PCIe 5.0 SSDs are coming and Thermalright has big coolers for them

Are the SSD heatsinks that come with motherboards not enough? For such situations, Thermalight now has alternative solutions that don’t seem to lack cooling performance even for SSDs supporting PCI Express 5.0. The HR-09 2280 and HR-09 2280 Pro coolers are characterized by a more segmented design even compared to designs used for cooling CPUs in laptops or minicomputers. Read more “PCIe 5.0 SSDs are coming and Thermalright has big coolers for them” »

Copper wire fins, the basis of the Ineo M12 SSD cooler

Many different SSD coolers with atypical designs have been released over the years. But not a single one resembles the Ineo M12. Not only is it copper (but that doesn’t make it unique), but most importantly, it doesn’t use the traditional heatsink profile. In fact, this is most likely the only cooler with a wire heatsink. It also returns to the cooling philosophy of the bankrupt Nofan. The Ineo M12 uses an “icepipe”. Read more “Copper wire fins, the basis of the Ineo M12 SSD cooler” »

Two heatsinks, a heatpipe and a fan; the new ElecGear SSD cooler

More complex, tall coolers for SSD always attract attention. However, their fin area tends to be significantly oversized, at least for current semiconductor storage models. No extremes are needed for cooling ten watts at most. However, higher cooling performance might be warranted later, for PCI Express 5.0 SSDs. From this perspective, the ElecGear active cooler is a rather timeless novelty. Read more “Two heatsinks, a heatpipe and a fan; the new ElecGear SSD cooler” »

Water block on SSD? XM2 Hydro X started selling for $40

Corsair has been dealing with SSDs in recent days. In a short time sequence, it first announced and then released two extra-fast SSDs, of which the cheaper one with NAND QLC memory. These are not yet widely used among models with PCI Express 4.0 support. But the real curiosity is the third thing on the list – a water block with which you can order the more expensive SSD or buy it separately for your own one. Read more “Water block on SSD? XM2 Hydro X started selling for $40” »

RaidSonic has an SSD cooler with extreme 25-watt TDP

Icy Box IB-M2HSF-702, compared to competition, is specific in terms of size but also a fan. Users often have prejudice towards active cooling in non-traditional spots inside a PC case. Especially in cases where it is believed that it is possible to design at least as efficient a passive cooler or that a higher cooling performance is still not on point. This SSD cooler will not avoid doubtful looks either. Read more “RaidSonic has an SSD cooler with extreme 25-watt TDP” »

Should you remove an SSD sticker before mounting a heatsink?

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. Read more “Should you remove an SSD sticker before mounting a heatsink?” »

Akasa SSD heatsink: really cheap and efficient solution

Simple and optimally milled aluminum plate, sounds like a good basis for some SSD heatsink with the potential to achieve high efficiency at low cost. Fast, easy installation and great compatibility with graphics cards is also quite important, plus the look is not bad. Akasa probably wanted to create an ideal compromise of all the key elements. This could easily became a bestseller because the price is just 4 euros. Read more “Akasa SSD heatsink: really cheap and efficient solution” »

Adata XPG Storm: good looking but not efficient

16,500 rpm is extreme. A tiny fan in the unique SSD cooler by Adata can run at such a speed. We expected that it will be possible to regulate it and choose a reasonable setting, but there is no compromise in this design, and frankly, so many imperfections make it very difficult to see something positive about this product, which is a shame because the “core“ is pretty effective. Read more “Adata XPG Storm: good looking but not efficient” »

Fans that are even smaller and faster: 16 500 rpm for M.2 SSD

Efficient and quiet cooling in combination with small fans is usually just a utopic wish. But it looks like that they don’t give up easy. We just discussed Evga board with two 30mm fans which are supposed to cool the power supply circuit, and here appears another similar case – M.2 SSD active cooling. Read more “Fans that are even smaller and faster: 16 500 rpm for M.2 SSD” »

Small VRAM heatsink on a SSD NVMe? Cheap and efficient…

After the review of SSD coolers, we found some long-forgotten GPU memory heatsinks. Of course, we tested them right away and the results were excellent. It makes us wonder if (and when) is it worth to pay for commercial solutions, because a set of these small “hedgehogs“ costs up to five euros and one packing is usually enough for more uses. Read more “Small VRAM heatsink on a SSD NVMe? Cheap and efficient…” »

Duel of SSD coolers: Alphacool HDX M.2 vs. EKWB EK-M.2

With increasing IOPS, SSD cooling demands also increase. This applies even to powerful models (NVMe) for common customers. In most cases, controllers can take a lot, but high temperatures do not add to their performance nor lifespan and they can cause problems even in very quiet computers or in a room with higher air temperature. An additional heatsink can do wonders. Read more “Duel of SSD coolers: Alphacool HDX M.2 vs. EKWB EK-M.2” »