ECC ram

[DAG]

Hi,

I've got a Dell Precision 450 Workstation- 2.8 ghz xeon. It came with 1 gb ECC ram. It supports up to 2 gb ECC ram or 4 gb non-ECC. And if I go with ECC, it has to be unbuffered according to Dell.

My question is...do I really need ECC ram? This is my workstation, I leave it on almost 24/7, and I do design work mostly in Photoshop. 2-3 times a week I have to encode video. No games, but I do watch and deal with video fairly often.

Nothing's really mission-critical, this isn't a server, and I don't do any CAD.

If I went with unbuffered non-ECC, I might get this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145574

or an equivalent OCZ or PQI or something similar.

If I went with unbuffered ECC, then I'd probably buy Crucial http://www.crucial.com/store/MParts...&WSMD=Precision+WorkStation+450&WSPN=CT566801

What would you guys suggest? I'm looking to upgrade to 2gb.

One other thing...if I go with that unbuffered ECC from crucial, it doesn't come with a heat spreader. Would it be worth it to get one separately, or that would be kinda pointless? I should add I don't overclock and don't plan to.

 

[PP Mguire]

1 heat spreaders dont do **** really.
2 ECC ram just goes slower to decreases memory errors and is really only used for servers.
3 your best bet is to just get 4 gig of regular ram and get something that supports it to increase your speed.

 

[DAG]

well ECC is what came with the computer...which is not marketed as a server.

also...isn't there an issue running xp pro with a full 4 gigs of ram? like you have to set some flags when booting? is that stable, or will there be much noticeable performance improvement with 4 over 2?

 

[PP Mguire]

It dosent do much when you have over 3gig of ram i dont suppose. ECC ram though is much better in a server because you dont want to be sending or recieving bad information from possible memory errors. Thats pretty much what ECC ram is made for. If your not hosting for games or for leeching then you really dont need to worry about it. Also there are other OS's besides XP pro like Vista coming up and XP x64 and all. 4gig though will be better for the future.

 

[DAG]

so what ram would you buy in my case? the corsair? or just go with valueram?

 

[PP Mguire]

Well im currently going to upgrade to 4gig Corsair Valueselect but thats becasue i know the difference between the 2. If you have the money get some igh grade Corsair or OCZ. If not value ram isnt as bad as ppl try to say.

 

[efd753]

value ram = high end ram at stock. dont waste your money buy value ram.