PCIe M.2 SSD's heatsinks

[80251]

The last M.2 SSD I had was a SATA3 crucial MX200 250GiB on my x99 'board. Unfortunately, the M.2 slot was right underneath my 980ti and the Crucial MX200 never had a chance to survive in that thermal environment. It died within 6 months and I never had another m.2 SSD again after that (although crucial sent me an RMA replacement I never used it). My z390 has a M.2 slot that's farther away from my 1080ti but will still be located underneath the fan/shroud assy. for my 1080ti. My asrock z390 Taichi comes with an M.2 heatsink.

Do modern PCIe M.2 SSD's require heatsinks? Is thermal paste supposed to be applied between the PCIe m.2 SSD and the heatsink or is supposed to go on dry or with some sort of thermal pad (my motherboard manual has absolutely no instructions on how to mount/use the included m.2 heatsink)?

 

[eidairaman1]

The last M.2 SSD I had was a SATA3 crucial MX200 250GiB on my x99 'board. Unfortunately, the M.2 slot was right underneath my 980ti and the Crucial MX200 never had a chance to survive in that thermal environment. It died within 6 months and I never had another m.2 SSD again after that (although crucial sent me an RMA replacement I never used it). My z390 has a M.2 slot that's farther away from my 1080ti but will still be located underneath the fan/shroud assy. for my 1080ti. My asrock z390 Taichi comes with an M.2 heatsink.

Do modern PCIe M.2 SSD's require heatsinks? Is thermal paste supposed to be applied between the PCIe m.2 SSD and the heatsink or is supposed to go on dry or with some sort of thermal pad (my motherboard manual has absolutely no instructions on how to mount/use the included m.2 heatsink)?

It's suggested because like other memory devices produce heat. I never had that issue with a SATA SSD. 840 Pro and MX 500. I guess maybe because the casing on those drives act as a IHS, and being remote mounted they don't cause a hot spot on the motherboard or suffer from being stuffy due to GPU heat

 

[FreedomEclipse]

your asrock z390 Taichi M.2 heatsink should have thermal pad underneath it.

 

[80251]

@FreedomEclipse
Does the thermal pad glue the heatsink to the PCIe SSD? Is it relatively easy to remove the thermal pad and heatsink from the PCIe SSD if it dies (i.e. for an RMA)? Does the mere act of attaching the thermal pad and heatsink invalidate the warranty on the PCIe SSD?

 

[FreedomEclipse]

@FreedomEclipse
Does the thermal pad glue the heatsink to the PCIe SSD? Is it relatively easy to remove the thermal pad and heatsink from the PCIe SSD if it dies (i.e. for an RMA)? Does the mere act of attaching the thermal pad and heatsink invalidate the warranty on the PCIe SSD?

Its a little tacky but it doesnt stick like honey. Very easy to take off and shouldnt invalidate warranty unless the manufacturer is asshole.

 

[TheLostSwede]

@FreedomEclipse
Does the thermal pad glue the heatsink to the PCIe SSD? Is it relatively easy to remove the thermal pad and heatsink from the PCIe SSD if it dies (i.e. for an RMA)? Does the mere act of attaching the thermal pad and heatsink invalidate the warranty on the PCIe SSD?

It doesn't pull off any stickers, if that's what you're worried about.
Do make sure you peel off the protective plastic film before using it though, otherwise you might end up having the plastic film melting onto the SSD.

 

[80251]

I read someone suggested that putting a thermal pad between the bottom of the M.2 and the motherboard is actually more efficient than using an M.2 heatsink (at least in the case when the heatsink gets zero airflow as in my case).

 

[P4-630]

I read someone suggested that putting a thermal pad between the bottom of the M.2

My Z690 Aorus Master motherboard has that.

 

[joemama]

Modern SSDs don't usually heat up alot unless you're doing some intensive writing in it

 

[80251]

Modern SSDs don't usually heat up alot unless you're doing some intensive writing in it

My installed SK Hynix P31 Gold 1 TiB runs at 46°C even though it's not formatted, partitioned or even being used.

Instead of using a thermal pad what does anyone think of using TGPP thermal putty between the motherboard and the bottom of the M.2?

 

[timta2]

My installed SK Hynix P31 Gold 1 TiB runs at 46°C even though it's not formatted, partitioned or even being used.

Instead of using a thermal pad what does anyone think of using TGPP thermal putty between the motherboard and the bottom of the M.2?

That's barely warm, in the grand scheme of things. It sounds like you're unnecessarily worrying about this to me.

 

[oobymach]

I added a top heatsink to a laptop ssd but never even thought about a rear pad, I suppose it would help in a laptop with no airflow vs just the top heatsink, how much it would help idk but I say try it as long as the putty is non conductive and you don't use too much pressure on the drive trying to compress the putty.

 

[80251]

The Hynix P31 Gold 1 TiB is running hotter than anything else in my system and it's not doing anything (sometimes even hotter than my GPU hotspot temp.), that's why I'm worried.

 

[Wooden Law - Black]

The Hynix P31 Gold 1 TiB is running hotter than anything else in my system and it's not doing anything (sometimes even hotter than my GPU hotspot temp.), that's why I'm worried.

How much is the temperature? Is it higher than 65-70C?

 

[maxfly]

If your case has solid airflow you shouldn't have to add anything to the mb heatsink to keep your m.2 drive cool. Try it with and without the sink and see how it fares.

 

[Shou Miko]

How much is the temperature? Is it higher than 65-70C?

My Samsung 970 EVO Plus idles 50c that's a heatsink and a small active cooler it could be higher passive like my faster Sabrent Rocket 4.0 is idling at 41c.

Samsung is running really got even over 65c sometimes and it's annoying to try to cool this is why I am in the future thinking of trying out another NVME when it needs a replacement.

 

[Wooden Law - Black]

Samsung is running really got even over 65c sometimes and it's annoying to try to cool this is why I am in the future thinking of trying out another NVME when it needs a replacement.

Up to 75C is ok, then the thermal throttling starts and the performance get worse.

 

[80251]

How much is the temperature? Is it higher than 65-70C?

45°C, which is some 15°C higher than my SATA SSD's that are actually doing something other than idling.

The M.2 slot is located below the fan/shroud assy. attached to my videocard so it's not getting any airflow.

I'm going to try the thermal putty between the motherboard and bottom of the NVME and see if that makes any sort of difference.

 

[P4-630]

45°C

Mine get up to around that temp while running a game off it.

If that 45C is idle,ok it could be better.
But 45C in general would not shorten it's lifespan or something like that.

 

[freeagent]

I have a Thermalright heatsink on my TB SN750.. it idles at 21-22c and might add 2-3c to that if you are writing a lot to it.

 

[Wooden Law - Black]

45°C, which is some 15°C higher than my SATA SSD's that are actually doing something other than idling.

The M.2 slot is located below the fan/shroud assy. attached to my videocard so it's not getting any airflow.

I'm going to try the thermal putty between the motherboard and bottom of the NVME and see if that makes any sort of difference.

45C is a good temperature. You need to worry if the SSD - under a stress test like a run of ATTO Disk Benchmark or CrystalDiskMark - reaches 70-75C, in that case the thermal throttling will start and that means the SSD needs a better dissipation.

 

[P4-630]

These are my idle temps with 22 ambient, C,E,F,G are SATA SSD's , H is a 970 evo(PCIe 3.0) with heatsink, also the 980 pro (PCIe 4.0) has a heatsink.

 

[Assimilator]

Oh FFS.

M.2 SSDs DO NOT NEED HEATSINKS. I repeat, M.2 SSDs DO NOT NEED HEATSINKS.

Let's look at actual thermal data from W1zzard's review of the P41: https://www.techpowerup.com/review/sk-hynix-platinum-p41-2-tb/7.html

He stresses the drive by constantly reading from/writing to it for 10 minutes straight. That is a completely unrealistic scenario and yet the drive NEVER DROPS PERFORMANCE because it NEVER THROTTLES. The same is true of pretty much every SSD he's ever reviewed, including the highest-end ones like the SN850 and Samsung 980 Pro.

If a professional hardware tester is unable to deliberately make an SSD throttle under completely nonsensical loads, what's the chance you, an ordinary user will? The answer is none. Zero. Zilch. Nil. Nada.

So educate yourselves and stop wasting money on pieces of metal that are nothing more than snake oil. The manufacturers know their drives better than you think you do.

 

[P4-630]

I have a Thermalright heatsink on my TB SN750.. it idles at 21-22c and might add 2-3c to that if you are writing a lot to it.

Is it in a case at all? What is your ambient temp?

Oh FFS.

M.2 SSDs DO NOT NEED HEATSINKS. I repeat, M.2 SSDs DO NOT NEED HEATSINKS.

Let's look at actual thermal data from W1zzard's review of the P41: https://www.techpowerup.com/review/sk-hynix-platinum-p41-2-tb/7.html

He stresses the drive by constantly reading from/writing to it for 10 minutes straight. That is a completely unrealistic scenario and yet the drive NEVER DROPS PERFORMANCE because it NEVER THROTTLES. The same is true of pretty much every SSD he's ever reviewed, including the highest-end ones like the SN850 and Samsung 980 Pro.

If a professional hardware tester is unable to deliberately make an SSD throttle under completely nonsensical loads, what's the chance you, an ordinary user will? The answer is none. Zero. Zilch. Nil. Nada.

So educate yourselves and stop wasting money on pieces of metal that are nothing more than snake oil. The manufacturers know their drives better than you think you do.

You do whatever you like running your PCIe SSD's without heatsink.... I prefer with heatsinks.

The motherboard I have included heatsinks for all PCIe SSD's....

 

[chrcoluk]

Install it on a PCIE addon card and it will be much cooler, especially one that comes with a heatsink.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B084GDY2PW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1