//mAr
11-15-2005, 01:45 PM
[page=Introduction & Specifications]
Introduction
First of all we would like to thank MIPS Computer (http://www.mips-computer.de) for supplying us with the RAM Freezers.
MIPS-Computer is both manufacturer and distributor, but there are many retailers in Europe and Canada as well, which are listed on their website. MIPS products are made in Germany, which stands for solid quality.
Some time has passed since we tested the MIPS DFI LanParty Freezer (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/DFIFreezer/). Now there is a new product from the MIPS Freezer Series, called RAM Freezer.
The RAM Freezer is the first DDR(1/2/next gen?) memory water cooling device on the market.
Now, maybe you want to ask me why should I watercool my memory?
If you want maximum overclocking and so the best performance, you often have to cool the memory.
With higher voltage you likely get a higher overclock, but always more heat. Of course you can cool the memory with a fan, but that means more noise and may not be the best cooling solution.
In this review we will test the different types of popular chips such as the low voltage and high frequency Samsung TCCD (ex.: OCZ PC3200EL Platinum rev2; G.Skill PC4800F1), high voltage and low latency Winbond UTT-CH5 (ex.: OCZ VX4000; Mushkin XP4000) and the standard 2GB chips Samsung UCCC (ex.: G.Skill 4000HZ(2GB), OCZ PC4000EL GOLD (2GB).
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/onboard1_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/onboard1_big.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/onboard2_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/onboard2_big.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/onboard3_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/onboard3_big.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/onboard4_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/onboard4_big.jpg)
Specifications
<table class="resulttable" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5">
<tr>
<th>Base aluminum cold plate size:</th>
<td>Base: 120 x 24 mm</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Dimensions:</th>
<td>without fittings: 120 x 25 x 46 mm (L x W x H)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Weight:</th>
<td>~200 g</td>
<tr>
<th>Cold plate:</th>
<td>Aluminum 2 mm </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Heatsink base:</th>
<td>Pure Copper 3 mm</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Threading plate:</th>
<td>Brass 5 mm</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Threading adapter:</th>
<td>Brass 10 mm</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Threading:</th>
<td>G 1/4</td>
</tr>
</table>
[pagE=Compatibility & Packaging]
Compatibility
The MIPS RAM Freezer fits on every motherboard with a distance of 25 mm between the two DIMM slots used. On single channel mainboards with only one module, it should always fit. But today most enthusiast users have dual channel. (Socket939, LGA775)
We looked at several overclocker boards and checked on which board they should fit. We do not guarantee that this data is correct.
ABIT AI7
ABIT AA8XE Series
ABIT AL8 Series
ABIT AW8 Series
ASUS P5--- (except -MX) Series
ASUS A8N(32)-E/SLI
ASUS A8V Series (except -MX)
ASUS P4P800 Series (except -MX)
ASUS P4C800 Series
ASUS P4GPL-X
DFI LANparty nF4 (Ultra)-D/ SLI-D(R) (Expert) (tested)
DFI LANparty RDX200 CF-DR (tested)
DFI LANparty 925X-T2
DFI LANparty UT 915P-T12
DFI LANparty Pro875B
DFI LANparty 875P-T
Gigabyte GA-8I955X
Gigabyte GA-8N-SLI
MSI 955X Platinum
MSI P4N Diamond
Packaging
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/ramfreezerbig_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/ramfreezerbig_big.jpg)
We could not find anything, except the RAM Freezer (1x) in the package. A paper with instructions, a mainboard compatibility list or maybe some thermal paste is missing.
[page=Construction & Installation]
Construction
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/auseinangebau_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/auseinangebau_big.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/auseinangebau2_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/auseinangebau2_big.jpg)
If you dismantle the freezer into its components, you will see it is a quite simple structure sealed with O-rings. The cross section is wide enough to make a good flow rate possible.
Installation
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/heatspreader_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/heatspreader_big.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/heatspreader2_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/heatspreader2_big.jpg)
First you have to remove the heatspreaders (if your RAM has some). Just get the two clips off with the screwdriver, then you can remove the rest easily with your hands.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/schraubenent_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/schraubenent_big.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/opened_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/opened_big.jpg)
Next you have to loosen the nuts, so you can remove one of the cold plates. Put some non-conductive thermal paste on the memory chips and put it on the other (fixed) cold plate.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/installed_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/installed_big.jpg)
Now fix the removed cold plate on the RAM and tighten the nuts. Finished. The first time it's not so easy, but after the third or fourth time it shouldn't be a problem.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/contact_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/contact_big.jpg)
After testing we looked at the contact area. It's not perfect but good enough. Memory chips aren't CPUs.
[page=Performance]
Performance
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" class="systable">
<tr><th colspan="2" style="font-size:larger;text-align:center">Test System</th></tr>
<tr>
<th width="100">CPU:</th>
<td>AMD Athlon64 3200+ Winchester (multi lowered to 9)</td>
</tr><tr>
<th>Motherboard:</th>
<td>DFI LanParty NF4 UT (Bios 623-3/1, 704-2BTA)</td>
</tr><tr>
<th>Video Card:</th>
<td>MSI NX6600GT TDI128E</td>
</tr><tr>
<th>Harddisk:</th>
<td>Hitachi T7k250 160GB</td>
</tr><tr>
<th>Power Supply:</th>
<td>OCZ Powerstream 520W</td>
</tr><tr>
<th>Software:</th>
<td>Windows XP SP2, Forceware 81.85 official</td>
</tr>
</table>
Stability test:
MemTest+ 1.60 30x test #5
Prime95 24.13 Blend 2h and Large 30min
3DMark01 Standard
Quake4 Custom Timedemo
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/all_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/all_big.jpg)
The participants of this test:
Mushkin XP4000 with Winbond UTT-CH5 (2x512 MB)
TwinMOS Twister Pro PC3200 with Samsung TCCD (2x512 MB)
G.Skill 4000 2GBHZ with Samsung UCCC (2x1024 MB)
Corsair PC3500 rev1.1 with Winbond BH-5 (2x256 MB)
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/mushkin1.gif http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/mushkin2.gif
2-2-2-5-7 - 3.xV
Without any cooling, the Mushkin XP4000 does not run stable with a higher voltage than 3.1V.
The difference between cooling with a fan and cooling with the RAM Freezers is four MHz and 5.6°C. First that looks like a small difference, but at such high frequencies and low latencies it is quite big.
If you want the same frequency with air cooling you will have to give more juice (0.2V - 0.3V), which means a shorter lifetime and Mushkin's warranty does not cover such high voltage.
So we see that UTT-CH5 reacts well to cooling.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/twinmos1.gif http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/twinmos2.gif
2.5-3-3-5-7 - 2.9V
The TwinMOS Twister is an example of Samsung TCCD based memory. We saw an incredible advantage of 25 MHz to the standard heatspreaders and 11 MHz to air cooling.
It reached almost the same temperatures as the Mushkin XP4000 but we squeezed some more MHz out of the Samsung TCCD by cooling with the MIPS RAM Freezers.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/gskill1.gif http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/gskill2.gif
3-4-4-8-7 - 2.6V
The Samsung UCCC chips are a good example for a setup where you don't need the RAM Freezers. The memory stays cool without cooling and overclocking does not increase with cooling either.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/corsair1.gif http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/corsair2.gif
2-2-2-5-7 - 3.xV
With the old Corsair PC3500 Winbond BH-5, you can see almost the same results as with the Mushkin XP4000. Without cooling they stay a little bit cooler and overclock higher. But above 3.2V they will also start giving errors. We fired them with dangerous 3.85V. That's not recommended for 24/7 use, but there are some crazy folks out there, who bench at such high voltages. With the RAM Freezer we could run our stability test at unbelievable 276 MHz at tightest Timings. So if you want to have the last few MHz to bench, get the freezers.
[page=Value & Conclusion]
Value and Conclusion
<table width="100%" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" id="result">
<tr><th>http://www.techpowerup.com/images/dollar.gif</th>
<td>
One MIPS RAM Freezer is sold for about $58 per unit, for Dual-Channel cooling you need two, so over $116. That's not really cheap, but you have to consider that there is no competition and the products are good German quality.</td>
</tr><tr>
<th>http://www.techpowerup.com/images/thumbup.gif</th>
<td>
excellent cooling
looking great
compatible to all memory with same PCB size (DDR1/2, next gen)
good quality - MADE IN GERMANY
silent
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>http://www.techpowerup.com/images/thumbdown.gif</th>
<td>
expensive (you need one unit per module)
compatibility (in the future another model for smaller distance between memory slots)
</td></tr>
<tr><th>8.8</th>
<td>If you want to get the last few MHz out of your memory, without an annoying fan noise, you have to get the MIPS RAM Freezer. It's easy to integrate them in your water cooling loop. But you have to think if it is worth it for your kind of memory. Some modules benefit greatly from cooling, others not at all.<br />
You need to buy them only once and will be able to use them for a long time, they are compatible to DDR1 and DDR2. The latest information is that the manufacturers are going to use the same size of PCB for next-gen memory (Elpida DDR3)<br />
If we had an Extreme Overclocking Award, The MIPS RAM Freezer would have got it. For People like me, who spend hours and hours to squeeze the last few MHz out of the memory, it's one of the best toys I've ever had in my hands.</td></tr>
<tr><th></th><td>http://www.techpowerup.com/images/recommended.gif</td></tr>
</table>
Introduction
First of all we would like to thank MIPS Computer (http://www.mips-computer.de) for supplying us with the RAM Freezers.
MIPS-Computer is both manufacturer and distributor, but there are many retailers in Europe and Canada as well, which are listed on their website. MIPS products are made in Germany, which stands for solid quality.
Some time has passed since we tested the MIPS DFI LanParty Freezer (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/DFIFreezer/). Now there is a new product from the MIPS Freezer Series, called RAM Freezer.
The RAM Freezer is the first DDR(1/2/next gen?) memory water cooling device on the market.
Now, maybe you want to ask me why should I watercool my memory?
If you want maximum overclocking and so the best performance, you often have to cool the memory.
With higher voltage you likely get a higher overclock, but always more heat. Of course you can cool the memory with a fan, but that means more noise and may not be the best cooling solution.
In this review we will test the different types of popular chips such as the low voltage and high frequency Samsung TCCD (ex.: OCZ PC3200EL Platinum rev2; G.Skill PC4800F1), high voltage and low latency Winbond UTT-CH5 (ex.: OCZ VX4000; Mushkin XP4000) and the standard 2GB chips Samsung UCCC (ex.: G.Skill 4000HZ(2GB), OCZ PC4000EL GOLD (2GB).
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/onboard1_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/onboard1_big.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/onboard2_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/onboard2_big.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/onboard3_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/onboard3_big.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/onboard4_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/onboard4_big.jpg)
Specifications
<table class="resulttable" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5">
<tr>
<th>Base aluminum cold plate size:</th>
<td>Base: 120 x 24 mm</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Dimensions:</th>
<td>without fittings: 120 x 25 x 46 mm (L x W x H)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Weight:</th>
<td>~200 g</td>
<tr>
<th>Cold plate:</th>
<td>Aluminum 2 mm </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Heatsink base:</th>
<td>Pure Copper 3 mm</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Threading plate:</th>
<td>Brass 5 mm</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Threading adapter:</th>
<td>Brass 10 mm</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Threading:</th>
<td>G 1/4</td>
</tr>
</table>
[pagE=Compatibility & Packaging]
Compatibility
The MIPS RAM Freezer fits on every motherboard with a distance of 25 mm between the two DIMM slots used. On single channel mainboards with only one module, it should always fit. But today most enthusiast users have dual channel. (Socket939, LGA775)
We looked at several overclocker boards and checked on which board they should fit. We do not guarantee that this data is correct.
ABIT AI7
ABIT AA8XE Series
ABIT AL8 Series
ABIT AW8 Series
ASUS P5--- (except -MX) Series
ASUS A8N(32)-E/SLI
ASUS A8V Series (except -MX)
ASUS P4P800 Series (except -MX)
ASUS P4C800 Series
ASUS P4GPL-X
DFI LANparty nF4 (Ultra)-D/ SLI-D(R) (Expert) (tested)
DFI LANparty RDX200 CF-DR (tested)
DFI LANparty 925X-T2
DFI LANparty UT 915P-T12
DFI LANparty Pro875B
DFI LANparty 875P-T
Gigabyte GA-8I955X
Gigabyte GA-8N-SLI
MSI 955X Platinum
MSI P4N Diamond
Packaging
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/ramfreezerbig_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/ramfreezerbig_big.jpg)
We could not find anything, except the RAM Freezer (1x) in the package. A paper with instructions, a mainboard compatibility list or maybe some thermal paste is missing.
[page=Construction & Installation]
Construction
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/auseinangebau_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/auseinangebau_big.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/auseinangebau2_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/auseinangebau2_big.jpg)
If you dismantle the freezer into its components, you will see it is a quite simple structure sealed with O-rings. The cross section is wide enough to make a good flow rate possible.
Installation
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/heatspreader_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/heatspreader_big.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/heatspreader2_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/heatspreader2_big.jpg)
First you have to remove the heatspreaders (if your RAM has some). Just get the two clips off with the screwdriver, then you can remove the rest easily with your hands.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/schraubenent_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/schraubenent_big.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/opened_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/opened_big.jpg)
Next you have to loosen the nuts, so you can remove one of the cold plates. Put some non-conductive thermal paste on the memory chips and put it on the other (fixed) cold plate.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/installed_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/installed_big.jpg)
Now fix the removed cold plate on the RAM and tighten the nuts. Finished. The first time it's not so easy, but after the third or fourth time it shouldn't be a problem.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/contact_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/contact_big.jpg)
After testing we looked at the contact area. It's not perfect but good enough. Memory chips aren't CPUs.
[page=Performance]
Performance
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" class="systable">
<tr><th colspan="2" style="font-size:larger;text-align:center">Test System</th></tr>
<tr>
<th width="100">CPU:</th>
<td>AMD Athlon64 3200+ Winchester (multi lowered to 9)</td>
</tr><tr>
<th>Motherboard:</th>
<td>DFI LanParty NF4 UT (Bios 623-3/1, 704-2BTA)</td>
</tr><tr>
<th>Video Card:</th>
<td>MSI NX6600GT TDI128E</td>
</tr><tr>
<th>Harddisk:</th>
<td>Hitachi T7k250 160GB</td>
</tr><tr>
<th>Power Supply:</th>
<td>OCZ Powerstream 520W</td>
</tr><tr>
<th>Software:</th>
<td>Windows XP SP2, Forceware 81.85 official</td>
</tr>
</table>
Stability test:
MemTest+ 1.60 30x test #5
Prime95 24.13 Blend 2h and Large 30min
3DMark01 Standard
Quake4 Custom Timedemo
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/all_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/all_big.jpg)
The participants of this test:
Mushkin XP4000 with Winbond UTT-CH5 (2x512 MB)
TwinMOS Twister Pro PC3200 with Samsung TCCD (2x512 MB)
G.Skill 4000 2GBHZ with Samsung UCCC (2x1024 MB)
Corsair PC3500 rev1.1 with Winbond BH-5 (2x256 MB)
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/mushkin1.gif http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/mushkin2.gif
2-2-2-5-7 - 3.xV
Without any cooling, the Mushkin XP4000 does not run stable with a higher voltage than 3.1V.
The difference between cooling with a fan and cooling with the RAM Freezers is four MHz and 5.6°C. First that looks like a small difference, but at such high frequencies and low latencies it is quite big.
If you want the same frequency with air cooling you will have to give more juice (0.2V - 0.3V), which means a shorter lifetime and Mushkin's warranty does not cover such high voltage.
So we see that UTT-CH5 reacts well to cooling.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/twinmos1.gif http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/twinmos2.gif
2.5-3-3-5-7 - 2.9V
The TwinMOS Twister is an example of Samsung TCCD based memory. We saw an incredible advantage of 25 MHz to the standard heatspreaders and 11 MHz to air cooling.
It reached almost the same temperatures as the Mushkin XP4000 but we squeezed some more MHz out of the Samsung TCCD by cooling with the MIPS RAM Freezers.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/gskill1.gif http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/gskill2.gif
3-4-4-8-7 - 2.6V
The Samsung UCCC chips are a good example for a setup where you don't need the RAM Freezers. The memory stays cool without cooling and overclocking does not increase with cooling either.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/corsair1.gif http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Mips/RAMFreezer/images/corsair2.gif
2-2-2-5-7 - 3.xV
With the old Corsair PC3500 Winbond BH-5, you can see almost the same results as with the Mushkin XP4000. Without cooling they stay a little bit cooler and overclock higher. But above 3.2V they will also start giving errors. We fired them with dangerous 3.85V. That's not recommended for 24/7 use, but there are some crazy folks out there, who bench at such high voltages. With the RAM Freezer we could run our stability test at unbelievable 276 MHz at tightest Timings. So if you want to have the last few MHz to bench, get the freezers.
[page=Value & Conclusion]
Value and Conclusion
<table width="100%" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" id="result">
<tr><th>http://www.techpowerup.com/images/dollar.gif</th>
<td>
One MIPS RAM Freezer is sold for about $58 per unit, for Dual-Channel cooling you need two, so over $116. That's not really cheap, but you have to consider that there is no competition and the products are good German quality.</td>
</tr><tr>
<th>http://www.techpowerup.com/images/thumbup.gif</th>
<td>
excellent cooling
looking great
compatible to all memory with same PCB size (DDR1/2, next gen)
good quality - MADE IN GERMANY
silent
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>http://www.techpowerup.com/images/thumbdown.gif</th>
<td>
expensive (you need one unit per module)
compatibility (in the future another model for smaller distance between memory slots)
</td></tr>
<tr><th>8.8</th>
<td>If you want to get the last few MHz out of your memory, without an annoying fan noise, you have to get the MIPS RAM Freezer. It's easy to integrate them in your water cooling loop. But you have to think if it is worth it for your kind of memory. Some modules benefit greatly from cooling, others not at all.<br />
You need to buy them only once and will be able to use them for a long time, they are compatible to DDR1 and DDR2. The latest information is that the manufacturers are going to use the same size of PCB for next-gen memory (Elpida DDR3)<br />
If we had an Extreme Overclocking Award, The MIPS RAM Freezer would have got it. For People like me, who spend hours and hours to squeeze the last few MHz out of the memory, it's one of the best toys I've ever had in my hands.</td></tr>
<tr><th></th><td>http://www.techpowerup.com/images/recommended.gif</td></tr>
</table>