Is my RAM too hot?

James01 · 25th December 2007, 5:59 PM

After running 3 hours of memtest, my RAM sticks are sizzling hot. Can't touch them for more than a second or two without getting burnt. Is this normal for high-end RAM with heatspreaders?

The RAM is 4x1GB A-Data Vitesta. It's running at 880Mhz with 2.1 volts. There's very little room between the sticks, so not much airflow. Is this dangerous for it to get so hot?

And another quick question, is 2.2 volts 100% safe for everyday use? I'm trying to get 4-4-4-12 stable, but 2.1v doesn't seem to cut it.

Thanks.

AussieTemplar · 25th December 2007, 6:29 PM

2.1v is pretty high, no wonder their hot.

Might want to invest in a ram cooler [if they really do anything]/

James01 · 25th December 2007, 7:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AussieTemplar

2.1v is pretty high, no wonder their hot.

Might want to invest in a ram cooler [if they really do anything]/

They're rated to run at 2 or 2.1 volts, so they really shouldn't be overheating at the recommended voltage.

I've got a Gigabyte 965P-DS3P, and I don't think RAM coolers fit on it.

EDIT: Is 2.1v pretty high? I thought people ran 2.2 and even 2.3 without problems.

higherdestiny · 25th December 2007, 8:51 PM

I'm running 4 sticks of ram at 2.15v.

They get sizzling hot - enough to burn your finger if you sit it on them - but then again - the work just fine and there's no stability problems.

Computer components get hot. That's just what happens. As long as they remain within "operating temps" then it's fine.

If your computer is stable, and nothing is melting, then I wouldn;t worry about it :-)

If it does worry you, invest in some form of active cooling.

scottath · 25th December 2007, 9:06 PM

Make these, much cheaper and easy
http://forums.overclockers.com.au/sh...d.php?t=632149

James01 · 25th December 2007, 9:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scottath

Make these, much cheaper and easy
http://forums.overclockers.com.au/sh...d.php?t=632149

Yeah, I saw that. Sure is interesting. I've got cables around that area though, and I'm not sure it would fit because of my Tuniq Tower.

Quote:

Originally Posted by higherdestiny

I'm running 4 sticks of ram at 2.15v.

They get sizzling hot - enough to burn your finger if you sit it on them - but then again - the work just fine and there's no stability problems.

Good to know I'm not the only one with hot RAM

I might try 2.15 volts to get 4-4-4-12 stable. I've never really spend much time tweaking RAM before though, so I don't know what voltages are safe. It's not like a CPU, where you can monitor the temps, and there's all sorts of fail-safe mechanisms. I really don't want to damage the RAM.

And another thing, SpeedFan reports the vdimm voltage as 2.14 volts, even though the BIOS is set to +0.3v. Is SpeedFan reporting it incorrectly?

higherdestiny · 25th December 2007, 9:26 PM

What's your ram rated to?

My ram is rated at 2.2v - so 2.15v is just fine! If you're running at higher than spec, then there could be an issue.

James01 · 25th December 2007, 9:36 PM

Mine is rated at 2-2.1 volts. Do you recommend trying 2.15? We all put our CPUs past the recommended voltage, is RAM any different?

dufflover · 25th December 2007, 11:24 PM

Yeah I've always wondered about this. Even at stock everything my OCZ sticks get bloody hot (and my Crucial DDR500 from my previous rig), but it all seems to work fine so ah well.

OCZ warranty covers their sticks up to 2.2V, lol.

I think the main difference with RAM is there aren't any direct temperature measurements for it. Like for CPU a stable but hot overclock still gets your attention, whereas with RAM all you have is stability to go off, especially if they really are so damn hot at stock to begin with.

duck_boy · 26th December 2007, 10:47 AM

I have a pair rated 2.3v and another rated 2.2v, run them at 2.15v with active cooling

Billabong00073 · 26th December 2007, 1:33 PM

I run my 2GB HZ 800Mhz at 2.3 stable (4-4-4-10/1116MHz) and 2.43v when im OC'ing so it cancels the ram out. rated volts is 2-2.1 but yeah dont do what ive done as they dont run at 2-2.1v now they have to be at 2.2+ to boot :\

Sub.Zer0 · 26th December 2007, 5:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by James01

After running 3 hours of memtest, my RAM sticks are sizzling hot. Can't touch them for more than a second or two without getting burnt. Is this normal for high-end RAM with heatspreaders?

The RAM is 4x1GB A-Data Vitesta. It's running at 880Mhz with 2.1 volts. There's very little room between the sticks, so not much airflow. Is this dangerous for it to get so hot?

And another quick question, is 2.2 volts 100% safe for everyday use? I'm trying to get 4-4-4-12 stable, but 2.1v doesn't seem to cut it.

Thanks.

LOL A-Data is hardly high end RAM.

James01 · 27th December 2007, 10:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sub.Zer0

LOL A-Data is hardly high end RAM.

And why would that be?

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/A...DR2-800/4.html
http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?pag...item=866&num=5
http://www.overclockersclub.com/revi...reme_800/4.htm

It outperforms what you probably consider "high-end" RAM in most tests.

Sub.Zer0 · 27th December 2007, 5:32 PM

I'll gladly put them up against my 4GB Crucial Ballistix PC8500 Tracers "high end RAM".

dufflover · 27th December 2007, 5:36 PM

RAM E-Penis has got nothing to do with this thread so no one cares what you've got as long as it's not uber-cheapo-crap. I'm sure Crucial stuff runs just as hot under stock anyway.

25th December 2007, 5:59 PM	#1
James01 Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Adelaide, Australia Posts: 31	Is my RAM too hot? After running 3 hours of memtest, my RAM sticks are sizzling hot. Can't touch them for more than a second or two without getting burnt. Is this normal for high-end RAM with heatspreaders? The RAM is 4x1GB A-Data Vitesta. It's running at 880Mhz with 2.1 volts. There's very little room between the sticks, so not much airflow. Is this dangerous for it to get so hot? And another quick question, is 2.2 volts 100% safe for everyday use? I'm trying to get 4-4-4-12 stable, but 2.1v doesn't seem to cut it. Thanks. __________________ E6600 @ 3.51Ghz \| 4GB A-DATA @ 780Mhz 4-3-4-5 \| MSI 8800GTX @ 621/1458/972Mhz

25th December 2007, 6:29 PM	#2
AussieTemplar Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Eastern Suburbs Sydney Posts: 2,433	2.1v is pretty high, no wonder their hot. Might want to invest in a ram cooler [if they really do anything]/ __________________ \| AMD 7970 3GB \| FX-8350 @ 5.1ghz \| 32GB Corsair 2200 \| Lian Li PC-P80B \| AX-850w \| Win7 Ultimate x64 Successful Trades(28) ($3600+): Un-updated Trades

25th December 2007, 8:51 PM	#4
higherdestiny Member Join Date: Jan 2003 Posts: 404	I'm running 4 sticks of ram at 2.15v. They get sizzling hot - enough to burn your finger if you sit it on them - but then again - the work just fine and there's no stability problems. Computer components get hot. That's just what happens. As long as they remain within "operating temps" then it's fine. If your computer is stable, and nothing is melting, then I wouldn;t worry about it :-) If it does worry you, invest in some form of active cooling. __________________ \| Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 G0 @ 3.4 GHz \| 8GB Team Xtreem Dark 1066Mhz @ 1000Mhz 5-5-5-18 \| \| 3x 120GB Indilinx SSD in RAID0 \| 1x 1TB WD FAEX HDD \| 1 x 1TB External backup drive \| \| Antec P182 \| Antec Trio 550W PSU \| Asus P5Q-Pro \| Radeon 4870 1GB \| \| Noctua NU12F \| Xigmatek 120mm fans x4 \| Windows7 Ultimate 64bit \|

25th December 2007, 9:06 PM	#5
scottath Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Sydney (p/c: 2234) Posts: 2,255	Make these, much cheaper and easy http://forums.overclockers.com.au/sh...d.php?t=632149 __________________ \| i7 860 \| EVGA P55 FTW \| 2 HD5850 \| HX-620 \| Lian Li v2010b \| 2 Samsung F1 640gb \| TRUE \| 4gb G.Skill RipJaws 2000mhz cas9 \| Xonar D2X + Swan D1080MKII 08 / Shure SRH-440 \| Dell E248WFP*2 + Dell 2405FPW \| \| Canon 5D2/7D/550D \| 17-40 F4L \| 28-75mm f2.8 Tamron \| Canon 70-200 F2.8L IS II \| Canon EF 85mm f1.8 \| Zeiss 50mm F2 Makro \|

25th December 2007, 9:26 PM	#7
higherdestiny Member Join Date: Jan 2003 Posts: 404	What's your ram rated to? My ram is rated at 2.2v - so 2.15v is just fine! If you're running at higher than spec, then there could be an issue. __________________ \| Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 G0 @ 3.4 GHz \| 8GB Team Xtreem Dark 1066Mhz @ 1000Mhz 5-5-5-18 \| \| 3x 120GB Indilinx SSD in RAID0 \| 1x 1TB WD FAEX HDD \| 1 x 1TB External backup drive \| \| Antec P182 \| Antec Trio 550W PSU \| Asus P5Q-Pro \| Radeon 4870 1GB \| \| Noctua NU12F \| Xigmatek 120mm fans x4 \| Windows7 Ultimate 64bit \|

25th December 2007, 9:36 PM	#8
James01 Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Adelaide, Australia Posts: 31	Mine is rated at 2-2.1 volts. Do you recommend trying 2.15? We all put our CPUs past the recommended voltage, is RAM any different? __________________ E6600 @ 3.51Ghz \| 4GB A-DATA @ 780Mhz 4-3-4-5 \| MSI 8800GTX @ 621/1458/972Mhz

25th December 2007, 11:24 PM	#9
dufflover Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Melb Posts: 1,579	Yeah I've always wondered about this. Even at stock everything my OCZ sticks get bloody hot (and my Crucial DDR500 from my previous rig), but it all seems to work fine so ah well. OCZ warranty covers their sticks up to 2.2V, lol. I think the main difference with RAM is there aren't any direct temperature measurements for it. Like for CPU a stable but hot overclock still gets your attention, whereas with RAM all you have is stability to go off, especially if they really are so damn hot at stock to begin with. __________________ "Duffman, could you bring in two bottles of smooth, untainted DUFF?" "Oh Yeah!" Flickr: I finally have some crap on it

26th December 2007, 10:47 AM	#10
duck_boy Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Perth Posts: 849	I have a pair rated 2.3v and another rated 2.2v, run them at 2.15v with active cooling __________________ i7 920@ 4.2GHz 1.39v ,ASUS P6T, 18GB DDR3 @1600MHz, 2408WFP, HD6950, X-FI, 2 x M4 SSD raid 0, 4x WD6400AAKS raid 5, Tough power 850w PSU Succesful traders Buy, Sale: darthpikachu, XST, Dezza Bot, Utetopia , $tealthFiga, stebie, Nick the Knife, tiro_uspsss, AUST_DeVinE, azalin79, Marksman X , pumbertot

26th December 2007, 1:33 PM	#11
Billabong00073 Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Frankston Posts: 422	I run my 2GB HZ 800Mhz at 2.3 stable (4-4-4-10/1116MHz) and 2.43v when im OC'ing so it cancels the ram out. rated volts is 2-2.1 but yeah dont do what ive done as they dont run at 2-2.1v now they have to be at 2.2+ to boot :\ __________________ AMD OPTERON 1214 G.SKILL HZ 800MHz DFI LP UT 590 XFX 8800GTS XXX TOUGHPOWER 750W Rockin with a Custom Painted Black Armor and Black G15 Keyboard with Red LED's

27th December 2007, 5:32 PM	#14
Sub.Zer0 (Banned or Deleted) Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Melbourne Posts: 3,538	I'll gladly put them up against my 4GB Crucial Ballistix PC8500 Tracers "high end RAM".

27th December 2007, 5:36 PM	#15
dufflover Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Melb Posts: 1,579	RAM E-Penis has got nothing to do with this thread so no one cares what you've got as long as it's not uber-cheapo-crap. I'm sure Crucial stuff runs just as hot under stock anyway. __________________ "Duffman, could you bring in two bottles of smooth, untainted DUFF?" "Oh Yeah!" Flickr: I finally have some crap on it