Innodisk Covers RAM With Protective Conformal Coating

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sc14s

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Sounds they are trying to create a market for something nobody wants or needs.We've all survived well without such a coating for decades, and suddenly now its needed? Please!
obviously there is some sort of demand if they are making it.
 

alextheblue

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I have to say when I read the title I thought "Innodisk dips memory sticks in clear goop, charges huge premium." But they are a little more than that, in truth. It would be useful for extreme overclockers, and car systems, for starters.
 

sc14s

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Car systems.. yeah I never even thought of that. That could be a huge potential market if 'smart' cars take off.
 

benage

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Conformal coating is nothing new and has been used on industrial components for years. What I think is pointless is the fact that modular memory must be inserted into a contact-based socket, so at that point the bare contacts are exposed to the atmosphere...hmm seems like a waste of time
 

chaz_music

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As an engineer, I have been using coatings for years for high reliability designs and all parts of a PC would benefit greatly from this. The process is expensive due to environmental requirements, but it adds a huge increase in reliability - if done right. Obviously, you can't coat the connectors, so they are still a weak point. But the tiny SMT solder joints are highly suspect to corrosion, and the are internal metal ion migration defects called CAF defects that are caused by humidity. Moisture also causes surface dendrite growth which ends up shorting over time. Also, all silicon based semiconductors are hydroscopic and are damaged by exposure to moisture, so the sudden component failure after a long usage life can easily be attributed to that. Such as a sudden CPU failure or memory failure. Has happened to me several time in the past. That last hidden benefit is the coatings also give a little bit of ESD survival from the uneducated who install the memory without using an ESD strap. Huge problem in general. ESD is very real and can be attributed to nearly 40% of ALL electronic failures. Read Newegg reviews about people getting parts DOA. They weren't DOA - they zapped them when they touched them taking the parts out of their package. This includes CPUs, motherboards, RAM, HDDs and SSDs, and even some cheap USB drives - which should be ESD hardened but are often not. All very real and not visibly important to those not-in-the-know, but they actually are.
 

grebgonebad

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Can't see the real world application for regular PC users unless they live in a humid environment or are extreme overclockers, but simply being offered the choice is a step up in my book. Remember guys, it may only be something small, but the light bulb changed the world. =)
 

gadgety

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So I guess this would improve chances if water cooling loop leaks? Question is, where can I get this treatment for a motherboard I already have?
 

grebgonebad

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I wouldn't go so far as to say it would protect your hardware against a full on leak, but it would offer great protection against high levels of moisture, such as that from liquid nitrogen cooling as mentioned in the original post.
 

gadgety

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So I guess this would improve chances if water cooling loop leaks? Question is, where can I get this treatment for a motherboard I already have?
 
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