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Heat is normal in solid-state drives. Because the data is stored, read, and erased with the help of electric current, heat is inevitable. However, sometimes it can exceed what is considered an ideal limit. During heavy workloads, your drive can easily reach 70 to 80°C. However, beyond these, even during high load, this high temperature is hazardous to the components on your drive. The idle temperature is below 40°C.
| Condition/Task | SATA SSD Temperature | NVMe SSD Temperature |
|---|---|---|
| Idle | 30°C to 40°C | 35°C to 45°C |
| Light Workload | 35°C to 45°C | 40°C to 50°C |
| Heavy Workload | 45°C to 55°C | 50°C to 70°C |
| Sustained High Workload | 50°C to 60°C | 60°C to 80°C |
| Critical/Throttle Temperature | ~70°C | ~80°C to 85°C |
SATA and NVMe drives have different working temperatures. Because SATA SSDs are slower, they tend to generate less heat than NVMe drives. However, a temperature above 70°C for long periods can be critical for both kinds of drives. SSDs have built-in throttling mechanisms to reduce performance and hence decrease heat, but it is best to avoid reaching those temperatures too often.
Fixing SSD overheating can be a real challenge when the underlying reason is unknown. For example, your SSD may require some airflow inside the case, but you may be performing software optimizations and reducing its workload. But that would never work. In this article, I will provide the most practical steps to cool down your drive, regardless of the reason.
How to check your drive’s temperature and confirm the issue?
You may be expecting too much from your drive in terms of temperature management. SSDs generally get hot when you put them under load. Because they get your work done fast, it comes with a downside of extra heat. Therefore, it is advisable to check your drive’s temperature before proceeding. Windows 10 and 11 allow users to check their drive temperatures directly within the OS. You can access this by going to Settings > System > Storage > Discs and Volumes. It provides you with real-time temperature readings, along with your drive’s health status.
However, you can also use HWInfo to obtain more detailed temperature information.
If your drive consistently stays above 50°C or exceeds 80°C during read/write operations, there are issues to address. You should be more aware if the drive is staying hot even when idle.
Real-time temperature monitoring for throttling
SSDs overheat during heavy workload. Don’t worry if it reaches 70°C when you are writing data for extended periods. The real issue arises when the idle temperature exceeds 50°C. You can check if your drive is working or not in the Task Manager in Windows and Activity Monitor in macOS.
Check your drive’s activity and then see the temperature. Idle means the read/write graph is still and straight at the bottom axis. Check the image, for example. You can simply open the temperature monitor and drive usage graph in the Task Manager. It would be easier for you to see if the problem is there.
My drive in this image is idling at 0% usage, and the temperature is set at 42°C. The ambient temperature in my room is around 30°C, which adds some extra degrees. The SMART data in SSDs also includes temperature information. Therefore, you can utilize other third-party SSD monitoring software, such as HWMonitor or CrystalDiskInfo, to check the temperature and view the graph.
Now, if you use my drive for a significant data transfer, see how it impacts the temperature. I ran it for around 20 minutes through a pretty heavy benchmark. It stayed at 100% usage on both random and sequential operations. This is the temperature difference. I have installed the heatsink on the drive that came with the motherboard.
The temperature remained between 53 and 54°C for about half an hour. I would say my system’s cooling setup is quite effective and it handles the heat well.
Here are some additional images of the SP UD90 from my benchmarking session. The first graph shows the results with the heatsink, while the other one is without a heatsink, where it actually peaked at around 75°C.
Reasons for Overheating in SSDs
The common reasons for SSD overheating are work overload, viruses, bad airflow/heat management, faulty drive hardware, wear, and firmware/driver issues. Additionally, a defective component on your SSD or a faulty controller itself may generate excessive heat. Nearby components, such as graphics cards, can generate hot air that affects the SSD, contributing to overall heat generation.
However, regardless of the reason, we can always find a solution. Internal component or IC damage can’t be fixed on your own. I recommend backing up your drive right away if it is overheating excessively. It could be an initial symptom of drive failure. However, let’s try all the possible fixes and see if you can eliminate the heat from your drive.
How to Fix SSD Overheating?
1. Give it some air
This is for both laptops and desktops. In laptops, it’s mainly about leaving some space for airflow from the bottom. In desktops, ensure the SSD receives a constant flow of air. Sometimes, the SSDs get significant heat from the graphics card vents if you have placed them in the second top M.2 slot. This slot is mostly beneath the first PCIe x16 slot. So, the airflow just goes on top of your drive.
I know there is no solution to this slot issue if you have installed more than one SSD. Generally, you will find one port near the CPU, besides the first PCIe slot. Ensure that the OS drive is positioned at the top and receives no extra heat from any other components. Alternatively, you can increase the airflow inside the case by adjusting the case fan speed.
Additionally, use the heatsinks that typically come with the motherboards. If your board didn’t come with one, you can try third-party heatsinks that adhere to the adhesives on your drive. It should provide a 10 to 20°C reduction in overall temperature during heavy workloads.
2. Reduce Workload
If you generally move huge files, you can break up these tasks into smaller chunks. Heavy write operations, especially, generate a significant amount of heat due to the large amount of charge stored inside the NAND flash memory cells.
Try to keep 10-20% of your SSD’s space free. You can do this by moving the data to the cloud or external storage devices. Full drives become slower, and write operations become more resource-intensive as the available free space decreases.
To reduce workload even more, turn off indexing and optimize power settings. For raw data storage, you can also use external drives. Generally, using any software or playing a game on your PC should not generate excessive heat in your SSD. Writing the data is the most heat-generating and power-consuming task on your drive.
3. Update Firmware and Drivers
Ensure the SSD firmware is up to date. You can use your drive’s dedicated management software (e.g., Samsung Magician or WD Dashboard) to check and update the latest firmware releases. Outdated firmware can sometimes result in issues with SSD operations and end up causing an extra load on the controllers and NAND Flash. Additionally, manufacturers continually release new firmware to optimize the existing hardware and software, enabling them to work more efficiently. Here is a list of official SSD software.
NVMe and BIOS drivers must constantly be updated. Also, try to keep the operating system up to date. Additionally, you can run anti-virus software.
4. Reduce Operating Speed
Some motherboards allow users to reduce the SSD’s operating speed through the BIOS menu. Additionally, dedicated software may be available for this purpose. You can use it to reduce the speed. While it will impact performance, the thermal output will also be reduced.
You can also underclock the PCIe bus in the BIOS if you are using an NVMe SSD. Most motherboards allow you to downgrade the specific M.2 slots to previous PCIe generations, for example, PCIe 4.0 NVMe slots can be converted to PCIe 3.0 NVMe slots. You will typically find these settings in the advanced menu. In my case, they were available under the PCIe Subsystem settings menu.
5. Install active cooling
This step is applicable only when you know the SSD is overheating due to overload. If your work requires your SSD to work hard, it is beneficial to use an active cooling solution. If you have a custom water loop installed on your computer, you can also add another block for your SSD.
It would be more effective to use a larger and more efficient heatsink with metal fins to enhance heat dissipation. Some of them are now coming with small fans as well.
5. Limit background processes
Background processes, especially those that place an extra load on storage, can result in excessive SSD heating. These include antivirus programs, backup software, system cleaners, and more. You may have other programs running in the background, which can result in a load on the SSD even when there is no significant foreground activity.
You can again check the activities using the Windows Task Manager in Windows or Activity Monitor in macOS. You can check the disk usage by the software and see what is going on. If the software is not very important, you can try uninstalling it and then check if the heat is gone.
6. Check your SSD’s age
If your SSD is too old, i.e., more than 5 years, the flash cells may have degraded over time. Degraded NAND flash cells are more difficult for the controller to read and write. In this case, the controller will have to work harder to maintain the data. Check your SSD’s health and replace it if it has gone bad. An old SSD isn’t good for your precious data, either.
7. Enable TRIM Command
Follow this guide to enable TRIM on Windows. macOS, or Linux. TRIM is an OS command that helps your SSD manage the level of wear on the cells. It does that by marking the invalid blocks on the NAND flash memory. This allows garbage collection to work more efficiently, thereby reducing unnecessary read/write operations. Generally, without TRIM and garbage collection, SSDs have to perform more operations on the drives, which is an unwanted phenomenon known as write amplification.
If the level of write amplification increases on your drive, it can lead to increased heat on your drive. So, make sure that TRIM is turned On your drive. Garbage collection is generally turned On. However, some drives will allow you to turn it on or off using their software.
8. Check Thermal pads/paste
It involves checking the thermal pads, thermal paste, heat spreaders, and heatsinks for proper functioning. Thermal pads tend to wear out over time. If this is the case with your drive, the heat from your drive may not be traveling properly to the heat sink, which actually dissipates in the case.
Additionally, I would like to bring to your attention another vital aspect of your case. If it is your desktop, ensure proper ventilation. Ensure there is no negative pressure. The fans must supply proper air and must be clean. For laptops, you can try using heating pads.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can SSD heat due to malware?
Yes, malware and viruses could cause unnecessary read and write operations. Not all malware does this, but some could be designed to manipulate your system files. Therefore, it is always advisable to run a malware scan in case of SSD overheating.
Do all SSDs need a heatsink?
No, SSDs are designed to work at very high temperatures, i.e., up to 80°C. Also, there are throttling mechanisms in place to reduce SSD performance when the heat exceeds limits. However, NVMe drives can easily reach throttling temperatures and hence require some kind of passive cooling. Most product labels on the drives act as heatsinks, but you will find most motherboards coming with inbuilt heatsinks, which is surely a good thing.
Do SSDs overheat?
SSDs generally don’t overheat even during heavy workloads. The primary reasons for overheating are poor ventilation and age. However, if a new SSD is overheating even with good ventilation, there could be issues with firmware, drives, or it could be malware causing the problem.
