Re: Effect of colour in SSD heatsinks

On Sun, 1 Jun 2025 20:59:33 +0100, liz@poppyrecords.invalid.invalid
(Liz Tuddenham) wrote:

john larkin <jl@glen--canyon.com> wrote:
>

On Sun, 1 Jun 2025 22:10:57 +0530, Pimpom <Pimpom@invalid.invalid>
wrote:
 

I'm thinking of installing simple heatsinks on the SSDs in my desktop
and other computers. The SSDs are seldom subjected to heavy write loads
and can do very well without the add-on heatsinks. But the peace of mind
they bring is well worth the price of UD$1.10 apiece in a pack of 5.
>
Here's an example: https://tinyurl.com/mpjar5bw There's a choice of
three colours on Amazon India - black, gold and plain aluminium. How
much of a difference, if any, will the colour make when fitted inside a
computer case? I expect that cooling will be mostly by convection than
by radiation.
>
This is more of an academic interest than of practical requirement
because, as I said, the heatsinks are not a necessity.
>

 
Radiation cooling is tiny for low temp differences, so the finish
doesn't matter much.

>
A surface which radiates well will also absorb well.  If there are
other components nearby with higher surface temperatures, a 'radiating'
finish could be a disadvantage because it will absorb more energy than
it radiates.

Radiation cooling goes as the 4th power of the temp difference, which
is microscopic at human-bearable temperatures. And the cooling goes as
everything the heat sink sees in all directions.

I have a program that calculates radiation cooling. In cases like
this, it's negligable.

Don't the SSDs throttle on temperature too?

The gold sinks would glamourize a PC but wouldn't have much effect
otherwise.

I've heat sunk FPGAs and such, mostly to stabilize prop delay. The
lateral heat spreading effect dominates. Fins don't make much
difference.