XPG SX8200 Temperature Tests - Does the heatsink actually work? 

I'm thinking about cutting this heatsink in half and not putting it on the NAND. Any issues with that?

I wouldn't expect that to cause any benefit, and it might on the whole make the controller run hotter, as if it's cut down, it'll hardly have any more surface area than the controller itself, plus the inefficiency conducting heat through the adhesive pad. I suspect the benefit of the heat spreader is from spreading the heat between the controller and flash chips. It certainly isn't increasing the total surface area very much 😅

@@StephensThoughts I just noticed my mistake, this acting more as a heat spreader and not a heatsink. I might just go sans heat spreader for now.

Yeah, sans heat spreader seems to be a pretty good way to go 👍

@@mikehobi You could just remove the adhesive pad on the part over the NAND so the heatspreader hopefully won't touch the nand, but only the controller and ram. That way it might actually cool the latter better since heat won't be transferred directly from the NAND.

Yeah, course. But video with more graphs and *less face cam* would be better.

@ASHOT3359 having watched back this and my SSD review several times, I completely agree. So I'll definitely be taking that in account as I edit future videos 😅

mantab

There definitely are some limitations to my testing, not the least of which being that I don't know where on the drive the temperature sensor that reports to programs like HWMonitor is located. But it should still be somewhat useful. And if you haven't yet, check out the pinned comment for more discussion on the ideal temperature for NAND chips.

Very nice! Are you getting the original 8200 or the newer 8200 Pro?

@@StephensThoughts Literally just ordered the pro version today. Hopefully get it this week and will report back as to how good it is. Specs on paper look good though!

Very nice! I got mine before the Pro came out, but it seems like it's all improvements over the original 8200.

Stephen's Thoughts its great! Received mine today along with a barrowch thermal monitor to maintain temps. Be interesting to see what temps these get to under load (gaming load).

Higher temps definitely make sense for your system, as your 1080 Ti will definitely put out more heat than the 1060 and 960 in my test systems. And it's great to see the overall takeaway validated in another system!

That's definitely a better location thermally for an M.2 drive, but I kind of like having it hidden. And yeah, calling it a heatsink is perhaps a bit too generous. It's more like a heat spreader.

Since I'm in the States, I have no idea if the NHS offers such a service. I also haven't really looked into surgery options here since I'm fairly short on cash and time. Maybe after I finish my degree I'll look into it When I was younger, I did vision therapy to try to address it, but it didn't fully correct it. So it's a good thing that I've gotten pretty used to monocular vision!

@@StephensThoughts You are a great guy. I like your response to the gentleman who asked about your eyes.(He cares) Some people will feel offended.

What was your results

I installed mines with the heat sink and my computer was on fire

@@DJ1Hands1on That is not good news. I have not installed mine yet. I can't afford to be without my Mac Pro, so I am waiting to potentially buy a new one (when Apple makes the rest of their announcements later this year), then once that is operating, I will feel less nervous about tearing apart my old Mac Pro. I plan to upgrade the SSD as well as the CPU to a 12-core. I hope both of those steps do not cause overheating.

Thank you I ended up taken it out and selling the hard drive I’ll just buy and external ssd

so which one is better? with or without for laptop

@@mozack7174 as the video showed, it's a bit better with a heatsink on, I put it on mine, and I haven't had any problems with high temperatures over load, it should be a noticable improvement

@@mozack7174 I checked other videos as well, and they too showed that it keeps better temperatures with the heatsink *on*

thank you for the info ;)

@@mozack7174 no worries man, have a nice day!

Well, I wouldn't expect either config to cause any thermal issues. I would probably start without the heatsink and as long as the temperatures aren't approaching thermal limits, I'd just leave it off. Though either way, if it's not too hot, I wouldn't worry about it.

@@StephensThoughts well i decided to put the heatsink on. Idle system gives me temps on the 30s while after a session full load gaming i get 51-52c. Not bad i think

Those are some good temperatures! Though a bit odd that the heatsink had no impact. What sort of sequential speeds did you get?

@@StephensThoughts Maybe the heatsink would work better if there was more space/air around it. Anyway, I'm getting 3352 sequential read and 2145 write speeds, so definitely can't complain.

It probably would work better if there was some airflow over the heatsink. But regardless, it doesn't seem to negatively impact performance, so I guess we're golden!

@@StephensThoughts I agree and just to update you I noticed that after removing the heatsink about 24 hours ago I notice today that the temperatures are in fact just a bit cooler with idle being 31 degrees and general use going up to 36 degrees. That said I have not done any stress testing today, so maybe the heatsink was insulating the drive yesterday somewhat and trapping at least some heat making it run slightly hotter. BTW, I think running a stress test to heat the SSD softens the glue on the heatsink making it a bit easier to remove. I also left the SSD attached to the motherboard when removing the heatsink, effectively acting as a second pair of hands, and just applied a steady upward pressure on one side until I could feel the glue starting to release. Once a small part became free it soon made taking the whole thing off quite easy, although I too caused some small buckles to the heatsink but as I wont be using the heatsink again I am not that bothered. As for the macbook guy, I wonder if his heatsink was actually touching the bottom cover and creating heatsoak which just makes everything run hotter and hotter?

Hi Paul! I'm looking into upgrading my ssd of my xps 15 also. Everywhere I look the Samsung Evo is always the recommended one, but now the ADATA is popping up and I also came accross the Corsair MP510. Do you have any recommendations? The last two seem to be at the same price range and really close on specs and performance. I'm looking for 2TB capacity and I mostly do video work! Thanks in advance

The TP02 looks like a big step up over the stock heatsink! It actually has fins to increase the surface area, which is critical for heat transfer. Of course, comparing my results with other people's results won't be super accurate due to changes in ambient temperature and airflow patterns. For your particular situation, I'm not sure a heatsink would really help since, unlike in a desktop, it doesn't have airflow going through it. Without airflow, I don't think a heatsink will do much good. Plus, an enclosure is basically just a heat trap unless it has thermal pads to conduct SSD heat to the outside of the enclosure. That said, I'd still expect the drive to be able to operate under those conditions without failing, even if it does run slower due to thermals.

Thanks for the feedback! I do think I've made improvements to the decor since this video, though my options are somewhat limited while I'm living in student housing. Once I graduate and get my own place, I expect I'll be able to do much more with the backdrop. Fingers crossed, anyway 😁

@@StephensThoughts I wish you all the luck in your future efforts. a backdrop with your 'logo' on it will take it to the next level just like that! Keep up the good work kiddo! You have a very unique and eloquent way to analyze your content which hard to come by in this Age of .. stupid 😅

I don't think Gen 3 drives like the SX8200 generate enough heat to worry about thermals, with the possible exception of exceptionally I/O-intensive use cases. I would pick the slots based on lane support. Some boards don't have as many PCIe lanes going to the lower slot, which would throttle the SX8200 more than it would the SN550. On my B550 board, they both support Gen 3x4, but the lower goes through the chipset. In that scenario, I wouldn't expect it to make a significant difference.

I'm not entirely sure about the Pro models, but the SX8200 and Gammix S11 non-pro, according to Anandtech, were basically the same drive, but with different branding and a different heatsink. And I don't see a performance difference between the pro models on ADATA's spec sheets. www.anandtech.com/show/13112/the-adata-sx8200-gammix-s11-nvme-ssd-review The main difference seems to be that the S11 ships with a heatsink attached, so if your motherboard already has a heatsink, you'd probably be better off with the 8200 so you can attach your motherboard heatsink directly to the drive.

I used CPUID HWMonitor to read my SSD temps. And for performance, I would probably use the aftermarket heatsink (as long as it fits under the graphics card) as it has a much larger surface area.

It really comes down to current pricing and what you're doing with the computer. If the prices are close, I'd jump up to NVMe just for fun, but I wouldn't expect a big improvement to performance. (You might like to check out my full review of this drive where I talk more about this.)

Stephen's Thoughts The Gigabyte is 56$ and adata is 48$. Gigabyte is actualy the same price to Samsung 860 Evo SATA (here in my area)

Without knowing the specific gigabyte model, I'd say either one is probably a good choice. You might want to compare random read/write performance, flash type, warranty period, and of course, aesthetics.

Hmm... You probably could, although it might not be as effective. The heatsink ships with adhesive that's cut to line up with the controller and flash chips on the SX8200. So if the chips aren't in similar positions on both drives, it probably won't be as effective as it is on the SX8200. I think you'll find a decent shot of the adhesive towards the end of my SX8200 unboxing video, so you can see the shape of the adhesive. Additionally, some SSD's ship with a sticker on the chips, which would further reduce the effectiveness of the heatsink unless you remove the sticker.

@@StephensThoughts thanks

@@StephensThoughts I just got this drive and good work for giving information about temps because so many reviews and no one care to give that information. My drive came with 0 power on hours but with like 450GB read and 450GB Write not those specific numbers but i think those was for testing like some endurance test done by the company because the box was really closed and was 0 power on hours so i think was not being used before. Now the drive works perfectly well. But i am using it without a heatsink because i don't know if the heatsink that is being giving in the package is well enough I would like to try it but my worries is that if i ever wanna change it for some better heatsink with thermal pads i am going to able to take it off? I am asking this because i saw that the heatsink adhesive glue or tape is quite strong and my worries is that if i change a bigger heatsink i cannot pull off the one that is being giving and end up breaking the M.2. Do you believe i am exaggerating or is possible to take the heatsink off if i ever wanted to change it?

Based on my testing, the heatsink is good enough to make a substantial improvement, at least in a case with good airflow. But it's not really necessary, as PCIe 3 drives still don't produce enough heat to cause issues, at least not under typical PC use and with some airflow. After all, the gold standard for NVMe SSD's, the Samsung 970 series, don't ship with heatsinks at all. Although you are right that once it's on, it's not going to easily come off, it probably won't really matter whether you install it or leave it bare. To my mind, it's mostly an aesthetic choice.

@@StephensThoughts I got the 1 TB version Iddle temp is at 46C and when i use crystaldiskmark it goes up to 54. With what i have seen in the web my iddle temps is a bit high, my PC case have 3 fans fully blasting at front but still temps is at 46C and the M.2 is close to the CPU not down there with the graphics card. I do live in the tropics but is ok at night still sits on 46C and i don't have air airconditioner so room temperature maybe like 30? Should i be worry? Thanks for your replies btw.

You've probably already figured something out, but as a general tip, heat (like from a hair dryer) weakens adhesives, but it'll probably still be pretty tough to get off.

Just as a general rule, use heat from a heat gun or hair dryer to soften the adhesive and pull it off. Don't expect the original heatsink to be usable after removal though 😅 and you'll probably need to use some isopropyl alcohol on a paper towel or q-tip to remove some adhesive residue from the drive.

Heat from a hair dryer should soften the adhesive. That plus something to pry with and some patience is all I've got.

If I recall correctly, I read the temperatures from HWMonitor. Though you can also check temperatures in CrystalDiskInfo and ADATA SSD Toolbox.

Oh man, that's unfortunate... With a heat gun or hair dryer, you might be able to coax it off, but that might still leave behind some residue. Worth a check with Adata support to see if they can help out.

The heatsink goes on the side with the controller, which is the silver chip near the connector. This will also be the side facing outward. By my estimation, your enclosure should be similar in airflow to the computers I tested in. But honestly, thermals aren't likely to be a major issue either way.

Stephen's Thoughts Thanks Man!

That does seem quite high. Where is it mounted in your case?

@@StephensThoughts Under the gpu I have x99 sabertooth it seems that it's ok now still haven't put heatsink but it's about 38C and i've ordered some better heatsink than the included one

38 is low enough that I wouldn't really worry about it. And where it's under the graphics card, I wouldn't expect that you could fit a heatsink on there that's much better than the slim stock heat spreader.

@@StephensThoughts The problem was I was formating it so usage was about 99% so think that was the issue

The 6000 uses only two PCIe lanes, which substantially limits bandwidth compared to the 8200. However, the newer 6000 Lite and Pro both appear to use four lanes and are closer in performance to the 8200 and 8200 Pro.

Hm, that would make them basically the only component that likes heat. Do you happen to remember where you heard that?

Not heat necessarily but a bit above average operating temprerature and only a part of the ssd. The controller works better it's kept a bit warm.

they thermal throttle at higher temperatures

The NAND chips themselves like heat, it's the controller chip that doesn't.

@@StephensThoughts I know it's a year late but here ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-KzSIfxHppPY.html go to 6:15 the NAND likes heat, the controller not so much.

Perfectly balanced