upgrading hardware, is ECC worth it ?


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Hello
I'm running unRAID fine on my current specs with plex, mysql, and other dockers, plus a windows server 2016 VM (2GB ram).
, but I'm planning to upgrade the cpu and ram so that I can run a windows 10 gaming VM with gpu passthrough + one or two more light weight linux VMs (no gui).
ram will be about 24-32GB
I have two options now
1- upgrade the cpu to the i7 8700(k or non-k), i9 9900k, ram and keep the same MB.
2- upgrade to ECC hardware (ASUS WS C246, Xeon E-2176G(comes with igpu) and an ECC RAM).
link for the motherboard
link for the cpu
the second option hardware is rare and hard to find and will cost me a lot of money !
so..., is the ECC upgrade worth it ?...I reboot my server about every 40 days.

and if I were to chose option 1, which cpu out of the three will be fine, my concern is about the heat, I'll use air cooling and I've heard that the 9900k have thermal problems !
also
my RAM is 1x8GB 2400 MHz.
would it be fine to just buy more sticks of the same model or is it better to buy a whole kit ?

Edited by sadeq
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If you want to use ECC at non-server prices and easier to source you could go AMD. See my sig for my current setup. Most/all Asus (Asrock too?) support ECC. I know my desktop's MB an ASUS ROG STRIX B450-F GAMING supports it in spec, but I didn't use ECC for it. Seemed overkill for a desktop machine.

 

As for "worth it" I have to admit I can't say I have my own evidence of the benefits, but there is no shortage of info out there debating the benefits in the server world and specifically when using virtualization.

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23 minutes ago, sadeq said:

so..., is the ECC upgrade worth it ?...I reboot my server about every 40 days.

 

I run ECC ram in 3 servers and over the past 3 years, I've only had 1 reported ECC error that also showed it was corrected. But at the same time,  I also haven't moved away from it.

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2 hours ago, jumperalex said:

If you want to use ECC at non-server prices and easier to source you could go AMD. See my sig for my current setup. Most/all Asus (Asrock too?) support ECC. I know my desktop's MB an ASUS ROG STRIX B450-F GAMING supports it in spec, but I didn't use ECC for it. Seemed overkill for a desktop machine.

 

As for "worth it" I have to admit I can't say I have my own evidence of the benefits, but there is no shortage of info out there debating the benefits in the server world and specifically when using virtualization. 

unfortunately AMD is not an option, even Xeons too, because they don't come with iGPU except for a very few models like the one I mentioned above,
Hardware accelerated transcoding with intel quick sync really saves time and power.

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2 hours ago, 1812 said:

 

I run ECC ram in 3 servers and over the past 3 years, I've only had 1 reported ECC error that also showed it was corrected. But at the same time,  I also haven't moved away from it.

that helps a lot, so it seems ECC is not a very big deal to me, I'm only concerned if the bit flip would cause a kernal panic. if I restart the server from time to time, I guess that won't happen.
 

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Generally ECC/non-ECC is a personal decision, there is no "Right" answer...however the recommendation seems to be if you aren't going to use ECC then memtest the heck out of your RAM before you rely on it...sort of like a pre-clear, a good chance any issues will be found during the test...not a lock, but it increases the level of confidence you can have if you get 24/48 hours of clean memtest :).

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well, I think the right answer will always be to go for ECC (whenever possible), but as for my case, it's really hard to obtain the required hardware, so it's not worth the hassle, if a regular xeon were enough for me, then I'd definitely go with ECC because normal xeons are easy to find on ebay.

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1 minute ago, sadeq said:

well, I think the right answer will always be to go for ECC (whenever possible), but as for my case, it's really hard to obtain the required hardware, so it's not worth the hassle, if a regular xeon were enough for me, then I'd definitely go with ECC because normal xeons are easy to find on ebay.

Well, the E-21xxG processors are actually cheaper than the i7/i9 counterparts...but if I'm reading your post correctly you have a MB that will support some generation of those...that's a really hard call to make man.

 

On the cooling, those processors use grease for the TIM...thus the delidding madness of the past few years.  With a good air cooler and not over-clocking them you should be fine...I have a D-15 and the E-2176G (which is basically a i7-8700k re-branded and tweaked) and I never get much above 50C.  If I hammer it (go out of my way to do so) then I spike up into the low 60s, I'm sure a stress test would push it into the 70s with ease...but I can't see it going higher than that.  Just go for quality air cooling and you should be fine with the i7, I've no experience with the i9, but believe it should be the same...however if someone who's run one contradicts me...believe them!

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On 1/31/2019 at 8:56 AM, sadeq said:

that helps a lot, so it seems ECC is not a very big deal to me, I'm only concerned if the bit flip would cause a kernal panic. if I restart the server from time to time, I guess that won't happen.
 

Is there somewhere you've read this? I have not heard about reboots having anything to do with reducing the risk of kernal panics. I don't know that you can accumulate flipped bits that eventually just get to be too many, or flip a bit that doesn't manifest a panic until some time in the future, but if you just reboot soon enough you'll avoid the problem.

 

A bit flip is either going to cause a panic, cause a data error, or be in a place that won't do anything of consequence. I feel like starting here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_random-access_memory#Error_detection_and_correction  and then falling down the rabbit hole of reading actual research is probably the only way to get real data rather than opinions.

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