Dell Optiplex 960 and 16gb of RAM

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HardwareExtreme

HardwareExtreme

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Jan 5, 2016
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Hello Everyone,
I was wondering if it is possible to use high density RAM in a Optiplex 960, or FBDIMMs or ECC in a Optiplex 960. I would like to upgrade my 960 from the current 4gb I have pieced together from multiple computers. However, AMD ram (says it won't work but I doubt this, the only reason why it may not is that the voltage is 1.8v and it is high-density), FBDIMMs, ECC ram, or Apple RAM (Which has big ar$e heat spreaders so that may not work) are in my price range, and I don't want to sell a kidney to buy normal consumer RAM for this machine. And yes, I know this is an old machine, but I want to make it into a server for doing various things like virtualization or possibly use it as a second workstation.


Specs:
Dell Optiplex 960 Minitower

Core 2 Duo e8500 (Planning on putting a Core 2 Quad or Xeon in it)
4x1gb DDR2 Ram
Quadro FX 1800
Windows 7 Ultimate x64

Motherboard Part Number ( I think?): 0Y959C
 
Solution
Ironsounds
Hello... Typically that CPU and LGA775 means 2GB per slot (8gb max-4 slots) DDR2 800 NON-ECC sticks... My suggestion and experience is getting four used Corsair xms2 800 DDR2 2GB sticks from the Bay... they are well made, compact and compatible.

http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/review/dell/optiplex_960/277558/specs/

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Corsair-XMS2-4GB-2x2GB-PC2-6400-DDR2-800-Gaming-RAM-CM2X2048-6400C5-g-skill-8gb-/222414839415?hash=item33c8f51e77:g:UYcAAOSwWxNYqcDd

Will your DELL BIO's allow Ram voltage increases? I had to run four sticks-8GB at 2.0 volts in my mother boards. B /
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Ironsounds

Ironsounds

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Jul 31, 2011
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Hello... Typically that CPU and LGA775 means 2GB per slot (8gb max-4 slots) DDR2 800 NON-ECC sticks... My suggestion and experience is getting four used Corsair xms2 800 DDR2 2GB sticks from the Bay... they are well made, compact and compatible.

http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/review/dell/optiplex_960/277558/specs/

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Corsair-XMS2-4GB-2x2GB-PC2-6400-DDR2-800-Gaming-RAM-CM2X2048-6400C5-g-skill-8gb-/222414839415?hash=item33c8f51e77:g:UYcAAOSwWxNYqcDd

Will your DELL BIO's allow Ram voltage increases? I had to run four sticks-8GB at 2.0 volts in my mother boards. B /
 
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Solution
HardwareExtreme

HardwareExtreme

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Jan 5, 2016
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This board can use 16gb of ram (4x4gb dimms) supposedly, as shown at the Crucial website (http://www.crucial.com/usa/en/compatible-upgrade-for/Dell/optiplex-960-series) and this is confirmed by multiple forum threads. As for ram voltage increases, I am not sure. However, the motherboard does support 8gb for sure, I just want 16gb for the things I plan on doing.

If it is not possible for under $100, I may just get a dual 771 board on-the-cheap and build a system out of that.
 
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Ironsounds

Ironsounds

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Jul 31, 2011
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Hello... It depends on the Chipset used on the MB... and "special" BIOS? but typically DELL websites are vague on much technical data and support beyond published specs... ya I understand the MASS availability of ECC sticks out there.. ( and old DELL reconditioned ) and it considered back then too.

Basically my experience and wanting to get to the 16 GB RAM level was to go to a 1155 Q77 MB and a used Xeon E3 V2... The Xeon have both Ecc and non Ecc memory controller on it... and the MB's have 8GB per slot compatibility... $50 can get you 2x8gb DDR3 B /

Basically a "Server" needs fast I/O operations in serving the data... the 16 GB will not aid in this... Are you making a "Media server/Player"?
 
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HardwareExtreme

HardwareExtreme

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Jan 5, 2016
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This server will have multiple virtual machines running on top of it, and I plan on running game servers on it. This is why I would like 16gb of RAM. I may also use it for streaming games and such.

The chipset is Q45, and Dell most certainly modified it. Of course, the memory controller was on motherboard for LGA775 and 771, which is different from the i series of Intel's processors. Dell machines tend to be picky about RAM in my experience.

If i can mount this board in another case (Janky solution) I may set it up as a file server with a RAID card as well, so basically this is going to be a multipurpose server.

And as for a 1155 motherboard, the motherboards are hard to find with the right I/0 I want on them, and the processors are still expensive. What doesn't make sense to me is that even first gen motherboards are extremely expensive (A 1366 motherboard with the right I/O i want is $100, a 2011 (2nd and 3rd gen) is about $250, and it goes up from there)

However, I may take your suggestion for the 8gb of RAM in one of my other Optiplex 760s (I have two of these) since I use one for my computer area and running basic games and stuff.
 
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HardwareExtreme

HardwareExtreme

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However, I just found out someone modded a 980 mobo to run in a 960 case. However, to do this I would have to find a different heatsink assembly and may have to rewire some stuff, but I could get a functional machine with a i7, but it would be first gen.
 
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