Do we need heat spreaders for memory??

[busydude]

I am sorry if this has been dealt before. I recently built an AMD system with G.Skill Ripjaws, although good, the tall heat spreaders do not clear my AC freezer pro 7 rev.2 and I had to use slot numbers 2&3. It is not so much of an issue now but I may install 2 more sticks soon because I have to process data larger than 4 GB which makes my research a bit easier.

I do not plan to overclock and I have good air flow in my case(Phenom II X2 @ 3.9 25 C idle/35C load).

My question is, will my memory kits operate without heat spreaders. The simulations sometimes run 24/7 and, from my observations, can be pretty stressful on memory.

Any help/suggestions is appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[Zap]

Yes, but if you rip off the heatspreaders you lose warranty. Also, on occasion the heatspreaders are adhered to the memory ICs pretty tight and they have been known to rip the chips off the module, essentially killing the RAM and the warranty in one fell swoop.

 

[LokutusofBorg]

Heat-sinks on RAM are completely unnecessary except for some niche usage scenarios. If you have to ask it means you're not in that niche.

 

[H20cooled]

If you are running your ram at stock voltages then there really is no need. If you were doing some crazy OC's and really pushing the limits on the memory then you might actually need them and even then with some air flowing over them you probably could get away with out them.

They are 99% of the time for looks so that they can sell more of them as most people will pick the ram they like the looks of best as most have equal performance when looking in the same range

 

[busydude]

Thank you all for your responses. Appreciate it.

 

[Rifter]

as long as there is airflow around the ram you will be fine without them.