Is it ok to remove RAM heatspreaders?

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Guru

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8 Jun 2005
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Hi all,

Just bought some new ram, some G.Skill RipJaws gaming DDR3-1333 PC3-10666.

It has some red heatspreaders with by stickers on saying RipJaws on them and I am wondering if it is ok to run the memory without them? Assuming of course that I can get them off without causing any damage!

I get the impression that it's mainly for show, but I don't want to remove them if the RAM is not designed to cope without them.

The ram is going to used used in my little Microserver which has barely any clearance above the ram so the motherboard will not slide back in with these heatspreaders on.

As I am not using the RAM for gaming I am assuming it won't get stressed enough to overheat but wanted to get peoples opinions before going ahead with removing them, returning the RAM or putting it in a different machine, or even hacking a space for them in the microserver with a circular saw lol.

Thanks :)

G
 
Try running it out of the case for a while, and see how hot the memory gets, if it's cool or just warm to the touch, then you should be fine.

More importantly though, you'll lose your warranty, and not all heatspreaders come off very easily. Why don't you DSR them and buy something lower profile?
 
Mostly for show, small amount of functionality.

Provided you have some airflow over the RAM and it's not being overclocked then I'm sure I'll be fine.
 
RAM heatspreaders are almost always just for show. But they're usually glued on and can be very difficult to remove.
 
I'm not too worried about warranty as the ram was only £65 so wouldn't be any great loss and I can always slap the 1gb that came with it back in if it fails. Or the 4GB I am replacing with the 8gb lol.

But I will feel a bit of an idiot it it fails straight away because I removed the heatspreaders lol

Is there software that will tell me the temperature of the ram?
 
Guru said:
But I will feel a bit of an idiot it it fails straight away because I removed the heatspreaders lol

Is there software that will tell me the temperature of the ram?
Click to expand...

I'd be mainly worried about any physical damage you might cause removing the heatspreaders. Best off just returning them tbh.

As for measuring temperature, I usually just use my fingers. If they're too hot to touch, you need some airflow in there. But if the case is small, might be a bit difficult to get in there!
 
I've given one a gently tug and it seems it will lift straight off, it's just stuck on with double sided tape, I've not pulled it off completely, but from that I reckon they will just pop off and back on again tbh.

Doesn't look like I've got much to lose now!

I've pressed it back on whilst I do a little more googling, but I reckon my decision is made pretty much. If it's only held on with double sided tape I doubt it is doing much in terms of drawing the heat away anyway!

I did think it was a bit for show because it has a massive sticker covering the faces of the alluminium, which would hold head in the metal if anything lol

Still not feeling brave enough to do it yet but getting there.

Although thinking about it, if I've already pulled it off a little bit that's probably the warranty gone, not that you can tell unless you've read this thread lol
 
Unless its that fangled super hyper overclock mega low latency stuff, it won't need any cooling. I've heard horror stories of people removing them and RAM chips coming off aswell though.. I personally wouldn't risk it but you make it sound like £65 is nothing so by all means :P
 
Since the Mrs got her bloody Pandora bracelet £65 quid seems like a tiny piece of metal that I needn't worry about.

I've pulled the spreaders off... piece of cake and they just go straight back on, server is up and running with 8GB waiting for me to virtualise SBS 2008 :) I have taken the backing off some double sided tape and stuck it on the underside of the spreaders to prevent their tape ever drying out so they can always go back on and I have sealed the spreaders in the original packaging so that they can't get damaged.

Sod it the £65 will be covered by the reward I get for passing my SBS 2008 exam :)
 
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