ECC vs non-ECC memory: Same speed, same single-thread performance

ECC memory has slightly higher latency due to error checking, but the difference is single-digit nanoseconds—undetectable in real-world single-thread tasks like gaming or scripts. If you compare identical sticks at the same speed and timings, they perform the same. The real concern is that ECC often runs at lower clock speeds or higher CAS latency in practice due to motherboard configs. For reliability-focused builds (scientific computing, long-running servers), don’t worry about losing single-thread performance.