DDR RAM heat sinks - your opinions?

[machu]

Do they work? Any improvement in overclocking, let's say from 133MHz to 150? If you use them, what brand?

 

[herbage11]

Good thead/question. I was curious about this as well. Sorry I dont have the answer but I am sure someone can help. We will both be waiting now 😉.
herb

 

[SWScorch]

I dont use 'em. Any improvement they add, if any, has to be so insignifact that it will really only make a difference at VERY high overclock speeds. If you have 133Mhz ram running @ 150, I wouldn't bother. 166 or higher and I'd go for it. But like I said, I dont think they are worth it. RAM doesnt get all that hot (at least mine never has, not even my vieo ram, which is completely sink-less and overclocked by 40%). But I doubt they hurt anything, so if you want 'em, get 'em.

 

[Egrimm]

Ram-sinks aren't needed with ddr-ram and not really usefull, they might help a little when pushing your ram to the max, but it isn't sure that they would make any difference at all. The main reason for getting some is aestetics, they make the ram look cool (smart) and, eh, cool (looks like the ram is extra cooled even though the heatspreaders really don't do much).

 

[DukeChestnut]

i don't use the sinks but i use the Tt spreaders. i HIGHLY doubt it has very much cooling characteristics on any significant level anyway... it wood be marginal at best. i just got them for PURELY cosmetic reasons.

 

[Syborg1211]

The heatsinks don't help much and if they did you would have to use heatsinks on both sides with dedicated fans on them. Without the heatsinks, the "heat spreaders" might even hinder the performance if the adhesive used to attach them is a poor conductor and therefore just acting as an insulator to the ram meaning higher temps.

 

[Dan]

I use Thermaltake's heatspreaders on two sticks of Crucial DDR memory. Frankly, I believe any help with cooling and/or overclocking is negligible. As others here have noted though, they do look good. And, if you've got a case window (as I do) you're going for a "look" anyway.

 

[Soldat]

i don't use them but for those that are really attempting to push the envelope of overclocking the relatively miniscule benefit of ram sinks may be the difference between taking it to the next level or not....if you want 'em, get 'em

 

[cmaMath13]

Thanks for the input. That was a question I have been pondering myself.

 

[Zap]

For anyone with a Fry's Electronics nearby... I was at the San Diego location on Monday (4/1, no joke) and picked up some Thermaltake kits for $5.99 each, plus tax. So far all I've done is put the heatsinks on a friend's video card RAM (Gainward GF2-Ti, 4ns bare RAM). This gave him about 80MHz more than before (now around 580MHz). We haven't tried the heatspreaders yet. I'm thinking that the heatsinks worked on the video card because of it's already high speeds.

 

[Brian48]

The Thermaltak heat spreaders suck. I have them and they are a waste of time. Unfortunately, I bought before reading the reviews and they all said it sucked also.

 

[Lizardman]

Go Here if you want to see what this site says about the heat spreaders they are selling. I read over their site abit and they brag about the temp drop that the heat speaders give, but they dont really talk about if the heat spreaders give any added over clocking ability.