DL360 G7 Ram Upgrade Question

[ArcticWolf_11]

Hello all, I'm looking for the fastest possible ram upgrade for my DL360 G7. Are 2Rx8 ram sticks faster than 2Rx4 ram sticks and what are the differences aside from just having more chips? Thanks!

[Erdogan Temur]

Hi,

Do you have part number ?

[TTr]

>...fastest possible ram upgrade
How many CPUs do you have? What memory is installed on the server right now? Are you adding or replacing?
Take a look at the quickspecs guide on page 3
https://www.hpe.com/h20195/V2/Getdocument.aspx?docname=c04284501
Usually performance(speed) and capacity are mutually exclusive. Don't bother with the memory configuration tool, it is not very smart.

[ArcticWolf_11]

Going to replace all the ram on my server, has dual x5650s.

500203-061
M392B5673EH1

Also capacity doesnt matter for me, I just wanted to know if the ram was exactly the same except for it being 2Rx4 vs 2Rx8, which would be faster?

[parnassus]

Given RAM DIMMs with same technical data (speed, CAS, ECC and so on) if RAM DIMM capacity doubles this doesn't imply that RAM DIMM speed doubles too...in other words: doubling 4GB of RAM or replacing it directly with 8GB for sure will help the running operating system to work better and somewhat faster (reducing the probability of swapping on disk, that's just as example)...but RAM speed will not strictly double.

[ArcticWolf_11]

What I meant was that if everything about the ram was the same including the capacity, say 4GB. But the difference was just that one stick was 2Rx4 and the other was 2Rx8, would 2Rx8 be faster?

[parnassus]

OK, in both cases you're speaking about Dual Ranks DIMMs (2R) memory and the comparison is respectively done only on the density {x4|x8} of DRAM Chip both have (which should make them not compatible together): I don't believe there is a noticeable speed difference between them.

[ArcticWolf_11]

Ah alright thanks, so if the density of the chips (2Rx4 and 2Rx8) doesn't affect speed, then what does it affect, bandwidth or something?

[Dennis Handly]

> then what does it affect, bandwidth or something?

As parnassus said, more memory means less swapping or I/O if the OS and programs are smart enough to use it.