Upgrading to RAM with heatsinks?

Hello,

With the ever decreasing RAM prices, I'm thinking about upgrading my RAM from 4GB to 8GB. I have also noticed that the laptop gets pretty hot on the palmrest right above the position of the RAM.
Would it help to buy modules with a heatsink like Kingston HyperX? I know they wo'nt operate at 1600 MHz (I have an R1).

Thanks!

 

I might not fit because of the small space for ram, but it might if the fins are compact. But it doesnt matter as your ram probably isnt the cause for it. The right part of the laptop has the hdd so that might get hot sometimes. Is the heat coming from the left side? It might be the gpu/cpu around there. Ram generally doesnt get hot enough to be an issue. If i were you i'd get a couple ram sticks for a more reputable company than worry about heat production.

 

a lot of people in the m11x pin modding thread are currently using Kingston HyperX RAM to assist with keeping their OCs stable so I'd safely say that HyperX RAM can fit on top of one another in the m11x.

 

Sure, you can buy RAM with heatsinks if you want.

Personally, I think it is a waste of money. RAM is a commodity these days. It doesn't really matter what brand / model of RAM you buy these days. All RAM performs about the same, costs about the same, and does the job equally well. The reason that Kingston makes this heatsink-included HyperX laptop RAM is to differentiate itself from its competitors with some feature that isn't offered elsewhere. But in the end, these heatsinks won't make a difference.
As long as you buy RAM from a reputable manufacturer, you should be set.

As for your hot palmrest problem... I would be surprised if it is indeed the RAM that is causing the problem (more likely, it is everything else in the laptop causing the heat buildup, since RAM consumes so little power).

And even if the RAM is the source of the heat buildup, buying RAM with heatsinks won't help. Heatsinks are designed to draw heat away from the memory chips to which they are attached, not make heat disappear altogether. If a RAM chip is generating 2W of heat, then the air around that RAM chip will be absorbing 2W of heat. The only thing that a heatsink does is make that transfer of heat more efficient.

So, it is up to you. Personally, I would buy 8GB of RAM without heatsinks for $40, rather than spend $80+ on 8GB of Kingston HyperX heatsink RAM; because in the end, it really won't make a difference in terms of performance or heat.

 

kent is right. if temps are raised around the ram then heat transfer is working. Failures from heat are rare.

I think though you are wanting to lower temps felt by your hands and improving your comfort level. Not sure how you can deal with this but laptop cooler comes to mind - anything really, that can move hot air from inside to outside.

 

I have 8GB of Kingston HyperX ram in my m11xR2. They BARELY fit inside the slots. The bottom one fits fine, but the one that gets seated on top of it doesn't lock into place as well. They sit fine and never move, but the top ram's side clips don't really "snap" in as they should. The heatsinks are pretty thick. However, I've had them for about 8 months now and have had no problems with the ram dislodging or coming loose.

To be honest though, I noticed little to no difference when monitoring the temps. I'm overclocked and use throttestop btw. Though I do like knowing that they may potentially help slightly (they're also kinda pretty too), the thing that made a WORLD of difference was my Zalman NC-1000 cooler. It keeps my laptop about 20 degrees cooler and I NEVER game without it.

My advice is similar to Kent's as well - buy cheaper RAM from Crucial or G.Skill and use the money you would've used on the HyperX's towards a good cooler instead. You won't regret it.

Again, this is from someone who actually has this RAM. If I had to do it again, I probably would've just saved my money and went with a cheaper brand.

 

The thing with heatsinks, is that if you don't have air blowing over them, they can actually store heat. There is no air flowing over the RAM area in an M11X chasis.

 

kent1146, GNandGS, and mechaBORED are right on the money - cheaper RAM from Crucial or G.Skill is the best bet, forget HyperX - I have 2 systems using HyperX and regret the purchase!

 

If the ram won't operate at 1600 (which you would need for the pin mod), what's the point of getting ram with a heatsink? Given that there's no airflow anyway, I don't really see much point, in fact it may actually inhibit any airflow that is present around the ram sticks, and may make the situation worse. Not to mention that the heatsink on the lower ram stick will be in constant contact with the top ram stick...