Can non-ECC CPU work with ECC RAM?

[Meeho]

Not sure if I should post this in CPU, MBO or memory section.

I'm planning to buy a Supermicro X10SRA-F board and an i7 for an ESXi server. Can this combination work with ECC RAM, just not use the ECC? I'm asking because I could then switch to Xeon in the future without having to buy new RAM.

 

[arestavo]

I'd contact Supermicro and ask, as they would know whether or not that is possible.

Edit: I'm only seeing that an i7 supports non ECC RAM. You'll probably get an error code on boot since the memory controller is on the CPU.

 

[Stereodude]

Too bad there's no Xeon equivalent of the Intel Core i7-5820K. In Socket H3 land (1150) a Xeon is cheaper than the equivalent i7. For example, the E3-1231v3 is ~$250 and the i7-4770 is $310. It looks like in 2011-3 land that isn't the case though you can get some Xeon CPUs for less than the cheapest i7, but they are either slower or have less cores.