Relatively quiet 40/50mm fan for cooling SSD?

[Valkyrie]

Thank sswilson, I might have to ante up and get some of that stuff. I too occasionally find the need to stick heat sinks here and there pushing the clocks.

 

[sswilson]

It's expensive, but it works like a charm, and it's pretty much a lifetime supply.

Did some quick testing last night and managed to drop 7 deg C by pegging my main radiator fans at 100%. Obviously not a permanent solution to high temps, but an indication that there's room for improvement with a heatsink + direct active cooling. Looks like my amazon shipment (including the stand-offs and m.2 heatsink) will be in today so I can get a couple more data points.

 

[Valkyrie]

That's pretty good for just upping the airflow..I think this will go well.

 

[sswilson]

It's expensive, but it works like a charm, and it's pretty much a lifetime supply.

Did some quick testing last night and managed to drop 7 deg C by pegging my main radiator fans at 100%. Obviously not a permanent solution to high temps, but an indication that there's room for improvement with a heatsink + direct active cooling. Looks like my amazon shipment (including the stand-offs and m.2 heatsink) will be in today so I can get a couple more data points.

That's pretty good for just upping the airflow..I think this will go well.

I need to qualify that 7c..... it wasn't 7c off of idle temps, it was 7c off of the peak temp during testing.

 

[Valkyrie]

I always assume that, because that's what matters...usually....but I know I shouldn't assume....:biggrin:

 

[sswilson]

Well... that's interesting.....



That's the final max temp after 3X CDM runs without the heatsink attached....



That's the same testing parameters with the heatsink attached (no extra airflow yet)

Not only are the temps higher with the heatsink attached, the run temp profile is changed significantly with peaks remaining a lot more constant, and valleys taking much longer to get to lower temps.

Complete guess on my part, but I wonder if the full length heatsink is causing higher overall temps from the storage chips to be felt across the controller?

On the plus side... the heatsink was hot to the touch after the run so I at least know it's wicking away heat and thus should be affected by an active airflow source.

 

[Lpfan4ever]

Definitely just because you have a mass that's retaining heat without being able to dissipate it fast enough. It looked like it took longer to get to that higher temp at least, so some active cooling on it will help for sure.

 

[sswilson]

That's more like it....

Same parameters with that AMD fan running @ 2100RPM. CDM reading never even got close to 50C.

Unfortunately, that's going to have to do for a week or so. The 50mm Fractal fan isn't due in until tomorrow and I'm heading out first thing in the AM for a while.

 

[sswilson]

I'm back home so I was able to get the Fractal installed and get some final numbers that I'm pretty happy with.

Current max temp on the T-Probe is 54c with the fan profile not kicking in until 42c and running linearly up to max RPM of 3500. Seems to be running somewhere around 2300 - 2500 RPM under max load which is noticeable if I'm trying to hear it, but not so loud that I'll notice it kicking in if I'm not paying attention.



That's not the whole story though.... Those numbers are from the T-Probe I affixed to the bottom of the controller, and while they track well with the SSD's internal sensor (presumably what the controller would use to trigger any kind of throttling), they're higher than the readings it gives out.




The max temps I'm seeing from the internal sensor have dropped from a high of 72c all the way down to a peak of 46c once the combination of heatsink and active cooling have been applied. I'm not claiming any quantifiable performance boost, but I'm a lot more comfortable with peak temps hovering between the 45 - 55c range on a system that does have the potential of automatic throttling due to temps.

I wasn't in the mood to make a big deal out of the hardware pics so you'll have to accept some quick and dirty pics of questionable quality...



In case you couldn't envision what I was talking about when I mentioned ordering some stand-offs from amazon, here's a quick pic of it... because of the placement of the fan, I needed something that would allow the fan to clear the top of the case's USB 3.0 header cable. The kit I ordered had several different lengths so I was able to use the one that gave me just enough clearance.



Quick closeup of the fractal fan on the chipset fan mount that shipped with the ASUS MB in my sig. I suspect it's included because they think folks will be concerned about the high(ish) PCH temps that appear to be normal for the board, but it's well suited for cooling an SSD as well. It's also light enough metal that it can be bent a bit in order to direct the airflow exactly where you want it.



Just a quick shot of how it fits in with the rest of the build. (And yeah... I've still got a couple of wires to tie off.... ).

Anyways... as I said, not completely sure it's going to provide me with any performance boost, but having seen temps I wasn't comfortable with, and knowing that SSDs can be affected by throttling, I couldn't resist trying to throw some active cooling onto it.

 

[KaptCrunch]

fanless cooling

IF want real silent active cooling use a peltier with heatsink/waterblock on hot side not cheap $110cad

cheaper 42.04cad

or $10 but is 40mmx40mm make a special heatsink for M.2