So, how then?
Here are some questions that everyone who wants to tune their computer to the last detail deals with: Does it make any sense to remove a sticker from a powerful M.2 SSD format? Is it worth the effort and, if something goes wrong, the breach of warranty? How much will the heating be reduced? As a part of detailed tests, we also replaced the original stickers for ones of commonly available materials (paper, plastic foil, aluminum…) just out of curiosity.
Each company approaches manipulating their stickers a little differently. One more benevolent, the other not so much. For example, Samsung obviously does not want you to manipulate the sticker as you’d like. This is evidenced by the fact that the stickers on the 970 Pro/Evo (Plus) are particularly fragile and have notches in the corners. One perpendicular notch to the corner and the second one, in the immediate proximity, perpendicular to this previous one. We have no doubt that the toughest guys with the help of a hair dryer, thin razors and patient hands (and perhaps some other tools) will not damage such a sticker, but this operation is definitely not for everyone.
However, Samsung is an extreme case and most manufacturers won’t complicate your life that much. They either do not cut the stickers in any way, do use a shiny/firmer surface or they incorporate PET/PVC and even some metal elements. In such cases, the most difficult task of the whole process after peeling off the sticker is to store it appropriately and not forget where this archive is located. 🙂
One thing is how easy it is to get rid of SSD stickers, another one is whether it makes any sense to even try. That’s why we chose the WD Black SN750 from the range of modern SSDs, on which we tested various scenarios. First, of course, namely, what is the difference in cooling with and without a sticker. Although the WD’s sticker is thin, it is also firm thanks to its mesh structure, so there are not the slightest difficulties with its removal (and possible reapplication).
Testing methodology
In addition to how much better you can improve cooling of an SSD by removing the sticker, we were interested in comparing paper (and how its thickness affects heat transfer efficiency: tested with traditional 80, 190 and 300 gram white) with a thin and a thicker PET film. The thinner film used in the test is a standard packaging film that you can buy in every stationery store, and the thicker one is a printing 100-micron film, and we applied it on the SSD with the smooth side.
Then we have aluminum, i.e. thin aluminum foil. For these metallic materials, it is important to take care of the SMD isolation so that you do not kill the SSD immediately. For example, Silicon Power uses a metal structure for stickers. Aluminum is probably used in their production, too. We also used one of them (from SP A80) and adjusted it to a uniform size. This sticker is already thicker than the aluminum foil and consists of multiple components. The surface is probably made of PET and all these stickers, of course, use glue, which might not play a big role, but has an effect on the result, too. We put our alternative materials between the SSD and the heatsink only as a filler, without gluing. And they all always covered the same area and spots.
The largest heat surge from the test SSD came from the Sandisk control unit (which is WD’s own product). For workloads, we used continuous sequential write of large files for 600 seconds. In the end, we took the highest recorded temperature (from HWinfo) and just before the end (i.e. still at full power) we took thermal images of the heatsink. We then also read the maximum and average temperatures from it, too. In this case, the higher the heat, the better. The more efficient the heat transfer from the SSD.
The used heatsink is from the Gigabyte Z390 Aorus Pro. This motherboard (with the Core i9-9900K processor) is used for all testing. This is in a “bench-table” environment, but with airflow. A pair of Noctua NF-A12S fans, regulated to approximately 550 rpm, is responsible for the airflow around the SSD cooler. The entry air temperature was properly controlled during the tests and stayed between 21 – 21.1 °C.
Here are some questions that everyone who wants to tune their computer to the last detail deals with: Does it make any sense to remove the sticker from a powerful M.2 SSD format? Is it worth the effort and, if something goes wrong, the breach of warranty? How much will the heating be reduced? As a part of detailed tests, we also exchanged the original stickers for ones of commonly available materials (paper, plastic foil, aluminum…) just out of curiosity. Do SSD manufacturers use anything extra?
Measurement results
Thermovision
Here are some questions that everyone who wants to tune their computer to the last detail deals with: Does it make any sense to remove the sticker from a powerful M.2 SSD format? Is it worth the effort and, if something goes wrong, the breach of warranty? How much will the heating be reduced? As a part of detailed tests, we also exchanged the original stickers for ones of commonly available materials (paper, plastic foil, aluminum…) just out of curiosity. Do SSD manufacturers use anything extra?
So, how then?
Before answering the question in the headline, it is important to note that the heating of the NVMe SSD is not as critical in practice as it is often perceived and sometimes transformed into beautiful and efficient, but impractical (in the sense it all collides with other components unnecessarily) Cryorig Frostbit designs.
Critical 100 degree values are usually achieved only during a continuous, several minutes long intense load at maximum performance. And this usually in combination with weaker system cooling (and higher air temperature in the case). I do not mean to downplay this topic in any way, on the contrary, an additional heatsink definitely belongs to a powerful SSD. Anyway, at least for now, there is no need to make a big deal out of it, and you can calmly leave the SSD sticker intact before installing a heatsink. It is still true that high-end PCIe SSDs have relatively low power consumption (compared to CPUs and GPUs) despite higher peak temperatures. If the sticker is designed properly, it will increase the heating by a maximum of 1–3 °C which in the end usually does not matter. It does not prolong its longevity and in the vast majority of cases it does not degrade performance. Exceptions may only apply to SSDs which after exceeding a certain temperature (typically 70 °C) automatically reduce the voltage delivery, which reduces the performance. In real life, however, you won’t just reach “seventies” with a decent cooler.
The tests show how temperature can progress with increasing thickness of the sticker material. The difference between 80 and 300g paper was about 5 °C when the WD Black SN750 was under load. And it is also remarkable that the material of a factory sticker (mostly made of PET) is not so much of a better thermal conductor than ordinary office paper. The aluminum foil filler is closest to the case with no sticker, but even a pure PET foil is not far from it. After adding the adhesive component and the office paper, there could be some cosmetic increase in temperature, but we can certainly say that no abnormalities, without which it would not be possible, are used for the production of SSD stickers.
TL;DR: Leave the sticker be, from a practical point of view it does not make sense to peel it off before mounting an SSD heatsink. The difference in heating is in any case negligible.
English translation and edit by Lukáš Terényi