cheap way to cool ram?

[pompalomp]

Quickie, What is the best cheap way to cool ram, i was going to use the corsairs crazy eights fan thing, but £12 seems a bit overkill. So, is it possible to just use another method?

Ram is 2GB Crucial 6400
Motherboard is Asus P5k-e
Case is Antec nine hundred.

[scrandman]

Save yourself the expense and don't bother - cooling RAM is more about adding bling than performance.

[Max Tractor]

80mm/92mm Fan, Cable tie it from either the case, and depending on cpu cooler, you could cable tie it from it, I have had a 80mm akasa amber hanging from various cpu coolers. There is also a method of elastic band the fan to the ram slots, but I never favoured that one

[schmunk]

Save yourself the expense and don't bother - cooling RAM is more about adding bling than performance.

Seconded.

[pompalomp]

thanks guys

[Clunk]

Save yourself the expense and don't bother - cooling RAM is more about adding bling than performance.

Nope,

Seconded.

Nope.

That RAM runs at 2.2v and can get really hot. It also uses D9xxx chips that have a tendency to die if they are run without any cooling - I've done it myself.

If your case has adequate airflow, and you are using standard RAM you can get away without using active cooling, but as you are using performace RAM @ 2.2v, it is silly not to cool it.

Cheapest and easiest way is to grab a fan (60mm/80mm/92mm), thread some cotton through it and hook it over the little levers that lock the RAM in place

[NightshadowUK]

I bought a Zalman Fan Bracket this week, bloody amazing lil thing.

[schmunk]

OK, let me clarify.

If you're running your RAM massively out of spec, you may need to actively cool it. Otherwise, it's not at all necessary, unless your case is very badly ventilated.

[scrandman]

That RAM runs at 2.2v and can get really hot. It also uses D9xxx chips that have a tendency to die if they are run without any cooling - I've done it myself.

If your case has adequate airflow, and you are using standard RAM you can get away without using active cooling, but as you are using performace RAM @ 2.2v, it is silly not to cool it.

Cheapest and easiest way is to grab a fan (60mm/80mm/92mm), thread some cotton through it and hook it over the little levers that lock the RAM in place

It was generally accepted that DDR ram (which ran at 2.5 ~ 2.6V) needed no cooling / heatspreaders or such like. This was even published by one of the major RAM manufacturers, but they didn't make a big deal about it since most of their "premium" RAM came with heatspreaders fitted (Corsair IIRC). I fail to understand how DDR2 that runs at lower volts (hence cooler) would require active RAM cooling unless overvolted way beyond its design spec or in a case with zero airflow.

[GSte]

As Clunk says, even at stock volts Micron D9 chips in performance ram do tend to die without additional cooling, 2 sets of Ballistix PC8500 have done it on me in the last 6 months (okay, one of them was running at 2.25v, but still....). That's in an Antec 900 with 4 x 120mm fans and a 250mm beast. Corsair fan now fitted, no issues for the last 3 months, fingers crossed.

[daza]

£3 gets you one of these, with a bit of wire jobs done.

[WannaPiEcE]

Save yourself the expense and don't bother - cooling RAM is more about adding bling than performance.

Can we nominate this for the most un-intelligent post of the year?

@ OP:
Cooling your memory is a great way to prolong the its life by reducing temperatures created by the high voltages of high performance DIMM's. In your case I'd recommend using some insulated wire to secure a fan over the ram.

[Clunk]

OK, let me clarify.

If you're running your RAM massively out of spec, you may need to actively cool it. Otherwise, it's not at all necessary, unless your case is very badly ventilated.

See below .

It was generally accepted that DDR ram (which ran at 2.5 ~ 2.6V) needed no cooling / heatspreaders or such like. This was even published by one of the major RAM manufacturers, but they didn't make a big deal about it since most of their "premium" RAM came with heatspreaders fitted (Corsair IIRC). I fail to understand how DDR2 that runs at lower volts (hence cooler) would require active RAM cooling unless overvolted way beyond its design spec or in a case with zero airflow.

We arent talking about DDR, we are talking about DDR2 that is designed to run at 1.8v, running at 2.2v, which is precisely what his RAM does.

If you have some D9 Ram, set it to 2.2v and run memtest overnight, or some other meory intensive program, and see how hot it gets. You can pretty much guarantee that it wont last more than a few weeks like that, and sometimes, even just a few days.

It might sound alarmist, but D9xxx chips are well known for being overclockable, but at the same time, they are really easy to kill, so just by putting a single fan, (£1 ish?.), you could keep your RAM nice and healthy, and your PC up and running, or you could leave it running hot and risk an RMA.

It's a no brainer really

[WannaPiEcE]

Reminded me of a post in another forum I made regarding ram voltages, if I may incenuate my point further...

In regards to a study by Nvidia regarding frequent ram failures regarding overvolting...

Important message regarding memory and the EVGA 680i motherboard

NVIDIA has investigated end user reports of high performance DIMM failures on the NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI-based platforms. During this process we have been in close contact with DIMM manufacturers and the DRAM manufacturers they rely on to understand the failure scenario. By working with our community, we believe that the observed failure is a breakdown of the silicon in the DRAM caused by the prolonged application of 2.4V on the voltage rails of the DIMMs.

NVIDIA�s own internal testing has observed this failure on multiple motherboards using different chipsets (both NVIDIA and non-NVIDIA chipsets). This issue is not directly related to motherboards using the NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI MCP or other chipsets.

If you are using this type of memory and are experiencing this issue, NVIDIA recommends contacting your memory manufacturer or system manufacturer for additional information and warranty information.

http://www.evga.com/articles/350.asp

Along with higher voltages you need better cooling for your ram. Many manufactures have improvised by creating and implementing extraordinary thermal heat spreaders on these high performance DIMM's. Even the little heatsinks or even heatpipes aren't a sure bet. So to rather be safe than sorry there are a couple manufactured ram coolers available on the egg you can look into for your high performance memory, such as.. OCZ XTC Cooler and the Corsair Dominator cooler.

I would highly recommend either of these products to enhance and prolong the life of your high performance DIMM's. Or if you are handy and confident with a custom modifications you can simply mount a 90mm or 80mm fan over the ram, something like this...

I dont recommend resting the cooler directly on the ram but rather to suspend it atleast a half inch away.

Either way at a $5-$20 pricetag its more than worth its weight in gold by protecting your investment from overvoltage or premature failure.

As for the reference to 2.4v you should be fine because you're memory is only 1066, most DDR2-1200 requires 2.3-2.4 volts to operate at such high frequencies. You have to figure you're running some of the fastest rated DDR2 memory sticks which require more voltage than any other DDR2, so these sticks are "pushing the DDR2 speed limits" and require lots of juice similar to an e6700 over a e6500. I can definitely see how the 2.4v ram can fail easily, especially without active cooling, which who knows if there was or not when they were tested, if anything it could've been DDR2-1200 @ 2.45v with no active cooling... you're kinda asking for it.. Wink



Point - Get a fan and put it on the ram

[Zak33]

80mm/92mm Fan, Cable tie it from either the case, and depending on cpu cooler, you could cable tie it from it, I have had a 80mm akasa amber hanging from various cpu coolers.

seconded. A fan blowing at it, along it's length if possible.

[smallstool]

Its not the voltage - its the voltage it was designed to run at!

DDR2 designed to run at 1.8 to 2.1v will get hot at 2.2v

DDR ram designed to run at 2.5 to 2.6v may stay cool.

You can get a circuit running at 1.5v to generate loads of heat and another one at 15V that generates little if any.