My Untested Value Ram Cooling Guide - To extract some Mhz

Q

Quad Master

Guide
Hi All


Caution! Caution! Caution! Caution!
I have not tried this at all.
I dont take any responsibility if anything goes wrong.


I have thought of a small technique but not applied it as i dont have the proper hardware.

Wanted to put this thread in the Tutorials Section but dont
know if my experiment would really work.

Well i wanted to extract more juice from value ram so thought
that providing it a heat sink would help me reach more Mhz.

Requirements:- Copper Plate [0.2 or 0.3 cm thick] , Thermal Paste ,
Some insulated wire to hold the Copper plate on the ram or some clips,
Hammer to level the copper plate if its not completely flat.

1.> Take the ram on which you want to apply this heatsink

RCImg1.jpg


2.> Apply thermal paste on the ram chips and spread it evenly

RCImg2.jpg


3.> Take the copper plate and cut it as shown here and such that
it fits properly on the ram. Cut 2 groves at the extreme ends so that
wire can be used to hold the plate on the ram or use some clips
which can hold the copper plate on the ram.

RCImg3.jpg


4.> Here is the final setup.

RCImg4.jpg

Why i feel this will help.
Most of the OCable rams have heat sinks on it so that they remain
cool when they are overclocked
Experimenting is upto you.

Do let me know if it will work or this is useless.
Your valuable views will help me think better next time.
 
Good guide there Quad.Repped you for that.
Well actually those RAmsinks are not necessary at all.

RAM chips do not get hot enough to require cooling.Mostly it is for the looks.

For example,take Gskill,they have no Ramsink but are currently one of the world's best OC'ing RAMs.

Just my opinion.
 
they dont even get Warm.
I am unaware of Winbond BH-5 who need 3+ Volts to OC well.

But general perception is that they dont even get warm.

I dont think adding heatspreaders will help in anyway.
 
Hey bottle but i heard that the TCCD likes low voltages...am i right ?

I have heard and read a lot that the TCCD overclocks better at low VDIMMs.

Interestingly,my D43 doesnt even get Warm @ 3Volts.
Dunno why .
 
This is a very noob question. Please pardon me if it sounds silly.

I was wondering whether putting a conductive material like copper across a PCB is a good idea. Isn't there a chance of shorting the PCB?
 
well use some non conductive thermal paste so that the copper doesnt come into contact with the pcb. premium ram usually come with thermal pad between the sinks
 
Count_Down said:
This is a very noob question. Please pardon me if it sounds silly.

I was wondering whether putting a conductive material like copper across a PCB is a good idea. Isn't there a chance of shorting the PCB?
Click to expand...

Most people use copper as heat sink

Check the GPU and CPU heat sinks

It has to be placed properly with thermal paste thats it.
 
Thank Sheriff - you liked my efforts but the thing is i havent tested it.

And i dont want anyone to risk his ram , but i will try it myself when i ge tmy rig in july.
[i know its a bit late]
 
The Primary function of the metal heat spreader /cover is to
PROTECT THE RAMS FROM STATIC ELECTRICITY WHICH A USER CAN INJECT DUE TO MISHANDLING.
1) Rams do get "warm" to "mildly hot" , depending upon the voltage supply to them.
2) Heat spreaders have mostly a "pschological" effect on the person overclocking. it does help in cooling a bit but not to the extend as claimed.
3) it "can help" in that "last mile" effort during o/cing.
However i would not advice using the heat spreader as shown above. let me state firstly that i am not degrading quad's efforts. infact it is very good :cool2: :clap: and must be commended but there are some technical issues i would like to point out.hence i am suggesting a slight change in the above mod.
1) the above procedure has a very high chance of the copper strip slipping and shorting the ic's on the ram module effectively destroying it completely. hence utmost care has to be taken if you try this.

if you must have noticed there is a very small gap betwwen the pastic top of the memory ic's and the metallic pins. since this copper sheet would be touching the plastic top (to be effective) any small movement or shifting of it can short the ic. also kindly note that "if" that copper sheet is very thin then by just holding it too tight in your fingures one can accidentally "bend" or "dent" the copper sheet with the same disastrous result as mentioned above.

hence you must have noticed that in commercial grade heat spreader there are many hooks or locks which locks the metal plates tightly into place.

A better alternative will be to use a thermal pad (rubber)between the ic's and the heat spreader. these act as an insulator and also transfer heat from the ic to the copper sheet. but the efficiency of these thermal pads are poor than compared to a good heat sink compound.
edit: oops , i did not read bottle's and count_down's post above. i just read the first page and typed this. my suggestions are just repetition of what they have already mentioned above.
 
Contrary to popular belief,a short may not "always" destroy a chip/ram module.A short may be temporary ,and once the short is removed the ckt. may function normally.
I once shorted a resistor on my video card(applying ram sinks,LOL) causing a minor spark and total display corruption but soon as I removed the ram-sinks(shouldnt have been there in the first place as they are useless most of the times)and cleaned the card well with acetone,everything was hunky dory and has been sicne then.
Even sent the card for replacement(just in case) and the rashi guys returned it saying it was fine(I quizzed them how and they said they ran 3DMARK for 24 hours-I was pleasantly surprised by that!).
Though this could have been in the overclocking accidents thread-I think its more appropriate here-ramsinks are more of risk than a necessity *unless* u r running something @3v+,in that case u need active cooling on ram.
Most overclocker ram like OCZ VX are made from screened chips,using special pcbs and very good heatspreaders.U cant make good ramsinks for ram modules@ home.The risks are just too great.Sorry.
Heatspreaders esp the DIY types on ram are useless esp if its plain DDR.
On DDR2/GDDR3 found video cards,the ramsinks may still serve some purpose *if* they are applied properly.eg. 9800 pro 256mb using ddr 2 on which ram chips become very hot.
 
undertaker said:
Contrary to popular belief,a short may not "always" destroy a chip/ram module.A short may be temporary ,and once the short is removed the ckt. may function normally.

I once shorted a resistor on my video card(applying ram sinks,LOL) causing a minor spark and total display corruption but soon as I removed the ram-sinks(shouldnt have been there in the first place as they are useless most of the times)and cleaned the card well with acetone,everything was hunky dory and has been sicne then.
Click to expand...
Shorting of resistor is not a big deal sid, in fact in most of the cases it is a blessing in disgiuse as it protects other more expensive parts from being destroyed , what is called a catastrophic failure.
in fact some low ohms resistors are purposely introduced in circuits. they act like a fuse. ;)
most of the times these (shorted resistors) can be identified and repaired within minutes.
However a "short" inside a chip (which will occur if the pins on the ic's are shorted) cannot be repaired.
 
deejay said:
Shorting of resistor is not a big deal sid, in fact in most of the cases it is a blessing in disgiuse as it protects other more expensive parts from being destroyed , what is called a catastrophic failure.
in fact some low ohms resistors are purposely introduced in circuits. they act like a fuse. ;)
most of the times these (shorted resistors) can be identified and repaired within minutes.
However a "short" inside a chip (which will occur if the pins on the ic's are shorted) cannot be repaired.
Click to expand...
It can be catastrophic in some cases.Example if u short Vcc and Gnd.
In some cases again it may cause only a temporary malfunction owing to a "wrong" potential at the pin.
But then point is-DIY ram sinks should be used only when they are really needed.
More and more video cards use(those that use high end gddr3/ddr2) either good ramsinks or have the gpu cooler blow over the ram chips.
 
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