SFF.Network EK releases M.2 SSD heatsinks



PRESS RELEASE:

A press release, when marked as such, is posted direct from the manufacturer and is unedited. Thus, they may not reflect the view of SmallFormFactor.net or its authors. SmallFormFactor.net is in no way responsible for any part of this promotion, but we thought our readers might be interested!

EK Water Blocks, the Slovenia-based premium computer liquid cooling gear manufacturer, is releasing a passive heatsink for M.2 NVMe Next Generation Form Factor SSDs. Although it’s not a water cooling part, it is a much needed aesthetical and functional heatsink for many PC owners. It is not a secret that M.2 NVMe SSDs can overheat very easily and be subdued to thermal throttling, thus losing performance. The heatsink brings 8-11°C improvement in SSDs temperatures, or even more with sufficient air flow.

Read more here.
 

Jonny727272

Airflow Optimizer
Feb 26, 2017
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It definitely looks pretty, but only the Asus Strix board has a M.2 slot on the front where this could be used. It's unfortunate that more motherboards aren't designed like it.
 

jeshikat

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but only the Asus Strix board has a M.2 slot on the front where this could be used.

ASRock is pretty good about top-side M.2 ports, they have the Z270M-ITX/ac, H270M-ITX/ac, X99E-ITX/ac, X299E-ITX/ac, and H110M-STX with them.

single sided only

There's a backplate. It won't be super effective, but there's not much space available for anything better.
 

VegetableStu

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Aug 18, 2016
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ahh dang was referring about the SSDs themselves (the part about the backplate I already got at first) then I showed myself after finding out on google that Samsung's and Crucial's are already single sided. Not sure why I remember them as double sided.
 
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matt3o

SFF Lingo Aficionado
Jun 29, 2017
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It definitely looks pretty, but only the Asus Strix board has a M.2 slot on the front where this could be used. It's unfortunate that more motherboards aren't designed like it.

I've built myself a custom SSD heatsink and put it on gigabyte with M.2 on the bottom. It works beautifully. The one in the picture doesn't seem so thick not to fit between the motherboard and the panel (mine looks taller).
 
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jeshikat

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ahh dang was referring about the SSDs themselves (the part about the backplate I already got at first) then I showed myself after finding out on google that Samsung's and Crucial's are already single sided. Not sure why I remember them as double sided.

Yup, the density of high layer count 3D NAND is pretty crazy. Even the 2TB Samsung 960 Pro is single-sided!
 

BirdofPrey

Standards Guru
Sep 3, 2015
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single sided only; how many 0.5TB and above SSDs are there that are single sided? o_o
Most of the high end M.2 SSDs that would need a heatsink like this are single sided.
Remember that one of the biggest use cases for the development of M.2 was for laptops, so it's in manufacturers' best interests to keep thickness down.
 
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Reldey

Master of Cramming
Feb 14, 2017
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So this wouldn't work with the back port of the Asus Z270i? Only the front (top) port?
 

jeshikat

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In theory this could also work with backside-mounted M.2 ports, but it'll be entirely dependent on mobo cutout or standoff height.
 

Josh | NFC

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Most of the high end M.2 SSDs that would need a heatsink like this are single sided.
Remember that one of the biggest use cases for the development of M.2 was for laptops, so it's in manufacturers' best interests to keep thickness down.

+1

The Samsung 960 pro and Evo 1TB are single sided. I've actually never seen a double sided VNAND M.2
 

Reldey

Master of Cramming
Feb 14, 2017
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+1

The Samsung 960 pro and Evo 1TB are single sided. I've actually never seen a double sided VNAND M.2


Oh hey! Would you think these would fit behind the motherboard on the S4 Mini? I would have figured they would not, but haven't been able to accurately pull up the model and test it.
 

Josh | NFC

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Oh hey! Would you think these would fit behind the motherboard on the S4 Mini? I would have figured they would not, but haven't been able to accurately pull up the model and test it.

Absolutely they do!

Been using them on motherboards for S4 MINI customers for a while now, and haven't found a motherboard yet where they don't fit.




Oh wait...are you talking about the EK heatsinks? I wish...no way do I think they will they fit. Cool mod idea though!

The good news is you get plenty of airflow to them on the backside of the S4 MINI:

 
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br3nd0

Airflow Optimizer
Sep 29, 2016
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Yeah @ 4.2mm in height the only ITX boards you'd get to use these things on are the Asrock Z270 and H270 ITX, where the M.2 slot is on the top. Ebay have similar generic products to the above in copper, starting at 2mm in height, which should work for boards with M.2 connector underneath.
 

matt3o

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Jun 29, 2017
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Yeah @ 4.2mm in height the only ITX boards you'd get to use these things on are the Asrock Z270 and H270 ITX, where the M.2 slot is on the top. Ebay have similar generic products to the above in copper, starting at 2mm in height, which should work for boards with M.2 connector underneath.

oh okay, so I understand the problem is between the motherboard and the SSD not between the SSD and the case.

My custom SSD heatsink is just "glued" (with a special double sided tape) onto the SSD and doesn't need a backplate, I guess one could do the same with this one.
 
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Boil

SFF Guru
Nov 11, 2015
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oh okay, so I understand the problem is between the motherboard and the SSD not between the SSD and the case.

My custom SSD heatsink is just "glued" (with a special double sided tape) onto the SSD and doesn't need a backplate, I guess one could do the same with this one.

No, there is no issue between the MB & the SSD...

Front or back of the MB, the clearance between the back of the SSD & the MB is the same...

The issue IS between the SSD & the chassis; if there is no cutout on the MB tray, this might not fit...

However, if there IS a cutout (and most these days encompass the M.2 area as well) then this should fit fine, depending on how much clearance the MB tray cutout provides...

That 'special double sided tape' is called thermal tape, and it is included for both the heatsink & the backplate in the EK kit...
 
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Reldey

Master of Cramming
Feb 14, 2017
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Absolutely they do!

Been using them on motherboards for S4 MINI customers for a while now, and haven't found a motherboard yet where they don't fit.




Oh wait...are you talking about the EK heatsinks? I wish...no way do I think they will they fit. Cool mod idea though!

The good news is you get plenty of airflow to them on the backside of the S4 MINI:

The great airflow to the back of the motherboard was one of the many reasons I preordered one, so shouldn't be an issue anyway, just thought I'd ask! To clarify, I was asking if the EK heatsink could fit on the back connector between the mobo and the S4 chasis.
 

matt3o

SFF Lingo Aficionado
Jun 29, 2017
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Front or back of the MB, the clearance between the back of the SSD & the MB is the same...

I ended up adding some thermal paste on the top of the heatsink so it actually touches the chassis for even better dissipation... :)
 
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