UnBuffered vs. Registered DDR

[toddyo1388]

What is the difference? Is it worth the $12 extra per 256MB at crucial to get the registered DDR vs. the UnBuffered?

 

[trungma]

If you plan on having more than 2 ram sticks in your computer you may want to invest in registered DDR. Depending on the motherboard if you have more than 2 sticks of ram they must be registered or else they won't work. The Abit KG7 comes to mind.

 

[statix]

Yep, it depends on your mobo. I have Epox 8KHA KT266, you have to use non-Registered RAM to fill up 3 slots.

 

[toddyo1388]

I'm actually planning on getting the KG7-RAID board. I read the specs that say that only 2 sticks of unbuffered DDR is supported, but I've also seen the reviews that say it works great with 4 sticks of unbuffered. The side note in the review is that it's not supported by either AMD or Abit. I am only planning on getting 2 sticks of 256MB each to begin with, but if I want to upgrade in the future, I don't want to have to go out and buy all new Registered DDR just so I can have more than 2 sticks of memory. Anyone know the difference in performance between the two types of DDR?

 

[mchammer187]

registered does not overclock as well

 

[shathal]

OK - Registered memory is pretty much only of benefit to SERVERS and WORKSTATIONS. If you intend to go beyond 1GB, I would recommend using registered memory. If you try to use unbuffered (i.e.: "not" registered memory) the best you can hope for (if you're lucky) is 2GB.

It's not really worth it for "End Users".

Also - like ECC - your mobo must support it. I don't know many desktop boards that DO support registered memory ...