solid state drive, laptop thermal pad
As the industry moves from hard-drives(HDDs) to solid-state drives(SSDs). SSDs offer significant advantages over their hard drive counterparts. However, since SSDs operate through an electrical current, they still get hot- just like every electronic. Heat continues to be the enemy of strong performance.
Why is it bad for Solid State Drives(SSDs) to get hot?
Solid State Drives are very sensitive to heat. Within SECONDs without a heat sink, and a thermal pad/grease a typical SSD can reach 70 degrees celsius without thermal management. This is a particular challenge for SSD manufacturer because essentially their job is… B E T T E R performance. If the solid state drive is damaged by heat, the performance, and live span are going to suffer. This is exacerbated by the fact – there is so much going on in these SSDs, including double sided PCBs, and other components. One fact I love to spew out.. is for every 10 degrees rise celcius, it halves the life of an electronic.
Once the SSD hits a certain temperature…(70 degrees celcius) there is a litany of issues to face.
- Data retention, and writing start having errors.
- The thermal throttling, a preventative measure, built into the SSD will prevent the chips from performing optimally to allow the chips to cool it.
shielded ssd storage device
What kind of Thermal Products are Good for Solid State Drives?
If you go online, you will find a lot of data on thermal products such as heat sinks, but it the emphasis is not on thermal interface products such as liquids, and gap filler pads.
At NEDC, we die-cut thermal interface pads. One gap filler pad that we are awfully fond of is Gap Pad HC5.0 aka GAP PAD TGP HC5000. We have discussed this pad an awful lot on this site. This pad is a great choice for solid state drives to help cool the electornic to maintain longevity, and great performance.
However, NEDC also distributes thermal interface filler materials, such as liquids. The liquid TGF 3500LVO is oftentimes used.
In the graphic above, we have an illustration of thermal interface materials, and how they can cool solid state drives. (Graphic Courtesy of Henkel.)
More Information
For more information on thermal pads for solid state drives(SSDs), or you think you have an application that could utilize a thermal interface pad, such as hard-drives or solid state drives, please contact sales@nedc.com.