F5-221 RAM upgrade Specifications

Hardware compatibility like hard drive, SSD, memory module, Wi-Fi adapter.
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DiscoSi
Posts: 36
Joined: 09 Apr 2020, 20:21

Re: F5-221 RAM upgrade Specifications

Post by DiscoSi »

Out of interest what does dmidecode -t 17 say on your unit? Mine only ever shows the 2GB onboard.

I think dmidecode -t 16 can be unreliable from some of the research I've done. The system board and BIOS may well support 16GB but that doesn't mean that the installed processor can address it all. I'll be honest, I'm not sure what, if any, the implications are. The issue I've found is when playing around with Unraid and Xpenology they seem to only see the onboard 2GB which limits what you can do, the free and top commands on both show the fully installed amount though.
F5-221 TOS 4.2.09 4x4TB Seagate Ironwolf, 1x240GB Ironwolf SSD (Cache)
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JayBlingham
Posts: 98
Joined: 04 Oct 2020, 10:34

Re: F5-221 RAM upgrade Specifications

Post by JayBlingham »

-17 only shows the 2GB for me too. I thought that was odd, but was going to chalk it up to my not knowing the dmidecode command very well.
Jay
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F5-221, 5.0.171-00221
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MarcoB
Posts: 1
Joined: 25 Nov 2020, 21:15

Re: F5-221 RAM upgrade Specifications

Post by MarcoB »

Ok my understanding is that the soddim Officially supported is 2Gb DDR3 @1333 frequency.

Here are my questions:
1.will it support dual channel?

1.1 If so the benefits of having 4Gb in dual channel is way better than having 2+8Gb on a single channel
1.2 If it doesn't support dual channel, then the objective is to have more RAM for multiple users not to bottle neck the performance. In this case the question is what ddr3 frequency is running on the onboard 2gb ram and will it work well (fast and stable) with a different freq. I would get a 8Gb ddr3 @1600 because they cost the same.

Let me know your info/thoughts
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yerc1
Posts: 85
Joined: 30 Oct 2020, 15:50

Re: F5-221 RAM upgrade Specifications

Post by yerc1 »

I have the the 221 series 2-bay model (F2-221) as opposed to the 5-bay model being discussed here. My understanding is that the internal specs of products within a series are the same or similar, with the number of bays being the differentiation.

I have yet to open my nas, but if I'm reading the dmidecode outputs correctly... :
  1. the motherboard is capable of 32 Gb memory
  2. the motherboard has 4 banks of memory
  3. memory Bank 0 is occupied by the the 2 Gb ram - as advertised
  4. memory Bank 1 to 3 are free
Output of dmidecode command:

Code: Select all

[root@TNAS]# dmidecode -t memory
# dmidecode 3.1
Getting SMBIOS data from sysfs.
SMBIOS 3.0.0 present.

Handle 0x0030, DMI type 16, 23 bytes
Physical Memory Array
        Location: System Board Or Motherboard
        Use: System Memory
        Error Correction Type: None
        Maximum Capacity: 32 GB
        Error Information Handle: Not Provided
        Number Of Devices: 4

Handle 0x0031, DMI type 17, 40 bytes
Memory Device
        Array Handle: 0x0030
        Error Information Handle: Not Provided
        Total Width: 64 bits
        Data Width: 64 bits
        Size: 2048 MB
        Form Factor: SODIMM
        Set: None
        Locator: ChannelA-DIMM0
        Bank Locator: BANK 0
        Type: DDR3
        Type Detail: Synchronous
        Speed: 1600 MT/s
        Manufacturer: Undefi
        Serial Number: 88000000
        Asset Tag: 9876543210
        Part Number:                /  
        Rank: Unknown
        Configured Clock Speed: 1600 MT/s
        Minimum Voltage: 44.975 V
        Maximum Voltage: 44.975 V
        Configured Voltage: 1.5 V

Handle 0x0032, DMI type 17, 40 bytes
Memory Device
        Array Handle: 0x0030
        Error Information Handle: Not Provided
        Total Width: Unknown
        Data Width: Unknown
        Size: No Module Installed
        Form Factor: DIMM
        Set: None
        Locator: ChannelB-DIMM0
        Bank Locator: BANK 1
        Type: Unknown
        Type Detail: None
        Speed: Unknown
        Manufacturer: Not Specified
        Serial Number: Not Specified
        Asset Tag: 9876543210
        Part Number: Not Specified
        Rank: Unknown
        Configured Clock Speed: 1600 MT/s
        Minimum Voltage: Unknown
        Maximum Voltage: Unknown
        Configured Voltage: Unknown
...     
        
The sections for the free memory banks BANK 1, BANK 2 and BANK 3 are the same, so I removed BANK 2 and BANK 3 in the above command output.
F2-221
is my first NAS, bought in October 2020
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yerc1
Posts: 85
Joined: 30 Oct 2020, 15:50

Re: F5-221 RAM upgrade Specifications

Post by yerc1 »

As posted by @DiscoSi, Intel advises a maximum of 8 Gb for the processor - an Intel Celeron CPU J3355 2.00GHz.

But more and more users are reporting good experience with upgrading to 10 Gb.

This is a very good account of an upgrade to 10 Gb.
F2-221
is my first NAS, bought in October 2020
User avatar
DiscoSi
Posts: 36
Joined: 09 Apr 2020, 20:21

Re: F5-221 RAM upgrade Specifications

Post by DiscoSi »

The F2-221 does seem to have a difference compared to the F5-221 as my "dmidecode -t memory" command shows the same as I posted above, just the 2GB onboard and no additional slots reported empty or full. Also reports 16GB max installable rather than 32GB the F2-221 seems to report.

My limited understanding of what DMIDECODE reports is that it isn't always reliable (I'm just parroting what I've read online) as the values are what the manufacturer decide to enter when building the BIOS. There could be cases where default values are left in unintentionally or just plain wrong data. My guess is there is a BIOS revision difference between the F2-221 and F5-221, even though they are likely very similar at the component level.
F5-221 TOS 4.2.09 4x4TB Seagate Ironwolf, 1x240GB Ironwolf SSD (Cache)
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