EK co-develops a heatsink for the Intel Optane 905P M.2 SSD

[VSG]

EK Water Blocks, the premium computer cooling gear manufacturer, is releasing a passive heatsink for the M.2 version of the Intel Optane 905P NVMe SSD. The passive heatsink ensures lower operating temperatures which expands the lifespan and improves the sustained performance of the drive. It ensures that the Intel Optane 905P NVMe SSD operates at its maximum possible performance by preventing thermal throttling during heavy workload cycles.

The 905P Intel Optane Drive uses around 9.35 W of power under load, which is challenging to dissipate without a dedicated cooling solution like the EK-M.2 Intel Optane Heatsink. The cooling performance of this solution by EK is achieved via thermal pads that transfer heat to the aluminum heatsink that is finned for a larger dissipation area. The design of the heatsink ensures that it is easy to install, it is low profile, easily reusable and aesthetically not intrusive.



Compatibility
The EK-M.2 Intel Optane Heatsink is compatible with 22110 M.2 Optane SSDs (22 mm wide, 110 mm long). The motherboard will also need to ensure proper power delivery is routed to the M.2 connector for full performance. Support for 22 x 110 mm M.2 SSD drives should be clearly stated in your motherboard manual.



Availability and pricing

The EK-M.2 Intel Optane Heatsink is made in Slovenia, Europe and is readily available for purchase through the EK Webshop and Partner Reseller Network at a manufacturer suggested retail price (MSRP) of €19.90 with VAT included.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[XXL_AI]

who the hell uses optane

 

[XL-R8R]

Companies and their vague press releases.



This particular product fits only one Optane drive; the 380GB version - found on Intel's own ARK site HERE.

That being said, I don't believe too many potential customers that are interested in buying the 905P, would also be looking to pick up a heat sink for it. Most "X" motherboards (AMD/Intel) come with at least one integrated M.2 heat sink these days... and trying to convince your boss, that you need a fancy aftermarket one, probably isn't going to go down so well.




A 'complete' review of the aforementioned Intel M.2 drive can be found HERE.

Edit: Product is in essence, DOA.

 

[Valantar]

Companies and their vague press releases.



This particular product fits only one Optane drive; the 380GB version - found on Intel's own ARK site HERE.

That being said, I don't believe too many potential customers that are interested in buying the 905P, would also be looking to pick up a heat sink for it. Most "X" motherboards (AMD/Intel) come with at least one integrated M.2 heat sink these days... and trying to convince your boss, that you need a fancy aftermarket one, probably isn't going to go down so well.




A 'complete' review of the aforementioned Intel M.2 drive can be found HERE.

Edit: Product is in essence, DOA.

Considering this is an m.2 22110 SSD, it won't fit many motherboards to begin with, but outside of the server space it's been a while since I saw an m.2 22110 slot without a heatsink. Then again, those heatsinks are made for 2-5W SSDs, not ~10W Optane drives. Might be worth replacing them.

 

[CheapMeat]

who the hell uses optane

I do. It's damn amazing.


There are a ton of good PCIe M.2 adapters also on Aliexpress, Newegg & Amazon, if your mobo can't fit or doesn't have the dedicated M.2 slots for them and/or you don't want the AIC/HHHL (x4 limited) variants. I use them on several X79 motherboards. And yup, they even have updated BIOS allowing NVMe boot. Also, there are dual and quad adapters with PLX chips available now, for those who can't do bifurcation. I'm getting them soon as well.

I'm sure someones going to nag about it. I guess enthusiasts are starting to disappear from enthusiast forums unless the convo is abut $$$$ GPUs. The "gewd enuff", "640K Ought to be Enough for Anyone" and general constant cynicism crowd has permeated every forum, even OCN.

 

[Blueberries]

I'm sure someones going to nag about it. I guess enthusiasts are starting to disappear from enthusiast forums unless the convo is abut $$$$ GPUs. The "gewd enuff", "640K Ought to be Enough for Anyone" and general constant cynicism crowd has permeated every forum, even OCN.

I've watched this site's constituents turn from enthusiast tech oriented to gamer oriented over the years, and it's disappointing.

I would love a 905P but I'm more in the market for a 970 Pro because the performance gain to cost ratio is ridiculously low. Even though the 905P is exceptional in low queue depths as designed, real world performance only makes it a fraction of a second faster in any litmus I'll ever use (E.g., Photoshop loading 0.1s faster, Windows startup loading <0.1s faster).

I built my parent's PC with a 950 Pro several years ago because I wanted them to have the greatest experience available and it was the fastest NVMe drive at the time. I quickly realized how quickly the diminishing return would affect my perception of solid state drive performance. Moving from a HDD to an SSD in 2011 was incredible, it sold me on the ability of a drive's performance to have an effect on system performance. I have preached for years that your processing power is greatly bottle-necked by your access speeds, but with the 950 Pro I saw instant boots with no splash screens, instantaneous application launches, sub 5-minute virus scans, 35MB/s installation speeds! If you blink, you'll miss an update.

Today, even the more affordable EVO drive exceeds the performance of that 950 Pro, and I doubt I would notice the difference. Drive performance has hit a limit where the user can no longer experience a benefit from more performance and storage/$ is the more attractive benchmark. I can't forsee anything changing my position in the near future.

 

[Valantar]

I'm sure someones going to nag about it. I guess enthusiasts are starting to disappear from enthusiast forums unless the convo is abut $$$$ GPUs. The "gewd enuff", "640K Ought to be Enough for Anyone" and general constant cynicism crowd has permeated every forum, even OCN.

You'll probably call me cynical, but to me, your brand of enthusiast isn't an enthusiast, but a mindless consumer obsessed with tech bling, and no different from the people upgrading to the new top-of-the-line GPU every generation. The willingness to pay through the nose for barely noticeable performance increases is in no way the mark of an "enthusiast". Would you say that old-school overclockers, who tried to squeeze as much performance as possible from value-priced CPUs weren't enthusiasts? 'Cause they definitely were. While I would agree that the average tech enthusiast is generally willing to spend more than others on tech, your definition seems to be "rich enough to buy performance just for the heck of it", which is way, way off. It's entirely possible to be a tech enthusiast and still maintain a healthy, critical disposition towards consumption, and not have heaps of money to burn.

 

[DarthJedi]

Optane is superior in many ways, that's why the price difference. Latencies and sustained speed are significantly visible during usage (Optane does not use NAND+cache, but 3DXpoint which is fast itself).
Unfortunately, price and availability are still a bit steep.