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Memory Cooling?

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SuperDave1685

Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2002
Location
USMC.. OoRah!!
Hey there guys... I took the side panel off my case yesterday to see just how warm my RAM was because I've been getting a lot of BSODs lately. I've ran Orthos 18hours.. no prob, looped 3D Mark 6 Hours, no probs... So I highly doubt its my o/c on my cpu or video card causing the random BSOD's... I suspect heat :eek: I touched the RAM modules and I burned my finger in about a 1/2 second!!! Thats HOT! I know these Ballistix ran warm, but lordy...I'm only pumping 2.84v through them (2.8v is stock- my board overvolts slightly). I was looking around for RAM coolers and I ran across these guys here- Link.
I was wondering what RAM cooler do you guys reccomend? I really don't feel like rigging together a 2 x 80mm solution because I have no where to mount them that wouldn't look ghetto. I'd like to just lay down 15-20 bucks and get a nice cooler like one of these. Thanks for your input guys.

-Dave
 
I used some rubber bands to attach a single 80mm fan and the bands where barely visible. But if you really want to I guess that Corsair Dominator will do the trick.
 
I have the OCZ STC cooler. I don't like the style (too "blingy"), and the fans can be kind of loud. I'm pretty sure that I'd like the Dominator cooler better, simply because of its looks. Also, the Dominator cooler uses three 40mmr fans (the XTC uses two 60mm fans), and I bet it provides better airflow with less noise (also, the Dominator doesn't have the airflow-reducing "cage"over the fans like the XTC).

But if you want to see a sweet home-built cooler, check out g0dm@n's. I'm pretty sure Corsair owes him royalties for that design. :)
 
the corsair cooler is ok but the tiny fans are very whiny.they put off a highpitched noise(like most small fans) that i found annoying.despite the noise it did a great job of keeping the mem cool.they were never even warm to the touch.the ocz is alot quiter imo and the extra bling is ok by me :).altho the first one i had came with a bad fan.the blades kept hitting the side of the cooler making a buzzing noise.it also did a very good job of cooling.the thermalright would probably have been my first choice tho(wasnt available when i got mine).i like the idea of being able to choose my own fan and they look like they would do a much better job of keeping the mem cool.
Inkfx has a good idea as well.i believe Godman used a similiar method that works very well for him too.
 
I know that they're designed with thermal stresses in mind, but burning hot to the touch makes me feel a bit uncomfortable... esp when it comes to the modules' lifespan
 
I basically added a couple copper heatspreaders (do nothing for cooling, but they are shiny) and added one of these just blowing up and out of the top of my case.
 
Honestly dave,

Dont worry about these crappy coolers. Just stick a nice slow, low cfm 120 in front of them and that is all you need. Just a little airflow makes a huge diff. on ram temps. Do you realy want loud 80mm 's or those 60mm that are so high pitch.........
 
You know what justchill, you're right. I decided to just use a 140mm fan in the back of my case. Its a LED too! :D I had to use superglue to mount it in place (its too big to line up with any holes). It fits perfectly from the top of the motherboard's usb ports to the side of the case! i.e where the normal 80mm exhaust fan would be is where I put it. I reversed it around so that is blowing over the motherboard and RAM. I already have the PSU fan pulling hot air out as well as my radiator fan pulling air through the radiator at the top of my case. Once I got the fan in there, I played BF2 for about 3 hours and then ran Orthos for about 10 minutes. I took the side panel to feel the RAM and it wasn't hot at all, just barely warm... Thank God! The 140mm fan doesn't move an immense amount of air, I think only ~54cfm, but it sure looks like thats all it needed... Just a little bit of airflow... I tried to push my ram farther, but they still hit a wall at ~295Mhz at 3-4-4-8, 1T... even at 3-5-5-10, 3.1v, no go, so I'll just leave them at a nice 290Mhz... Thanks guys for all the help!

-Dave
 
SuperDave1685 said:
You know what justchill, you're right. I decided to just use a 140mm fan in the back of my case. Its a LED too! :D I had to use superglue to mount it in place (its too big to line up with any holes). It fits perfectly from the top of the motherboard's usb ports to the side of the case! i.e where the normal 80mm exhaust fan would be is where I put it. I reversed it around so that is blowing over the motherboard and RAM. I already have the PSU fan pulling hot air out as well as my radiator fan pulling air through the radiator at the top of my case. Once I got the fan in there, I played BF2 for about 3 hours and then ran Orthos for about 10 minutes. I took the side panel to feel the RAM and it wasn't hot at all, just barely warm... Thank God! The 140mm fan doesn't move an immense amount of air, I think only ~54cfm, but it sure looks like thats all it needed... Just a little bit of airflow... I tried to push my ram farther, but they still hit a wall at ~295Mhz at 3-4-4-8, 1T... even at 3-5-5-10, 3.1v, no go, so I'll just leave them at a nice 290Mhz... Thanks guys for all the help!

-Dave

Dave,

I'm not familiar with your case layout but I assume you did something similar to this photo. It's a slow 700 rpm 120 mm and it's all I needed. I used clear RTV to attach it. You can peel it off any time.
 

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hehehe I know ink... I know :D Its similar to that RT, I'll post a picture when I go home for lunch here in a few... except mine has LED's :bday:
 
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