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JOalienware

3 Posts

2822

December 28th, 2016 10:00

Alienware Aurora R5 - Ram Question

I purchased an Alienware Aurora R5 and the PC I purchased has a single 16gb 2Rx8 PC4 2133P Ram-module in slot 5 (XMM2) and I was wondering if I can purchase another 16gb 2Rx8 PC4 2133P module and stick it into slot 7 (XMM4) to get a total of 32gb ram. In the manual, it shows 4-8gb sticks to get a total of 32gb of ram. I would rather utilize the 16gb of ram I already have and not have to buy 4 sticks of 8gb ram. Can someone please let me know if this is possible?

Tesla1856

8 Wizard

 • 

17K Posts

January 3rd, 2017 13:00

Hi Tesla1856

 

Yes,  I'm absolutely sure that I have only have 16gb DIMM, I opened up the case and checked it myself and you are correct about the manual not showing that as a valid configuration. I'm wondering if the manual is a little outdated and maybe Dell has tested some new configurations since they first released the Aurora R5. My computer seems to be operating with no problems. My main concern is if I purchase and install another 16gb DIMM, will the configuration cause an issue?  
Thanks for verifying that.
 
According to Intel, the Z170 Chipset uses "2 DIMMs per Channel" (aka Dual-Channel)
and you can also see the 2-channels in the block-diagram here:
 
 
but the system will operate in Single-Channel mode with one DIMM (like any other dual-channel memory system). It's just slower since the optimal configuration has double the throughput.
 
If the 2 DIMMs in a Memory-Bank MATCH EXACTLY the system will operate properly in Dual-Channel Mode. That is why DIMMs are normally sold retail and installed in Pairs (to fill a whole 2-slot Memory Bank). If you can make that happen, you should be good. Otherwise, you will need to buy pairs of matching DIMMs. Installing mis-matched DIMM pairs (in one Bank) is just asking for trouble and not worth saving a few dollars.
 
I can't speak to Dell's practices, but I did request an explanation. If it wasn't a mistake (or parts shortage), I'm guessing that Dell thought it was "fast enough" (since DDR4 is faster than DDR3).
 
EDIT: If money is main concern, I suppose you could try placing a slightly different 16gb DIMM in the first slot of the other Bank. That would be 32gb ... all in Single Channel. Strange, but might work.

Alienware-Eimy

3 Apprentice

 • 

4.4K Posts

December 29th, 2016 15:00

Hi,

Yes, it is possible.

Tesla1856

8 Wizard

 • 

17K Posts

January 3rd, 2017 10:00

the PC I purchased has a single 16gb 2Rx8 PC4 2133P Ram-module in slot 5 (XMM2)

Are you sure machine came from the factory with only one DIMM installed? The reason I ask is because the Service Manual does not show that to be a valid config.

JOalienware

3 Posts

January 3rd, 2017 11:00

Hi Tesla1856

Yes,  I'm absolutely sure that I have only have 16gb DIMM, I opened up the case and checked it myself and you are correct about the manual not showing that as a valid configuration. I'm wondering if the manual is a little outdated and maybe Dell has tested some new configurations since they first released the Aurora R5. My computer seems to be operating with no problems. My main concern is if I purchase and install another 16gb DIMM, will the configuration cause an issue?  

JOalienware

3 Posts

January 3rd, 2017 13:00

Sorry for the lack of info, I'm new at this...

My system info:

Alienware Aurora R5 Base

Intel® Core™ i7-6700K Processor (4-Cores, 8MB Cache, Turbo Boost 2.0, Overclocked up to 4.2GHz)

Windows 10 Pro 64-bit

850 Watt Multi-GPU Approved Power Supply with High Peformance Liquid Cooling

NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1070 with 8GB GDDR5

16GB DDR4 at 2133MHz

256GB M.2 PCIe SSD (Boot) + 1TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s

Thanks for your information, it was helpful!

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