Note that when the R10 was first released they only sold it with up to 64GB RAM options.
As an additional note, I do not believe that Dell has officially validated 128GB with zen 2 CPUs. But keep in mind they don't normally validate hardware that they do not themselves sell. The validated options you see are what was sold stock in the system.
The B550A chipset used in the R10 and the CPU zen 2 (300 series) and 3 (5000 series) support up to 128GB. So I'm not sure of any hardware limitations.
Bios software and Dell's mobo support should be able to be inferred from Dell's website: R10 is still on B550A, regardless of the CPU option. If you go to Dells website, they will sell the Aurora R10 with 128GB RAM options (but you need to buy the flagship zen 3 CPU).
The settings are part of the XMP profiles embedded on the memory modules.
To set different frequencies you would have to set this manually, but you have to watch for the memory timings as they will be set by whatever XMP profile was read.
Technically speaking it should work when you select lower frequencies, but there's no guarantee and these boards are know to be finicky when it comes to supported memory.
If you do enter the manual section of the memory setup in bios, keep in mind all the numeric values are in hexadecimal mode, not decimal. So entering 18 in the bios is actually 24 decimal. The timings listed for the modules are in decimal. You have to convert them to hex to know what to enter in the bios for each timing.
Depends on which mobo and ram modules, they will work but not desired. Actually you could even mix different brand ram sticks with same specs but again they are not desired. If you are lucky, they might work but usually it would crash because of stability issue. I tried it before but on different mobo. Sometime it works sometime it doesn't. I usually build my own computer system but gpu and cpu price has gone up so high it is not economically sound anymore recently. OEM mobo is very strict hence I posted the question about the ram with higher speed but set to lower on alienware b550a. If somebody has done it would be easier for me to pick the correct modules. Anyway, I found the Hyper FuryX ram directly from their sites. Their pricing are higher though.
There's another thread on here about ram, and what is supposed to be compatible etc...
I do not think anyone has tried more that 64 GB of ram, that would be a new experience.
If you go for it do keep us posted, because it's always good to have information from someone who has actually done it and what they had to do, if anything, to make it work.
My understanding is that, if you mix lets' say 8 GB and 4 GB sticks, dual channel mode will only work on 2 x 4 GB and the remaining 4 GB will be used as single channel mode. In some cases the whole 12 GB will be used as single channel mode.
So while it is possible, it's far from what you should be doing as overall performance will suffer.
It would be interesting to see what would happen though on these Alienware systems.
There are rules in having two dual channels working at optimum speed, compatibilty in speed and timings, afaik the processor cannot address memory at varied timings across the 4 banks, it will downclock and adjust to the lowest common factor.
On my R3 I bought the same reference stick from Kingston but in the 4GB size, it had the same timings and the same speed, but this was me being paranoid to be sure it will work as intended, it was DDR3 666 x 2 1333Mhz
No big rocket science from DDR3 to DDR4 imo, stick to same speeds, timings, similar Serial numbers hence same Manufacturer and it should work as intended.
Hmm, was time I did some homework, from what I read and what I learnt recently (XMP) these are the considerations. Feel free to add/correct.
1. Compatible Ram, if it works in your system, you are good to add it.
2. Dual Channel, each color pair doubles bandwith, as we all have been told here, best is to have exact pairs from a kit to make sure it works, although generally it just needs to be the same size, but this is a general statement it is not a rule.
3. When using 2 Dual channels, each dual-channel is independant, however the speed will down to the common lower speed.
4. CAS in the same dual channel should factor to the common higher delay, however this is a general statement, it is not a rule.
5. XMP, this is where it gets complicated, either all your modules are on the same XMP profile or you cannot enable it.
Many have tried to mix 2 modules in one dual channel and failed, I presume a lot of this is related to XMP as this was not a problem before.
XMP adds an additional complexity for 2 dual channels (4 modules), if you buy 2 dual channel kits, if they independantly work in XMP, usually they will work together, however your results will vary. I expect that the major drawback should be that you cannot run at XMP speeds and you will probably be running at a lower common speed.
Just to give an update, I finally just got around to adding more RAM and I was able to successfully add 64 GB RAM (2x32 3200 1.2V) to existing 32 GB (2x16 2933). I made sure I got 1.2 V RAM, I think that might be important.
I am now booting up with OC2 config in BIOS, running with total RAM of 96GB at 2933 the lower speed of the two sets, and it seems stable.
This way I can keep the 32 GB that the system came in there at 2933 overall ( I care more about overall capacity then top RAM speed). And in future I can go to 128 GB if I need to by replacing the 2x16 sticks system came with, with another set of 2x32GB 3200. And that config should run at 3200.
r72019
6 Professor
•
5.3K Posts
1
January 16th, 2021 14:00
Note that when the R10 was first released they only sold it with up to 64GB RAM options.
As an additional note, I do not believe that Dell has officially validated 128GB with zen 2 CPUs. But keep in mind they don't normally validate hardware that they do not themselves sell. The validated options you see are what was sold stock in the system.
r72019
6 Professor
•
5.3K Posts
1
January 16th, 2021 14:00
The B550A chipset used in the R10 and the CPU zen 2 (300 series) and 3 (5000 series) support up to 128GB. So I'm not sure of any hardware limitations.
Bios software and Dell's mobo support should be able to be inferred from Dell's website: R10 is still on B550A, regardless of the CPU option. If you go to Dells website, they will sell the Aurora R10 with 128GB RAM options (but you need to buy the flagship zen 3 CPU).
gforce9
6 Posts
1
January 20th, 2021 09:00
I just got back a response from Dell Support with officially supported configurations:
We had this reviewed internally and here is the configurations supported:
8GB, 1x8GB, DDR4, 2933MHz/3200MHz
16GB, 2x8GB, DDR4, 2933MHz/3200MHz
16GB, 1x16GB, DDR4, 2933MHz/3200MHz
32GB, 2x16GB, DDR4, 2933MHz/3200MHz
64GB, 2x32GB, DDR4, 2933MHz/3200MHz
64GB, 4x16GB, DDR4, 2933MHz/3200MHz
128GB, 4x32GB, DDR4, 2933MHz/3200MHz
16GB, 1x16GB, DDR4, 3400MHz
32GB, 2x16GB, DDR4, 3400MHz
64GB, 4x16GB, DDR4, 3400MHz
I think those have to be supported because as you said they sell them with 128GB now, even with Zen2 chips.
Next thing I am wondering if these two 96GB configs might work as "not officially supported"
96GB, 2x16GB 2933MHz + 2x32GB 2933MHz
96GB, 2x16GB 2933MHz + 2x32GB 3200MHz
phpfreak
44 Posts
0
March 3rd, 2021 07:00
Hi let's say I have
OLOy DDR4 RAM 64GB (2x32GB) Warhawk Aura Sync RGB 3600 MHz CL18 1.35V 288-Pin Desktop Gaming UDIMM (MD4U3236181DCWDX)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B088SZWWFM/ref=ox_sc_act_title_13?smid=A2E6E99BFJUH5X&psc=1
Since I have two modules of 32GB at 3600 Mhz I can set it to
64GB, 2x32GB, DDR4, 2933MHz/3200MHz
These two modules and configs will work right? Thanks.
Vanadiel
6 Professor
•
7.1K Posts
1
March 3rd, 2021 09:00
The settings are part of the XMP profiles embedded on the memory modules.
To set different frequencies you would have to set this manually, but you have to watch for the memory timings as they will be set by whatever XMP profile was read.
Technically speaking it should work when you select lower frequencies, but there's no guarantee and these boards are know to be finicky when it comes to supported memory.
If you do enter the manual section of the memory setup in bios, keep in mind all the numeric values are in hexadecimal mode, not decimal. So entering 18 in the bios is actually 24 decimal. The timings listed for the modules are in decimal. You have to convert them to hex to know what to enter in the bios for each timing.
Vanadiel
6 Professor
•
7.1K Posts
0
March 3rd, 2021 09:00
Will be interesting to see if it's quad channel, or dual channel with 4 sticks.
As far as I know you cannot mix memory module sizes, so 96 GB would not be possible.
phpfreak
44 Posts
0
March 3rd, 2021 10:00
Depends on which mobo and ram modules, they will work but not desired. Actually you could even mix different brand ram sticks with same specs but again they are not desired. If you are lucky, they might work but usually it would crash because of stability issue. I tried it before but on different mobo. Sometime it works sometime it doesn't. I usually build my own computer system but gpu and cpu price has gone up so high it is not economically sound anymore recently. OEM mobo is very strict hence I posted the question about the ram with higher speed but set to lower on alienware b550a. If somebody has done it would be easier for me to pick the correct modules. Anyway, I found the Hyper FuryX ram directly from their sites. Their pricing are higher though.
https://www.hyperxgaming.com/unitedstates/us/memory/fury-ddr4?partnum=hx432c16fb3k2%2F64
markburv
2 Intern
•
569 Posts
1
March 3rd, 2021 11:00
I had 4x2GB in my R3, replaced 2 from one channel to have 2x4GB and 2x2GB = 12GB
If 128GB is max memory (CPU/MB) then is 96GB possible with 2x32GB and 2x16GB? I do not see why not unless I misunderstood
Vanadiel
6 Professor
•
7.1K Posts
1
March 3rd, 2021 11:00
There's another thread on here about ram, and what is supposed to be compatible etc...
I do not think anyone has tried more that 64 GB of ram, that would be a new experience.
If you go for it do keep us posted, because it's always good to have information from someone who has actually done it and what they had to do, if anything, to make it work.
Vanadiel
6 Professor
•
7.1K Posts
1
March 3rd, 2021 17:00
The problem is the dual channel mode.
My understanding is that, if you mix lets' say 8 GB and 4 GB sticks, dual channel mode will only work on 2 x 4 GB and the remaining 4 GB will be used as single channel mode. In some cases the whole 12 GB will be used as single channel mode.
So while it is possible, it's far from what you should be doing as overall performance will suffer.
It would be interesting to see what would happen though on these Alienware systems.
markburv
2 Intern
•
569 Posts
1
March 4th, 2021 11:00
There are rules in having two dual channels working at optimum speed, compatibilty in speed and timings, afaik the processor cannot address memory at varied timings across the 4 banks, it will downclock and adjust to the lowest common factor.
On my R3 I bought the same reference stick from Kingston but in the 4GB size, it had the same timings and the same speed, but this was me being paranoid to be sure it will work as intended, it was DDR3 666 x 2 1333Mhz
No big rocket science from DDR3 to DDR4 imo, stick to same speeds, timings, similar Serial numbers hence same Manufacturer and it should work as intended.
Re: XPS 8930, 48GB ram, 2666MHz, Installation - Dell Community
markburv
2 Intern
•
569 Posts
1
March 4th, 2021 23:00
Hmm, was time I did some homework, from what I read and what I learnt recently (XMP) these are the considerations. Feel free to add/correct.
1. Compatible Ram, if it works in your system, you are good to add it.
2. Dual Channel, each color pair doubles bandwith, as we all have been told here, best is to have exact pairs from a kit to make sure it works, although generally it just needs to be the same size, but this is a general statement it is not a rule.
3. When using 2 Dual channels, each dual-channel is independant, however the speed will down to the common lower speed.
4. CAS in the same dual channel should factor to the common higher delay, however this is a general statement, it is not a rule.
5. XMP, this is where it gets complicated, either all your modules are on the same XMP profile or you cannot enable it.
Many have tried to mix 2 modules in one dual channel and failed, I presume a lot of this is related to XMP as this was not a problem before.
XMP adds an additional complexity for 2 dual channels (4 modules), if you buy 2 dual channel kits, if they independantly work in XMP, usually they will work together, however your results will vary. I expect that the major drawback should be that you cannot run at XMP speeds and you will probably be running at a lower common speed.
gforce9
6 Posts
1
April 5th, 2021 18:00
Just to give an update, I finally just got around to adding more RAM and I was able to successfully add 64 GB RAM (2x32 3200 1.2V) to existing 32 GB (2x16 2933). I made sure I got 1.2 V RAM, I think that might be important.
I am now booting up with OC2 config in BIOS, running with total RAM of 96GB at 2933 the lower speed of the two sets, and it seems stable.
This way I can keep the 32 GB that the system came in there at 2933 overall ( I care more about overall capacity then top RAM speed). And in future I can go to 128 GB if I need to by replacing the 2x16 sticks system came with, with another set of 2x32GB 3200. And that config should run at 3200.
markburv
2 Intern
•
569 Posts
0
April 6th, 2021 10:00
Nice one @gforce9 great news going past the 64GB barrier
Can you give the exact reference of memory, I am sure this will be helpful to others
gforce9
6 Posts
1
April 6th, 2021 12:00
And here is my CPU-Z mem detail if that helps anyone.
The TEAMGROUP ELITE Ram I got is using Micron chips, same as the OEM RAM (DELL's custom version of Kingston HyperX Fury) that came with Dell.