How to cool your memory with fans, some ideas and pics

[Tim]

I got this thread runnin over at EOCF, I thought why not post it here? ;)

Hope I give you guys some ideas :)

High voltage on the memory sticks usually get's them very hot, what's the solution? Mount a fan, but how?! I began brainstorming and got an idea, some other people got some other ideas....

(Ozz81 (EOCF) and felinusz from overclockers forum, thanks guys)


Easiest one, (pics 1 and 2) (by me) :

Required:

1: A good fan (80mm or 60x60mm,stock Amd heatsink fan for instance)
2: Fan screws (large diameter)
3: Two elastic bands

Keep an eye on the bands, they might get brittle....


Second idea, kinda perfected (pics 3 and 4):

Well I got creative and decided to try the same basic premise, but a possibly more safe and secure way to hold the rubber bands in place.

I posted a few pictures below of how I secured the rubber bands in place, using small zip-ties instead of screws. It seemed like a better idea, being that there's no danger of the rubber bands snapping as easily, or a screw coming loose and falling inside the case (and possibly causing damage).

And the last one, which is very impressive, didn't try it yet, but dang that looks sweet



Third Idea (by felinusz (overclockers forum) pics 5,6 and 7) :

The below picture of my creation speaks for itself, but basically, I have two 'clips' made from a coat hanger, that snap onto either side of the RAM slots. Same idea as "The Rubber Band Method" mentioned above, but sturdier, safer, and more reliable . The idea was inspired by those fan clips that Thermalright uses on their excellent heatsinks.

All it took for me to make the clips were three coat hangers (my first clip wasn't evenly shaped), a pair of needle nosed pliers, and a wire cutter. The clips and fan fit perfectly on any three-RAM-slot motherboard, and I'm sure it would be easy to make larger/smaller clips for motherboards with more or less RAM slots as well.

When you bend your coathanger, be sure to measure everything with a ruler first - I found that marking the coathanger wire with a little scratch where the bends needed to be made really helped to make the whole thing easier to manufacture.

I used an old dead board that I have, to measure the width of three DDR RAM slots, and to get the bend angles and lengths right for a relatively easy, and centered mounting in the end product.

If you use an 80mm fan, you'll probably need to add an extra bend, to accomodate the wider width.

Have fun with it, keep em cool :D :) (1, 2 very old system pics btw ;) )

[Tim]

6 and 7 :)

[Korpse]

nice post mate :p

[Bla$nA]

nice post.. will try this ;)

[Magnj]

you could probbaly get 2 on there no problem with the same concept ( ruber bands )

[Tim]

Yes that would be possible, some nice CFM's going over the sticks :)

[isp]

Nice, this should be good for when I can't run a huge house fan into the side of the case. :hehe:

[enzoR]

why 60mm? i would think 80mm would work better

[tw33k2514]

i think i saw this yesterday at EOCF but good job

[Tim]

i think i saw this yesterday at EOCF but good job

Uhm, yeah, that was me too :D

60mm is what I had laying around, will edit it ;)

[Tibu]

Well I just dremelled (not a word but it fits) an 80mm hole and 4 screw holes right over the ram/mosfets area, to the plexiglass window of my case and mounted an 80mm Tornado screamer. Convenient since the distance from the ram (about 2 inches) serves like a fan shroud and gives nice airflow over all the area. I figure 84cfm shoudl be enough even with the OCZ booster. :banana4:

[gamotibana]

I have the DFI Lanparty nf4, and I can't possibly fit a fan that close to the ram sticks.
So I thought that I could mount the fan on the psu(the bottom of the psu, you get the picture). So it will blow at the ram.
BUT, I have no idea how to attach the fan to the psu. Should I use some kind of tape, or what? Any ideas?

[KoolDrew]

Looks pretty impressive. How much has it actually helped?

[NeoGeo333]

Any idea for a setup like that with a 120XP on a DFI Ultra-D NF4? Im thinking of a another 120mm fan on the sides blowing full blast but need something to hold it still.

[Tempest25]

I just came up with the perfect solution. I used an old dual-fan Card Cooler I had and modified it a bit. I'm talking about the item sold that mounts 2 80mm fans blowing over the video card by mounting to 2 of the PCI/AGP/PCIe card screws.

For an idea what it looks like, check out http://www.thetechzone.com/reviews/cooler/card_cooler.htm.

It's simply 2 metal brackets, one mounting the top of the fans and the other mounting the bottom.

I simply used one of the brackets and bent the mounting portion over at a 90 degree angle so I could mount it to the back of my case. Now, I have 2 80mm fans blowing over my DIMMs. My ThermalTake Tsunami case actually had a vacant screw hole in the perfect place already, but anyone could easily drill a small hole into the rear plate of the case.

The only issue I could see with this is if you have a VERY large heatsink on the CPU. That might position the fans either higher than the lower DIMM, or require you to position the fan bracket out farther.

:toast:

[Tim]

I have the DFI Lanparty nf4, and I can't possibly fit a fan that close to the ram sticks.
So I thought that I could mount the fan on the psu(the bottom of the psu, you get the picture). So it will blow at the ram.
BUT, I have no idea how to attach the fan to the psu. Should I use some kind of tape, or what? Any ideas?

Zip ties on the PSU cables maybe?

Any idea for a setup like that with a 120XP on a DFI Ultra-D NF4? Im thinking of a another 120mm fan on the sides blowing full blast but need something to hold it still.

Can't you go with that Zalman fan bracket? That should be better for a big fan like that :)


I just came up with the perfect solution. I used an old dual-fan Card Cooler I had and modified it a bit. I'm talking about the item sold that mounts 2 80mm fans blowing over the video card by mounting to 2 of the PCI/AGP/PCIe card screws.

For an idea what it looks like, check out http://www.thetechzone.com/reviews/...card_cooler.htm.

It's simply 2 metal brackets, one mounting the top of the fans and the other mounting the bottom.

I simply used one of the brackets and bent the mounting portion over at a 90 degree angle so I could mount it to the back of my case. Now, I have 2 80mm fans blowing over my DIMMs. My ThermalTake Tsunami case actually had a vacant screw hole in the perfect place already, but anyone could easily drill a small hole into the rear plate of the case.

The only issue I could see with this is if you have a VERY large heatsink on the CPU. That might position the fans either higher than the lower DIMM, or require you to position the fan bracket out farther.

THAT is sweet, thanks for the thinking mate :D

[Gogeta]

Nice thought on the band mounting method. :)

Here is the method I use so the pwm ic is cooled along with the ram and factory sinked fets. :toast:

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=&stc=1

[un0kai]

I have the tt bigwater cooler and the dfi lp ut ultra-d, and this is how i have done it.. The waterblock clip is yhe ideal place to place the 60mm fan from the boxed cpu cooler.

I used a long screw and used a screw on bolt to get a little space between the ram and the fan, then i tightened with another bolt until the fan no longer would move around... Thought this will not work on most setups, it is a really easy and a good way to do it on my articular setup...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v693/un0kai/ramcoolerfeste.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v693/un0kai/overblikkramcoller.jpg

[ProjectGSX]

You could always buy one of these puppies for $6.

http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=CA-MMC-T

[gundamit]

You could always buy one of these puppies for $6.

http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=CA-MMC-T Nice price. Worth a try at that price. Wonder if it can be modded to hold two 60mm fans. :)

[uwackme]

You just put a 120mm slow fan in the DOOR blowing on the dimms, etc. has the side benfit of cooling alot of other things at the same time. I center mine on the AGP/DIMM intersection, cools the NB, SB, DIMMs, and video ramsinks all at once. Just cut a hole in the door with a dremel and glue it to the inside of the door panel pointing at the ram. Use a fan grille too :rolleyes:

[THunDA]

I have the DFI Lanparty nf4, and I can't possibly fit a fan that close to the ram sticks.
So I thought that I could mount the fan on the psu(the bottom of the psu, you get the picture). So it will blow at the ram.
BUT, I have no idea how to attach the fan to the psu. Should I use some kind of tape, or what? Any ideas?

Hotglue ..


I have a 60mm fan hotglued to my cpu duct to cool my ram.. works well..

[chinkgai]

You could always buy one of these puppies for $6.

http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=CA-MMC-T


4500rpm and 6.72cfm?

i can fart more cfm than that :lol:

does anyone know the real specs?

oh while we're at it...does anyone have any real BEFORE and AFTER results from cooling? like a couple mhz increase...etc?

[Bennah]

how about 2 80mm tornado's at full blast (12v) over the mem :D

70mm evercool going full pelt over the mosfet sink... 92mm tornado, full blast (12v) on the cpu sink ;)

http://www.fury-tech.com/images/user/bennah/Air%20Setup%20(actic)%20(1).JPG

[charlie]

how about 2 80mm tornado's at full blast (12v) over the mem :D

70mm evercool going full pelt over the mosfet sink... 92mm tornado, full blast (12v) on the cpu sink ;)

http://www.fury-tech.com/images/user/bennah/Air%20Setup%20(actic)%20(1).JPG

lol... power outage in Manchester last night ;)

C

[Bennah]

:D... that was my setup a fortnight ago, set up in my actic w/ around 10c room air...

a64 3800+ @ 311x9 1.68v, mushy bh-5 200 2-2-2-5 (not enough volts on the stock asus a8n sli dlx :() thru super pi 1mb @ 31secs.

now im equiped with a dfi nf4 sli-d, 2x 3800+'s and a pc p&c 510w dlx.

see what i can do in super pi, try to beat 31secs.

[Tim]

This is great guys.... :toast:

[flexy]

rubber bands in a PC == BIG NONO

Especially right above really hot memory sticks.

They will get dry and brittle really quick and will snap.

[Tim]

rubber bands in a PC == BIG NONO

Especially right above really hot memory sticks.

They will get dry and brittle really quick and will snap.

elastic bands whatever.....you can think of something

[jinu117]

Simple and effective method I developed. Works on any platform based on how u mount it :P
http://webpages.charter.net/jinwpark/H2O/REV4/MemoryCooling1.JPG
http://webpages.charter.net/jinwpark/H2O/REV4/MemoryCooling2.JPG
Fans are 2 Sunon Maglev 60mm fan with thick width (25 or 28 or 35 or something rediculously thick for 60mm fan). Low DB and running at 7v. Funny thing is, I find this fan having stronger static pressure than 80mm fan of equal noiselevel. In fact, these fans cool memory much better than pair of 80mm fan at same noiselevel by 2-4c. Having no problem cooling 4 sticks of UTT at 3.2v or so. (or pair of BH5 at whatever volt I tried (up to 3.7 or 3.8v))
Mounting is done using vent PCI bracket with velcro. Good thing is, it takes me no time to take it out to swap memory. I would have drilled holes and screw mounted after putting threaded rivet in there normally but I find it too much hassle :P

PS) For vertically mounting you might have noticed one fan hole with no screw, I take one of the braket off put it on that empty spot and screw it down to make vertical mounting :P

[eva2000]

my method = 2x 60x25mm fans taped together with 2 equal height pieces of cardboard that sit on dimm slot retention levers :)

http://www.fileshosts.com/DFI/NF4_SLI_D/web2/NF4_007.JPG

No probs in cooling BH-5 ram @275mhz 2-2-2-6 3.7v

http://www.fileshosts.com/DFI/NF4_SLI_D/results/3500_CAA2C_0505_APMW/Kingston/KHX3200K2/17_3/LDT3x/9x/306-275-2226-7-15-2212-1T-1.62-3.7-1.6-1.5_DS7_DDS4_3120/3dmark/3dmark2003_455-1215_24264_tn.jpg

[calcal]

i made a thread like this toooooo
http://www.xoxideforums.com/showthread.php?t=53375

[Tim]

Hahaha this is great, I knew you guys had to have some crazy cooling idea's....

I like the PCI bracket mounting method....might try that myself

:toast:

[Tim]

i made a thread like this toooooo
http://www.xoxideforums.com/showthread.php?t=53375

Before you saw this one? wow :D

[HiJon89]

I just have 2 80MM fans balanced on top of the stock AMD heatsink which aims them right at the memory and covers the entire sticks, I'm going to do the same thing once I get my TDX installed and water cooling up and running.

[iboomalot]

nothing special but here ya go its a 80mm fan

[pancake]

i just lodged a 80mm fan in between one of my watert tubes going to cpu block and a ide cable , its pretty tight in there but pointed mostly toward the pwm chips. im suprised nobody has came out with a device like abit made for the otes ram cooling they couldnt be much to make and would serve most peoples ram cooling needs

[calcal]

made that thread on2/4/05