7010 MT memory confusion

Question

I recently picked up a 7010 on eBay for $45 for my son, after initially having a inspiron 620 for him and realizing the 620 is very limited. I upgraded the following in the Optiplex 7010:

i5-3470 swapped for a i7-3770, upgraded the wifi card to a wifi 6E card 1200mbps, installed a nvidia gt1030, all worked fine on the 8gb of sk hynix 4gbx2 single rank modules.

I went and purchased 4 modules of samsung 4gb dual rank 1600mhz after looking at the specs for the optiplex that they should work just fine, well i was wrong, with all four dimm slots occupied by the samsung dual rank it turns on and spits out a 2-3 trouble code on the power button led no display, I remove 2 dimms from the white lock dimm slots and tried again this time the system boots and i get a display. Tried all the Samsung modules 1 at a time and they all work the system boots. I have also tried 4 dimms of PNY Gold 1333MHz and got the same issue with all 4 slots occupied. The only way i get the system to work with all four slots is alternating dual rank and single rank dimms, it doesn’t work with all dual rank. Also attached is the modules i have tried. Has anyone else had issues with dual rank modules not booting and giving a trouble code of 23

JOcean · Answer

The 2 - 3 code does indicate either bad RAM, Bad MB or bad CPU. The RAM slots to use for 2 RAM modules should be the white slots. The Samsung modules should work but the most compatible RAM for a Dell system is from Crucial at this page. One thing you can try, considering the system is around 8 years old, would be to replace the CMOS battery (CR2032). Leave the old battery out of the system for 15 minutes before installing the brand new battery (don't use a battery that may have been sitting around in a drawer).

Copperhead421 · Answer

I’ll try replacing the CMOS battery when i get home, I’ll also look into the Crucial ram as well. I’m just confused if all the PNY and samsung modules work individually why does it not work with all of them installed?

redxps630 · Answer

This is a known limitation with some older motherboard model related to weak cpu memory controller. Those motherboard cannot support 4 double rank (2Rx8) memory. I recall one gigabyte motherboard manual specifically mentions that.
dual rank memory puts more stress on memory controller. having all 4 dual rank may exceed the limit of memory controller.

bradthetechnut · Answer

A-Tech is a RAM brand I've used for years without fail.  Has lifetime warranty like Crucial but is less costly. Optiplex 7010 Tech Guide

Optiplex Desktops

7010 MT memory confusion

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