SSD Temps

[shooga]

What are the common guidelines on temps for mSATA SSDs? I recently switched to an mSATA SSD and it's not actively cooled so the temp is typically around 50 C. The operating range according to Samsung is up to 70 C, so I'm not sure if this is something to worry about or if it's typical for mSATA. Any thoughts?

 

If this is typical, then it would be nice to change the heat alarms in Unraid to reflect it. Would also be nice if I could exclude it from the Dynamix Fan Auto Control since it's driving my HDD cage fans up in speed even though they aren't blowing on it.

 

If it's best to have lower temps then I guess I need to find a cooling solution, so any recommendations would be appreciated. Seems like an Antect SpotCool could work.

 

Thanks!

[shooga]

Wanted to add some more info here as I'm digging into it.

 

It looks like the Fan Auto Control plugin isn't actually affected by my mSATA SSD cache drive because of the way it reports temperature via smartctl. I took a look at the source for Auto Fan Control and it's using grep to grab the temp from the output of smartctl by looking for Temperature_Celsius, which works for my HDDs. But my SSD reports temperature as Airflow_Temperature_Cel and doesn't report Temperature_Celsius at all, so it's ignored by the plugin.

 

I'm not sure why it appeared that the SSD was driving the fan speed, but I'm glad it's not really an issue. Would be good to update the plugin to to read drives like my SSD correctly, but only if there's also an option added to ignore certain drives.

 

I'd still like feedback on temps please!

[garycase]

Since the mSATA is mounted directly on the PCB, there's no airflow "around" the unit.

 

The temps you're seeing are "okay" -- well within spec -- but nevertheless I'd add a bit of additional cooling to it.    These work well for that purpose -- just stick a couple on the mSATA drive:

http://www.amazon.com/Copper-Memory-Chipset-Cooler-HeatSink/dp/B00EVN4WIS

 

[shooga]

Thanks Gary! It hadn't even occurred to me to add passive cooling (duh). I'll give these a try.

[HellDiverUK]

Most mSATA drives are rated for high temp use - think about where they're normally used.  Crammed in the guts of a laptop, sometimes right beside the CPU.

 

I was running a Sandisk X110 in the mSATA slot of a FM2A88X-ITX+ which has the mSATA slot right on top of the power regs for the CPU.  That ran HOT, nearly 70C, even with the AMD retail cooler blowing directly past the drive.  No problems in the months it ran like that.

 

I also have a Crucial M4 mSATA SSD in my Celeron NUC that does my power/environment monitoring.  The NUC has a passive case on it, which has no vent holes.  The machine runs 24/7 in the utility room, and sometimes gets baked by the sun.  I've seen CPU temps over over 85C, which means the SSD is probably well in to the 70s.  The SSD and the RAM have melted their labels off.  3 years they've been running like that, again no issues to report.

[garycase]

Agree -- mSATA's are going to run hotter than traditional drives simply because of how they're mounted.    As I noted above, they have NO airflow around the unit, since they're mounted directly to the PCB.  You can help a bit with the passive cooling units I listed above -- these help with a lot of different chipset components that may be a bit warmer than you like.

 

But the reality is that these components are all designed for the higher temperatures that they'll see on motherboards ... so unless the ambient temperature is really warm, you're not likely to have any issues.

 

[shooga]

Ok. Thanks all. I'm going to try to the passive coolers.

 

Does anyone know if there's a way to change the temperature that causes the warnings in unRAID for this drive? I'm guessing not. Those emails that say my drive has overheated make me cringe every time. If the passive coolers don't quite tame the heat then I may have to point a fan at it just to make those stop...

[garycase]

...  If the passive coolers don't quite tame the heat then I may have to point a fan at it just to make those stop...

 

It's not clear this will really help => the mSATA is mounted on the board, so airflow won't go "around" it, like it would with a typical drive.    Extra airflow may help a bit, but not nearly as much as with a normally mounted unit.  You could disable notifications for temperature.

 

 

 

[shooga]

It's a new build with some airflow challenges through the cages, so I need to keep temp notifications on for now as I work through that. I may be able to turn them off once I'm confident that everything is under control. (FYI the iStarUSA S-917 has pretty terrible airflow with the case door closed.)

 

I would think a fan blowing across the passive coolers would make a big difference, but I guess it depends which chips are generating the heat and which side of the board they are mounted on.

 

Anyway, experimenting and dealing with stuff like this is part of the fun of building these servers. So I don't mind the tinkering. Thanks again.

[garycase]

Agree -- airflow can sometimes be "magic" ... one direction helps; the opposite doesn't; etc.

 

It's a challenge to get everything adjusted right ... but a nice feeling when you have everything working the way you want