I bought a popular Sabrent M.2 enclosure and initially it seemed to work normally. After copying files for about 10 minutes, the SSD began thermal throttling. I disconnected and reconnected it, then monitored the drive with CrystalDiskInfo. Even with no active transfers, the SSD sits around 65–70°C and feels extremely hot. I have tried different USB cables and ports without any change. The drive is an older Crucial M.2 SATA SSD, while the enclosure is advertised for NVMe drives. The enclosure itself stays cool when connected without the SSD. What could be causing the high idle temperature?
2 Answers
That temperature is not normal for an idle drive. After a large transfer, the SSD may continue background cleanup for a while, but it should eventually drop substantially. If it stays near 70°C for hours, the likely problem is poor heat transfer inside the enclosure—usually the thermal pad is not actually pressing against the controller or NAND. Check the pad thickness and placement, and make sure the SSD is seated flat against the enclosure shell.
The enclosure remains cool when I connect it without the SSD, so the drive appears to be where the heat is coming from.
First verify that the enclosure and SSD use the same protocol. An older Crucial M.2 SATA drive will not normally work in an NVMe-only enclosure; M.2 describes the physical shape, not whether the drive is SATA or PCIe. If the drive is actually being detected, confirm the exact model and check whether the enclosure supports SATA drives. If it is compatible, the enclosure may simply have inadequate cooling or a faulty thermal pad, and replacing the enclosure is probably safer than running the SSD at 70°C idle.
It has been several hours since the last transfer and it is still extremely hot to the touch.