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We have a Dell 2950 III with 4x4GB of RAM and a single Xeon E5430 processor.

We would like to upgrade with another 16GB of RAM (4x4GB) but can't determine whether we would need to add a second processor to access those 4 additional slots.

TodK
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2 Answers2

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Yes you would need that second CPU if you want to use all 8 slots.

Chopper3
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With all due respect to Chopper3, I have a bunch of 2950's, albeit with two processors each, and that did not sound right to me. I was curious, so I verified with Dell that the processors can share memory, so you can have all 32GB used by one processor. Of course, your OS needs to be able to handle it too.

I thought the PE-2970 was one that the processors have dedicated memory, and that is clearly reflected in the documentation. http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/pe2970/en/hom/install.htm#wp1156871

Below is the relevant chat.

11:47:32 AM         AES Delilah Torrence  Sure, here's the link for the memory population on the system: http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/PE2950/en/hom/html/install.htm#wp1156871 
11:47:57 AM         AES Delilah Torrence  These servers don't assign the memory to the particular processors so you can utilize all with just one processor.
ceejayoz
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KCotreau
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    I'm sorry, you may have upvotes and an accepted answer but you're wrong - and your link proves it - look at the very first paragraph in the link - "You can upgrade your system memory to a maximum of 32 GB (for a one-processor configuration)", carry on reading the paragraph, it ends with "Each four-socket group is adjacent to its respective processor". What you're confused with is the NUMA architecture - if you have 2 or more CPUs they can access memory associated with the other CPU/s but that memory HAS to be associated with **A** CPU, it can't just be sat on its own. – Chopper3 Dec 23 '11 at 21:04
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    I know this as I'm a proper full-on CPU geek and also a spokeman for Intel including doing the press junkets for that family of CPUs so have had plenty of time with their engineers. I don't mean to be nasty or smug but I want people to know the real answer. – Chopper3 Dec 23 '11 at 21:04