7 ms·

As someone who's been near server space, seriously fuck Intel. Blocking ECC memory from consumer CPUs is monopolistic bullshit, my next PC will be AMD even if i

by slackingoff2017 9y ago

As someone who's been near server space, seriously fuck Intel. Blocking ECC memory from consumer CPUs is monopolistic bullshit, my next PC will be AMD even if it's a bit slower. At least AMD doesn't switch socket every 6 months and cripple my hardware on purpose

thomastjeffery 9y ago
Have you actually experienced enough memory errors that you need ECC?
- slackingoff2017 9y ago
  You can't run a production database without ECC. Well, you could, but you probably wouldn't have a job very long. Memory gets less reliable with each process shrink. They keep raising the DRAM refresh rate with various tricks but we're always right on the edge of having memory with so many errors that it's unusable. The size of memory cells has decreased to the point that a stray subatomic particle could cause multiple bit errors. Just wait for the next big solar storm. We don't know how often they strike the Earth but it seems to happen every 20 years or so. When it does we're going to have a massive flash of corrupt data from machines not using ECC. Probably worst than y2k issues
  - thomastjeffery 9y ago
    > Just wait for the next big solar storm. So when that happens, it will be important to have the option. Until then, since I have no reason to run a "production database" on my workstation, why would I want ECC? > we're always right on the edge of having memory with so many errors that it's unusable. That's fine by me. Living here on "the edge", even with overclocked memory, my system is the most stable system I have ever owned. I really can't see any reason to use ECC on my desktop apart from fear of hand-wavy potential issues. Is my personal experience so unique? Are any of you actually experiencing instability that you are sure is caused by physical memory errors that are fixed by using ECC memory?

7 ms·

As someone who's been near server space, seriously fuck Intel. Blocking ECC memory from consumer CPUs is monopolistic bullshit, my next PC will be AMD even if i

by slackingoff2017 9y ago

thomastjeffery 9y ago
Have you actually experienced enough memory errors that you need ECC?
- slackingoff2017 9y ago
  You can't run a production database without ECC. Well, you could, but you probably wouldn't have a job very long. Memory gets less reliable with each process shrink. They keep raising the DRAM refresh rate with various tricks but we're always right on the edge of having memory with so many errors that it's unusable. The size of memory cells has decreased to the point that a stray subatomic particle could cause multiple bit errors. Just wait for the next big solar storm. We don't know how often they strike the Earth but it seems to happen every 20 years or so. When it does we're going to have a massive flash of corrupt data from machines not using ECC. Probably worst than y2k issues
  - thomastjeffery 9y ago
    > Just wait for the next big solar storm. So when that happens, it will be important to have the option. Until then, since I have no reason to run a "production database" on my workstation, why would I want ECC? > we're always right on the edge of having memory with so many errors that it's unusable. That's fine by me. Living here on "the edge", even with overclocked memory, my system is the most stable system I have ever owned. I really can't see any reason to use ECC on my desktop apart from fear of hand-wavy potential issues. Is my personal experience so unique? Are any of you actually experiencing instability that you are sure is caused by physical memory errors that are fixed by using ECC memory?