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ECC and NON-ECC memory

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8 replies

by martinbullock15

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Hi

I upgraded my desktop awhile ago and it's never worked correctly as i would keep getting the blue screen with STOP Errors 0x9c 0x4e and i could not understand what piece of hardware was causing this, then i was looking around at pages on the internet about memory as i was going to upgrade and i started looking at the specs of the memory concerning ECC and Non-ECC.

Then i looked at the spec of my motherboard (Abit KN8 SLI) which says Non-ECC Memory then i looked at the spec of the memory i have installed (2x 512 Kingston 400 - which was from my old build) and this is apparently ECC.

So the question is could this difference be causing the hardware failure? As my motherboard says Non-ECC and the memory is ECC?

Thanks in advance

Martin

8 replies

by bfilmfan

ECC memory in a non-ECC system board could cause issues.

by oh smeg

Though normally you are unable to fit EEC to Non EEC RAM Sockets.

Though I suppose if you forced things you would get them in but they would not work correctly. ;)

Col

by tintoman

You cannot fit Non ECC memory in a ECC memory slot, in my experience it simply won't fit.
More likely that the RAM from your old system is running at a clock speed which is incompatible with your motherboard or perhaps you have fried it with a static discharge whilst handling it

by martinbullock15

Humm well maybe i read it wrong but i'm pretty sure the motherboard was one then the memory was another.

I have also read that you could reset the CMOS Memory? Could this help solve the problem as like i said i simply took the memory out of my old machine then onto a new motherboard, CPU and graphics card?

Thanks again

Martin

by cmiller5400

The memory isn't compatible with the new motherboard! (why you are getting the STOP errors) :p

by oh smeg

No it's not reseting the CMOS [i]Memory[/i] you actually clear the CMOS and reset it to what is required which generally involves nothing more complex than setting the Date & Time in the CMOS.

The CMOS chip is a dedicated Integrated Circuit on the M'Board that has no relation with the installed RAM though whenever you change the memory Configuration on any M'Board you should always enter the BIOS or CMOS and make sure that the correct installed Memory is being identified and save the changes as you exit the BIOS. The change is the altered Memory which tells the system how to map the installed RAM. If you do not do this the system will attempt to map the installed RAM to the previously set size and cause errors to occur.

Col

by balge

ECC RAM will fit the same slots as non-ECC DIMMs.
However as you have found it will not work on a non-ECC motherboard
Fit non-ECC RAM to a non-ECC board
ECC RAM is generally only used in servers
cheers

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