[SOLVED] 970 Evo Plus getting really hot under minor load? What should I do?

[Neostarwcc]

Okay so this is my first time installing a m.2 SSD. I've been out of the scene ever since the 840 PRO came out which was extremely easy to install you just stick in a SATA cable and power to the SATA cable and you're good to go. My wife and I had to follow a video on the internet to install it. Basically it said to take the plate off from the bottom of the z390-A motherboard and to line it up with the M.2 slot and then press down and screw it in and then put the plate back on. We did that and the SSD reads and works perfectly. I even was able to install Windows 10 on it and drag WoW over from my other drive without flaw.

Then after I started downloading software I noticed that my SSD was running really hot under minor load (65-70C ish. When I freshly load my PC my SSD is still around 50C and then when I load World of Warcraft or put it under minor load it goes to over 60c and almost to 70c. I've tried multiple programs to test the temperature and it seems to be accurate and whenever I touch the plate it's hot to the touch like you can barely even touch it without getting burned so the temperature readings are accurate.

It makes me wonder since I've been keeping this SSD in a drawer ever since August (I didn't have the screwdriver to take the plate off back in August so I lived with my 840 evo until I could afford to buy a $30 screwdriver kit to install it.) that maybe the drive is faulty somehow? But all tests that I run on it are completely negative and it's running like a brand new SSD so idk what could be causing the problem here. Especially when you can run WoW on a microwave oven these days. It shouldn't be causing much load on my SSD.

it's got me concerned as my warranty might not cover a drive to dies due to it overheating. I honestly don't know because that would be my own negligence right? So I'm a tad afraid to call samsung and see what they say. I also know how to test a hard drive, it isn't faulty and it's brand new and has barely even been powered on for 24 hours. I asked a few people on WoW and they said that it might be faulty because a SSD should not be running that hot and if I keep it running this hot eventually I would lose my SSD and all data on it. I don't want that to happen so I just don't know what to do. Any help or tips?


Anyway, here's a few screenshots:

 

[Archaic59]

The drive manufacturers are well aware the drives run hot and the drive will throttle down performance in reaction to high temps. You may want to think twice before storing any critical data on an NVME. Improving air flow to the drive is something you can control by making sure you have an intake fan in the lower front panel of your (unknown) PC case. Dumb question: You did remove the peel off backing from the thermal pad on the NVME heatsink (plate)...correct? You may want to continue using your 840, as a backup drive.

 

[Neostarwcc]

The drive manufacturers are well aware the drives run hot and the drive will throttle down performance in reaction to high temps. You may want to think twice before storing any critical data on an NVME. Improving air flow to the drive is something you can control by making sure you have an intake fan in the lower front panel of your (unknown) PC case. Dumb question: You did remove the peel off backing from the thermal pad on the NVME heatsink (plate)...correct? You may want to continue using your 840, as a backup drive.

You mean put W10 on my 970 and WoW on my 840 and run all my other programs off of my external HDD (Forgot to mention that I had one)? I just thought that I could run games and critical data off of the SSD just fine didn't know that Samsung knew this was a problem. Because when I just load Windows 10 PRO off of the 970 it only goes to 35-45c. Still kinda hot but not as alarming. So I'll probably do that and see if it fixes the problem. Sometimes it runs hot when I copy data off of it but I don't do that as much as I do gaming.

 

[Archaic59]

The heat issue isn't just with Samsung. You should be able to use the NVME as you want but the reality can be different as you've seen. All I was saying is to use your 840, since you have it, to backup important files in case the NVME takes a dump, but if you're getting better results by only using it for the OS then by all means do so. Kinda takes the fun out of having a fast NVME but you have to do what's needed to make the system reliable. Luckily, you have the other drives to give you options. There's already an expanding market for NVME cooling solutions so it's no secret they have heat issues.

 

[Neostarwcc]

Okay. That makes sense thank you. I do have all of my important data backed up on dropbox and an external HDD so I'm not worried about that. Question though, if it does take a dump within the warranty period will Samsung replace it or would they call it negligence on my part for letting it run so hot without doing something about it?

 

[geofelt]

How certain are you of your reported m.2 ssd temperatures?
What are you using to measure?

A m.2 ssd normally runs cool enough.
The heat sink on your motherboard is purported to help cooling by an extra 20c.
For normal operations, a m.2 device does not heat up.
It is under sustained sequential loads that you get heat buildup. Think a virus scan, for example.
It might get to that point after 30 seconds of sustained reading.
Then, the device should throttle to prevent damage.
It still will be plenty fast.

I might suspect some sort of problem with the heat sink installation.
See if you do better without it.

 

[Neostarwcc]

How certain are you of your reported m.2 ssd temperatures?
What are you using to measure?

A m.2 ssd normally runs cool enough.
The heat sink on your motherboard is purported to help cooling by an extra 20c.
For normal operations, a m.2 device does not heat up.
It is under sustained sequential loads that you get heat buildup. Think a virus scan, for example.
It might get to that point after 30 seconds of sustained reading.
Then, the device should throttle to prevent damage.
It still will be plenty fast.

I might suspect some sort of problem with the heat sink installation.
See if you do better without it.

You mean the panel on the bottom of my motherboard is a heatsink? Yeah It'd be an EXTREMELY bad idea to take that off then. I'm glad I asked you guys first because I honestly didn't know it's function. Otherwise I didn't know that heatsinks existed for SSDs. Do I have to go out and buy one? I'm using HWmonitor, Crystaldiskinfo, and diskcheckup.

They're all reporting the same temperatures. And when I touch the panel to the SSD It's really hot to the touch so, I think the temperature readings are accurate. I don't think it's like my wifes motherboard reading at 110C (Yes, 110C. I was super freaking out when I first experienced it but when I touched the motherboard it was extremely cool and somebody said that the temperature gauge on her motherboard was completely shot. Because 110C would permanently scald you if you actually touched a 110C motherboard. Not to mention, It'd probably fry instantly.)

Anyway, since it's an extremely easy thing to do I'm moving WoW as we speak to my 840 EVO and see if that helps with my temps.

 

[Neostarwcc]

I moved WoW and this makes absolutely no sense! At first my temps were 40-45C and now they're going back over 60C and I'm not even using the drive for anything but running windows! Something is SERIOUSLY wrong here.

 

[geofelt]

As a theory, if the m.2 heat sink is not properly contacting the ssd, it will not be effective. Even worse, it will be obstructing any cooling airflow from reaching the device.


You have two m.2 slots, try the other one, even if it does not have a heat sink.

 

[Neostarwcc]

As a theory, if the m.2 heat sink is not properly contacting the ssd, it will not be effective. Even worse, it will be obstructing any cooling airflow from reaching the device.


You have two m.2 slots, try the other one, even if it does not have a heat sink.

I do have two, although ASUS does not recommend I use the other one unless and I quote from the manual:

M.2_1 socket supports PCIe 3.0 x4 M Key Design and type 2242/2260/2280 PCIe and SATA storage devices. Using another device could cause permanent damage to the motherboard.

It also says:

When the M.2_1(socket 3) is operating in SATA mode, SATA port 2 (SATA6G_2) will be disabled.


So... would a 970 EVO plus 500GB be compatible and work in this slot? And if I used it I'd just lose access to one of my SATA ports right? It also, does not have a heatsink.

 

[geofelt]

Permanent damage??? that sounds nasty.
I wonder what the conditions for that might be.
I think it probably means that if you use any other m.2 device like perhaps a wifi card that damage could occur.

Unless you have a need for many extra sata devices, losing two of them is not a big deal.

Before moving anything, try removing the heat sink currently installed.
It may be impacting temperatures in some way.
Possibly, the 970 has a defect that is making it run hot.
It will have a 5 year warranty.
I suppose the motherboard m.2 socket could be an issue also.
Running in the other m.2 slot might isolate the issue.

 

[Neostarwcc]

Permanent damage??? that sounds nasty.
I wonder what the conditions for that might be.
I think it probably means that if you use any other m.2 device like perhaps a wifi card that damage could occur.

Unless you have a need for many extra sata devices, losing two of them is not a big deal.

Before moving anything, try removing the heat sink currently installed.
It may be impacting temperatures in some way.
Possibly, the 970 has a defect that is making it run hot.
It will have a 5 year warranty.
I suppose the motherboard m.2 socket could be an issue also.
Running in the other m.2 slot might isolate the issue.

I will try it. People on another forum have suggested maybe getting a different heatsink as well. They're relatively inexpensive. Or if that doesn't work, a better motherboard.

 

[Neostarwcc]

Same thing happens with the other slot. In fact I get higher temps because I'm not using a heatsink at all. But many people have said I'm probably being paranoid and the Samsung 970 EVO is made to handle temperatures this high. The drive shows 0 errors on every test I've ever run through it and it's completely brand new. When sectors start to fail is when I'll start returning it to samsung. Like people have said odds are samsung would cover it under their warranty if it had problems due to heat.