Do ram heat spreaders really work?

[gujuguy007]

I was wondering if ram heat spreaders actually work? Are they worth $7-$9? From what I've been told people just buy them because they look cool..don't know if they actually work.

 

[Jiggz]

For beautification purposes YES! Otherwise NO!

 

[Sonic587]

You'll probably get a few people saying they work. However, unless you're pumping 3.3V and overclocking the hell out of RAM, they're pretty much useless other than for looks.

 

[mondobyte]

I've been very, very impressed by the lack of heat generation from the GeIL Golden Dragon memory.

WLCSP. If the memory doesn't generate heat, you don't need to worry about dissipating it.

I predict a surge in offerings of WLCSP memory in the near future from other memory makers.

 

[MDE]

They work, but they aren't really needed.

 

[xenocyd3]

would ramsinks work better?

 

[eastvillager]

Ram does get hot on some cards, even if it isn't overclocked.

I've got a 6800gt with a watercooled block that doesn't cover the memory, so I'm relying on the stock memory heatspreader and good case airflow to keep the memory cool.

Guess what? That heatspreader gets VERY HOT to the touch.

I've got some copper ramsinks on the way, plus as epoxy, not sure if I should switch, the heatspreader might be doing a better job????

 

[Cawchy87]

memory on graphics cards gets hot. ram in the mobo doesn't usually. Heatspreaders like ramsinks require the same thing to be effective at all. AIR FLOW! Make sure you have air blowing on it to blow the heat off, otherwise they don't do anything.

 

[shortylickens]

-

 

[MDE]

I've played UT2003 on a system with heatspreader-less RAM. It was rock solid. Heatspreaders are useless on plain old DDR RAM unless you're pumping insane voltages through it.

 

[Chu]

Originally posted by: shortylickens
To all who think the heatspreaders don't work:
Rip them off then boot up and play ANY newer game (UT2004, FarCry, DOOM 3) for a little while.
Disable Virtual Memory in Windows and Compressed Textures in the game if you're really tuff.
Tell me how well your system runs then, because I'm too scared to try it.

If you haven't actually done it, please don't bother flaming me. I want to hear from somebody with real goobers.

You do realize that a lot of video cards still don't come with ramsinks? My ATI branded Radeon 9800Pro has bare chips.

 

[iwantanewcomputer]

Originally posted by: shortylickens
To all who think the heatspreaders don't work:
Rip them off then boot up and play ANY newer game (UT2004, FarCry, DOOM 3) for a little while.
Disable Virtual Memory in Windows and Compressed Textures in the game if you're really tuff.
Tell me how well your system runs then, because I'm too scared to try it.

If you haven't actually done it, please don't bother flaming me. I want to hear from somebody with real goobers.

i'd show you goobers but i have to rma my ram and it voids the warranty.

the deal on heat transfer is its dependent on temperature difference and surface area(airflow effectivly creates more contact between the spreader/sink so it works like increasing surface area), so if the ram doesn't get much above ambiant anyway, not nearly as much as cpu/gpu it won't have much to cool. heat spreaders barely increase the surface area so not much help in that department, and they put something extra in between the ram and the air ram sinks usually increase the surface area a fair bit more, but still don't have nearly the contact with cool air that a well designed heat sink with a fan does. so yes, ram sinks/spreaders do help cool the ram, even if minimally, thing is ram doesn't usually get much more stable with cooler temps

 

[Lanyap]

Originally posted by: Cawchy87
memory on graphics cards gets hot. ram in the mobo doesn't usually. Heatspreaders like ramsinks require the same thing to be effective at all. AIR FLOW! Make sure you have air blowing on it to blow the heat off, otherwise they don't do anything.

Anybody ever tried one of these Super Talent Memory Module Coolers?

 

[eastvillager]

hmm, dual 40?mm fans running at 4500rpm, bet that sounds like a hairdryer.

 

[klah]

Read Dan's Data Letters #114. None of these devices have ever been shown to offer increased clocking abilities.

 

[0roo0roo]

no, the thingies just use enough power to put that much heat out

 

[orangat]

I feel the main use of heatspreaders is for manufacturers like OCZ to hide the chip specifications from end users.

 

[tommigsr]

no, they do not work. they make it worse actually.

 

[pelikan]

Here's what Crucial has to say about it (quoted from AMDMB forums).
"At Crucial we don't put heat spreaders on our memory. We always thought it did not help in getting rid of the heat BUT our local University did a test on modules with and without heat spreaders and we received some pretty startling news. The heat spreaders actually reduced the heat by 10% on all modules, weird huh? Well, after hearing this news we have decided to incorperate heatsinks in some up and coming memory [Ballistix]. Just a little info for you all. So are they junk? some might agree but others might just find they do help. Also if you have a fan blowing air over the modules works as well."

 

[nick1985]

no

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: iwantanewcomputer

Originally posted by: shortylickens<BR>To all who think the heatspreaders don't work: <BR>Rip them off then boot up and play ANY newer game (UT2004, FarCry, DOOM 3) for a little while. <BR>Disable Virtual Memory in Windows and Compressed Textures in the game if you're really tuff.<BR>Tell me how well your system runs then, because I'm too scared to try it.<BR><BR>If you haven't actually done it, please don't bother flaming me. I want to hear from somebody with real goobers.

<BR><BR>i'd show you goobers but i have to rma my ram and it voids the warranty.<BR><BR>the deal on heat transfer is its dependent on temperature difference and surface area(airflow effectivly creates more contact between the spreader/sink so it works like increasing surface area), so if the ram doesn't get much above ambiant anyway, not nearly as much as cpu/gpu it won't have much to cool. heat spreaders barely increase the surface area so not much help in that department, and they put something extra in between the ram and the air ram sinks usually increase the surface area a fair bit more, but still don't have nearly the contact with cool air that a well designed heat sink with a fan does. so yes, ram sinks/spreaders do help cool the ram, even if minimally, thing is ram doesn't usually get much more stable with cooler temps

Agreed.

Do they work? yes.

Do they make a differance? no, not really. (my ram has heat spreaders )

 

[edmundoab]

yeah it does help especially when you overclock. Its not absolutely necessary. But its better if it helps cool of the RAM faster. No harm to have them on.
Also, it is much easier to handle the Module with the heatspreader on.