ECC vs. non-ECC

[Alex Ethridge]

Okay, I know this is something I should already know; but, I have forgotten if I ever did.

If one chooses ECC memory, the board must support the ECC feature or the ECC feature on the memory chip is wasted (inneffectual).

Am I right on this?

 

[deuce]

Correct.

ECC is mainly just used for servers, and is more expensive. If you buy ECC memory and your board doesn't support it, I believe your memory will function non-ECC...........and vice versa if you have a board supporting ECC and put in non-ECC, it will operate fine non-ECC.................................at least I think.




But don't quote me because I think that ECC might not work at all in a board that doesn't support ECC.............either that you just need all memory to be ECC. Wait...........you know I think that last one sounds right.

 

[JohnWill]

ECC memory will function fine in a non-ECC motherboard. OTOH, very few chipsets nowadays don't support ECC memory, so that's not much of an issue anyway.

As far as ECC being only for servers, IMO that's hogwash! ECC memory is for anyone that wants a more reliable system! I have a number of systems here that range in age from about 1998 to 2002, every MB in the lot supports ECC, and every one is equipped with ECC memory. I've also mixed ECC with non-ECC memory since I don't stock anything but ECC, and just set the BIOS to non-ECC, works just fine.

If you just cruise through the technical forums and read about the unexplained crashes and hangs that are eventually traced to bad memory, that should convince you that there is value in ECC memory.

 

[Alex Ethridge]

Okay, I have what I need on ECC memory and the boards that support (or don't support) it.

Thanks.