Do i need a heatsink for a new m.2 drive?

StevieP

StevieP

StevieP

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I have just bought a 1tb Samsung NVMe drive to pop in my laptop but all of a sudden I'm wondering whether I need an additional heatsink for it?

I never considered this before - is one required or just recommended?
 
Surely generally in most laptops there is no airflow near an NVMe slot. So while a heatsink can still improve things for a while by acting as a thermal mass, and a heatsink should radiate heat better no heatsink, without additional airflow I wouldn't expect miracles. The additional thermal mass may help though provided it isn't saturated with heavy writes.
That's always assuming there is physical space for a heatsink in the first place.
 
Thermal pad onto the chassis, if that's a viable option. My ultrabook has a pad under the motherboard and one on the top of the SSD to couple it to the aluminium panels.
 
StevieP said:
I have just bought a 1tb Samsung NVMe drive to pop in my laptop but all of a sudden I'm wondering whether I need an additional heatsink for it?

I never considered this before - is one required or just recommended?
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Samsung themselves recommend not to use a heatsink on their NVME drives.
 
chaparral said:
My Samsung 980pro came with a samsung fitted heatsink...;)
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Maybe they changed it with the 980 and above series, this is a reply they gave when querying the 970 series - came across it when I noticed my 970 was running hot.

A high drive temperature does not necessarily mean that the drive is faulty, especially if it is within the recommended temperature when used.

Please note that Samsung does not manufacture nor recommend the use of a third-party radiator or heatsink on its SSDs, since it is not necessary.

This is because the 970 EVO Plus has advanced thermal control solutions that enhance performance with reduced heat risk. Dynamic Thermal Guard (DTG) technology proactively prevents overheating, and a heat spreader with an integrated thin copper film dissipates heat more efficiently. Additionally, a nickel coating on the Phoenix controller also helps to dissipate heat faster during heavy workload use in order to ensure the high levels of quality and reliability.

You, therefore, do not need a radiator specifically for your SSD 970 EVO Plus.

Please be informed as well that using a heatsink on your SSD will require the peeling of the label on the drive. Removing the label on your drive will automatically void the drive’s warranty and warranty service will no longer be possible.
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That reply from Samsung sounds to me like they are just saying 'dont worry your drive will throttle when getting too hot' so if you happy with your drive throttling then don't worry about a heatsink.

As for in a laptop I'd just monitor temps and see how it does, if it gets close to thermal limits and your able to then fit a heatsink but as said above I would expect wonders from a heatsink in a laptop if there isn't much if any airflow. The increased mass will mean it will tape longer to get to max temps but ultimately without any airflow it will eventually reach or get very close to the same temps.
 
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