The Arctic RC passive heatspreader lowers temperature up to 32 degrees

May 9, 2008 16:06 GMT  ·  By
The Arctic RC heatspreaders can be mounted using the pre-applied adhesive thermal tape
   The Arctic RC heatspreaders can be mounted using the pre-applied adhesive thermal tape

Arctic Cooling has just announced the availability of a new RAM module heatspreader, called the Arctic RC. The company claims that the high clock speeds and increased voltage in RAM modules create extra residual heat that endangers optimal performance. Arctic Cooling also claims that the new Arctic RC memory cooler efficiently dissipates the extra heat, thus allowing users to extend the modules' overclocking potential.

The manufacturer built the heatspreader in such a manner as to increase its effective surface. The radical long-fin design dissipates heat faster than a conventional heatspreader model, as it optimizes the air flow and the natural convection. Arctic Cooling claims that a heatspreader-equipped memory module will work at temperatures 34 percent lower than a regular one.

Moreover, the heatspreader comes with a pre-applied patch of thermal compound, covered by tape. The silver-based thermal mixture boosts the heat transfer between the DRAM chips and the heatspreader itself. The installation process is extremely simple: all the user has to do is stick one or two pieces of ARCTIC RC on the RAM module using the pre-applied adhesive thermal tape.

The heatspreaders are built from polished aluminum with a black, metallic finish. They measure 126.3L x 1.5W x 65H millimeters, and weigh only 29 grams. They are extremely thin, and even if they are applied on both sides of the memory module, they will not make contact with the adjacent memory slot.

The manufacturer pitches the new cooling solution for both DDR2 and DDR3 memory modules users. Inside the package, Arctic Cooling included four pieces of Arctic RC that can equip either two or four memory modules. The passive memory cooler will be available as of mid-May this year through Arctic Cooling's retail partners at an estimative price of $14.95.

Yesterday, the company introduced the Freezer 7 CPU cooler for home-theater PCs and noise-critical operating environments.