Ideas on keeping a WD Black NVME cool
I have the following:
Antec Razer Cube - chassis
WD Black M.2 PCIE SSD nvme
Ryzen 1700x - CPU
Kraken x52 - AIO
ASRock Fatal1ty X370 Gaming-ITX/ac - Motherboard
My issue is that the WD Black nvme is overheating during gaming.
On this mobo the M.2 slot sits on the rear which initially sounds like a great space saver, but its right behind the CPU and suspect some heat transfer. I've improved things upgrading to a AIO but over long sessions will eventually get too hot, 85c, and shutdown.
What's annoying is I only have the OS+Drivers on there. Games are on separate SSD/HDD.
So it shouldn't be doing anything, I'll have to monitor its use next time but I suspect most of the heat is coming from the mobo/CPU.
The design of the chassis means that little air will circulate behind the Mobo so taking one side panel off does help keep it cool.
A few thoughts.
- A heatsink, but I'm limited on space being as its behind the mobo so not sure how much of a difference a thin one will make
- An extension cable/ribbon like this (note this example is a converter, I've not found a true extension yet) http://amzn.eu/3eGIJcU
- Move certain data to another drive
Re: Ideas on keeping a WD Black NVME cool
I thought M.2 cards preferred to be hot?
How much space is between the M.2 card and the motherboard tray? Perhaps rather than a heatsink you could just get a thermal pad and transfer some of the heat straight into the case?
Re: Ideas on keeping a WD Black NVME cool
If the heat is coming from something else then adding a heatsink will make it worse. Instead, you should shield it.
Re: Ideas on keeping a WD Black NVME cool
Could also cut a hole in the chassis around where the M.2 card is? :D
Re: Ideas on keeping a WD Black NVME cool
Quote:
Originally Posted by
kalniel
If the heat is coming from something else then adding a heatsink will make it worse. Instead, you should shield it.
Or duct the airflow away from the nvme card - but make sure you don't compromise the CPU cooling.
Or use a conventional SSD for the OS if that is all the nvme device is hosting.
Re: Ideas on keeping a WD Black NVME cool
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Biscuit
I thought M.2 cards preferred to be hot?
I had a look on WD's website, the following makes sense as to why it never goes above 85 and shuts down at this point while not being utilised. So actually looks like it is completely generated by the mobo/cpu rear heat with no air flow.
Quote:
Originally Posted by WDC.com
Environmental
Operating Temperatures
32 °F to 158 °F (0 °C to 70 °C)
Non-operating Temperatures
-67 °F to 185 °F (-55 °C to 85 °C)
I'll get a picture up shortly to show what I'm dealing with.
I have found this to be the closest solution, only the cable length is too short and potentially inflexible:
https://ebay.us/F8A8dQ
Re: Ideas on keeping a WD Black NVME cool
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Biscuit
I thought M.2 cards preferred to be hot?
I think NAND packages are designed to operate (and indeed, work better) at warm temperatures; it's the controller which can have problems with overheating.
Re: Ideas on keeping a WD Black NVME cool
That will teach me to read all the reply's. :Oops:
What MrJim said re heat...
EDIT: It's unlikely that the drive is causing the shutdown, it's probably the over temperature protection setting in the BIOS triggering a reboot.
Re: Ideas on keeping a WD Black NVME cool
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Biscuit
I thought M.2 cards preferred to be hot?
Not if its powered down! :p
Re: Ideas on keeping a WD Black NVME cool
Quote:
Originally Posted by
AGTDenton
… What's annoying is I only have the OS+Drivers on there. Games are on separate SSD/HDD.
So it shouldn't be doing anything, I'll have to monitor its use next time but I suspect most of the heat is coming from the mobo/CPU. ...
NVMe drives get really hot, even just sitting at idle. I upgraded my new laptop with one, and it's proper scorchio all the time. Something to do with the signalling frequencies for PCIe or something, I suspect.
Anyway, yeah, an NVMe drive with no airflow is just going to be really toasty whatever, and if it's stuck right behind the CPU then it's basically going to be a hot drive sitting in a pool of hot air. Not good!
Re: Ideas on keeping a WD Black NVME cool
Annoyingly the PSU decided to die on me yesterday... It's possible that has had something to do with this as well.
Worst year for me on random component failures.
I did however manage to update the BIOS just before the PSU died, thankfully, which included M.2 enhancements so fingers X when new PSU arrives it will be better.
Re: Ideas on keeping a WD Black NVME cool
Quote:
Originally Posted by
scaryjim
NVMe drives get really hot, even just sitting at idle. I upgraded my new laptop with one, and it's proper scorchio all the time. Something to do with the signalling frequencies for PCIe or something, I suspect.
Anyway, yeah, an NVMe drive with no airflow is just going to be really toasty whatever, and if it's stuck right behind the CPU then it's basically going to be a hot drive sitting in a pool of hot air. Not good!
At least I'm not the only one.
I may end up abandoning NVME for a 2nd SATA SSD now I've had to get a replacement PSU, I'd rather avoid spending endless amounts.
Re: Ideas on keeping a WD Black NVME cool
Have you got any free pcie express slots that you buy an adapter and mount the ssd on it? This way you spend less and get to keep nvme speeds.
