The current generation of high-performance PCIe 4.0 SSDs are state-of-the-art and lead by motherboard manufacturers. On the other hand, we see the chipsets and their problems to keep them in passive mode and the SSDs going the same way, but in the opposite direction, since until now thermal cooling solutions have been able to preserve their security. But that ended this year 2022.
Temperature, dissipation and consumption
There is, at the moment, no PCIe 5.0 SSD as they are in development, but not so much for the speed that NAND Flash can support, but for the controllers that will keep the data flow in low-key conditions. correct values.
To be precise and as we saw a few months ago, the quintessential manufacturer of this component, Phison, has already warned of what is to come: SSDs for PCIe 5.0 will consume 14 watts or more, while PCIe 6.0 will double or something else. . To give us an idea of what that means, it’s like cooling an Intel Core i5-1135G7 laptop with one-fifth of the surface area to fit and with poorly performing thermal pads.
Knowing this, another factor must be taken into account, where is an SSD cooled? Or in other words, where does the heat go? You might think that these questions have a simple answer: to your radiator, but no. The problem is that, according to the latest studies, the 30% It is dissipated by the M.2 connector itself as it provides the power and the loss is high, but the 70% The rest is shared by the heat sink and surprisingly the anchor screw.
What is happening here? Well, with this data and knowing that NAND Flash degrades quickly from 100 ºC and that 125 ºC failure
The solution: active radiator on SSD
Jonsbo was the first to present a high performance active heatsink for SSD knowing and being up to date with everything that has been explained previously. This is not the first active heatsink for SSD, but it is the first that will be able to do so with the new PCIe 5.0 SSD and surely with the low SSD PCIe 6.0.
The thermal solution is simple and relies on an aluminum heat sink that presumably incorporates (not disclosed) a heat pipe that is simultaneously cooled by a small fan. This fan turns no less than 3,000 rpm and generates 4.81 CFM for 27.3 dBA. The heat sink is fully covered to maximize airflow and expel it sideways toward the top of the chassis.
The solution was already seen years ago in motherboards to dissipate the heat of old chipsets, only that this option is more advanced, although it sins in larger measures (76 x 24.5 x 70.5 mm). If this continues we will no doubt see small size and vertical high performance heatsinks for SSDs like DFI’s options for their LanParty which were totally new to the motherboard industry where they looked like CPU heatsinks. instead of chipsets. It is even possible that at CES 2022 we will see more options like this, because like it or not, performance will now be linked to greater consumption for each generation until we find a technology. which allows us to significantly improve efficiency.
