How To Decrease RAM Temperatures?

[benken2202001]

I've recently installed 2 x 512 PQI 400/3200 Dual Channel DDR sticks. With my old memory (2800-512) it ran fine, but a little slow.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820141152

With my new memory, things run and load faster, however after about 10 minutes of playing an intense game, i get the single short beep from my system. I was ignoring it at first since i noticed no real problems in terms of performance, however, recently the beeping has increased. I looked around and i've noticed my RAM feels really hot. So hot that i think its loosing some performance. The RAM comes with heat sinks, but they don't seem to be helping much. My case just has 2 fans (in - out) but plenty of room for air to move. How do i go about lowering the memory temperature? Should i put in more fans? or will that not help much. What about changing mem frequency?

Any comments would be appreciated.

 

[Tedster]

I would add more fans.

 

[notcorn]

You could try some of these memory cooling options which are relatively inexpensive. If possible I would also recommend rearranging the memory sticks to put as much distance between them as possible, the newer ones probably generate the most heat and should be distanced from each other although they probably already are in a dual channel setup. Also though not desirable you could remove your old RAM to reduce heat but hopefully you won't have to. Hope it helps Good luck!

 

[benken2202001]

Are the little RAMsinks worth purchasing even if my PQI memory sticks come with 1 piece heat sinks? Some of those fans could be work well though.

Yeah i can't rearrange the memory as its in Dual Channel, and since DC runs better than single, the old ram has already been moved to a different machine.

Thanks notcorn

 

[notcorn]

The small Ramsinks will probably give little or no difference in heat dissipation to your current heat sinks so the fan is probably the best way to go. The reviewers at Newegg seemed pleased with it. If it suits I'd get that here's the detailed specs for a similiar model Hope it suits you.

 

[Coolmatt]

Get new heatsinks! :giddy:

You can also add THIS to it.

 

[benken2202001]

thanks for the help guys. i have some spare random sized fans from older computers. just need to scrounge up some pin adapters and find some way to mount them.

i'll see if the RAM fan is nessecary too.

Has anyone found a decent 5.25" external drive bay fan? preferably in dark / black color.

 

[KingCody]

adding fans is a good idea, however they won't do much good if the airflow isn't getting to your RAM sticks (they are sitting in a hotspot with little or no airflow, which is why they are overheating in the first place)

1. neaten up all your power and data cables, cable tie them together and try to route them as far away as possible from your RAM sticks and CPU and NB heatsinks
2. Any unused power connectors should be tied up and not just left dangling.
3. If you have flat ribbon IDE cables try to route them against the case so that they are not in the middle of the case (ribbon cables are proper airflow's worst enemy), or better yet replace them with round cables

 

[Mictlantecuhtli]

Have you tried running the memory with lower voltage?

 

[Tedster]

muffin fans are a dime a dozen. You can get one at a salvage shop for $1

 

[benken2202001]

Thanks for everyones help. I managed to move my 2 HHD further south on the front case, i didn't realise how hot they get.

Cody, i'll try all of your suggestions.

Mictlante: how do i go about this? In my bios, my only memory options are to change the frequencies.

my case comes with a side-funnel for the processor heatsink and fan. is this really nessesary as it probably blocks a lot of airflow across the mobo.

 

[Mictlantecuhtli]

Mictlante: how do i go about this? In my bios, my only memory options are to change the frequencies.

benken220: Then you can't.

 

[KingCody]

how do i go about this? In my bios, my only memory options are to change the frequencies

although I don't think lowering your RAM voltage is answer (considering you haven't raised it from default value), it will be in your BIOS usually as VDIMM if your BIOS allows it

 

[benken2202001]

okay its been 2 days since i moved things around. Had 1 bad experience where the mobo became ungrounded and started squealing. But other than that, i haven't heard any other beeps from overheating. Thanks a bunch.

I also noticed that removing PCI cards that i never use (such as additional USB ports, firewire ports, extra ethernet card) speeds up boot time considerably. is this normal?

 

[Tedster]

yup. It's normal. The computer won't load drivers it doesn't need.