I've got a few machines that use ECC DDR, one being a dual Socket 604 machine, and the other a Sun Ultra 40.

I just checked and see tons of 512/1GB DDR1 dimms listed for ~$1-4 and not selling. Tells you everything. Why bother with DDR1 setup when ~same CPUs worked in DDR2 boards?

Ok, so it seems journey ala "recycle bin aka e-waste".

Thank you for advices

Can be used it raid controllers. For example, Intel srcu42x.

The main reason ECC memory is cheap on eBay is because people are afraid of it. It's a great bargain sometimes, but too many sellers just say "ECC" when they should be saying "Registered", and jumbling those together keeps people away from anything that says "ECC" on the listing.

ECC is nothing more than an extra 8-bits on the memory bus, which can simply be ignored if the motherboard/chipset doesn't want to use it. I think most of my DDR1 RAM is ECC and it works in almost everything. Only some Dell motherboards seem to be programmed to actively refuse to use ECC RAM, other boards work fine with it, even if they don't utilize it for error correction.
I'm not sure enabling ECC slows anything down, but I haven't experimented. It certainly won't affect the speed if the ECC feature is disabled in the BIOS anyway.

Now if you mean *Registered* memory, then that's where compatibility issues do arise. Registered memory also adds 1 cycle of latency, so it is slower.

Until recently I was using a pair of 2GB Registered ECC modules in my A8N-SLI (not Premium). It was a little weird getting it to work, and prone to non-POSTing if I didn't follow a particular procedure getting the board to accept them. Recently I decided I was tired of the weirdness and replaced them with 4x 512MB regular Unbuffered ECC modules, which work perfectly.

There was a bundle of AMD760 desktop boards I was testing/selling on eBay at one point that did work properly with Registered DDR1. Some of those boards were marginal and still ran with a Registered module when Unbuffered wasn't POSTing anymore. I didn't sell those and last I checked I think they had decayed further.

My main use for Registered ECC DDR1 modules is my file server, which is a Socket-940. Other than that, I like to have some of everything for testing reasons.
But yeah, most desktop boards in the DDR1 era don't like Registered memory.

Keep in mind that Socket-940 can be undervolted to cut the power consumption significantly. It's perfectly stable if it's tested properly. But DDR2 server boards might still be a better choice nowadays. I was pretty fond of Socket-940 so when some NOS Tyan boards came up cheap a few years ago I was eager to get one.

Some years ago I had silent data corruption, for an unknown amount of time, on my X58 system due to a faulty memory module. There would be occasional single-bit errors in copied files. I only caught it because I got into the habit a long time ago of creating SFV checksum files for all my multimedia files, and checking them regularly. Ever since then I've been using ECC memory wherever possible.

Unfortunatelly, my 8 modules are Registered. It has PC-3200R in name (or PC-2700R) respectivelly.

they look like this
https://www.amazon.com/SAMSUNG-M312L6523BG0-C … R/dp/B00S8RV1E6

If only they would be at least 1GB, I would considered to keep them, but they are only 512MB, which even decreases their attractivity.

Maybe I try put it one more time in that A8N-SLI and try maximum overclock. If they will exceed 500mhz, I'll keep them sticked in that motherboard, and store it like that - doesn't take any extra space.

W.x. wrote on 2023-09-30, 11:07:

Unfortunatelly, my 8 modules are Registered. It has PC-3200R in name (or PC-2700R) respectivelly. […]
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Unfortunatelly, my 8 modules are Registered. It has PC-3200R in name (or PC-2700R) respectivelly.

they look like this
https://www.amazon.com/SAMSUNG-M312L6523BG0-C … R/dp/B00S8RV1E6

If only they would be at least 1GB, I would considered to keep them, but they are only 512MB, which even decreases their attractivity.

Maybe I try put it one more time in that A8N-SLI and try maximum overclock. If they will exceed 500mhz, I'll keep them sticked in that motherboard, and store it like that - doesn't take any extra space.

I am really surprised that the Asus A8N-SLI board supports registered ECC memory. Please note, that ECC does not matter much, the point is REGISTERED.
Those modules are normally only for servers and do not work on desktop boards.
The main advantage of registered modules are the higher capacity, as far as I remember DDR1 2GB and 4(!) GB modules do exist for servers.

dont forget registered ram is slower

rasz_pl wrote on 2023-09-30, 17:48:

dont forget registered ram is slower

Not always. Depends on chipsets. Also, DDR, DDR2 were sensitive to this due to limited bandwidth.

DDR3 and DDR4 ECC bandwidth and latency is within specs and for most cases not noticeable due to plenty of bandwidth.

Cheers,

CoffeeOne wrote on 2023-09-30, 11:40:

I am really surprised that the Asus A8N-SLI board supports registered ECC memory.

Officially it's not supposed to.
On my board (which is just a plain A8N-SLI, not a "Premium" like W.x. has) I recall it worked easily with 512MB Registered modules but I had to disable "Cool 'n Quiet" and maybe all Power Management functionality to prevent lockups. Those things work fine with Unbuffered memory.

2GB modules were harder - I have several with the same part number, and strangely only some of them could work with the A8N-SLI.
To get those working, I followed a ritual of first booting the machine with smaller Registered modules, then switching to the 2GB modules afterward. If I tried to switch directly from Unbuffered memory to the 2GB Registered, it wouldn't POST, but I could coerce it into working if I used the 512MB Registered as a step in between. I think resetting the CMOS would also force me to repeat that ritual.

Seems like it would just work or not work, instead of being so weird about it. Maybe it's a BIOS problem, which Asus didn't care about since they weren't trying to support Registered memory or 2GB modules.

I only ran 4GB this way (using 2x 2GB DDR400 Registered). I don't think I had 4 modules that could be made to work, so I don't know if it's possible to run 4x2GB or not.

The only reasonable applications is to increase maximum amount of available memory with registered modules. Or well, if you run some ancient server/workstation 24/7, then yes - ECC would be handy. Maybe find some specific modules which have chips with good overclocking potential - late registered DDR modules with BGA chip packaging might look promising.

I can confirm that my MSI K8N Neo s754 works with 1GB PC3200 ECC modules without any problems.

Nibitor wrote on 2023-10-01, 13:12:

I can confirm that my MSI K8N Neo s754 works with 1GB PC3200 ECC modules without any problems.

ECC or Registered ECC?

Registered modules is ECC too but rarely works on consumer boards. This is used in workstation and servers. They are much useful when one bank is 4 registered modules and that means 256 bits wide for increased bandwidth.

Consumer and low end workstations are 2 module at a time for dual channel 128bit wide. High end consumer used socket 2011 and 2066, threadripper used 4 modules.

Cheers,

pentiumspeed wrote on 2023-10-01, 21:00:

Registered modules is ECC too

Practically always true, but not because of any technical requirement. They're independent variables, but there's hardly ever been any market demand for Registered memory that didn't support ECC.

I believe there were some Registered non-ECC modules made for DDR1. They were made back when some people were buying early Opterons for gaming PCs. Never seen them, but I remember reading about them existing back then.
I don't know if JEDEC actually approved such a thing, though.

Many and infact most of my systems require ECC Registered RAM. There are a few that dont require the register but do require the ECC.

ECC and registered isnt the same thing at all, it doesnt have to have a register to be ECC and if it has a register it doesnt mean it is ECC
Its two completely different things. Its usual for ECC RAM to also have a register because most systems that use/require ECC benefit from the register but then there are also systems that cant use ECC but with the amount of RAM it can have a register helps.

I suppose it depends on whether or not you know what those two things are, what they do, why they do it and why it might be required or beneficial in your system.

pentiumspeed wrote on 2023-10-01, 21:00:

Registered modules is ECC too but rarely works on consumer boards. This is used in workstation and servers. They are much useful when one bank is 4 registered modules and that means 256 bits wide for increased bandwidth.

Consumer and low end workstations are 2 module at a time for dual channel 128bit wide. High end consumer used socket 2011 and 2066, threadripper used 4 modules.

Cheers,

When you scroll up, you will see the the original poster uses Registered ECC.
The name of the thread is therefore misleading.

Just little update, how it ended with memory modules.

-3 out of 4 "PC-3200R" memory modules passed memtestx86 at 500MT/s (250Mhz HTT speed, 1:1 divider), with slightly worsened timings (CL3 - 3 - 3 - 7 2.5V @ CL3-4-4-8 2.8V). One module didn't pass even at 467 MT/s, but it has shown much less errors.

-all 4 "PC-2700R" (333MT/s) modules passed test even at 200Mhz(400MT/s). (CL2.5 - 3 - 3 - 7 2.5v loosened to CL-3-4-4-8 2.6V). I'm quite suprised.

Didn't test if they are slower than regular modules, it will be lots of additional testing, and it already took several hours, so not sure if I find time and mood to additional set of tests. Also, it will be need to be tested with ECC On/Off, which doubles the time needed.

Thinking about keeping 2 modules that passed 500mhz(rated), and let it stack in the motherboard, and get rid of another two (with one, that didn't passed "500mhz test").
They were quite hot btw. Definitely felt passive coolers comes handy at these speeds and voltages.

Btw, thank you for all answers.