Michael wrote: > On Saturday, 8 June 2024 23:41:58 BST Dale wrote: >> Michael wrote: >>> On Saturday, 8 June 2024 18:46:05 BST Dale wrote: >>>> I got the little m.2 thing today. It's a lot smaller than I expected. >>>> A whole lot smaller. It's fairly tiny actually. They look bigger in >>>> pictures or on video. This reminds me of the discussion on the number >>>> of transistors on a chip. I bet they packed tight in there. I bought a >>>> heat sink that goes on each individual chip, one on controller, one on >>>> data chip, two if it has two data chips. Anyway, it has only two chips >>>> so I got extra heat sinks. LOL They fairly large since the mobo has >>>> nothing on top of them. I got plenty of room. That said, anyone else >>>> notice they make heat sinks for those things that have heat pipes and >>>> itty bitty fans?? O_O It does make them run cool tho. :/ I like my >>>> little heat sinks better. Pretty good size and no moving parts. They >>>> come in a couple colors. Linky. >>>> >>>> https://www.ebay.com/itm/254119864180 >>>> >>>> Oh, for those reading this. The data controller chip is a little >>>> thinner than the data chip. I confirmed that on mine. If you don't use >>>> a heatsink that has a thicker pad for that, it leaves a gap and the >>>> controller chip doesn't make contact which means it runs hotter. As I >>>> mentioned earlier, the controller seems to produce more heat so it needs >>>> the heatsink more than the data chip. On videos, some people use a >>>> additional pad to make up the difference on the controller chip. >>> Additional pad, or alternatively two pads of different thicknesses, with >>> the thicker pad fitted on the controller chip. >>> >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIUU5ogVHg8 >> I think this is the one I watched. I'm not 100% certain. I watched >> several different ones including reviews etc. >> >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8Z09nU554Q >> >>>> I >>>> noticed on a couple heatsinks, they mention the difference and show they >>>> use a pad that makes full contact on both chips. It looks like the >>>> thermal pad is thicker and more squishy. One I saw looks like it is >>>> just a little thicker on the controller end. >>> Thermal pads are spongy and compressible. When you screw down the metal >>> heatsink on the NVMe stick you should find the thermal pad area over the >>> NAND chips will just squish more than over the controller. Not sure if >>> it makes any difference in performance using a single thickness thermal >>> pad, as long as the thickness of it is enough to make good contact with >>> the controller chip, after it has squished over the NAND chips. I would >>> think for normal PC operation using a different heatsink to what the MoBo >>> comes with would be an overkill and it may not make much of a difference >>> anyway. I fitted a single thickness thermal pad on my NVMe and it idles >>> at ~46-47°C pushing up to ~54-57°C when being written to in daily >>> operations. I haven't run any benchmark load tests to see how hot it may >>> get, but with the above temperature range I would think the thermal pad >>> is working fine. :-) >> I think it depends on the thickness of the pad. Some pads look really >> thin on cheaper devices while some appear thicker on ones costing a >> little bit more. A thicker pad has more ability to fill in the >> difference with likely not even a lot of pressure. A thin pad or what >> some refer to as tape which is not compressible much at all would likely >> not work as well unless you either put a lot of pressure on it or added >> a little pad to make up the difference. > As I understand it the tape Vs thermal pad is not just a question of > thickness. They are for different purposes and used in different places. > > The tape is for electrical insulation and perhaps (some) thermal > conductivity. > It is placed underneath the M.2 stick, when the stick is fitted inside a > heatsink case. > > The thermal pad is placed on top of the chips and below the heatsink's heat > dissipating plate. The branded M.2 OEM sticker on the chips is meant to > offer > electrical insulation, while the thermal pad is there to conduct heat away > from the chips and transfer it to the heatsink. > > The stock MoBo M.2 heatsink is often screwed down on top of the M.2 stick, > but > some makes/models may provide a wrap around heatsink enclosure as many > aftermarket heatsinks do. Beware PCIe 5.0 M.2s run hotter than PCie 4.0, or > 3.0, especially above 1TB and will require a heatsink or will overheat and > end > up throttling themselves.
Some tapes are used as a adhesive, double sided, to hold a heatsink in place. I've used several that are very thin. Most are as thin as commonly used Scotch tape which isn't used for thermal stuff naturally. Basically, they thin which is why heat does transfer but I'm sure they are made different than say double sided Scotch tape. Thing is, they tend to be permanent. If you want to remove it, it can be done but can damage a chip if not careful. Little buggers stick very well, some at least. Linky. https://www.ebay.com/itm/387019581145 I tend to like pads when there is a way to mount the heatsink, screws or something. I use those on transistors and such. On occasion I use thermal compound like was more common way back. Still works and is even used on CPUs today. Sometimes when I don't have a way to mount and need a adhesive and know I won't ever need to remove it, I use a thermal glue. That works well for small stuff. It's what I used when putting the little heatsinks on the little voltage regulators on the NAS1 mobo. The thing I like about the m.2 heatsinks that wrap around, no adhesive needed at all. The screws hold everything together. That to me is the best way. If you want to remove it for some reason, it is easy to do and no risk of damage. As you point out, one pad just needs to be a little thicker, the 1.0mm is the one I saw mentioned in videos. Another way, two pads. One say .5mm and the other 1.5mm which gives you the 1.0mm difference. Biggest thing, both chips make contact, whatever method is used. I wonder, why don't they make both chips the same thickness???? >> I did a ebay search and found >> the generic pads coming in from thicknesses of as little as .2mm to as >> thick as like 2mm or so. The 2mm thick one has lots of wiggle room to >> contact both chips and easily I'd think. The .2mm not so much but could >> if installed right, I guess. Tape would likely be the worst since it >> doesn't compress much if any. > I used calipers to measure the gap between the stock heatsink and the M.2 > stick, then bought a thermal pad of the right thickness (1.0mm) to ensure > contact with the controller chip. If you're not gaming, or writing/reading > 10s of GBs of data at a time, the stock thermal pad should be more than > adequate. A case fan blowing air on the heatsinks will help a great deal too > and stop thermal saturation. That's what I like about the heatsink I bought. It comes in pieces. One piece for the data chip, just one in my case but it has enough for two chips, the 2TB version, and one, maybe two, for the controller part. The heatsink I picked I think comes with tape. I'm not real thrilled about it being difficult to remove but it should cool very well. I'm pondering buying a wrap around. I have a sneaky suspicion that at least one of my packages is going to be stuck in the state USPS hub. I already have one stuck there not related to computer stuff. I got time to order and it get here. I like to keep everything cool in my system. It's one reason I think my rigs run until they are lacking in power to the point they are no longer useful. I like lots of fans in my cases and add heatsinks to things that gets to warm for my liking. If can't put my finger on it and leave it there, it usually gets a heatsink of some type if possible. I also use a IR temp sensor too. I still can't get over the size of that m.2 stick tho. Dale :-) :-)
