X9DRL 1600MHz compatible UDIMM

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renderfarmer

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Feb 22, 2013
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Does anyone have a Supermicro X9DRL (any version) populated with 1600MHz UDIMMs (any number) that will actually run them at 1600MHz?

I've tried several boards and types of UDIMMs and can't seem to make it work. The same boards work at 1600MHz with 1600MHz RDIMMs just fine.
 
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wyluliraven

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Nov 6, 2012
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I would presume LGA2011 given his workstation and renderfarm, however I do not have have any of those boards in order to help you renderfarmer. :(

If it helps you, at work we have 8GB and 16GB UDIMM 1600MHz DIMMs however they will only run at 1333MHz.
 
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renderfarmer

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Feb 22, 2013
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If it helps you, at work we have 8GB and 16GB UDIMM 1600MHz DIMMs however they will only run at 1333MHz.
What's up with that?? The manual says they will take UDIMMs at 1600, but all of mine default to 1333MHz with super low timings (8-8-8-20). Supermicr's certified RAM list is of course only made up of RDIMMs...

Like I posted in my DIY thread, memory speed doesn't make a difference for my application. But as a computer geek I don't like mysteries and as a consumer, when I pay for 1600 I expect 1600. Whether I need it or not.

I'd love to hear anyone's experiences with these boards relating to RAM speed.
 

TheBay

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Feb 25, 2013
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I know it's a different platform, but my X9SC (1055) series all run at 1600mhz, might just be a bios quirk?, is this just going by what the bios reports or through other methods?

I think I might also be one of the only few that have 4x 8GB UDIMMS sticks working in all boards!

Oh and they are 3.5v!
 
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renderfarmer

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Feb 22, 2013
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I check the RAM speed using HWinfo64. Confirmed it with CPUz and AIDA64.

Could be a BIOS quirk, but I have several different BIOS revisions accross my farm on these boards and they all behave the same. I might try updating one to the very latest version 1.1 (they don't exactly update these often), but until I can get confirmation from at least one person that they have a UDIMM working at 1600MHz in a Supermicro socket 2011 board I'm skeptical that a BIOS revision a year after the board were released would fix this.
 

TheBay

New Member
Feb 25, 2013
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Very bizarre!

If it was linked to one particular make/model of UDIMM I would say the jedec information is incorrect on the stick, but you have tried various UDIMM's. Not sure how helpful Supermicro will be but worth speaking to them, I find the EU Netherlands contact centre the most technical and helpful. I've escalated a few issued through there.

What rank are the UDIMM's?, Single or Dual, have you tried both.
I've had HP servers do funny things with certain ranked modules.

Also what's the latency on the RDIMMS?, maybe if the latency stated via jedec is higher on the UDIMMS it doesn't like it and clocks them down.

Just some suggestions.
 
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wyluliraven

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Nov 6, 2012
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It is not a quirk with the memory, it is a bios hold up. We make our own bios' and are still stuck with 1333MHz performance on our best DIMMs. Just about all the hardware is custom ordered for us.
 

renderfarmer

Member
Feb 22, 2013
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It is not a quirk with the memory, it is a bios hold up. We make our own bios' and are still stuck with 1333MHz performance on our best DIMMs. Just about all the hardware is custom ordered for us.
Making your own BIOS's is pretty hard core! You must work someone very high end. But since you're not reliant on the supermicro BIOS then can't you bypass whatever the limitation is if it really is just software?

I just updated all of my nodes to the latest 1.1 BIOS and that didn't change anything. Unfortunately the only 1600MHz UDIMMs I have are CL9 parts. I'll contact Supermicro on Monday and see what they say.
 

renderfarmer

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Feb 22, 2013
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New Jersey
Not the C0 stepping ES CPU at play here ?
No. I discovered this problem before the ES chips. I have some retail E5-2620 cpus as well. Same issue. I also have a X9DRW-iF board that also won't run UDIMMs at 1600MHz... In case you're wondering all of these UDIMMs work just fine @1600MHz in my Asus X79 board.
 

renderfarmer

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Feb 22, 2013
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New Jersey
Hmm. Looking at the manual for the X9DRW-iF and in the memory compatibility chart it lists 1600MHz only for "1 Slot Per Channel" configuration. For "2 Slots per Channel" it says 1066/1333. Worth a try...
 

renderfarmer

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Feb 22, 2013
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New Jersey
Well, I found some 1600MHz CL10 Geil RAM and tried 1 stick, 2 stick, and 4 sticks with same result. 1333MHz... I emailed Supermicro and am waiting to hear back. I also have some very cheap HP Smart Buy RAM on the way from Provantage that I will try.
 

supermacro

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Aug 31, 2012
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It has nothing to do with BIOS. Actually, the memory speed is controlled by your CPU so if you have, say, E5-2620 then the max you're going to have is 1333Mhz even with 1600Mhz. You will see 1600Mhz when you start to use E5-2650 and above. Also, if you have more than 2 quad rank DIMMs per channel then you might see your 1333Mhz automatically downgraded to 1066Mhz since the processor can only see 8 logical ranks.