Are RAM Heat Spreaders Snake Oil? (in 2015)

[Puffnstuff]

Well if you guys are going to complain about the heat spreaders then perhaps we should complain about how Abit started the ram cooling fan craze. I've still got the one that came with my old NF7-S mb and it has been seen from time to time in other cases with less cooling than my haf-932.

 

[Blain]

Well if you guys are going to complain about the heat spreaders then perhaps we should complain about how Abit started the ram cooling fan craze. I've still got the one that came with my old NF7-S mb and it has been seen from time to time in other cases with less cooling than my haf-932.

Are you referring to the nForce2 chipset HS/fan?
Please post a pic of your "ram cooling fan".

 

[thecoolnessrune]

Are you referring to the nForce2 chipset HS/fan?
Please post a pic of your "ram cooling fan".

He's probably referring to things like these that were popular with enthusiasts back in the DDR2 days.

 

[Blain]

He's probably referring to things like these that were popular with enthusiasts back in the DDR2 days.

That isn't, in any way, an Abit "ram cooling fan", like he stated.
The only Abit cooling fan I've seen on one of their MBs was a chipset cooler.
Maybe he bought a limited edition Abit MB that did have ram coolers, if so I'd like to see what they looked like.

 

[thecoolnessrune]

That isn't, in any way, an Abit "ram cooling fan", like he stated.

Well of course it isn't. You only put one portion (and continue to in this post) in quotations

I thought the idea of a fan assembly designed specifically for the RAM seemed foreign to you. I'm not aware of Abit having made any coolers that far back. They did make the "OTES" RAM Cooler back in the early LGA775 and S939 days though. I shouldn't say make as it was just a rebranded Super Talent.

 

[Charlie98]

No, just as side panel windows aren't snake oil.
They aren't functional, but they are preferred by some people.

That really is the root question... do they actually draw heat off the RAM chips? Personally, I don't think modern (1.5v DDR3 and newer) RAM kicks off that much heat, certainly not enough to pass through the adhesive padding that secures the heatsink to the mem chips. But those big sinks make a nice billboard for the manufacturer....

 

[Puffnstuff]

The spreaders on my corsair dominator can get fairly warm so I'm happy that they are present to dissipate the heat. Poor Blain, way too uptight for his own good. The OTES is a ram cooling fan and the picture is self explanatory.

 

[Blain]

Was the OTES cooler an item included with your NF7 MB package or did you purchase it to add-on?

 

[Fred B]

He's probably referring to things like these that were popular with enthusiasts back in the DDR2 days.

Such a cooler came with my ddr3 memory as a set and with heat spreaders .Think it can be useful when doing over-volt the ram for over clock , very little difference in temperature can make ram unstable . It is not hot like the CPU , but the threshold is way lower for memory .

And the only memory i know with factory heat spreader where Rdram with written on the side , warning hot surface . They are ribbed on and to be honest i like that heat rdram spreader for it simplicity . Now it is a statement and memory is recognized by the shape of the heat spreader

 

[Puffnstuff]

Was the OTES cooler an item included with your NF7 MB package or did you purchase it to add-on?

Included with the motherboard and believe it or not I still have it and it still works.

 

[sm625]

The heat spreaders have probably saved more sticks of RAM from ESD and physical damage vs actual heat-induced component failures.

 

[JimKiler]

He's probably referring to things like these that were popular with enthusiasts back in the DDR2 days.

I need that, i have reason!

 

[Dasa2]

Ah the good old days of bh-5 200c2 2.8v@270 2-2-2 with mb vmoded to alow 3.4v and psu 3.3v moded to 3.7V to alow it

 

[PliotronX]

Ah the good old days of bh-5 200c2 2.8v@270 2-2-2 with mb vmoded to alow 3.4v and psu 3.3v moded to 3.7V to alow it

Yesss! I installed pots on all rails on my Antec TruePower 430 Then the DFI Infinity NF2 came out with 5V VDIMM regs and it became easier. I have always viewed spreaders as the equivalent of spinning rims.

 

[StrangerGuy]

Just don't complain when you buy RAM with tall heatspreaders and it ends up blocking the HSF or something else.

I told you so, and this why I only buy low profile RAM.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

You CAN GET plenty of DDR3 kits that are both low-profile and have heatspreaders. Take for instance the Corsair XMS3:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...Corsair_XMS3_DDR3-1600-_-20-233-334-_-Product

My first choice would've been G.SKILL, but I acquired a used 4x4GB kit of the XMS3's last fall, somewhat by accident. I've seen where they're overclockable to DDR3-1866, but I've determined I can run them at 1600Mhz and 9-9-9-24 with CR=1. Not the best, but good enough.

 

[DrMrLordX]

Just don't complain when you buy RAM with tall heatspreaders and it ends up blocking the HSF or something else.

Reminds me of when I was still using my Pi Blacks with a d14. Fortunately the motherboard had the memory slots in an abnormal configuration, so I could populate the outside two slots and still get dual-channel operation (in fact, that was the preferred config on the 790FX GD70 for 2x DIMMs). Those heatspreaders on the Blacks were huge. I don't think I ever pushed more than 1.65v through them, either, since I never used them with a CPU with a memory controller that would do anything faster than maybe DDR3-1680 (so I just tightened timings instead).

My current RAM is a different story. The heatspreaders are more modest (so they fit under the d14, hooray), but I routinely run these at 1.68v-1.7v to get them to run @DDR3-2400 10-12-13-32 2T which is a wee bit faster than spec. Overall, I'm glad they have those heatspreaders.

 

[ashieru]

i think it is relative.

1) it depends on the material and shape of the thermal dissipator (heatsink)
2) is your RAM going to die soon of heat damage, or you are prolonging the lifespan?
3) you want to overclock higher speeds?

in my own experiements, a 15x15x15mm heatsink have a relative thermal resistance of about 18oC/w. similar sink with a size of 5x5x5mm is worse @ over 50oC/w.

technically speaking, if the sink is attached well, your RAM does benefit from better heat dissipation.

:twisted: BUT ... small sinks are 50cent items (ie : this 15mm sink i tried). normally those sold in computer stores are way overpriced for me ... the price is the snake oil imo

 

[sammykhalifa]

Well the RAM I ended up getting has gold heatsinks.

And EVERYONE knows that shiny things go faster. It's a proven fact.

So . . . case closed.

 

[u0berdev]

Thanks everyone for the discussion! Very thought provoking.

The heat spreaders have probably saved more sticks of RAM from ESD and physical damage vs actual heat-induced component failures.

I like what sm625 said.

In the end, it seems like a wash from a "do I gain any functional heat dissipation" perspective. Since I'm not overclocking, I don't stand to gain anything from them, but also I don't stand to loose anything with them, heat dissipation wise (again, running normal).

You guys make a great point about heat spreaders adding physical protections, such as protection from ESD, physical damage, and also DUST! While not perfect protection, it's better than nothing. I handle bare sticks very carefully (edge grip only), versus just grabbing the shielded sticks without worry.

Thus the name "heat spreader" seems to be a secondary function, and I would term them more as "memory shields" or something along those lines. Although, no one would know what I'm talking about if I started calling them that, so I'll stick to "heat spreaders" for now.

Right now I'm debating a Mushkin RAM purchase for a new server, and since there's only a couple dollars difference, I'll be grabbing the ones with Memory Shields.

 

[Charlie98]

Following that logic, a 'memory shield' could be made of something far cheaper and less manufacturing intensive than aluminum, and probably do a better job if it's primary purpose is just to cover the RAM... but I agree with you, you don't gain or lose anything by buying RAM with heat sinks. It seems like anything besides bottom-end RAM has the silly things, so you really don't have any choice.

 

[Cerb]

Well the RAM I ended up getting has gold heatsinks.

And EVERYONE knows that shiny things go faster. It's a proven fact.

So . . . case closed.

Truth. I got matte heatspreaders on mine, and they don't run any faster than 1600MHz (I'm going to see if they'll do it at 5-5-6, though ).

 

[Gentoo]

The answer to the question "do ram heatsinks do anything?" is yes, they do keep the ram cooler. In my WHS box, I have 2 sticks of Corsair XMS2 DHX with the tall silver heatspreaders on them, and 2 sticks of Corsair XMS2 with just the plain black heatspreaders. There is no question that the DHX silver ones with tall heatsinks are cooler. I can touch them and they don't even feel warm. The black smaller ones are warm to the touch.

Now, the real question is "does this make a difference?" That, I don't know.

 

[Z15CAM]

Are RAM Heat Spreaders Snake Oil?

Probably are for any dims running under 1.55 Volts.

I don't run any Heat Spreaders with 16GB's of Samsung MV-3V4G3D-US_DDR3 running at 1866 Mhz 9-9-9-24 1T and 1.35v and there COOL ;o)

 

[UaVaj]

heat spreader are for hiding the actual ram chips marking.

so ram assembler (gskillz, mushkin, curcial, etc) can 1) bin and 2) over charge for slower ram overclocked. such ram are overclocked so heavy - heat spreader is becoming a necessity.

there is a genuine reason why a bare stick of golden samsung pc1600 cl11 is going for a big premium.