Hey,
I'm throwing together a fast but cheap micro atx desktop w/ integrated video that I plan on using mostly for music production until I decide to save up for a good graphics card so I can also play games on it too.
For the build, I'm planning to use this Gigabyte motherboard:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128393
But, the problem I'm having is that I'm planning to start out with 4 gigs of memory (2 x 2GB sticks) but eventually I'll want to bump it up to 8 gigs. And, as is the case with a lot of micro atx motherboards, there is only two memory slots.
Now, although it would be easy to achieve 8 gigs of memory by getting 2 x 4GB sticks, it's not quite as easy to pay for those 4GB sticks, as they run over $150 for a single 4GB stick. ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134863 )
But, I did try looking around online and I came across 4GB memory modules that were cheaper, around $80 per 4GB stick, but they're marketed as server memory because they are FB-DIMMs. ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134913 )
I did try reading up about fully buffered memory and tried to find out whether they're only practical in a high data-bandwidth server environment or if they would work fine in a home machine too. But, the only thing I uncovered that might be bad about running FB-DIMMs in a home machine is that there's a little extra latency seen in every day computer use, but that it's not much.
I was able to find the proper speed of FB-DIMMs for my motherboard (DDR2 800) and the memory has a cas latency of 5 (which is good & low, but pretty expected for memory in this speed range).
But, before I make any decisions on what to buy, I would like to know if anyone has any insight on the disadvantages / advantages of using FB-DIMMs in a home machine...
Will running FB-DIMMs in a home machine being used for music production cause an annoyance due to a lot of extra latency?
Would there be any advantage to having fully buffered, ECC RAM in a home machine besides the extra data bandwidth (I'm not specifically planning to be doing RAID w/ multiple hard drives).
Anyone have any first hand experience doing this or any insight on why it would be a good or bad idea?
Parts I'm considering using for my build:
Motherboard - GIGABYTE GA-EG41M-US2H
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128393
Processor - Intel e8400
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037
Memory - Corsair XMS2 4GB (2x2GB)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145184
Power Supply - Rosewill Green Series RG430-2 430W Continuous @40°C
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182159
Hard Drive - Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB w/ 32MB of cache
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136320
Case - Antec Mini P180 uATX case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129041
I'm throwing together a fast but cheap micro atx desktop w/ integrated video that I plan on using mostly for music production until I decide to save up for a good graphics card so I can also play games on it too.
For the build, I'm planning to use this Gigabyte motherboard:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128393
But, the problem I'm having is that I'm planning to start out with 4 gigs of memory (2 x 2GB sticks) but eventually I'll want to bump it up to 8 gigs. And, as is the case with a lot of micro atx motherboards, there is only two memory slots.
Now, although it would be easy to achieve 8 gigs of memory by getting 2 x 4GB sticks, it's not quite as easy to pay for those 4GB sticks, as they run over $150 for a single 4GB stick. ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134863 )
But, I did try looking around online and I came across 4GB memory modules that were cheaper, around $80 per 4GB stick, but they're marketed as server memory because they are FB-DIMMs. ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134913 )
I did try reading up about fully buffered memory and tried to find out whether they're only practical in a high data-bandwidth server environment or if they would work fine in a home machine too. But, the only thing I uncovered that might be bad about running FB-DIMMs in a home machine is that there's a little extra latency seen in every day computer use, but that it's not much.
I was able to find the proper speed of FB-DIMMs for my motherboard (DDR2 800) and the memory has a cas latency of 5 (which is good & low, but pretty expected for memory in this speed range).
But, before I make any decisions on what to buy, I would like to know if anyone has any insight on the disadvantages / advantages of using FB-DIMMs in a home machine...
Will running FB-DIMMs in a home machine being used for music production cause an annoyance due to a lot of extra latency?
Would there be any advantage to having fully buffered, ECC RAM in a home machine besides the extra data bandwidth (I'm not specifically planning to be doing RAID w/ multiple hard drives).
Anyone have any first hand experience doing this or any insight on why it would be a good or bad idea?
Parts I'm considering using for my build:
Motherboard - GIGABYTE GA-EG41M-US2H
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128393
Processor - Intel e8400
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037
Memory - Corsair XMS2 4GB (2x2GB)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145184
Power Supply - Rosewill Green Series RG430-2 430W Continuous @40°C
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182159
Hard Drive - Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB w/ 32MB of cache
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136320
Case - Antec Mini P180 uATX case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129041
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