Quick question about ECC

[dZeus]

What happens if you put ECC RAM on a motherboard with a chipset which doesn't support ECC? Will it work, but without ECC capability? Or will the RAM not even be recognised by the BIOS?

[J1NG]

Well, most newer motherboards will just run ECC memory without the ECC enabled. However, this is not a garauntee... some motherboards/BIOS just won't take ECC memory no matter what. If you can, try and confirm it with the manufacturer of the board or the memory vendor (Or even manufacturer)

Hope this helps.
J1NG

[kjliew]

It still largely depends on the chipset/BIOS behaviour. There should be absolutely no issue for ECC DIMM to work with non-ECC capable chipset or chipset with ECC turned off. But the BIOS can choose not to proceed when SPD reported ECC DIMM is present. However, ECC DIMM does have higher loading than non-ECC DIMM, extra 1 chip for SS and 2 chip for DS. If the chipset/BIOS doesn't take that into consideration, signal integrity issue may surface.



[This message has been edited by kjliew (edited 01 May 2001).]