ECC memory backwards compatible

[Kremlar]

This may seem like a stupid question, but humor me.

In general, will ECC memory work fine on a motherboard that does not support ECC? (obviously there will be no benefit to ECC, but will it work?)

Also, will ECC memory still function as normal memory on a motherboard that supports ECC, but with the BIOS ECC option disabled?

Anyone know?

Thanks!

 

[Lore]

Yes, but depends on whether the mem is registered or not, and Yes.

 

[damien6]

Depends if that ECC memory is Buffered +/ Registered or not. I know it's not much of a help but some motherboards do and some don't.

As for your second question, that's a "yes". They'll work fine w/the ECC disabled in the bios.

 

[DaddyG]

Gotta agree with Damian here. Some mobos absolutely will not work with ECC ram.

 

[Rigoletto]

I heard AMD 750 chipsets had problems with ECC memory?

 

[Kremlar]

OK - let me get specific then...

Trying to upgrade the RAM on an Aopen AX6BC. Currently has 2 256MB DIMMs (all I know about them) installed, and the motherboard detects them as Registered DIMMs. Tried to add a Kingston 256MB PC100 non-ECC SDRAM into DIMM slot 3 and the PC reboots when booting. If I keep in all 3 but put the Kingston in DIMM slot 1 the PC doesn't even post. If I put the Kingston DIMM in alone, PC seems to work fine. It's only when all 3 DIMMs are installed together that problems occur. The motherboard has an option for ECC in the BIOS, but it is disabled (don't know if current RAM is ECC or not).

So, I figured my best bet was to try and find a Registered DIMM and give that a shot. The one that I want to use, however, is a Kingston Registered ECC SDRAM DIMM.

Best guess - will that DIMM work OK?

 

[Kremlar]

Anyone??

HELP!!