Support NeoGAF

[Hohenheim]

Quick (and probably easy/silly) question for the PC pro's in here:

If i'm to replace the main m.2 SSD on a X870 motherboard (considering the WD Black SN850X for higher speed).
That one have a included heat sink that looks very good, so would you use the version with included heat sink or the version without heatsink and instead use the motherboard's heatsink that's already in place on the current SSD, and which would probably need a new thermal pad for use with the new SSD)

Can't seem to find any info on what folks usually do/prefer in a situation like this, or if it matters at all.
Thanks!

 

[LazyParrot]

It probably doesn't matter. That being said, a faster SSD unlikely to do much either way, at least as far as gaming is concerned. I've upgraded a number of PCs to PCIe 4.0/5.0 NVMe SSDs over the years and it never made a noticeable difference, even when upgrading from ancient SATA SSDs.

 

[Hohenheim]

It probably doesn't matter. That being said, a faster SSD unlikely to do much either way, at least as far as gaming is concerned. I've upgraded a number of PCs to PCIe 4.0/5.0 NVMe SSDs over the years and it never made a noticeable difference, even when upgrading from ancient SATA SSDs.

Thanks.
Yeah, I'm considering upgrading from a Solidigm 2TB P41+
(4125MB/sR, 3325MB/sW) to the WD Black which on paper has quite a bit higher speeds (7300 MB/sR / 6600 MB/sW)

Also considering getting a 4gb instead of the current 2gb.

Won't bother with a pcie 5 version, since (from what I've read in several tests) don't matter much for gaming.

 

[Hoddi]

Thanks.
Yeah, I'm considering upgrading from a Solidigm 2TB P41+
(4125MB/sR, 3325MB/sW) to the WD Black which on paper has quite a bit higher speeds (7300 MB/sR / 6600 MB/sW)

Also considering getting a 4gb instead of the current 2gb.

Won't bother with a pcie 5 version, since (from what I've read in several tests) don't matter much for gaming.

You won't notice any difference in current games if that's your main concern. The highest sustained bandwidth that I've seen in any game so far was only in the 300-400MB/s range.

I have an SN850X in my own system and it gets seriously hot under long, sustained loads even with this semi-large heatpipe heatsink. But you're not going to see those kinds of loads outside of synthetic tests so it doesn't really matter which version you get. Both heatsinks are fine for gaming while neither is for those synthetic loads.

It's a solid drive if you need more space but I wouldn't really bother unless you do.

 

[iALX]

I had a heatsink from Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus which I used on a MSI B650 Tomahawk board that didn't have its own heatsink. When I upgraded to MSI X670E Tomahawk, it came with its own heatsink so I used that.

There were small temperature improvements with using the board one just due to the increased mass of the heatsink, but the biggest improvement of NVME temperatures was upgrading from a 3080Ti to a 4080 Super.

Since the card is running much cooler, the NVME temps dropped from 60C to ~50C under load, being 35-40 while idle. No specific room temp control, but it's always in the 20-25C range when possible, for reference.

 

[cinnamonandgravy]

best option is buy the version without a heatsink, then buy aftermarket heatsink.
aftermarket > ssd-bundled heatsink > mobo heatsink

on my 990pro, going from mobo heatsink to aftermarket heatsink resulted in a massive temp decrease.

even on the mobo heatsink, temps never got high enough to throttle performance, but lower temps will help with longevity, which i do care about.

and if you can place your ssd close to a fan, that'll help a lot too.
i have two 990pros using the same heatsink, but one is right next to a 140mm intake fan, and one isnt. the one next to a fan runs waaay cooler, esp under load.

ps i use the thermalright hr10 2280. $10 or less.

 

[MikeM]

Gaming is not SSD intensive enough to affect anything. I run the MOBO heatsinks on my two slots that had it, and also run an aftermarket on my third slot that did not have a mobo heatsink.

 

[ReBurn]

best option is buy the version without a heatsink, then buy aftermarket heatsink.
aftermarket > ssd-bundled heatsink > mobo heatsink

on my 990pro, going from mobo heatsink to aftermarket heatsink resulted in a massive temp decrease.

even on the mobo heatsink, temps never got high enough to throttle performance, but lower temps will help with longevity, which i do care about.

and if you can place your ssd close to a fan, that'll help a lot too.
i have two 990pros using the same heatsink, but one is right next to a 140mm intake fan, and one isnt. the one next to a fan runs waaay cooler, esp under load.

ps i use the thermalright hr10 2280. $10 or less.

Plus that heatsink can double as a weapon if you ever get into a pub brawl.

 

[V1LÆM]

I just use my motherboard heat sinks. I don’t think it really matters but motherboard is likely to have larger heatsinks so should be better.

 

[S0ULZB0URNE]

Cheap and efficient.
This works great

 

[LavitzSlambert]

SN850X is with a heat sink isn’t much more than one without. Solid buy and I’d go with the heat sink equipped one.