I'm building a new PC and found a discounted Crucial T700 Gen 5 SSD without a heatsink. I'm concerned about its temperatures because my case doesn't have room for a separate custom heatsink, so I'd need to rely on the heatsink included with my ASUS TUF Gaming B850 motherboard. The alternative I'm considering is a WD SN7100 Gen 4 drive, which costs about €30 more. Would the motherboard's M.2 heatsink be sufficient for the T700, or would the cooler-running Gen 4 drive be the safer choice?
3 Answers
The T700 should work well in the motherboard’s top PCIe 5.0 M.2 slot, since that board includes a dedicated heatsink. It’s also a higher-end drive with a DRAM cache, so there isn’t much reason to pay more for a slower Gen 4 model unless your workload specifically benefits from lower temperatures.
If you choose the T700, make sure the motherboard heatsink makes good contact with the drive and that there’s some airflow across the M.2 area. A small fan aimed toward the SSD can help just as much as, or more than, a larger heatsink if temperatures become a problem.
Gen 4 SSDs generally run cooler and can be better value for ordinary gaming and desktop use. However, Gen 5 drives are sometimes cheaper depending on current discounts, and the T700’s power consumption shouldn’t be a major issue in a desktop if it has decent airflow.
That’s helpful. I was mainly worried that the motherboard heatsink wouldn’t be enough for the T700 under sustained workloads.