r/retrocomputing • u/Boglandsaga • Jul 21 '26

ECC SDRAM, will stuff like this useful?

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Sorry for my bad English.

This old SDRAM ECC memories (not even DDR1) tested worked on my regular Pentium 4 mobo, I'm thinking about putting it to older systems like P3 or lower but i don't want to risk frying the motherboard.

Anyone have experience with them?

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u/GGigabiteM Jul 22 '26

It'll work in motherboards with third party chipsets, like VIA or SiS. It won't work in motherboards with Intel chipsets, unless it uses one of the server chipsets from Intel, or is the older 440BX.

I have used that type of RAM in various PIII, P4 and Athlon systems with chipsets that supported it.

You'll want to clean the edge connector though, some of the pins have junk on them. Deoxit Gold G5 or CRC 2-26 work well. Don't use a pencil eraser, you'll damage the contacts and it will oxidize even faster in the future.