Samsung 970 EVO plus - heatsink needed?

Associate
Joined
13 Dec 2020
Posts
49
Location
Cambridge
Hi all,
I've recently purchased the Samsung 970 EVO plus as part of the components that I'm putting together to start a new build. After reading some reviews about these M.2 SSD came across the info where people are complaining about the drive to run at high temperatures.

Should I get an heatsink? Is it needed or just a waste of money?

Specs:
Mobo - MSI B450 tomahawk max
CPU - R5 3600
RAM - 2x8gb Ballistic 3600mhz
GPU - none yet :rolleyes:

TIA
proxyc
 
Permabanned
Joined
22 Oct 2018
Posts
2,451
No they are not strictly speaking necessary, but the controller chips can get very hot indeed and then throttle the performance, so a lot of people do put a heatsink on just to ensure their performance is maintained. You can also get some that are just 5mm thick so will fit just about any situation.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
13 Oct 2006
Posts
90,824
You can run them without a heat sink but you may see thermal throttling under sustained use depending on your cooling setup and it will probably help to ensure the drive has a good life span - I've put one on mine.
 
Associate
Joined
7 Jan 2012
Posts
1,536
Location
West Midlands
For PCIe 3 nvmes, I dont think the temps are that bad. I have a sabrent rocket and without any heatsink, it normally sits around the case temperature. PCIe 4.0 are probably ones that require a heatsink. Also with any heatsink (if you do decide to get one) check that the height is not an issue, as your mobo only seems to have only one slot.
 
Associate
OP
Joined
13 Dec 2020
Posts
49
Location
Cambridge
Thanks everyone for your opinion. I will keep that in mind before starting to put the parts together. Trying to go for the RTX 3060 GPU, if I manage to get one, the heatsink should fit just fine on the m.2 SSD if not. If I can't get hold of one, then I might have to reconsider whether to use the heatsink or not.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
13 Oct 2006
Posts
90,824
I have a sabrent rocket and without any heatsink, it normally sits around the case temperature.

The 970 Evos run a bit warmer than average for these NVMEs - my 970 EVO Plus is sitting at 41C with light use vs 25-27C for the rest of the drives in my system - one of which is under heavier use than the NVME.
 
Associate
Joined
7 Jan 2012
Posts
1,536
Location
West Midlands
The 970 Evos run a bit warmer than average for these NVMEs - my 970 EVO Plus is sitting at 41C with light use vs 25-27C for the rest of the drives in my system - one of which is under heavier use than the NVME.
Ah okay. Out of interest, do you know at what temp do they start throttling ?
 
Associate
Joined
10 Feb 2021
Posts
608
I am running a 970 Evo Plus in my system, and I see temps up to 75 degress. I am only using the little "heat sink" or cover that comes with my X570 Tomahawk board.

When running Samsung Magician, it warns the drive is "Too Hot", even at idle which seems to be around 50-57 degrees for me.

Googling around, Samsung does not recommend mounting a heatsink to these drives... yet there own software claims mine is too hot?

I am using the primary slot above the GPU, and cooling my CPU using a dark rock 4 Pro, so there is a lot of heat in the area when gaming.

Slightly worried my drive could fail prematurely, or is going to be performing poorly due to heat.
 
Associate
Joined
7 Nov 2012
Posts
628
Location
Glasgow
In a ITX system i have a samsung 970 evo
The ssd is on the back of the motherboard
No room for heatsink
SO i got thermal pads in between the controller and the motherboard
Idle temps are rubbish in the 60-62 but load stays under 74
No thermal throttle observed
 
Associate
Joined
7 Nov 2012
Posts
628
Location
Glasgow
Well i have a samsung 970 pro that was above a gtx 1080ti
With the VRM running at 98 degrees
And the ssd controler was going over 80 degrees
it was affecting the frame rate in my games
 
Back
Top Bottom