Did I just get hosed by Dell?

I have a Dell Dimension 8250, P4 3.06 GHz with 512 MB of original RDRAM. I just purchased another 2 DIMMS of RDRAM from Dell for a total of 1 GB. I bought exactly what they said would match the original 512 MB of RAM, since I've read that it's bad news to mix Ram.

In looking at my set up menu shortly after boot up, I scrolled down to the system memory section and found out that RIMM's 1 and 2 are "non-ECC" and that RIMM's 3 and 4 are "ECC". I called Dell and they told me "no problem, they are the same and this has no impact on performance at all."

When I pressed them on why they would send me something different than what I originally had, they said that maybe they were out of the original memory type and that what they sent was "the same thing".

I don't trust Dell as far as I can throw an elephant, and wonder if they've shafted me. I'm not "up to speed" on what "ECC and non-ECC" memory is and if it makes a difference or not.

Are they being straight with me or should I be raising the roof?

Thanks for your help!

Texasbobby

 

ECC RAM is Error Checking RAM, usually used in servers or other applications where reliability is crucial.

in most cases, you might notice a minor decrease in speed when using ECC RAM, but with the speed of RDRAM, you might not notice anything at all.

Certain processors only support ECC Ram like the Athlon64 FX51, which was a minor downside to power users because they wanted to get as much speed as ppossible.

In youre case, I would'nt be too concerned with the ECC RAM, as it really shouldnt make much of a noticeable difference anyway.

If you DO notice your computer to be slower, it may be a different story, but they didnt rip you off--ECC RAM is usually more expensive.

Welcome to MajorGeeks

 

From memory, ECC are mainly used in servers as they have a form of data error correction.

They aren't really required in desktop units, but they can be used, although they are a lot more expensive.

As long as the motherboard and the other memory sticks all live in harmony, it's fine.