whats the difference between ecc ram and non-ecc

[hikari1]

whats the difference between ecc ram and non-ecc and what should i use for gaming?

[Sakkura]

ECC RAM has error-correction built in. It's for servers. For gaming you need non-ECC memory.

[minibois]

You don't use ECC for gaming. You use ECC memory for servers. Let's just start with that.

 

ECC = Error Correcting Code

This is important for servers, but actually a hinder for gaming because ecc memory usually calculates things multiple times; which is good for servers that couldn't afford a mistake, but actually it slows down gaming performance.

 

[FuzzyLogic]

ECC RAM has an extra chip on it to check for changes in the data that it sends to the rest of the system. If a piece of data somehow gets corrupted inside the RAM, that extra chip will find and fix it. However, this is only used in servers and systems where data needs to be accurate at all times, so you wouldn't use it in a regular PC. I don't think most normal motherboards even support ECC, so just get normal RAM. 

[hikari1]

thx for the answers

[Crunchy Dragon]

6 minutes ago, Sakkura said:

ECC RAM has error-correction built in. It's for servers. For gaming you need non-ECC memory.

ECC also has thermal sensors on-board, which helps some servers with knowing what speed to run the fans at depending on memory temperature.

 

4 minutes ago, thegreengamers said:

I don't think most normal motherboards even support ECC, so just get normal RAM. 

Most workstation boards support ECC, but most consumer grade boards do not.