ECC a must?

ChrisHaines

Junior Member
Dec 23, 2007
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Is ECC RAM worth it? I heard that it actually runs slower than RAM without it. Is that true? If so, how much slower?
 

jha1223

Member
Jan 24, 2006
158
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What are the system specs? The motherboard may require it (common in servers). And if the system requires it and you don't use it ... well, just don't do it. The board needs to support it. What else has used ECC since the s939's(FX) lately?
 

Martimus

Diamond Member
Apr 24, 2007
4,488
153
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ECC does run slower (usually) than non-ECC ram, and it does not work with non-ECC RAM. (ECC stands for Error Checking and Correction) I bought 256MB of ECC RAM about 8 years ago to add to the 256MB of RAM I already had in my system, but I had to replace the old RAM with the ECC RAM because I didn't research it enough to undertand the differences between the two (I figured that the slightly more expensive RAM was better, and while this is true in some respects, it wasn't for my applications.)
 

BonzaiDuck

Lifer
Jun 30, 2004
16,048
1,679
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Are you:

Using your computer to control a nuclear power station?

Using your computer to monitor life-signs in the hospital emergency room?

Worried that a minor error in your architectural and engineering design program may cause the result of your building plans to collapse and kill people?

I always liked the concept -- hash-codes, parity checking -- the way it works . . . . . but . . . . I wouldn't spend the money on it. There aren't THAT many alpha-particles or other sub-atomic space-detritus banging through your computer-case and resetting the bits in your memory . . . .