Thursday, August 17th 2017
Alphacool Intros HDX5 Cooled M.2 RAID Add-on Card
The Alphacool HDX-5 is a combination of a RAID controller card and a massive cooler. It has two slots for M.2 SATA SSDs and two additional SATA slots, allowing you to set up a RAID 0 or 1 group. The PCI-Express 3.0 x4 card also provides a bandwidth of up to 3900 MB/s.
The new generation of HDX coolers from Alphacool is getting another addition. The HDX-5 is not just a cooler, but also lets you run a RAID 0 or 1 group. It boasts two M.2 SATA SSD slots and two classic SATA slots. The combination possibilities are considerable, since you can set up a RAID group over one M.2 SATA SSD and one normal SATA drive, or connect just the M.2 slots to form a RAID group. That leaves the classic SATA slots free to be used for normal connections.
Highlights
One problem with direct connection to the motherboard is cooling. At high or continuous rates of data transfer, M.2 SATA SSDs often overheat and drop their speed. This can lower performance down to 10% of actual capacity. On motherboards, the M.2 slots are often located directly underneath or beside the graphics card, which serves to heat them further. Cooling this area is often only possible to a limited extent due to the lack of space. If you're looking to take advantage of your M.2 SATA SSD's maximum performance, a good cooling solution is a must.
The massive, expansive HDX-5 heatsink completely covers the SSDs in both M.2 slots. This means optimal heat transfer from your SSD as it is cooled. The possibility of the SSD slowing down and the accompanying loss of performance are virtually eliminated.
The new generation of HDX coolers from Alphacool is getting another addition. The HDX-5 is not just a cooler, but also lets you run a RAID 0 or 1 group. It boasts two M.2 SATA SSD slots and two classic SATA slots. The combination possibilities are considerable, since you can set up a RAID group over one M.2 SATA SSD and one normal SATA drive, or connect just the M.2 slots to form a RAID group. That leaves the classic SATA slots free to be used for normal connections.
- No more throttling of the SSD due to overheating
- RAID 0 or 1 possible
- 4x PCIe card with a bandwidth of around 3900 MB/s
- Cooler optimally protects your SSD
One problem with direct connection to the motherboard is cooling. At high or continuous rates of data transfer, M.2 SATA SSDs often overheat and drop their speed. This can lower performance down to 10% of actual capacity. On motherboards, the M.2 slots are often located directly underneath or beside the graphics card, which serves to heat them further. Cooling this area is often only possible to a limited extent due to the lack of space. If you're looking to take advantage of your M.2 SATA SSD's maximum performance, a good cooling solution is a must.
The massive, expansive HDX-5 heatsink completely covers the SSDs in both M.2 slots. This means optimal heat transfer from your SSD as it is cooled. The possibility of the SSD slowing down and the accompanying loss of performance are virtually eliminated.
16 Comments on Alphacool Intros HDX5 Cooled M.2 RAID Add-on Card
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Great idea but then then fuck it up by putting a 4x PCIe slot on the card instead of the proper 8x or even 16x slot.
Do we even know if this will boot off of the card? Can I put this in my old X58 machine? I have mine running on one M.2 but it would be great to be able to do RAID 0.
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Even better quad NVMe x16 model, without proprietary shenanigans like that Asus Hyper M.2 x16 card which will be supported only on Asus boards or Dell server AICs whatever name and model, should be next on the "To Do:" list .