ECC Memory

[JaydenChris]

Is it true that if a memory stick is ECC that it'll only be recognized in some motherboards??

I bought some PC100 ECC memory through eBay and when I put it in an old Dell Desktop the computer never posts but just has a constant beep. On another computer which can only use PC66 memory, it'll cut the memory in half (ie. 256mb stick will read as 128mb). However, when I put a non-ECC stick in either of the computers it reads fine (amount of memory and all).

I guess my second question would be...did I get duped into buying a junk memory stick??

TIA for any help

 

[Matthias99]

With DDR SDRAM it should work in non-ECC motherboards. With old SDRAM, and especially old motherboards (and doubly especially the proprietary ones that OEMs use), all bets are off.

Your comment on it being recognized at half-size in another system, however, makes me think that the issue is probably not the ECC part, but that you probably bought high-density SDRAM for a system that will only use low-density SDRAM. Go to www.crucial.com and use their memory selector to figure out what your system can take.

 

[JaydenChris]

Thanks for the response...

That helps me out alot. I never knew what a pain in the @ss upgrading an old computer would be. Especially if it was just the memory.