Re: Effect of colour in SSD heatsinks

On 6/1/2025 1:19 PM, Pimpom wrote:

On 01-06-2025 11:51 pm, Don Y wrote:

On 6/1/2025 9:40 AM, Pimpom 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.

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Are these installed in 3.5" bays?  If so, there may be more bang for buck if
you can find ones with longer fins -- assuming you have airflow over them.

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Maybe I should have mentioned that these are for M.2 SSDs - those tiny 2.2x8cm (0.866"x3.15") thingies that plug directly into a slot on the motherboard. I thought that would be obvious from the images in the link.

I didn't look at dimensions; a heatsink need not cover an entire device
to provide some relief.
Most (all?) of the desktop machine I see (about 1,000 per week) still have
3.5 and 2.5 inch bays.  I only see M.2's in things like NUCs.

I'm talking about the simplest and cheapest type of heatsink for these devices. There are more elaborate - and more expensive - heatsinks for these SSDs but they are overkill for the vast majority of personal computers. Even the simplest ones are not strictly necessary for most use cases. Airflow is by natural convection incidentally augmented by the fans on the CPU, graphics card and case.

Again, you should be more interested in what the internal temperature
inside the case is.  That will be the limiting factor AND will affect the
effectiveness of any heatsink as they look for delta T.

Perhaps this is comparable to a TO-220 device dissipating half a watt idle, occasionally going up to a watt or so. These SSDs dissipate something like a watt when idle and up to 4-5W when actively writing, but they have a much larger surface area than a TO-220.
 

Also, make sure you know what the "ambient" inside the case is as that
will ultimately set the lowest operating temperature that you can achieve
(the SSD will report the temperature it is experiencing internally)
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I prefer adding larger, quieter fans and just rely on moving the air
out of the case in the belief that it is (usually) cooler outside than in.

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To reiterate, the question is whether the colour of the heatsink matters. I'm inclined to think it will make little difference as most of the heat dissipation will be by convection rather than by radiation.

Are the "colors" applied by the same process (e.g., anodized with different
chemistries)?  Or, are there differences from color to color?  E.g., real paint
will behave different than an anodized surface.
Note, also, that heat sinks increased surface area allows more places for
"dust blankets" to accumulate.  can you access these easily enough to make
cleaning practical?  (2.5 and 3.5 inch drives are usually designed to be
relatively easily accessed; M.2's are often buried under things (so, keep
in mind the added height/thickness that affixing a heatsink will entail)