Dell SDD and RAM prices

[Conan11]

What's up with Dell prices of memory and storage?

Looking at Precision 5560 page, upgrade from 1x8 to 2×32GB RAM is $680. Same spec RAM from Kingston: 2×130 = $260

2TB SDD at DELL: $780, while at Samsung it's $270, WD $240.

 

Am I missing something about the specs or quality? You could buy RAM from Kingston and Samsung, then buy another set of spares, and that would be still cheaper than what Dell charges.

 

https://www.cdw.com/product/kingston-valueram-ddr4-module-32-gb-so-dimm-260-pin-3200-mhz-pc/6245626?pfm=srh

https://www.samsung.com/us/computing/memory-storage/solid-state-drives/980-pro-pcie-4-0-nvme-ssd-2tb-mz-v8p2t0b-am/

https://www.westerndigital.com/products/internal-drives/wd-black-sn850-nvme-ssd#WDS200T1X0E

 

https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/dell-laptops-and-notebooks/precision-5560-workstation/spd/precision-15-5560-laptop/xctop556015us_vp?view=configurations:

 

[jaybee83]

52 minutes ago, Conan11 said:

What's up with Dell prices of memory and storage?

Looking at Precision 5560 page, upgrade from 1x8 to 2×32GB RAM is $680. Same spec RAM from Kingston: 2×130 = $260

2TB SDD at DELL: $780, while at Samsung it's $270, WD $240.

 

Am I missing something about the specs or quality? You could buy RAM from Kingston and Samsung, then buy another set of spares, and that would be still cheaper than what Dell charges.

 

https://www.cdw.com/product/kingston-valueram-ddr4-module-32-gb-so-dimm-260-pin-3200-mhz-pc/6245626?pfm=srh

https://www.samsung.com/us/computing/memory-storage/solid-state-drives/980-pro-pcie-4-0-nvme-ssd-2tb-mz-v8p2t0b-am/

https://www.westerndigital.com/products/internal-drives/wd-black-sn850-nvme-ssd#WDS200T1X0E

 

https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/dell-laptops-and-notebooks/precision-5560-workstation/spd/precision-15-5560-laptop/xctop556015us_vp?view=configurations:

 

youre paying "service fee" LOL

 

but jokes aside, unfortunately thats kinda normal for hardware components offered by system integrators. whenever possible, just get the cheapest config and upgrade urself down the line 🙂 has absolutely nothing to do with specs, quality, performance or other....ist all just about margins!

 

for people who cant bother to do it themselves or who are afraid to take apart their systems, this would just be a fire and forget solution i guess.

[Aaron44126]

Yes, this is normal.  Dell's SSD prices are absurd, generally costing more than what it would cost to order a best-in-class drive with double the capacity just off of Amazon.  And memory prices are also generally way higher than what you can find on the open market.  I always recommend that you order the system with the base SSD and then replace it with one of your own choosing, if you are at all comfortable with doing that sort of thing.

 

(You can imagine that a big business IT department buying tens or hundreds of a system would not be excited about having to do a manual drive upgrade in each one.  I think that might be part of how Dell is able to get away with this.)

 

Memory is a bit trickier, as you have to be more careful about compatibility.  "Usually" it is fine if you get a regular brand (Crucial, Kingston, etc.).  Gaming brands (Corsair, G.SKILL, etc.) can be more hit-and-miss, especially if XMP profiles are in play.  For a compatibility guarantee you can purchase modules directly from Dell, which is still more expensive than buying them separately elsewhere, but still cheaper than ordering them with the system for some reason.  (I remember a guy last saying he bought a Precision 7X60, plus memory modules separately, from Dell, on the same purchase order, because it was cheaper to get the modules separate than configure them with the system.)

 

Sometimes, you have to get memory from Dell for certain configurations.  For a while, it was hard to find 32GB ECC SODIMM modules aftermarket, but Dell had them.  The upcoming Precision 7X70 systems use CAMM modules which may not be available elsewhere for a good while (if ever).

 

Fortunately, Dell is pretty generous with the warranty.  Aftermarket upgrades do not void the warranty... but they do have the option to request that you return the system to its original configuration before performing service, if there is a suspicion that your upgrade could be causing the issue, so keep your original drives/modules around if that is a concern for you.

[Hertzian56]

Agree with the others, that's like paying regular price for service/parts at the car dealership, gouging prices for those who don't know any better/don't bother to shop around. Parts People may have some refurb dell parts and components but they are not as competitive as the open market or third party. Compatibility wise most third party manuf will tell you or list it's compatibility in the details, individuals off eb etc will probably tell you if you ask too.

[Conan11]

Ah, thanks for the answers. Yeah, I definitely would be fine to replace the components manually to save $1000.

[alittleteapot]

On 5/21/2022 at 3:00 PM, Aaron44126 said:

(I remember a guy last saying he bought a Precision 7X60, plus memory modules separately, from Dell, on the same purchase order, because it was cheaper to get the modules separate than configure them with the system.)

 

That was probably me ^____^  Essentially, I missed a really good discount... it was like 40% instead of the normal 30% and it was within a few weeks of 7760 launch, so when I called the sales representative, I begged/pleaded for as close to that as he could manage, and actually got four sticks of 32GB ECC SODIMMs for a Very Steep Discount and near full cost for the rest of the system, which combined, still got me within a few bucks of the original discount.  It really pays to use the web configurator only as an aid to generate a quote, not to actually purchase a system.

The "true cost" here is that you need to open up the chassis and get your hands a little dirty to install that RAM, and I found out that the backplate on my laptop had a captive screw that didn't quite engage, so they shipped me a new baseplate.  Also, to remove the Precision battery, don't do what I did and try to remove the cable from the battery... remove the battery cable from the laptop, where it even has a little cloth handle for you.  I'm sure there's some good YouTubes on this process by now.  But, yes - I couldn't imagine buying anything higher than a base tier SSD from Dell.  You could definitely try and see what the single cartridge RAM would cost by itself from Dell, I bet it's easier to install than four SODIMMS.

[Aaron44126]

37 minutes ago, alittleteapot said:

You could definitely try and see what the single cartridge RAM would cost by itself from Dell, I bet it's easier to install than four SODIMMS

 

Yeah, so from pictures we have seen, it does look like the CAMM module can be swapped out by removing the bottom cover (no need to take out the keyboard and such).  And it also looks like they're going to sell the CAMM modules separately (...they have shown up as separate items on the Dell parts list).  But with Dell being the only source of CAMMs, for now, I have a hard time believing it will really be much cheaper to buy them separately this time around.

 

We'll see, soon...  Though if you want to buy the system right at launch, I'm thinking that the individual CAMMs won't be available until maybe a few weeks later.

 

Also, I am wondering how "finicky" the CAMM contact will be.  Looks like it will require pretty precise alignment to get proper contact between the CAMM module and the motherboard.  It doesn't snap in like a SODIMM, it's more like two boards that have to be pressed on top of each other just so.  Hopefully there is something in the system to help with this physical alignment and make it reasonably foolproof.

[Conan11]

11 hours ago, alittleteapot said:

The "true cost" here is that you need to open up the chassis and get your hands a little dirty

I think the main challenge with SSDs is getting the heatsinks, which DELL doesn't seem to sell individually? But I can see them available on amazon, so perhaps that's not so much trouble?

[Aaron44126]

46 minutes ago, Conan11 said:

I think the main challenge with SSDs is getting the heatsinks, which DELL doesn't seem to sell individually? But I can see them available on amazon, so perhaps that's not so much trouble?

 

For Precision 7000 series, heatsinks and screws are included with the system for all drive slots, whether you order the system with a drive populating that slot or not.  Empty slots will have the heatsink and a little foam spacer beneath it that you can easily remove.  Also there is some plastic film covering a thermal pad on the drive side of the heatsink that you need to remove when actually installing a drive.

 

I don't think this is necessarily the case with 5000 series.  (At least 57X0 supports two drives, so there could be one empty slot when you receive the system.)  5000 series shares the chassis/design with XPS so it probably wouldn't be that hard to find the part on eBay.  (Or you could use a third-party heatsink, as long as it fits.)

[Conan11]

26 minutes ago, Aaron44126 said:

 

For Precision 7000 series, heatsinks and screws are included with the system for all drive slots, whether you order the system with a drive populating that slot or not. 

But if I configure the laptop with the cheapest, 2230 SSD, I think I need a different heatsink for a new 2280 card? Or does the same heatsink fit both sizes?

[Aaron44126]

39 minutes ago, Conan11 said:

But if I configure the laptop with the cheapest, 2230 SSD, I think I need a different heatsink for a new 2280 card? Or does the same heatsink fit both sizes?

 

Pretty sure they only use 2280 drives in these systems (even if you order low capacity).  That's definitely been the case for every 7000-series system that I have seen.

 

[Edit] Nevermind, I see that they specifically say 2230 for the 256GB in the Precision 7760 now.  They must use an extender or something to have it fill the 2280 drive slot.  (No idea if they use the same heatsink between the two.  I would suspect so but that shouldn't be taken as a confirmation.)

 

There's a "problem" that the primary SSD slot also uses a plastic caddy thing to hold the drive in place.  If they have a different size caddy for the 2230 drive then that would be a tricky part to replace to install a 2280 drive.

 

You could still install a 2280 drive in a different slot without issue...  Unless you plan to order with 256GB/2230 and then intend to fill all of the slots with 2280 drives.

 

Anyway.  I'll see if I can find a better answer on this.

 

[Edit 2]

It looks like they only ship 2230 in one of the secondary slots, and they include an extender and full-size heatsink.

[Hyper]

I went through quite a hell getting an additional 16 GB of RAM for my Dell Precision 7520. I wanted to upgrade the memory from the factory-installed 16GB DDR4 2666 to 32GB. The ordered Crucial modules, recommended by the Crucial configurator did not work however, so I contacted Dell support via chat Dell recommended me other (Dell branded) memory that I ordered but also were incompatible. After contacting Dell support again, they recognized that they recommended the wrong modules and told me that the only compatible memory modules are the ones that I already had installed. (Dell F875V / Kingston XF875V). Small problem: they were nowhere to be found in The Netherlands. I ended up buying them from eBay and finally I got a working memory upgrade. I'm quite disappointed with this lack of memory compatibility.

 

With other Dell computers I never had issues to install additional 3rd party recommended modules. Perhaps the 7520 is a bit special because the Intel chipset officially only supports up to DDR4 2400 memory. So it can be a bit tricky to buy a configuration with minimal memory and buy the memory elsewhere.

[jaybee83]

1 minute ago, Hyper said:

I went through quite a hell getting an additional 16 GB of RAM for my Dell Precision 7520. I wanted to upgrade the memory from the factory-installed 16GB DDR4 2666 to 32GB. The ordered Crucial modules, recommended by the Crucial configurator did not work however, so I contacted Dell support via chat Dell recommended me other (Dell branded) memory that I ordered but also were incompatible. After contacting Dell support again, they recognized that they recommended the wrong modules and told me that the only compatible memory modules are the ones that I already had installed. (Dell F875V / Kingston XF875V). Small problem: they were nowhere to be found in The Netherlands. I ended up buying them from eBay and finally I got a working memory upgrade. I'm quite disappointed with this lack of memory compatibility.

 

With other Dell computers I never had issues to install additional 3rd party recommended modules. Perhaps the 7520 is a bit special because the Intel chipset officially only supports up to DDR4 2400 memory. So it can be a bit tricky to buy a configuration with minimal memory and buy the memory elsewhere.

wtf man, this is just wrong on so many levels. sounds to me like ur machine has some kind of memory white listing configured in its firmware that only allows boot with certain modules. this is absolutely unnecessary and an artificial block if there ever was one....

[Aaron44126]

On 8/12/2022 at 7:38 PM, Hyper said:

With other Dell computers I never had issues to install additional 3rd party recommended modules. Perhaps the 7520 is a bit special because the Intel chipset officially only supports up to DDR4 2400 memory. So it can be a bit tricky to buy a configuration with minimal memory and buy the memory elsewhere.

 

On 8/12/2022 at 7:40 PM, jaybee83 said:

wtf man, this is just wrong on so many levels. sounds to me like ur machine has some kind of memory white listing configured in its firmware that only allows boot with certain modules. this is absolutely unnecessary and an artificial block if there ever was one....

 

Precision doesn't have a memory whitelist and it is generally happy with third-party modules.  Issues tend to pop up when trying to use very high speed modules (XMP configurations), or if you are using mismatched modules (i.e. trying to add modules to upgrade the shipped configuration rather than just replacing all of the modules) — which appears to be what was happening here.  In this case I would use a tool like CPU-Z to determine the speed and timings of the preinstalled modules and purchase new modules that match those specs exactly (or the exact same module model as the preinstalled ones, if you can find it).  Online memory upgrade configurators generally don't work this specifically, unfortunately.

[mdsurveyor]

Had the same problem with my 7550. Ordered 32GB from Crucial to add to the original 16GB that came with the system. They did work but the timing went down to ~2166MHz instead of the 2933MHz. Can't say that I noticed the difference, but did end up biting the bullet and removing the keyboard and just use the crucial modules which run at the correct speed installed by themselves.