*why* not use ECC memory in an i7 system?

cantab

Junior Member
Nov 30, 2009
3
0
0
I want to buy 24 gig of DDR3 RAM for a Dell XPS 9000 desktop with an i7-950 CPU.

Non-ECC DDR3 costs 3 times more than ECC. Why? Historically ECC is more expensive.

The XPS 9000 manual says not to use ECC RAM? Why would ECC not work? Other sources say you can use ECC instead of non-ECC. It's just 2% slower and you don't get the ECC benefit--that would be fine with me.


I understand that ECC and non-ECC should not be mixed. I will install all new 6 times 4gb modules.


Traditionally ECC memory is more expensive than non-ECC, but in 4 GB DDR3 modules, ECC is much much cheaper. See http://www.avadirect.com/plist.asp?keywords=24gb+ddr3


Within ECC, there is buffered and unbuffered. My reading suggests that non-ECC is always unbuffered, so maybe unbuffered ECC is ok?


I'd really appreciate an authoritative and detailed answer. I have searched and searched for relevant information. Thank you!
 

Blain

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
23,643
3
81
Dude, those are server DIMMs... aka "Registered"
And no, they won't work on your Dell i7 MB. :$

Buy This MB if you want to get by with the cheaper ECC registered DIMMs.
 
Last edited:

Yellowbeard

Golden Member
Sep 9, 2003
1,542
2
0
This is not your typical "you don't need that much RAM" response, just professional curiousity . How do you intend to utilize more than 12GB?