The first step that needs to be done is the RAM stick needs to be ready to install the new RAMcoolers. Most good RAM these days comes with heat spreaders already installed, which covers all of the RAM chips on both sides. While heat spreaders look very nice, they do little along the lines of actually cooling the RAM, hence why we are installing some Tweakmonster RAMoolers.

I am not going to go in depth on how to remove the heat spreaders, but basically you just remove the retention clips and then carefully peel the heat spreaders off of both sides VERY CAREFULLY so you do not damage the RAM stick in the process. Note that by doing this, you will be voiding the warranty from the RAM manufacturer in the process. If the heat spreaders are not wanting to come off easily, try heating them up SLIGHTLY with a hair dryer on low heat to make the adhesive pad a little bit more manageable.

Now that our RAM is 'bare', take a cotton swab dipped in alcohol, and clean both the RAMcooler mounting surface and the top of the RAM chip surface well.

Clean the surfaces well

Time to mix the adhesive!

Mix the adhesive in a 1:1 ratio, only mixing enough to attach about 4 RAMcoolers at a time so the adhesive doesn't start to 'set-up' on you before you are finished attaching everything. If your RAM has modules on both sides (most 512MB sticks do...) you will also need to let each side 'set-up' before flipping the stick over, so only do one side at a time. The RAMcoolers packaging makes an excellent surface for mixing the adhesive.

A quick note about mixing thermal adhesive and thermal compound:

Many people like to use thermal compound to weaken the bond between the RAM chip and RAMcoolers so that they might remove the RAMcoolers at a later time. I asked Arctic Silver about this method, and they told me that they do NOT recommend doing this as a general rule. On the flip side however, you must also consider the possibility that your RAM may need warrantying sometime in the future, and so weakening the adhesive mixture slightly will allow them to be removed in that case. To do this, after mixing the 2 parts of the adhesive, immediately mix in the thermal compound in a 1:1 ratio, then install the RAMcoolers, but if you really think you will need to remove the RAMcoolers in the future, I recommend you use thermal tape instead. This can be purchased from most of our online retailers.

The RAMcooler package works great for mixing