I need help to find a NVME SSD cooler

[yotano211]

I just got 2 Samsung 970 plus 2tb for the laptop and these thing run hot.

Can anyone recommend a NVME cooler so that these 970's wont throttle. I am doing some heavy editing that are using those SSDs drive hard.

 

[TheLostSwede]

Something like this, might be your only option, assuming it fits.

Amazon.com: RGBIWCO - Copper Heatsink Thermal Conductive Adhesive for M.2 NGFF 2280 PCI-E NVME SSD : Electronics

Buy RGBIWCO - Copper Heatsink Thermal Conductive Adhesive for M.2 NGFF 2280 PCI-E NVME SSD: Heatsinks - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

Maybe this if you got another millimetre.

Amazon.com: Easycargo M.2 2280 SSD Heatsink Kit, Cooler Heat Sink + Silicone Based Thermal Pad for Cooling M.2 SSD, NGFF SSD, NVME SSD, SSD(70mmx22mm) (Black 1-Pack 30mm): Computers & Accessories

Buy Easycargo M.2 2280 SSD Heatsink Kit, Cooler Heat Sink + Silicone Based Thermal Pad for Cooling M.2 SSD, NGFF SSD, NVME SSD, SSD(70mmx22mm) (Black 1-Pack 30mm): Heatsinks - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

Note that they're installed by using a "rubber band" so that adds a little bit of extra height as well.

This might work as well, but not sure how it's installed.

Amazon.com: SM SunniMix 2 Pieces Aluminum Heatsink for PCIe NVMe M.2 2280 SSD with Silicone Thermal Pad Red: Home Audio & Theater

Amazon.com: SM SunniMix 2 Pieces Aluminum Heatsink for PCIe NVMe M.2 2280 SSD with Silicone Thermal Pad Red: Home Audio & Theater

www.amazon.com

 

[Deleted member 6693]

I use EK Nickel heatsinks in my build - good quality - don't know if that will fit in a laptop tho

EK-M.2 NVMe Heatsink - Nickel

EK-M.2 NVMe Heatsink is a passive heatsink for M.2 NVMe Next Generation Form Factor SSDs. The heatsink is ribbed, so it`s not just a flat aesthetical cover, it also acts as a very effective passive cooler.

www.ekwb.com

 

[yotano211]

I bought something similar to the copper one but doesnt seem to cool down the drives. It didnt come with the rubber bands. Do I need some kind of rubber band to put more pressure on the SSDs.

Amazon.com: RGBIWCO - Copper Heatsink Thermal Conductive Adhesive for M.2 NGFF 2280 PCI-E NVME SSD : Electronics

Buy RGBIWCO - Copper Heatsink Thermal Conductive Adhesive for M.2 NGFF 2280 PCI-E NVME SSD: Heatsinks - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

 

[Mussels]

without airflow passive heatsinks will only delay the inevitable, so dont expect any of these heatsinks to do magic

are you sure they're thermal throttling, and not some other slowdown?

 

[yotano211]

without airflow passive heatsinks will only delay the inevitable, so dont expect any of these heatsinks to do magic

are you sure they're thermal throttling, and not some other slowdown?

They get up 82C according to CrystalDiskInfo. It seems to throttle somewhat when it gets over 75C(?).

 

[Ramo1203]

I think all NVME SSD can get pretty hot. It will get pretty toasty in a laptop. Unless you can fit a slim heatsink, it's just how it is I think.

 

[sam_86314]

I have this cooler on my 500GB 970 EVO. It seems to work just fine.

Amazon.com: M.2 2280 SSD heatsink, double-sided heat sink, matching thermal silicone pad for PCIE NVME M.2 SSD or SATA M.2 SSD: Computers & Accessories

Buy M.2 2280 SSD heatsink, double-sided heat sink, matching thermal silicone pad for PCIE NVME M.2 SSD or SATA M.2 SSD: Heatsinks - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

Haven't done any proper temperature tests, but it absolutely runs much cooler than without a heatsink.

 

[mstenholm]

I have this cooler on my 500GB 970 EVO. It seems to work just fine.

Amazon.com: M.2 2280 SSD heatsink, double-sided heat sink, matching thermal silicone pad for PCIE NVME M.2 SSD or SATA M.2 SSD: Computers & Accessories

Buy M.2 2280 SSD heatsink, double-sided heat sink, matching thermal silicone pad for PCIE NVME M.2 SSD or SATA M.2 SSD: Heatsinks - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

Haven't done any proper temperature tests, but it absolutely runs much cooler than without a heatsink.

OP is asking about what to do in a laptop but nice to know that it works in a PC.

 

[sam_86314]

OP is asking about what to do in a laptop but nice to know that it works in a PC.

Oops.

Fortunately I'm using my laptop right now, which has a 250GB 970 EVO with this heatsink.

Amazon.com

Never took any direct pics of it, but you can see it in this one of my laptop.

Much less impressive, but better than nothing. It would get up to 70C under normal use without it.

Current temp with a few browser tabs open and not much else.

 

[yotano211]

Oops.

Fortunately I'm using my laptop right now, which has a 250GB 970 EVO with this heatsink.

Amazon.com

Never took any direct pics of it, but you can see it in this one of my laptop.

Much less impressive, but better than nothing. It would get up to 70C under normal use without it.

Current temp with a few browser tabs open and not much else.

It looks like from many of the current reviews it doesnt fit some m.2 SSDs.

 

[sam_86314]

It looks like from many of the current reviews it doesnt fit some m.2 SSDs.

It was a tight fit on my 970 EVO, but it ended up working. I'd imagine it'd fit on yours since it works on mine, but I can't promise anything.

 

[biffzinker]

How about this?

Amazon.com: M.2 Heatsink Copper, m2 pcie NVMe Laptop Heatsink Copper，with Silicone Thermal Pad, for M.2 2280 SSD Laptop : Electronics

Buy M.2 Heatsink Copper, m2 pcie NVMe Laptop Heatsink Copper，with Silicone Thermal Pad, for M.2 2280 SSD Laptop: Heatsinks - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

Edit: Is this how your laptop looks with the bottom panel removed?

MSI GE75 8SG Raider (i7-8750H, RTX 2080) Laptop Review

We review the MSI GE75 8SG Raider SKU with the Core i7-8750H, GeForce RTX 2080, and 144 Hz panel.

www.notebookcheck.net

 

[adrjork]

Hi everyone,

I'm new in this forum, and sorry if i push this discussion just a bit out of topic, but my problem is very near to the OP.

I have an HighPoint SSD7101A controller for a 4x NVMe RAID. I bought 4x double-sided NVMe drives, and they sit perfectly into the controller (there is space between NVMe and surface of the card) but the controller is thought to dissipate the heat from the NVME's upper side only! (HighPoint gives you the thermal pad and the metal heatsink for the upper side of the drives, but nothing for the down side.)

Anyway I found a suggestion from SilverStone: in the manual of their TP02-M2 (heatsink for double-sided NVMe), in order to avoid thermal throttling they recommend to use an upper thermal pad between NVMe and metal heatsink, and also another thermal pad between NVMe and motherboard/controller. That surprised me a lot: because it means transmitting heat from the NVMe to the controller/motherboard. In particular, my HighPoint controller has printed circuits right under the NVMe drives!!! Is it safe??? And more than this, I wonder how can be effective using the card surface as heatsink since the card surface is NOT made of metal!

Question 1: do you think a thermal pad under the NVMe could be dangerous for the controller's printed circuits?
Question 2: do you think it's better leaving the void space under the NVMe in order to cool it down via fan only?
Question 3: do you think that cooling down only the NVMe's upper side could be sufficient to avoid thermal throlling?

Thanks a lot for your help!

 

[Dan848]

1: A thermal pad will not be dangerous to a PCB
2: Personally, I did not use a thermal pad under my NVMe SSD and have had no problems
3: I only cool the upper side of my Samsung 970 Evo NVMe SSD and have no problems with over heating, they stay in the mid 40s C when under load using EK Nickel heatsink, my case has outstanding cooling though. [And, I never used a thermal pad on the controller, I used Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut TIM. It was difficult to work with because the TIM was slick and the heatsink easily moved around and the RAM is shorter than the controller, it works great however.]

 

[adrjork]

3: I only cool the upper side of my Samsung 970 Evo NVMe SSD and have no problems with over heating

Thanks so for your reply Dan! But your Samsung 970 EVO should be single-sided, isn't it? If so, only the upper side is heat emitter, and it's right to cool down the upper side only. In my case my Sabrent Rocket 2TB has both sides emitting heat because NANDs are on both sides (that's my problem).

 

[Dan848]

Yes, my 970 EVO is single sided. The controller is what gets hot, not the NAND flash memory. In fact just having a heatsink on just the controller will do the job and if the memory gets too cool it will shorten its life as well as impact performance. I have good cooling in my case and for weeks I kept an eye on the temperature of the controller and the memory. Also, the faster the SSD is the hotter it gets. Use HWiNFO64 to keep an eye on temperatures. If the controller gets too hot with a heatsink then you will need active cooling, that is a small fan, such as an 80mm blowing air directly on the heatsink. The fan will not need to be mounted, just placed in close proximity to the heatsink. This technique has also been effective on motherboard VRMs that do [edit: NOT] have good cooling.

 

[adrjork]

Thanks for your reply, Dan.
Well, the controller itself seems to be properly equipped with thermal pad and heatsink (+ fan). Instead my doubt about down-side NANDs remains: for the same reason you cool the upper side of your EVO (i.e. there are NANDs on the upper side), I suspect I need to cool both sides (because my drive has NANDs on both). So, let image – just for fun – that your EVO is upside-down: you can't place a metal heatsink because your NANDs are facing the PCB at 1mm. You have only two options:
1. Fill the little gap between drive and PCB with thermal pad (but why? what is the advantage? It's true that a thermal pad is not dangerous for a PCB, but the heat transmitted by the thermal pad could be???);
2. Maintain the void between drive and PCB hoping that the air from the fan helps somehow.
Which one is more effective in your opinion?

 

[Vario]

Thanks for your reply, Dan.
Well, the controller itself seems to be properly equipped with thermal pad and heatsink (+ fan). Instead my doubt about down-side NANDs remains: for the same reason you cool the upper side of your EVO (i.e. there are NANDs on the upper side), I suspect I need to cool both sides (because my drive has NANDs on both). So, let image – just for fun – that your EVO is upside-down: you can't place a metal heatsink because your NANDs are facing the PCB at 1mm. You have only two options:
1. Fill the little gap between drive and PCB with thermal pad (but why? what is the advantage? It's true that a thermal pad is not dangerous for a PCB, but the heat transmitted by the thermal pad could be???);
2. Maintain the void between drive and PCB hoping that the air from the fan helps somehow.
Which one is more effective in your opinion?

I'd probably do 2, Samsung designed these things to be installed in a laptop as is, and I'd worry that any intervention I'd make would just insulate the ICs rather than facilitate thermal transfer.

 

[adrjork]

Thanks Vario for your reply.

 

[Dan848]

Thanks for your reply, Dan.
Well, the controller itself seems to be properly equipped with thermal pad and heatsink (+ fan). Instead my doubt about down-side NANDs remains: for the same reason you cool the upper side of your EVO (i.e. there are NANDs on the upper side), I suspect I need to cool both sides (because my drive has NANDs on both). So, let image – just for fun – that your EVO is upside-down: you can't place a metal heatsink because your NANDs are facing the PCB at 1mm. You have only two options:
1. Fill the little gap between drive and PCB with thermal pad (but why? what is the advantage? It's true that a thermal pad is not dangerous for a PCB, but the heat transmitted by the thermal pad could be???);
2. Maintain the void between drive and PCB hoping that the air from the fan helps somehow.
Which one is more effective in your opinion?

I considered not replying. You seem to be a knowledgeable person. However, your comment about flipping my SSD upside down will never happen. I don't think we need to take this further with remarks like that. I thought you came here to ask advice, not suggest something that will never happen.

 

[adrjork]

your comment about flipping my SSD upside down will never happen. I thought you came here to ask advice, not suggest something that will never happen.

Dear Dan, you took my example too literally Obviously it's impossible to mount your EVO upside-down! I wrote that example only to clarify my problem, that is having NANDs also under the NVMe (not simply on the upper side). In my case, the heat-problem is not only on the upper side (where there is always space to add thermal pads and metal heatsinks and fans) but also on the down-side where there is space for adding almost nothing! So that's why I put the problem is that perspective: in order to solve the heat problem of the down-side, let image to solve the heat problem of an EVO upside-down.
Someone, like SilverStone, recommends using a thermal pad between the down-side of the NVMe and the PCB of the card.
Someone else, like Vario, recommends leaving the void between NVMe and card.
In the first case (using the thermal pad) the heat from the NVMe is transmitted to the pad, and finally to the card's PCB. The advantage is having a pad that captures the NAND's heat, but the disadvantage is that the card's PCB is not really an heatsink, and this solution lets no room for the air from the fan.
In the second case (nothing between NVMe and card) the heat of the NANDs remains on the NANDs, but the advantage is having room to let the air from the fan flowing freely.
My question simply was: which is the best compromise in your opinion? Thermal pad or not thermal pad?

 

[oobymach]

It depends how much room you have whether or not metal heatsinks are even an option. There are literally hundreds of heatsink designs, from simple thin rectangular strips to individual finned blocks with the latter being the better performer. In a laptop you only have so much room and seeing as it's a gaming laptop it probably has better cooling than most, you could use 3m thermal tape and stick anything you want to it if you have enough room.

Just google ram chip heatsink or check on ebay.

 

[adrjork]

Thanks for your reply oobymach. Unfortunately room under the NVMe is less than 1mm (between the downside NANDs and the card's PCB). So the only thing I can insert is just the thermal pad. But – as I wrote above – that means intending the card's PCB as the heatsink (that actually is not) and leaving no room for airflow. The only other option is just leaving void the empty space between NVMe and card's PCB, that guarantees airflow but without any thermal transfer facilitation.

 

[Vario]

Thanks for your reply oobymach. Unfortunately room under the NVMe is less than 1mm (between the downside NANDs and the card's PCB). So the only thing I can insert is just the thermal pad. But – as I wrote above – that means intending the card's PCB as the heatsink (that actually is not) and leaving no room for airflow. The only other option is just leaving void the empty space between NVMe and card's PCB, that guarantees airflow but without any thermal transfer facilitation.

I'd just leave it void and not think about it.