Incorrect Installed Ram in Dell Precision Workstation 690

Why did you remove the RAM module in the first place?

Could be a RAM failure or maybe a slot failure... ?

Reboot and press F12. Go to Utilities partition and run all the RAM tests. This can take a long time.

How much RAM is Windows seeing? And what version of Windows are you using?

Ron 

Hello shs28,

I have a quite similar problem. Running the Passmark benchmark showed poor memory throughput compared to colleagues with the Dell P690 machine. I have (2) Xeon 5060 CPUs.

All my 8 Gb (8 x 1 Gb DIMM) showed as 533 Mhz in the BIOS, so I removed 4 DIMMs that were DDR 4200 RAM that came with the machine; the remaing DIMMs are DDR 5300 667 MHz memory. The BIOS now displays (4) 1 Gb DIMMs installed for a total of 2 Gb of RAM.

I did install the BIOS update to A08. Which BIOS level do you have installed?

Remember that all RAM will run at the speed of the slowest RAM that's installed, regardless of each DIMM's ratings.

DId you try clearing BIOS by removing the motherboard battery and pressing/holding the power button for ~30 sec after you removed the first 4 GB of RAM. And which slots are those 4 x1GB DIMMs installed in?

Ron

I tried your idea, which I thought had merit, but alas it did not help.

In searching other instances of this problem like mine it appeared poor memory socket/DIMM connection appeared to the most common cause. I removed all four DIMMs and used canned air to blow out the DIMM sockets and DIMM pin blocks. When I reinstalled the DIMMs into the motherboard I pushed each DIMM firmly until there was and audible CLICK and the socket latches snapped shut. The Dell P690 BIOS (A08) Memory Info section now shows 4 Gb  installed RAM instead of the incorrect 2 Gb. Here is what appears in Memory Info section of BIOS now.

Installed Memory                4.0 GB

Memory Speed                    667 MHz

Memory Channel Mode     Quad

Memory Technology          FB-DIMM DDR2 SDRAM (ECC)

Memory Slot       Size    ECC    Rank   Type      Organization

DIMM1                 1GB      yes        1        FBD          X8

DIMM2                 1GB      yes        1        FBD          X8

DIMM3                 1GB      yes        2        FBD          X8

DIMM4                 1GB      yes        2        FBD          X8

DIMM5                 Empty

DIMM6                 Empty

DIMM7                 Empty

DIMM8                 Empty

....................................................................................................

Not surprisingly, my Passmark benchmark memory score improve considerably.

Thank you for the tip you provided. It does seem to me a shorcoming of the BIOS not to report an error for partially engaged DIMMs when clearly the firmware was aware a problem exisited.

Thank you for the tip you provided. It does seem to me a shorcoming of the BIOS not to report an error for partially engaged DIMMs when clearly the firmware was aware a problem exisited.

USER ERROR!! :emotion-4:

How is BIOS going to tell the difference between absence of a RAM module, a failed RAM module, or one that's not fully seated in the slot?

Lest I repeat, USER ERROR!! :emotion-4:

Ron

I can't agree with you. Most error messages report user errors. The BIOS clearly does see all the DIMMs installed and doesn't add the capacity of the mis-seated DIMM(s) to the total, so why make the poor user struggle to recognize a poor connection? There was no visible difference between the mis-seated and correctly seated DIMMs.

Hi,

I've the same problem - but compressed air doesn't help :(

But there is one thing - memory installed in 1st and 2nd slot - or on the 1st and 2nd riser - is hot after few minutes - but memory installed in 3rd and 4th slot/riser - is only warm?

Slots on motherboard looks fine - no bent pins, no dirt, etc. And I don't see anything missing around slots - motherboard doesn't look broken.

I tried to flash BIOS from A07 to A08 - but no luck :(

Motherboard is MY171.

thanks

Do you have the standard 8 DIMM slots or is your system equipped with the 1KW power supply and memory riser cards? I can't quite tell from your description.

My P690 has the standard 8. I found that after flushing the DIMM sockets out with compressed air, I still needed to 1) firmly install, tightly seat, then remove the memory DIMMs several times to scratch loose whatever dust or oxide that was clinging to the DIMMs or the socket pins. One mistake I kept making was thinking a DIMM was in and seated, then I came back a seconds and applied firm stead, then rocking pressure for about 15 seconds and heard and felt a "thump" as the DIMM seated completely.

Also try installing the DIMMs into different slots; sometimes a given slot and DIMM just don't work well together.

I've two machines, one with old motherboard DT029 and another with MY171.

The 1st one - works perfectly fine, I need to downgrade BIOS to A01 to use E5345 but all memory slots - with or without risers - works perfectly fine - tested with 3 sets of risers ;)

The 2nd machine, which I bought few weeks ago, was populated with risers, 1kW PSU and 8x 1GB memory sticks - all sticks installed in first riser 1-2.

I thought it was the seller's mistake but when I tried to install it correctly - for quad channel - it won't work. BIOS shows all sticks recognised - but only half usefull. And no matter if I install it in risers - I tried another set of risers from the first machine - or directly on board - it won't work. I also tried two other sets of different DIMMs - but no luck :(

I hear "click" every time so they were installed properly.

And like I said before - sticks installed in slots 1-2 are getting very hot - sticks installed in 3-4 - are only warm.

Without memory in 1-2 slots - it won't boot.

I'll try again with compressed air.

Thanks for your reply.

The memory in these machine runs hot. I strongly suspect the warm DIMMs point to the trouble. Try swapping the hot DIMMs to the warm DIMMs slots. Does the trouble follow the slots or the DIMMS?

But all the FBDIMM memory modules I have - more than 40 sticks in total - 1GB and 2GB, different makes and models - are hot after few minutes - in all 3 machines I have right now ...

Otherwise - why there would be special fan blowing directly on them ? ;)

"And like I said before - sticks installed in slots 1-2 are getting very hot - sticks installed in 3-4 - are only warm."

I had the impression from the above quote that the DIMMs didn't all heat up evenly, suggesting the cooler ones had a connection problem.

At some point you must decide how much value you place on your time. Buying just a few used 2Gb DIMMs would have you running for about $100. I found the irritation of not knowing the source of the problem kept me debugging past the point of diminishing returns; it was satisfying when it all worked.

If you have the time to spend and the will, try all the DIMMS in pairs to weed out any bad ones. The motherboard will run just fine without the memory risers. Try installing pairs of 1Gb DIMMs in the first two slots of the eight native slots as these slot position are required, so see your 690 manual. Power up and see if the BIOS recognizes the memory AND adds it to the tally of total memory installed. If won't load the BIOS or boot with a bad DIMM or if any DIMMs are in the wrong position. Not to harp on this, but blow out all the native DIMM slots if you decide not to use the risers - any debris left in the pins may cause an open circuit.

Good luck.