Dell T3500: RAM issues?

Hi Jack,

Due to the extremely intermittent nature of the issue it will be very difficult to pinpoint the root cause. 

I doubt very much if it's to do with the CMOS battery but since the system is old and the batteries are cheap I don't see any harm in replacing it anyway.

Do you have access to other compatible memory that you know is good? If so, you could try substituting the existing memory with that. 

With the age of the system, if the fault is with the motherboard, it may just be a dry solder joint somewhere rather than something visible like a capacitor. If that's the case the issue may be triggered by something as seemingly trivial as a change in ambient temperature or humidity.

You could try running extended memory tests on the system to see if that will pinpoint a slot or DIMM, but due to the nature of the fault it may not pick anything up:

https://www.memtest86.com/

I would leave the tests running for as long as possible.

let us know how you get on, thanks.

Hi Jack,

Most of what you said seems to revolve around memory issues.  I'm not overriding anything Alasdair said.  It can also be tried - reinstall memory sticks one at a time to check for errors.  It's my belief the memory sticks should be an exact match - besides capacity and speed, but also the same manufacturer.  New memory sounds like your best bet.

If the CMOS battery is low or dead, you'll get a screen at startup indicating so, then options to go to BIOS, Continue, etc.  No harm if you want to replace anyway, but make sure it's longer lasting lithium and not alkaline.

Also, those memory chips probably aren't the same age, so some might be worn more than others.

I have exact same problem on my t3500.

I can not use more than 2gb RAM. anything else above 2gb is rendered as Hardware Reserved. Bios gives memory failure detected in DIMM "X"

System always runs on 2gb ram.

• Dell motherboards tend to be picky when it comes to ram. The T3500 has 6 slots and they are color coded. Three slots are one color and the other 3 are a different color. I’m pretty sure your problem is that you’re using 4 sticks of one type and 2 sticks of a different type. I would suggest using matching sets of 3 and 3. Make sure you put the sets in the same color slots. 
  FYI, mine has 18gb ram and runs perfectly. 3x4gb and 3x2gb, but they are installed in matching sets of 3 in the corresponding colored slots.
• I hope this helps.

• By the way, I would suggest installing the latest bios update before doing any significant upgrades like ram or cpu.

• If I remember correctly, I got the bios advice from these forums when I was upgrading an old optiplex and inspiron for a friend and my son. Anyway, I’ve never had a problem. I’ve successfully updated the bios on my T3500, the old optiplex and inspiron. Most recently an optiplex 3010. None of them have had any problems. I’m always sure that I go to the legitimate Dell website to find the latest bios update before installing it.

Hi @Semi-geek,

Tip:  If you don't know already, unless doing them hardware upgrades, be sure to hold off on BIOS updates, unless it fixes something, like security updates.

In this forum, we've seen machines brick too easily.  This is if things don't go exactly right.  Or we've seen machines brick anyway.  Sometimes, forced upgrades also cause problems, like fans stuck at high rev.

I've updated BIOS successfully myself, but tend to lean away from it, as do some others for those reasons.  Kind of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Good news is I don't think I've ever heard of a T3500 bricking from a BIOS update.

On older machines, such as the T3500, changing the size 2032 CMOS battery can be mentioned if it's 5+ years old.  And as you might know, power can't be lost during, or MB will brick.

No argument about the RAM.  I can't speak for some newer systems, but some of the older ones, seemingly dependent upon the generation, could exceed RAM specs.

Some Dell's won't even take 2 brand names mixed.

• As for the battery, I won’t argue with that. I’ve never changed my battery, but also never had any issues.
• As for the memory, I stand behind what I said before. The T3500 motherboard has 6 slots that are color coded (2 different colors). Everything I’ve ever read about Dell motherboards are picky when it comes to memory. The slots should be filled by color. I got mine free from work. It had 3x2gb sticks that were installed in 3 slots of the same color. Dell recommends a max of 12gb for that motherboard, but numerous YouTube videos show people successfully installing much more. I took a chance and bought 3x4gb sticks from Amazon. Since my Dell came with Hynix, I chose to go with the same brand and voltage to be safe. I did a bios update, put the 4gb sticks where the 2gb used to be and moved the 2gb over to the other color slots. When I booted it up, it immediately said that the amount of memory had changed and recognized all 18gb.

• I might also suggest going to the crucial website and having it scan your pc. Mine is running the hynix 10600.