Should the thermal sticker on a m.2 drive be removed before installing a motherboard's heatsink with thermal pads?

[Delicieuxz]

Should the thermal sticker on an m.2 drive be removed before installing a motherboard's heatsink on top of them? The heatsinks have thermal pads on them that will press onto the m.2 drives.

And the manual for my Asus ROG Strix X670E-A mobo says to add a rubber spacer to the rubber standoff that supports the back of the m.2 drive when installing an m.2 drive that's single-sided, as mine are. I've installed one of the rubber spacer pads, and there's still a significant gap between the standoff and the back of the m.2 drive. So, the additional rubber spacer made no difference. Does it matter if I install the heatsink shroud with that gap there?

 

[pendragon1]

Does it matter if I install the heatsink shroud with that gap there?

i doubt it. id leave the sticker on too, i have on ones ive used and have seen no down side.

 

[Delicieuxz]

Can I just leave the plastic film on this thermal pad for the 1st PCIe 5.0 m.2 slot on my mobo? The thermal pad is height-adjusted for a dual-sided m.2 drive, and my drives are single-sided and leave a significant gap between the thermal pad and the m.2 drive. The heatsink shroud that installs over top the m.2 drive will make contact with the m.2 drives memory chips.

I might be able to use that thermal pad in the future, if I get a dual-sided m.2 drive. But for now, I don't have a need for it. And if I leave it there, I don't want the heat from the the m.2 drive, the CPU, and the VRMs to maybe melt it over the years, or do anything else negative.

 

[GotNoRice]

If you are using the heatsink, I would remove the film. If the heatsink isn't actually making contact with the SSD, then it isn't doing anything beneficial and i'd just leave it off (use the M.2 SSD bare).

One thing to keep in mind while considering which parts of the SSD might make contact with the heatsink / heatsink pad is that flash memory actually prefers higher temperatures. The heatsink doesn't really need to keep the flash memory cool. What matters is the SSD controller. That controller, like any other processor, needs to be kept cool or it will throttle to protect itself, which will reduce performance. So as long as the heatsink is making contact with the SSD controller chip, then you are good to go.

As far as the black square pad, my guess is that it's intended for smaller M.2 SSDs. Some are quite short.

 

[Delicieuxz]

If you are using the heatsink, I would remove the film. If the heatsink isn't actually making contact with the SSD, then it isn't doing anything beneficial and i'd just leave it off (use the M.2 SSD bare).

One thing to keep in mind while considering which parts of the SSD might make contact with the heatsink / heatsink pad is that flash memory actually prefers higher temperatures. The heatsink doesn't really need to keep the flash memory cool. What matters is the SSD controller. That controller, like any other processor, needs to be kept cool or it will throttle to protect itself, which will reduce performance. So as long as the heatsink is making contact with the SSD controller chip, then you are good to go.

As far as the black square pad, my guess is that it's intended for smaller M.2 SSDs. Some are quite short.

That m.2 slot has a thermal pad on the heatsink, which goes on top of the m.2 drive, and also has a thermal pad on the motherboard, which goes underneath the m.2 drive. The thermal pad on the heatsink will press into the m.2 drive. But the thermal pad on the motherboard, which is the one in the photo, with the blue plastic film on it, doesn't touch the m.2 drive I have.

I'll remove the plastic film from the heatsink, as that will touch the m.2 drive. But I'm wondering if it's good to leave the plastic film on the thermal pad that's on the motherboard, which will sit underneath the m.2 drive and not make contact with it. If I leave it on, I might be able to use that thermal pad later. But if heat will damage it or cause a mess of it over time, I would remove it and let that thermal pad sit bare, and untouched.

 

[GotNoRice]

I'm wondering if it's good to leave the plastic film on the thermal pad that's on the motherboard, which will sit underneath the m.2 drive and not make contact with it.

It almost certainly does not matter then. If it's not in physical contact with anything that is hot, it's not going to melt simply due to hot air. It probably wouldn't melt even if it was in physical contact, it would simply inhibit the transfer of heat to the heatsink.