Memory tricks
Most people are familiar with CPU coolers, and even video card heatsinks, but memory cooling is a somewhat new item on the overclocking and performance menu. The subject of our affection this week is the Thermaltake Memory Cooling Kit, an inexpensive way to improve memory cooling, and dress up your system at the same time. Video card manufacturers have been cooling memory for some time now, so it comes as no surprise that cooling the system memory could aid in overall system stability and possibly a better overclock.
The Thermaltake kit includes two blue SDRAM/DDR heat spreaders, two video memory heatsinks, double sided tape, a sweet Thermaltake case badge, and mounting clips. The heatsinks are done up in blue, and just happen to match our latest system build, as you will see later in the review.
The heatsinks can optionally be used on a single sided stick of SDRAM with the heat spreader, but remember the space requirements should you choose this route. Installation is nearly fool-proof. I say nearly, because I guarantee there is a moron somewhere in the world that could screw it up, and odds are I work with a few of them. The heat spreaders are attached with double sided tape, and held firmly in place with the clips. Once installed in a motherboard, the heat spreaders are not going anywhere, which is a good thing for LAN boxes. The video memory heatsinks also include double sided thermal tape for installation. I opted for thermal adhesive, which provides a permanent bond and a better heat transfer. The kit includes enough parts to dress up one stick of memory, although you may require additional video heatsinks, since some cards have memory on the front and back (like this Hercules 3D Prophet 4500).
Here’s a look at the parts installed in our all-blue system, consisting of an Abit KT7E, Hercules 3D Prophet 4500, and 128MB of ToniCom PC166 SDRAM:
Even if you aren’t into system modding, you have to admit that this system is looking damn sweet. I have an Aureal SQ2500 for sound, and yes, it is blue.
Once installed, it was time for a little testing. I tested the memory’s stability on our Abit KT7A-RAID, using the SiSoft Sandra Burn-in routine, selecting only the memory test. I chose the KT7A since this was the board I had originally tested the memory on, which gives me a constant for testing. At 150Mhz, the memory ran completely stable, and the heat spreaders were warm to the touch. I managed to squeeze 155Mhz out of the memory, which is as far as I could take it without the heat spreaders installed. This is a considerable increase in bus speed, so I cannot rule out the CPU or motherboard chipset as the limiting factor.
Prior to permanently attaching the heatsinks to our Kyro II, I tested them on a GeForce2 MX card that featured memory on one side only, as not to skew the scores by fabricating my own rear heatsinks. Our test card managed to run stable at 210 core / 200 memory, which was a good improvement over our previous maximum of 210/183. Most high-end cards will ship with heatsinks, but for a card like the Kyro II or the GeForce2 MX, the Thermaltake kit is a professional solution to a gamers cooling needs.
Who needs the Thermaltake Memory Cooling Kit? I’ve seen these things for as little as $10, so it is a very small price to pay for some kick ass mods. The video heatsinks are large, and do a great job of cooling hot-running memory. I’d like to see a kit ship with four heatsinks as an option, to accommodate cards with memory on both sides. I didn’t see a marked improvement with the SDRAM heatsinks, but my system is extremely well ventilated, and I doubt I was having any memory heat problems. Nonetheless, additional cooling is always welcome, and for the low price, it’s hard to go wrong.
