Do I really need a heatsink for PS5 SSD?

[Vibes NoVibes]

Do I really need a heatsink for PS5 SSD? I am thinking about buying one without it and am wondering if it would cause any issues.

[Alex Atkin UK]

20 minutes ago, Vibes NoVibes said:

Do I really need a heatsink for PS5 SSD? I am thinking about buying one without it and am wondering if it would cause any issues.

No, a heatsink is to prevent thermal throttling of the drive controller which mostly happens with large writes and the PS5 only writes to the NVME SSD when downloading/installing a game to it, which isn't going to stress the controller that hard.

You usually can't even fit a drive with a heatsink without leaving the metal panel off, as the PS5 wasn't designed for drives with heatsinks.

 

Although Playstation do say:

Quote

Do not use an M.2 SSD without a heat-dissipation mechanism, such as a heat sink or heat transfer sheet.

What you need to know there is the label on high-end NVME drives IS a heat transfer sheet!

 

Strange they mention a heatsink given they don't usually fit and they also say not to operate the PS5 with the panel off, which makes a heatsink impossible.  Just covering their ass I guess.

[porina]

25 minutes ago, Vibes NoVibes said:

Do I really need a heatsink for PS5 SSD? I am thinking about buying one without it and am wondering if it would cause any issues.

It'll work. Worst case is it'll thermal throttle and performance will drop. People have done testing with SSDs slower than PS recommended and it still works.

 

Still, I'd suggest looking for one with a heatsink. You can find lists of compatible ones and the price difference is marginal.

 

9 minutes ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

You usually can't even fit a drive with a heatsink without leaving the metal panel off, as the PS5 wasn't designed for drives with heatsinks.

PS recommended from the start you get one with a heatsink. The vertical height clearance means some taller coolers wont fit, but there are plenty of models available on the market which do. I went with the WD SN850 which was a popular choice earlier on.

 

https://www.playstation.com/en-gb/support/hardware/ps5-install-m2-ssd/

 

 

[porina]

48 minutes ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

Strange they mention a heatsink given they don't usually fit and they also say not to operate the PS5 with the panel off, which makes a heatsink impossible.

Dunno why you think heatsinks don't fit. They very clearly do and have done from the start.

 

This is what I have in my PS5. It's not the biggest heatsink but there's many offerings in that size class that do fit.

[Alex Atkin UK]

3 hours ago, porina said:

It'll work. Worst case is it'll thermal throttle and performance will drop. People have done testing with SSDs slower than PS recommended and it still works.

 

Still, I'd suggest looking for one with a heatsink. You can find lists of compatible ones and the price difference is marginal.

 

PS recommended from the start you get one with a heatsink. The vertical height clearance means some taller coolers wont fit, but there are plenty of models available on the market which do. I went with the WD SN850 which was a popular choice earlier on.

 

https://www.playstation.com/en-gb/support/hardware/ps5-install-m2-ssd/

 

 

You sure that was there before?  I remember several videos of people struggling to fit them which would seem bonkers if the documentation specifically gave dimensions.

 

Pretty sure mine doesn't have one as everyone were saying they didn't fit.  Oh well, not had any performance issues given Spiderman 2 is on it which should have shown any performance problems.

[porina]

1 hour ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

You sure that was there before?

I didn't get my PS5 day 1 due to the shortages of the time. That advice was certainly up when I got mine a bit later.

 

Maybe it was missing very early on and that's what you remember. Since I didn't have one, I didn't look and missed it. For sure, today, there's no problem buying a SSD with heatsink for it.

[JR1911]

I'm using a WD SN850 2TB in my PS5 with a be quiet! MC1 cooler and I had no problems getting it to fit. Not the MC1 Pro however as that one wouldn't fit.

[B16CXHatch]

Sony specifically recommends using one with a heatsink. There are plenty of SSDs available with a preinstalled heatsink that fit just fine. They're not expensive. I have a Samsung 980 Pro with a preinstalled heatsink in mine. It was even advertised to be PS5 compatible. Even if you get one without a heatsink, aftermarket SSD heatsinks are cheap. I have some Thermalright SSD heatsinks that I think would fit that only cost $6.

[Alex Atkin UK]

4 hours ago, B16CXHatch said:

Sony specifically recommends using one with a heatsink. There are plenty of SSDs available with a preinstalled heatsink that fit just fine. They're not expensive. I have a Samsung 980 Pro with a preinstalled heatsink in mine. It was even advertised to be PS5 compatible. Even if you get one without a heatsink, aftermarket SSD heatsinks are cheap. I have some Thermalright SSD heatsinks that I think would fit that only cost $6.

They specifically say "or heat transfer sheet".  Although I'm not 100% if they mean the metal labels almost all SSDs come with, or a heat transfer pad.  I assume the former as that's all mine has and not had any performance problems.

 

I got mine fairly early when NVME support was added, AFAIK none of the heatsink models fit back then as it was only when vendors started rating them for PS5 use that they made sure the heatsinks were small enough.