SSDs getting warm/hot when recording

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Justin Jackson

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SSDs getting warm/hot when recording

PostSat Feb 15, 2020 1:22 am

Hey all.

So playing around with a couple different SSD setups. Have my T5. Recently my kids laptops crapped out, and they had 1TB PCIe3 SSDs in them. So I found some external USB 3.1gen2 (10gbps) aluminum enclosures for them, put them in, and they read and write around 550MB/s. Just tried it on my BMPCC4K, reocrds Q0 4K no problem for 12 minutes (stopped it at that point). The case, however was quite warm. Not blazing hot.. but definitely quite warm. Guessing it would get hotter if I let it go longer.

Question is.. is that OK/normal? E.g. wondering if it got this hot in the laptop when it was running. Also, wondering if it is "bad" for the drive to reach those temps and run at them continuously for periods of time. I know this is not exactly BM/Cinematography related however I know there has a lot of discussion/questions around different SSDs for recording on these cameras, so figured I'd ask here since so many probably have tried a variety of SSDs.
Custom DIY AMD1950x 16-core/32-thread, liquid cooled, 64GB 3600Mhz RAM, 950Pro-512GB NVMe os/apps, 2x500GB 850 Evo RAID 0 SATA3, Zotac 1070 8GB video, USB 3.1Gen2 RAID0 2x4TB, 2x2TB Crucial MX500 SSD SATA3.
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robedge

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Re: SSDs getting warm/hot when recording

PostSat Feb 15, 2020 1:31 am

It’s completely normal. These SSDs generate a lot of heat, and it’s just something to be managed.

One of the interesting things about Samsung X5 SSD drives is that the heat management is pretty good. I have a Samsung 970 NVMe drive in a third party enclosure, and the enclosure gets quite hot (not just warm), but it’s not something to worry about.

There are lots of discussions on the internet (I’m mostly familiar with the ones on the main Mac forum) about fast SSDs and the heat that they generate. They are designed to take it. Just make sure that you pick an enclosure that will be a good heat sink, and encourage decent airflow. The whole point of a good enclosure is to absorb heat. That’s why a heat sink is called a heat sink.

I’m interested in seeing how Samsung’s new T7 drive enclosures are for heat.
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Justin Jackson

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Re: SSDs getting warm/hot when recording

PostSun Feb 16, 2020 1:35 am

Interesting enough.. I stumbled across some double sided tape.. that came with the enclosure.. and was watching a video on a PCIe4 TB3 enclosure and the guy had put the tape on the SSD.. and I was like oh shoot.. that's right.. that is to help with heat! I had put some on another SSD a while back and completely forgot! So I put the silicon tape on the SSDs.. should help reduce the heat a little.

I got $30 aluminum USBC enclosures that support 10Gbps I believe. I may have only a 5Gbps USBC cable that I am using though.. or the USBC port on my computer only handles 5GBps... I was able to average about 500MB/s read/write speeds. I mean, for most things I am perfectly fine with that.

I was only testing to see if I could record on the BMPCC4K at 4K Q0 and was pleasantly surprised it worked. I don't know that I would trust those to record for a full hour at that quality. Not sure if they would end up getting too hot going that long continuously. Still, I could see using these for simple short cuts and such at the highest quality/res.

Heck, I was shockingly surprised that I could get 4K/30 at 12:1 on a super cheap SD card (170Mb/s write speeds). I think it recorded for over 20 minutes.. but can't remember now. None the less, it is quite impressive how well this camera works with media.
Custom DIY AMD1950x 16-core/32-thread, liquid cooled, 64GB 3600Mhz RAM, 950Pro-512GB NVMe os/apps, 2x500GB 850 Evo RAID 0 SATA3, Zotac 1070 8GB video, USB 3.1Gen2 RAID0 2x4TB, 2x2TB Crucial MX500 SSD SATA3.
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robedge

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Re: SSDs getting warm/hot when recording

PostSun Feb 16, 2020 1:54 am

Yes, the tape that you are talking about helps transfer heat from the SSD to the enclosure. It comes, or should, with every enclosure on the market. Most of the enclosures themselves are aluminum, precisely to absorb heat.
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dondidnod

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Re: SSDs getting warm/hot when recording

PostSun Feb 16, 2020 2:22 am

Samsung Nvme cards slow down automatically when they overheat to ensure reliability.

I wonder if that could result in dropped frames on a long shoot if you run at the highest settings.
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robedge

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Re: SSDs getting warm/hot when recording

PostSun Feb 16, 2020 2:41 am

dondidnod wrote:Samsung Nvme cards slow down automatically when they overheat to ensure reliability.

I wonder if that could result in dropped frames on a long shoot if you run at the highest settings.


This is called throttling, and as far as I know it’s built into every Samsung SSD. At high enough temperatures, it results in slower performance and would definitely affect write speed to the SSD.

Note that ambient temperature has an effect on SSD temperature. Here in New York in February (it was 23°F/-5°C today), if I put my 2018 Mac Mini on the sill of the partially open window behind my computer desk, the internal temperature of the computer, which I can check on an app, goes way down.
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Justin Jackson

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Re: SSDs getting warm/hot when recording

PostMon Feb 17, 2020 2:07 am

Yah.. (on tape).. definitely helps. And YES on the Samsung throttling bit.. definitely will result in dropped frames depending on settings.

I would love it if they could add 120fps 4K on the BMPCC4K/6K though!

Given that Samsung just release phones that record 8K30 and 4K120... while I do realize they are NOT nearly the quality.. I gotta believe BM has an 8K pocket (or.. uh.. hand held) coming in the next year or so. With Canon, Sony, etc all getting in to the 8K camera market already or soon, I am hoping BM has an 8K replacement for the 4K/6K next year, that can hopefully do 4K120 and 8K30 to 8K60... but then.. wth do you record it on? Would have to be PCIe3 or PCIe4 interface right? Or could a USB 3.2 (gen2) 10gbps handle 8K30 and 4K120 speeds to an external SSD?
Custom DIY AMD1950x 16-core/32-thread, liquid cooled, 64GB 3600Mhz RAM, 950Pro-512GB NVMe os/apps, 2x500GB 850 Evo RAID 0 SATA3, Zotac 1070 8GB video, USB 3.1Gen2 RAID0 2x4TB, 2x2TB Crucial MX500 SSD SATA3.

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