M.2 Heatsink

[nheather]

Hi,

Just checking my reasoning. I have just bought and installed a Gen 4.0 M.2, it doesn’t have a heatsink.

I did consider buying the version with a heatsink or even buying a third party heatsink but decided that it probably wouldn’t need one because it’s going on a motherboard that only supports Gen 3.0 so is only going to be running at half the read and write speeds that the ‘disk’ is rated at.

Is my rational sound?

 

[Tetras]

I'm not sure which workloads ramp up the heat in the controller/flash the most, but regardless, most drives run just fine without a heatsink unless you're extensively writing to them over a long period.

 

[Raymond Lin]

If you have the space....I am a fan of heatsinks, it's only like £5 and cooler, even if by 5c can't hurt.

 

[mark 11:11]

i have a 990 pro 2tb [4th gen] under a heatsink and fan with the fan disconnected [was louder than the 5 noctua 140mm industrial ppc case fans im not actually joking lol] i have found the heatsink has kept her in check
note i have recently made a post about wanting to bung a proper mini version of a tower air cooler with a noctua 60mm fan but this is mostly as a project rather than because I actually feel it necessary to do it
id prefer to have some kind of heatsink on her but on the same token I wouldn't be rushing out to build a custom loop just for the ssd either

 

[nheather]

I’ve ordered a heatsink. As you say, keeping it a little cooler can’t be a bad thing even if it isn’t really necessary.

 

[HighlandeR]

Always add an nvme heatsink if you can, you just can't predict humidly and temperatures. Even the manufacturers operating max temps can be off and not accurate, don't trust them.

For the sake of £5-10 you can easily knock off 5-15c temps or more, id go as far to say some active cooling is recommended also. I have seen pci gen 3 nvme drives overheat and die before, its not worth if for a few quid.

 

[Scooby-DoobyDoo]

I think there was a Gamers Nexus Video where they said the chips were designed to run hotter. It was a few years ago and I can't find it at the moment.

 

[Capitano]

it will probably help with the longevity of the drive

 

[Bluecube]

If you use a heat sink and even if you don’t, remember to take off the sticker covering the NVME drive and also any plastic covering the heat pad on the heat sink. I took an old one out of my gaming PC and discovered I’d done neither!

 

[Scooby-DoobyDoo]

Here it is:

 

[Snapshot]

If you use a heat sink and even if you don’t, remember to take off the sticker covering the NVME drive and also any plastic covering the heat pad on the heat sink. I took an old one out of my gaming PC and discovered I’d done neither!

There's no reason at all to remove the sticker on the drive and good reasons not to. A few are made of graphene and enhance the heat transfer to the heatsink. You won't be able to sell the drive without the sticker on it to prove what it is.

 

[cosmogenesis]

I use the ones that come with the motherboard as often you have 2 or 3 slots for ssds and they all come with a rubber film and a heartsink.

 

[WantoN]

I'd say you'll be fine, but it largely depends on airflow.

If the drive is sitting in a dead zone, you might need something to sink it away. You'll soon see performance degradation if it was an issue, and can action accordingly.