Do you really need RAM cooling?

JCX50 · 6 Dec 2012 at 22:59

Just been looking around the Internet and seen that you can cool your RAM sticks. I can't seem to find a good enough reason to? Does anyone know an answer?

(And what is the point of overclocking RAM?)

Thanks

JCX50

foster grant · 6 Dec 2012 at 23:14

Yes, you can get coolers that sit over the ram sticks , never used one though..so cant speak as to how they perform sorry

bainbridge · 6 Dec 2012 at 23:37

JCX50 said:
Just been looking around the Internet and seen that you can cool your RAM sticks. I can't seem to find a good enough reason to? Does anyone know an answer?

All memory modules needs to avoid running too hot but most just lose their heat naturally, some have metal headspreaders on them to help keep them cool. I'd say dedicated RAM coolers would only be necessary for extreme RAM overclocking, though I've never done this myself.

JCX50 said:
(And what is the point of overclocking RAM?)

It makes your RAM run quicker!

panyan · 7 Dec 2012 at 00:11

ram doesnt get hot under normal conditions -> it doesnt need active cooling -> they just look funky and make noise

lukeforrest · 7 Dec 2012 at 01:56

Do you NEED it ....no

BrianB · 7 Dec 2012 at 02:04

My Samsung green run at 2200Mhz 9-10-11-21 1.65V and don't even get warm. Ram does not need cooling, otherwise how the hell would it survive in a laptop? General case airflow should be plenty of cooling.

Ram reads and writes, so overclocking would increase the speed it does it in, obviously.

But will you notice it? I doubt it. I just overclock for the sake of overclocking now.

Kaapstad · 7 Dec 2012 at 03:46

The only use for it is extreme speeds, the only kit I have seen lately that uses it run at over 2800mhz.

Its not something you want in your PC anyway. I have an older PC with corsair dominator 2000mhz 7-8-7-20 which uses a ram cooler. The ammount of dust that builds up around it makes the PC look awful.

SINDRONE · 15 Dec 2012 at 03:24

The only reason i'd buy a ram cooler is purely because I think they look cool, but as of yet i've managed to resist the urge lol

new numa hey · 15 Dec 2012 at 18:19

You don't really need it. Ever. Heat sinks for RAM are more than enough.
Some people think that's too much as well.

EasterEEL · 16 Dec 2012 at 15:59

No need unless you are pumping high voltage through and modern Intel processors don't like that anyway.

setter · 16 Dec 2012 at 17:25

Dont see the point in it tbh. Also, once you stick one of theese coolers over your ram. All your doing is blocking airflow to your cpu cooler.

wazza300 · 16 Dec 2012 at 17:30

they aid in installing/removing the memory more than actually cooling it

look at the samsung green memory it runs from stock 1.35v to 1.7v+ from 1600mhz to 2400mhz+ in some cases with no heatsink in sight

trentlad · 16 Dec 2012 at 17:33

One of the big issues is that it usually blocks the path for flowing air to the CPU cooler.

That single reason made me return mine.

setter · 16 Dec 2012 at 17:39

wazza300 said:
they aid in installing/removing the memory more than actually cooling it

This, i have a set of ocz reapers in my i7 930 rig, the heatpipes on them are great as handles when taking them out. Thankfully though, they dont disrupt airflow too much. But they do severely limit cooler choice.

Inferno99 · 16 Dec 2012 at 18:06

A gimmick nowadays. Crossflow coolers were useful back when dual channel DDR1 modules had to occupy adjacent slots. DDR3 runs nowhere near as hot.