Penalty for installing RAM in non-recommended slots config?

[dmoney1980]

Hello all! I have an Asus x79 deluxe board with 16gb (4x4) sticks of vengeance RAM. The heatsinks are tool tall for my cpu heatsink (CM Gemini II s524 ). I don't want to buy another heatsink, so I am wondering if there is a performance penalty if I install all 4 sticks of RAM on one side of the board?

The manual calls for 2 sticks to go in the grey slots on each side of the cpu socket. However, I would put all 4 sticks on one side of the cpu socket - reference picture below, I would put all 4 stick to the right of the cpu socket.

Thanks in advance

 

[vailr]

The penalty would be to lose the dual-channel memory feature.
Unless planning to overclock, consider using the stock Intel CPU fan, and with memory correctly installed per manufacturer recommendation.

 

[piasabird]

Every Motherboard is designed differently. Go read your manual.

Saw this on a website:

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/printpage/ASUS-X79-DELUXE-Motherboard/1820

Supports LGA2011 CPU's. This board has quad memory architecture. Populate the grey sockets with RAM of equal specifications and size 4 each.

 

[LTC8K6]

Find some low profile ram, or remove the heatsinks from the ram you have?

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Getting a better cooler than the Gemini II is cheaper than either RAM replacement or the troubled uncertainty of removing RAM heatsinks. But the question would be: "Which better cooler will avoid interference with the high-profile RAM?"

Is there some reason why the OP picked that cooler for a Sandy or Ivy Bridge E? I think a 212 EVO would beat it down. Am I wrong?

 

[dmoney1980]

Getting a better cooler than the Gemini II is cheaper than either RAM replacement or the troubled uncertainty of removing RAM heatsinks. But the question would be: "Which better cooler will avoid interference with the high-profile RAM?"

Is there some reason why the OP picked that cooler for a Sandy or Ivy Bridge E? I think a 212 EVO would beat it down. Am I wrong?

I'm giving this board to my father in law for his CAD-based pc. I had the RAM and bought the cooler on sale for $25. The problem is that we are reusing his case and it's a standard ATX case that doesn't have much cooler height tolerance. Maybe taking the vengeance heatsinks off is the best option.....

 

[LTC8K6]

If he's not overclocking, then you don't need that cooler? You can get a stock type cooler.

 

[PhIlLy ChEeSe]

If he's not overclocking, then you don't need that cooler? You can get a stock type cooler.

You got a stock cooler for the X79 I could buy? As state replace the CPU cooler you have, if its a case you could leave the side off it or make adjustments. Not all after market coolers are 7 inches tall.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I'm giving this board to my father in law for his CAD-based pc. I had the RAM and bought the cooler on sale for $25. The problem is that we are reusing his case and it's a standard ATX case that doesn't have much cooler height tolerance. Maybe taking the vengeance heatsinks off is the best option.....

Have you benched the system at stock settings? I would guess the Gemini would be better than the stock cooler by some margin, or they would never have been able to sell it. Actually, the Gemini coolers had some decent reviews "back when."

And you CAN build a decent machine with demanding (yesteryear, high-end) parts using an older ATX case.

 

[Lorne]

Take tin shears to the Gemini side fins, Enough for the ramsink to clear

 

[Burpo]

Can you mount the cooler the opposite direction?

 

[dmoney1980]

Can you mount the cooler the opposite direction?

I tried mounting the cooler all 4 directions - pointing up interferes with the top mounted PSU, bottom mount interferes with 2 pci slots, left or right ends up blocking the 2 ram slots on each side that allows for quad channel. I may end up taking off the vengeance ram heatsinks since the ram is running at 1600 mhz and shouldn't really need the heatsink

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Take tin shears to the Gemini side fins, Enough for the ramsink to clear

Maybe some careful application of a Dremel cut-off wheel is the way to go on this. Last time I looked at the cooler, though, it didn't seem that the fins were the problem. I thought it was the pipes. I'll have to look again.

But you could do that: Dremel away some of the lowest fins to allow for RAM with heatsinks. You might loose a LITTLE of the cooling capacity, but I doubt it would be significant.

 

[Z15CAM]

After DDR went below 1.65v Heat Sinks are nothing but Cosmetic on Dimms.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

After DDR went below 1.65v Heat Sinks are nothing but Cosmetic on Dimms.

Sure, but a lot of good RAM kits other than your stellar Samsungs, have heatspreaders whether you like it or not. I probably just avoided the tall heatsink models, but I picked mine from the same maker as earlier DDR2 low-profile RAMs I'd bought. I just think trimming the heatsink fins is a better option than meddling with the RAM heatsinks.

 

[Tsavo]

After DDR went below 1.65v Heat Sinks are nothing but Cosmetic on Dimms.

Heat spreaders were only ever useful on RAMBUS ram. The active module would get HOT, and thus the spreader was used to spread the thermal load to other chips.

It's always been a marketing gimmick on other types of RAM.

 

[LTC8K6]

You got a stock cooler for the X79 I could buy? As state replace the CPU cooler you have, if its a case you could leave the side off it or make adjustments. Not all after market coolers are 7 inches tall.

Anything wrong with these?

http://www.arctic.ac/us_en/products/cooling/cpu/alpine-20-plus-co.html

http://www.titan-cd.com/Y_product_C_intel2011_e.php?id=905

 

[bigboxes]

Sure, but a lot of good RAM kits other than your stellar Samsungs, have heatspreaders whether you like it or not. I probably just avoided the tall heatsink models, but I picked mine from the same maker as earlier DDR2 low-profile RAMs I'd bought. I just think trimming the heatsink fins is a better option than meddling with the RAM heatsinks.

I don't think cutting the heatsink on that which really needs them is the answer either. I'd just get a new HSF for the cpu, one that will actually clear your ram.

 

[rcarlos243]

The memory would be running at Dual Channel instead of Quad Channel which has half the bandwidth.

As for the real world performance, it shouldn't impact most regular applications unless you are doing something memory intensive like video editing/transcoding.