Dual CPU ram question

[Chalkie]

Hi, I’ve just been gifted 2 dell servers, both have identical motherboards, CPU’s, RAM sticks etc, however 1 server has 3 x 4GB ram sticks and 1 has 4 x 4GB ram sticks, the motherboards are dual CPU sockets, I’ve tested both servers and they work, if I put 1 of the CPUs into the other to make it a dual cpu setup does the ram config have to be the same? Or can 1 CPU have 12gb and one have 16gb? 
 

the CPUs are: Intel Xeon E5-2609v2 

ram sticks are: 4GB PC3-14900R 13-13-A1

 

they did come with 2 * 500gb hdd but I plan on using a 2tb SSD.

 

the server has an 850w PSU.

 

I have included a picture of the motherboard.

 

I plan on using the server just as a dev webserver running Ubuntu.

 

Thanks in advance.

[Electronics Wizardy]

You can mix ram between CPUs, I've done it many times and the systems boot and work fine. Its not optimal for performance, but I'd just try it.

[strange13930]

8 minutes ago, Chalkie said:

Hi, I’ve just been gifted 2 dell servers, both have identical motherboards, CPU’s, RAM sticks etc, however 1 server has 3 x 4GB ram sticks and 1 has 4 x 4GB ram sticks, the motherboards are dual CPU sockets, I’ve tested both servers and they work, if I put 1 of the CPUs into the other to make it a dual cpu setup does the ram config have to be the same? Or can 1 CPU have 12gb and one have 16gb? 
 

the CPUs are: Intel Xeon E5-2609v2 

ram sticks are: 4GB PC3-14900R 13-13-A1

 

they did come with 2 * 500gb hdd but I plan on using a 2tb SSD.

 

the server has an 850w PSU.

 

I have included a picture of the motherboard.

 

I plan on using the server just as a dev webserver running Ubuntu.

 

Thanks in advance.

you can try using it with 16gb for one cpu and 12 for the other but there may be compatibility issues, performance loss or instability 

[porina]

Given how small and old the ram is, see if you can get another stick cheaply to balance it out. Having said that, they're quad core Ivy Bridge CPUs? Very old so maybe not worth spending even a little on.

[OhYou_]

bro you are battling against a $45 solution https://www.ebay.com/itm/365304546143

 

still, there will be zero issues with 7 ram sticks and two cpus in that pc.

[Needfuldoer]

You can get all the documentation for your servers from Dell's support site if you enter their Service Tags. The service manual will tell you what order the slots should be populated in for optimal performance, if the sticker inside the lid doesn't. Even if you don't follow that sequence perfectly, the server should still boot and run just fine.

 

In general, the rule of thumb is that each populated CPU socket needs at least one DIMM slot populated to work. If your second CPU socket doesn't have a CPU in it, then you can't use the DIMM slots or PCIe slots that attach to it. (Again, the service manual will tell you which slots connect to which CPU. Dell usually labels them on the motherboard as well.)

 

Parts for those things should be dirt cheap now because it's all old enough to have cycled out of datacenters by now. Update the BIOS to the latest version, throw a couple Xeon E5-2680 v2s in each one, load them up with 32 GB Reg ECC DDR3 DIMMs, and have fun.