Does Xeon x5660 and x58 mobo work with normal ram? (non ecc ram)

[Darassruk]

Hi, Does Xeon x5660 and x58 mobo work with normal ram? (non ecc ram)
Im planning to build a cheap pc and I wanna use my ram sticks so I dont have to buy new ones
is it compatible?

[Red_Fox_1293]

i don't think so. on my desktop i have x5650 and x58, and i can only use ecc ram. moreover, x5660 uses ddr3 ram, and there is nothing new that works with ddr3

[bikemath]

I have an old rack server in my house (similar series, dual Xeon 6-core, now with 128gb of ECC ram)

 

Since I bought the ram separately, when I was testing it out, I used some ram sticks that I had laying around. It did pass post. I managed to install a no-GUI version of Ubuntu**, which (for all intents and purposes) seemed to work fine. Naturally, your mileage may vary.

 

**No GPU or CPU-based graphics, obviously.

[Zando Bob]

Yep. ECC RAM actually does not work with X58, normal RAM or ECC unreg (which runs as normal RAM) will work. Intel 5520 (the server chipset - though watch out some single CPU server boards still use X58) runs ECC reg, and unreg/normal RAM without issue. 

[Darassruk]

15 minutes ago, Red_Fox_1293 said:

i don't think so. on my desktop i have x5650 and x58, and i can only use ecc ram. moreover, x5660 uses ddr3 ram, and there is nothing new that works with ddr3

I see, does windows 10 still works on that cpu, I heard that some got bsod

[svmlegacy]

26 minutes ago, Darassruk said:

Hi, Does Xeon x5660 and x58 mobo work with normal ram? (non ecc ram)
Im planning to build a cheap pc and I wanna use my ram sticks so I dont have to buy new ones
is it compatible?

As someone who runs an X5670 on X58, it will run non-ECC memory just fine.

3 minutes ago, Darassruk said:

see, does windows 10 still works on that cpu, I heard that some got bsod

Make sure to keep VT-d off. for some reason, on my P6X58D Premium, it will crash on start if it's enabled. Otherwise rock solid.

[Darassruk]

Just now, svmlegacy said:

As someone who runs an X5670 on X58, it will run non-ECC memory just fine.

Make sure to keep VT-d off. for some reason, on my P6X58D Premium, it will crash on start if it's enabled. Otherwise rock solid.

oh okie, thanks!

[svmlegacy]

14 minutes ago, Zando Bob said:

Yep. ECC RAM actually does not work with X58, normal RAM or ECC unreg (which runs as normal RAM) will work. Intel 5520 (the server chipset - though watch out some single CPU server boards still use X58) runs ECC reg, and unreg/normal RAM without issue. 

It actually does work (Even registered DIMM's), although the ECC portion will not work. The key is to make sure to use x8 memory devices.
This platform is also particularly picky with 8GB DIMM's, but I have had success, and seen 48GB of RAM on this platform.

[Zando Bob]

2 minutes ago, svmlegacy said:

It actually does work (Even registered DIMM's), although the ECC portion will not work. The key is to make sure to use x8 memory devices.
This platform is also particularly picky with 8GB DIMM's, but I have had success, and seen 48GB of RAM on this platform.

Registered DIMMs never worked for me, normal DIMMs have worked without issue. Never had a single issue with 8GB DIMMs either, but mebbe mine were just bueno for this platform . But even some funky funky boards like SR-2s or their Classified X58 brethren have no issues with 8GB DIMMs, and if any board was gonna have an issue it would be those. 

[svmlegacy]

Just now, Zando Bob said:

Registered DIMMs never worked for me, normal DIMMs have worked without issue. Never had a single issue with 8GB DIMMs either, but mebbe mine were just bueno for this platform . But even some funky funky boards like SR-2s or their Classified X58 brethren have no issues with 8GB DIMMs, and if any board was gonna have an issue it would be those. 

My 8GB DIMM's that are grumpy happen to be G.Skill Ripjaws X. I've never seen them work with any Nehalem based CPU, but are rock solid on Sandy and newer.
Most registered DIMM's are x4 devices, which definitely need a server chipset to work.

 

/now that I think about it, I believe they're single rank 4GB dimm's, but that's not too different than a dual-rank 8GB.../

[Darassruk]

22 minutes ago, svmlegacy said:

As someone who runs an X5670 on X58, it will run non-ECC memory just fine.

Make sure to keep VT-d off. for some reason, on my P6X58D Premium, it will crash on start if it's enabled. Otherwise rock solid.

so the final answer is that I can use my existing ram sticks?

[Zando Bob]

11 minutes ago, svmlegacy said:

My 8GB DIMM's that are grumpy happen to be G.Skill Ripjaws X. I've never seen them work with any Nehalem based CPU, but are rock solid on Sandy and newer.
Most registered DIMM's are x4 devices, which definitely need a server chipset to work.

 

/now that I think about it, I believe they're single rank 4GB dimm's, but that's not too different than a dual-rank 8GB.../

Ah, Nehalems are mostly meh. The Westmeres and some Gulftown lads are much better.
 

1 minute ago, Darassruk said:

so the final answer is that I can use my existing ram sticks?

Yep. 

[svmlegacy]

8 minutes ago, Zando Bob said:

Ah, Nehalems are mostly meh. The Westmeres and some Gulftown lads are much better.

Westmere-EP/Gulftown included with that memory stick. IIRC Clarkdale works fine with it.