BUILD Kingston RAM and Supermicro

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diedrichg

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I was finally able to upgrade my consumer-grade parts to proper home-server parts. I decided to go with the Kingston ECC RAM because it used to be on the Supermicro vendor list. I'm not sure why there is evil brimstone and hellfire lately about Kingston but I thought I'd share a photo of the modules I received today. As you can see, they have Hynix DRAM chips on them. The Kingston RAM I bought are the KVR1333D3E9SK2/16G, 1.5V (8GB x 2). Attached is the photo. So far they are working well and they register in the GUI.

And here are my new parts!
  • Supermicro X10SLM-F-O uATX
  • Intel G3420
  • Kingston 16GB (8GB x 2) ECC w/Hynix DRAM, 1333MHz, 1.5V - KVR1333D3E9SK2/16G
 

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cyberjock

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I'll tell you exactly why Kingston isn't a particularly good idea. Kingston changed their memory modules earlier this year. When the boards were released Supermicro validated that some of the models are compatible with certain Supermicro boards. But later Kingston changed the modules but used the same part number. Well, those new modules weren't compatible. For some users the systems wouldn't even POST. So you'd do the right thing and buy that shiny new Supermicro board, you'd do the right thing and buy a Kingston memory module because the part number was validated to work only to find it didn't work.

Kingston is playing a similar game with SSDs too. If you search around Kingston makes some SSDs and get some high benchmark values and send those out for people to review. Later Kingston substitutes other parts that are sometimes <25% of what the original part did in benchmarks but there is no indicator that anything has changed. So while you might expect 400MB/sec and after buying it at the store you can't get it to do much better than 100MB/sec. Would *you* be happy with that? Some website even called out Kingston on it and asked wtf and Kingston responded back with "well, our box says 'up to 450MB/sec and it is technically meeting that value' so we don't see a problem." Would *you* want to do business that is doing that kind of BS? I wouldn't, and I'm not. ;)

So while Kingston has been a good brand for more than a decade or so, they are quickly heading down a bad path and need to be put back in check.
 

diedrichg

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Yeah, I read about the SSD debacle. I guess I'm lucky I can POST and the modules have Hynix RAM on them. So far, so good, I guess - she's purring like a kitten.
 

cyberjock

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Yeah, the problem is that when Kingston stopped working the part numbers matched so everyone was left asking who was screwed up.... Kingston or Supermicro. Neither one would admit to anything so lots of rumors started. Later someone actually figured out Kingston changed their chips. Of course at this point its obvious that Kingston can and does change things whenever they want and may change back to something that is compatible, or they may not. They also don't announce these things to anyone so there's no way to know for certain except to buy it with the risk it may not work or buy something else. Guess what most people have chosen to do...
 

Yatti420

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Very odd.. I will check my ram modules in a bit.. I think this would have less issues with x9 series.. I have seen a few threads with the x10s and ram issues..

Sent from my SGH-I257M using Tapatalk 2
 

panz

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Very odd.. I will check my ram modules in a bit.. I think this would have less issues with x9 series.. I have seen a few threads with the x10s and ram issues..

I have the KVR16E11/8 (x4) : is still listed as compatible. This is one of the main reasons that convinced me to buy a X9SCM-F model.
 

Z300M

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Yeah, the problem is that when Kingston stopped working the part numbers matched so everyone was left asking who was screwed up.... Kingston or Supermicro. Neither one would admit to anything so lots of rumors started. Later someone actually figured out Kingston changed their chips. Of course at this point its obvious that Kingston can and does change things whenever they want and may change back to something that is compatible, or they may not. They also don't announce these things to anyone so there's no way to know for certain except to buy it with the risk it may not work or buy something else. Guess what most people have chosen to do...

What complicates the issue is that the modules Kingston used to recommend included the RAM chip manufacturer and type in the module part number -- ..../8EF: "Elpida F". Elpida had been all set to become one of the Big Three RAM manufacturers but declared bankruptcy in 2012 and was acquired by Micron. So did Micron change the characteristics of the RAM chips they marketed as "Elpida F"? Did Kingston inadvertently or otherwise use some inferior "knock-off" chips labeled as "Elpida F"? Did Elpida do the kind of thing Kingston is now alleged to have done with its SSDs -- ship superior-grade components to Kingston, then, once the modules using them had been tested as compatible with Supermicro X10 (and, no doubt, other) motherboards, substitute chips of inferior quality but with the same part number? If early specimens of the Kingston KVR11E16/8EF modules that used to be recommended were in fact compatible, is there any way to tell whether the two modules I ordered from NewEgg the day before they disappeared from Kingston's recommended list are good ones or bad ones other than by adding another two 8GB modules (this time of Samsung or Hynix) and checking whether they all play nicely together? (Kingston claims that there was never a problem when only two of the KVR11E16/8EF were used. Did they ever check for compatibility when four such modules were used?) And why has Kingston not come up with a redesigned 8GB module that is now recommended for the SM X10 series? One would think that that would be a high priority.
 

panz

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Maybe they don't know where the problem is?
 

Z300M

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I was finally able to upgrade my consumer-grade parts to proper home-server parts. I decided to go with the Kingston ECC RAM because it used to be on the Supermicro vendor list. I'm not sure why there is evil brimstone and hellfire lately about Kingston but I thought I'd share a photo of the modules I received today. As you can see, they have Hynix DRAM chips on them. The Kingston RAM I bought are the KVR1333D3E9SK2/16G, 1.5V (8GB x 2). Attached is the photo. So far they are working well and they register in the GUI.

And here are my new parts!
  • Supermicro X10SLM-F-O uATX
  • Intel G3420
  • Kingston 16GB (8GB x 2) ECC w/Hynix DRAM, 1333MHz, 1.5V - KVR1333D3E9SK2/16G
Those Hynix chips are precisely the ones used in the SM-recommended Hynix-branded 1.35v. modules, but of course there is more to a RAM module than just the RAM chips themselves. Why are the modules you bought not on Kingston's list of recommendations for that motherboard? Maybe you just got lucky.
 
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