Possibly (probably) a very stupid question.

Bwaaa · 20 Aug 2011 at 16:20

Would it be safe to snap/cut the heat spreaders off of corsair vengence RAM to make it fit under a CPU cooler? A friends has ran into that situation and he asked me if it would be safe and I actually have no idea.

The options are either buy new ram or try this. So even if he breaks it, no big loss really because he'd have to buy new anyway.

Surveyor · 20 Aug 2011 at 16:36

It's a drastic solution but I don't think it would stop the RAM from working.

You'd have to be careful not to get any metal particles anywhere as they may cause a short circuit. Also be careful handling the sticks otherwise you might damage the chips or PCB.

The downside is there'd be great difficulty in selling the RAM after the hatchet job.

Plec · 20 Aug 2011 at 16:39

In theory it wouldn't effect the memory - in practice it may be difficult to snap/cut off the fins without damaging the module.

Why not remove the spreaders completely and then cut the fins off and then re-attach the spreader?

Hyburnate · 20 Aug 2011 at 16:45

Someone has done it to dominator heat spreaders. I guess it would be alright.

Plec · 20 Aug 2011 at 16:52

Hyburnate said:
Someone has done it to dominator heat spreaders. I guess it would be alright.

Some Dominator's fins can be taken off via screws between the fins (for water cooling) - the vengence are all-in-one mouldings.

darwinws · 22 Aug 2011 at 15:08

It is a bit risky but if you do it properly it should be ok. Just make sure you don't cut into the PCB or leave any filings anywhere.

CaptainUnlikely · 22 Aug 2011 at 17:24

Easy enough to remove the heatspreaders, Vengeance heatspreaders have come off in my hands while installing more times than I can count. And no, I wasn't trying to remove them, nor being forceful - they just came off, they're not very well attached and they are after all plastic.
Remember that removing them will void the warranty.