How hot should DDR3 10600 get?

Notice: Page may contain affiliate links for which we may earn a small commission through services like Amazon Affiliates or Skimlinks.

Falloutboy

Member
Oct 23, 2011
221
23
18
I have two Supermicro X8DTH-IF's both systems have 96G per CPU.

System one has DDR3-14800 RAM and the plain modules don't really feel much warmer than body temperature when running.

System two has DDR3-10600 RAM and while the set on the first CPU is the same as the ram on system one, the second set which was produced by Netlist and has heatspreaders is so hot that 3 hours after I touched it I can still feel the effects on my finger tips, I have never felt ram this hot.

System one CPU 1 and 2 and System two CPU 1 are both running IBM 16GB modules and you don't really notice that much above your own body temperature when touching them System two CPU 2's ram however ran that hot that it heated up the case, caused the CPU fan to go nuts on CPU2 and an early system overheat alarm.

I restarted memtest which is what I was doing at the time because this memory was brought 2nd hand after placing a Scythe 120mm Fan next to CPU 2's RAM, I don't know what the current temperature is on the ram but it is still way higher than body temperature but memtest is still running and up to Pass 8% Test 92%.

Can anyone shed any light on this, I am actually wondering if someone has taken some slower ram, re burned the speed prom and put some spreaders on it with a label that shows it's faster than it actually is.
 

DavidB

Member
Aug 31, 2018
60
19
8
you will want to check your machine health monitor, normally RAM has temp monitors built in and the typical temperature for DDR3-10600 (I assume ECC RDIMM) should not exceed the mid 40 degrees C (44-45C is normal).

There is a high chance that the heat spreaders are the cause of this heat and if you have sufficient airflow you may want to check if (carefully) removing the heat spreaders eliminates the issue.

Remember that your board is meant for server airflow from front to back, and normally this depends on static airflow to have sufficient cooling capacity. If your modules are perpendicular to the fans it may be that hot air from the CPU is absorbed into the heat spreaders causing your sticks to warm up instead of cool down.
 

vangoose

Active Member
May 21, 2019
326
104
43
Canada
I have two Supermicro X8DTH-IF's both systems have 96G per CPU.

System one has DDR3-14800 RAM and the plain modules don't really feel much warmer than body temperature when running.

System two has DDR3-10600 RAM and while the set on the first CPU is the same as the ram on system one, the second set which was produced by Netlist and has heatspreaders is so hot that 3 hours after I touched it I can still feel the effects on my finger tips, I have never felt ram this hot.

System one CPU 1 and 2 and System two CPU 1 are both running IBM 16GB modules and you don't really notice that much above your own body temperature when touching them System two CPU 2's ram however ran that hot that it heated up the case, caused the CPU fan to go nuts on CPU2 and an early system overheat alarm.

I restarted memtest which is what I was doing at the time because this memory was brought 2nd hand after placing a Scythe 120mm Fan next to CPU 2's RAM, I don't know what the current temperature is on the ram but it is still way higher than body temperature but memtest is still running and up to Pass 8% Test 92%.

Can anyone shed any light on this, I am actually wondering if someone has taken some slower ram, re burned the speed prom and put some spreaders on it with a label that shows it's faster than it actually is.
Mine is between 45-55 C, have 3 single cpu servers each with 8 ram slots in different cases, about same temperature.

You should be able to see temp from sensor reading.
 

Falloutboy

Member
Oct 23, 2011
221
23
18
Mine is between 45-55 C, have 3 single cpu servers each with 8 ram slots in different cases, about same temperature.

You should be able to see temp from sensor reading.
Well they were definitely hotter than my 9361-8i before I designed a custom sink for it, the other modules on CPU 1 and indeed in the other identical PC never got that hot and in the other PC they were 14800 modules, while running a test on it I could comfortably put my fingers on the IC laminate without a problem, I tried swapping the modules that were hot to the front CPU where they would get direct airflow from the air intake fan, even that changed nothing, the only thing that did was a dedicated 120mm blowing air directly on them. The machine passed a 13 hour memtest like this.

I understand what you are saying about the heat-spreaders, in the wrong place they would act more like a heat magnet than have any positive effect. I am going to look at taking them off one unit which will help me also I.D the chips, in addition I am going to check to make sure someone hasn't gussied up some slower ram and/or gussied up one module and placed it among a bunch of faster ones.

Hmmm this is interesting I wonder if it has anything to do with the high temperatures?
HCDIMM
 
Last edited:

alex_stief

Well-Known Member
May 31, 2016
884
312
63
38
DDR3 RDIMM -especially if it's not low voltage- can run rather hot. Way hotter than it would be comfortable to touch.
I have seen workstations report over 70°C that ran 24/7 for years without any issues. I would not recommend removing heatspreaders from this kind of RAM as a first response. Check actual temperatures first. Then check if you have any issues related to RAM. If not, leave the system as is.
 
Last edited:

Falloutboy

Member
Oct 23, 2011
221
23
18
DDR3 RDIMM -especially if it's not low voltage- can run rather hot. Way hotter than it would be comfortable to touch.
I have seen workstations report over 70°C that ran 24/7 for years without any issues. I would not recommend removing heatspreaders from this kind of RAM as a first response. Check actual temperatures first. Then check if you have any issues related to RAM. If not, leave the system as is.
Well 120mm fan it is then, I can't find anything that seems to report any form of software sensor on the modules so I will try borrowing a laser thermal sensor to see what they are getting up to - in the mean time any one up for some fried eggs, I am sure my memory will provide.
 

Falloutboy

Member
Oct 23, 2011
221
23
18
Well 120mm fan it is then, I can't find anything that seems to report any form of software sensor on the modules so I will try borrowing a laser thermal sensor to see what they are getting up to - in the mean time any one up for some fried eggs, I am sure my memory will provide.
Okay I think I know why they run hot, read this article and then read about the extra 20% power draw under disadvantages. More power = more heat.
Read under disadvantages...
HRDIMM Power
 

msg7086

Active Member
May 2, 2017
423
148
43
36
A few 16G DDR3 1600 REG ECC sticks blown by 2x 2100 RPM chassis fans are at 36C, very stable. Without fans, they run as hot as 45-50C. I have tested some 1066/1333 sticks as well as some 8Gs, never saw them exceeding that temperature range.