Help! Need Motherboard Advice!

[kimchee411]

Hey guys, here's my situation. I have 2 systems:

1) Athlon XP 1900+ on a Shuttle MN31N (nForce2) w/256MB PC2100 DDR
2) Sempron 2200+ on ECS 741GX-M w/640MB PC2700 DDR

The 2nd one was given to me by my sister because it has this issue where you have to press the power button twice for the machine to boot up (once powers it up, but you need to press it again to get the monitor to come on and proceed to boot), and then it lags like hell and usually crashes eventually. I suspect this problem is the POS ECS mobo, which I read may have known issues w/WinXP, or something to that effect (probably why it was so damn cheap... the machine came w/Lindows), though the power issue would seem independent of OS.

ANYway, my friend just hooked me up with 2GB of PC2100 DDR, which I was thrilled about since my Athlon is running painfully slow due to lack or RAM, BUT it's ECC and did not work when I popped it in the Shuttle (it shouldn't work, right?).

So I'm thinking I'm going to buy a new ECC compatible motherboard for the Athlon and use the Shuttle with the Sempron. Will this work? Does the MN31N support PC2700 (333 FSB) and the Sempron 2200+ (is it Socket A?), and can an Athlon XP run on ECC RAM?

If this is possible please suggest a CHEAP ECC compatible Socket A mobo (266FSB) for my Athlon XP, preferrably w/onboard video so I don't have to buy a new vidcard too. THANKS!!!

 

[ahurtt]

Most ECC memory capable motherboards are designed for servers or workstations and will thus be more expensive than your basic PC motherboard because they will be more heavy duty and support things like multiple processors. An Athlon XP will run fine on ECC RAM as ECC RAM support is a feature of the motherboard and memory controller, not the CPU. The only CPU where it might be an issue is the newer Athlon 64's which have the memory controller built onto the CPU instead of separate on the motherboard.

 

[kimchee411]

Yeah, of course it will cost more, but I'm willing to cough up some extra money to use 2GB of FREE memory, unless the board will cost me like $200 (I'm thinkin older 266 boards for less green). I've been trying to find a single Athlon XP motherboard that supports ECC, but have yet to find one. They're all P4/MP/Opteron/64 mobos. Anybody know of ANY?

 

[ahurtt]

The reason you can only find motherboards that support those processors is because those are server / workstation grade processors. An Athlon XP was not intended to be used as a server CPU. Also, you do know that ECC RAM is slower than unbuffered NON-ECC RAM, right? I'd EBAY that ECC RAM and use the money to put toward cheaper DDR and a new motherboard.

 

[Buz2b]

Originally posted by: ahurtt
The reason you can only find motherboards that support those processors is because those are server / workstation grade processors. An Athlon XP was not intended to be used as a server CPU. Also, you do know that ECC RAM is slower than unbuffered NON-ECC RAM, right? I'd EBAY that ECC RAM and use the money to put toward cheaper DDR and a new motherboard.

Agree. If you look at Newegg/Shop by Category/Motherboards servers, you will see mostly Intel Xeon & Opteron.
HOWEVER, I did find out through various searches that the Tyan Trinity KT400 (S2495) board does in fact support ECC RAM. I found a couple on Pricewatch for ~$100+. Otherwise you are looking at getting another matching CPU because the only other easily identifiable AMD boards that support ECC are Dual CPU models.
Here's the specs on the memory for the Tyan board.

BTW, the "POS ECS mobo" you mentioned is exhibiting the characteristics of a Power Supply problem. You can narrow it down by disconnecting a couple of items from the MB and booting again to see if it still does the same thing. Try taking out one stick of RAM (if Possible) and disconnecting an optical drive, etc. Also, when you say that you have to press the button twice before the monitor comes on, you mean before the video signal shows on the monitor, correct?

 

[Odeen]

Unless the RAM is _registered_, ECC RAM will work JUST FINE on a non-ECC motherboard. You just won't get the benefit of ECC.

There are two things that RAM can do that most RAM doesn't - have error correction and be registered/buffered (same thing)

ECC means there's a 9th (and 18th, if applicable) chip on the module. ECC DOES NOT MEAN BUFFERED MEMORY! The chipset stores a checksum bit in that chip for every byte (8 bits) of data in RAM. So, if a single bit "flipped" (changed from 0 to 1), the system will see the discrepancy and, instead of crashing, will try again.

If the 9th chip isn't accessed, ECC RAM behaves just like non-ECC, and runs at identical speed.

Buffered (registered) memory is usually ECC. (It's not a REQUIREMENT, but applications that demand registered RAM usually require ECC as well). Buffered memory has a special "buffer" chip that makes a gigantic stick of RAM look like a smaller stick. Basically, it relays memory read/write requests, and eases the electrical load on a memory controller. This is of use to a server because it enables multiple "sides" of memory, and huge "stacked" DIMMs to fit in one slot.

For instance, in order to get 2GB of RAM in a single DIMM slot, you either have to use 16 128-megabyte chips, which don't exist, or you use 32 64-megabyte chips, and make the module "registered", since the memory controller can't push 32 chips all by itself.

I believe registered RAM will NOT work in a motherboard not designed for it.

AMD 760-chipset motherboards support early (Palomino) core Athlon XP CPU's, and registered RAM. They also take advantage of the ECC feature.

 

[kimchee411]

Yeah I figured it was more likely to be a PSU issue and have already ordered a new one. The ECS mobo is still a POS. I am aware that ECC is slower, but it's FREE. Can't eBay it b/c... well, if one thing leads to another somebody could get fired O=). These are registered ECC modules (and your spiel about buffered memory explains why they're freakin huge). I wonder if the TYan board will take these...

Ah screw it. I'll spend my money on a video card. The Athlon is going to my mom, who doesn't even know how to use a goddamn computer. What a shame to waste so much glorious free RAM though.