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    Kingston 1866 RAM upgrade - bad settings or faulty DIMMs?

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by bfishman, Nov 23, 2011.

  1. bfishman

    bfishman Notebook Consultant

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    Greetings,

    I recently upgraded my M17x R3 (A08 BIOS) with a pair of Kingston 1866 MHZ SO-DIMMS (2x4GB) (KHX1866C11S3P1K2/8G).

    The first set I installed produced ~800 errors in MEMTEST86 over a 12-hour run. So I RMA'd the set and installed replacements a couple of days later.

    This next set produced ~100 errors over a 22-hour test.

    The stock RAM (1333 Mhz) that shipped with my laptop was completely error free after ~20 hours of testing.

    So - am I doing something wrong here, or did I just get two bad sets of RAM in a row? All BIOS settings are default. The RAM is PnP.

    What would you do next? Thank you for any assistance you can provide!

    Bryan
     
    bfishman, Nov 23, 2011
    #1
  2. inzelux

    inzelux Notebook Evangelist

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    Hi!

    I've heard that some of the really powerfull RAM's (like yours) need somewhat of an driver or so to work properly, or that they have to be downclocked to 1660mhz to work properly?

    I would ask "SlickDude80", in the forums, i think he did help someone else with an similar problem.

    - Scott.
     
    inzelux, Nov 23, 2011
    #2
  3. ratchetnclank

    ratchetnclank Notebook Deity

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    The m17x r3 only supports up to 1600Mhz afaik.

    Others have had issues with 1866mhz sticks.
     
    ratchetnclank, Nov 23, 2011
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  4. SlickDude80

    SlickDude80 Notebook Prophet

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    you can run 1866 but you have to either downclock them to 1600 in the bios OR change your XMP profile to XMP 2 and choose 1866. Some people plug them in and don't realize that they are running at 1600 so they report that the 1866's work great. Some people truly report that the 1866 work at rated speeds and are PnP so i dont know how to interpret the data. From what i see, its a 50/50 shot

    Also, i'd check to make sure that your timings are correct. i assume that you bought the Hyper X 1866 kit which runs 11-11-11-30. If these are running the 9-9-9's @ 1.5v, you will have instability. The stock 1333's and hyperx 1600's run 9-9-9 at 1.5v so usually they literally are pnp
     
    SlickDude80, Nov 23, 2011
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  5. bfishman

    bfishman Notebook Consultant

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    Thank you all for your responses.

    I am currently running the ram downclocked to 1600, which resulted in a 10-10-10-28 timing. XMP Profile 2 with 1866 failed to boot. I have not run a full memtest on this downclocked setting.

    The default settings had the ram running at 1866 with timings of 11-11-11-32.

    I intend to buy some 1600 ram with better timings (9's). Let this be a caution to those looking to upgrade their 17x's with aftermarket RAM!

    Once again, thank you all for your assistance. If there's anything I can do to help provide more troubleshooting or data points for the forum, let me know, and I'll do what I can over the next few days before sending this 1866 ram back to Newegg.
     
    bfishman, Nov 23, 2011
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  6. widezu69

    widezu69 Goodbye Alienware

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    Tracked down some CL9 1866's. Only come in 2GB sticks though. Gonna see if those make a difference.
     
    widezu69, Nov 23, 2011
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  7. ganzonomy

    ganzonomy Notebook Deity

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    Where did you find CL9 1866 Laptop Memory?! :D

    Edit: found komputerbay on amazon... I see a LOT of mixed reviews, either 5 stars or 1 star. I'd proceed with caution.
     
    ganzonomy, Nov 23, 2011
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  8. widezu69

    widezu69 Goodbye Alienware

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    They exist. Part number is KHX1866C9S3K2/4GX They hopefully will be better as they are Intel XMP approved :D I will double rep anyone and everyone who can find me a shop that still has these in stock.
     
    widezu69, Nov 23, 2011
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  9. ganzonomy

    ganzonomy Notebook Deity

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    I DID IT! (It says "add to cart") :D

    Masstech (South Africa)

    Wired Systems (Philippines)
     
    ganzonomy, Nov 23, 2011
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  10. widezu69

    widezu69 Goodbye Alienware

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    Thanks a lot. I wonder if any of them will ship to the UK.
     
    widezu69, Nov 23, 2011
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  11. ganzonomy

    ganzonomy Notebook Deity

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    Wiredsystems doesn't ship beyond the philippines :'(

    I'll try masstech in the AM when they open.
     
    ganzonomy, Nov 23, 2011
    #11
  12. ganzonomy

    ganzonomy Notebook Deity

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    ganzonomy, Nov 23, 2011
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  13. teksavvy1

    teksavvy1 Notebook Geek

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    teksavvy1, Nov 23, 2011
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  14. bfishman

    bfishman Notebook Consultant

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    I understand the allure, but what makes you think this ram will run on your machine, when CL11 does not? The XMP approval?
     
    bfishman, Nov 24, 2011
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  15. widezu69

    widezu69 Goodbye Alienware

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    Yeah the XMP approval could be the determining factor. Our systems have 2 XMP profiles as far as I can tell, one is 7-7-7-19 and the other is 9-9-9-24. Profile one is for 1333Mhz and the second is for higher speeds. As the PnP is rated at C11, forcing it to run at C9 may be the cause of the BSOD's. I dunno. We'll have to see :)
     
    widezu69, Nov 24, 2011
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  16. teksavvy1

    teksavvy1 Notebook Geek

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    teksavvy1, Nov 24, 2011
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  17. widezu69

    widezu69 Goodbye Alienware

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    Komputerbay have not been very reliable with many complaints against them. Gonna see if some of these sellers ship overseas.
     
    widezu69, Nov 24, 2011
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  18. SlickDude80

    SlickDude80 Notebook Prophet

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    price is good on these...but Komputerbay? i'm too chicken to try them
     
    SlickDude80, Nov 24, 2011
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