Thank you for the information on your findings, Richard. I would like to add
a couple of comments.

As a former electronics engineer, I find that the memory testing fine even
without the capacitors is not all that surprising. The capacitors are a
"good practice" item to reduce noise. However, the amount of electrical
noise present also depends on the board layout, the particular memory ICs,
and the motherboard design.

My second comment is in regards to the use of adhesive for the heat
spreaders. If mounting tape is used, then the heat is not getting removed
from the ICs as well as it should be. It is the ICs that need the cooling,
but tape is a heat insulator, even if it is the supposed heat conductive
tape. This would lead me to conclude that the heat spreaders are mainly to
get income for the manufacturers of the heat spreader, and not for any real
benefit.

Peter
-----------------------------------------------
The NoSpin Group
[log in to unmask]


> -----Original Message-----
> Thanks for all the answers.  The guy that sold them never knew the
> covers needed to be glued on. He says he got them this way - used.
> They slid around and smashed into those little, weak, de-coupling
> capacitors enough to knock them off and/or loosen them excessively.
> It took absolutely no effort to "let" them ALL fall off...
>
> One thing to keep in mind is that with 36 decoupling
> capacitors totally missing
> this stick tested 45 times through an 11 test loop perfectly...
>
>                                   Rick Glazier

              The NOSPIN Group is now offering Free PC Tech
                     support at our newest website:
                          http://freepctech.com