51
Can we control an ssd temperature by throttling it somehow, like we can do with cpus? (piefed.social)
submitted 1 day ago by to c/linux@lemmy.ml
37 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

I got a pc that suffers from severe heating problems because of its poorly designed passive cooling case. I tried several strategies to put temperature under control, did a lot of tests with thermald, but ended up hacking a fan into the case. However, I still have problems with ssd temperatures.

Right now, as I write this, the nvme ssd is at 67ºC and easily goes beyond 80 or 90 during data transfers. I already lost 2 ssds before realizing this was the problem, because I was controlling just the cpu temperature.

There's no physical way to force airflow where the ssd is, so I was wondering if there's some way to throttle data transfer of something to prevent the ssd temperatures from reaching a threshold. All I could find was a vibecoded github repository. I don't care if data transfer gets ridiculously slow, as long as the ssd remain safe, and I can't consider getting any new hardware right now.

I'm currently running fedora 44 on that machine

Edit: I thought there was an easier software mitigation to that, but apparently, solutions will tend to the hardware side, so here are the hardware details:

  • It's an unbranded chinese cheap mini pc with a heat dissipation case that doesn't dissipate well
  • The ssd is mounted on the back of the motherboard. The model is a sandisk M.2 1TB 2280
    Here's a photo of the case, for the reference (don't judge me lol):

image

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] 3 points 1 day ago* (2 children)

like others have asked, what case/mobo/SSD brand?

is the SSD on the front side or back side of the mobo?

sometimes what I do if the SSD is on the backside (and theres no mobo tray cutout), is to get a nice thick 10mm+ thermal pad and have it transfer heat to the motherboard tray.

if you can't get airflow or fans to where the SSD is, your best bet is to try to transfer it somewhere else (aka case).

you can actually get copper heatpipe assemblies of different sizes/lengths/angles to help transfer the heat

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • hideshow 2 child comments
    •
  • [–] [S] 3 points 1 day ago (1 child)

    I added the hardware details and a photo to the post.

    Hmm transferring heat to the case isn't a bad idea. The case would get really hot before, but after adding that indecent fan, now it's cool

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
    •
  • [–] 1 point 23 hours ago

    I see the unit now, your easiest mod is probably a thick thermal pad to transfer heat to the chassis. It might work out well if you combine that with those graphene heatsink stickers. (SSD > graphene heatsink sticker > thermal pad > chassis)

    I have a feeling you might not have a good time with a standard SSD heatsink/dissipator. Those usually work best with at least a little bit of airflow. It might not be much different once the heatsink fully saturates. The heat needs to go somewhere

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent