ECC vs. Non-ECC PC1066 RAMBUS

[eeyore2123]

Question: Can ECC PC1066 RAMbus ram be mixed with Non-ECC PC1066 RAMbus RAM as long as they are kept in their respective pairs?

I have googled this question and apparently I'm not the only one with this question.  According to http://www.rdram.us/ you can mix the two kinds of RAM together as long as the ECC and ECC are paired and the non-ECC and the non-ECC are paired.  But, according to http://www.satech.com/motherboard-memory-asus-motherboard-memory-asus-p4t533-motherboard-memory.html (a retailer of memory), this is not true.

I have also searched this forum for this topic and it came back empty.

I have seen mixed results all over google -- who do you believe? I do not know the answer.

Any memory GURUs out there?

I know what I would like the answer to be -- at least then I could believe that it's not my motherboard causing the problem...

Thanks!

[GX1_Man]

Is that the difference in the pairs of RAM you mentioned in your previous post that you thought were identical? Although not a good idea in standard RAM, frequently it will work, but none will function as ECC. RAMBUS had such a short and limited lifespan, and it's own intricacies that I am not sure, if that is what we are talking about. I think this is TOTALLY dependant on the mobo design, rather than a function of the RAM itself.

[eeyore2123]

Thank you for your reply.

While I thought the 4 modules were identical, I should have put on my glasses and took another peek. I couldn't see the difference between the 8 and 6 when it came to KVR1066X16-8/256 vs. the KVR1066X18-8/256.

When these are all installed in their respective pairs in my GA-8IHXP (2.x) mobo, I receive this error once Windows has started:

BSOD
Stop error: 0x0000007E (0x0000005, 0x8054B339, 0xF7C8164C, 0xF7C81348)
then it starts the Dumping Phyiscal Memory to disk...

When I take out one pair of the RAMBUS (whichever is in slot 2,3), the computer will boot fine. So, my conclusion after all this is that either the ECC and Non-ECC RAM are not happy living together or there is something very wrong with two of my RAM slots on the motherboard.

What do you think? Am I close in reasoning?

[GX1_Man]

Yes. I think the ECC and non-ECC mix is the issue, rather than the motherboard.

Is this the answer you WANTED to hear?  

[eeyore2123]

Haha. Yes, I suppose that IS the answer I wanted to hear -- because I don't wanna have to go and get a new mobo or a new computer yet...

I suppose though one more question answered would ease my troubled mind.  Will the GA-IHXP mobo (or any other board) recognize memory that is only installed in slot 2,3 and not in 1,2? It would make sense to me that a mobo would look for RAM in the first 2 slots -- 0,1 -- that those would HAVE to be filled with RAM before 2.3 could be used.  Am I correct?

Now, if I am correct on the previous question, then the only thing left to do is chase down some more RAM that is either Non-ECC or ECC and make 2 matching sets for me to install -- and try.

Cross your fingers.

[GX1_Man]

Did you look here:

http://www.rambus.com/products/rdram/rdram_faq.aspx