Having ECC-RAM problems.

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DahGamingNinja

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Nov 29, 2015
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I own a Dell Precision T1600. I recently purchased 16gb of used ECC RAM for my precision, I own a Dell Precision T1600. I recently purchased 16gb of used ECC RAM for my precision, seeing that it supported up to 16gb of ECC RAM. It was 30$ USD so, a pretty good deal.

(Link to T1600 specs)

(Link to original ECC RAM listing)

I received the set of RAM yesterday and plugged them both into my mother board. The mother board beeped twice then beeped in sets of three (usually indicating a hardware issue). It did not turn off but nothing was displayed on my monitor (no start-up, no bios, etc.). I plugged in my original RAM along with the two new ones and it turned on and worked as expected. I then ran a system & components scan to check if everything (including the new RAM) was working as it should be. Everything checked off as 100% (but I'm not fully sure it could see the RAM). Entering my system settings I found that only recognized 8gb of installed memory. My motherboard supports ECC RAM and the components check resulted in no error.

It supports up to 16gb of ECC RAM, I know it doesn't only support 4x4 sticks because people are selling dual 8gb ECC sticks for the T1600 model.

(Link example for above)

Knowing that sometimes mother boards default to ECC incompatibility mode, I opened up the bios to check if ECC RAM compatibility was turned on. I couldn't find any settings related to ECC RAM. So my question is, what is wrong with my setup? Is my RAM broken? Is my motherboard lying to me and actually not compatible? Is there a way to "brute force" the mother board to accept the ECC RAM it was made for? Is there a way to even tell if ECC mode is turned on? Please inform me.

Thanks,
-DGN-
 
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Y0GI

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The Dell specs don't say much about the RAM. Are they also made by Samsung? Same part number? If not, they may not be compatible. Even DIMMs bought separately from the same manufacturer can be incompatible.

It is always best to buy multiple DIMMs in "Matched Sets" which are guaranteed to be compatible.

Yogi
 
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DahGamingNinja

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They are both Samsung 8gb sticks of the same exact model number. The only difference between them is the fact the two of them are ECC RAM.

 
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Y0GI

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You cannot mix ECC with NON-ECC DIMMs. The Dell specs even note different capacities for each.

Yogi

 
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DahGamingNinja

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I tried the ECC RAM separate from the non-ECC and it doesn't work (that's when the "beeping" occurs). The only setups that worked were the non-ECC alone and the none-ECC and ECC together (with them together it only recognized the non-ECC).

 
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Y0GI

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Is there a setting in the BIOS to select ECC or non-ECC?

Do you have any special reason for using ECC? It is usually reserved for servers and mission critical applications.

I would sell both of what you have and get a matched set of 32 GB non-ECC DIMMs.

32 GB is a LOT of RAM. Do you really need that much?

Yogi

 
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DahGamingNinja

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Darn it! I keep pressing the "Pick solution" button accidentally!

I couldn't find any ECC settings in the bios. I bought that RAM because it was at a very good price of 16gb of ECC RAM for 32$. ECC RAM is typically better (and more expensive) then non-ECC RAM and seeing that my motherboard supported it I was like "Why not, for that price?". No, I don't need 32gb. 32$ for 16gb so that I would most likely not have to upgrade again sounded like a pretty good deal to me. I know there are softwares that tell you if ECC mode is turned on in your bios settings, but the real problem is how would I turn it on if it was found off?

 
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Y0GI

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Jul 22, 2013
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Darn it! I keep pressing the "Pick solution" button accidentally!

I couldn't find any ECC settings in the bios. I bought that RAM because it was at a very good price of 16gb of ECC RAM for 32$. ECC RAM is typically better (and more expensive) then non-ECC RAM and seeing that my motherboard supported it I was like "Why not, for that price?". No, I don't need 32gb. 32$ for 16gb so that I would most likely not have to upgrade again sounded like a pretty good deal to me. I know there are softwares that tell you if ECC mode is turned on in your bios settings, but the real problem is how would I turn it on if it was found off?
Click to expand...

IDK. You'd have to contact Dell for an answer to that but, again, it doesn't sound like you need ECC RAM? Why not just stick with non-ECC RAM?

Yogi
 
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DahGamingNinja

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I'd rather just run with the RAM instead of trying to sell it. Total pain in the butt. Eh, I'm not sure what I'll do. For now I'll try to see if I can get it to work somehow.

 
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