Currently, no one considers buying a computer, be it a desktop or a laptop, with a mechanical hard drive. SSD drives allow you to greatly reduce the loading times of Windows and also the execution of games. But, SSDs have a growing problem and that is temperature problems , which are becoming more serious.
The problem is not in the SSD itself, but in the data transfer interface. The 2.5-inch format SATA SSDs, due to the format, do not usually have problems. Those who present thermal problems are the M.2 NVMe SSDs and more specifically, those that use the latest PCIe versions.
Every time the SSDs get hotter and it’s a problem
M.2 PCIe format SSD drives are taking over the market. These storage drives offer a huge performance boost over SATA drives. Also, by connecting directly to the motherboard, we eliminate quite a few cables in between.
But, M.2 PCIe storage drives have a pretty serious problem. These hard drives , the newer the PCIe interface , the more thermal problems. We have seen how the heatsink has become essential in PCIe 4.0 SSDs, when in PCIe 3.0 it was necessary, but not as much. And everything indicates that in PCIe 5.0 SSDs we will have heatsinks for these storage units with fans.
We see in the PCIe 4.0 units that in the basic models a special “sticker” is included that acts as a heatsink. The truth is, this element is not very efficient if we compare it with an aluminum or copper heat sink.
The problem is that PCIe 5.0 SSDs will have major thermal issues . Temperature issues are expected to increase noticeably, so it will be hard to see one of these units without a heatsink. It looks like passive heatsinks will be the norm, but top-of-the-line ones might come with a small fan.
PCIe 5.0 SSDs don’t make much sense
We must emphasize that the increase in reading and writing speeds, for the average user, is artificial. The jump from an SSD based on PCIe 3.0 to one based on PCIe 4.0 is hardly noticeable. We will hardly notice the difference in Windows boot times , software execution times or game load times.
There is an explanation for this phenomenon, and it is that it does not only depend on the storage unit. Although it is important, to move a game the graphics card, the processor and the RAM are more important. It takes on special importance and we are going to work with heavy files, such as heavy images or videos.
Buying an SSD with PCIe 4.0 format now makes sense because the price has been harmonized. Initially, these storage units were very expensive and uninteresting. PCIe 5.0 SSDs will be much more expensive, predictably, than PCIe 4.0 when they hit the market.
It is also required that the M.2 SSDs be reviewed, since we are moving towards a very particular situation. We have even seen how mid-range and high-end motherboards already include heatsinks for these storage units, making the final product more expensive. It would be better to develop and optimize these units, so that the user does not have to spend 30-50% more for totally inefficient and irrelevant technology.