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February 8th, 2026 16:53
Inspiron 3880 possible ram issue
Desktop won't power on just 3 blinking white lights then 2 blinking amber lights. Looked at troubleshooting guide at Dell and it says possible ram not recognized, if I read it correctly. My setup for ram is 12GB, 8Gx1 + 4Gx1, DDR4, 2666MHz
If I go to replace the ram to fix this issue, what do I get? Do I replace both sticks of ram, or just upgrade the 4g stick to make it 16g total and hope it works? Searching Dell leads me to about $400 to replace the ram?!? Can someone lead me in the right direction please? Thank you.
ejn63
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February 8th, 2026 17:00
Unplug the system and hold the power button for 30 seconds. Then see if the error is still present. If it is, move the memory module to the other socket. If it fails there, it's likely bad. If it works in the other socket, it's the socket that's bad (and the mainboard will need to be replaced).
Though it appears Crucial has already stopped selling memory direct to consumers, you can use the configurator to select compatible RAM. And yes, memory is at what's close to if not over an all-time high in price at this point in time.
https://www.crucial.com/compatible-upgrade-for/dell/inspiron-3880?srsltid=AfmBOop8S6PfmyLuY3l2625pPiOFTPS2TZyRwxvHp_cGdStZ-iEmCGeD
Reese1063
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February 8th, 2026 21:56
@ejn63 unplugging and holding power button didn't do anything. By main board you mean the mother board, right? Sorry, I'm a bit rusty, it's been awhile since I built a desktop.
ejn63
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February 8th, 2026 22:27
Yes, that's another name for the part. You may want to evaluate the replacement cost against the purchase of a newer system -- it likely won't cost that much more.
Reese1063
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February 11th, 2026 00:11
Thank you for the help.