Icy Box ‘Big Block’ Cooler for Tiny M.2-2280 SSDs: Heatsink, Heat Pipes, Fan

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Overkill much?

(Image credit: RaidSonic)

High-end M.2-2280 solid-state drives are small and fast, but some of them tend to get hot and require cooling. Some suppliers of enthusiast-grade SSDs have introduced drives with rather large heat spreaders, and even active cooling, and there are similar aftermarket cooling solutions too. But RaidSonic wants to beat them all both in terms of performance and in terms of… dimensions.

(Image credit: RaidSonic)

Raid Sonic’s Icy Box IB-M2HSF-702 features a large ‘big block’ aluminum heat sink that features nine 0.5-mm fins with 2-mm air gaps, two 4-mm heat pipes that are in direct contact with the SSD, and a 30-mm fan. The cooling solution comes with a thermal pad to maximize performance and ensure compatibility with different M.2-2280 SSDs that tend to have slightly different design configurations.

Source: TeamGroup (Image credit: RaidSonic)

The manufacturer says that its Icy Box IB-M2HSF-702 cooling system can reduce M.2 SSD temperatures by up to 50% under high loads when compared to regular coolers without heat pipes and a fan. 

(Image credit: RaidSonic)

Based on the numbers provided by RaidSonic, the cooler can reduce a temperature of an SSD (equipped with a regular heat spreader) from around 60ºC to around 30ºC. SSD controllers do not usually throttle performance at 60ºC, but lower thermals are certainly good for longer-term longevity of SSDs. 

But performance comes at a price. The Icy Box IB-M2HSF-702 cooling solution is rather big and is hardly light. While RaidSonic says that the 30-mm fan it uses is silent, this is something that has to be put to a test, but typically small fans produce rather unpleasant noises. 

(Image credit: RaidSonic)

RaidSonic’s Icy Box IB-M2HSF-702 ‘big block’ active cooling system for M.2-2280 SSD are already available. Depending on the retailer, the product costs from €30 to €35 in mainland Europe.

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Anton Shilov
Anton Shilov
Contributing Writer

Anton Shilov is a contributing writer at Tom’s Hardware. Over the past couple of decades, he has covered everything from CPUs and GPUs to supercomputers and from modern process technologies and latest fab tools to high-tech industry trends.

9 Comments Comment from the forums
  • nofanneeded
    I dont see the need for that fan at all . heat pipes and passive cooling is enough for nvme SSD that wont use more than 6 watts , fans are needed above 15 watts at that size
    Reply
  • Spectre4444
    While I agree that M.2 2280 SSD temps can easily get way too hot, with some M.2 2280 socket (s) on the underside of most motherboards, 2X or more wide video cards and mid / high end motherboards with integrated heat spreaders - where exactly is this cooler supposed to be useable ? and who is supposed to purchase this ?
    Reply
  • tiggers97
    Spectre4444 said:
    While I agree that M.2 2280 SSD temps can easily get way too hot, with some M.2 2280 socket (s) on the underside of most motherboards, 2X or more wide video cards and mid / high end motherboards with integrated heat spreaders - where exactly is this cooler supposed to be useable ? and who is supposed to purchase this ?

    You beat me to it. If it sn't too expensive, I'd be tempted to buy one just because it looks a little cool. But if my primary M.2 slot is to close to under my primary video PCIe slot, it won't fit. I haven't built a new PC yet (waiting for Zen3) that used M.2, so I'm really not too sure how it would go.
    Reply
  • torbjorn.lindgren
    No, this more than likely DECREASE the endurance!

    Controller failures are rare so failures is primarily controlled by the NAND flash endurance which tends to be best between roughly 40C and 60C... I doubt it increase it enough to actually matter but it makes an already silly product even more silly.

    The controller silicone prefer lower temperatures over higher but is fine in the ~60C they say their competitor runs the M.2 card. IIRC most SSD controllers thermally throttle around 75-80C, you definitely want to avoid throttling but that temperature limit is there for the controller, the flash would be fine with that.
    Reply
  • nofanneeded
    tiggers97 said:
    You beat me to it. If it sn't too expensive, I'd be tempted to buy one just because it looks a little cool. But if my primary M.2 slot is to close to under my primary video PCIe slot, it won't fit. I haven't built a new PC yet (waiting for Zen3) that used M.2, so I'm really not too sure how it would go.
    Spectre4444 said:
    While I agree that M.2 2280 SSD temps can easily get way too hot, with some M.2 2280 socket (s) on the underside of most motherboards, 2X or more wide video cards and mid / high end motherboards with integrated heat spreaders - where exactly is this cooler supposed to be useable ? and who is supposed to purchase this ?

    This cooler would be usable if you buy the right motherboard for it with enough clearance for at least one M2 slot.

    But I dont see it needed at all anyways unless we start seeing 15 watts NVME drives.
    Reply
  • nofanneeded
    torbjorn.lindgren said:
    No, this more than likely DECREASE the endurance!

    Controller failures are rare so failures is primarily controlled by the NAND flash endurance which tends to be best between roughly 40C and 60C... I doubt it increase it enough to actually matter but it makes an already silly product even more silly.

    The controller silicone prefer lower temperatures over higher but is fine in the ~60C they say their competitor runs the M.2 card. IIRC most SSD controllers thermally throttle around 75-80C, you definitely want to avoid throttling but that temperature limit is there for the controller, the flash would be fine with that.

    endurance has nothing to do with this . and endurance cant control anything , endurance is not a controller lolz .
    Reply
  • Darkbreeze
    nofanneeded said:
    I dont see the need for that fan at all . heat pipes and passive cooling is enough for nvme SSD that wont use more than 6 watts , fans are needed above 15 watts at that size
    Of course you would say that, based on your user name alone. :)
    Reply
  • mrv_co
    I'm just imagining the screws and stand-offs for the motherboard that would be required to install this on bottom mount SSD drives :oops:

    Regardless, I'm looking at this and I'm looking at the stock heat sync for the topside SSD on my new B550i Aorus Pro Ax mobo and I'm thinking this cooler is overkill if it doesn't conflict with the GPU and CPU fans airflow outright.
    Reply
  • DotNetMaster777
    Excellent icy box for cooling !!!!

    Are there any analog of this box ??????
    Reply