Memory upgrade problems on Dell Precision 3420 desktop

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A

abehling

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Feb 1, 2017
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Hi,
I have recently purchased a dell desktop, and I'm not able to get all the memory I bought 64GB to be recognised by the system. The mother board is a Dell 08K0X7 and the processor is a 6th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-6700 (Quad Core 3.40GHz, 4.0Ghz Turbo, 8MB, w/ HD Graphics 530)
The memory I bought is 4x 16 GB DDR 4-2400 VLP EUDIMM
After much experimentation I concluded that:
- all memory chips seem to work when placed in DIMM 4 & DIMM 2
Whenever I tried to add any chip to DIMM 3 & 1 the system refuses to boot - and following Dell's manual when an orange light blinks twice + 7x it is a memory issue
I have tried all possible combinations of using DIMM 1 & 3 slots and I have run out of ideas.
Starting to wonder if there is a problem with the slots themselves.
I read on some other threads that usually memory ought to be installed into the slots closer to the CPU, this is not working for me, given DIMM 3 & 1 are the closest.
Does anyone have any suggestions of where I might be going wrong? Any tips are much appreciated
thank you
a
 
Solution
B
Sounds like it. Most OEM's (Dell, HP, etc.) limit what you can do in the BIOS so playing with RAM settings might not be an option for you.
The problem is this should work but with OEM systems, unless you purchase their guaranteed compatible RAM you just never know. Most of the time it just works but this might be a rare time that it doesn't.
You can try getting DDR4-2133 and see if that works. I know it's a pain but if that still doesn't work then I would return and try another desktop.
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BadAsAl

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According to the data sheet, that desktop only takes 2133 DDR4 RAM. You might need to go into the BIOS and manually downclock the RAM to 2133 to make it take all 4 sticks. Depending on what options you have, it may be a memory profile you have to choose. I'll see if I can find info on that BIOS so I can say how to do it if it is even possible.
 
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A

abehling

Commendable
Feb 1, 2017
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1,510


Thanks for your reply - I only picked that memory option as it was given (amongst others) after running the crucial system scanning software.

I have been able to access the BIOS by pressing F12, but could not find any option to make changes to any settings related to memory management, by entering the BIOS it has also shown that the memory is single channel, which puzzled me - I suppose I just wanted to get the memory recognised first, before jumping onto trying to figure out why the memory channel is being ID'ed as single.

If you happen to have any further info about how could I change such settings, please let me know
much appreciated

Would you say this is a normal problem? after having spent the entire afternoon on this, I'm worried if the slots are faulty.

thank you
 
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BadAsAl

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I recall some systems where certain RAM slots had to be filled before others could be used. Wish I could point you to something that stated that but I haven't found it yet.

I also have seen a lot of people on here who have tried to max out their RAM only to have only half work. And for most of those it seemed as if the board could not downclock the RAM on it's own when all 4 slots were filled.

Let me do some more digging...
 
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BadAsAl

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So it appears as if your channels are the 2 white slots and the 2 black slots. This is why you are in single channel, you have 1 white and 1 black filled when you are using DIMM 2 & 4. Put 2 sticks in the white ones and see if it boots. Then try adding the other 2 to the black ones and see what happens.
 
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abehling

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Feb 1, 2017
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That thought occurred to me and I have tried all the possible combinations I could think of, the findings unfortunately point to DIMM 1 & 3 - at any time, there was a memory chip in any of these slots, it simply would not play.

For reference only, here is a list of combinations I have gone through:

I'm listing them in the order in which they show on the mobo (not sure why that is, but anyway) 3&4 have a black clip - 1&2 have a white clip (again not entirely certain about that colour coding)

3-1-4-2 : NO
3-1 : NO
3-4 : NO
3-2 : NO
1-4 : NO
1-2 : NO

4-2 : YES (only thing that works) these two are the furthest slots from the CPU
3-4-2 : NO
1-4-2 : NO

I'm rather puzzled by this all
 
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BadAsAl

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Colour codes designate RAM channels so with a chip in each white slot you get dual channel. Likewise a chip in each black slot you get dual channel. If you have 1 in each you get single channel, or if you only have 1 of the colours filled at a time (like with 3 chips installed) you get single channel.

Something is definitely not right here. RAM issues can be caused by a faulty processor too. Where did you get this desktop? Are you at the latest BIOS version?
 
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abehling

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Feb 1, 2017
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Hi,
I have gone back and tried that combo once more, 2 sticks in white = NO, then 2 sticks in black = NO - done it for peace of mind despite having tried it the early hours of the afternoon, which became evening and I'm still only able to run half of my investment ...
To me, this should have been a 5 mins job, shouldn't it? :/
 
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abehling

Commendable
Feb 1, 2017
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1,510


Thanks for the lesson in colour coding, at least I do now understand why I am seeing single channel when I open the BIOS

Yeah, I'm getting that horrible feeling too, that my system is bogus, this should not be such a pain.

It's a recently bought kit, I had it delivered last week, only bought it with little ram with intentions of upgrading later, it came with 4GB and then I bought the upgrade from crucual for much less than Dell would have charged me if I had selected 64GB via their customisation tool on their site

The BIOS version is 1.3.6 - how do I find out if that is up to date or not?
 
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BadAsAl

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Current BIOS is 2.1.8 when I used Dell Precision 3420 Tower as my search criteria at Dell.com
You are best off by going to Dell.com and clicking Support at the top and selecting Support by Produce.
Use the service tag as that is specific to your machine.
Then click Drivers and Downloads on the left, then under Category, choose BIOS.

You can try this link but not sure it will work for you:

http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/19/Drivers/DriversDetails?driverId=H33VC&fileId=3594669174&osCode=WT64A&productCode=precision-t3420-workstation&languageCode=en&categoryId=BI
 
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abehling

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Feb 1, 2017
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Found the steps with regards to updating BIOS - done it and unhappy to report no changes with regards to getting the DIMM 3 & 1 to be recognised - what a mission this has become.
 
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abehling

Commendable
Feb 1, 2017
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Thanks :) I was down there digging for a bit ... spent the past 45 mins or so downloading / installing and just had another go adding a memory module to either DIMM 3 or DIMM 1 or both, and same outcome - I'm close to being out of options, am I ?
 
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BadAsAl

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Sounds like it. Most OEM's (Dell, HP, etc.) limit what you can do in the BIOS so playing with RAM settings might not be an option for you.
The problem is this should work but with OEM systems, unless you purchase their guaranteed compatible RAM you just never know. Most of the time it just works but this might be a rare time that it doesn't.
You can try getting DDR4-2133 and see if that works. I know it's a pain but if that still doesn't work then I would return and try another desktop.
 
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Solution
A

abehling

Commendable
Feb 1, 2017
10
0
1,510


It's extremely frustrating to say the very least. Indeed, there are no such options to change BIOS settings with regards to memory management - looks like it's going to take me a lot longer to get a working desktop, well - it works, it just doesn't work with the amount of memory I purchased and that is no where near good enough for me.

Taking onboard your recommendation with regards to memory - I just done another batch of tests - this time I removed all the new memory chips I bought, and installed the original 4GB that came with it that is a 1x4GB) 2133MHz DDR4 Non-ECC and I can get the system to boot on either DIMM2 or DIMM4, but if I move that 4GB chip up to DIMM 3 or DIMM1 = no joy - what a palava

Thanks for all your help here, very useful indeed !!

 
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A

abehling

Commendable
Feb 1, 2017
10
0
1,510
Hi,
Just to provide an update on this: it was the mobo, Dell engineer came and replaced it and everything seems to be as it should have been since opening the box.
After a lot of hassle and time I will never get back, order is restored.
Thanks again
a
 
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