Mixing memory brands, even the same spec's, is not a good idea and most often fails.  Memory should only be one brand/type.  Even my home built desktop that uses an ASUS motherboard will not work with two brands of memory.  I have some Corsair and I have some GSkill both the same type/spec's.  With either the PC boots and works, but with both the Corsair and GSkill installed it will not boot and gives me memory "beep" error. 

We have many posts over the years, on this forum, of mixing memory "failures".  I also see failures on other computer forums.

Barring a remote hardware problem on your motherboard, the problem is mixed brand memory.

Yes, I figured it can only be it. I've read about people having this problem but also of many successful stories of mixed brands working just fine, so it was worth a try.

I was just making sure I exhaust every option to make this work before buying a new pair but guess this is it!

Thanks for your reply,

Cheers

There are a few that have been lucky with mixed brands, but in most cases mixed brands do not work.

I would go with Crucial.  Crucial guarantees their memory to work in a Dell.

As I noted there are a few that are lucky and mixed brands work.  But over the years (and I've been on this forum 17 years) we have seen very few that made it work.   I work other computer forums and its the same there (with all brands).

I have the same problem (letter for letter) as the OP, and yet I used matching RAM sticks and still no success.

The 3020 requires 1.35V memory.  If not using this voltage memory that may be the problem.

Hello,

It has been a long time since I got back to this. In the meanwhile I acquired 2 x 8GB of RAM with the exact recommended specs: a pair of Crucial DDR3 1600mhz 1.35v.

Both sticks tested and working, but I have the exact same symptoms: no boot, fans keep spinning and amber light flashing with the 2, 3 pattern.

I tried all the troubleshooting again, and changed the CMOS battery, but I am out of options.

Should I assume that my slot 2 is dead? Is there any other test I can do or is the only solution to buy a new mother board?

Thank you!

Have you tried installing RAM in just the #2 slot and if so does the system boot? The 2,3 blink pattern can also indicate a bad MB which goes back to a possible bad slot. Have you looked at the slot to see if any pins are bad or the slot is damaged? And if you want to really reach a bit for a possible cause, I have seen a CPU that had a bad memory controller which only affected slot 2. If the RAM were only in slot 1 the system ran fine. Rare but possible.

Hi, thanks for your reply.

If I use only slot 2 it does not boot. Does the same thing as with both plugged, so maybe the problem is with that slot. There is no difference between the two that I can see, no bad pins, everything seems fine.

Hi Abiatar,  did you ever find a solution to this issue?  I also am having an issue with Slot 2 behavior.  When I use Slot 1 and run diagnostics, I get a memory error popup, error code:  2000-0122.  Just wondering if you discovered what the issue was?  

Hi there.

I never got any errors. The last thing I tried was buying a 2 x 8GB pair, with Dell's recommended settings (Crucial, 1600mHz, 1.35v). Same results - both RAMs work OK in slot 1; no boot on slot 2 alone or both slots.

I have no other options and can only conclude slot 2 is damaged and I must work with only 8GB on this machine.

Hope you have more luck than me!

guys just asking if the kingston hyper x ddr3 8gb ram 1600 mhz compatible with my motherboard of optiplex dih81r/tigris sff mb 12125-2 thanks