Memory heatspreaders and stickers

[Lord Evermore]

Okay so they stick these heatspreaders on memory modules, and try to convince people that they really really need them (naturally we only needed them AFTER RDRAM came out which had them and really needed them but that point of the marketing is irrelevant).

Then, they put stickers all over them. I just got my Corsair modules (because you can't GET high performance modules without heatspreaders anymore) and 60 to 75% of the surface is covered by a sticker on each side.

Wouldn't that interfere with any putative heat dissipation properties? It's pretty thick paper, with the ink and a shiny surface; how thermally conductive and radiative can that be?

Spare me the "but I got 3 extra MHz when I put on heatspreaders AND aimed a Delta fan at the memory" stories. I'm just wondering whether these stickers are actually degrading even the limited effect heatspreaders can have in the first place, or if they're just a big fat screamer that the things never did anything to start with.

 

[HannibalX]

Back in the day (two years ago) when I was buying DDR400 memory and none of the memory being sold then used the heat spreaders (save RDRAM). Two years later the same speed memory comes with them.

I think it's just a way for the memory companies to make their product more "hip". For instance my Patriot DDR400 Cas2 memory is wrapped on both sides with bright red heat spreaders and the Patriot logo in a color changing hologram.

 

[Lord Evermore]

Oh I know it's on the verge of snake oil (technically they CAN spread heat and perhaps help dissipate it, and technically that might get you a few extra MHz if you've bumped up the voltage to inane levels and clock speeds, but those extra few MHz aren't going to mean much of anything). But if you eliminate huge swaths of radiating/convection surface by putting something thermally insulating on it, you end up making the airflow LESS effective than the bare chips eventually. I'm just wondering how the stickers actually effect the cooling properties.

 

[JimPhelpsMI]

Hi, I have to agree with Lord Evermore. That paper is bad news if you really have a temp problem.

Jim

 

[jackschmittusa]

Well, after all, they never called them heat dissapaters, just heat spreaders. lol