1 Rookie
•
55 Posts
4
22306
July 18th, 2020 15:00
Aurora R11, HyperX Fury ram upgrade failure
I ordered my R11 with the 16GB Dual Channel HyperX Fury DDR4 XMP at 3200MHz option. l ordered the HyperX Fury DDR4 16GB 3200MHz kit (HX432C16FB3K2/16) to bring the system to a total of 32GB RAM. It failed and here are my findings:
The RAM that came with the computer is model XW21KG-MIE / 9995702-045.A00G - I can find absolutely no reference to that model number anywhere. The kit that I bought is model X432C16FB3K2/16 - 99U5743-007.A00G. The RAM looks to be compatible except for timings and XMP profiles.
The stock RAM runs at 20-20-20 at 1600MHz (per channel) on XMP Profile 2. The new RAM runs at 17-17-17 at 1600MHz (per channel) on XMP Profile 1. As you can see, the problem boils down to the XMP profiles. Stock requires profile 2 to run at 3200MHz, the new RAM requires XMP profile 1 to run at 3200MHz. The only way to make them work together in the R11 is to disable XMP completely. That reduces the overall clock speed to 2400Mhz, reducing memory bandwidth from 50GB/s to 37.5GB/s!
This is clearly a problem and I'm upset at Dell for using not only what appears to be a proprietary form of HyperX branded RAM, but that its CL timings are slower than what the MUCH cheaper upgrade is. FYI, the 16GB (8x2) HyperX Fury kit I bought was $81. Dell charges an extra $150 for it when you build the system. Also disheartening is that if you look up memory upgrades on Dell's site for the R11, there is no HyperX Fury ram listed. I've submitted a ticket to HyperX about it but I assume the only fix would be for Dell to do something with the BIOS XMP profiles or sell me their overpriced RAM. This is the first computer I ever bought pre-built. I usually buy my parts separately and build it myself. I'm starting to wonder if I made a mistake in the name of convenience.
MeatRocket
1 Rookie
•
55 Posts
3
July 25th, 2020 08:00
The Corsair 4x8GB kit (CMK32GX4M4B3200C16) that I bought worked perfectly. Didn't even have to go into the BIOS. The system picked it up at XMP 1 and booted straight to Windows. Benchmarks show that all 4 slots being full gave me about a 20% speed bump over just having 2 slots filled and latency is down. I'm a happy camper now, I just wish I didn't have to totally replace the stock RAM because it wasn't built to industry standards.
Divingblue
1 Message
0
December 14th, 2022 19:00
I had the same problem with that mix. I swapped original OEM ram into banks 1 and 3 and the new ram into banks 2 and 4. Finally booted up and all used XMP2 as planned and all clocking at 20 20 20. I think the slots 1 and 3 are priority slots. Works great, Cupid shows everything working well.
Alienware Aurora R11, i9, Fury Beast and FuryX
NavySKCS
3 Posts
0
July 19th, 2020 11:00
I bought the same machine with the same RAM as yours. And I too bought the same 16GB upgrade as you did (X432C16FB3K2/16) and i'm having the same problem I think. When I installed the 2nd stick, the system booted up fine and showed that it was running 32GB. But when I tried to reboot the system it wouldn't boot up.
I don't know much about BIOS or any of that stuff, but clearly something isn't right. I posted the issue in the forum this morning and received a note from the Dell Cares virtual assistant. Whatever that is....
Tesla1856
8 Wizard
•
17.1K Posts
2
July 19th, 2020 13:00
Unmatched pairs might work as long as they are in separate banks (there are 2).
However, pretty sure that ALL INSTALLED DIMMs - IN ALL BANKS must match if you want to use XMP .
sm56
2 Intern
•
178 Posts
0
July 19th, 2020 15:00
When I ordered my R10, I went ahead and got 32GB of Hyper 3200 RAM...
I thought about maybe using g.skill 3200 DDR4 that I put in my wife's home-built system but then I thought it might not be compatible with Dell Alienware as these systems can be picky about memory installed.
Note: I did swap out the GPU with an RTX 2080ti Founders Edition and with the delldatavault and support assist disabled (although I can manually run support assist by starting the services for it) the system runs reliably now
MeatRocket
1 Rookie
•
55 Posts
1
July 19th, 2020 15:00
@Tesla1856
Yes, that's what my post was about. Dell is using a vendor-specific RAM type although it's marketed as mainstream/independent. My findings show that you can indeed mix RAM with the same overall specifications but if one pair is coded with a different XMP profile then none of it will work together is XMP is not disabled.
The solution for me, since I bought 16GB with my R11, is to spend another $150 for 16GB of stock RAM from Dell (although they don't list the part for individual sale), or to rip out the RAM Dell sent and pay $141 for a 32GB kit (16GBx2 - HX432C16FB3K2/32) that actually has faster timing and will leave me with 2 DIMM slots for future expansion.
Maybe I can sell the 16GB that Dell sent me to some other hapless schlep who doesn't want to go through the trouble.
Tesla1856
8 Wizard
•
17.1K Posts
0
July 19th, 2020 18:00
Maybe I can sell the 16GB that Dell sent me to some other hapless schlep who doesn't want to go through the trouble.
=================
Yes, that's what we did back in the days of Aurora-R5 and R6 ...
Some bought all new ram. Others bought those pulled Dell-OEM Hyper-X Fury DIMMs (to match their existing ones). It's really better when ALL installed DIMMs MATCH EXACTLY.
r72019
6 Professor
•
5.3K Posts
0
July 19th, 2020 18:00
That was about a year ago though.
r72019
6 Professor
•
5.3K Posts
1
July 19th, 2020 18:00
I sold the 16gb oem RAM for $80. It was pretty easy/quick to sell.
MeatRocket
1 Rookie
•
55 Posts
0
July 19th, 2020 19:00
@Anonymous "This is another good idea, but the marketing technique needs a little polish"
NavySKCS
3 Posts
0
July 20th, 2020 17:00
So did the 16GBx2 - HX432C16FB3K2/32 kit work?
MeatRocket
1 Rookie
•
55 Posts
0
July 21st, 2020 07:00
I haven't ordered it yet but I'm sure it will, just not with the original RAM in the mix.
MeatRocket
1 Rookie
•
55 Posts
1
July 21st, 2020 10:00
Just got off the phone with Kensington support & they confirmed my findings. They said Dell (and HP for their Omen desktop) contracted them to make the HyperX FURY RAM in the R11 to Dell specifications using a non-standard XMP profile.
skyrick
1 Message
0
July 22nd, 2020 23:00
MeatRocket,
I have the same exact issue as you. I am interested in buying your 2 8gb Dell cards! Or sell you mine. Haha. Let me know before I purchase 2 new sets. I would love to take yours off your hands.
Skyrick
r72019
6 Professor
•
5.3K Posts
0
July 23rd, 2020 05:00
Try a pm, not online post. I don't think you're allowed to do selling activities on here.