Not getting the correct RAM frequency on my modified Dell prebuilt.

[Nimacki]

Specs

Dell G5 5000

Chipset: H470

Processor: Intel i7 10700f

GPU - Geforce 3060ti

 

I got this computer earlier this year and have done various quality of life upgrades to it to make it a bit more functional. Out of the box, it ran too hot for my comfort so I replaced the CPU cooler that wasn't doing much with a beefier Cooler master. I took the fan that was in the back and the fan that was on the original CPU cooler and relocated them to the front. I removed the HDD from it's location vertically on the front of the computer stuck it up top out of the way.

Today I was upgrading the ram and adding an SSD to it. It now has the 512gb NVME, a 1TB HDD and now a 1tb Samsung 870 Evo. The ram I had stock was 2x8GB. The ram they provide is 3200mhz, but runs at 2933. I bought 2 more sticks of 2X8GB DDR4 3200 Mhz, these are Crucial brand which seems to be noted as working well with Dell computers. With all 4 sticks installed. I seem to now be limited to 2400mhz. I'm not sure if this is intentional or if there's something else I could do. Ideally I'd like to at least hit the 2933mhz frequency that the others have. I am also running Windows 11 if that would make any difference.

This is the ram that I purchased: https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B08C4VHQV2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

I have also updated my bios to the latest one. 

There is no XMP option in my bios as far as I can see and I think given that my CPU is not a K or an X model. That may be reason why.

[HanZie82]

Dell pre-builts use almost special/proprietary hardware. (CPU & specially mobo)

Altering any settings is almost impossible.

 

Sorry not being able to give you better news.

[Nimacki]

5 minutes ago, HanZie82 said:

Dell pre-builts use almost special/proprietary hardware. (CPU & specially mobo)

Altering any settings is almost impossible.

 

Sorry not being able to give you better news.

I wonder if I would still see a performance benefit from 4x8GB @ 2400mhz vs 2X8gb @ 2944mhz?

[IkeaGnome]

What preinstalled ram was in that? Brand and pn hopefully. 

I'm wondering if Dell did something weird with oem ram. 2933 MTs shouldn't be possible on h470.

[Nimacki]

10 minutes ago, IkeaGnome said:

What preinstalled ram was in that? Brand and pn hopefully. 

I'm wondering if Dell did something weird with oem ram. 2933 MTs shouldn't be possible on h470.

Here's what CPUZ has to say. The dell sticks are in 2+4 while the Crucial are in 1+3.

[Nimacki]

Here's where I'm getting the frequency info in CPUZ

[Jurrunio]

3 hours ago, IkeaGnome said:

I'm wondering if Dell did something weird with oem ram. 2933 MTs shouldn't be possible on h470.

Why not, 10th gen i7 and i9 support up to 2933MHz natively. All chipsets should support up to this level.

 

4 hours ago, Nimacki said:

. Ideally I'd like to at least hit the 2933mhz frequency that the others have.

Then you need sticks rated for 2933MHz at 1.2V. Kits rated to do more at 1.35V would have default profiles at 2133~2666MHz, but not more.

[Nimacki]

28 minutes ago, Jurrunio said:

Why not, 10th gen i7 and i9 support up to 2933MHz natively. All chipsets should support up to this level.

 

Then you need sticks rated for 2933MHz at 1.2V. Kits rated to do more at 1.35V would have default profiles at 2133~2666MHz, but not more.

 

The one that I did pick up was rated for that. As an update I tried going back down to 16gb, but with just the new Crucial ones, leaving the factory ones out. They booted and ran at 2933 while in the slots that the Dell ones were in. I then stuck the Dell ones into slots 2+4 and all four booted at 2400.

 

TLDR - Switching ram around made no difference. Doesn't seem to be any issues with the new ones. All four are running at 1.2V.

[Jurrunio]

23 minutes ago, Nimacki said:

 

The one that I did pick up was rated for that. As an update I tried going back down to 16gb, but with just the new Crucial ones, leaving the factory ones out. They booted and ran at 2933 while in the slots that the Dell ones were in. I then stuck the Dell ones into slots 2+4 and all four booted at 2400.

 

TLDR - Switching ram around made no difference. Doesn't seem to be any issues with the new ones. All four are running at 1.2V.

then maybe their 2933MHz profiles dont have matching timings. Many BIOS of prebuilt systems will ignore those until it reached one that matches.

[--SID--]

Dell motherboard only support jedec, not XMP and only support 1,2v.

[Nimacki]

On 12/4/2021 at 5:40 PM, Jurrunio said:

then maybe their 2933MHz profiles dont have matching timings. Many BIOS of prebuilt systems will ignore those until it reached one that matches.

You may be on to something. Is this what you're talking about?

[Jurrunio]

3 hours ago, Nimacki said:

You may be on to something. Is this what you're talking about?

CPU-Z only shows 4 sets, you need something else to show all of it. Say thaiphoon burner

[Heliian]

Your machine does not support 4x8gb at 2933.

 

Dell sucks for upgrades.

 

[Nimacki]

2 hours ago, Jurrunio said:

CPU-Z only shows 4 sets, you need something else to show all of it. Say thaiphoon burner

I downloaded thaiphoon burner and here's the numbers that it provided me. Not sure if there's much I can about that there.

[Nimacki]

2 hours ago, Heliian said:

Your machine does not support 4x8gb at 2933.

 

Dell sucks for upgrades.

 

It doesn't seem to support it directly. However it does seem to work.

 

I was just able to fix it. The fix is really stupid too.

 

So originally the OEM ram was in slots 2+4 from left to right. I added the crucial to slots 1+3. When I encountered the issue, I swapped places with them. The crucial could give 2933 on it's own, but reverted back to 2400 with the OEM back in place. I found a post deep on a dell forum about this where a dell expert suggested putting the dell ram in slots 1+2 and the new ram in slots 3+4. Well I just turned it on and got the 2933mhz I was seeking.

For those finding this post in the future. To explain I was using left to right with the CPU being on the left. On the mobo, it's labelled dimm 3+dimm 1 and dimm 2+dimm 4. You want to put your Dell OEM in slots 3+1 and the aftermarket (Crucial apparently is guaranteed to work) in slots 2+4.

 

Thanks for the input everyone.

[Heliian]

That is quite interesting, hopefully it runs stable and uses all 32gb.  Did you do any benching before and after? 

[Jurrunio]

2 hours ago, Nimacki said:

I downloaded thaiphoon burner and here's the numbers that it provided me. Not sure if there's much I can about that there.

You can see how FAW, RRDS and RRDL for 1466MHz (refers to 2933) are different between kits.

 

1 hour ago, Nimacki said:

So originally the OEM ram was in slots 2+4 from left to right. I added the crucial to slots 1+3. When I encountered the issue, I swapped places with them. The crucial could give 2933 on it's own, but reverted back to 2400 with the OEM back in place. I found a post deep on a dell forum about this where a dell expert suggested putting the dell ram in slots 1+2 and the new ram in slots 3+4. Well I just turned it on and got the 2933mhz I was seeking.

So same kit in the same channel... weird.