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    New M15x reports single channel memory configuration in BIOS?

    Discussion in 'Alienware' started by blazer78, Jan 15, 2010.

  1. blazer78

    blazer78 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Hi,

    Just received my M15x with the corei7 820qm processor. The BIOS is A01 with EC v0.96. In the bios under the memory section, it reports 4gb of ram running at 1333mhz. However, it reports the ram running in a single channel configuration? Have I got a problem, or is everyone in the same boat as me?

    A very weird issue as I thought the BIOS should be reporting a dual channel configuration.

    Any help or confirmation would be great. Thanks.
     
  2. tangtang2002

    tangtang2002 Notebook Consultant

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    mine too! in bios is single but in everest is dual-channel. strange
     
  3. blazer78

    blazer78 Notebook Enthusiast

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    thats odd, I purchased the M15x with dual channel ram, so the BIOS should report a dual channel configuration. This is quite wierd.

    The driverheaven review of the M15x showed a bios screenshot with a dual channel configuration. The only difference between their memory configuration and mine is that they used an unlinked configuration whereas I used a linked configuration. I dont intend on overclocking my CPU so would rather leave the ram linked to the CPU.
     
  4. inap

    inap .........................

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    same here have A02 bios-show single channel. how did this effect us?
     
  5. HisSvt2

    HisSvt2 Notebook Consultant

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    i noticed this too with 1 stick of ram it says dual and when i put in a second 2 gb stick it says single. kind of odd
     
  6. blazer78

    blazer78 Notebook Enthusiast

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    I think its a bug in the BIOS. The BIOS screen should show dual channel. I'd hate to be losing some performance just because the bios couldnt recognise the ram configuration.

    Ive used memtest86+ and CPUZ and a few other memory analysing programs, all report dual channel. So could be a bug on the BIOS reporting screen.
     
  7. blazer78

    blazer78 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Just spoke with XPS support and they told confirmed it was a bug in the BIOS reporting screen. They told me to use CPUZ (I already did) and since that reported a dual channel configuration, everything should be fine.

    He also mentioned that the new BIOS update (presumably A03) would fix this problem up and to not worry too much about it.

    I guess that resolves it, thanks all for your input!
     
  8. non_existent

    non_existent Notebook Enthusiast

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    Hi, I've got the A03 bios, and my BIOS reports:
    Memory Bank 0: 2048MB
    Memory Bank 1: 2048MB

    I'm assuming this is what you mean by reporting dual channel?
     
  9. inap

    inap .........................

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    no, you got it wrong.
    its under - advanced - performance options
    there you will see if its dual or single
     
  10. non_existent

    non_existent Notebook Enthusiast

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    Hmm...in that case, I'm also reporting single (Memory Channel Mode).
     
  11. inap

    inap .........................

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    wow i guess they lied about A03 fixing it, lol :no: :no: :no: :no:
     
  12. blazer78

    blazer78 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Lol oh well...