David Hess (davidwhess.delete@this.gmail.com) on January 1, 2021 7:37 am wrote:
> Gabriele Svelto (gabriele.svelto.delete@this.gmail.com) on January 1, 2021 7:10 am wrote:
> > me (me.delete@this.me.com) on December 31, 2020 4:56 pm wrote:
> > > >
> > > > AMD has their actual server CPU line too, and you do pay more for that privilege, but at least
> > > > AMD doesn't try to screw you over and limit their non-server parts. So you do get ECC for Threadripper
> > > > (and plain Ryzen) too, even if it's not necessarily "officially verified".
> > > >
> > >
> > > You would think that for people who want/need ECC, they
> > > are going to want CPUs that are officially verified.
> >
> > What does "officially" mean in this context? All non-APU
> > Ryzen CPUs support ECC if the motherboards have the
> > necessary traces and UEFI support. Motherboard vendors advertise this support quite clearly in the specs.
>
> Could it be that AMD does not verify that ECC works during testing of non-server parts?
>
> Ryzen is one of the few CPUs I even considered for my new system because it supports
> ECC. The alternative would have been a slower and more expensive Intel server part.

I haven't made a proper comparison now, but at least about two years ago, price of a single-socket Xeon wasn't any higher than comparable i5 or i7 (i9 may be different). I actually bought one without planning on getting ECC memory (or motherboard supporting ECC) because it was cheaper and ran at slightly higher clocks than comparable i5.

Motherboard situation was rather grim though. The particular retailer had about 50 non-ECC models available and only one or two that supported ECC. Both were too high-end and thus too expensive, though nothing outrageous. Something like 100 € more than the one I got. I don't actually get why they had (and still have) all those Xeon available, but no motherboards.

-JLarja