Rambus : ECC / Non-ECC Question. HELP!

[2Pac]

Edit: Whoops - I posted this in the Motherboard forum, then realised there was a tech support one, sorry!

Mods: Please delete/close the old thread: http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=29&threadid=703222

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Hi, I've got the following question/problem

I'm using an Intel 850GB motherboard with a 1.7Ghz p4


Now, I had two 64 Mb Samsung PC800 Non-ECC RIMMS

I've just purchased two 256 Mb Samsung PC800 RIMMS from a computer shop....now I've realised that they are ECC modules.

I'm pretty sure that there aren't any NON-ECC 256 Mb modules available from that shop, so taking them back is not an option.


The way I have the RIMMS inserted is:

Pair 1 = two 256 Mb
Pair 2 = two 64 Mb

What I wanted to ask is, do I have to specifically set some option in the bios to disable ECC features, which I don't want because it'll affect performance (probably about 3%. but still...not what I want). If so....how? (for this board)

I've read somewhere, that if ECC and Non-ECC memory is used in a p4 system, the ECC features will automatically be dropped.

However, I wanted to know if by disabling the ECC features...if there'll still be a perfromance drop over Non-ECC...or will the system totally ignore the extra few bits and run at full Non-ECC performance?

Thanks in advance!

- Omar

 

[XeonTux]

IIRC the first page of BIOS Setup on the 850, the Summary screen, will tell you if they are running in ECC or not. They shouldn't be, unless your old RAM is ECC too.