Cisco Systems UCS C210 manual Memory Population Rules

Chapter

Memory Population Rules

When considering the memory configuration of your server, you should consider the following items:

•DIMMs within the server should all be the same type, speed, and size. Do not mix different sized DIMMs or DIMMs with different clock rates in the same server. Doing so causes the system to set the memory system speed to that of the slowest installed DIMMs.

•DIMMs can be used either in a one DIMM per Channel (1DPC) configuration or in a two DIMMs per Channel (2DPC) configuration.

•There are blue and black DIMM slots. Populate blue slots in a bank first.

•(Generation M2 only) Low-voltage (1.35 V) DIMM and standard-voltage DIMM (1.5 V) can be mixed in the same server. Note that this causes the system BIOS to default to standard-voltage operation (Performance Mode). See Low-Voltage DIMM Considerations (Generation M2 Only), page 3-23.

Note Low voltage DIMMs are supported in Generation M2 servers only.

Low-Voltage DIMM Considerations (Generation M2 Only)

The Generation M2 of this server can be ordered with low-voltage (1.35 V) DIMMs or standard-voltage

(1.5 V) DIMMs. Note the following considerations:

•Low-voltage DIMMs within the server must have the identical manufacturer, type, speed, and size.

•Low-voltage DIMMs and standard-voltage DIMMs can be mixed in the same server. Note that this causes the system BIOS to default to standard-voltage operation (Performance Mode). That is, the server cannot operate in Power Saving Mode unless all DIMMs are low-voltage DIMMs.

Note CPUs that have a maximum memory frequency less than 1333 MHz support LV DIMMs operating in Power saving Mode only, and do not support Performance mode. However, if your server has one of these CPUs, monitoring output for LV DIMMs will show identical voltages for both Power Saving Mode and Performance Mode. In this case, Performance Mode is not active and its fields only mirror the values from the Power Savings Mode fields.

•In Generation M2 only, there is a setting in the BIOS Setup utility that you can use to change the DDR memory mode when the server has all low-voltage DIMMs installed. To access this setting, follow these steps:

Step 1 Enter the BIOS setup utility by pressing the F2 key when prompted during bootup.

Step 2 Select the Advanced tab.

Step 3 Select Low Voltage DDR Mode.

Step 4 In the pop-up window, select either Power Saving Mode or Performance Mode.

•Power Saving Mode–Prioritizes low-voltage memory operation. This setting is available only if all DIMMs installed are low-voltage DIMMs.

•Performance Mode–Prioritizes performance memory operation. If you mix low-voltage DIMM pairs with standard-voltage DIMM pairs, the system defaults to this setting.

Step 5 Press F10 to save your changes and exit the setup utility.

	Cisco UCS C210 Server Installation and Service Guide
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