ECC buffered RAM for editing?

[MattMyster]

Not sure if this is the right place for this thread, but it is crucial support gear for video workflow. I currently use an iMac 2.5GHz intel core i5 for my company video editing (4gb) and am looking to upgrade ram to it's max (16gb). I'm wondering what the best type of RAM is I should get to improve my video editing in FCP. I heard ECC buffered ram may the best for my use but would like some feedback.

Thanks

 

[djosbun]

You won't notice any difference while editing between ECC and regular RAM. When buying RAM, all you need to worry about is making sure that it's compatible with your motherboard and that all sticks are exactly the same (never mix-&-match different types of RAM).

Dave

 

[Bruce Watson]

I'm wondering what the best type of RAM is I should get to improve my video editing in FCP. I heard ECC buffered ram may the best for my use...

IIRC, ECC RAM can detect and correct one-bit errors. Again IIRC, that's one bit wrong in whatever the processor's word size is. I'm sure someone will correct me if my own memory is faulty. :cheesy:

The reason servers use ECC RAM is to minimize crashes due to RAM errors -- looked at another way, it's to improve the server's uptime.

The reason to use ECC RAM with video editing would be more or less the same -- to minimize crashes due to RAM errors. But it turns out that RAM errors are relatively rare, and video editing sessions relatively short (back in my system administrator days, I had VMS servers that had been up continuously for years (and yes, that's plural)). So the benefit of ECC RAM in an NLE workstation is, um... small.

Which is why your Mac likely doesn't support ECC RAM. So... it's a moot point. You can only use the RAM your system can talk to, and that's likely only unbuffered non-ECC RAM. Years ago this saved a lot of money on system costs. Now it's just "the way we've always done it"; that, and it's "good enough".