Worst case scenario - RAM OC

[iSkylaker]

Hi there folks, I'm about to sell my current RAM sticks to someone, they are exactly these:

I plan on keeping the heat spreader for myself and put them on DDR4 RAM sticks, you might get the idea why I'm doing this, if you don't, please don't ask why . They are stock at 1600Mhz but the person who I'm selling the kit to is going to use it on a AMD APU system and will most likely OC the kit at a minimum of 1866Mhz to get the best performance possible out of the iGPU.

So I'm wondering would it cause any harm if is overclocked without the heat spreader? whats the worst that could happen.

 

[mvbighead]

Odds are if it came with heatspreaders, it's wise to leave them on for warranty.

If your new sticks don't come with them, what makes you think you need to put them on there?

I apologize for being rude, but this sounds like a foolish idea. Just leave the heat spreaders on and order sticks that meet your criteria for your new build.

 

[iSkylaker]

Odds are if it came with heatspreaders, it's wise to leave them on for warranty.

If your new sticks don't come with them, what makes you think you need to put them on there?

I apologize for being rude, but this sounds like a foolish idea. Just leave the heat spreaders on and order sticks that meet your criteria for your new build.

I like their design, when I bought them I could of have bought the first cheapest DDR3 sticks available but still bought them because of it design.

I'm not concerned about my new DDR4 kit having or not heatspreader, I'm pretty sure they will have anyway still plan on replacing with those. The problem is the person who would use them, would it cause any harm to OC them without heat spreader?

 

[bononos]

Heatspreaders don't do much for ddr3 at all, but the Vengeance ram failure rate is relatively high and probably every little bit of help including heatspreaders is needed to work properly. Not a good idea to overclock Vengeance ram even with heatspreaders.

 

[mfenn]

Assuming that you can remove the heatspreaders without damaging the DIMMs (many are glued instead of clipped or screwed on), then the DIMMs would most likely run fine at their stock frequency.

As to how much they'll successfully overclock, that's unknown without testing. If the person you're selling then to expects a certain overclock, you'd be wise to test it at that speed first. Your buyer should also understand that the warranty is void and that they will unable to get replacements.

On balance, this seems like a bad idea unless you're willing to declare the DIMMs as a total loss in order to get at the heatspreaders.

 

[LTC8K6]

DDR3 heatsinks/spreaders are pretty cheap.

If he's overclocking them, remind him that heatsinks might be a good idea.

 

[JackMDS]

What a Big surprise.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233786

 

[LTC8K6]

What a Big surprise.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233786

That's ugly compared to the ones the OP wants to keep.

 

[iSkylaker]

Heatspreaders don't do much for ddr3 at all, but the Vengeance ram failure rate is relatively high and probably every little bit of help including heatspreaders is needed to work properly. Not a good idea to overclock Vengeance ram even with heatspreaders.

Are they? I thought Corsair had some good quality on their components, in fact I haven't told already but I got them OC'ed to 1866Mhz with the heatsink for 2 days now, using these exact timing settings (link, Tech Spec TAB) mine is the 1600Mhz version but I've not had any issue so far. Considering the default timing settings i'd say it is pretty good compared to others average-quality ones like Kingston HyperX.

Assuming that you can remove the heatspreaders without damaging the DIMMs (many are glued instead of clipped or screwed on), then the DIMMs would most likely run fine at their stock frequency.

Yeah, they seem glued and clipped over the top, but I think I got my way arround to remove them without causing much harm.

As to how much they'll successfully overclock, that's unknown without testing. If the person you're selling then to expects a certain overclock, you'd be wise to test it at that speed first. Your buyer should also understand that the warranty is void and that they will unable to get replacements.

On balance, this seems like a bad idea unless you're willing to declare the DIMMs as a total loss in order to get at the heatspreaders.

I've been testing on the APU system with the heat spreader, and the performance difference between stock and OC to 1866Mhz is somewhat significant on some games. I already decided I'll try to remove the heat spreader on one of the two sticks and test at stock and OC'ed, if I fail and break it then I'll sell the other with the heatsink.

But good point about the warranty, I really didn't think about that. Since I'm selling everything I have in preparation for Skylake and if I can successfully remove the heat spreader, I'm considering offer him until August to test it, if he ever get an issue I'll give a full refund.

That's ugly compared to the ones the OP wants to keep.

Yeah haha, but its interesting, the DDR4 kit I was considering was from Crusial Ballistic because is the only one that sells as single, dual and quad channel DDR4 kits other manufactures sell them as quad channel usually over 16GB (i don't need 16GB ) so I can grab two of those instead and replace with the heatspreader of the DDR3 ones (assuming I can remove them with no issues).

 

[MonKENy]

not to play morality police but it sounds kind of bad what youre talking about doing.

1. You are selling used RAM to someone and are thinking of ripping the heatsinks off
2. You are OC them and not telling the person

I see you say you will offer him a refund if something goes wrong so thats good but still its things like this that make me weary of buying anything used from people. If they do fail its a hassle for the buyer.

If youre just buying new parts anyway why not just buy RAM that you like the look of? What are you really going to gain? Even if you rip the sinks off the odds of you making them fit and look nice on another stick are slim to none. Especially if they are glued down.

I expect better from you guys, why are you encouraging this?

No cursing in the technical forums.

mfenn
General Hardware Moderator

 

[LTC8K6]

I haven't seen the OP admit to overclocking the ram he is selling.

He only said that the buyer will probably overclock it.

Of course, he should be upfront with the buyer if the DDR3 will not have heatsinks on it, as I said.

I don't see why the OP couldn't simply swap heatsinks, since he obviously is going to remove the DDR4 heatsinks. Might as well just swap heatsinks between the DDR3 and 4.

That way the OP gets the ram he wants with the heatsinks he wants, and the buyer gets the DDR3 with heatsinks.

 

[iSkylaker]

not to play morality police but it sounds kind of bad what youre talking about doing.

1. You are selling used RAM to someone and are thinking of ripping the heatsinks off
2. You are OC them and not telling the person

I see you say you will offer him a refund if something goes wrong so thats good but still its things like this that make me weary of buying anything used from people. If they do fail its a hassle for the buyer.

If youre just buying new parts anyway why not just buy RAM that you like the look of? What are you really going to gain? Even if you rip the sinks off the odds of you making them fit and look nice on another stick are slim to none. Especially if they are glued down.

I expect better from you guys, why are you encouraging this?

1. No way, he is completely aware of that.
2. Like I said, their stock speed is 1600Mhz. We have been testing OC'ed but is up to the buyer if he wants to keep it OC or run at stock, the OC is optional but of course would be more beneficial to him since its an AMD APU and he is using the iGPU.

And I think there is nothing wrong with that, I have no use for these sticks right now I could have removed and list it on ebay and sell them to a random people without giving any warning or warranty. I was just wondering if it would not cause any damage to use it with no heatsink.

I can do your suggestion, LTC8K6. I have no problem giving my new heatsinks to him, the only thing is, he still will have to wait until August when I get the new ones.

 

[MonKENy]

I haven't seen the OP admit to overclocking the ram he is selling.
He only said that the buyer will probably overclock it.

I haven't told already but I got them OC'ed to 1866Mhz with the heatsink for 2 days now, using these exact timing settings

Which I took as he didnt tell the buyer, but if buyer is aware of all the above then great for you both. Did you pick out your new sticks yet?

 

[Burpo]

I haven't seen the OP admit to overclocking the ram he is selling.

Are they? I thought Corsair had some good quality on their components, in fact I haven't told already but I got them OC'ed to 1866Mhz

He said he's overclocking them.. Bad idea to remove the heat spreaders..

 

[iSkylaker]

Which I took as he didnt tell the buyer, but if buyer is aware of all the above then great for you both. Did you pick out your new sticks yet?

I'm considering now the ones posted in the newegg link above, but still I'll wait until I have the 100-chipset board in hand to ensure compatibility.

 

[iSkylaker]

I just removed the heat spreader of one of them, I'm going to test it now.

 

[MonKENy]

did they come off ok? How hard was it?

 

[iSkylaker]

did they come off ok? How hard was it?

Not that hard really, like 40-50 seconds blowing hot air with a hair dryer, a slight pull and they came off easily.

My friend has been using them since then and hasn't reported any issues. I'll take some RAM test tools tomorrow to test just in case.