Cooling Down 960 Pro

[xkm1948]

Due to the nature of my work I have to do I/O on a lot of small files. Average size 300KB~500KB, about 200k of those tiny files for every batch of analysis. Such heavy I/O heats up my 960Pro fast, so fast that I experience significant slowdown during my work once I get to these data intensive steps. It doesn't crash, simply slow down to a crawling speed.

So I thought about what I can do to levitate the problem. I can go with the EK M2 heatsink. Only problem is it may not fit on my motherboard. Another option is to get a fan to blow on the M2. In the end i decide to go with the fan route, since adding one more bottom intake fan may result in positive pressure inside the case which may help cooling down other components as well.

As for the fan selection I went with Noctua Redux 140mm fan simply for its better quality as well as quietness. Gotta say the fan looks beautiful.

Now get to the results. I cannot quantify during the slowdown since I can't even use ReLive capture to record how slow it was going. So I just used the Samsung magician built in benchmark tool. Here is the before.

The idle temp is ~45C (Room temperature 31C). During the benchmark the drive went as high as 75C.

Now after adding the Noctua fan:

Idle temp is about 43C with the same room temperature. During benchmark the highest temp was 64C.

For my actual workload I am seeing a lot better results comparing to synthetic benchmarks. The unbearable slowdown during data intensive steps is gone. So overall it is definitely worth the $15 put in.

 

[Space Lynx]

I just got the HP NVMe 1TB, scores about the same, but I never break 43 celsius Max Temp, but it scores a little lower in AS SSD bench than the 960 and 970... i dunno if I should refund it and get a 970 or not yet.

 

[jboydgolfer]

So I thought about what I can do to levitate the problem.

Id recommend you alleviate the problem, with levitation, you'll still have the issue, but it will be a bit higher

Do those drives really slow down a lot when high temps are encountered? Would a traditional solid-state drive be a better solution?

or this

 

[Space Lynx]

I own the EK heatsink btw, its a pain to install. I ended up using electrical tape to install it

 

[xkm1948]

Id recommend you alleviate the problem, with levitation, you'll still have the issue, but it will be a bit higher

Do those drives really slow down a lot when high temps are encountered? Would a traditional solid-state drive be a better solution?

or this

if you read carefully I decide to not go that route, because my motherboard may not clear the EK heatsink

 

[Vario]

I disagree with the logic you state about positive pressure, it won't make the case cool better. You really need to have throughput and balanced intake and exhaust. However adding more fans will help like you observed. Try removing the PCI slot covers so the air has a place to exhaust and you might find it will reduce further. Those vented slot covers really do not provide much airflow.
If you have more empty fan spots put an exhaust in somewhere.

 

[bonehead123]

I own the EK heatsink btw, its a pain to install. I ended up using electrical tape to install it

I too own the EK heatsinks, but had zero issues installing them on my 960's. It did take a fair amount of pressure to get the clips to snap on, but that was it..

Now my drives stay in the 30-35C range even with mega-intense workloads and data transfers going on at the same time

 

[Space Lynx]

I too own the EK heatsinks, but had zero issues installing them on my 960's. It did take a fair amount of pressure to get the clips to snap on, but that was it..

Now my drives stay in the 30-35C range even with mega-intense workloads and data transfers going on at the same time

my 970 evo with EK heatsink still gets to 74 celsius on stressing it, but thats because its in a laptop and there is literally no airflow around it at all. lol

 

[xkm1948]

I too own the EK heatsinks, but had zero issues installing them on my 960's. It did take a fair amount of pressure to get the clips to snap on, but that was it..

Now my drives stay in the 30-35C range even with mega-intense workloads and data transfers going on at the same time

Hmm, maybe I really should give it a try after all. Probably gonna have to filing down part of the TUF X99 plastic "Armor"

 

[Vario]

Take the armor off, it makes the board run hotter, traps heat.