Do you really have to use heatsink with nvme ssd?

syks · 21 Oct 2021 at 14:03

Im thinking of getting a 1tb or 2tb m.2 nvme ssd to store and play my games from, this is what the drive will be used for 95% of the time, having never owned a nvme im wondering if a heatsink is 100% needed? i have done a quick google and some seem to say yes and others no lol

Whats your take on this please, is a heatsink really needed for a m.2 nvme drive?

Thanks

alec · 21 Oct 2021 at 14:15

Sorta yes
Only to sustain prolonged sequential writes you will only encounter in benchmarks ... at rated speed
Without heatsink sustained writing will heat the drive up and it will start throttling.

So its sorta no, you don't need a heatsink
Overheat situation is almost impossible to achieve in normal use. And if throttling does happen, it will be imperceptible.
If I was copying all my media files from a HDD to a new nvme, the write speed limit of HDD is so far below what we are talking about, it gets no chance to heat up.

But then again, I would use the heatsink. It is better for health of any chip to stay cool. And M2 position trapped between two heat sources (GPU and CPU) is not the coolest to begin with.
And I have one with my motherboard, so it is also prettier this way.

TheVoice · 21 Oct 2021 at 14:21

Depends on the drive, but newer ones it seems to be more recommended. My old Samsung 960 EVO 250GB ran relatively cool whereas my newer WD SN750 2TB rans a good 10 degrees warmer at idle. Not a huge issue but I do plan on getting a heatsink for it at some point.

Sean473 · 21 Oct 2021 at 23:15

I think you are generally fine if it's a PCIE 3.0 drive - I still would get a heatsink as it doesn't cost that much or is included with your motherboard so no harm in using it - It will help to keep things running cooler andat the end of the day, heat is one of the biggest killer of computer components!

syks · 22 Oct 2021 at 19:07

Thanks for your views, i bit the bullet and ordered the wd black 1tb gaming nvme and a heatsink just to be safe

TheVoice · 23 Oct 2021 at 14:09

For what it's worth I ordered a cheapish but well-recommended heatsink from **No Competitors ** last night which just arrived. My temps seem to be about 10 degrees cooler at idle now and don't climb nearly as rapidly during reads (a couple of Epic Store/Steam installation verifications run at the same time). Fairly happy with that!

syks · 23 Oct 2021 at 21:01

TheVoice said:
For what it's worth I ordered a cheapish but well-recommended heatsink from **No Competitors ** last night which just arrived. My temps seem to be about 10 degrees cooler at idle now and don't climb nearly as rapidly during reads (a couple of Epic Store/Steam installation verifications run at the same time). Fairly happy with that!

Nice, got my pc in its new case and have installed the nvme with heatsink, well i didnt, my good friend did it all for me

just downloading some games now to give it a whirl

syks · 23 Oct 2021 at 22:04

So far so good, pc has been downloading a game for an hr and nvme is at 36 degrees, didnt think it would stay that cool, my old ssd got a lot hotter than that.