I have a Kamrui AM07 mini PC. I replaced the stock 512GB NVME SSD with a 1TB Samsung 980 PRO. I ran CrystalMarkInfo and CrystalDiskMark on the new SSD to see what speed gains there were. While read/writes were faster, I noticed that the temperature displayed in CrystalDiskInfo rose to 65 C degrees.
I then also ran HWINFO to confirm what the temperature was. HWINFO shows 3 temperature labelled "Drive Temperature", "Drive Temperature 2", and "Drive Tmperature 3". While the first two temperature readings mirrored closely to the temperature in CrystalDiskIno, Drive Temperature 3 was much higher. During CrystalDiskMark test Drive Temperature 3 climbed to 90 C (!!) at which point I stopped the test.
Have other AM07 owners observed any heating issues either with the stock SSD or a replacement SSD?
In the AM07 the fan is attached to and cools the CPU. The compartment with the SSD and RAM is not vented or actively cooled. I can see that with prolonged activity, especially disk activity, the temperature would continue to rise and exceed the operating temps of the RAM and SSD.
If there are any representatives from the company on this forum, can hey comment on this heat/cooling problem. Is this a design flaw?
AM07 SSD heat/cooling problem
Re: AM07 SSD heat/cooling problem
The third temperature in Hardware Info is the controller temperature which is why its so high and yours is running too hot. Get yourself a pack of Gelid Thermal pads off Amazon and put some on the SSD. They also sell thin copper heatsinks which really help cool SSD drives in mini pcs
Re: AM07 SSD heat/cooling problem
Thanks. I'll give it a try and report back.
I can see that heat from the SSD will be conducted away to the cooler copper plate. The copper plate may also radiate heat better than the original surface of the SSD. I do wonder what would happen under prolonged load and the copper plate also heats up. The compartment is not vented so heat just gets trapped in that small space.
I can see that heat from the SSD will be conducted away to the cooler copper plate. The copper plate may also radiate heat better than the original surface of the SSD. I do wonder what would happen under prolonged load and the copper plate also heats up. The compartment is not vented so heat just gets trapped in that small space.
Re: AM07 SSD heat/cooling problem
As recommended, I installed a thin flat copper heatsink and thermal pad onto the SSD. The copper heatsink is about a mm thick and roughly the same size as the SSD.
At idle, after the computer has been on for a while, the 3 temperatures displayed in HWINFO for the SSD are about the same as before the heatsink. The temperature for the controller (Temperature 3) is now 60 C where it was 63 C before the heatsink. So there is only a slight improvement.
I reran the same test in CrystalDiskMark with a Test Count of 2 (like before). The test took about 2.5 minutes to complete. The highest temperature that the controller reached was 80 C. While 80 C is still high it is certainly better than before when I had to stop the test when the temperature reached 90 C.
While the heatsink mitigated the problem by absorbing the heat generated by the SSD, the heat is still trapped in the somewhat sealed compartment and with prolonged disk activity, I expect the temperature of the SSD to continue to go up because the heatsink cannot dissipate heat fast enough. I ran the test again with Test Count of 3 and the temperature went up to 83 C.
I wish they had designed in some cooling for the SSD and RAM.
At idle, after the computer has been on for a while, the 3 temperatures displayed in HWINFO for the SSD are about the same as before the heatsink. The temperature for the controller (Temperature 3) is now 60 C where it was 63 C before the heatsink. So there is only a slight improvement.
I reran the same test in CrystalDiskMark with a Test Count of 2 (like before). The test took about 2.5 minutes to complete. The highest temperature that the controller reached was 80 C. While 80 C is still high it is certainly better than before when I had to stop the test when the temperature reached 90 C.
While the heatsink mitigated the problem by absorbing the heat generated by the SSD, the heat is still trapped in the somewhat sealed compartment and with prolonged disk activity, I expect the temperature of the SSD to continue to go up because the heatsink cannot dissipate heat fast enough. I ran the test again with Test Count of 3 and the temperature went up to 83 C.
I wish they had designed in some cooling for the SSD and RAM.
Re: AM07 SSD heat/cooling problem
Thank you very much for your feedback.
According to my understanding: Samsung 980 Pro is a PCIe 4.0 protocol and has a higher heating temperature than a PCIe3.0 SSD. If possible, we recommend you use a PCIe3.0 SSD.
According to my understanding: Samsung 980 Pro is a PCIe 4.0 protocol and has a higher heating temperature than a PCIe3.0 SSD. If possible, we recommend you use a PCIe3.0 SSD.
Re: AM07 SSD heat/cooling problem
I replaced the SSD with a Crucial P3 PCIe Gen 3x4 NVME SSD. I reinstalled the thin flat heatsink and thermal pad. When i reran the same test in CrystalDiskMark with a Test Count of 2 (like before), the temperature of the controller went from 61C at idle up to 77C at which point I stopped the test since the operating temperature max for the SSD is 70C.
Like it or not, I believe there is a heat dissipation issue with this mini PC. The compartment of the computer with the SSD and RAM is not vented and heat is trapped. If the PC is going to be used in disk intensive activities, I would suggest monitoring the SSD temperature so you don't fry your SSD. BTW, if you are still using the SSD that came with the computer you may find that the temperature stays at 40C no matter the disk activity. The one that came with my computer certainly stays at 40C. If yours does also, you'll have to come to your own conclusion as to how that can be.
Like it or not, I believe there is a heat dissipation issue with this mini PC. The compartment of the computer with the SSD and RAM is not vented and heat is trapped. If the PC is going to be used in disk intensive activities, I would suggest monitoring the SSD temperature so you don't fry your SSD. BTW, if you are still using the SSD that came with the computer you may find that the temperature stays at 40C no matter the disk activity. The one that came with my computer certainly stays at 40C. If yours does also, you'll have to come to your own conclusion as to how that can be.