Are memory heatsinks a fashion statement?

Hagar

Hagar

Hagar

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I have just built a system using Elpida memory DDR3 2 x 2Gb 1333MHz 9-9-9-24 1.5V. the sticks are bare without heatsinks of any kind.
It does not seem to be an issue and my system temperatures are within 35-40C.

My point is unless you are running OC on the memory or using memory at lower CAS than specified why you need heatsinks, it certainly adversely affects the airflow cooling around the ram chips.

It also adds to the cost of manufacture.

So I think that in the majority of builds heatsinks are useless and only serve to beautify the system or look tough depending on your point of view.

andy
 
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For the most part, certainly.

In my own m-ITX system I really wanted some heatspreaders on my SO-Dimms. They wouldn't have contributed anything, but they would've looked nice. :o It was a shame Kingston didn't do 8GB sets of their hyper-X range, or they would have had my cash. In the end I settled for plain naked Corsair's, though I can't bear the sight of them... ;)

It must be said though that besides the bling effect, they do make installation so much easier, and perhaps lessen the chance of damage.
 
I don't think they do much. I also wonder how much of the elaborate cooling on high end motherboards is strictly necessary. My cheap Asus mobo has only got a basic heatsink on the northbridge, but doesn't suffer any overheating even overclocked.
 
makes it easier to install the ram, pushing plain memory into the slots is almost like trying to push razor blades in.
 
Blue160 said:
I don't think they do much. I also wonder how much of the elaborate cooling on high end motherboards is strictly necessary. My cheap Asus mobo has only got a basic heatsink on the northbridge, but doesn't suffer any overheating even overclocked.
Click to expand...

If u see some of the low end H55 mobo's setting on fire due to no cooling on the PWM, then u can see why good mobo cooling is needed, especially when heavy overclocking.

I wouldn't say all boards need massive heatsinks, but they do actully do a job where as memory heatsinks don't really seem to be needed apart from bling factor.
 
I can understand it on mobo's, however on ram they can sometimes be a hindrance. Im using ocz reapers, the height of the heatpipes can make cpu cooler choice a bit hard, and the heatspreaders on the sides are also pretty thick.
 
Werent they originally invented for that alternate type of ram for the old pentium 3 boards?

This ram was faster, but had high latency and could only use one stick at a time. HAving two made them alternate.

But they needed Heatsinks so as not to melt, so i think thats where they came from.

And you gotta admit they look pretty ***** cool :D
 
My HyperX on the other hand are always cool to the touch. So was the unbranded stuff before it with no heat spreaders. I did kill them trying to overclock though.....................
 
Depends on mem, some of them get really hot, some don't.
Also necessary when doing heavy OC.

Look and protection is just a bonus.

On the other side, my DDR2 GeiL Black Dragons didn't have any heatsinks, they never got too hot and they OCed like crazy ( could hit 1000+mhz on 800mhz ram, will also do up to 890mhz on timings lower than stock ones which were already c4 timings ).
 
I remember a few years ago reading a review where they tested a ram stick with various headspreaders. It turned out they made virtually no difference at all to the maximum overclock.

I guess they might help prolong the life of the components though.... as they'd take the edge off the rapid heating/cooling that all ram experiences.
 
I stuck some heat spreaders on my cheapy ram simply 'cos I hate the look of them in my case otherwise.

Not sure if they do anything mind, but not too fussed for a few £.
 
The Black Dragons have no heatsink but i thought that was due to them being DDR3 and running at 1.5V, the old reapers i used to have O/C at 2.1 used to get a bit toasty :)
 
I'd say they're great for protecting the ram chips from mucky fingers, but can't honestly see any major cooling benefit for most makes. Some of the more comedy sized spreaders are a pain in the bum when using a large cpu cooler tho.
 
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