WD Black is running hot

real_aurgathor

I started setting up a new computer using an NVME drive, but I noticed that the operating temps of the drive is a bit (?!) on the hot side. I had the drive for quite some time (it was a Black Friday purchase) so returning is not an option and aside from the high temps. it seems to work just fine. I did not verify that it's really that high, but since the other drives are at normal temps, and the NVME drive is much cooler during idle, for now I have to assume that the temperature readings are correct.

Questions:

Is that normal for a WD Black NVME drive? I know that certain solid state electronics (especially power electronics) can operate well in excess off 100C, but I don't think that applies to flash chips.
Are there heat sinks that could be attached?
How much effect would removing the label have? Although I have a feeling that may void the warranty. :

The NVME drive is on a PCIe-Bifurcation X16 to X4X4X4X4 adapter card: https://www.amazon.com/Adapter-Converter-Structure-Expansion-Indicators/dp/B09MRSJX9P since the mobo does not have an NVME slot.

Active and idle pictures:

Guy54435

real_aurgathor Have you tried moving the card to another slot so air flows differently across it? It looks like that adapter would restrict airflow to the drive.

Rook

I have a WD Black SN850x and it never gets that hot.
Mine sits on the MB and came with it's own heatsink.
After running some speed tests on the drive (read and write activity at 100%), the highest I've seen it go is 48 C. Usually it sits at around 35 C.

real_aurgathor

Rook

In retrospect, I should've gotten the version with the heatsink, but I guess there is probably no way to undo that transaction any more.

Of course, I'll be more careful in the future, and if there are 2 versions, I'll get the one with the heatsink.

real_aurgathor

Guy54435

The mobo has only two x16 slots, with the slots arranged as: x8, x16_1, x1, x16_2, x8, PCI. And because of the slightly wider than double wide video card, the video card would not leave sufficient space between the video card and the NVME card if the video card was installed in the x16_1 slot,

So for the time being the only viable configuration is the NVME card in x16_1 and the video card in x16_2. I do have other video cards, but for now I would like to leave it as-is, since changing HW in that computer is a royal PITA, and it's the most finicky mobo I've ever had, albeit it supposed to be a capable one with up to 256 GB of onboard memory.

Octavean

Mate, have you had that Quad NVMe PCIe Adapter card long? The reason I ask is that seems to be an OEM card that has some variation. You’ll note the card has a fan header. Some versions of the card come with a heat sink only, a heat sink fan combo or no cooling solution. One would think that finding a suitable HSF combo would be difficult if it didn’t come with the card.

There are individual NVMe heat sinks you can buy and some of them may have a fan too.

real_aurgathor

Octavean
Strictly speaking, I purchased that adapter quite some time ago [maybe as much as 6 months], but I installed it only yesterday. And so that purchase is also something I can't undo.

I'll look into clip-on heatsinks, and possibly a fan over this drive. I have some other NVME drives (most were removed as part of an upgrade) and I've never seen temps anywhere near to this level with any other NVME drive. Of course those were 'regular' NVME drives, not high performance/gamer varieties.

Guy54435

real_aurgathor If you can't change transaction, you could always sell it to someone and get the one you think you need.

Rook

On that MB, yeah. My MB has heatsinks for most of the NVME slots. A NVME with its own heatsink won't fit.

Anyway, you could check Amazon for a compatible heatsink for that drive. It should help some.
Or at least try and get more air flowing around it to see if that helps any.

Edit: I just looked and they're pretty cheap, starting at around $9. Just make sure you have the space around the NVMe so that the heatsink won't be touching anything.

Octavean

For what it’s worth, I have a couple of these NVMe heat sinks:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BNZYFW88?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1

I used them because my UGreen DXP8800 8 bay NAS has a small tight space for the NVMe drives with no airflow.

Keep in mind that your NVMe adapter card still has the fan header. You might be able to attach a fan to the card header and mount it in the case blowing across the heat sink.

Edit:

Actually, an NVMe heat sink fan combo could be powered by the header on the card too