Dell Workstation shows less RAM than installed

Discussion in 'PC Hardware' started by tusharkalbhor, Nov 6, 2012.

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  1. LatinMcG

    LatinMcG Bios Borker

    Feb 27, 2011
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    i think it does have to be 2gb sticks
     
  2. R29k

    R29k MDL GLaDOS

    Feb 13, 2011
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    Would be 16 GB not 8 GB. I bet it's a Dell bios issue, the chipset supports 32 GB and the OS supports 128 GB, maybe the PC only has 2 working memory slots :eek:
     
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  3. tusharkalbhor

    tusharkalbhor MDL Junior Member

    Jul 9, 2010
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    #23 tusharkalbhor, Nov 9, 2012
    Last edited: Nov 9, 2012
    (OP)
    I think otherwise... because If I test 2 sticks at a time, they would work in any pair of slots. So all slots are working. The chipset supports 32 GB, so it makes me believe Dell Bios does not support more than 8GB. Or will it support 8*2GB? In that case I have to throw away the 6*4GB that I have at the moment and make a fresh purchase.
    :(

    Am I losing here?
     
  4. LatinMcG

    LatinMcG Bios Borker

    Feb 27, 2011
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    try 1 version older bios ?
    usually to force older bios have to do in dos with /forceit

    check to see other users specs with 16 or 32 gb.. what ram brand and if its registered
     
  5. R29k

    R29k MDL GLaDOS

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  6. roirraW "edor" ehT

    roirraW "edor" ehT MDL Addicted

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  7. tusharkalbhor

    tusharkalbhor MDL Junior Member

    Jul 9, 2010
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    Exactly!!

    The RAM that I am trying to install seems to be in better configuration than mentioned above.. they had 1+1+2+2, whereas I have 4+4+4+4 ALL mirror copies of each other..no difference whatsoever(atleast no difference that I am aware of!)
     
  8. R29k

    R29k MDL GLaDOS

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    As I said before, the issue maybe that when you put in large memory modules in the first channel (128 bit) it causes an issue with everything after that. Hence the 1+1+2+2 works and the 4+4+4+4 doesn't because of the first 4+4 .
    Would most likely be a BIOS issue since i don't see Intel mentioning anything about the issue on that particular chipset. Or maybe the issue is with 4 GB memory modules in general not uncommon, and again a possible BIOS issue.
     
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  9. tusharkalbhor

    tusharkalbhor MDL Junior Member

    Jul 9, 2010
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    :(

    The Dell people called me yesterday morning. They said I have to change the motherboard. I told that I am ready to pay for a new motherboard, but what if replacing the motherboard does not resolve the problem? what if new mother board also shows 4+4+4+4=8?
    They say this will not happen as the problem is with your motherboard.
    when I replied, ' OK, I accept my mother board is faulty, may be dead if you insist so. BUT what IF new motherboard does not show 16GB'

    Dell replied its upto me wheather to buy a new motherboard or not.

    :(

    Dell, Please!! I want a solution... and I am ready to pay, provided the problem is solved in a confirming way!
     
  10. R29k

    R29k MDL GLaDOS

    Feb 13, 2011
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    You are stuck between a rock and a hard place. You are running old not so common hardware from a lousy company, so limited options.
    If you absolutely need all that memory then you might have to consider selling off the current hardware and getting new stuff. Dell will
    rob you blind on a replacement board and good luck finding an alternative board.
     
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  11. tusharkalbhor

    tusharkalbhor MDL Junior Member

    Jul 9, 2010
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    :(

    dell says i have to buy new motherboards. They have no answer on chances of the issue getting resolved. when i asked if the issue does not get resolved, dell said, As per our technical escalation, the issue will be definitely resolved.
    but no answer to :"What if it doesnt?"
     
  12. roirraW "edor" ehT

    roirraW "edor" ehT MDL Addicted

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    What a PITA. Can you offer to send them your RAM and test them in their motherboards and then get back to you?
     
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  13. Gr8gorilla

    Gr8gorilla MDL Novice

    Feb 12, 2013
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    I have a Dell Precision Workstation T5400. It originally had 4GB of RAM in 8 512MB Sticks. It was recently upgraded to 18 GB. 4x4GB and 4x512MB RAM sticks. All memory is ECC Fully Buffered.

    Here are the results of different configurations of the 8 RAM Sticks:

    1.)If I put Just the 4x4GB Sticks in the machine in slots 1 & 2 and slots 5 & 6, it shows 16GB Installed with 16GB usable.

    2.)If I install all 8 modules with the 4x4GB in slots 1-4 and the 512MB sticks in slots 5-8, The bios shows only 9GB installed. Windows sees 18GB but 9GB is reserved for Hardware according to resources manager.

    3.) Installing exactly as in 1 but adding the 4x512mb sticks to the empty slots still leaves the bios reading 16GB installed. If I reverse this exactly it then only recognizes 2GB of installed memory.

    I read a post where someone installed 8x8GB RAM sticks in the machine and it worked without issue. I am going to go out on a limb and say that it is a mismatched memory issue. If the memory is all the same then it will take it all. If it is placed into the machine mismatched it doesn't work. I will try putting the 4x4GB sticks in slots 1-4 tomorrow and add what happens with that config.

    This is the same machine that if you put dual xeon processors in it with specs exactly the same except for stepping, it will not boot. Even though the Intel information on the processors and chipset say that stepping mismatches will not affect the machine. I guess it won't affect it because it will not boot? Anyway, I will report back tomorrow, perhaps it will help in figuring out what the problem is. Is it possible that the documentation on the memory slots is wrong? They ordered 1,5,2,6,3,7,4,8 I believe. If I fill slots 1,5,2,6, with 4x4GB, everything works. Tomorrow I will report on what happens when I put 4x4GB in slots 1-4 alone without the 4x512MB modules.
     
  14. Gr8gorilla

    Gr8gorilla MDL Novice

    Feb 12, 2013
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    Here are the results of various configurations of the RAM.

    4x4GB in slots 1256 - I get 16GB showing in Bios, Dual Channel mode, and 16GB usable.
    4x4GB in slots 1234 - I get 8 GB showing in bios, didn't think to check the mode. Windows shows 16GB installed but 8GB hardware reserved.
    4x4GB in slots 1234 & 4x512MB in slots 5678 - Bios recognizes 9GB. Windows sees 18GB with 9 of it hardware reserved.
    4x4GB in slots 1256 & 4x512MB in slots 3478 - Bios recognizes 16GB. Windows sees 18GB with 2GB Hardware reserved.

    This is all fully buffered ECC DDR2 Memory. 4x4GB sticks are Kingston and the 4x512MB are the original sticks that came with the workstation. I did see an interesting table for the Dell Precision T5500. It shows possible memory configurations. I cannot find a similar table for the T5400. The two boards use different chipsets, the T5400 uses the intel 5400 Chipset and the T5500 uses the intel 5520 chipset. I would guess that are restrictions on mixing RAM stick sizes that are similar to the T5500 though. It would be nice to see an actual table like that one because installing the ram like Dell says in the manual, 4 matched sticks in slots 1-4 results in half of the memory being unusable.
     
  15. LatinMcG

    LatinMcG Bios Borker

    Feb 27, 2011
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    wow u should work for dell.. or post that in their forum
     
  16. Gr8gorilla

    Gr8gorilla MDL Novice

    Feb 12, 2013
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    I posted here because I wanted to help another user encountering the same or similar issues I was having. What I found is nothing an hour of googling coupled with swapping ram configs and booting the machine to see what the results were.

    I don't have an extra 16 GB of memory to test my theory but I bet that installing 4 8GB matched kits would result in the system seeing all 32GB available. I bet the same is true for 3x8GB matched kits. The ones I am using are KVR667D2D4F5K2/8G from Kingston. These are 8GB PC2-5300 CL5 ECC 240-Pin FBDIMM kit (2x4GB). These are HyperX fully buffered Dimms.

    As an additional note HWInfo lists the ram as being in slots (4GB sticks) 0, 1, 8, 9, and (the 512MB sticks) in slots 16, 17, 24, 25. 0, 1, 8, 9 are what are labeled on the board as 1, 2, 5, 6, and 16, 17, 24, 25, are labeled as 3, 4, 7, 8. Not sure if that means anything but I think it is more than just labeling differences. These are the slots being reported by the bios to HWInfo. Does this somehow relate to the Quad Channel support?

    I hope this in some way helps someone else using this poorly documented computer setup. The machine is powerful even 5 years later with dual processors and proper memory and SSD upgrades. It is a shame it is under documented. This machine also supports SLI which could allow it to be used as home mini-supercomputer with a couple of GPUs and a Tesla Computing unit and the dual Xeon's. The ability according to some also go all the way to 64GB of Memory doesn't hurt if taking it that route. Getting 8 matched sticks to fill the slots could prove difficult though.
     
  17. tusharkalbhor

    tusharkalbhor MDL Junior Member

    Jul 9, 2010
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    Wonderful Research and Troubleshooting!!

    WOW!!

    I will try this and let you know.

    Thanks for this. :worthy:
     
  18. LatinMcG

    LatinMcG Bios Borker

    Feb 27, 2011
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    hmm michael dell used to have a 64 gb ram pc in 2006.. likely was this model
     
  19. cls7x7

    cls7x7 MDL Novice

    Jan 14, 2014
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    t5400 ram installing

    hoping this gets to the right thread. install matching pairs or ram as follows:
    slots 1 and 5
    slots 2 and 6
    slots 3 and 7
    slots 4 and 8.
    although this looks like a ridiculous way to do it, but it is the correct way. I am currently searching the web for the site that showed me this awhile ago to refresh myself just for good measure. Dell's manual did not show this to me at all. I had three t5400s to get in place on worksite and upgrading ram was "fun". lol. good luck
     
  20. Mutagen

    Mutagen MDL Addicted

    Feb 18, 2013
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    #40 Mutagen, Jan 14, 2014
    Last edited: Jan 15, 2014
    If you have four slots, it would be:
    slots 1 and 3
    slots 2 and 4

    What you have discovered for eight slots follows the same pattern. To me, there is nothing ridiculous about it. Just my opinion.

    (Not sure it is done anymore, but I have seen motherboards with tick marks or colored (blue, black, white, pink, yellow or green) DIMM slots to indicate pairing).