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XPS 8930, memory upgrade questions, #5
I bought an XPS 8930 Desktop in August. I admittedly cheaped out and went with 8GB RAM, thinking the "Optane" would make up for the difference.
I now want to upgrade my RAM. Turns out, the 8GB I got came as 1x8 instead of 2x4.
I wanted to add 16GB...would I be better off getting 2x8 (so they're still an odd number), or should I get 1x8 and 2x4 so they run in dual channel mode?
I don't do any gaming or anything, but I do some video editing & conversions, which can be memory intensive.
Thanks for your help!
I don't know what other information you need about my system. Intel i5-9400 is my processor.
Vic384
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January 8th, 2020 04:00
There is slightly better performance in dual channel mode so I would add memory modules in pairs. I would not get 1x8GB and 2x4GB, you will fill up all your memory slots and only have 24GB total memory. I would get 1x8GB and see if that is enough, otherwise, if cost is not a factor, I would get 2x16GB and either remove the 8GB module for dual channel mode (total memory 32GB) or leave it in for single channel mode (total memory 40GB). Consider purchasing memory from crucial.com, they guarantee their memory as compatible.
My Dell system also came with a single memory module and I had no issue with pairing it with a memory module from crucial.com.
savvy2
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January 8th, 2020 04:00
buy a matched set at corsair. dot com.
mixed sets can fail.
or walk in to BestBuy and ….. yeah... (ask.
RuskinF
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January 8th, 2020 08:00
I would suggest you get 1x8 and 2x4 so that your PC runs in dual channel mode.
It would also run in dual channel mode in 2x8 configuration as well.
So it's up to you.
RoHe
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January 8th, 2020 12:00
@caffeinejunkie42 - It may not run in dual channel mode using the recommendations made by @RuskinF.
RAM modules have to be matched pairs in each bank to run in dual channel mode. So the 1x8 GB added may not match the existing 1x8 and not run dual channel...
But adding 1x8 for a total of 16 GB will probably be faster than having only 8 GB total, even if it's not running dual channel. And these days 1x8 probably costs less than 2x4, so forget about adding 2x4...
caffeinejunkie42
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January 8th, 2020 13:00
Thanks everyone for the replies! Based on your recommendations, and based on prices at Crucial, I think I'm going to go with 2x16. That should be more than enough, and at least partially future-proof me for the time being.
Vic384
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January 8th, 2020 13:00
@caffeinejunkie42 Make sure that you put your memory modules into slots with similar colored securing clips (white: DIMM1 & DIMM2 or black:DIMM3 & DIMM4). The note and matrix on page 55 of the service manual have errors.
RoHe
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January 8th, 2020 13:00
Keep in mind that 2x16 isn't a configuration that's been validated by Dell. They only validated 4x8 for 32 total.
Doesn't mean 2x16 won't work, but you might browse around this forum to see if anyone has reported using 2x16 before ordering anything...
And the matched pair should be installed in physical slots 2 and 4, with matching color retention clips, counting from the CPU.
Good luck!