Do ram sinks make a diff?

[Bronney Hui]

Hey people! I have my eyes on the Vantec's double sided ddr copper ram
sinks. Do they really make a difference in terms of stability or being able
to clock higher? My rams are corsair value selct 512MB ddr400.

Thanks.

 

[Gareth Tuckwell]

Hey people! I have my eyes on the Vantec's double sided ddr copper ram
sinks. Do they really make a difference in terms of stability or being
able
to clock higher? My rams are corsair value selct 512MB ddr400.

I don't personally use them, but the concept is good. However, DDR 400 RAM
is good for a standard FSB of 200MHz - what speed are you thinking of
overclocking them to?!?

 

[Bronney Hui]

I don't personally use them, but the concept is good. However, DDR 400 RAM
is good for a standard FSB of 200MHz - what speed are you thinking of
overclocking them to?!?

I am currently @ 215 FSB. The 2.8C running at 3.01. I know the chip can do
3.2 cuz it was completely stable @ 3.2 but I had to lower the ram clocks to
5:4 I think. At 1:1 ratio, windows xp pro won't boot at 225 FSB. I am
wondering if it was the RAM's heat keeping it from going, or the acutal RAM
quality / timing. They're "value select" afterall.

Before anyone alert me to direct this to the overclocking group.. hehe.

 

[Rusty]

I really don't think that they will help in terms of overclocking to a
higher frequency, although they might help with stability at a higher clock
speed. The DDR ram does not get all that hot because it does not consume
that much power and there is a large surface over the memory chips to
dissipate the heat. The issue is voltage increases across the chips. The
voltage increase will only help if the memory board design will allow it
(noise). There is a design limit to the amount of voltage you can put
across the chips that has to due with the latencies on the frequencies.
Most of the time you will reach the limit of the memory timing latencies
before you reach the upper limit on the voltage, with the exception of the
high end memory such as XMS series of corsair ram. The higher end memory
start with higher voltages and lower latencies were OC at higher latencies /
frequencies / voltages heat might become a stability issue. Think of this
way higher power requirements generate more heat the linear equation for
power is power = voltage x current. 2.7 to 2.8 volts is about the max for
most value ram type memory modules.
http://www.elecdesign.com/Articles/Index.cfm?ArticleID=3189&pg=1
That's a 0.2 voltage increase on a mA circuit per chip, not much heat
generated. Now on the high end 2.8 to 3.0 volts carries 0.4 voltage
increase, which MIGHT benefit from ram heat sinks in stability and higher
OC. That's why most high end chips have heat sinks. Search the web there
are a number of articles on the use of heat sinks on memory chips.

Do they really make a difference in terms of stability or being able to
clock higher? Difficult question to answer due to there being allot of
variables to consider. Depends on the system, voltage, current, frequency,
and memory module design. For the corsair value select most likely not but
they will look good.

I have Micron DDR2100 running at 173MHz FSB (346Mhz) with cas 3.0 (4 3 11)
at 2.7 volts and no ram sinks and the memory will only get warm to the
touch. With the case temperature at 26°C the highest temperature I have
seen with a sensor taped to the chip is 31°C. I reach the limits of the
memory latency long before the voltage. I have tried voltage as high as 2.9
volts with no increase in the OC or stability.

 

[kony]

I am currently @ 215 FSB. The 2.8C running at 3.01. I know the chip can do
3.2 cuz it was completely stable @ 3.2 but I had to lower the ram clocks to
5:4 I think. At 1:1 ratio, windows xp pro won't boot at 225 FSB. I am
wondering if it was the RAM's heat keeping it from going, or the acutal RAM
quality / timing. They're "value select" afterall.

Before anyone alert me to direct this to the overclocking group.. hehe.

Generally ramsinks dont help much if at all. If you're
overvolting the memory past 2.7V and it feels hot then
ramsinks might be worthwhile but otherwise they're
decoration.

 

[Bronney Hui]

Rusty,

Thanks for taking the time. I love you man!

 

[Bronney Hui]

Generally ramsinks dont help much if at all. If you're
overvolting the memory past 2.7V and it feels hot then
ramsinks might be worthwhile but otherwise they're
decoration.

okay, will leave it until it's really hot if ever.