Tri channel ram question using a i7 940

[midi25]

Hi I am looking at the new Dell Studio XPS machine. Its comes with 8GB or DDR3 ram in configuration of :

(4x1024,2x2048) 1067MHz DDR3 Dual Channel.

The ad says that the machine uses Tri Channel memory.

I spoke to Dell and their tech support guy from Mumbai told me that I am getting confused. There is no such thing as tri channel memory???

Do think the RAM that comes with this machine is adequate? Or should I be looking to take advantage of using memory installed in pairs of three from the start?

Thanks

 

[turpit]

The quality of dell support!!!!

There is no such thing as tri channel memory???

Its semantics, but by definition a pair is always 2.


Yes, you will see the greatest speed benefit by intalling the memory in tri channel configuration. That said, as a prefernece, you would want a balanced installation, that is all 3 modules being the same type and of the same capacity.....to avoid any problems. If the specs you posted are correct, then thats a little wierd

(4x1024,2x2048)

that indicates six mismatched modules.....if I were you, I would specify the ram and go for 3x2048 or 3x 4096 in trichannel

 

[roadrunner197069]

Well, as you can see Dell and its support already are confused. This should be a warning not to get a Dell.

Theres no reason to pay extra for a 940 when a 920 will overclock as high as a 965.

Get a custom built rig from a enthusiast. I would be happy to build you one :
Parts + $200 Labor/3year tech support+ shipping.

I got my i7 920 running 3.8 with 6g ram triple channel. Its called triple not tri.

I can make a faster machine and it would be cheaper then that Dell piece o crap.

 

[Guest]

i'd build parts + 100$ labor

but really dell sucks... they still don't know that triple channel memory comes in sets of 3... not 2... so anything that says triple channel and comes in a 4 gb or 8gb pack is wrong... triple channel comes in 3, 6 or 12 gb packs

I can't stop but laugh at roadrunner, hes made his point several times in new posts AND while hes at it, is able to solicit himself too awesome

I wouldn't go to anyone though if i were you, i'd take the time and learn to build yourself a great computer for cheap

 

[jeteryankees22]

Yeah, don't go dell, especially if you want that type of machine...a laptop would be okay...Either build it yourself of go to a small town shop and have it built...they will offer a three year warranty(but if you look at it, they just use the manufacturers warranty, I know that's what we do;-) ). And there is such thing as triple channel on x58 boards that are the only to support i7 as of now...again all same modules in the dimms.

 

[roadrunner197069]

https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.aspx?ID=9480212

It will be available soon. But there is a good place to start. Tweak on it to your liking.

@ thogrom:

so do I on budget rigs, but not on enthusiast rigs. And I do sick cable management. You probably wad stuff up and zip tie it. LOL

 

[midi25]

I,m based in the UK and the deals Dell are doing on the price of these pcs are very good.

Example the i7 940 chip in UK alone is 488.28 then an X58 motherboard is about 220gbp. So I dont see how I can build something cheaper than what Dell are offering.

For about 1100 gbp I can get this spec. The only problem is the RAM. I want to be using Triple channel RAM in the box.

Intel® Core™ i7 Processor 940 (2.93GHz, 8MB cache, 4.8GT/sec)
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium SP1 64Bit - English
1Yr XPS Premium Warranty Support - Priority Call In and Onsite Support
Free Gift Promotion - Creative Vado 2GB Silver Pocket Camera
Microsoft® Works 9 - English
Display Not Included
8192MB (4x1024,2x2048) 1067MHz DDR3 Dual Channel
1.2 TB (2x 640 GB) Serial ATA (7200 Rpm) Dual HDD Config Raid 0 Stripe
512MB ATI® Radeon® 4850 Graphics card
16X DVD+/- RW Optical Drive (DVD & CD read and write)
Dell Multimedia USB Keyboard Black - UK
Dell Laser Mouse USB (6 buttons scroll) Black
TV Tuner (analog/digital) with Remote Control
Accessories
Integrated HDA 7.1 Dolby Digital Audio
No Speakers (Speakers are required to hear audio from your system)
19-in-1 Media Card Reader
Internal Enhanced Wireless 802.11n PCIe Card - Europe
Services & Software
No Security/Anti-Virus Protection - English
No Accidental Damage Support
Also Includes
English Documentation with UK/IRL Power Cord
D12SX06
XPS Desktop 430 Order - UK
1Yr XPS Premium Warranty Support - Priority Call In and Onsite Support
Resource DVD - (Diagnostics & Drivers)Compatibility Alert
Recalculating Price

or for 699 gbp this spec.

Intel® Core™ i7 Processor 920 (2.66GHz, 8MB cache, 4.8GT/sec)
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium SP1 64Bit - English
1Yr XPS Premium Warranty Support - Priority Call In and Onsite Support
Free Gift Promotion - Creative Vado 2GB Silver Pocket Camera
Microsoft® Works 9 - English
Display Not Included
4096MB (4x1024) 1067MHz DDR3 Dual Channel
640GB Serial ATA (7200RPM) Hard Drive
256MB ATI® Radeon™ HD 3650 graphics card
6X Blu-Ray Burner Drive (Blu-Ray, DVD and CD read and write) including software
Dell Multimedia USB Keyboard Black - UK
Dell Laser Mouse USB (6 buttons scroll) Black
Accessories
Integrated HDA 7.1 Dolby Digital Audio
No Speakers (Speakers are required to hear audio from your system)
19-in-1 Media Card Reader
Services & Software
No Security/Anti-Virus Protection - English
No Accidental Damage Support
Also Includes
English Documentation with UK/IRL Power Cord
D12SX08
XPS Desktop 430 Order - UK
1Yr XPS Premium Warranty Support - Priority Call In and Onsite Support
Resource DVD - (Diagnostics & Drivers)Compatibility Alert
Recalculating Price

 

[blackwidow_rsa]

ha wat a piece of **** gfx card...if you're into gaming.

 

[blackwidow_rsa]

Uhum excuse my language, typed without thinking

 

[Kari]

the cheaper one is not really a gaming machine, HD3650 just isn't powerfull enough...

and the more expensive one is... well, more expensive lol

 

[Kari]

and seriously, dont buy DEll, it'll be pain in the @$$ to upgrade it later on, it'll most likely have locked bios so no overclocking, and that memory config is seriously messed up

 

[midi25]

well I dont know what to buy then?

I want an affordable i7 940 PC. I,m not too bothered about overclocking and I dont do much gaming.

I just want something fast, with good storage and good memory. I process a lot of video and pictures on my pc also.

Thanks

 

[Guest]

Hey...

I have pretty nice zip-tie management... there aren't any cables visible over or near the motherboard

I'm a ninja zip-tie wielder (insert ninja smiley here... but toms doesn't have one )

 

[midi25]

I want some realistic advice please. I dont want to spend thousands on a pc.

But a i7 940 and a motherboard is going to cost about 65% of the total of the Dell machine.

If I wanted to make something similar by buying parts alone, I could be looking at about 1800gbp.

 

[cjl]

I'd say the Dell isn't a horrendous deal. If you don't want to build one yourself, it's certainly a decent config, though I am puzzled by the RAM.

If you do build one yourself though, don't get an i7 940, get a 920.

 

[papalarge123]

The system that u r looking at buying is going to be difficult to purchase anywhere near that price in the UK, dam good price considering the CPU, and yes the Ram is a problem, if they dont listen to u then they aint worth going too, as this means they are putting together systems they have no idea about.

if u want to spend the same money (roughly), then go online to a e-dealer and purchase the components urself, trust me, u will get what u want @ the price u r looking for.

for this price u will probs only get the 920 i7 but still this is a great CPU and will benifit u loads.

there are acouple of sites that are used by many in britain
www.scan.co.uk
www.ebuyer.com
www.overclockers.co.uk
www.microdirect .com
and eclipsecomputers.com (the cheapest in my oppinion)

if u r worried about building it urself, then there are plenty of sites on the net for installation and overclocking guides, or take it to ur local computer retailer,they will build it for a price (but learning to build urself is way more fun)

 

[chookman]

That cheap Dell actually looks like a good pickup considering the price... slot a better GPU in there and your away for an awesome gaming machine. As others have said though Dell usually wont allow you to overclock, you loose some features generally their parts a propritory making it difficult for upgrades.

As for the Triple Channel... i7 will work with single, dual or triple channel memory configurations. From benchmarks i have seen there is a big difference between single and dual. However, the difference in Dual and Triple in anything other than synthetic benchmarks is minimal. I also do not see how you can put 6 DIMMS in a board and have Dual Channel be available as on 6 DIMM slot boards they are linked in 3's so I wouldnt think you could have 1 DIMM on one linked 3 in Dual Channel with 1 DIMM in the other set of linked 3

It seems alot of the Triple channel kits are a bit more expensive than the Dual Channel kits and until i see some real world improvements with Triple Channel ill be sticking to Dual.

 

[midi25]

I,m not too bothered about overclocking.

1. What could a i7 940 be overclocked too?
2. What would be the added advantage?

The majoirty of the work that I do on the pc is surfing and video editing.

I would like to play some games when I get it, but i,m not a major gamer.

Thanks

 

[Kari]

1. it seems like every core i7 can be overclocked close to 4GHz, maybe more with water. with stock heatsink maybe 3.5GHz

anyhow I browsed around at www.scan.co.uk, and came up with this:

CPU: Intel i7 920, Socket 1366 (B), Nehalem, 2.66GHz, Cache 8MB, £227.90
mobo: Gigabyte GA-EX58-DS4, Intel X58, £193.86
RAM: 6GB (3x2GB) CorsairXMS3, DDR3 PC3-10666 (1333) 9-9-9-24 1,5V £194.47
video: 512MB HiS HD4830 £97.97
HDD: 1TB Samsung HD103UJ Spinpoint F1, SATA 300, 7200 rpm, 32MB Cache, 8.9 ms, NCQ £73.98
case: Antec P182 Advanced £90.72
PSU: 520W Corsair HX Series Modular PSU, ATX, EPS12V, whisper quiet, 5 year warranty £71.17
optical: LG GH22NS30 22x DVD±R, 16xDVD±DL, DVD+RW x8/-RWx6 ,12xRAM SATA, Black, OEM £14.94
OS: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1* 64Bit OEM £87.96
TOTAL inc VAT £1,066.65

You'll still need a monitor (like with those dells), keyboard and mouse and speakers. And if you really wanna try to OC, then a good aftermarket heatsink like
Noctua NH-U12P SE1366 Exclusive Dual Fan CPU Cooler, LGA1366 only £50.01 Inc VAT
(looks like there isn't that many aftermarket coolers for 1366 yet, some manufs have converter kits though)

With new fancy keyboard and mouse this will end up slightly more expensive then the dell but this would be a real DIY computer

 

[midi25]

Hi I specd this machine by using www.scan.co.uk

These are all the parts that I would need. Please pick me up on something if I am missing it??

Do you think this is a good machine and a rival to the Dell Studio XPS i7 940 spec for £1,172.43??


520W Corsair HX Series Modular PSU, ATX, EPS12V, whisper quiet, 5 year warranty £61.89 £71.17

1TB Samsung HD103UJ Spinpoint F1, SATA 300, 7200 rpm, 32MB Cache, 8.9 ms, NCQ £64.33 £73.98

Antec Three Hundred Black Midi Tower Case w/o PSU £35.89 £41.27

6GB (3x2GB) CorsairXMS3, DDR3 PC3-10666 (1333) 240 Pin, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 9-9-9-24 £169.10 £194.47

512MB HiS HD4830, PCI-E 2.0 (x16), 1800MHz GDDR3, GPU 575MHz, 640 Cores, 2x DL DVI-I/ HDTV, HDCP £85.19 £97.97

Gigabyte GA-EX58-DS4, Intel X58, Sok 1366, PCI-E 2.0, DDR3 1066/1600/2000, SATA II, ATX £168.57 £193.86

Intel i7 940, Socket 1366 (B), Nehalem, 2.93GHz, Cache 8MB, OEM £390.17 £448.70

LG GH22NS30 22x DVD±R, 16xDVD±DL, DVD+RW x8/-RWx6 ,12xRAM SATA, Black, OEM £12.99 £14.94

Total £1148.63

 

[chookman]

Not GPU wise its not.

 

[WR]

So far people are discovering it is not important to use tri-channel on the i7. Just don't slip into single-channel - that will hurt noticeably in some applications.

If it is more expensive to build your own than to buy pre-built, you can still open a pre-built box and change the RAM around to suit your needs.

If building your own, use the i7 920. Combined with that overclocking board, you're likely to far exceed what you'd reach with the Dell system, and you'll save hundreds.

 

[Guest]

Processor Channel Read Write Copy Latency

Core i7 Tri DDR3-1333 15.5 GB/s 13.8 GB/s 19.4 GB/s 34.3 ns
Core i7 Dual DDR3-1333 14.7 GB/s 13.8 GB/s 18.9 GB/s 29.6 ns
Core i7 Single DDR3-1333 10.3 GB/s 10.3 GB/s 14.3 GB/s 28.5 ns

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/Intel-Core-i7-Nehalem,2057-5.html
^^