Best way to paint RAM Heat Spreaders?

[carterdarter]

I am trying to make a black/red build but the ram I am getting is bright blue. The only reason I care is it's windowed so I need it to look pretty

Thanks for the help in advance!

 

[InvalidError]

Any conventional paint you put on them will considerably reduce their cooling performance. The "paint" on most RAM sinks is anodization and if you want to change the color, you have to strip the existing coat and re-anodize with different chemicals.

Unless you happen to have a high-voltage, high-current power supply, the various acids for stripping and cleaning, the salts and other chemicals for anodizing, and other related supplies, your best option would be to bring the heatsinks to an anodizing shop to have them re-done.

 

[carterdarter]

Any conventional paint you put on them will considerably reduce their cooling performance. The "paint" on most RAM sinks is anodization and if you want to change the color, you have to strip the existing coat and re-anodize with different chemicals.

Unless you happen to have a high-voltage, high-current power supply, the various acids for stripping and cleaning, the salts and other chemicals for anodizing, and other related supplies, your best option would be to bring the heatsinks to an anodizing shop to have them re-done.

Or you could do a fine coat of spray paint.....

 

[Dogsnake]

Any paint you apply will void the warranty and decrease the heat dissipation. If it was me, I would find a different brand that fit into my color scheme. But if you insist use a high temp. paint intended for metal. Rustoleum makes a version as an example (http://www.rustoleum.com/product-catalog/consumer-brands/specialty/high-heat-spray/). You must take great care not to get paint on the contact blade (tape cover it with artists white tape to protect. This tape leaves little residue on removal. Clean the contacts area after removal).

 

[carterdarter]

Any paint you apply will void the warranty and decrease the heat dissipation. If it was me, I would find a different brand that fit into my color scheme. But if you insist use a high temp. paint intended for metal. Rustoleum makes a version as an example (http://www.rustoleum.com/product-catalog/consumer-brands/specialty/high-heat-spray/). You must take great care not to get paint on the contact blade (tape cover it with artists white tape to protect. This tape leaves little residue on removal. Clean the contacts area after removal).

I didn't expect it to be this hard. Guess I will just have to deal with blue RAM. I had some really pretty G.Skills Ripjaws X Red Ram 1866 for £60 but it went out of stock and it's up to £80 now and thats over budget for me.

 

[InvalidError]

Or you could do a fine coat of spray paint.....

Anodization is only tens of nanometers thick and is chemically bonded to the base metal. Normal paint is stuff that sticks on top and if you want to hide the original color, you will need a paint coat hundreds of times thicker than the original anodized job.

You can spray-paint if you want but your DIMMs' internal temperature may increase by more than 10-20C due to the paint's thermal insulation effect.

 

[ABagOfFritos]

The best way to paint RAM is to don't.

 

[ko888]

I didn't expect it to be this hard. Guess I will just have to deal with blue RAM. I had some really pretty G.Skills Ripjaws X Red Ram 1866 for £60 but it went out of stock and it's up to £80 now and thats over budget for me.

Transfer the heat spreaders from the G.Skills to the new RAM.

 

[carterdarter]

Its just like the ^above said, the heat spreaders (specially the metal once) use the process where they powder coat it with chemical/paint usually the finish is matte color (not shiny) then bake it in the oven and gives the very nice shiny color (like the one's you get from G.Skill Ripjaw's heat spreaders, they are a very thin layer and are very shiny.) They layer is really thin compared to spray painting them. The same for Anodizing

If you want a different color, the best Black/Red color Ram sticks are the one's sold by G.Skill. It has a matte(not shiny) black PCB and the heat spreader is very shiny/glossy red. This is the ram I have : http://www.techpowerup.com/img/11-01-03/6f.jpg > Black PCB with red accents on the heatspreader.

For my case though my whole rig have blue accents, from the stock case fans with blue led and my current 770 Lightning with blue leds everywhere and my new cards I have yet to install from Gigabyte (GTX 970) also have blue naming), and my ram sticks stands out so much with its red accents .

I'm just going to have to suck it up then because I doubt I have an anodizing store over here in Northern Ireland. God dammit. I was so close to getting a beautiful red build.

 

[carterdarter]

I had a budget to stick to and I am already way over it, I can't push it any further. So either help me find an answer to my question or don't reply at all.

 

[carterdarter]

I had a budget to stick to and I am already way over it, I can't push it any further. So either help me find an answer to my question or don't reply at all.

Did you buy the parts already?, easiest way really is to get a different ram sticks which are either sporting a full black heat sink or the red heat sink thats like the G.Skill. There are other companies that also sport the red metal heatsinks too.

Can I buy heat spreaders separate because my current RAM heat spreader are blue too.

 

[carterdarter]

Infact nevermind considering most methods involve losing the warranty. Last thing, do I get a warranty from buying products off amazon?

 

[ko888]

RAM Aluminum Heat Spreader - Red (MMT-RAM-HS-RD)
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/14795/ram-62/RAM_Aluminum_Heat_Spreader_-_Red_MMT-RAM-HS-RD.html?tl=g40c18s236&id=FWGQS5Hs

 

[carterdarter]

RAM Aluminum Heat Spreader - Red (MMT-RAM-HS-RD)
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/14795/ram-62/RAM_Aluminum_Heat_Spreader_-_Red_MMT-RAM-HS-RD.html?tl=g40c18s236&id=FWGQS5Hs

That's similar to what I was looking at but I couldn't find a red one. Do they deliver to Northern Ireland and/or accept PayPal? Also is this something you just put on the RAM or you do I have to remove the Heat Spreaders.

 

[Dat_Robot]

Use Linus's plastic dip method.
search linus plastic dip on youtube.

 

[ko888]

RAM Aluminum Heat Spreader - Red (MMT-RAM-HS-RD)
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/14795/ram-62/RAM_Aluminum_Heat_Spreader_-_Red_MMT-RAM-HS-RD.html?tl=g40c18s236&id=FWGQS5Hs

That's similar to what I was looking at but I couldn't find a red one. Do they deliver to Northern Ireland and/or accept PayPal? Also is this something you just put on the RAM or you do I have to remove the Heat Spreaders.

From their website:

Do you ship to my country?
We ship to every country but the following:
Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan and Syria.

Can I use my Credit Card or Debit Card if I live outside the U.S.?
We do not currently accept credit card or debit card payments for international orders. PayPal is the preferred payment for international orders. Bank Wire Transfers or Western Union are also acceptable forms of payment

Yes, you have to remove the existing heat spreaders before replacing them with these.

 

[carterdarter]

Use Linus's plastic dip method.
search linus plastic dip on youtube.

I was thinking that, would that not still void the warranty?

 

[carterdarter]

RAM Aluminum Heat Spreader - Red (MMT-RAM-HS-RD)
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/14795/ram-62/RAM_Aluminum_Heat_Spreader_-_Red_MMT-RAM-HS-RD.html?tl=g40c18s236&id=FWGQS5Hs

That's similar to what I was looking at but I couldn't find a red one. Do they deliver to Northern Ireland and/or accept PayPal? Also is this something you just put on the RAM or you do I have to remove the Heat Spreaders.

From their website:

Do you ship to my country?
We ship to every country but the following:
Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan and Syria.

Can I use my Credit Card or Debit Card if I live outside the U.S.?
We do not currently accept credit card or debit card payments for international orders. PayPal is the preferred payment for international orders. Bank Wire Transfers or Western Union are also acceptable forms of payment

Yes, you have to remove the existing heat spreaders before replacing them with these.

Is this something you just put on the RAM or you do I have to remove the Heat Spreaders?

 

[ko888]

As I've said above "Yes, you have to remove the existing heat spreaders before replacing them with these."

 

[carterdarter]

As I've said above "Yes, you have to remove the existing heat spreaders before replacing them with these."

It didn't say that when I looked. But that's ok, I will probably just wait till my warranty runs out.

Anybody know how amazon warranties work?

 

[Dogsnake]

Ya they give you about a 30day return for replace or credit for any reason. But it is the manufactures warranty that has the most value. G.Skill is lifetime and yes swapping the spreaders with another brands product will void the warranty. Also I see a pile of Ripjaw kits in red on amazon.

 

[carterdarter]

Ya they give you about a 30day return for replace or credit for any reason. But it is the manufactures warranty that has the most value. G.Skill is lifetime and yes swapping the spreaders with another brands product will void the warranty. Also I see a pile of Ripjaw kits in red on amazon.

I really want them but I can't really go more than £60 and ripjaws all have high postage for me.

 

[carterdarter]

Ya they give you about a 30day return for replace or credit for any reason. But it is the manufactures warranty that has the most value. G.Skill is lifetime and yes swapping the spreaders with another brands product will void the warranty. Also I see a pile of Ripjaw kits in red on amazon.

This is what I will be getting http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/crucial-memory-bls2k4g3d169ds3

 

[sora]

Ya they give you about a 30day return for replace or credit for any reason. But it is the manufactures warranty that has the most value. G.Skill is lifetime and yes swapping the spreaders with another brands product will void the warranty. Also I see a pile of Ripjaw kits in red on amazon.

This is what I will be getting http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/crucial-memory-bls2k4g3d169ds3

That type of RAM is fine for your goals lol.

 

[Dat_Robot]

If you want to change the color and not void the warranty, change your heatspreders to an other color.