Question How can I build an ECC system?

[Zork283]

Hello,

As DDR5 isn't real ECC, how would I go about building an ECC system. I assume that I would have to use enterprise grade componts. Can anyone point me to any guides or documentation?

 

[kerberos_20]

well if you compare ddr4 vs ddr5 then its quite simple

plain ddr 4 (unbuffered - Udimm) - no ecc
ddr4 unbuffered ecc (also Udimm) - sideband ecc (cheaper, less stable/reliable)
ddr4 buffered ecc (Rdimm) - ondie ecc + sideband ecc (costs more, more stable/reliable)

plain ddr5 (buffered Rdimm) - ondie ecc
ddr5 ecc (also Rdimm) - ondie ecc + sideband ecc

so, ddr5 does not have unbuffered anymore

hope this helps you a little bit

 

[USAFRet]

Hello,

As DDR5 isn't real ECC, how would I go about building an ECC system. I assume that I would have to use enterprise grade componts. Can anyone point me to any guides or documentation?

Why the need for ECC?

 

[kerberos_20]

Why the need for ECC?

for systems running 24/7 it aint uncommon to have it super stable without rebooting
even in office ECC can come handy...imagine somebody doing your salary and some random bit flips there

 

[USAFRet]

for systems running 24/7 it aint uncommon to have it super stable without rebooting
even in office ECC can come handy...imagine somebody doing your salary and some random bit flips there

And yet we have no info from the OP as to why.

I completely get why it may be needed in a server system.
But in your copious experience, have you ever had a problem that would have been mitigated with ECC, vs non-ECC?

 

[kerberos_20]

But in your copious experience, have you ever had a problem that would have been mitigated with ECC, vs non-ECC?

personaly for me? well yeah i could overclock more my ram (beter latency tunning) xD you know how slow memtest is to catch up to anything and it usualy ends on 4th pass with single bit error...so much wasted time where i had to bacfklip some settings which were OK back then
but on other hand performance drops when ECC kicks in and start to correct things

 

[USAFRet]

personaly for me? well yeah i could overclock more my ram (beter latency tunning) xD you know how slow memtest is to catch up to anything and it usualy ends on 4th pass with single bit error...so much wasted time where i had to bacfklip some settings which were OK back then
but on other hand performance drops when ECC kicks in and start to correct things

And the finance person managing your paycheck is NOT OCing their RAM.

 

[Zork283]

I don't definitely need ECC, but my current system is 8 years old and has random crashes of applications and reboots. I would like to build an extremely reliable, durable, long lasting system. I do use it for gaming but I also long term am planning to run jobs to manage various Internet of Things devices, so I won't be able to tolerate random reboots. I am going to also purchase an uninterruptible power supply for it.

I am looking to spend about $3000-$4000 on the system. I am going to wait for the Zen 4 CPUs and the RTX4000 series GPUs so I don't have a build yet.

 

[USAFRet]

I don't definitely need ECC, but my current system is 8 years old and has random crashes of applications and reboots. I would like to build an extremely reliable, durable, long lasting system. I do use it for gaming but I also long term am planning to run jobs to manage various Internet of Things devices, so I won't be able to tolerate random reboots. I am going to also purchase an uninterruptible power supply for it.

I am looking to spend about $3000-$4000 on the system. I am going to wait for the Zen 4 CPUs and the RTX4000 series GPUs so I don't have a build yet.

Random reboots is not a function of non-ECC.

 

[Zerk2012]

I don't definitely need ECC, but my current system is 8 years old and has random crashes of applications and reboots. I would like to build an extremely reliable, durable, long lasting system. I do use it for gaming but I also long term am planning to run jobs to manage various Internet of Things devices, so I won't be able to tolerate random reboots. I am going to also purchase an uninterruptible power supply for it.

I am looking to spend about $3000-$4000 on the system. I am going to wait for the Zen 4 CPUs and the RTX4000 series GPUs so I don't have a build yet.

Then you have problems with the PC that could be any part used in no way using ECC memory would correct that.

I would like to build an extremely reliable, durable, long lasting system.

Really has nothing to do with memory, buying budget parts or anything else (well a quality PSU can help) any part can fail even drivers can cause problems.

 

[Richj444]

I don't definitely need ECC, but my current system is 8 years old and has random crashes of applications and reboots. I would like to build an extremely reliable, durable, long lasting system. I do use it for gaming but I also long term am planning to run jobs to manage various Internet of Things devices, so I won't be able to tolerate random reboots. I am going to also purchase an uninterruptible power supply for it.

I think if you build your system with quality components, including RAM, you'll be fine. No need for ECC in my experience. I've built systems for myself and others for nearly 30 years now, and I think I've had one RAM module fail in that time. I mean, it's hardware. Anything is subject to failure at any time, but using quality components cuts down on the chances of failure.

 

[DSzymborski]

I don't definitely need ECC, but my current system is 8 years old and has random crashes of applications and reboots. I would like to build an extremely reliable, durable, long lasting system. I do use it for gaming but I also long term am planning to run jobs to manage various Internet of Things devices, so I won't be able to tolerate random reboots. I am going to also purchase an uninterruptible power supply for it.

ECC can be very useful, as noted above. But there's no use case here in which you get any real benefit out of an ECC build; you just spend a lot of money to get no benefit. Yes, n-bit data corruption can cause crashes, but in the uses you state, there are zero reasons to believe that this is a significant cause of your crashes. If you ranked the likely causes of your crashing, non-ECC RAM would rank somewhere far under thunderstorms, cats, puppies, and accidentally unplugging your PC while trying to find something you dropped behind your desk.