Let's buy GIMPS an Opteron!

[nomadicus]

I buy Crucial exclusively now. Had mediocre and some back luck with other brands (don't know anything about Muskin).

non-registered and non-ECC as well as ECC have all worked nicely. Just use Crucial's motherboard/memory matcher-upper thingie.

Just my preference and $0.02's worth.

[Xyzzy]

It has to be registered... Refer to page 18 of the manual linked earlier...

I picked up a case and power supply today... It is cheaper to buy them locally...

http://www.mersenneforum.org/jpg/opteron01.jpg

Here are some links about it...

http://www.antec-inc.com/pro_details_enclosure.php?ProdID=81046

http://www.newegg.com/app/Showimage.asp?image=11-129-120-02.JPG/11-129-120-03.JPG/11-129-120-04.JPG/11-129-120-05.JPG/11-129-120-06.JPG/11-129-120-07.JPG/11-129-120-08.JPG/11-129-120-09.JPG/11-129-120-10.JPG/11-129-120-01.JPG

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProduct.asp?description=11-129-120&depa=1

If we had bought it from Newegg it would have cost $110... Locally it was $99.99 with a $20 mail in rebate for a total of $86.99 after tax...

$735.13 - $86.99 = $648.14 left...

[Lumly]

Wouldn't matter if it didn't have to be registered ram, Xy would insist on it :(

[Xyzzy]

Actually, I try to push ECC memory, but it costs more, most motherboards don't support it and it is a bit slower, so most people don't like it...

From Crucial's website...

Registered modules contain a register that delays all information transferred to the module by one clock cycle. Again, this is usually done on modules with a lot of memory to help ensure that the data is properly handled.

ECC modules have an extra chip that detects if the data was correctly read or written by the memory module. If the data wasn't properly written, the extra chip will correct it in many cases (depending on what type of error). Non-ECC (also called non-parity) modules do not have this error-detecting feature.

[xtreme2k]

From what I know Opterons must use ECC Registered. Nothing else.

[QuintLeo]

I'm running Kingston Registered DDR in one of my Dualy Athlons. 256 Megs should be plenty to work on, for a while.

[Xyzzy]

$775.13 in donations... $86.99 spent...

[RMAC9.5]

I agree with Xyzzy about leaning toward 512MB as a way of future proofing this PC. While 256MB is plenty for 32bit MS operating systems, it may be on the light side for MS's new 64bit operating system. Just look at MS's minimum memory recommendations for Win 95, Win 98, Win 2000, Win XP, etc.
For similar reasons I think we should lean toward PC2700 memory instead of PC2100 memory. Crucial provides top quality memory with a lifetime guarantee. So does Mushkin. I have purchased from both companies and have had zero problems.
Here are some current prices from both web sites:
Mushkin PC2100 Registered ECC 2.5-3-3 256MB - $89 each
Mushkin PC2700 Registered ECC 2.5-3-3 256MB - $99 each
Crucial PC2100 Registered ECC CL 2.5 256MB - $73.99 each
Crucial PC2700 Registered ECC (Apparently not available yet)

[Xyzzy]

$790.13 in donations... $86.99 spent...

The only question I have about the memory is whether or not running it asynchronously is good or bad... Some of the XP boxes I have built have had better performance running the memory synchronously... In the case of the Opteron, that would be PC1600 (!)...

Any links would be appreciated... I'm having a bit of trouble finding relevant articles or forum postings about the Opteron...

Here is Corsair Micro's DDR listing...

http://www.corsairmicro.com/main/prddr.html

The fact that Crucial, Kingston and Corsair Micro only offer PC2100 indicates to me that possibly there are some pitfalls with pushing this type of memory to PC2700... Personally, I always use Crucial, but I'll look into Mushkin to see what they are doing differently...

[RMAC9.5]

Xyzzy, according to the picture on page 8 of the Tyan manual you posted the link for, Opterons can use either 266 MHz or 333 MHz memory. Unless I am mistaken, PC2100 is 266 MHz memory and PC2700 is 333 MHz memory. Consequently, either speed should run with out problems.

Mushkin started out as a small/medium memory DIMM manufacturer which advertised high quality, overclockable memory DIMMs built with hand selected, high performance memory chips. I first read about them in memory comparison articles on some of the overclocking web sites that I browse from time to time. They are now a subsidary of Ramtron, a speciality memory manufacturer of FRAM (ferroelectric random access memory). FRAM is a unique type of memory that doesn't lose its memory when the power is turned off. Check out www.ramtron.com for some interesting facts on FRAM.

[Xyzzy]

If PC2700 memory ran synchronously that would mean the FSB would be 166MHz, right?

Check out this link...

http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/cpu/display/20030510180321.html

Note that PC1600 memory always works on its own frequency since 100MHz is actually the reference clock of the HyperTransport link, thus it doesn't need dividing. The same can be said about PC3200 (200MHz), which is supported by the upcoming AMD Athlon 64 processors.

I thought the Opteron's FSB was 100MHz... I'll have to do more reading here...

http://www.amd.com/us-en/assets/content_type/white_papers_and_tech_docs/23932.pdf

I've bought from Mushkin before... I know their products are good, but nothing can compare to the service and support I get from Crucial... That said, I will check into Mushkin some more...