1. You cannot mix and match processors.  They must be the same. If you do not see one on our site, contact sales. Not all our parts are available online.

2. If you order the processor, make sure the heatsink is included.  Memory must also match on both sides.

3. The server has 3 channels per side, 2 DIMM's per channel.  Each channel needs to be identical. When upgrading memory, make sure you order the correct ones to match what is currently installed, either UDIMM or RDIMM.  They cannot be mixed either.  For more memory information, check out the technical guide located here: http://www.dell.com/downloads/global/products/pedge/en/server-poweredge-t610-tech-guidebook.pdf

Regards.

This link may help answer some of your questions: http://www.dell.com/downloads/emea/products/pedge/en/installing_upgrading_ddr3_memory_11g.pdf

You must use the same size and rank in the same channel.   When you mix and match, you will get a warning that the configuration is not optimal.  Then you have to manually hit a key to continue each time the server restarts.   So for best practice,  use the same DIMM's in the channel. 

Regards,

Thanks Geoff,

So, just to confirm, each channel could have, say, 1x 4Gb RDIMM and 1x 8Gb RDIMM, giving a total of 36Gb?

Or I could go with 1x 4GB plus 1x 16Gb per channel giving a total of 60Gb?

The current 4Gb RDIMMS are single rank modules. Is it possible to have single and dual or quad rank modules in the same channel?

Thanks again - but I'm slightly confused, as the document appears to state something a bit different.

It says that mixed ranks and mixed capacity are both supported. Under mixed capacity, it says:

"All populated channels must have the same DIMM arrangement. Example with Channel 1: if bank A is populated with a 4GB DIMM (slot A1), bank B with 2GB (slot A4) and Bank C is empty (slot A7), all memory Channels must be populated that way. (see figure 5)"

I get that this paragraph is specific for the T710, but you can infer its meaning for the T610: slots A1, A2 and A3 all need to have the same DIMM, and slots A4, A5 and A6 all need to have the same DIMM but it doesn't have to be the same DIMM as in slots A1, A2 and A3.

So, I could in theory have:

Slots A1, A2, A3 = 16Gb quad rank DIMM

Slots A4, A5, A6 = 4Gb single rank DIMM

Giving a total of 60Gb and still a balanced configuration.

Can you confirm?

Your suggested setup should work.  The quad ranked 16gb RDIMM's have to go in slots A1, A2, A3.   As long as you populated the rest exactly, and set the F2 bios to Optimized mode for memory, it should work.

Regards,

I've just rebooted the server after installing 3x 16Gb modules as suggested above, and everything appears to be working OK. All 60Gb is recognised on boot.

However, once the OS (SBS2011) has loaded, it reports that there is 60Gb of RAM but only 32Gb is usable.

Anyone know why this is? Is it a limitation of SBS2011?

(I appreciate this is a separate question, and possibly in the wrong forum, but it is kind of linked to my original question.)

It will only recognize 32gb of RAM: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg491249.aspx

I am glad it worked!  Have a good weekend!

Regards,