And let's be real: there is NO significant performance boost from switching to a slightly higher DRAM frequency. There are several tests out there and they are all saying the same: going from 2133 MHz to 2666 MHz will net you around 1 % more real life performance. So the performance boost is not worth the money ... but the feeling is:

looks great. with all the changes you've made on your Machine it almost asks for Windowed Side Panel. take a look at this Thread:  

I was already thinking about it. I wonder if you could make a version of that panel with the three windows in it with only one window and keep the LEDs installed and working ...

Do you know if you can buy a side panel as a spare part? Have to be sure that I get a new one if I mess it up!  

we are a bit off topic here, but yes. you can buy a new Side Panel. for 270 Euro!!