ITX and rear M.2 slots

[zinfamous]

Hello all,

I've long (nearly 1.5 years now), been looking to upgrade (re: replace) my system with more contemporary components, and this build, whenever it happens, will go with an ITX or mATX board.

Basically something like this

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16813157837

Or exactly that, because the product options are extremely limited with the B/X450 and 470 MBs (and the 350/370s) for ITX.

But the actual question: All of these boards put the M.2 slot on the rear of the motherboard, for obvious reasons, and I have also long read here on AT that heat dissipation is a huge, huge issue with many of the preferred M.2 cards.

Is this not an inherent flaw, or can those aftermarket heat spreaders fit on such cards when installed on such boards and, when mounted in such a tight space, actually work? I've been reading here that most people will attach a heat spreader and/or set up a dedicated fan to blow over the M.2 SSD.

Anyone have experience working with M.2 SSD on an ITX board with this kind of design?

 

[EXCellR8]

I have a ASRock Z97 mITX board with the M.2 on the back side like that. I've used it before but the case I'm using the board in is well ventilated on both sides so I didn't encounter any problems. The further away from the CPU socket on the reverse side the better, but unless it's completely sealed in you shouldn't encounter any heat-related issues. Mine's a socket 1156 board with a AIO cooler stuffed into it though.

 

[Mr Evil]

If I had an M.2 drive on the back of the motherboard, I would consider getting an aluminium plate to use as a shim so that heat could be conducted directly from the drive to the motherboard tray.

 

[zinfamous]

If I had an M.2 drive on the back of the motherboard, I would consider getting an aluminium plate to use as a shim so that heat could be conducted directly from the drive to the motherboard tray.

hmm, that's a good idea. I went ahead and picked up the WD Black 500gb 2280 that is currently on sale for $150, because it's on sale. I like that it comes with a heat spreader installed.

I'm going to be putting this thing into a FD Define Nano S, which isn't well-vented on the sides like a lot of normal ~ITX boxes. ....yes, I did the brilliant thing of ordering the case first, nearly two years ago, which I never do. ...but I knew I wanted a small FF Ryzen-based box, and I've intentionally been slowly putting things together as deals come around, and even new gen. I was able to snag some DDR4 3000 CL14 16gb for only about $150, at least, which is cool.

I was waiting for Vega, but concern arose that the power requirements would mean a good bit more heat than I want to tolerate with this box, but I'm probably thinking too much about it.

 

[EXCellR8]

Should be fine. The case mine's in is the M1 and the side panel is 3mm aluminum with vent holes so it was kind of the ideal situation.

 

[Campy]

Heat isn't an issue for M.2 drives. If you're blasting it with some intensive benchmark or doing large file transfers between two similarly fast M.2 drives then yes, maybe you will thermal throttle some, but it's only going to impact your performance not kill the drive. If it gets too hot it will throttle itself to keep temperatures under control. Oh and NAND doesn't mind being hot, in fact it prefers to be a bit hot. The controller is what needs cooling.

 

[zinfamous]

Heat isn't an issue for M.2 drives. If you're blasting it with some intensive benchmark or doing large file transfers between two similarly fast M.2 drives then yes, maybe you will thermal throttle some, but it's only going to impact your performance not kill the drive. If it gets too hot it will throttle itself to keep temperatures under control. Oh and NAND doesn't mind being hot, in fact it prefers to be a bit hot. The controller is what needs cooling.

Ah I see. It's telling that my information comes from system builders here who spend their computing time running intense benchmarks and large file transfer operations.

I also noticed that this thing does not come with a heat spreader....that's just a sticker. I think I'll still go with Mr Evil's suggestion and pick up an aluminum plate to turn the motherboard plate into a heat spreader.