# PCIe M.2 SSD's heatsinks



## 80251 (May 21, 2022)

The last M.2 SSD I had was a SATA3 crucial MX200 250GiB on my x99 'board. Unfortunately, the M.2 slot was right underneath my 980ti and the Crucial MX200 never had a chance to survive in that thermal environment. It died within 6 months and I never had another m.2 SSD again after that (although crucial sent me an RMA replacement I never used it). My z390 has a M.2 slot that's farther away from my 1080ti but will still be located underneath the fan/shroud assy. for my 1080ti. My asrock z390 Taichi comes with an M.2 heatsink.

Do modern PCIe M.2 SSD's require heatsinks? Is thermal paste supposed to be applied between the PCIe m.2 SSD and the heatsink or is supposed to go on dry or with some sort of thermal pad (my motherboard manual has absolutely no instructions on how to mount/use the included m.2 heatsink)?


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## eidairaman1 (May 21, 2022)

80251 said:


> The last M.2 SSD I had was a SATA3 crucial MX200 250GiB on my x99 'board. Unfortunately, the M.2 slot was right underneath my 980ti and the Crucial MX200 never had a chance to survive in that thermal environment. It died within 6 months and I never had another m.2 SSD again after that (although crucial sent me an RMA replacement I never used it). My z390 has a M.2 slot that's farther away from my 1080ti but will still be located underneath the fan/shroud assy. for my 1080ti. My asrock z390 Taichi comes with an M.2 heatsink.
> 
> Do modern PCIe M.2 SSD's require heatsinks? Is thermal paste supposed to be applied between the PCIe m.2 SSD and the heatsink or is supposed to go on dry or with some sort of thermal pad (my motherboard manual has absolutely no instructions on how to mount/use the included m.2 heatsink)?


It's suggested because like other memory devices produce heat. I never had that issue with a SATA SSD. 840 Pro and MX 500. I guess maybe because the casing on those drives act as a IHS, and being remote mounted they don't cause a hot spot on the motherboard or suffer from being stuffy due to GPU heat


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## FreedomEclipse (May 21, 2022)

your asrock z390 Taichi M.2 heatsink should have thermal pad underneath it.


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## 80251 (May 21, 2022)

@FreedomEclipse
Does the thermal pad glue the heatsink to the PCIe SSD? Is it relatively easy to remove the thermal pad and heatsink from the PCIe SSD if it dies (i.e. for an RMA)? Does the mere act of attaching the thermal pad and heatsink invalidate the warranty on the PCIe SSD?


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## FreedomEclipse (May 21, 2022)

80251 said:


> @FreedomEclipse
> Does the thermal pad glue the heatsink to the PCIe SSD? Is it relatively easy to remove the thermal pad and heatsink from the PCIe SSD if it dies (i.e. for an RMA)? Does the mere act of attaching the thermal pad and heatsink invalidate the warranty on the PCIe SSD?



Its a little tacky but it doesnt stick like honey. Very easy to take off and shouldnt invalidate warranty unless the manufacturer is asshole.


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## TheLostSwede (May 21, 2022)

80251 said:


> @FreedomEclipse
> Does the thermal pad glue the heatsink to the PCIe SSD? Is it relatively easy to remove the thermal pad and heatsink from the PCIe SSD if it dies (i.e. for an RMA)? Does the mere act of attaching the thermal pad and heatsink invalidate the warranty on the PCIe SSD?


It doesn't pull off any stickers, if that's what you're worried about.
Do make sure you peel off the protective plastic film before using it though, otherwise you might end up having the plastic film melting onto the SSD.


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## 80251 (Jun 5, 2022)

I read someone suggested that putting a thermal pad between the bottom of the M.2 and the motherboard is actually more efficient than using an M.2 heatsink (at least in the case when the heatsink gets zero airflow as in my case).


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## P4-630 (Jun 5, 2022)

80251 said:


> I read someone suggested that putting a thermal pad between the bottom of the M.2


My Z690 Aorus Master motherboard has that.


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## joemama (Jun 6, 2022)

Modern SSDs don't usually heat up alot unless you're doing some intensive writing in it


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## 80251 (Jun 6, 2022)

joemama said:


> Modern SSDs don't usually heat up alot unless you're doing some intensive writing in it


My installed SK Hynix P31 Gold 1 TiB runs at 46°C even though it's not formatted, partitioned or even being used.

Instead of using a thermal pad what does anyone think of using TGPP thermal putty between the motherboard and the bottom of the M.2?


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## timta2 (Jun 6, 2022)

80251 said:


> My installed SK Hynix P31 Gold 1 TiB runs at 46°C even though it's not formatted, partitioned or even being used.
> 
> Instead of using a thermal pad what does anyone think of using TGPP thermal putty between the motherboard and the bottom of the M.2?


That's barely warm, in the grand scheme of things. It sounds like you're unnecessarily worrying about this to me.


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## oobymach (Jun 6, 2022)

I added a top heatsink to a laptop ssd but never even thought about a rear pad, I suppose it would help in a laptop with no airflow vs just the top heatsink, how much it would help idk but I say try it as long as the putty is non conductive and you don't use too much pressure on the drive trying to compress the putty.


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## 80251 (Jun 6, 2022)

The Hynix P31 Gold 1 TiB is running hotter than anything else in my system and it's not doing anything (sometimes even hotter than my GPU hotspot temp.), that's why I'm worried.


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## Wooden Law - Black (Jun 6, 2022)

80251 said:


> The Hynix P31 Gold 1 TiB is running hotter than anything else in my system and it's not doing anything (sometimes even hotter than my GPU hotspot temp.), that's why I'm worried.


How much is the temperature? Is it higher than 65-70C?


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## maxfly (Jun 6, 2022)

If your case has solid airflow you shouldn't have to add anything to the mb heatsink to keep your m.2 drive cool. Try it with and without the sink and see how it fares.


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## puma99dk| (Jun 6, 2022)

Black [Super Saiyan Rosé] said:


> How much is the temperature? Is it higher than 65-70C?



My Samsung 970 EVO Plus idles 50c that's a heatsink and a small active cooler it could be higher passive like my faster Sabrent Rocket 4.0 is idling at 41c.

Samsung is running really got even over 65c sometimes and it's annoying to try to cool this is why I am in the future thinking of trying out another NVME when it needs a replacement.


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## Wooden Law - Black (Jun 6, 2022)

puma99dk| said:


> Samsung is running really got even over 65c sometimes and it's annoying to try to cool this is why I am in the future thinking of trying out another NVME when it needs a replacement.


Up to 75C is ok, then the thermal throttling starts and the performance get worse.


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## 80251 (Jun 6, 2022)

Black [Super Saiyan Rosé] said:


> How much is the temperature? Is it higher than 65-70C?


45°C, which is some 15°C higher than my SATA SSD's that are actually doing something other than idling.

The M.2 slot is located below the fan/shroud assy. attached to my videocard so it's not getting any airflow.

I'm going to try the thermal putty between the motherboard and bottom of the NVME and see if that makes any sort of difference.


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## P4-630 (Jun 6, 2022)

80251 said:


> 45°C



Mine get up to around that temp while running a game off it.

If that 45C is idle,ok it could be better.
But 45C in general would not shorten it's lifespan or something like that.


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## freeagent (Jun 6, 2022)

I have a Thermalright heatsink on my TB SN750.. it idles at 21-22c and might add 2-3c to that if you are writing a lot to it.


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## Wooden Law - Black (Jun 6, 2022)

80251 said:


> 45°C, which is some 15°C higher than my SATA SSD's that are actually doing something other than idling.
> 
> The M.2 slot is located below the fan/shroud assy. attached to my videocard so it's not getting any airflow.
> 
> I'm going to try the thermal putty between the motherboard and bottom of the NVME and see if that makes any sort of difference.


45C is a good temperature. You need to worry if the SSD - under a stress test like a run of ATTO Disk Benchmark or CrystalDiskMark - reaches 70-75C, in that case the thermal throttling will start and that means the SSD needs a better dissipation.


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## P4-630 (Jun 6, 2022)

These are my idle temps with 22 ambient, C,E,F,G are SATA SSD's , H is a 970 evo(PCIe 3.0) with heatsink, also the 980 pro (PCIe 4.0) has a heatsink.


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## Assimilator (Jun 6, 2022)

Oh FFS.

*M.2 SSDs DO NOT NEED HEATSINKS.* I repeat, *M.2 SSDs DO NOT NEED HEATSINKS.*

Let's look at actual thermal data from W1zzard's review of the P41: https://www.techpowerup.com/review/sk-hynix-platinum-p41-2-tb/7.html

He stresses the drive by constantly reading from/writing to it for *10 minutes straight*. That is a *completely unrealistic scenario* and yet the drive *NEVER DROPS PERFORMANCE* because it *NEVER THROTTLES. *The same is true of pretty much every SSD he's ever reviewed, including the highest-end ones like the SN850 and Samsung 980 Pro.

If a professional hardware tester is unable to deliberately make an SSD throttle under completely nonsensical loads, what's the chance you, an ordinary user will? The answer is none. Zero. Zilch. Nil. Nada.

So educate yourselves and stop wasting money on pieces of metal that are nothing more than snake oil. The manufacturers know their drives better than you think you do.


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## P4-630 (Jun 6, 2022)

freeagent said:


> I have a Thermalright heatsink on my TB SN750.. it idles at 21-22c and might add 2-3c to that if you are writing a lot to it.



Is it in a case at all? What is your ambient temp?



Assimilator said:


> Oh FFS.
> 
> *M.2 SSDs DO NOT NEED HEATSINKS.* I repeat, *M.2 SSDs DO NOT NEED HEATSINKS.*
> 
> ...


You do whatever you like running your PCIe SSD's without heatsink.... I prefer with heatsinks.

The motherboard I have included heatsinks for all PCIe SSD's....


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## chrcoluk (Jun 6, 2022)

Install it on a PCIE addon card and it will be much cooler, especially one that comes with a heatsink.



			https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B084GDY2PW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1


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## freeagent (Jun 6, 2022)

P4-630 said:


> Is it in a case at all? What is your ambient temp?


Yessir, in my main rig. Ambient is 18-19c


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## Wooden Law - Black (Jun 6, 2022)

Assimilator said:


> Oh FFS.
> 
> *M.2 SSDs DO NOT NEED HEATSINKS.* I repeat, *M.2 SSDs DO NOT NEED HEATSINKS.*
> 
> ...


I don't get the fact to don't use a heatsink if the SSD's controller reaches high temperature (like 110C for the 970 EVO) although it doesn't go into thermal throttling. Let's imagine that the user who is interested in that SSD do often heavy workloads and the controller achieves more than 75-80C; why shouldn't he buy a heatsink?


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## 80251 (Jun 6, 2022)

@Assimiliator
If you look at pictures of the test rig in W1zzard's review, he's using a heatsink on the Hynix P41 Platinum.



chrcoluk said:


> Install it on a PCIE addon card and it will be much cooler, especially one that comes with a heatsink.
> 
> 
> 
> https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B084GDY2PW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1


I have no room for PCIe addon cards except in one of the single lane PCIe slots.

While gaming I turn on the sidecover fan, this dropped temps on my Hynix P31 Gold 1 TB by 7°C. I only wish it would do the same for my 1080Ti.


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## chrcoluk (Jun 7, 2022)

Black [Super Saiyan Rosé] said:


> I don't get the fact to don't use a heatsink if the SSD's controller reaches high temperature (like 110C for the 970 EVO) although it doesn't go into thermal throttling. Let's imagine that the user who is interested in that SSD do often heavy workloads and the controller achieves more than 75-80C; why shouldn't he buy a heatsink?


The above post I made ironically is on my 970 EVO, that drive is hot lol, before I put a fan blowing on the m.2 slot it idled in the high 60s to low 70s depending on time of year and that was idle lol.  Light load it hit high 70s, never tried a heavy load test on it.


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## freeagent (Jun 7, 2022)

The drive I have the heatsink on used to sit at around 30-32c using the bottom slot on my mobo and the mobo heatsink. With the TR sink it sits at 22-23.


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## ThrashZone (Jun 7, 2022)

puma99dk| said:


> My Samsung 970 EVO Plus idles 50c that's a heatsink and a small active cooler it could be higher passive like my faster Sabrent Rocket 4.0 is idling at 41c.
> 
> Samsung is running really got even over 65c sometimes and it's annoying to try to cool this is why I am in the future thinking of trying out another NVME when it needs a replacement.


Hi,
Yep 970 evo and evo plus both get stupid hot 
I use this type of cooler when I used them worked pretty well but I don't anymore 
I went back to sata m.2 for os, really I saw no real advantage to using m.2 majority of benchmarks showed no difference at all from sata ssd's so I switched back.
I may at some point get some larger 1-2tb for storage but no time soon.

Amazon.com: Advancing Gene M.2 NVMe Cooler Heatsink with 20mm PWM Fan (3rd Gen): Electronics



freeagent said:


> Yessir, in my main rig. Ambient is 18-19c


Hi,
Good reason your temps are low 
Try 25c


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## freeagent (Jun 7, 2022)

ThrashZone said:


> Hi,
> Good reason your temps are low


Oh yeah.. summer is upon us! The furnace is off and the ambient of the house is increasing. It was a cold winter it will be nice to feel the heat


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## ThrashZone (Jun 7, 2022)

freeagent said:


> Oh yeah.. summer is upon us! The furnace is off and the ambient of the house is increasing. It was a cold winter it will be nice to feel the heat


Hi,
Yep Texas is like Haiti 10 months out of the year


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## puma99dk| (Jun 7, 2022)

ThrashZone said:


> Hi,
> Yep 970 evo and evo plus both get stupid hot
> I use this type of cooler when I used them worked pretty well but I don't anymore
> I went back to sata m.2 for os, really I saw no real advantage to using m.2 majority of benchmarks showed no difference at all from sata ssd's so I switched back.
> ...



I have the kinda same looker just another brand from icy box, and they display a 4-pin fan header and it's actually only a 3-pin so no control sadly.

Link: https://icybox.de/en/product.php?id=403


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## ThrashZone (Jun 7, 2022)

puma99dk| said:


> I have the kinda same looker just another brand from icy box, and they display a 4-pin fan header and it's actually only a 3-pin so no control sadly.
> 
> Link: https://icybox.de/en/product.php?id=403


Hi,
Surprisingly very quiet even on full blast but pwm is nice to have.


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## Shihab (Jun 7, 2022)

I always find it amusing when y'all Northerners/mountain folk complain about temperature.

I did a quick test with my Kingston NV1, sitting bellow my 1080T (blower style cooler. Doesn't exhaust at the drive, but severely restricts airflow behind it). Idle temperature sits at around 44c. Doing simultaneous, in-place copies of some 120GB data pumps it up to *checks logs* 69c! :|
Admittedly, that's at the very edge of the official operating temp specs (70c), but then again, my ambient is currently at a _very cool_ 35c </s>.

Dunno if it matters, but according to TPU benches of the [maybe] same drive, also sinkless but with direct airflow at it, the peak stood at ~61c. Roughly 8c delta. But I suppose you can chalk most of it out to difference in ambient.


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## A Computer Guy (Aug 21, 2022)

puma99dk| said:


> My Samsung 970 EVO Plus idles 50c that's a heatsink and a small active cooler it could be higher passive like my faster Sabrent Rocket 4.0 is idling at 41c.
> 
> Samsung is running really got even over 65c sometimes and it's annoying to try to cool this is why I am in the future thinking of trying out another NVME when it needs a replacement.


I have an older Samsung 970 EVO idles around 50c when under those "armor" heatsinks - I really dislike the armor trend that are just chunks of aluminum with no fins for real heat dissipation just increased surface area.  Prior I had an EK heatsink (https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-m-2-nvme-heatsink-nickel) on it with somewhat real fins before I switch motherboards but it actually didn't really do any good until I got some direct airflow onto it.  With my CPU and GPU being liquid cooled my case didn't provide enough airflow with the spot right above the GPU being an air flow dead-zone.  With some modest airflow from a 40mm fan it easily dropped the SSD controller temp from 50c to about 35c on idle on par with my 2.5in 860 QVO temps that are typically 33c. 

Here is a photo of my old setup.






Per Samsung:  0 - 70 ℃ is Operating Temperature so I wouldn't worry too much about it as long as your in that range and if you're getting hotter stick a Noctua NF-A4x20 PWM 40mm near it and it should stay quiet and cool.


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## erocker (Aug 21, 2022)

4 of my m.2 slots are taken up by 1 and 2 TB ssd's and I used the heatsinks that came with the motherboard that are similar to yours. My temps are all good in the mid-30's, nothing to worry about.


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## puma99dk| (Aug 21, 2022)

A Computer Guy said:


> I have an older Samsung 970 EVO idles around 50c when under those "armor" heatsinks - I really dislike the armor trend that are just chunks of aluminum with no fins for real heat dissipation just increased surface area.  Prior I had an EK heatsink (https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-m-2-nvme-heatsink-nickel) on it with somewhat real fins before I switch motherboards but it actually didn't really do any good until I got some direct airflow onto it.  With my CPU and GPU being liquid cooled my case didn't provide enough airflow with the spot right above the GPU being an air flow dead-zone.  With some modest airflow from a 40mm fan it easily dropped the SSD controller temp from 50c to about 35c on idle on par with my 2.5in 860 QVO temps that are typically 33c.
> 
> Here is a photo of my old setup.
> 
> ...


My 970 evo plus is like if the 120mm fan ain't almost touching it refuses to budge in tempreture this is why I am gonna replace it don't want to with the temps plus my Sabrent it's Gen4 but not that high temps.

I might just buy it with their DDR5 ram when I am going Zen4.


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## A Computer Guy (Aug 21, 2022)

puma99dk| said:


> My 970 evo plus is like if the 120mm fan ain't almost touching it refuses to budge in tempreture this is why I am gonna replace it don't want to with the temps plus my Sabrent it's Gen4 but not that high temps.
> 
> I might just buy it with their DDR5 ram when I am going Zen4.


Did you try to get a more physical direct measurement of the temps?  Perhaps the temp sensor on your 970 Evo is bad.


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## Sithhy™ (Aug 21, 2022)

You need one of these to keep that beast of yours cool


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