Is ECC Working?

[darthmew]

Through the various guides and discussions on the forum here, I am convinced ECC RAM is the only way to go. I can't tell if the ECC part is working, though.

Here's my system:
motherboard: ASRock Rack E3C236D2I
processor: i3-6100
RAM: Kingston KVR21E15D8/16

All three support ECC, but I can't tell if it's working.

The BIOS doesn't have settings for ECC and doesn't specify if it's turned on.

memtest86+ v5.01: doesn't show much about ECC and I'm not sure it even supports Skylake/DDR4

memtest86 v7.1: shows my RAM as ECC in the RAM info during the test, but it only looks like the name of the RAM. It gives no indication if it's testing ECC.

mdidecode:

The Error Correction Type line might suggest that ECC is working

Code:

	Physical Memory Array
		Location: System Board Or Motherboard
		Use: System Memory
		Error Correction Type: Single-bit ECC
		Maximum Capacity: 32 GB
		Error Information Handle: Not Provided
		Number Of Devices: 2

But then right under it, the info on the RAM modules suggests that the ECC bits are not exposed. Reading about dmidecode suggests that I should see 72 bits (or maybe 144?) for Total Width if ECC is detected and functioning.

Code:

		
	Memory Device
		Array Handle: 0x0022
		Error Information Handle: Not Provided
		Total Width: 128 bits
		Data Width: 64 bits
		Size: 16384 MB
		Form Factor: DIMM
		Set: None
		Locator: ChannelA-DIMM0
		Bank Locator: BANK 0
		Type: DDR4
		Type Detail: Synchronous
		Speed: 2133 MHz
		Manufacturer: Kingston
		Serial Number: 23021535
		Asset Tag: 9876543210
		Part Number: 9965669-008.A03G
		Rank: 2
		Configured Clock Speed: 2133 MHz
		Minimum Voltage: Unknown
		Maximum Voltage: Unknown
		Configured Voltage: 1.2 V
	Memory Device
		Array Handle: 0x0022
		Error Information Handle: Not Provided
		Total Width: 128 bits
		Data Width: 64 bits
		Size: 16384 MB
		Form Factor: DIMM
		Set: None
		Locator: ChannelB-DIMM0
		Bank Locator: BANK 2
		Type: DDR4
		Type Detail: Synchronous
		Speed: 2133 MHz
		Manufacturer: Kingston
		Serial Number: 23021517
		Asset Tag: 9876543210
		Part Number: 9965669-008.A03G
		Rank: 2
		Configured Clock Speed: 2133 MHz
		Minimum Voltage: Unknown
		Maximum Voltage: Unknown
		Configured Voltage: 1.2 V

Can anybody guess if my ECC is working properly from what I've provided? Anything else I can run to figure this out?

Thanks for the help!

mew

 

[wblock]

This is from a Supermicro board:

Code:

Memory Device
  Array Handle: 0x0030
  Error Information Handle: Not Provided
  Total Width: 72 bits
  Data Width: 64 bits
  Size: 16384 MB
  Form Factor: DIMM
  Set: None
  Locator: DIMMA2
  Bank Locator: P0_Node0_Channel0_Dimm1
  Type: DDR4
  Type Detail: Synchronous
  Speed: 2133 MHz
  Manufacturer: Micron

 

[Ericloewe]

Through the various guides and discussions on the forum here, I am convinced ECC RAM is the only way to go. I can't tell if the ECC part is working, though.

Here's my system:
motherboard: ASRock Rack E3C236D2I
processor: i3-6100
RAM: Kingston KVR21E15D8/16

All three support ECC, but I can't tell if it's working.

The BIOS doesn't have settings for ECC and doesn't specify if it's turned on.

memtest86+ v5.01: doesn't show much about ECC and I'm not sure it even supports Skylake/DDR4

memtest86 v7.1: shows my RAM as ECC in the RAM info during the test, but it only looks like the name of the RAM. It gives no indication if it's testing ECC.

mdidecode:

The Error Correction Type line might suggest that ECC is working

Code:

	Physical Memory Array
		Location: System Board Or Motherboard
		Use: System Memory
		Error Correction Type: Single-bit ECC
		Maximum Capacity: 32 GB
		Error Information Handle: Not Provided
		Number Of Devices: 2

But then right under it, the info on the RAM modules suggests that the ECC bits are not exposed. Reading about dmidecode suggests that I should see 72 bits (or maybe 144?) for Total Width if ECC is detected and functioning.

Code:

	   
	Memory Device
		Array Handle: 0x0022
		Error Information Handle: Not Provided
		Total Width: 128 bits
		Data Width: 64 bits
		Size: 16384 MB
		Form Factor: DIMM
		Set: None
		Locator: ChannelA-DIMM0
		Bank Locator: BANK 0
		Type: DDR4
		Type Detail: Synchronous
		Speed: 2133 MHz
		Manufacturer: Kingston
		Serial Number: 23021535
		Asset Tag: 9876543210
		Part Number: 9965669-008.A03G
		Rank: 2
		Configured Clock Speed: 2133 MHz
		Minimum Voltage: Unknown
		Maximum Voltage: Unknown
		Configured Voltage: 1.2 V
	Memory Device
		Array Handle: 0x0022
		Error Information Handle: Not Provided
		Total Width: 128 bits
		Data Width: 64 bits
		Size: 16384 MB
		Form Factor: DIMM
		Set: None
		Locator: ChannelB-DIMM0
		Bank Locator: BANK 2
		Type: DDR4
		Type Detail: Synchronous
		Speed: 2133 MHz
		Manufacturer: Kingston
		Serial Number: 23021517
		Asset Tag: 9876543210
		Part Number: 9965669-008.A03G
		Rank: 2
		Configured Clock Speed: 2133 MHz
		Minimum Voltage: Unknown
		Maximum Voltage: Unknown
		Configured Voltage: 1.2 V

Can anybody guess if my ECC is working properly from what I've provided? Anything else I can run to figure this out?

Thanks for the help!

mew

Nope, the reported data width is not always accurate. IIRC, my X10SLM+-F reports 64 bits, but it clearly has ECC working, since I got a few errors earlier this year.

 

[darthmew]

Thanks for replying guys. So there's still no good way to verify ECC functionality, huh? I just need to take it on faith that it's all working correctly?

 

[joeschmuck]

You can try MemTest86+, it may confirm this. Honestly, it shouldn't be that difficult to verify ECC is working but it turns out that certain chipsets are not supported. I'd like to see some utility which each manufacturer supplies so you can test your ECC RAM and give you that warm fuzzy feeling each of us wants.

 

[Ericloewe]

You can try MemTest86+, it may confirm this.

Nope, it has zero ECC support.

Memtest86 (non-plus) advertises ECC detection and error injection in the paid versions, but I've found the error injection to simply not work on any platform people tried it out on.

 

[joeschmuck]

I knew it was one of the two.