M.2 SSD Heatsink

[bubbl]

My current storage is running low, so I've just ordered a new ssd. My motherboard is the Aorus X570 Elite, my cpu is a 3700x, and my current ssd is the 1tb Corsair MP600. Since the motherboard has a built in heatsink for m.2 slots, I originally removed the heatsink from the Corsair ssd.

 

The new ssd I've bought is a 500gb Sabrent Rocket 4, which doesn't have an heatsink. My question is: is it okay for me to put the heatsink from the Corsair ssd onto the Sabrent? Or is there even any point to putting a heatsink there?

 

I could move the corsair ssd to the slot without the built-in heatsink, but from what I've read, it's better to put the larger and main ssd in the first slot rather than the first second, since the first slot is connected to the cpu while the second is to the chipset (not sure if this is even right).

 

Also, I'm a little unclear about pcie lanes. Even with the second m.2 ssd, will the GPU still run in x16?

[the gamer that is bad]

5 minutes ago, bubbl said:

Also, I'm a little unclear about pcie lanes. Even with the second m.2 ssd, will the GPU still run in x16?

If it fits why not and with pcie your cpu probably has 20 lanes and the rest come off your chipset so probably 

[Chiyawa]

Okay, let's look at your question 1 by 1:

 

4 hours ago, bubbl said:

is it okay for me to put the heatsink from the Corsair ssd onto the Sabrent? Or is there even any point to putting a heatsink there?

SSD heat sink (like most heat sink) is designed to absorb heat from your components that produce a lot of heat (in this case, your controller chips, memory chips and RAM chips) so your component won't over heat. In this case, however, that will depends on your usage. If you are frequently accessing or transferring large files (files in gigabytes size), then yes, adding a heat sink will help to sustain the operation longer. As for using Corsair's SSD heat sink on Sarbent SSD, as long as the heat sink can fit on the SSD, I don't see why you can't do it. Do bear in mind that you need good thermal pads, otherwise it is pointless to attached the heat sink to the SSD.

 

4 hours ago, bubbl said:

it's better to put the larger and main ssd in the first slot rather than the first second, since the first slot is connected to the cpu while the second is to the chipset (not sure if this is even right).

Since you are using X570 chipset, in theory, you should get almost the same speed in either M2 slots. However, there will be a slight delay if you use the second slot instead of the first slot as your main drive. This is because your second M2 slot has to go through the X570 chipset before it reach the CPU whereas the first M2 slot is directly link to the CPU, so it has the lower latency compare to the second M2 slot. The second M2 slot also has its limitation as it shares with many components, such as SATA ports, LAN adapter and USB ports. If you are transferring a lot of data simultaneously through and from USB ports, SATA ports and other PCIe peripherals, it will become congested and you will notice your SSD becomes slower. There's only 4 PCIe Gen 4 lanes between CPU and chipset, so in theory, their maximum transfer speed is 63Gb(its)ps, and assuming that your SSD can transfer data at 3000MB(ytes)ps, it will going to need 24Gb(its)ps. But if your SSD can transfer 5000MB(ytes)ps, it will need 50Gb(its)ps.

 

5 hours ago, bubbl said:

Also, I'm a little unclear about pcie lanes. Even with the second m.2 ssd, will the GPU still run in x16?

I guess you are not familiar with AMD PCIe lanes aggregation, or you are used to Intel's one.

 

For AMD processor, Their non-G variants CPU (such as Ryzen 5 3600 or Ryzen 7 5800X, or those CPU that doesn't have onboard graphics) will have 24 PCIe lanes. 16 PCIe lanes are dedicated for GPU or multi purpose add-in card such as Ethernet card, 4 lanes are dedicated for M2 NVMe drives and 4 lanes are dedicated for communicating with the chipset. Those APU that with G variants (such as Ryzen 5 3400G or Ryzen 3 3200G), only has 16 PCIe lanes. 8 lanes for GPU or multi purpose PCIe card, 4 lanes dedicated for M2 NVMe slot, and 4 lanes dedicated to chipset.

 

Chipset, such as X570, is a chipset that has 16 PCIe lanes as well as USB ports and SATA ports. From PCIe perspective, we can safely say that it is a PCIe lanes extension, which convert 4 PCIe lanes from CPU to 16 PCIe lanes. However, the bandwidth still retain the same as what 4 PCIe lanes can offer, so meaning any PCIe peripheral (such as WiFi card) that connected to the chipset will have to share the bandwidth with other PCIe peripherals that is connected to the chipset.

 

In Gigabyte Aorus Elite X570 motherboard, 1 M2 NVMe port is connected to the CPU whereas another is from the chipset. M2 slots do not share its bandwidth with the dedicated 16 PCIe lanes from the CPU to the GPU, so you don't have to worry of any performance impact your GPU will suffer if Your GPU is connected to the top PCIe x16 slot (the x16 PCIe slot nearest to the CPU) of the motherboard. In fact, populating other 'black colour' PCIe slots will not impact the performance of the silver coloured PCIe slot as they don't share the same bandwidth with the silver colour PCIe slot.

 

 

 

Well, I hope these lengthy explanation helps you a bit. In summary:

a) yes, you can use Corsair's heat sink to your Sarbent SSD, though thermal pad is required

b) AMD CPU has 4 dedicated PCIe lanes for M2 NVMe slot, so it is advisable to attach your main primary SSD into it to get the best performance.

c) AMD CPU has 16 dedicated PCIe lanes for GPU and is not share by other peripherals. APU (those Ryzen with 'G' or 'GE' at the end) on the other hand, only has 8 dedicated PCIe lanes.