[SOLVED] SOme M.2 SSD questions

[Andres9213]

Hi everyone.

Although this sin't the first time i'm involved in building a PC, I'm still a noob, this could be considered the first time I build a PC all by myself (usually, a friend of mine helps me, but he moved to another city for work) this is the first time i use M.2 SSDs. This is going to be a gaming / light work (office, basically) PC.

So I got this HP EX950 512 GB PCIe M.2. I'm already using it on my current system, but the idea is to have all my favorite the games installed there for my new system. The new PC will be AMD based, with a Ryzen 5 3600 and a Gigabyte Aorus B450 pro wifi motherboard. Now, i've read a lot about weather M.2 heatsinks are woth it or not and specially if it's only for esthetics, but i want to give it a try.

I've already read that the flash memories on M.2 SSDs do not require any sort of additional cooling and can actually be damaged by them, on the long term. There are a few recommendations as to trim thermal tapes so they only end up covering the controller, no the flash memories.

However, I still have a handful of doubts for you.

1. The board comes with those stock heatsinks for m.2 SSDs. If i want to use it, does that black sticky pad work as thermal tape or do i have to replace it for actual thermal tape?

2. To use these heatsinks, do i have to remove the M.2's warranty sticker? I've seen in some forums that you don't actually need to remove it, as it does not cause any significant changes in temperatures or performance after placing the heatsink. But I also know that legally, in the US, companies can't deny a warranty for having those stickers removed, so there also are not any reasons to leave it there. If anything, just keeping it somwhere safe or taking a picture to have all the numbers and stuff ready for any warranty reclamations. But i don't live in the US and although i think it wouldn't matter (the m.2 was bought on amazon us and i had it shipped to my country) in case it ever fails, i'll rest easier knowing that the sticker is still there and that's one less thing to worry about

3. In the case that i have to remove the sticker and have the thermal tape trimed to cover only the controller, that would be this silver part with the HP logo, right???

 

[CountMike]

Hi everyone.

Although this sin't the first time i'm involved in building a PC, I'm still a noob, this could be considered the first time I build a PC all by myself (usually, a friend of mine helps me, but he moved to another city for work) this is the first time i use M.2 SSDs. This is going to be a gaming / light work (office, basically) PC.

So I got this HP EX950 512 GB PCIe M.2. I'm already using it on my current system, but the idea is to have all my favorite the games installed there for my new system. The new PC will be AMD based, with a Ryzen 5 3600 and a Gigabyte Aorus B450 pro wifi motherboard. Now, i've read a lot about weather M.2 heatsinks are woth it or not and specially if it's only for esthetics, but i want to give it a try.

I've already read that the flash memories on M.2 SSDs do not require any sort of additional cooling and can actually be damaged by them, on the long term. There are a few recommendations as to trim thermal tapes so they only end up covering the controller, no the flash memories.

However, I still have a handful of doubts for you.

1. The board comes with those stock heatsinks for m.2 SSDs. If i want to use it, does that black sticky pad work as thermal tape or do i have to replace it for actual thermal tape?

2. To use these heatsinks, do i have to remove the M.2's warranty sticker? I've seen in some forums that you don't actually need to remove it, as it does not cause any significant changes in temperatures or performance after placing the heatsink. But I also know that legally, in the US, companies can't deny a warranty for having those stickers removed, so there also are not any reasons to leave it there. If anything, just keeping it somwhere safe or taking a picture to have all the numbers and stuff ready for any warranty reclamations. But i don't live in the US and although i think it wouldn't matter (the m.2 was bought on amazon us and i had it shipped to my country) in case it ever fails, i'll rest easier knowing that the sticker is still there and that's one less thing to worry about

3. In the case that i have to remove the sticker and have the thermal tape trimed to cover only the controller, that would be this silver part with the HP logo, right???

Some M.2, specially NVME type do tend to heat up when used to full speed for longer time.

1. Yes, use heatsink provided with MB. Sticky pad is thermally conductive.
2. Do not remove warranty stickers, they are just lithely painted metal and don't impede heat transfer.
3. Since you don't have to remove sticker, it's pointless but if you do, both, control and memory chips should be in contact with heat transfer pad although it's control chip the one that heats most.