I'm wondering about the M.2 Shield Frozr heatsink on my MSI X870e Carbon motherboard. I've heard that the single-SSD heatsink usually found on MSI motherboards doesn't perform as well and can actually raise SSD temperatures compared to OEM or aftermarket options. On the Carbon model, there's this large heatsink cover for 3 M.2 slots that I'm concerned might trap heat rather than help. Should I leave it on, take it off, or should I get a budget-friendly third-party heatsink for better cooling? My current SSDs include a Samsung 990 Pro (4TB), ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro (1TB), Kingston OM8PDP3512B (500GB), and WD_BLACK SN7100 (4TB).
4 Answers
I've been using the M.2 shields on my X870e with similar drives and haven't faced any issues. They seem to be doing their job!
In theory, the motherboard itself shouldn't cause any significant heat problems for power users. Just make sure your airflow is good.
Do you have high-performance workloads on your drives? Have you noticed any thermal throttling or specific issues with SSD performance? If you haven't had any problems, you might not need to worry too much. Just keep an eye on the temps to ensure they’re within a safe range!
There are many models from MSI, but that heatsink design looks adequate. It should be fine if you're not experiencing any thermal issues.
I haven't paid much attention to my SSD temps compared to my CPU and GPU, but maybe I should start monitoring them to see if they're getting too hot.