SSD Temperatures

Unsurprisingly, the temperatures for both our SSDs were identical to the non-MAX version of the board, with the top slot offering the best temperatures for both our single-sided PCIe Gen 4 Samsung 990 Pro and double-sided PCIe Gen 5 Team Group T-Force Z540. The latter peaked at 73 °C, so well away from throttling too. Sadly, the second heatsink failed to tame our PCIe Gen 5 SSD in our extended stress test, hitting 81 °C and eventually showing signs of throttling, but it was perfectly able to keep the Samsung 990 Pro at 61 °C. The lower heatsink was only a degree behind too at 62 °C, so it's only with Gen 5 SSDs you'll need to pick your slots carefully.

PCIe Gen 4 Performance (Samsung 990 Pro)

PCIe Gen 5 Performance (Team Group T-Force Z540)