BIOS wont load if 8GB or more? XPS Studio 8100, i5-650 500w PS

[Todd Wallace]

I can get the bios to load if I have 6GB of RAM, but if I go more than 6gb it doesnt load.

Dell XPS 8100
i5-650 processor
500w Power Supply
dh57m01 motherboard
BIOS A05

Trying to install 2x4gb RAM
Corsair XMS3 1333mhz
this is what Dell officially recommended from there website given my PC service tag


I am able to get it to load to BIOS but only if I press F2 as soon as it starts but after a few seconds it just powers off, sometimes it wont even get far enought to press F2 for the bios. If I load 6gb it loads no problem, I know my hardware can load more than 8gb but no idea why it just randomly shuts off at 8gb or I have to press F2 to get the the bios and then it just turns off after a few seconds. Ive flashed the CMOS several times, removed the motherboard battery, Ive been though the bios settings it doesnt look like anything is disabled. If anyone has any other ideas please let me know!

 

[viometrix]

your 8GB ram kit could be bad, replace them with new ones and see if that fixes the issue

 

[Todd Wallace]

I tried both 4gb individually in every slost, they work in every slot individually. its when I have them together in any order, it fails 🙁

 

[nukemaster]

What is the memory model number?

I almost wonder if it needs more voltage, but those boards do not allow such changes.

I have seen some boards that needed a bit more memory for 4 sticks.

 

[ahnilated]

It could be as simple as the system doesn't support that much ram.

 

[Todd Wallace]

CMX8Gx3m2a1333c9 is the RAM model number, I put them in cousins XPS Studio 8100 and it works fine. he is running an i7 though, but we have the same motherboard, I actually have a 500w Power Supply he is using 430W power supply and it works in his computer.

 

[GhislainG]

CMX8Gx3m2a1333c9 is the RAM model number, I put them in cousins XPS Studio 8100 and it works fine. he is running an i7 though, but we have the same motherboard, I actually have a 500w Power Supply he is using 430W power supply and it works in his computer.

Same BIOS revision?

 

[Todd Wallace]

Yeah we are both on A05, the latest for the 8100 XPS

 

[GhislainG]

It's a mystery why they work in one system and not in the other when they have identical motherboards (same revision and BIOS). Do the modules have 8 ICs on each side for a total of 16? While not impossible, the CPU shouldn't make a difference.

 

[Todd Wallace]

Im not sure what the ICs are, the info for the RAM is above. Computer loads fine with 6GB of RAM but 8GB of RAM I have to press F2 to get to the BIOS and it shows 8GB of RAM but the whole system restarts after a few seconds.

 

[GhislainG]

The CMX8Gx3m2a1333c9 part number is meaningless because the same modules manufactured in 2010 or 2011 were low-density (16 ICs) while the newer ones most likely are high-density (8 ICs). I checked the Corsair site and they list no compatible memory kits for your Dell system.

 

[nukemaster]

The heat spreaders may make it hard to check out the memory's actual chip count(you should be able to take a stick out and look from the bottom).

Since the Core ISeries(LGA 1366 and newer like your LGA 1156 board), ALL Intel cpus have the memory controller in the CPU. so the cpu does in fact play some role, but so does the board and its bios clearly.

The memory seems to be rated for 1.5. do you have any control over memory speed in the bios? Can you try to set it to 1066 instead of 1333? If the sticks just want slightly more voltage(just because you have 4 of them), running slower could help.

 

[Todd Wallace]

The A05 bios is locked down for RAM or CPU speed changes. I gave my ram to my cousin since it works with his XPS i7, I guess my i5 is the culprit since its the only difference between mine and his?

 

[nukemaster]

My old i5 750 never had issues with the following.

2 x 2gigabyte(corsair XMS3, I forget the number, but I still having it somewhere)
2 x 4gigabyte(XMS3 CMX8GX3M2A1600C9. It was running at 1333)
2 x 8gigabyte(Gskill F3-12800CL10D-16GBXL. Again running at 1333) sticks. This is what I use now.

My board only has 2 slots however so no 4 stick issues(my guess it may just be that since I am sure they have some slight variations in board voltages.). I guess the same slight variation may happen within the cpu memory controllers too. It is kind of like how some chips overclock great and others do not even when they are "the same" cpu.

Sorry it did not work out.

 

[GhislainG]

My old i5 750 never had issues with the following.

2 x 2gigabyte(corsair XMS3, I forget the number, but I still having it somewhere)
2x 4gigabyte(XMS3 CMX8GX3M2A1600C9. It was running at 1333)
2 x 8gigabyte(Gskill F3-12800CL10D-16GBXL. Again running at 1333) sticks. This is what I use now.

My board only has 2 slots however so no 4 stick issues(my guess it may just be that since I am sure they have some slight variations in board voltages.). I guess the same slight variation may happen within the cpu memory controllers too. It is kind of like how some chips overclock great and others do not even when they are "the same" cpu.

Sorry it did not work out.

2 GB modules never were an issue; the 4 GB modules most likely are old enough to be double-sided and the 8 GB modules always are double-sided. That's why you never had issues.

 

[nukemaster]

Are you saying single sided is an issue? Interesting.

 

[GhislainG]

Absolutely because single-sided 4 GB modules are high-density. I ran into that issue with a P55 motherboard; an old 8 GB (2x4) low-density kit runs fine, but a new high-density kit doesn't even though the kits have identical specs and heat spreaders.

 

[nukemaster]

Well my board is not even supposed to go over 4 gigabytes per slot(since I had the 8 gigabyte sticks I had to try). I got lucky

The QVL is so old they only have a few single sided sticks listed.

 

[GhislainG]

It's not supposed to support 8 GB per slot, but that's only because such modules didn't exist when the chipset was released. I also learned recently that my P55 supports 8 GB modules which obviously are much easier to find than low-density 4 GB modules.

 

[nukemaster]

Ok, we have hijacked this thread enough.

Thanks for the information.