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17 R5, 64GB of RAM?
Samsung recently released the industry's first 32GiB SO-DIMMs, about which you can read here. The new SO-DIMMs are now available for purchase in 64GiB kits. I was wondering if the Alienware 17 R5 supports the SO-DIMMs and 64GiB of RAM. I know the CPU supports the RAM. Does Dell need to release a BIOS update or does the laptop already support 64GiB of RAM?
Thanks,
jdb2
jdb2
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March 28th, 2019 09:00
I called what I thought was a direct line to Alienware tech support but I got some rep in a far east call center. I could hardly understand him and he wasn't making much sense, trying to explain "the motherboard not support 64GB of RAM [sic]... ...electricity to the slots...[sic]" or something like that. I think what he was trying to say is the the voltage regulator that supplies the DRAM voltage for the SO-DIMM slots can't meet the current requirements for 2x 32GiB memory sticks running at 2666MHz. Well, this can be solved by down-clocking the RAM. If you boot up with just one 32GiB stick plugged in, then go to the Alienware OC control center and knock the frequency down to 1333MHz or 1600MHz just to be safe. You might want to up the voltage slightly. I believe that the Alienware OC control center interacts with the BIOS at boot as my AlienFX lighting is correct when my 17 R5 boots into the BIOS.
jdb2
jdb2
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April 26th, 2019 12:00
I decided to take a chance and buy 2x 32GiB Samsung SO-DIMMs from Amazon for around $400. The Amazon seller had assured me that they should work in my Alienware 17 R5. When I put the new modules in, I first got into the BIOS and the BIOS could see 64GiB of RAM. I then rebooted. After rebooting, the "Alienware" logo / text was displayed on the screen with a little circular progress indicator underneath consisting of moving white dots. Well, I waited, and waited, and waited and finally gave up. I then tried to boot into Linux Mint 19 Cinnamon 64-bit. I booted into GRUB but then the kernel wouldn't boot. I then messed around with every combination of secure boot and legacy boot settings but nothing seemed to work. I then reset everything in the BIOS as it was previously and decided to just let whatever was going on behind the scenes of the progress indicator do its thing. Well, after a long time, Windows blue-screened complaining about some type of watchdog timeout and then it rebooted.
Just to make sure that it wasn't the memory, I booted off of one 32GiB stick in one slot and then the other, and then again with the other stick of RAM. After I did this Dell's pre-boot environment launched and it said that it had detected a change in my system's memory. I let it run a memory diagnostic, which passed.
I've been running the official, commercial PassMark memtest86 for 2 or 3 days with no errors from the 64GiB of memory, which is detected by memtest86. It looks like this is some type of software lockout by Dell to me.
Here is a photo of memtest86 testing the 64GiB of RAM installed in my Alienware 17 R5 :
( 64GiB of Samsung 32GiB SO-DIMMs being tested by memtest86 in an Alienware 17 R5 )
I don't know what exactly to do. I know there are some online retailers that guarantee that the 64GiB kit works with the Alienware 17 R5, but I'm hesitant to try something that might put me back in the same situation.
If I can't get this issue resolved them I'll have to send back the RAM.
Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks,
jdb2
jdb2
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April 29th, 2019 09:00
Well, I tried to boot off of MenuetOS using Syslinux but even that wouldn't boot. It really looks like Dell has put in some type of software lockout preventing one from upgrading to 64GiB of RAM -- I guess I'll have to hack my BIOS. Or, perhaps, I just need a matched kit. I know that Compuram.biz sells 64GiB kits that they claim are known working with the Alienware 17 R5, as they've been tested in 17 R5s. I've returned the RAM I got off of Amazon and I may buy from from Compuram.biz -- I hope their RAM work with my system.
jdb2
David.Shan
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May 30th, 2019 20:00
Do you have the latest news?
jdb2
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May 31st, 2019 10:00
Well, I performed a 1+ day long test on the RAM using Passmark's MemTest86, and, it saw all the memory and I received no errors. I also ran a memory benchmark, which ran the 64GiB at 2666MHz with no problems. Also, the UEFI BIOS sees the RAM, but it won't boot into an OS with two 32GiB sticks in my 17 R5 -- it will boot with just one module in either slot ( With two sticks, one gets the Dell Alienware screen with a progress / activity indicator which eventually times out with Windows 10 bluescreening with some type of watchdog timer error ). I've determined that this is some kind of software lockout by Dell. I have two options : I can try to hack my BIOS, or, I could buy the RAM from Compuram.biz who guarantees that their 64GiB kits are compatible with the Alienware 17 R5.
Anyways, I'll be contacting Dell to complain about the software lockout -- probably a few predefined constants need to be changed in the UEFI BIOS code as there's no reason why the laptop shouldn't be able to boot an OS.
Regards,
jdb2
ScienceX
37 Posts
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June 4th, 2019 16:00
Hi I'm really interested in finding a work around for this so Please keep us all up to date with how things go. Good luck
Laptop Gaming
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June 4th, 2019 21:00
ScienceX
37 Posts
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June 11th, 2019 18:00
So am I. If any one has this working, I would love to know! Good luck and Dell, update your bios to include the compatibility of 64GB!
ScienceX
37 Posts
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June 20th, 2019 16:00
Are there any further updates on whether the latest BIOS will support 64GB???
Come on DELL This is a discussion group or your target customers, its a gold mine of information. Isn't sales and marketing interested in this?
Please make your BIOS support 65GB on the 17 R5
David.Shan
3 Posts
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June 25th, 2019 15:00
Please support 64GB memory!!
ScienceX
37 Posts
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July 2nd, 2019 23:00
mate any updates on getting 64gb to run on your laptop??
ScienceX
37 Posts
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July 2nd, 2019 23:00
jdb2
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July 3rd, 2019 08:00
According to Compuram.biz's tech support, my system is compatible as it passed their "RAMinator" test ( ). The memory organization for the Compuram.biz SO-DIMMs is "4Gx64" whereas the Samsung OEM SO-DIMMs are "1G x 64" and/or "Rank x Org. 2R x 8".
After I buy the RAM, though ( an EU to US forwarding service ), I'll get back to the discussion with my experiences.
Regards,
jdb2
jdb2
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July 3rd, 2019 08:00
When I have the time and the funds, I'm going to buy an Alienware 17 R5 64GiB SO-DIMM kit for Compuram.biz, who guarantees compatibility with the 17 R5 because I believe that they test each RAM kit with a 17 R5. I'm not sure if the Compuram.biz SO-DIMMs are manufactured by Samsung, although the RAM chips must be. The memory organization for the Compuram.biz modules is not the same as the Samsung SO-DIMMs, so, apparently Compuram.biz must be fabbing their own SO-DIMM PCBs with Samsung RAM chips but using a different memory organization and different SPD data, which is perhaps what makes them work.
Regards,
jdb2
ScienceX
37 Posts
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July 8th, 2019 22:00
Hi Every one
Just wondering if there are any updates?