Linus Torvalds charges against Intel for not supporting ECC RAM in all its product ranges

Linus Torvalds' out-of-tones have become quite common. In this case Linus, the developer of the Linux kernel, has attacked Intel quite hard. The attack is based on the fact that Intel would not be supporting RAM memory with ECC, while it does. We imagine that it refers to desktop processors and not server processors.

We must emphasize that RAM ECC (Error Correcting Code) memories add a chip for error correction. This technology at the user level is considered not necessary. Processors for servers, workstations, and the like, usually support this type of memory. Note that these memories are usually more expensive than commercial RAM.

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Linus Torvalds charges against Intel for not supporting ECC RAM

Possibly if whoever launched this statement were someone else, it would go unnoticed. But Linus is the developer of the Linux kernel, which is so widely used in free software. It is not the first time that he has attacked a major in the industry, he has already charged NVIDIA in the past. Now it's up to Intel.

Its intention is to highlight the importance of RAM ECC and why it is not standardized. It indicates that Intel has followed the wrong policy regarding this type of memory.

The thing is, Intel Xeon processors support these memories, where error correction is vital. AMD for its part supports this technology in EPYC processors. The differential factor is that Core-X processors do not support it, while Threadripper does. Finally the Core and Ryzen do not support ECC memories.

Essentially the ECC memories correct the corruption of a bit that could lead to a loss of information or a system restart. For critical systems this technology makes sense. Note that ECC memories are more expensive and tend to operate at low frequencies, in addition to not supporting overclocking.

A new departure from Linus, to which we are already accustomed.

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Intel has been instrumental in killing the entire ECC industry with its horrible poor market segmentation (…) Intel has been detrimental to the entire industry and users for its bad and wrong policies regarding ECC. The arguments used against ECC were always complete garbage. Even now, memory manufacturers are starting to manufacture ECC in-house because they recognized that memory is absolutely necessary.

Memory manufacturers claim that it is due to economy and lower power. They are lying bastards. Let me once again point out that these problems have been around for generations, but these bastards sold broken hardware to consumers, claiming it was an "attack" but it was always "we're taking shortcuts."

"Modern DRAM is so reliable it doesn't need ECC." This has always been a children's story. Yes, I'm pissed off about that. I've been complaining about this for literally decades. I don't want to say "he was right." I want this to be fixed and I want ECC.

AMD did. Intel did not.

Source: TPU