NVMe SSDs go to higher rates PCIe 40 with PCIe 5After the 0 era, it also faces the common problem of many high-performance hardware, that is, higher calorific value. It is understood that from PCIe 30 evolved to PCIe 40, while the channel and performance have been gratifyingly improved, the power consumption of NVMe SSDs has increased from 6W to around 9W, which has also increased by nearly 50%, and the latest PCIe 50 SSDs increase the power consumption figure to more than 10W.
Higher power consumption and a larger number of read and write operations make high-end NVMe SSDs require more efficient heat dissipation to ensure their stable performance and data security. Previously, we saw that most SSD products mainly used thermal labels in the form of metal foils, which were covered on the side of the main controller, cache, particles, or pasted on the back of the disk without components to equalize and disperse heat and increase the contact surface with air. In addition, there is also a common temperature control strategy in the hard disk firmware, which controls the performance by reducing the frequency and other methods when the sensor finds that the temperature of the disk body is too high, so as to reduce heat generation.
Of course, the performance and heating levels of different hard drives are different, and the specific temperature control strategies are also different, which will cause some of the performance fluctuations and slowdowns we found in our tests.
External cooling solutions are equally common in our PC DIY. Installing the SSD on the motherboard will naturally remove the surface heat with the help of the case air ducts, and the further approach is that some motherboards are equipped with SSD thermal armor, and a larger area of metal sheet is bonded to the surface of the SSD through a thermal pad, which can effectively improve the heat soaking and heat dissipation effect.
pcie 4.Since the birth of 0 SSDs, the heatsink versions launched by some flagship products are also the same, with a larger volume to achieve heat soaking and a larger surface area to promote heat dissipation. However, due to the height of the main size, this kind of SSD with a "vest" is not always suitable for all devices, and motherboards without thermal armor or PS5 game consoles are its main stage.
In addition to the purely passive cooling method, the active cooling combination similar to CPU fan + tower cooler has also quickly appeared on the market. The advantage is that the surface heat can be removed more quickly with the help of moving air, but the disadvantages are also focused on the size and the additional interfaces required for the fan.
We have experienced an active SSD cooler launched by Limin, and verified whether this type of heatsink can solve the overheating and slowdown problems of some high-performance SSDs.
This Limin HR-10 Pro active cooler designed for SSD uses a 30mm*30mm, 10mm thick fan, according to the e-commerce details page, the speed can be adjusted between 3500-6500 rpm, the cable on the lower edge of the fan is about 50cm long, and the interface is a standard 4pin PWM.
In addition to the fan and bulky fins, the Limin HR-10 Pro is also equipped with four 5mm heat pipes to connect the base and fin** areas that contact the surface of the SSD, and uses Limin AGHP anti-gravity heat pipe technology to optimize the vertical installation performance.
The cooling base is equipped with Odyssey II strip thermal pads on both sides to support double-sided particle SSDs. The thickness of the upper surface thermal pad is 1mm, and the lower surface thermal pad is 05mm, thicker thermal pads are used to adapt to different thicknesses of the main control, DRAM, particles and other components.
Next we have a PCIe 40 flagship SSD P44 Pro test, using HD Tune Pro for continuous 100GB write + read, test the state of the bare disk and the performance and temperature performance after installing the heatsink.
The P44 Pro measured low temperatures of 47 and 51 in standby mode before testing, and the highest temperatures in the test were as high as 80 and 91.
When equipped with an active radiator, the P44 Pro has a minimum temperature of 41 and 38 at idle, and after a full test, the maximum temperature is only 46 and 43.
Brief summary. Judging by the results, the flagship PCIe 4Even under the condition of having a case air duct, the 0 SSD can easily push the main control, particles and other components to a high temperature of more than 80, and then slow down. Therefore, the basic thermal configuration such as hard disk vests, motherboard thermal armor, and the simplest thermal pads are essential for PCIe 40 and above are necessary for high-performance SSDs. Laptops with tight internal space and a lack of air ducts on the hard drive also need to pay attention to this problem.
For active radiators with higher requirements for space, power supply and other factors, the author believes that it is powerful and at the same time "screens" users to a certain extent, do we need such extreme performance? And can it provide a suitable environment for this kind of high-performance heat dissipation? It can be said that at least in the use of SSDs by most PC users, there is no need for such strong heat dissipation measures, but in 2024 with the more diverse PCIe 5With the arrival of 0 SSD products, this conclusion may usher in a reversal.