Apacer PT920 Commando 240GB PCIe SSD Review

Heatsink Testing

As promised earlier in the review, I’ll also perform a comparison between the PCIe card and a bare module inserted into the motherboard. For these tests, I’ll be running my random IOmeter write tests for 20 minutes which is a test hard on the drive. The continues writes will raise the temperature of the drive which in return will return some values we can use.

In both situations, the drive is tested in a closed case. I’m using the CoolerMaster HAF Evo cube which has two Extraflo fans pre-installed in the front. The fans and closed case situation offers an airflow through the system, making sure that even this passive cooling method should benefit from it.

Conclusion

While the heatsink does have an effect, it’s not nearly as good as one would hope from the size. That is probably due to the lack of contact between the inserted module and the enclosure.