Subj : MSI H97 motherboard q To : Ky Moffet From : Barry Martin Date : Sun Sep 29 2024 07:29:00 Hi Ky! > When I installed the NVMe in this computer I didn't add any extra > cooling mechanisms. Possibly came with its own heatsink - I don't > recall. Seems to be running sufficient cool: psensor saying 98øF. I do > try to get reasonable airflow inside my computers so that might help in > the cooling. Also, it generally sits there bored, its main function to > supply storage for the Virtual Machines. KM> Silver has one for I don't know what (currently KM> other-drive-is-busy let's-prevent-fragmentation storage) and one KM> that does swapfile, temp and browser cache, and VMs (3 KM> partitions). That unknown function is interesting: of course the obvious question is how do we know the NVMe is doing its job if we don't know what its job is?! ...Must have come from a government computer - DMV?! KM> Zombie (the "dead" gamer board) apparently can only support ONE KM> NVMe, no matter where it is -- still haven't found one that the KM> mainboard slot supports, but it'll boot off one in a PCIe card. KM> But only ONE. Two on the card, or one on each of two cards, nope KM> -- only one is seen. The joys of between-generation tech... Being sort of curious, especially when you the usual go-to guy doesn't know, did a quickie Google search: 2 NVMe SSDs require 4 PCIe lanes to operate. PCIe x16: your motherboard often has a primary x16 slot for GPUs and additional x16 slots. 16 PCIe lanes can support an expansion card with 4 additional M. 2 NVMe SSDs. https://www.sabrepc.com/blog/Computer-Hardware/how-to-add-m-2-nvme-ssd-to-your- otherboard So PCIe issue? I haven't read the article yet but based on that snippet either something not turned on (or off) in the BIOS or something like the video card - and maybe the other PCIe cards - using the lanes the other NVMe wants. Does seem off the motherboard has the NVMe slots but not the capabilities. KM> Silver is older, and doesn't natively support NVMe. But a driver KM> exists, and the limit seems to be "how many can you stuff in KM> here?" That's my kind of motherboard!! > KM> But flat against a heat source doesn't strike me as optimal, no. > Maybe the simple blowing the air around is sufficient. As I recall the KM> I'd think so. I've developed the impression that NVMe heatsinks KM> and other blather are mostly for gamers who are doing huge reads KM> repeatedly, already have a system full of bling and overclocking KM> heat, and that starts heat-tripping the drive. Could also be a mindset of 'Heat Sinks Are Good!' and the manufacturer add a 2› part to establish a $5 additional cost. KM> Had the 1TB NVMe KM> (on a PCIe card, no heatsink) working for a while the other day KM> and afterward it's barely warm enough to tell it was powered on. KM> Case hanging open, but no case fan, just a CPU fan barely running KM> and whatever the PSU has, also on low. Probably won't bother with KM> a secondary case fan, doesn't seem very necessary. (Also won't KM> have a bunch of hot spinning rust internal drives.... doors hang KM> open on Silver's spinnies in hotswap bays). I read somewhere too many fans is unnecessary and sometimes even work against each other. > NVMe is not mounted over anything creating a lot of heat. Sure, the > electronics creates some heat, but the fractional-watt of heat is easily > blown away, unlike the amount of heat produced by CPUs. KM> I sure have come to appreciate the heatpipe coolers. Even the KM> most minimal model is miles better than the best solid-core type. KM> I have cheap little HP salvage coolers on Silver (i7-4820k) and KM> Fireball (Xeon about equivalent), and they idle just above KM> ambient and work hard at about 45C. Zombie has a slightly faster KM> Xeon, the first cheap heatpipe with a copper foot and a fan that KM> came to hand, and is stable at 43C with the fan running about as KM> low as it goes (and in the middle of the heatsink, so probably KM> not as efficient). To me it would seem more efficient to be able to move some of the heat away from the source and redistribute to other parts of the heat sink -- give additional removal spots. Sort of like the old stove/furnace in the middle of the house: hot next to the stove, cooler in the corners of that central room, but the cold in the next room. Add ductwork to distribute the stove heat into the adjoining rooms -- ahhh! KM> The rather-slower i5 that came on Zombie had been heat-tripped KM> (HSF wasn't even touching for the most part) and firmly believes KM> it runs at 99C all the time, even when it's barely warm. BUT... KM> otherwise it still works. The sensor could either be damaged/stuck or the software reading the sensor is incorrect. I've seen oddball readings on my hardware indicating the device is at freezinf (0øC) or thinks it has liquid nitrogen cooling (super-cold reading). > I sort of did heat experiments on my Raspberry Pi's over time. Poor > thing overheating: add the heat sinks: ahh! ...Some time later after > upgrades, more software being worked one, etc., "I'm starting to sweat > again!" Add a fan -- "thank you!". Fan doesn't have to move the air > all that quickly, just move it like a barely-perceptible breeze. KM> Yeah, it's mighty variable, but a good general rule is... KM> Everything likes a fan! Moving away that heated air is a good thing! > .. Chaos reigns within. > Reflect, repent and reboot. > Order shall return. KM> Some Haiku reflect KM> words of insight and beauty KM> but this one does not You tried! ¯ ® ¯ BarryMartin3@MyMetronet.NET ® ¯ ® .... Some Haiku express depths of insight and beauty but this one does not. --- MultiMail/Win32 v0.47 þ wcECHO 4.2 ÷ ILink: The Safe BBS þ Bettendorf, IA --- QScan/PCB v1.20a / 01-0462 * Origin: ILink: CFBBS | cfbbs.no-ip.com (454:1/1) .