Greetings,

     The Aurora 2 should be compatible with the full 16GB.  As long as your running Windows 7 Home Premium instead of Windows 7 Home Basic, which I'm sure you are, it will show 16GB.  The only other issue is a possible incompatibility with the memory.  If you remove the factory installed memory and leave the upgraded memory, does the system boot?

Thanks,

Gabe

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa366778%28VS.85%29.aspx#physical_memory_limits_windows_7

it should show it

Look at your Owner's Manual. There are limits. Notice only 1066 and 1333 memory can go to 16gb. I'm not sure if installing 1600 and turning off XMP or otherwise slowing it down to 1333 (in the BIOS) counts the same.

The dual channel reading as single channel usually means the DIMMs don't match exactly. For sure, each pair must match exactly. On some motherboards, all 4 must match exactly. This is in the BIOS (that you are seeing this), right? In Windows, it can be tricky to get a proper reading.

Others have had similar problems upgrading memory with after-market memory. Not sure why these AW machines are so picky about memory (but apparently they are). It doesn't help that some of the later BIOS versions seem to be having problems with XMP profiles. To avoid problems in general, I would suggest:

1. Buy 1333 from Crucial.

2. Buy in sets of 2 (DDR3 dual-channel) or 3 (DDR3 triple-channel).

Here is then link to the memory I put in. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231312

 Here is my model number AAR2 2663CSB.

Or could one or two memory sticks be bad. Would that do it?

Matt

Here is then link to the memory I put in.   http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231312

You would think that should work ... too bad it doesn't.

From the specs, the only thing I notice is that it is marked PC3-10666 ... while mine are PC3-10600 . If one of the DIMMs doesn't check bad, you should probably read-up on that difference. Maybe you need to change something in the RAM settings in BIOS.

Here is my data (of perfectly working ram memory) . Might want to compare it to what you get.

My Aurora (X-58) shipped with 2gb x 6 = 12 gb RAM.
They are all the same Elpida DDR3-1333 (PC3-10600) DIMMs in Tri-Channel mode (installed in 2 sets of 3 each).

Inside the BIOS is shows:
DDR3 SDRAM
1333Mhz (133 x10)

In CPU-Z v 1.56 it shows:
Channel #: Triple
Timings: CL-9
Voltage: 1.5v

In CPU-ID PC Wizard it shows:
DDR3-1333 (on each RAM module)

According to Dell-Chris_M, the correct Dell part number for each of the 6 DIMMs would be:
P223C 2GB, 1333MHz PC3-10600, 128X64

*********************************************************

Also, here is more memory specs posted by Dell-Chris_M

http://en.community.dell.com/owners-club/alienware/f/3746/p/19353401/19776744.aspx#19776744

Or could one or two memory sticks be bad. Would that do it?

Well, sure.

Run MemTest86.com (3 full passes) and Dell Diagnostics.