I'm trying to figure out which NVMe drive gets hotter between the Crucial P5 Plus 2TB and the Samsung 990 Pro 4TB. I have a non-actively cooled slot on the back of my Gigabyte Aorus B650i motherboard where I'll be installing one of these drives. I recently bought the 990 Pro to expand my storage, but I've heard the P5 Plus might run cooler. My case, an ASUS P201, doesn't have enough space for traditional fans back there, so I'm wondering if I should use some Gelid ultimate thermal pads to mitigate heat. I plan to upgrade my 2TB drive in the future, and it would be great not to have to disassemble my entire setup again. What does everyone think?
2 Answers
It really depends on how you'll be using the drives. If you're doing tasks that require constant read/write, that can generate more heat. Have you considered what exactly you're using the NVMe for? for a lot of users who aren't pushing their drives hard, heat might not even be an issue. Why not consider a Gen3 or Gen4 drive if heat is a big concern? They might handle the workload better in a tight space.
Just a heads up, your board has only one PCIe slot that runs at Gen 5. Are you sure that back port is Gen 5 too? You might not even be maximizing the Samsung's potential there, so it sounds like the P5 Plus might be the better choice for that spot.
Thanks for pointing that out! Looks like the P5 Plus will go in that slot after all.
I have sustained workloads like compiling Blender and occasionally working with UE5 for big projects. I figured the fast drives would keep up with my needs. But I get what you mean about Gen3 or Gen4—maybe I should've thought that through!