http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=4620For the last few years, RAM, particularly that at the enthusiast end of the spectrum, has featured heat spreaders. The question being posed by many is whether they actually do anything.
http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=4620For the last few years, RAM, particularly that at the enthusiast end of the spectrum, has featured heat spreaders. The question being posed by many is whether they actually do anything.
I think we've known this for a while. And considering it's an internal test, it's not necessarily perfectly unbiased, I wouldn't say. It certainly doesn't have statistically significant resultant benefits.
Despite this, I bought (cheap) RAM modules with heatspreaders for two reasons.
1. They look better, nice coloured metal bits always looks better.
2. They're easier to fit and play with when they have a protective covering, I don't worry about breaking the thing.
I would consider OCZ and Corsair to be competitors, if I owned a company, I would never allow a press release saying our competitor was atleast as good as us. So I would take anything , other than a truly independant review, with a pinch of salt.
That said, heat spreaders in general have been shown to provide some performance gain, I can understand this - they will have a larger surface area/chip. And they do look a lot better/safer.
The only thing I have against them, is they remove the fragility feeling of ram modules meaning they now feel so safe that you THINK you can throw them across the room and and jump up and down on them they will still work. When obviously they probably won't. But I don't play tennis with my modules, just look at them in my motherboard, so all is happy.
Nox
Since heatspreaders doesn't actually touch the chip, but relying on the heat-conducting adhesive tape... If you're not stressing the ram it can reduce thermal stress of the ram, but if you're pushing the ram real hard (i.e. 3.3V or DDR600 kind of stuff) And the thermal gradient of the adhesive tape just hinder cooling so much....The chips may be at 60'C and the heatspreader is only 45'C...Blowing a 12cm fan wouldn't help... Thats why many G.Skill modules didn't come with a heat spreader...
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How would air provide better thermal transfer than even heat tape?
Almost any material that contacts the IC conducts heat away from it better than air could.
It's the same principle with a CPU. If you have a hot processor, you wouldn't just throw a high speed fan on it and hope that worked, right? You'd put a heatsink on it first to provide more surface area. Once that was done, the fan is working in conjunction with the heatsink to move heat away from the cpu and into the air in a much more efficient manner.
Since heatspreaders work in a similar (yet not identical) way, the theory stands that regardless of the manner of adhesive, a heatspreader should be more effective than no heatspreader. I can't say why G.Skill don't include heatspreaders on some of their older modules, but you'll notice many of their newer modules do.
Of course, as implied by their name, the heatspreader just takes heat from each individual IC and spreads all that heat out over a larger surface area to facilitate in cooling. As mentioned in the article, much of the IC heat is actually transferred through the pins and into the ground plane of the PCB, so there's only so much a standard heatspreader can do.
Yes please - I would love Hexus to do some proper analysis on this kind of thing.
Personally I think no heatspreaders at all would be best in terms of temperature. Yes you transfer heat away for short while, but then you immediately store the heat in the heatspreader capacity which would then stop further transfer away from the chip. Most spreaders are smooth and shiney, and I can't believe the heat transfer from this kind of surface to air would be higher than from non-heatspread-covered sticks.
However, heatspreaders do look cool, and it's something you can feel good about paying extra money for, which is completely what the ram market is all about. That's being cashed in on more and more these days which is why newer g.skill sticks have them, and why companies like Corsair and OCZ use heatspreaders as a marketing thing.
The added protection while handling is also a bonus.
Last edited by kalniel; 09-02-2006 at 10:23 AM.
Heatspredders exist because RDRAM requires them, since in RDRAM the heat produced is not constant over the chips, and one can get very hot while the others are cold. That is the only thing they do, spread heat. in DDR SDRAM though, the heat is constant throughout the chip, so very little benefit is gained by spreading it out.
http://www.dansdata.com/gz006.htm
Thats correct I think thats why there used, they will help DDR ram, but it will be minimal, as said the heat will be spread over a wider area, making it easier for the air in the case to cool, so they will cool quicker than normal, but it will only be a minimal amount quicker, and will have no real effect. Buy them cos they look cool, I think thats why most people get them, I remember my mate with RDRAM with blueheatspreaders calling it 'spaceship ram'![]()
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And, yet again we see companies (memory) using heatspreaders as another selling tool (some come in "platinum" finish, some with temp indicators, some even with led's !!!), but I doubt that they functionally provide an advantage :-)
Just my tuppenth worth !
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It does make you feel slightly better about handling your £200 worth of high performance modules...Originally Posted by madwelshboy
Meh.....who worries about static anyway?
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My TwinMos ram didnt come with heatspreaders, but I wasnt to botherd as the price was more important at the time. At the end of the day, if a company will garentee its ram to a voltage, and speed as as consiquence, thats much more of a selling point.
That aside, heatspreaders are nice looking, theres no bones about that.
Yes the reason I buy memory with heatspreaders is because they are sooo much easier to use, they give you a better hold on the module and so its easier to slot them into the dimm slots. And they make you look like you've spent more money (which is usually the case :S)- bragging rights![]()
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