Do Memory Module Heat Spreaders Make A Difference?

[Apoptosis]

There’s been lots of discussion recently about what type of heat spreader is best for overclocking, or if no heat spreader is best of all. Corsair decided to run some tests , and see what kind of results they could get. Today we post up their thoughts along with ours and a couple memory companies. Read on to see how heat spreaders impact performance.



Article Title: Do Memory Module Heat Spreaders Make A Difference?

After reading the article what are your thoughts?

1) Do the results confirm what you already thought?

2) Should memory companies test other memory companies products and send out results?

3) Do Heat Spreaders influence what you buy?

[FZ1]

Awesome article!

After reading the article what are your thoughts? I was somewhat surprised. I would have liked to have seen temps measured off of each. I realize this may be difficult.

1) Do the results confirm what you already thought? I always thought they helped even though people seem to feel differently nowadays.

2) Should memory companies test other memory companies products and send out results? Absolutely. If they only tested their own, there is no comparison and you can't always let the fox guard the henhouse.

3) Do Heat Spreaders influence what you buy? Nope, only that they have them. I don't buy value memory anyway so I feel like the HS are good quality on the items I buy.

[kenc51]

I took them off my OCZ Gold sticks.....It didn't increase or decrease their OC......

They might allow a bit more overclock, but then again if they don't have good contact with each IC then they can hinder your OC or even kill the ram....Imaging pumping ~3.6v into a stick and a single IC doesn't have contact with the HS....that 1 IC could die and kill your stick.....

I personally like them, they protect the ram....and they look cool ;)

[dicecca112]

After reading the article what are your thoughts? For a couple mhz, I will continue to not by Memory with heatspreaders

1) Do the results confirm what you already thought? Yeah, heatspreaders are hit or miss, and mostly a gimic

2) Should memory companies test other memory companies products and send out results? No instead of testing other peoples memory, work on making better products

3) Do Heat Spreaders influence what you buy? Nope, I'm usually cheap and buy value memory anyways, I like the challenge.

[Bio-Hazard]

Interesting read for sure............ All my ram have spreaders on them and will let them stay there. It really doesn't make a lot of differance to me on how well they work, I like the looks and I directly cool my ram with a low speed fan over the ram anyway.

[infinitevalence]

1) Do the results confirm what you already thought?
Yes, i have personaly done quite a bit of testing with this as i tend to run very high voltages. I have found that good quality heatspreders do infact improve overclocking, but poor quality ones can hinder. There is no substitute for Ram Sinks and good active cooling.

2) Should memory companies test other memory companies products and send out results?
Why not, we always have the option of not publising them. As long as sites make it clear that it is not thier own tests and the work was provided by the company.

3) Do Heat Spreaders influence what you buy?
Not one bit, if im really going to push my memory i us ramsinks and active cooling so with or with out heat spreaders works for me, infact no heatspreaders save me time and reduce the risk of breaking things.

[pastorjay]

1) Yes and no. I thought the new OCZ was all hype. BUt I also thought no heatspreader would be best. I would have liked to have seen results with no heatspreaders and a fan blowing over the modules would do.

2) Probably not... but it makes for interesting readin!

3) No

This was a great article Nate! Kudos for printing it!

[kenc51]

The Inquirer
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=29598

It is all about cherry picked memory chips, as the chips will let you overclock to desired speeds and the heat spreads will mainly help you to recognise good and expensive memory. µ

[infinitevalence]

god some times i really hate INQ.... i did not get the feeling that Corssair was attacking OCZ, rather they really wanted to see if OCZ had a better product.

[Illuminati]

1) Do the results confirm what you already thought? Pretty much. I always thought that heat spreaders were good for something (more than just looks) but I also always heard the rumor that you could overclock more with the heat spreaders removed. I think this was touched on a little in the article by the comment that if the entire heat spreader does not make proper contact with all the ICs, then it can hinder performance. This must be how that rumor started.

2) Should memory companies test other memory companies products and send out results? I don't see any reason why not as long as they are honest about it like Corsair was and make sure it is clear in the article or publishing that it was in-house testing.

3) Do Heat Spreaders influence what you buy? A little. Having a case with a window, I'm a little picky about what goes in my case and I think modules look better with heat spreaders than without.

As far as the Inquirer article goes, while I don't agree with the conclusions they draw on a lot of topics, I don't really disagree with the title of their article on this one. I give Corsair kudos for letting everyone know that these new heatspreader designs that are coming out are no better than the previous generation of heatspreaders. But by singling out OCZ, Corsair is slightly attacking OCZ's claim to improved overclockability.

“The implementation of the innovative XTC heatspreaders on our Gold memory modules offered serious gamers superior cooling for their hard working memory,” stated Alex Mei, VP of Marketing, OCZ Technology. “By employing XTC heatspreaders on our new Platinum modules we are able to deliver a superior product for enthusiasts looking for the ultimate overclocking solution.”

I looked and looked, but could not find anywhere that Mushkin claimed anything more than improved airflow with their new heatspreader design.

[kenc51]

I don't think the Inq were saying anything wrong....They were saying that Heatspreaders are pointless....when it comes to providing extra performance... They mentioned that Asetek, used LN2 and only got a 10% OC!!!

My opinion on heatspreaders is, they do nothing for performance....
They look cool and keep the IC's protected....

If I was buying say tccd sticks, I'd go for G.Skill's pc4000 kit...Simply because they are cheaper than others which use heatspreaders......

Infinite -> how come you hate the Inq???
I think alot of what they say is bull sh1t.... but i find some of their stuff interesting......They never claim to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but........I find alot of their rumours to contain some truth.....This allows me to get more of an unterstanding of the Industry......Not all of us have contacts like Nate, who usually is under NDA anyway......

[Apoptosis]

Yeah the guys at The Inq are cool and everyone in the industry reads that site just to see what crazy stuff they are talking about. The have a 50/50 ratio for being right/wrong, but hey it's interesting ;)

[pastorjay]

Hehe... make enough guesses and you are bound to get something right... Just ask Jean Dixon

[KnightRid]

my 2 cents

I wont ever be overclocking unless I can gain at LEAST 1ghz from stock, so the heat spreader would probably be manditory ;) and all the memory at that range would have them anyway I believe.

For stock, they are a waste. Take them off and charge me a couple bucks less.

Mike

Since i buy the cheapest memory I can find anyway, the first statement would probably never happen anyway, unless I win the lottery..lol

[kenc51]

The Inquirer again have more on this

WE KNEW that our article about memory heat spreaders won't be the last one. We learned what Corsair thinks about it but now we've managed to get the OCZ's part of the story as well. Have a dekko at this story and we learned that our good friend Nate from Legitreviews did the original test and you find it here. He started the whole thing.

Look @ what LR has started....

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=29611

[Apoptosis]

Have a dekko at this story and we learned that our good friend Nate from Legitreviews did the original test and you find it here. He started the whole thing.

ah crap... Fudo is trying to get me killed!

Should be Nate from Legitreviews HAS the original test and you find it here.

[infinitevalence]

Now the other angle. We learned that Corsair has to pay much more to make their heat spreaders than OCZ.

Geeze, this is not even quite true, while at CES i talked to the company that makes the heatspreaders for Corsair, Mushkin, OCZ, PDP, among others. They all get them from the same company, and the price is not all that different, and is based on how they want it made.

[Illuminati]

I don't have time to double check now, but I was under the impression that Fudo was referring to the TIM that Corsair uses.... basically the double-sided thermal tape.

I could be mistaken though...

[Apoptosis]

yeah I think Fudo was going on the tape not the actual metal heat spreader...