DDR temps?

Ok, I just got some new toys to play with, including 1GB of Corsair DDR (TWINX1024-3200c2).

One stick is bad: at DDR400, it gets 100 memtest errors in 4 passes at default voltage and 16 errors in 4 passes at 2.85V. All of these errors are during test 5. At DDR320, it is fine.

The other stick seems fine: at DDR400 it gets no errors in 4 passes at default voltage.

What concerns me, though (besides the bad stick) is the temperature of these modules. They have heatspreaders (the "platinum" version if you're wondering), but they are hot as hell - I can't keep my finger on them for more than a few seconds.

I'm a newb with DDR - are these temps normal? Upping the voltage on the bad stick to 2.85V didn't seem to make things any hotter, but as far as I'm concerned, they're way too hot already. At DDR320, the sticks are still hot, but I can just keep my fingers on them indefinitely.

This is on a P4P800 at stock speeds.

bump

When determining power consumption in a system for power supply sizing, I have used figures ranging from 8W to 15W per 128MB or ram. This would mean that your each memory stick is putting out 32 to 60W of heat. (The 15W figure is old and probably only applies to smaller SDRAM sticks.)

Well numbers of watts are all well and good, but I can't tell how many watts are flowing into my finger - I just know that it hurts.

I just want someone to tell me if their DDR gets really hot or if something's wrong with mine.

Here's a comparison: Do you have a 60W light bulb nearby? Since incandessant light bulbs are very inefficient and thus produce a lot of heat (About 40W of the 60W is released as heat). That 60W bulb is dissipating about as much heat per square inch of surface as your memory heat spreaders do per square inch.

By your wattage numbers, you think SDRAM runs warmer. My 384MB of SDRAM in another system is barely warm to the touch. This DDR is burning me.

The 60W bulb is just about as hot as the DDR, but I still don't know if the DDR is too hot.

My Corsair pc3200 is pretty warm and toasty. You could always mount a fan on top of them if you are too worried about the temperature.

Ok, I was doing a lot of memtest runs when I checked the temps. The RAM is slightly warm during normal use, so everything's fine. Thanks.