Re: heatsink for m.2 drives
2020/03/08 09:52:59
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2 important rules (often not followed)
1) Don't add a heatsink to a SSD unless you first prove that it needs it. I am on the fence about recommending a SSD benchmark to place a greater than normal load on the drive. I guess it is good for testing your thermal limits and safety margin, but it isn't accurate indication of normal use. Instead, I would recommend monitoring the SSD controler's temperature over hours and days of normal use and then decide if it needs a heatsink.
2) If you add a heatsink to a SSD, purposely avoid applying thermal pads to the SSD's NAND (memory) chips
If the SSD heatsink comes with one full thermal pad (probably does), cut it down to size so that the thermal pad only touches the SSD's controller chip and does not touch the NAND chips. NAND does not need extra cooling ever and will deteriorate faster and die sooner if you cool it. There is never a reason to cool NAND, and there is always a reason not to cool NAND, so don't do it!
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