ECC memory support by non-Xeon processors

[AAlan6]

Does any Intel processor, outside the Xeon line, support ECC memory and if so which ones?

I have found a number of questions and answers regarding ECC memory support by various non-Xeon processors (e.g. /thread/60807?start=0&tstart=0 Does Core i3-3250 support ECC memory or not?, /thread/78484?q=ECC support ECC support for 4th Gen Celeron, Pentium, Core i3? ARK says Yes, Datasheet says No), however the situation seems somewhat murky and unclear.

The Ark lists a large number of processors that support ECC memory (http://ark.intel.com/search/advanced?s=t&ECCMemory=true ARK | Processor Feature Filter), the majority of which, as one might expect, are Xeons, however there are a lot of non-Xeons in there as well. Which non-Xeon processors are listed seems at times quite random however. For example, there are 23 4th gen Core i3 procs listed, no 5th gens, and 9 6th gens.

Why would ECC memory be supported by 4th and 6th generations Core i3s, but not 5th generation Core i3s? That makes no sense.

One finds similarly odd patterns if one looks at the other Core line processors, while there are no 5th generation Core i3s listed, there are 2 5th generation Core i5s (and also no Core i7s).

Also, as noted by previous discussions the technical datasheets for the Core family do not say anything about ECC memory (e.g, http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/processors/core/desktop-6th-gen-core-family-datasheet-vol-1.html 6th Generation Intel® Core™ Processor Family Datasheet, Vol. 1).

I have been considering a Core i3-6320 for my FreeNAS system (for which I want to use ECC memory), so I am particularly interested in the answer for that processor, but there seems to be a more general issue here that should be resolved. The result of the query about the Core i3-3250 (linked above) was that the information in the Ark was wrong. Given the odd pattern of which non-Xeons are listed as ECC compatible or not it seems like the accuracy and consistency of the information in the Ark is a more general issue, and there will continue to be queries about ECC compatibility until it the information in the Ark is verified and clarified. My inclination (despite otherwise preferring the Core i3-6320) is not to trust any of the information about ECC memory support on non-Xeon processors.

Thanks,

Alan

[idata]

Hello, AJ23:

Please let me review this information, as soon as I have an answer I will let you know.

Regards,

Amy.

[AAlan6]

As it has now been a week I was just wondering if there has any progress in finding the answer to this.

[idata]

Hello, AJ23:

I apologize for the delay.

I will request an update for this matter.

Regards,

Amy.

[AAlan6]

Any progress on this yet?

[idata]

AJ23, I sincerely apologize for the delay.

You pointed out information that needs to be further reviewed and this is what we are working on. At the moment, from the investigation I can confirm that 4th, 5th, and 6th generation processors do not support ECC memory, this information was taken form the data sheet from each processor family, here you can take a look them http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/processors/core/core-technical-resources.html Intel® Core™ Processors Technical Resources. As soon as I have more information I will update this thread.

Regards,

Amy.

[Ronny_G_Intel]

Hi Alan,

I would usually go with the datasheets and I have to agree that Ark is more user friendly especially when searching and comparing across multiple products.

On the other hand, there is no pattern on what processors or processor family has ECC support enabled, it is basically just a decision to turn it on or turn it off, this is the reason why you see a processor generation supporting it and maybe next one has this feature disabled.

I would recommend that you check the whole implementation: motherboard and http://ark.intel.com/products/74744/Intel-Core-i3-3250-Processor-3M-Cache-3_50-GHz Intel® Core™ i3-3250 Processor (3M Cache, 3.50 GHz) Specifications which does not support ECC memory.

[AAlan6]

Thanks for reply. I guess the result then is 'believe the datasheets, not the ARK', and if I want to be certain of having ECC support I need to go with a Xeon.