Page 3 - Test Results
Our test configuration is as follows:
CPU: Intel Core i5-6400
CPU Cooling: Reeven Justice RC-1204
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H170-D3HP
RAM: Kingston HyperX Fury HX426C15FBK4/32 4x8GB
Chassis: SilverStone Precision PS14
Power: SilverStone Nightjar NJ520 520W
Storage: Western Digital Black SN750 NVMe SSD 500GB
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro
In the tests today, only one benchmark was used to stress test the SSD with and without the SilverStone TP04. The focus of this test was to evaluate the performance of the cooling kit instead of the performance of the storage device itself. All tests were run in a custom-built computer to best reflect real life performance. The computer remained in the same location in the same room throughout all tests, and the ambient temperature was around 24c.
Due to the fact that my motherboard only has one M.2 SSD slot and it is right beside the CPU heatsink, I did not have lots of choices in terms of where to install the device. I found I was lucky because the Reeven Justice RC-1204 heatsink mounting bracket was slightly higher than the TP04, such that the cooling kit could be installed underneath without interference from the CPU heatsink. I mau have problems if the TP04 heatsink was taller or wider than its current form factor. If your motherboard has more than one M.2 slot, then you can choose one that has the best clearance to things like CPU, RAM, and graphics card.
For the idling test, my computer was turned on and idling for about one hour. For the high SSD load test, my computer was running ATTO Disk Benchmark with the I/O size configured to 512B to 64MB, and File Size configured to maximum 32GB. The above setting will stress test the SSD with a long enough time to stabilize the SSD temperature.
Now, let us take a look at the results above. For the idle test, the SSD-only scenario resulted in a recorded temperature of 45c, while adding the TP04 brought the temperature down to 38c. The difference was obvious even in the idle test where the SSD was not extensively used. For the load test, the results were even more dramatic. With the help of the TP04, the SSD temperature stabilized at 52c under high load, whereas the SSD without the heatsink hit a temperature of 75c. This is no doubt a significant difference.
When the SSD is in its idle state, the SSD temperature can be reduced with the TP04, but it seems the improvement is not necessarily important. However, when the SSD is at high load, the use of the TP04 is demonstrably essential. If you look at the Western Digital Black SN750 NVMe SSD 500GB's datasheet, the safe operating temperature is 70c maximum. This does not mean the SSD will be damaged when the operating temperature is beyond 70c, but the high temperature may reduce the reliability of SSD or cause its performance to throttle. Therefore, these test results suggest that the TP04 can effectively reduce the operating temperature of a M.2 SSD so the reliability and performance of the M.2 SSD can be realized. This is especially important for PCIe 4.0-based NVMe SSDs, which run considerably hotter than the PCIe 3.0-based SN750 I used for testing. The TP04 is an effective cooling solution.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Hardware; Installation
3. Test Results
4. Conclusion
