I bought a 2TB Samsung 9100 Pro without its factory heatsink as an additional drive for my PC. My ASUS PRIME X670-P WIFI motherboard included an M.2 heatsink, but it is currently installed on my Samsung 990 Pro 2TB. I plan to use the new drive for source code, Unity projects, video archives, and Steam games. What aftermarket heatsink would work well without interfering with my graphics card or other components? Also, can I temporarily move the motherboard's included M.2 heatsink from the 990 Pro onto the 9100 Pro?
4 Answers
The Arctic M2 Pro is a good option, and it has been used successfully with the 9100 Pro. Any reputable M.2 heatsink with a properly sized thermal pad should be adequate; the main things to check are clearance and whether the drive has components on both sides.
The motherboard’s included M.2 heatsink should work fine on the 9100 Pro. You can move it from the 990 Pro, provided the thermal pad is still in good condition and makes full contact with the SSD. Just make sure the heatsink does not conflict with the GPU or another component. For a cleaner setup, you could instead buy an aftermarket model such as the Arctic M2 Pro.
For normal gaming and everyday storage, an M.2 heatsink usually is not essential. However, a high-end PCIe Gen 5 drive like the 9100 Pro can produce substantially more heat during sustained workloads, such as large file transfers, video work, or compiling projects, so adding one is sensible.
Exactly—regular game installs may not matter much, but sustained workloads are where the heatsink becomes useful.
The Thermalright M.2 heatsinks are inexpensive and perform well. One of those should be a solid choice for the 9100 Pro, as long as you confirm it fits around your motherboard and graphics card.
That advice applies more to lower-power drives. High-end Gen 5 SSDs can definitely benefit from proper cooling when they are being pushed hard.