Will PC3-12800 also work in PC3-10600 machine?

[SoCalRox]

I have an older Dell XPS-8100 that still meets the need. I am thinking about tossing in some additional memory and found what I wanted, but noticed the same company's PC3-12800 memory is less expensive than the PC3-10600 the machine was built with.  If I save a few bucks and buy the PC3-12800 DIMMs instead of the PC3-10600, will he mobo still work just fine? I'm pretty sure it will, but I'm looking for confirmation before placing the order.

Edited March 31, 2019 by SoCalRox

[Jim K Global Moderator]

Well, you didn't give the exact memory link.

 

Crucial shows that their modules at 1600 are compatible....the Dell will just down-clock if needed.

 

https://www.crucial.com/usa/en/compatible-upgrade-for/Dell/studio-xps-8100  

[DevTech]

5 hours ago, SoCalRox said:

I have an older Dell XPS-8100 that still meets the need. I am thinking about tossing in some additional memory and found what I wanted, but noticed the same company's PC3-12800 memory is less expensive than the PC3-10600 the machine was built with.  If I save a few bucks and buy the PC3-12800 DIMMs instead of the PC3-10600, will he mobo still work just fine? I'm pretty sure it will, but I'm looking for confirmation before placing the order.

It is a 1st generation i series

 

(You can also upgrade the CPU)

 

The DELL OEM BIOS may or may not recognize various RAM due to unpredictable factors. Finicky they were!

 

But the speed won't matter. It just runs it slower. Make sure the slower RAM is in the lower numbered slots.

 

Also, there is a undocumented chance that it will accept 8 gig DDR3 modules...

 

[goretsky Supervisor]

Hello,

You may wish to verify the computer has the latest version of its BIOS installed, as BIOS updates can add support for and improve compatibility with different types of memory modules that were not available when the computer was originally released.

 

Regards,

 

Aryeh Goretsky

 

[Steven P. Administrators]

Like DevTech says, it will work but the speed will downclock.

 

My Dell 8930 XPS is also limited to a maximum of DDR4-2666MHz memory speeds so I was forced to buy the same memory to expand from 16 to 32, I will tell you this though, I will never buy a Dell again! (It is away for its second repair with a failing PSU, 2 months of warranty left on it).

[SoCalRox]

Thanks for the info- it's what I expected but needed reassurance. The Crucial ram is a notch higher priced- they have a special on Patriot Signature memory at Amazon. I've used both Patriot and Kingston memory for many, many years and never had a problem, so I tend to stick with them even though I know they are second tier compared to companies like Crucial.

 

Goretsky: As always, an excellent point. I *BELIEVE* I check to see if it was current when I found it a couple of months ago (long story- sufficient to say it was stored when moving and I couldn't find it for over 6 years, which is another reason I want to get mileage out of it- I paid through my nose for this unit and didn't get much use at the time, and for my needs, it is still VERY adequate.)

 

Steven P.: I know a lot of people who have said the same thing, but in all honesty, the Dells I've had always have been good buys. Same thing with HP. Are there gotchas that both companies put into their designs? Yeah, unfortunately. But they have never gotten me. I used to build my own, but I've gotten to the age where it isn't easy- arthritis for starters. Maybe I'll build one last tower some time just to teach my stepson how to do it. But for now, I'm satisfied with buying off the shelf. One thing that I find helps is buying business line machines (I am NOT a gamer. I'd rather play with databases than play Fortnight.) so, tl;dr is that I sure do understand how you feel, even though I have not had any problems with them. And if that 8930 is disappointing you, just drop it with FedEx and send it to me. I can give it a good home. I haven't bought a new computer since 2012 anyway. (Oh my gawd! i just realized that! Well, I have 2 Raspberry Pi's, but that doesn't count.)

 

DevTech: I was showing my age with this question- I recall the days where you had to match the speeds EXACTLY- and even then, you would get mismatches (which happened to me when I tried to add a big 256k to a machine back in the early 1990s or late 80's- it's all a blur, calendar-wise, now!) And if the XPS-8100 is finicky, I also have a similar vintage 453MT and I can put the memory in that one- it's my Linux server, repository, and SQL Server on Linux machine.

 

Thanks, Jim K. I looked at the Crucial, but the Patriot is 6 bucks per DIM cheaper, and for a machine that's almost 10 years old, i'll save the money. If I were building (or building up) a new machine, Crucial all the way- that's what is in my Macs that got upgraded after I bought them.

See you all on the boards!

[DevTech]

13 hours ago, SoCalRox said:

Thanks for the info- it's what I expected but needed reassurance. The Crucial ram is a notch higher priced- they have a special on Patriot Signature memory at Amazon. I've used both Patriot and Kingston memory for many, many years and never had a problem, so I tend to stick with them even though I know they are second tier compared to companies like Crucial.

 

Goretsky: As always, an excellent point. I *BELIEVE* I check to see if it was current when I found it a couple of months ago (long story- sufficient to say it was stored when moving and I couldn't find it for over 6 years, which is another reason I want to get mileage out of it- I paid through my nose for this unit and didn't get much use at the time, and for my needs, it is still VERY adequate.)

 

Steven P.: I know a lot of people who have said the same thing, but in all honesty, the Dells I've had always have been good buys. Same thing with HP. Are there gotchas that both companies put into their designs? Yeah, unfortunately. But they have never gotten me. I used to build my own, but I've gotten to the age where it isn't easy- arthritis for starters. Maybe I'll build one last tower some time just to teach my stepson how to do it. But for now, I'm satisfied with buying off the shelf. One thing that I find helps is buying business line machines (I am NOT a gamer. I'd rather play with databases than play Fortnight.) so, tl;dr is that I sure do understand how you feel, even though I have not had any problems with them. And if that 8930 is disappointing you, just drop it with FedEx and send it to me. I can give it a good home. I haven't bought a new computer since 2012 anyway. (Oh my gawd! i just realized that! Well, I have 2 Raspberry Pi's, but that doesn't count.)

 

DevTech: I was showing my age with this question- I recall the days where you had to match the speeds EXACTLY- and even then, you would get mismatches (which happened to me when I tried to add a big 256k to a machine back in the early 1990s or late 80's- it's all a blur, calendar-wise, now!) And if the XPS-8100 is finicky, I also have a similar vintage 453MT and I can put the memory in that one- it's my Linux server, repository, and SQL Server on Linux machine.

 

Thanks, Jim K. I looked at the Crucial, but the Patriot is 6 bucks per DIM cheaper, and for a machine that's almost 10 years old, i'll save the money. If I were building (or building up) a new machine, Crucial all the way- that's what is in my Macs that got upgraded after I bought them.

See you all on the boards!

It's nice to hear about your old "war stories"

 

You have an old first gen Intel i-series that was the start of an evolving line that I find works 100% fine for most people for most uses today starting with an i7-2XXX, the second generation and onwards....

 

The i7 holds up well, but the i5 didn't move up to almost parity until the 3XXX third generation. So there are lots of "value points" in these older generations.

 

In your case, if you eventually find a first gen i7 real cheap it would be a very worthwhile upgrade.

 

I know for certain that Dell motherboards of the 2nd gen will take 32 gigs of RAM (even though Dell says they won't) so you might want to get 2 x 8gb modules and try them out if you find a supplier that will take returns. If you get 32 gigs, there is some Hyper-V action waiting for you to try some SQL Server VMs etc...

 

All of the RAM brands you mention are similar in quality. I don't give Crucial any special distinction. The brand I personally "officially" recommend to people is G.Skill which is lesser known in North America but is the first brand the mobo manufacturers test their boards with.

 

 

[SoCalRox]

12 hours ago, DevTech said:

It's nice to hear about your old "war stories"

 

You have an old first gen Intel i-series that was the start of an evolving line that I find works 100% fine for most people for most uses today starting with an i7-2XXX, the second generation and onwards....

 

The i7 holds up well, but the i5 didn't move up to almost parity until the 3XXX third generation. So there are lots of "value points" in these older generations.

 

In your case, if you eventually find a first gen i7 real cheap it would be a very worthwhile upgrade.

 

I know for certain that Dell motherboards of the 2nd gen will take 32 gigs of RAM (even though Dell says they won't) so you might want to get 2 x 8gb modules and try them out if you find a supplier that will take returns. If you get 32 gigs, there is some Hyper-V action waiting for you to try some SQL Server VMs etc...

 

All of the RAM brands you mention are similar in quality. I don't give Crucial any special distinction. The brand I personally "officially" recommend to people is G.Skill which is lesser known in North America but is the first brand the mobo manufacturers test their boards with.

 

 

The key word in that first sentence is "old." I remember getting excited when 64k CHIPS came out. Putting them on a board after removing them from a tube, and making sure you had the right wait states set. I go back to 1982, but I know some who go well before that.

 

The i5 in my Mac Mini is actually a second gen and performs well enough. It is NOT fast, but for web surfing and email, it's just fine. The i7 in my MBP is third generation and much better. The XPS-8100 is first gen, but I bought it in first gen days, and paid well for it, only to end up with it packed away for at least 6 years and I couldn't find it at all until around last Christmas. I know it is a decent machine for what I need (except VMWare requires newer i7s for some reason, which irks me- same thing on the free Dell 435MT I have, which also has a first gen i7.)

 

Is there any way to see which gen mobo the two Dells have? Or did you mean second gen i7 mobos?

 

I vaguely recall hearing of G.Skill. I have a number of Crucial pieces, and I like the quality, but honestly, I've never really seen any difference once installed. I am just fine with Kingston and Patriot. Being in a position now of buying pre-packaged commodity machines instead of one-off self-assembly, I often have no idea what memory is in what machine. Things are a lot smoother than when I was putting PCs together (or enhancing them) with NEC V-20s or Intel 80286s and such. (Then, there was the easily forgotten 80186 that I never saw used in anything.) Making sure you had the right AMI BIOS, or such... fun days. Lots of hassles, which made it lots of fun when the assembled device worked. Impressing people because your early 80286 was overclocked at a whopping 8mhz, and bragging because you had 8 MEGS of RAM and a 40 MEG hard drive- and it wasn't one of those finicky RLL drive setups.  AND! Leave a slot open for your Hayes or US Robotics modem. Maybe you were lucky and had a 2400 BPS modem to dial up your favorite FidoNet or WWIV bulletin board. Make sure that file transfer used XModem or ZModem (even better!) Fix those transmission errors!

I need to shut up now. My coworker brontosauruses want to grab lunch while the leaves on the trees are fresh and full.