Precision 7530 & Precision 7730 owner's thread

@anuraj1's post with the relevant tabs are quoted.

Thanks much for the info. The thing is that the RAM I'm planning to buy is B-die ECC, and I'd love to take advantage of both the error correction and the potential high speed.

 

Interesting, thanks for the link. I was actually thinking of these 3200MHz CL16 modules and whether they would work in XMP. Maybe those were the ones that BSODed for the other person? 3200MHz CL18 is actually a little worse than 3000MHz CL16. Although those 3200MHz CL16 modules are 8GB (single rank) so they're less stress on the IMC and might work in XMP.

Does this mean XMP is enabled by default on this system as of that BIOS update? Is there someplace to set standard JEDEC profiles in BIOS? Because forcing XMP with no way to change to stable JEDEC timings seems like a recipe for disaster. Imagine plugging in 3600/3800/4000 modules and not being able to boot...

 

Precisely what I meant to ask. Maybe @Div033, @CR3 or @anuraj1 can chime in, see if the firmware has options to configure XMP profiles and timings, without obfuscating the options...

 

Am I right in saying that the "Kingston HyperX 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) 2666 MHz DDR4 CL16 DIMM" are the correct RAM for the 7730? They look much bigger than the ones in my M6600, more like desktop RAM than laptop RAM.

I would config the 7730 with just 8GB, then take it out and slot in the above mentioned 32GB and then at a later date buy another two sticks of the same RAM to make 64GB or RAM? Is that right?

Thanks.

 

This is my understanding. I don't have XMP modules to test with but I have seen no options regarding that in the BIOS setup. (Really, there are no options regarding memory configuration at all.)

@anuraj1 installed DDR4-3200 modules that ran at 2666 with the stock BIOS and automatically jumped to 3200 once the BIOS was updated. Stability issues arose immediately after the BIOS was updated and were only solved by removing two modules (didn't matter which) and eventually by replacing all of the modules with a different brand. So, yes, the default configuration could cause memory stability issues if you plug in RAM that can't perform stably at its max speed.

Actually, multiple users reported the 2666-to-3200 RAM speed change upon the BIOS update but @anuraj1 is the only one I remember seeing who experienced stability issues.

 

You need SO-DIMM laptop memory, not regular DIMM, look closely, you might be looking at desktop RAM indeed. 7730 RAM will definitely definitely be similar in appearance to your M6600 RAM. And your plan for removing the stock 8GB and moving to 2x16GB and later 4x16GB sounds fine. Remember that two of the RAM slots are under the keyboard, a minor hassle to get to, and that's probably where the stock RAM will be seated.

 

More modules and more ranks means greater IMC stress which can destabilize things. Really dumb on Dell's part.

Sucks to hear about the locked down BIOS, but doesn't surprise me. What kind of memory tuning options are in XTU? Can non-XMP modules be overclocked in the interface, and is there an easier CMOS reset method than removing the coin cell battery on the motherboard in case unstable settings are chosen that BSOD or prevent booting? @Ionising_Radiation would be interested in this info since he was planning on overclocking 2666MHz ECC memory.

 

Anybody knows why if you select the Xeon E-2186M in the Dell configurator, it let you choose non-ECC RAM for the 7530 model but not the 7730 where it forces ECC ? It doesn't seem to make sense...

 

Hi all, let me clarify a little on my experience with 3200MHz RAM.

My first machine had a motherboard issue so I'm not sure it's fair to use that one as an example, but that machine came with BIOS 1.0.5 and showed my HyperX 3200MHz CL20 RAM as running at 2666 in the BIOS and CPU-Z. I updated it to BIOS 1.1.7 and the RAM started running at 3200.

The machine quickly started becoming unstable to the point that it wouldn't boot with the bottom two DIMM slots populated. Again, this was a problem with MY specific machine, not all 7530s. At the time, I didn't know my motherboard had an issue, so I blamed the RAM. I bought 4x 16GB G.Skill 3200MHz CL18 RAM and it ran fine for a couple of boots, but then developed the same behavior.

Dell replaced my machine and it now runs fine with both the HyperX and G.Skill 3200MHz RAM. I returned the HyperX because the G.Skill had lower CAS Latency. An interesting thing to note: the HyperX runs at 3200 without XMP, while the G.Skill requires XMP to run at 3200. This means that Windows Task Manager will properly report the HyperX at 3200 while the G.Skill will show at 2400 in Task Manager even if it is running at 3200 due to Task Manager only reporting the fastest JEDEC speed of the RAM. You have to use something like CPU-Z to see the real running speed of the RAM. (As of BIOS 1.3.7 Task Manager properly reports the speed that RAM is running at, even if it is using XMP).

The Dell BIOS has no RAM speed or voltage controls. It automatically uses XMP for any installed memory. I have the unlocked i9 CPU, and the Dell BIOS has no speed or voltage controls for that either. I haven't had a chance to mess with memory or CPU timing/voltage using ThrottleStop or XTU.

 

IIRC CL20 is JEDEC spec for 3200MHz DDR4, that's why it doesn't need XMP to run at that.

Edit: Yup