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49969
February 5th, 2010 23:00
XPS 720 Memory upgrade issue
OK, I have an XPS 720 with two 1 gig memory chips. First off when I go to the online system configuration for my service tag, it gives no usable information on the memory that was installed . I pulled the chips and they are Corsair Dominators but there of course is no part number. I lookup what the online system upgrade configurator recommends for my service tag and it tells me to use the Corsair TWIN2X4096-6400C5DHX but something seems wrong, so I call Corsair. They tell me that Dell ordered the chips with no identifiable part number by design but to use CPU-Z to get the part number form the chip. Low and behold they are not what Dell says but in fact they are CM2X1024-8500C5D chips which is what I thought (1066 Mhz not 800 Mhz which is what dell wanted to sell me to upgrade). I call Corsair back and they tell me that the system may not function if I add the 2 gig chips (TWIN2X4096-8500C5D) with the 1 gig chips that are in the system (TWIN2X2048-8500C5D or CM2X2048-8500C5D0 – kit part / chip part). They think I need to go either 4 x 1 gig chips or pull the 1 gigs and put in 2 x 2 gig chips. This is a 64 bit system running Windows 7 64bit. OF COURSE THE MANUAL SAYS NOTHING!!!
Does anyone have any ideas???
Mr. Naculation
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March 27th, 2010 11:00
So what do you thing about this rams for my system:
Corsair TWIN2X4096-6400C4DHX (for upgrade to 8GB)
Davet50
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March 27th, 2010 11:00
2.1 volts is right at the edge of the voltage range. I feel the chips will run but not at the 4-4-4-12 timings. Even my OZC reapers did not run at the full specs until OCZ wrote special SPDs for me.
Mr. Naculation
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March 27th, 2010 12:00
and why do you think they wouldn't work? because of the volts or its generally a timing problem?
What is spd?
Davet50
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March 27th, 2010 14:00
Yes the volts. Because we cannot tweek the voltage setting we are stuck with what ever the controller will provide. now 8 gigs is a lot of votage requirement. IF we had a tweekable system one could up the voltage a bit and the chips would get all the voltage it needs.
What i think might happen is instead of the 4-4-4-12 timings the controller will drop the timing down to the next lower level of 5-5-5-18 that is what this spec sheet mentions.
Note that to get the 4-4-4-12 timings you need to enable EPP support which our systems have the capability of doing. What this does is in a way it overclocks the memory and this is done by are you ready.. raising the voltage level.
Now here again you may find that they will run at the lower timings. Each system is just a little bit different. but the vast majority fall into the not so category.
SPD that is the program that resides on each stick of memory. it interfaces with the processor and is used to program various facets of the ram modules. Timings are one thing. Some vendors will provide you with special SPD if you are having issues with your ram sticks. Then this is flashed into the stick and you can most of the time get the ram performance to meet specs.
Mr. Naculation
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March 27th, 2010 15:00
Thanks for your explication. Now I asked also to Corsair if they would work fine at my system, I will update hear when I have the answer.
But other question....what's about ntune from nvidia? with this you can do all the changes you want. Change bios settings, cpu speed, fsb, graphic card and also for the ram's I can make changes like the timings and voltage. I have never tried, but is that not the solution?
Davet50
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March 27th, 2010 16:00
Ntune is a complete waste of time. It is buggy and causes more problems then it is worth. My best advice is to not use for anything.
The major problem is it is SOFTWARE based to any changes you make except for some bios settings do not kick in until the programs loads. Now if it worked at the bios level it would be something to think about.
Mr. Naculation
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March 31st, 2010 13:00
Hi.
This is the answer I received from Corsair:
We can only guarantee that the memory listed on our memory configurator would be compatible with your system:
http://www.corsair.com/configurator/system_results.aspx?id=589332
Its possible the modules you have listed would work, but they are tested at 2.1 volts and you would need to make sure you can set this manually in your BIOS. Also when you install 4 modules you maybe limited to DDR667 due to limitations of the memory controller on the motherboard.
Davet50
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March 31st, 2010 14:00
Well that pretty much sums it up. Since we have no control over the voltage supplied to the chips, you would not be able to bump it up. and the part about the memory controller is really accurate, although i do believe you can get them to run at 800 just at the 5-5-5 timings.
Mr. Naculation
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April 26th, 2010 13:00
Hi
Now I have found other Rams which I'm interested:
G.Skill 2x2GB Kit, DDR2-800MHz, CL4-4-4-12 @1.8V (F2-6400CL4D-4GBPK)
what do you think? If I upgrade to 8GB I think they should work fine because they need only 1.8V or not??
Davet50
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April 26th, 2010 15:00
By their specs they should work. I am not familiar with G skill so I cannot offer much there
Mr. Naculation
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May 18th, 2010 16:00
Hi
So I finally bought 4x 2GB of G.Skill F2-6400CL4-2GBPK Rams for a total of 8GB.
I have installed them in my system, activated the EPP profile in the bios and it works all good. The system/cpu-z shows me a total of 8GB at 4-4-4-12 @2.1V.
For the moment I use de 32-Bit Edition of Vista because I had no time to install Windows 7 64bit. I have to do some backups before. But Vista shows me already 8GB.
The only think who has changed ist the speed-index: befor it was 5.9 and now especially for the ram it has downgraded to 5.4. Why this? I think the problem is because I use the 32bit edition but I'm not shure. What do you think??