Dell XPS 435mt Shows odd Memory and proc configuration

XPS 435MT
i7 processor extreme? (thats what Dell is calling it) 8core
6 1GB DDR3 Memory sticks
Gigabit Ethernet
Windows Vista Home Prem. 64bit upgraded to Windows 7 Home Prem. 64Bit

Ok in the original Vista and now in the Windows 7 the customer upgraded to it shows in the properties box and in task manager that 1.4 gb of memory is available. When I tested Ram I pulled all but 1 stick. in the Black slot closest to the proc I inserted 1 gb stick and booted. I get 2 beeps pause 2 beeps as if there is no ram inserted. I installed a 4Gb stick in that slot and get the beeps. in the next slot which is white it boots but says 4GB installed 1.4gb usable.
the i7 8core shows as a dual core.

I swapped out an i5 dual core and it shows a single core

I ran an MRI Hardware test on it (Eurosoft pc-check 7.03) and it shows no errors and ran as a 8 core. I pulled the heatsink to replace the thermal paste and checked the numbers. it is indeed an i7 extreme 8 core proc.

With all of that I am going to assume that the motherboard is hosed. I just am hoping for either a confirmation or a direction for testing.

fireberd said:

The Dell community (users helping users forum) would be the best place since there are people there familiar with Dell hardware.

The desktop hardware section would be the place to start.
Desktop - Dell Community

I used to work the Dell forums (10 years) and Dell's have had a history of memory compatibility with non-Dell branded memory. For that reason we always recommended Crucial Memory as it was guaranteed to work in Dell's. Other brands will work but its hit or miss.

This memory is the original Samsung M378b2873dz1-cf8 0850 listed on the configuration insert that the customer brought to me. Everything other than Windows 7 is original and this issue arose it's ugly head well before 7 was install. This customer thought he could fix it himself by installing 7.

TVeblen said:

Try performing a ClearCMOS procedure.
This is a very important step whenever changing a processor. The BIOS needs to update it's enumerations or it will pass garbage off to the OS.

I did indeed clear the cmos and reset the bios to defaults at each test. By the way the 2nd run of the hardware test showed mem slot 5 of the six as being empty. I switched out memory and again it said slot 5 was empty. I would have to say the mobo has failed.

TVeblen said:

Well check the Dell forum as Fireberd said. Someone there might know something we don't about Dells.

Have done so. No answer as of yet but they did tell me that the procedure for adding in ram is to start with putting ram into slot1 instead of slot0. I tried that and cleard the ram so unfortunately no luck. I have a mobo on order and it should be here Mon. or Tues.

Thanks for trying.

No Love for the Dead Dell. New (yes new stock from Dell) Motherboard has almost same issue, only now insead of 4 gigs of ram showing in the bios all six show. but 1.4 usable out of 4 in windows. Ran CPU-Z. See attachements. I have no farking idea whats whrong with this bastiches.

Something I did notice here that I feel is a bit odd is that CPU-z reports the CPU as an i7 but 1 core and 2 threads. My AMD Quad shows 4 cores 4 threads. An i5 shows 2 cores 2 threads in the new Mobo but still only 1.4 usable ram.