My new system needs to be an all-rounder including working with VM's so I've either got to buy a quad-core Xeon-based HP Z400 workstation with 24gb ECC ram like I use at work or build an i7 system, probably on a Z68 board like the Asrock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 or Asus Maximus IV Extreme-Z as they'll take 32gb ram. Thing is as many of you have found, there doesn't appear to be any 8gb non-ECC dimms freely available to buy so has anyone actually tried fitting ECC ram? It's too expensive to buy just to test, but if it was guaranteed to work I'd start with a pair and add a second pair later on.

If you need that much memory consider the X79/LGA2011 a lot of the ATX mobos come with 8x memory banks netting you at least 8x4gb modules = 32gb, this mobos and cpu will be released nov 14, so less than week, on monday. Here is an example, but a lot of mobos will have 8 memory banks,



Now if you need ECC memory SUPERMICRO MBD-X9SCM-F-O LGA 1155 Intel C204 Micro ATX Intel Xeon E3 Server Motherboard can take 32gb of ECC "unbuffered" (cant take registered). 8gb modules are heck of expensive..... above $200, but there is the option.

Asus also has a workstation line, ASUS P8B WS LGA 1155 Intel C206 ATX Intel Xeon E3 Server/Workstation Motherboard, in the notes says with bios revision 0706 can take ECC memory... but im not sure how it will work.

Good luck,

Unless I'm way off here, the CPU is the key, rather than the motherboard. Check Intel's official page for the processor, and there's an "ECC Memory Supported" (Yes/No) field. Xeons should all support ECC RAM, while the consumer models probably do not.

I have a dual Xeon LGA 1366 setup now (for sale in another part of the forums, heh) with ECC RAM (don't need it, but the 4GB modules were cheaper than the non-ECC ones when I bought them).

You are partially right, in the past was like that, but this gen of sandy bridge intel allow their low end pentiums to support ECC with a server chipset. 2nd Generation Intel® Core™, Intel® Pentium® and Intel® Celeron®.

Users have also reported i3 2100T, from newegg reviews for the SUPERMICRO MBD-X9SCM-F-O LGA 1155 Intel C204 Micro ATX Intel Xeon E3 Server Motherboard


HP advertise their server with a 2100 with ECC support. But the i5 n i7 seems they dont have support for ECC.

I would wait for X79/LGA2011 and go with 8x 4gb modules, that way OP gets his desired 32gb of ram and with a desktop chipset and probably a more powerful cpu. If you need ECC, then wait for the new xeon LGA2011.

Based on the indications I've seen, it's the number of cores which seems to determine ECC support in non-Xeon CPUs. So some i5-branded CPUs might have ECC support. Grain of salt and all that...

Note that there are other vendors of server boards such as Intel or Tyan.