http://www.realworldtech.com/page.cfm?ArticleID=RWT122103222030&p=3 According to this one of the major factors of softbit memory errors is natural radiation from charged particles. Now, memory manuf. are aware of this and DRAM packaging (chip packaging) is now strictly controlled to not produce radioactive by products but that doesnt mean everything else in your room and local environment can. Since beta radiation is the smallest, charged radioactive particle to exist and can be stopped by a few mm of aluminium it's plausable that heatspreaders made of steel/alu or preferentially copper will stop or at least siginificantly reduce memory errors from external sources compared to bare memory chips. Obviously the DRAM silicon is packaged in a plastic shell as well, which is its main environmental protection but if you live in an area of high natural background radiation (radon producing granite in cornwall for example) then you are likely to be worse off. Graphics ram will also be worse affected than system ram since the frequencies are higher, the bus width is larger, the density per DRAM module is greater and voltages are lower meaning multibit errors over more clock cycles are more likely, even from lower energy particles.
^Not to mention my plutonium one Quite interesting, this! I'd heard of laptops on aeroplanes encountering more errors than on the ground due to the higher levels of cosmic rays.
Time to buy a Geiger counter Jhonbus - that's something i never know makes sense though. ch424 - as long as it's not cornish or scottish granite you maybe ok. If you were at all serious Ive been thinking about it and generally if you have your case closed with no plastic window you should be more or less very shielded. The only differentiating factor being your case airflow and airborn particulates or radioactive gases like Radon; where the more airflow in your case makes you statistically more likely to pass these gases or particulates into your system, especially the BTX format which is specifically designed to pass air over the ram.
the actual systems on an aircraft are more reliable in flight as the constant vibrations un jam things.
