ECC or not to ECC?

[diamondheart]

What is ECC RAM and why do I need it?

 

[dowxp]

it has error checking module on the chip and corrects errors, minimizing crashes. u really dont. systems are stable enough as it is.

someone tell me that ECC ram isnt slower than unbuffered.. i still dunno the answer.

 

[sohcrates]

for personal use ECC is superfluous these days

 

[TripleJ]

The difference in 'crashability' is something like billions to one for non-ECC and thousands of billions to one for ECC. I read about the differences on the IBM site a while ago. It was about the different types of memory.

 

[MGMorden]

As others have said it detects errors in data transmission and then corrects them. Unless you're running a high-end server it's overkill and actually slows the system down a little.

 

[Doctorweir]

ECC = Error Correction Code or Error Checking and Correcting

As MG said: No Server=NoNeed...actually it slows down insignificantly (remember the ECC-option for your processors L2-Cache in the BIOS (P2/3)? Turn it off=faster processor...but just insignificantly...) 😉

 

[SCSIRAID]

A non-ECC memory is 64 bits (8byte) wide. An ECC memory is 72 bits wide. The other 8 bits are used to store a 'syndrome' word which is calculated by the system memory controller. This syndrome is used to verify that the other 64 bits in the memory access is correct. ECC at a minimum can detect all double bit errors and correct single bit errors. The performance penalty occurs when a write to memory occurs which doesnt involve all 64 bits of the memory width. In this case a read/modify/write cycle must occur which slows things down a bit. Caches help minimize this kind of write operations so the impact to system performance is small.

As to 'needing it'... I would expect that the percentage of consumer oriented systems that ship with ECC memory would be VERY small. Server/Workstation percentage would be very high. If you are running you business on a system then I would strongly consider ECC a requirement. If you are gaming, surfing or editing.... Who cares if it was WinME locking up or a memory hit.... I have ECC in my systems just because I could and it takes one more variable out of the list of 'what happened' when it crashes. If cost is an issue, I would spend my money on better video (or whatever).

 

[fab]

Better check to see if your motherboard supports it, first.

FYI, the Tyan Thunder K7 (s2462ung) requires Registered Ram and supports 72-bit ECC Ram.

 

[shathal]

Fab has made a valid point - most (desktop) mobo's don't support ECC in the first place - it's meant for workstations & servers.

ECC will not correct ANY memory errors. It will detect memory errors & correct any single-bit error. But - for a desktop system you really don't need it. 🙂

It's either Workstations, Servers or RAID-cards that need it 🙂.