Can a SC440 use 2GB RAM sticks for more than 4GB?

Hi

Has anyone tried this as yet? I really want to upgrade past 4GB. The hardware "should" support 2GB sticks, unless Dell have crippled it in the bios to force us to buy more expensive servers.... anyone have any 2gb ecc sticks they can try in a SC440 ?

Well, thanks to Google translate, looks like someone in Japan has already done it, and proved (I think) that the SC440 CAN take a full 8GB RAM .... casts a little doubt over Dell's specs?

http://usy.jp/pc/poweredge_sc440_8gb/

I just installed 8GB RAM-- it works!

I wonder if a QUAD core 45nm CPU will work?? I'm using a xeon 3060 in it--

Well done Sckramer.

What memory did you use? I've looked around and all the ECC memory I find is expensive! .. apparently, the chipset on the MB supports non-ECC memory, but Dell crippled it so it only supports ECC.

Please let me know how you get along with the quad core.... I'd like to do the same

I used this ram:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148115

i wouldnt trust non-ECC anyway, i agree w/dell disabling that--

I just bought that exact same kit of memory for a SC440, but it isn't working. I'm just getting tones from the computer and lights 1 and 3 on the front lit up. It was on BIOS 1.1.0, so I downloaded and installed the newest BIOS, 1.5.0, but it's still doing the same thing. What BIOS were you running when you got the additional RAM to work?

Since the last comment on this thread was 3 years ago, why don't we just take it from here.  What EXACTLY are the memory specs on the memory you are trying?

This is the memory that I ordered:

www.amazon.com/.../B000EJ3BA8

This is the exact same kit that the above commenter said he used, albeit purchased from Amazon rather than Newegg. The memory is DDR2 PC2-5300E CL=5 ECC RAM. I am trying to upgrade the server to 8GB of total RAM using 4x2GB sticks, but it won't boot. I have tried only installing 2 of the sticks, but it won't boot that way, either. As I mentioned before, I tried upgrading the BIOS from 1.1.0 to 1.5.0, but it didn't help. Is there somewhere I can get the in-between BIOS versions (1.2.0 - 1.4.0) to try them out?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

BIOS version 1.5 has all the code and fixes of previous BIOS versions, so downgrading to any previous version will not help (unless one version allowed it and 1.5 took it back, which is REALLY unlikely).

According to the specs for the SC440, 2GB DIMM's are not supported ... only 1GB DIMM's with a total of 4GB ... and the BIOS release notes do not say anything about adding support for more memory or bigger DIMM's.  Crucial agrees.

While the SC440's Intel 3000 chipset will support up to 8GB of RAM, the Dell BIOS (or other management hardware) does not apparently support more than 4GB ... there may or may not be a good reason for this.

Reading through this thread, it sounds a bit suspect to me, but maybe - if sckramer is still around - he can provide some insight (and some proof) that this worked without altering/hacking the system/BIOS.

I just found all the older BIOS files on the Dell FTP site. I'm going to try downgrading one by one to see if I can find one that works.

There are some other forums online that suggest that the SC440 can indeed use 4x2GB sticks of RAM for a total of 8GB. However, none of them mention a specific BIOS. I'm just waiting for an exmerge to finish on the server and I'm going to iterate through the old BIOS versions to see if I can find one that works.

It wouldn't surprise me at all if one of the old BIOS versions did support 2GB sticks and Dell disabled it in a more recent BIOS. The SC440 was an entry level machine even when it was released, so allowing it to use 8GB of RAM would let it compete against some of Dell's higher level servers. It's similar to how Windows is always developed at the full, highest capability version. Then, during release to retail, the lower end versions such Home are created by removing features and capabilities.

While I wouldn't argue against a market position decided on by Dell for this particular system, there DO exist scenarios where other hardware prevents the system as a whole from properly using that much RAM, in such a case, Dell would indeed be wise to limit the max with BIOS code to prevent the system from becoming unstable - remember, Dell must be able to warranty the system.  It would REALLY surprise me if one of the previous BIOS versions made any difference.

I'm afraid I can't see the correlation between server development and Windows development.  Even with an 8GB max, this server cannot compete with higher-level servers - 8GB or not, it is still an entry-level server.  Entry-level servers today will hold 16GB - MUCH more than most people need, but they are in many other important ways, entry-level servers.

However ... good luck.