Aurora R7 - 2933Mhz HyperX memory option?

I just bought an R7 with a 2933.  I have tried to purchase another one without success..

The sales agent got it wrong and was about to send me a 16GB 2133, but I caught it fast enough to cancel.  Then they said they have no stock of 2933's, try again in a few weeks.  I suspect if and when it is available, we are not going to like the price.  Looking at the website at similar memory, Dell's prices seem quite high, and I think it will be  $300-400.

The part number on my packing list is 370-ADVX.  Nothing comes up on the website, and the rep told me it was not listed.  It is an OEM part, and Kingston told me they can't sell it to us, only 2666 and below.  Annoying.

We need to know if and how the ram voltage can be adjusted, but there may be no general info available on our MB.  I think other makes like Corsair may require changing timing as well as voltage.  Kingston told me these speedy rams are "aggressively tuned" and require board adjustments to match.   At this point, I would like to forget this ram and go to something on the market, maybe even faster. 

If I can find out, maybe from G.skill or Corsair, how to make their ram work on this MB, I'll pull the 2933.  But do they (or anyone) know who made the MB?

Did you get a PCIe NVMe type drive?  I just got the minimum 1 TB spinner, so I ordered a Samsung SM961 512GB and, with kind help from tech support, transitioned to it.  It is FAST.  PassMark rates it at the top, around 20,000.

Sequential read 3070, sequential write 1525.   Hope it continues to work down the road (the 960 EVO does not work well for Dell according to tech support - I'm glad I asked before buying).

12.05.17 edit 

> HRGreen got G.Skill RipJaws V 3000 to work, see his post below, very bottom of page <

+++++++++++++++++++++

My Original Post Before a Confirmed Kit Was Found

@Green > it seems you scared up some good info, another owner posted recently on Arena (was that you?) about a 2933 memory stick sold as HyperX Fury, not found on the website (max 2666), I posted in there about checking the Service Tag for the memory part# which you can also do. IPCFL-SC Motherboard is custom by Pegatron (Intel Pegatron CovfefeLake) ... HyperX RAM Upgrade? > https://na.alienwarearena.com/ucf/show/1810518/boards/technical-support-1/ForumPost/hyperx-ram-upgrade

Gman > greetings, good luck with new R7. The rear I/O shield trim plate for R5 R6 R7 is permanent / laser cut into the chassis, motherboard swap later may need a Dremel tool, power on switch wiring is 'special', also (no 'front panel header' on those mthrbrds) ... user installed premium memory in A51 R3 R4 won't survive a re-boot / defaults to 2400, this is quite a launch so far

edit: I'd be inclined to leave a comment on this AlienTube video: Do It Yourself! > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77vOtGexZG0 where the suggestion @9min30sec you can 'upgrade whatever u want whenever u want', let them know how you feel about that, given that good premium DDR4 runs @1.35v etc

Sorry - Regarding previous excerpt the Kingston HyperX 2666MHz is available. The 2933 MHz is not available. I was expecting to run 3000MHZ.  Possibly 3200MHz or more.  

I have the R7 with the best cpu and gpu. I thought that I could add memory since the configurator said "can be added later".

After speaking with several Dell sales and technical people I am amazed that adding/replacing memory is next to impossible.

I have found that:

I have 16GB of Micron 8ATF1G64AZ-2G6H1 installed. 

In R7 Setup and Specifications (p.19) it looks as if the total range of memory is 2666MHz to 2933MHz at 1.2 v.

The page only references one brand (HyperX FURY).

The Kingston HyperX FURY DDR4 XMP is not available on the Kingston website (supposedly proprietary) or anywhere else.  I have spent many hours looking.

PROBLEMS:

The motherboard (also proprietary) seems to accept ONLY:

1.2v (most current gaming level is 1.35v)

The motherboard appears to only accept 2666MHz to 2933MHz in Kingston. other z370 boards support up to 4000MHz. When I called Dell sales to add memory I was given offered Vision Tek 2400MHz . No Kingston 2666 or 2933.No other brands. 

I am frustrated and cannot find an explanation for the extreme memory limitations and would like to know if memory choices will eventually be available and is the motherboard stuck at 2933MHz and 1.2v with HyperX.

I never anticipated a problem like this with Dell. I have purchased several top of the line Dell laptops and XPS desktops over many many years I expected this to be another good experience.

I purchased a system 10-31 with 32GB dual channel @ 2933Mhz. Product code on the pack slip says 370-ADWK. I initially ordered the system with 16GB and then tried to add or buy another 16 GB module and was told I would probably never get one as they are never in stock. I cancelled that order and reordered with 32GB and it shipped two days after I ordered it.

I tried Crucial's systemscan to see what popped out.  Ended up talking to them, with their recommendation of Ballistix Tactical 3000 MHz as being compatible and likely will run at well above 2666.  Reading the specs  it sounds good, so I ordered a 2x16 kit.  I will have it by Monday and give it a try; returnable; cheapest source Adorama.

What I know about memory idiosyncrasies could fit on the head of a pin, so may ask guru's help in setting BIOS.  It hurts me to shelf the (expensive) single OEM Fury.  If the pair work, I'll try the Fury with one also.

The 2666 memory that was installed in my R7 was Micron which I believe is also Crucial which may help with the compatibility. Let me know how your test run works. 3000 would be good but most z370 motherboards handle up to 4000MHz. I don’t know if ours is stuck at 2933. Knowing the peak would help select memory. I don’t know if you have tried the benchmark websites but User Benchmark is really helpful. You could actually use to build a pc from scratch. By the way my ssd turned out to be a Toshiba which seems to have good specs on user benchmark.

I am amazed that Dell was so ill prepared for the R7. Not to have memory in stock and then seemingly hiding the exact specs doesn’t make sense if they expect to maintain the good things that have been said in the early reviews. Why Kingston is mentioned in their specs manual and not Crucial is another question. By the way the 2933 does not show in the R7 Configurator build. At least it didn’t the last I checked.

Good luck.

Sent from Mail for Windows 10

I checked the Crucial website and it looks as if the 2666MHz run at 1.2v and the 3000MHz is 1.35v. I have no idea if the board accepts only 1.2v or if 1.35 could damage the memory and/or motherboard. I have assumed that any memory has to be 1.2v. Also the Crucial scanner says I have an INTEL z370 motherboard. This might allow you to check that board for compatibility.

Sent from Mail for Windows 10

I believe I read that the 1.2v increases to 1.35v when XMP is implemented.  The two Furies may be the same chips with selection/minor board tweaks.  Kingston half-way admitted that to me.

It seems that the 8700K R7 was only on sale for a short time, maybe less than a month.  It would be interesting to know if it was shut off because Dell couldn't get the K's; last I looked, they had dried up.  Or maybe Dell decided to limit an OCer's box as more of an advertising gimmick than a good corporate product.  Haven't seen it on the website in more a week.  No K version, no need to stock the OC'd ram, since sales were limited.   So am looking elsewhere.  Anyway, the former website options suggested that the 16GB 2933 price would be $100 more than the 2666 ($300?, almost what 32GB of Crucial 3000 costs).

Cooling in the K version could be better.  Looking at some DIY on YouTube, I found the you-know-who i9 build inspirational.

Thanks hrgreen and akimba for the part numbers.  I'll sync with my inside Dell rep to see pricing and availability on them.

I read through the replies and personally suspect that Dell has not enabled/allowed memory voltage above 1.2v.  Doing some research - the fastest 1.2v memory I found was 2666Mhz.  I did look through the Kingston HyperX website and didn't see a listing for 2933Mhz part so I suspect that's a Dell exclusive SKU  (which enables them to charge a premium).  My guess is it has tweaked timings to allow the faster speed while keeping 1.2v.  It's a minor nit in an otherwise nice package - having faster memory is good but it won't provide the same level of boost like a faster GPU or CPU for the $$$ involved.

FWIW - I have access to Corsair memory in 3000Mhz & 3200Mhz flavors which have XMP profiles at 1.35v.  When I tried these - the R7 didn't recognize those profiles and booted to default JEDEC timings of 2133Mhz.  

hrgreen:  I did install a Samsung 960 EVO Pro (NVME drive) - works fine (and screams)!

Cass-Ole‌:  Hey!  Thx for the heads up on the I/O shield.  Once upgrade time comes - I'll figure it out :-)  

Thx All!

P.S.  Some people mentioned that they don't see the "K" processor listed.  It's still available (you need to click into one of the 'featured' 8700 units and then upgrade to the "K" model for $100.

there's no proviso on the Area-51 Spec Sheets, which could be construed as a license to run 'whatever you want'; where-as Aurora calls out the HyperX by name, it implies 'any brand' of 2666 or only our brand at 2933, how odd

__________________

sample SrvcTag Info shows Dell 5-digit memory part# + description

For those who took delivery of a 16Gb stick of Fury 2933, you can run your service tag & post a screen capture of your build sheet results as I've done. Typically you'd hand that exact part# to a sales rep for them to check into it with. The 'invoice' numbers I've seen people post are not 'classic Dell part numbers' (but may mean something / cross-reference as the employee sits at the screen), I'd ask to run both part numbers to verify they truly do not exist in spare parts data-base yet, an odd affair in that people will naturally wish to upgrade after-the-fact (so why aren't they milking for the proprietary memory yet?)

Retrieve Info: Enter Service Tag @ http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04?c=us&l=en&s=bsd > see System Config tab > Original Config > Components > scroll down to memory line item & click it for part# + description

___________________

They clearly have 8Gb sticks of this which of course run in single-channel, so when buying the 16Gb option (at an unusually high price disparity > 1st pay for the initial basic 2666 8Gb stick Included In Price, est. value ~$65+, then add $200 = $265+ for one 16Gb stick?) why not ship 2 x 8Gb in dual-channel, where we might expect the smaller DIMMS to go for slightly less than the larger 16Gb (& cost less when moving to 32Gb later w/a 4x8 setup) ... ... ...

I don't think the board is locked at 1.2 v, except as the default BIOS setting.  I'm using Level 2 in the ACC OC page, which shows my mem at XMP1.at 1.3v.I'm guessing that the BIOS has multiple caches for profiles.

By the way, the manual suggests Level 2 may not be stable.  More air seems to hold it; I have both fans at 50%. 

Is a BIOS directory utility available?

There may be more to do to find out if other memory can work.  With the Alienware CC on the K version,, you can build your own profile, I have only played with this a little bit.. But it looks like CPU speed and voltage and memory voltage can all be changed.  There is also the Intel OC utility; haven't gotten to it yet..  I think these re-write BIOS settings, I don't know.  Don't know if the ACC works with non-K 8700.

But I see that the Alienware-supplied level 2 OC on the ACC/OC page says XMP1 = 1.3 v.  That is what I'm set at, and the 2933 ram speed only tests at 2800-2850.  I see in various type ram's specs that XMP1/2 requires voltage boosts.  Each type ram also has its own timing parameters which I think are also put in BIOS and could be changed.

It would be great to consult a Pegatron person;  Alienware may not want this Info out there (or may not have it).  The R7 board itself may be capable of operating properly with some ram rated well into the 3000's, if it is good recent design.  But I think it may be an older design upgraded to Z370.  The image looks like those of some earlier AW boards.

That wasn't a 960 EVO I bought.  Tech support had some kind of trouble with it, and recommended the 961 replacement.  It's working great.  Benchmarks are not quite what Samsung claims, but I didn't shut off stuff as has been recommended to run them.

feel free to publish your screenshot of Lvl2 may be unstable; you can find something approximating a Bios utility on page 137 of your SrvcManual > heading System Setup