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G5 5000 Single Channel Memory/RAM Upgrade to Dual Channel?
I'm looking for opinions on what the best RAM update option is for my recently purchased received my G5 5000 (arrived 2 weeks ago)
- Intel i7-10700F
- 512GB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD
- Nvidia RTX 3070
- 16GB, 1x16GB (Samsung 1Rx8 PC4-3200 / M378A2G43AB3-CWE)
When I ordered online I didn't notice that the default selection was 1x16GB and not 2x8GB. Contacted Dell but I wasn't able to change order only cancel and re-order so I just went ahead with order so it wouldn't be further delayed.
I've upgraded the stock CPU heatsink/cooler to a Cooler Master Hyper T2 (which I found for $25 CAD) and some internal case fans so the CPU thermal throttle issue has been solved but I want to upgrade the RAM so I at least have dual channel.
I will be using the Dell G5 for day to day stuff, gaming, video editing (home movies) and photography editing (photoshop/lightroom).
Option 1 - buy another stick of 16GB DDR4 3200 from Dell for $121.99 CAD. Looked else where online and couldn't find a better deal for the same RAM. Will have 32GB total running at 2933 Mhz.
Option 2 - move my 16GB from my AMD PC. Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4-3000 CL15. Found some used RAM (FB Marketplace) to put in my AMD PC Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x8GB) DDR-3600 CL18 for about $80.
Option 3 - buy a new set of 8GBx2 DDR4 RAM for Dell G5 ~$120 CAD
Option 4 - other
bertro514
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May 5th, 2021 16:00
@DylanCanada the deal with non-Alienware Dells is that the motherboard doesn't support XMP, so it runs the RAM at the stock DDR4 voltage of 1.2V. Any DIMM that's advertised at a certain speed and 1.35V will only attain that speed when supplied 1.35V, which the Dell mb can't do. So the RAM will run lower MHZ (even lower than the 2933 supported by your 10th gen CPU). I've seen a lot of people reporting that they bought 3200 1.35V and found it to run at 2666 or even 2400.
That being said, you can find 2933 1.2V Dimms out there, but honestly the price Dell quoted you is not bad at all. From what I could find on a quick search through newegg.ca, amazon.ca and such, a 16GB stick at 1.2V is above $130 CAD.
RoHe
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May 5th, 2021 16:00
Questions to consider:
Will an additional 16 GB DDR4-3200 module match the existing module closely enough for them to run in dual-channel mode?
Will you really notice a difference between single- and dual-channel mode with 32 GB of RAM?
Do you know if the RAM in Option 2 is compatible with this PC model? Dell PCs tend to be fussy about RAM.
Here's an Option 4: Crucial has 16 GB DDR4-3200 modules that are compatible with this PC model for US$85. And they will take it back if it doesn't work...
DylanCanada
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May 10th, 2021 00:00
Thank you for the replies. I'm leaning towards OPTION 1 and purchase another 16GB from Dell. 32GB will be more than I'll ever need on this computer... and also:
1. They gave me some money back from my original order after a mix-up which more than covers the additional 16GB.
2. Ordering from Dell has free shipping and don't have to worry about compatibility issue
bertro514
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May 11th, 2021 04:00
@DylanCanada Good luck! And you're right: ordering direct from Dell has the highest chance of being compatible, even though someone posted on the forum just last week that they ordered from dell and the RAM still runs at 2400 instead of 2933. Hopefully that's just a edge case.
DylanCanada
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May 11th, 2021 21:00
Received the RAM upgrade from Dell and installed. No issues and I have 32GB in dual channel at 2933 Mhz.
RoHe
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May 11th, 2021 21:00
@DylanCanada - Yea! Good work...