SSD M.2 PCIe -- Should I worry about it becoming unsafely-hot?

[Stefan_77]

Hello.

I am building a system. I will be used for live video streaming. No gaming what so ever, no movies... A 128GB SSD will be enough, but a 240GB one doesn't sound bad either.

My options (same price):
-- 240GB classic SSD
-- 128GB M.2 PCIe 3.0 x2 (Patriot Scorch)

I would choose the PCIe, 'cause it's a lot faster, and I also love the idea of having the SSD right on the motherboard. But I heard such SSD's get extremely hot.

Considering what I will be using the system for, no large files writing / reading (except for when installing Windows, Office, Photoshop...), should I worry about that particular SSD getting too hot?... to the point where it can actually become slow (drop to a classic SSD's speed), or even damaged?

Buying heatsinks isn't an option. They are not available in my country. And even if they were, sticking a heatsink to the SSD would void the warranty, right?...

Thanks!

 

[zyh1987]

If you are not running game, your pcie area will be relatively cool and fresh cold air are coming from the front fan( if you have a front fan) I think dont see much of an issue with pcie ssd overheating.

 

[kbarizo93]

If you don't have a proper way to cool the M.2 then I would get the "classic" SATA SSD. The M.2 will be about the same speed when it's thermal throttled anyways, and there's much more applications for a SATA SSD in case you ever need to put it into another device. You're also getting almost twice the storage space.

Just my opinion. Personally, I would want to utilize something as best I can, I feel like it would be a waste if I'm not able to use something at its optimal performance.

It's nice having 1000+MB/s speeds, but they'll both be way faster than an HDD 😛

 

[Snipergod87]

the speed difference between NVMe and SATA isnt really noticeable to the user outside of benchmarks, and a X2 interface isnt all that fast. I would go with the 240GB SATA SSD over the NVMe one due to added space, which can increase the drives longevity.

Thermal issues on NVMe disks are only an issue during heavy use senarios and they just throttle the speeds until the temps go down.

 

[Dugimodo]

If it overheats then it's been designed wrong. Really shouldn't happen.
I have had a Sata M.2 850 Evo as my main OS drive for 2.5 years now, no signs of heat issues.

 

[J_E_D_70]

They only throttle under sustained abuse as long as you have reasonable cooling. But, as stated you’re unlikely to notice the difference much from standard SATA. I went with nVMe and am underwhelmed.

 

[mdd1963]

An 850 EVO in M.2 format is a standard SATA spec (540-ish MB/sec), and generates no more heat than one stuffed into a standard 2.5" classic form factor...

Drives running NVME-speeds/PCI-e (x4) at 3200 MB/sec generate a bit more heat *if* doing lots of sustained writes...i.e., more than 20 solid minutes of 90-100% writes...

 

[USAFRet]

For that usage, just get a regular SATA drive.
You'd not notice the speed diff, and give up significant drive space.


As far as "hot"...NVMe drives can get hotter. But generally not performance killing hot.

 

[mdd1963]

it's difficult to get very warm in even sustained 5-6 watt operations.....; also less of an issue within PCs that have at least a bit of air blowing across mainboards, and, more likely encountered within PCs using AIO's, which have no cpu fan blowing any air across mainboard...

The 960 EVO rocks, 4-5 minutes total to quick format/install WIn10 Pro to desktop....5 second shutdowns....almost like Linux with it!